Modulasetulo, Tona Richard Baloyi, Motlat?a Tona Padayachee, ba?omi?animmogo le baeng ka moka ... [Chairperson, Minister Richard Baloyi, Deputy Minister Padayachee, hon members and distinguished guests ...]
... in the state of the nation address, the President of the Republic of South Africa said, I quote:
The Public Service has to respond to the call to make this term one of faster action and improved state performance.
The people of South Africa need and deserve a public administration that is capable of ensuring human safety and security to each and everyone, and a dignified existence for all.
Re leboga tekanyet?o ya ngwaga wo o fetilego, ka lebaka la gore go tloga mola e abilwego, re kgona go bona diphetogo. Re ile ra bolela ka tlhweki?o ya phesale gomme re a bona gore le thomile le t?welet?a maano a go e hlweki?a. Re a leboga.
Sa bobedi, re ile ra bolela ka gore ga re kgone go humana dipalopalo t?a tekanyet?o ya dikg oba gabotse. Le thomile. Ka morago ga go hlweki?a phesale, le tlilo kgona go re fa tekanyo ya dikgoba gabotse. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[We appreciate last year's budget because since its inception we have noticed the difference. We made mention of the Persal clearance system and we note that you came up with new clearance strategies that are already in place. Thank you.
Secondly, we mentioned that we find it difficult to get the correct statistics for vacancies. You have started working on that so you should be able to give us exact statistics after clearance of the Persal system.]
According to the Public Service Regulation, of the total number of senior management posts that became vacant, 339 were advertised within six months of becoming vacant. Most were filled within six months. This is an improvement, because the average period was l5 months before. We hope that the department will improve on the three-month requirement.
We hope that the signing of the performance agreement by senior management for this financial year will be finalised by 31 May 2010 in line with the Public Service Regulation. The department should also develop a human resource plan, because the Auditor-General said that it didn't have one.
Mmu?o wa go etelelwa pele ke ANC, o ile wa re ge o thoma go t?ea maatla, wa tla ka Khomi?ene ya Ditirelo t?a Set?haba yeo e lego gore e be e se gona peleng. Go tloga mola Khomi?ene ya Ditirelo t?a Set?haba e thomago, dingongorego di ile t?a oket?ega go tloga go 45 ka 2004-05 go ya go 96 ka 2009-10. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.
[Since its inception, the ANC-led government brought about the Public Service Commission, which never existed before. Since the inception of the Public Service Commission, the rate of complaints increased from 45 in 2004- 05 to 96 in 2009-10.]
Since the inception of the National Anticorruption Hotline, NACH, service delivery complaints lodged with the NACH have decreased from 757 in 2005-06 to 145 in 2009-10. Service delivery complaints emanating from the NACH were not anticipated at the time of its establishment because it was not meant for service delivery complaints.
Notable achievements have been made since the establishment of the NACH. Some of the successful investigations have resulted in disciplinary action being taken against officials. As a result, sanctions such as dismissals were imposed on employees found guilty of misconduct. Large sums of monies involved in the acts of corruption have also been recovered. Therefore, the NACH continues to play a strategic role in the fight against corruption.
The number of grievances has increased. The slow grievance resolution to provide complete information on time accounts for the delays in the finalisation of grievances in departments and remain problematic.
The Public Service Commission, PSC, conducted an investigation on supply chain management practices within the R200 000 threshold. The R200 000 threshold is the maximum amount that could be processed by a department without the need to undertake a bid or tender process; only three quotations will be necessary.
They have found out that there were shortcomings in the department's sampled supply chain management component relating to invitations of quotations, evaluation and the issuing of orders to service providers. It was worrying that the first few steps were not followed, but payment, which is the last step, was in most instances done promptly. The first and second steps are the ones susceptible to fraudulent acts.
As at 31 January 2010, 18 posts were vacant, including four posts of commissioners. The PSC has placed the filling of vacant posts on hold due to budgetary constraints. A lack of additional funding from National Treasury resulted in the PSC being unable to address its human capital needs as well as the high expectations of its stakeholders.
Females represent 40% of the total staff complement at senior management level, which needs to be improved. The PSC has exceeded the national target of employment of people with disabilities by 0,7%; which is 2,7% of the total staff complement. They deserve a round of applause. I think that it is a good lesson for everyone to learn and to ask how they have achieved that. [Applause.]
They have continued to be exemplary in the management of their financial resources, notwithstanding the reduction in their budget. It should be clear from the demands being placed on the PSC and its resources that it plays a strategic role within our democracy. Given their achievements thus far, it shows that they are a responsible entity.
The President of South Africa has said in many ways that decent service delivery shall be rendered by this government and that public servants will not fail the citizens. We need to look at how we can best achieve that with our limited resources. The success of government policy implementation depends on the impact made by public servants.
We should ensure that the spirit and practices of Batho Pele are more visible and tangible in the Public Service, putting people first. To be a public servant means service to the people and a caring attitude in dealing with citizens. We have seen departments displaying the Batho Pele principles on their notice boards. It is time for the principles to be moved from the notice boards and be put into action.
One of the challenges encountered in the Public Service is the real implementation of the Batho Pele policy. Access to decent public service is no longer a privilege to be enjoyed by only a few; it is the rightful expectation of all citizens. We expect public servants to listen to people's concerns, reflect their wishes and sincerely help address their hardships.
The eighth Batho Pele Learning Network was held in November 2009. The Batho Pele Learning Network is a learning platform that promotes sharing of experiences and lessons aimed at improving service delivery through the implementation of the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery of 1997.
We would like to thank those who have been able to carry out their duties beyond their call of duty and we encourage them to keep on doing their work diligently and urge others to follow suit. The President said that public servants have to respond to the call to make this term one of faster and improved state performance.
It should be realised that Batho Pele is not a policy for frontline staff only, but for all, including senior managers. We appreciate that there is progress in service delivery, but more needs to be done in terms of quality and pace. The findings of the PSC show us that there is no uniformity and consistency in the implementation of the Batho Pele principle.
The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service set minimum targets that had to be reached within particular timeframes, to accelerate the representation of people who have been previously disadvantaged by the Public Service. The 30% representation of women and 50% representation of black people have been met, but the 2% target of people with disabilities is still a challenge to date. Overall representation of women in the Public Service exceeds that of men by 12%.
In November 2005, Cabinet set the target at 50% for the representation of women at all senior management levels for March 2009. The challenge lies in the representation of African women at senior management level, which cannot be explained, as they represent a majority group in the Public Service.
The target for representation of people with disabilities was supposed to have been met in 2005; very little progress has been made in reaching that target. There is gross underrepresentation of people with disabilities in the Public Service and it points to a huge gap that still has to be filled to achieve the set target.
Visibility of people with disabilities at senior management level in the Public Service is acutely low. [Interjections.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]