Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, chairperson of the portfolio committee, senior managers and CEOs present, distinguished guests, fellow South Africans ...
... siyanibingelela. Sihlalo, masiqale sivumelane, sibonge, sivume ukuthi izakhamuzi zaseNingizimu Afrika zithume uKhongolose ukuthi ubuye uzosihola kuleli lizwe laseNingizimu Afrika. Lokho sikuphakamisa sinokubonga okunentobeko nokuthi asizikukuthatha kalula. Siyokuphatha kahle kuhle kwezikhali zamantungwa njengoba sathembisa ukuthi sizokwenze njalo, sizonihola nonke nabathukuthele benjalo. [Uhleko.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[... I greet you. Chairperson, let us first agree, appreciate and accept that the people of South Africa have mandated the ANC to return to lead them in this country. We are saying this with great appreciation and humility and we are not taking it for granted. We appreciate your faith in us. We will lead all of you as we promised, even the bitter ones, bitter as they are. [Laughter.]]
Yes, there has been a good story and it will continue to be so.
Mangiqale ngidlulise lokhu okuncane okungabalulekile. Mhlonishwa we-EFF, mina ngiyamangala ukuthi ubuthule sengathi ulahlekile ekomidini manje usunokuningi okushoyo la? Hhayi bo! Iyababazeka le ndaba. Angikwazi ukukhuluma ngabanye, uyabona nje ukuthi abawona namalungu ekomidi, bayafika, bazivakashele, abanye bayazintantela nje emoyeni, impela ingabe ngichitha isikhathi sami. Umhlonishwa uDlamini-Dubazana udlulile kulolu daba ngeke ngisaluthinta, kuyoba sengathi ngidicilela isithunzi sabanye phansi. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Let me first say these few words. Hon member from the EFF, I am very surprised that you now have much to say here when you were so quiet in the committee. My, oh my! This is indeed surprising! I do not want to mention the others because they are not even committee members; they just come but do not participate. They just come to visit. I would be wasting my time. Hon Dlamini-Dubazana has addressed the issue and I will not revisit it as if I have no respect for other people.]
Chairperson, effective organisational transformation which results in excellent service delivery is non-negotiable in this radical phase of economic transformation. The NDP dictates that we get an administration that is responsive, competent and committed.
Hon Chairperson, allow me to quote. John C Maxwell, a renowned leadership scholar, put it very clearly when he said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". That is the ANC. That is the kind of public administration we need, a caring and responsive administration.
Through enhancement of the Public Service Commission, which champions and monitors norms and standards, we as the portfolio committee will ensure that we support their efforts in ensuring that only competent and suitably experienced people are appointed to senior positions. This will make the Public Service a career of choice for young people and all citizens. This is on top of our priority list of ANC matters that need to be attended to. I am sure the Minister has articulated it very well and clear. I must also quickly say that the ANC urges this House, even those who have something to say that is not implementable, to support this Budget Vote.
The struggle and quest to transform the Public Service underpins the understanding that the business as usual phase has come to an end.
Equally important is the need to vigorously promote responsible citizenry in our country, which does not just demand services from the government but do their part as well in ensuring sustainable public services. Only informed and responsible citizens can effectively hold the public service accountable and ensure quality equitable service provision.
The Batho Pele programme must and has to walk the talk in the soul and blood of service delivery institutions, including the Khaedu Programme, which ensures that Palama trains senior public managers, as articulated by the hon Ntombela. These are genuine commitments and efforts by the ANC-led government to ensure that Batho Pele is adhered to in the Public Service space. Notwithstanding our commitment, more needs to be done to change the bad habits of some or our public administration servants - some, not all.
Socioeconomic development is, as expected, well articulated in the outcome of the NDP of the country, which has been alluded to by the chairperson and I will not repeat that. Standards and compliance of office in the Public Service promote professional ethics and compliance to norms and standards.
With regard to underperformance, the portfolio committee will ensure that it performs its robust and very alive oversight role. However, I must say that invoking section 100 of the South African Constitution should be the very last resort with regard to noncompliance with the Public Service regulations prescripts.
The Public Administration Management Bill is coming. Izofika i-PAM Bill, which will further empower the Public Service Commission to identify problems early, and to recommend and assist with punitive measures to turn weaknesses into strengths for better capacitated provincial and local government. Woza PAM Bill, sikulindele. [Come, PAM Bill, we are waiting for you.] The ANC will deliver that.
The committee intends to go out there in full force in collaboration with all clusters of Parliament to unlock any bottleneck and low appetite in respect of professional, efficient performance that seems to drown and shock our Public Service.
Hon Chairperson, allow me to walk through hon members who do not ever go to conferences or have resolutions. The ANC manifesto articulates clearly that we will ensure that fighting corruption and crime within the Public Service is one of our 22 predetermined objectives. We have to intensify the fight against corruption in both the public and private sectors through measures to restrict public servants from doing business and hold public office. They have to be accountable; even individually, people should be liable for losses incurred as a result of corruption action. It could also be corruption in respect of not doing what you are supposed to do at the right time, as committed to in your Key Performance Indicators, KPIs. The ANC will be exemplary in this regard.
As the oversight committee, through the leadership of our chairperson, we will strongly encourage the department to embark on a campaign of turning the workplace into a training space, where there will be an increase in the number of spaces for FET graduates and unemployed graduates to get experimental training. This will be part of an organisational facelift towards transformation.
Furthermore, let us take steps to strengthen existing laws and institutions to ensure faster change in the employment equity landscape in all workplaces by enforcing and accelerating employment equity targets - not ...
... ukudlala ngokuhlupheka kwabantwana; sizobaletha la sifune ukubukisa ngabo, siqede lapho singenzi lutho. [... trivialising their situation by bringing them here, making fun of their desperation and not doing anything to help them.]
Promotion of a healthy lifestyle in the workplace will increase productivity and reduce risk factors associated with low levels of performance and creativity.
Let us now hear ANC resolutions once more. I am just giving you that free of charge.
Malungu ahloniphekile, hambani nani niye ezingqungqutheleni khona nizobakhulumela benitshelile ukuthi bafuna nizothini la, ningavele nizikhulumele ningathunywanga ngumuntu. Kodwa-ke akusho lutho. Sizoqhubeka sinihole, sibahole ngendlela efanele. Siyokwenze njalo njengoba sathembisa sathi ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Hon members, you must also attend public hearings in order to ensure that you represent the people properly and voice their views. You must not assume that you understand what they need without getting the mandate from them. But we will continue our responsible leadership. We will do exactly as we promised, that ...]
... we will ensure that we improve and bring a better life to our people. The country needs more integrated co-operative governance to ensure avoidance of duplication in the workforce, where there is a commonality and some sight of the end results in promoting better, faster delivery. Clear alignment between the NDP and PGDS, which seeks to address segregation, should be encouraged too as one of the pillars of a developmental state.
Chairperson, service delivery and organisational transformation are about change management, moving away from business as usual by doing things differently for the betterment of South Africans; by changing mindsets and management style; correctly spacing skills or competences of public servants; having the will to do what is right at the expected, agreed time; institutionalising the way of doing business; having policies that make it possible to deliver and manage better in a developmental state environment; and institutionalising of systems that support better, faster service delivery and organisational transformation. More especially, the tools of trade for the transformed technical management standards will be in place.
The Fifth Parliament's Department of Public Service and Administration will ensure that the above are entrenched within the soul and the blood of the public sector as an institution through a robust, critical oversight role. The better performance management systems, dashboards and the like will ensure that there is value for money in service delivery.
Hence the importance of key performance contracts which is one of the tools to assess performance better. We will eradicate corrupt tendencies of not doing what you are supposed to do at the stipulated time. Key performance indicators, KPIs, are critical tools to ensure that Public Service does respect turnaround times. But we have to support individuals lacking capacity through mentorship, training and development; indirectly curbing a high wage bill by paying performance bonuses unfairly to the ones who don't deserve them.
I now want to deal with the matter of reaching maturity, which the hon Ntombela articulated very well. The department was last reported to be at maturity level 3 regarding risk management systems. It was the department's wish to achieve maturity level 4. For real transformation to take place and to reinforce the values of a developmental state, it is crucial that risk management systems improve and mature. Unmitigated risks are the main causes of service delivery challenges and wasteful and fruitless expenditure. The country, with over 300 years of backlog regarding transformation, cannot afford to engage in wasteful and fruitless expenditure.
However, I am sure our people have voted the ANC back into government because they do appreciate that within 20 years we cannot do miracles. Together, we can do more. We are pushing South Africa forward. The service delivery planning toolkit is an effective instrument to equip managers and junior officials with the necessary resources to plan on how to deliver services efficiently and to improve on it as it becomes institutionalised.
Government signed, on behalf of the country, the African Charter on Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration, which was further cascaded down to state and departmental level in collaboration with labour so that there was wide buy-in by all stakeholders. This is the time to demonstrate that the country, government and the Public Service subscribe to these values and principles without fail. Yes, hon Minister, we will ensure that we exercise very healthy, alive, and robust oversight to ensure that we assist the department to achieve the commitment goal.
The Batho Pele principles are the core pillars of service delivery and respect for clients in the public service. The principles are the basis on which the Service Delivery Improvement Plans, SDIPs, are designed. The plans cannot be designed outside the Batho Pele principles. By now, after 20 years of liberation and democracy, as well as the country's desire to move from being a developmental state to a developed operational state, there is absolutely no need for the clients of the Public Service to still be complaining about poor service in state institutions. The attitude works against the grain of a developmental state and a government that wants to ensure a better life for all. The officials who engage in such dishonour are causing embarrassment to our beloved state and country. I am sure hon Dubazana and hon Ntombela have stated it very clearly. Even the chairperson's expression of why the ANC supports this budget was well articulated, and that is a commitment. [Interjections.]