APPENDICIES

APPENDIX 1: POLICY DOCUMENTS AND LEGISLATION

In its investigations and studies the Commission referred extensively to a large number of policy documents, bills and acts. Some of the main ones are listed below.

GREEN PAPERS

• Green Paper on Employment and Occupational Equity. Department of Labour, 1996.
• Green Paper on Public Works Towards the 21st Century. Department of Public Works, 1996.
• Green Paper on a New Law for a New Public Service: Policy Proposals for a New Public Service Statute. DPSA, 1996.
• Green Paper on a New Employment Policy for a New Public Service. DPSA, 1997.
• Green Paper on a Conceptual Framework for Affirmative Action and the Management of Diversity in the Public Service. DPSA, 1997.
• Green Paper on Skills Development Strategy for Economic and Employment Growth in South Africa. Department of Labour, 1997.
• Green Paper on Procurement Policy. Department of Public Works and The Department of Finance, 1997.

WHITE PAPERS

• Reconstruction and Development White Paper. Office of the President, 1994.
• White Paper on Transformation of Public Service. DPSA, 1995.
• Draft White Paper on a New Employment Policy for the Public Service. DPSA, 1997.
• White paper on Human Resources Management in the Public Service. DPSA, 1997.
• White Paper on Service Delivery. DPSA, 1997.
• White Paper on Public Service Training and Education. DPSA, 1997.
• White Paper Improving Public Service Efficiency. DPSA, 1997.
• White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery Batho Pele. DPSA, 1997.
• White Paper On Social Welfare. Department of Welfare, 1997.

OTHER POLICY DOCUMENTS

• Public Service Staff Code. DPSA.
• Medium Term Expenditure Framework. Department of Finance , 1997.
• Draft Transformation Policy, Department of Home Affairs, 1997.
• Growth And Development Framework, Gauteng Province.
• Employment Equity and Representivity. Department of Justice
• Growth Employment and Redistribution A Macroeconomic Strategy GEAR. Department of Finance, 1996.
• Provincial Review Report. DPSA, 1997
• Draft Affirmative Action. Department of Home Affairs, 1997
• Justice Vision 2000... and Justice for all. Department of Justice, September 1997
• Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. Department of Finance , 1997

LEGISLATION

Bills

• Open Democracy Bill, Draft, 1997.
• Basic Conditions of Employment Bill, 1997.
• Employment Equity Bill

Acts

• Interim Constitution, 1993.
• Public Service Act, 1994.
• Constitution, 1996.
• Labour Relations Act, 1996.
• Public Service Commission Act, 1997.
• The Public Service Laws Amendment Act, 1997.
• Kwa-Zulu Natal Government Performance Act, 1997.
• Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act (IFR), 1997.
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997.

APPENDIX 2

LIST OF ANNEXURES ATTACHED TO THE REPORT

ANNEXURE 1: PRC BUSINESS PLAN

ANNEXURE 2: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC SERVICE PERSONNEL

ANNEXURE 3: INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

1. Ideas and Practice in Public Management Reform by Martin Minogue
2. Human Resources Management: International Comparative Experience and Benchmarking by Willy McCourt
3. Financial Planning, Accountability and Management in the UK by Deborah J Williams
4. Transforming the South African Public Sector using IT: A Core-Periphery Approach by Richard Heeks and David Mundy
5. Managing Reform Processes: Some Ideas from the Commonwealth by Alex Matheson

ANNEXURE 4: INTER-GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

1. Inter-governmental Relations by Professor Chris Tapscott
2. IGR: Review of Issues and Legislation by Professor Nico Steytler

ANNEXURE 5: HUMAN RESOURCES

1. Report on the Human Resources Process Study by Ms Nozipho January-Bardill, Mr Sam F Mphuthi, Ms Gemma Paine and Ms Glenda White
2. Recruitment and Selection Process Study by Ms Nozipho January-Bardill, Dr Meshack Khosa, Ms Gemma Paine and Ms Glenda White

ANNEXURE 6: FINANCE, BUDGETING AND PROCUREMENT

1. Study on the National and Provincial Budget Processes by Ms Tania Ajam
2. A Process Study of Financial Transfers by Conrad Barberton
3. Procurement Process Study (incorporating outsourcing) by Mr Sam Amod
4. Working Paper on Planning and Budgeting in South Africa by Dr A.W. Johnson, Ms Rosemary Proctor, Ms Anne Evans and Dr Alf Carling
5. Budgeting and Financial Management by Professor Iraj Abedian, Tania Ajam and Conrad Barberton

ANNEXURE 7: PROCESS ANALYSIS OF SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

by Mr Simon Ratcliffe, Mr Patrick Brennan, Ms Avril Joffe, Ms Shelley Kestan, Mr Meshack Khosa, Ms Judith Kippin and Ms Janine Rauch.

ANNEXURE 8: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Process Analysis of Transactions ( Data-Flow in the Public Service) by Mr Richard Layton and Mr Chris Rowse
2. The Use of Information Technology in the Public Sector by Aubrey V Malabie

APPENDIX 3

ISSUESIDENTIFIED BY COMMISSIONERS FOLLOWING PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS OF NATIONAL DEPARTMENTS, PROVINCES, ORGANISATIONAL COMPONENTS OF GOVERNMENT AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS TO PUBLIC SESSIONS OF THE PRC

The issues outlined below reflect the impressions and observations made by Commissioners and members of the Strategic Team after each public presentation by government departments, provinces, organisational components and other organisations. The purpose of this exercise was to assist the Commission in its overall understanding of the activities of these organisations, their core business, transformation policies, and the efficacy of their structures. The process was invaluable to the Commission in enabling us to understand where different departments and units fitted into government and how, and to what extent, they interacted with each other.

The "issues" are not recommendations and do not necessarily reflect the unanimous view of the Commission. Instead they are working guidelines used by the Commission to inform and influence its work, and in particular to assist us in evaluating the verbal presentations, written submissions and other information that was presented to us. We hope that by including these issues, departments, provinces and agencies might be able to derive useful insights from them to guide their own efforts at public service reform and consolidation.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Issues

• The perception of the Commission is that this Department seems strong on both policy and delivery capacity. Verification is needed.
• To what extent would it be feasible to amalgamate the Departments of Agriculture, Water Affairs and Land Affairs? What would be the implications?
• The Department seems to have a rather ambitious financial management system in contrast to the provincial departments. Does it assist the provinces?
• Further information is needed on the relationship between the Marketing Council and the Agriculture Boards.
• We need more information on the current and future role of these Boards.
• Further enquiry is needed in regard to perceived conflicts between the national and provincial departments (especially in the Western Cape) over delegated functions.
• Enquire into the impact of the KWV matter on the department and what lessons have been learnt from this.
• What criteria is being used to determine national and provincial competencies? Where does the department have oversight?
• What are the criteria to determine capacity in the devolution of national powers to provinces?
• Investigate why this department wishes to have its own institutional training?
• Information is needed as to the mechanisms/channels by which the Marketing Council communicates.
• Does the department have a policy on the El Nino factor.

Cross-cutting Issues

• An examination of the Constitution is needed in respect of asymmetrical delegation of powers between provinces.
• Enquire into the role of national departments with respect to oversight (policy guidance, coordination, monitoring)?
• Consider the current debates around national intervention into provincial affairs arising from the Ncholo Report. Is this only an interim tactic? (It was felt that the matter needed to be treated with caution by Govt).
• To what extent do provinces focus on their own capacity building? Is it to be assumed that there is capacity at the national level to assist provinces?
• How is capacity determined, what criteria are used?
• The issue of control (health, agriculture, education) over utilisation of training institutions needs further investigation.

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (DACST)

• This department performs important national functions and appears to have assembled a competent and enthusiastic team.
• The department seems to lack coherence. Its core business is unclear to the Commission.
• Its style and thrust seem to be more in the nature of advocacy than operational? (The department defines itself as a "watchdog").
• To what extent can it carry through its desired policies or is this wholly dependent on other departments?
• Its thrust seems to be one of oversight rather than directly operational.
• Is there a basis for the continuation of the department as presently structured. Should it be re-aligned and if so with which department/s?
• Progress has been made in the representivity of personnel. There is still some way to go at the level of middle management.

CENTRAL STATISTICAL SERVICES (CSS)

Issues

• There is no doubt in the mind of the PRC of the importance of the brief of CSS and the maintenance of the integrity of its statistics.
• Is CSS appropriately aligned/located to maintain its independence and integrity?
• What is its relations with other science councils.
• There seems to be a paucity in its statistics for the labour market, gender surveys and welfare support.
• The purpose and brief of its research and development directorate is unclear to the Commission. The PRC was not convinced of the practical relevance of the outputs of this division -which seemed overly academic.

DEPARTMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Issues

• Further consideration of this Dept's core functions was needed. Would responsibility for Local Government continue to be a core function much beyond the year 2000? (Their role seemed to be to address inter-governmental relations in all 3 spheres of government -would these not diminish over time?)
• It was noted that the department did not have much knowledge about the Implementation and Coordination Unit (ICU) in the Deputy President’s Office. Liaison would be beneficial to both.
• Relations between the DCD and the Department of Finance regarding inter-governmental fiscal relation needed further enquiry.
• Clarity was needed on how the Constitutional Review Commission was linked to other structures?
• The Commission needed to consider where in the absence of a DCD would the current functions of this department be assigned?
• There was some doubt as to the potential of the White Paper on IGR to resolve tensions, especially regarding some of the political factors.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES

Issues

• Despite the comprehensive overview of the department, there was not a great deal of evidence of transformation.
• There seemed to be a lack of political vision in the department and a lack of understanding of the different options to incarceration.
• There were serious problems of "delivery" viz a viz the department's mission statements.
• What strategies were in place to address the chronic leakages from prison; the overloaded infrastructure and indiscipline of personnel?

Cross-cutting issues

• We need to look more closely at outsourcing to addresses the problem of IT personnel.
• We need to further investigate the coordination of inter-departmental issues, eg the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and the Departments of Justice and Safety and Security (SAPS).
• Is the collaborative structure of the National Crime Prevention Strategy a model for an integrated criminal justice system?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Issues

• The department seems unable to spend money allocated to it (re school building).
• There seems to be a problem spending money allocated through the Presidential Lead Programmes rather than the money allocated through the departmental budget.
• What steps are being taken to operationalise the governance issue at schools (are people informed/participating)?
• There seems to be a delivery problem with farm schools (too many departments are involved -Agriculture, Local Authorities, Education).
• What is happening at provincial local authority level about school building (where are the blockages)?
• The department seems to be strong on policy but slow on implementation.
• The division of labour between National and Provincial needs to be explored.
• On the issue of concurrent powers, there seems to be a reluctance by the National department to involve itself in service delivery.
• The department seems to lack a relationship with the department of Labour eg labour market trends, changes in training needs etc.
• Is there an adequate working relationship between the department and SAQA regarding the NQF?
• The department does not seem to want a stronger association with the NQF/labour market prediction issues.
• The department adopts "a holistic education system" but it is not clear how the framework is applied, especially with regard to tertiary institutions.
• There are no national guidelines regarding tertiary education policy which makes it difficult for these institutions to undergo transformation.
• Proactive measures seem inadequate to increase priority skill needs.
• There seems to be some confusion about the status and place of an HR planning strategy in the department.
• There seems to be an over-investment in physical facilities rather than on the supply of education?
• Representivity in the department seems to be taking place too slowly.
• There seems to be a question about capacity in the department.
• How do intermediate structure assist or limit service delivery?

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

Issues

• To what extent is there a problem of under-staffing in this department? (This was indicated by the presenting team but not evident to the Commissioners).
• We need to look more closely at the policy coordination aspects of budgeting.
• We need to look more closely at the information flow between line departments and the DoF.
• Where should the administration of pensions be located?
• We need to look more closely at whether capacity building can overcome the structural gaps identified.
• We need to look at the resource allocation for capacity building.
• How are the provinces involved in the policy process? How is it being broadened?
• Do the provinces have sufficient information to get involved in key policy and budgeting decisions?.
• There seems to be a lack of institutionally systematic programme-evaluation capacity, who should do it (DoF, DoSE)?
• Where do the responsibilities lie for forex policy and management?.
• It is important to communicate the changes of policy to the public to avoid confusion. Who should be responsible for developing economic and policy literacy?
• What is the role of Finance in overall Governmental policy making?
• What is the role of Finance in providing financial and fiscal oversight over the polices of other departments?
• What are the plans for transformation (both for internal and external transformation)?
• Is there a programme for auditing obsolete legislation to create a more enabling environment for development?
• What is the role of the department in ensuring economic policy performance?
• Is monitoring the performance of GEAR part of the integrated activities of the department?
• The department describes itself as a regulatory body, but it seems to have limited structures at a national, provincial and local level to play that role.
• Is the function of the department to regulate the policy of other departments (with regard to their fiscal and financial viability)?
• HRD planning and other corporate services are not seen as an important feature of the department’s activities.

Cross-cutting issues

• There seems to be inter-governmental ambiguity between provincial autonomy and the desire to establish national norms and standards.
• Inter-governmental tensions are dealt with technically not politically.
• We need to consider whether the state needs a different salary structure for key skill categories.
• The seems to be an overall lack of investment in human resource development.

FINANCE AND FISCAL COMMISSION

Issues

• Is there really an element of conditionality in the financial formula? If so how does it work?
• One of the complaints about the formula is that it does not address backlogs in infrastructure. Is this correct? (If so, how would it work in eg the health and education areas?) The question needs answering of the vertical split between the national and the provincial (ie the proposal to increase the share of the provinces and decrease the national). Also, what will happen to the share of the provinces in the long run?
• Our interviews with line departments in the provinces indicated a feeling that the decentralisation process has not benefitted them as much as it would have, if it were done centrally. Is this valid?
• Complaints are often heard by national departments of underspending in the provinces and that money is tied up because they are not making proper use of it through lack of capacity. This seems to have led to a sort of re-centralisation strategy. Is this so? What is the position?
• Given the great disparities in the provinces and the different capacities, eg Gauteng and the Western Cape etc, could there not be more asymmetry in one's approach to the funding formula?
• The formula seems to be too technical, only leaving 10% or less for service delivery and thereby not incorporating sufficient of the social aspects. Please address this? (Why wasn't the social security portion included in the S Grant -thereby having first cut of the provincial allocation?)
• The formula would seem to have an urban bias, not reaching the poorest of the rural poor. Is this so?
• We know that various countries were visited and overseas experts consulted, but was there an internal consultation process?
• Once the allocations are made, how hard are the budgets ? If the province can overspend and always be certain that if it really makes a mess, national government will bail it out. If this is so, then what is the point of having a hands-on independent approach with greater involvement by national government in provincial government budgeting (eg the Eastern Cape Province current welfare difficulties)?

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Issues

• How has the Department changed its ethos in order to promote a culture of human rights internationally?
• What is the status of the draft white paper?
• The Department did not seem to have any over-arching guiding policy.
• What is the Department’s programme for transformation internally ie changing the management culture of the DFA (eg "flattening" hierarchies; transformation seems to be treated technically and narrowly)?
• Representivity did not seem to extended beyond mission head to the technical experts.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Issues

• The concept of health districts (which the department has pioneered) needs assessment.
• The link between the Department of health and local authorities requires probing.
• There seems to be a lack of coordination between health and other departments and local authorities.
• Enquire into the efficiency of tertiary health training institutions reporting solely to the Department of Education and not also to the Department of Health.
• There seems to be a mismatch between the Department's current priorities and the tertiary training being offered.
• The need for a more effective communications strategy at the Department of Health needs addressing.
• The relationship between Health and DPW regarding the former's clinic building programmes needs probing.
• The variance of views between the Department of State Expenditure and Department of Health over budgetary reform needs inquiry.
• Inquire into the problem of delays in procurement and how they negatively effect service delivery in the Health sector.
• The functional relationship between the political and administrative Heads needs probing
• Inquire into the delivery capacity at provincial levels.
• "The Department of Health seems to have achieved a better balance between service delivery and internal transformation than other departments." This needs testing.

Cross-cutting issues

• Public Service rules and structures are not always compatible with quality service delivery. Constraints on service quality need identifying.
• To what extent can/should health districts be replicated across sectors?
• The consequences of the different departments delivering services "within different geographic zones" needs investigating.
• What are the problems arising from different planning boundaries across departments?
• Enquire into problems concerning inter-sectoral coordination (vertically and horizontally).
• Inquire into the quality of current procurement systems. To what extent are the new proposals for procurement likely to be viable and efficient?
• We need to inquire (via the Department of State Expenditure) whether the new accounting system could/should be adopted on an experimental basis.
• There seem to be some ambiguity regarding the interpretation of political and administrative authority between political and administrative heads.
• Consider the need for a dedicated public service in the light of privatisation options.

DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Issues

• Can transformation be presented as an end in itself?
• How is transformation interpreted at Home Affairs?
• How can they factor in other issues beyond internal transformation?
• To what extent have they engaged in a consultative process with stakeholders external to Home Affairs?
• To what extent have they focused on external delivery, pensions, passports, marginal communities?

Cross-cutting Issues

• How can policy development be integrated across the whole of Government?
• What prerogatives do departments have in policy making?
• We need to get clarity on the core business of all departments we investigate.
• What are the criteria in different departments for granting packages?
• How do the severance packages compare to other Governmental budgetary priorities?
• What percentage of the budget goes to training, is this a percentage of the overall budget (measure used by the public sector) and what is this money used for?
• How do public sector training budget norms compare to those of the private sector?
• What is the relationship between training and the Government's strategic objectives?
• How can training expenditure become sustainable through the retention of trained staff in departments or across the public service?
• How can we ensure that funds released by severance packages can be used to support Government objectives?
• What issues around privacy, purpose and access are raised by the concept of a national database?
• With regard to standard testing and codes of conduct, how are these communicated to customers and the general public?
• Regarding affirmative action policies, is there a common terminology for the concept Black?
• How can we ensure that affirmative action targets are part of the transformation process of different departments?
• To what extent is there participatory evaluation and monitoring in HRD programmes?
• With regard to developing a matrix that relates departmental activities to costs, is there a standard method to translate activities into posts?

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING

Issues

• Their perceptions in respect of affirmative action and transformation need addressing.
• Either the national department does not seem to take sufficient responsibility for delivery in provinces and local authorities, and/or inter-governmental institutions for following up on policy implementation need addressing.
• There seems too much focus on policy and not enough on implementation.
• Is there any emphasis in getting beneficiaries to participate in policy formulation?
• The concept of organisational development is not appreciated by senior management.
• There is an erroneous perception that affirmative action and capacity building are traded off against efficiency.
• In the relationship between external delivery and internal transformation, the Department seems to have over-emphasised the former at the expense of the latter.
• How do the Department’s objectives link to Governmental priorities?
• Is the Department aware of the White paper on Public Service Transformation?
• How can the transformation process be speeded up? Greater intervention of the Minister needed?

Cross-cutting issues

• What steps are needed to ensure representivity in the development of specialist expertise?
• How do departments acquire specialist expertise ("grow their own timber", outsource, etc.)?
• What kinds of strategic planning exercises are used to determine Departmental priorities (re service delivery, affirmative action, staff establishment, capacity development, affirmative action, etc.)?
• What legislation impedes the implementation of policy?
• What is the role of parastatals and other special purpose entities, how do they fit into existing inter-governmental systems, and how are they controlled?

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Issues

• Insufficient attention to training issues.
• Insufficient attention to post establishment issues.
• Insufficient attention to policy formulation.
• Management seems to have addressed too many issues at once, there is no apparent prioritisation.
• There seems to be little inter-governmental collaboration on key policy issues (i.e., gender).
• There seems insufficient concern about the disappearance of data (case files).
• Insufficient detail of possible IT solutions.
• It is not clear what is being done to change the organisational culture.
• It is not clear why Justice is losing staff.
• There seem to be few integral structures with other departments.
• There seems insufficient attention paid to a thorough-going process of business re-engineering.
• The presentation was unclear on alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
• The Presentation was unclear on procurement processes (especially in terms of new facilities).

Cross-cutting Issues

• Should there be a special dispensation for the remuneration of certain categories of staff?
• How are HRD performance, output and national objectives linked together?
• How does the current methodology of determining establishment size operate?

DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR

Issues

• What was this Department’s role in developing policies that affected the public service. How did this cohere with the role of the DPSA; and was their an overlap or unnecessary duplication of work here? Can the Dept of Labour not play the role of adviser to the DPSA on labour issues -internal to Government -especially around Employment Equity/Affirmative Action?
• How did the Department of Labour plan to revise the role of their Head-Office?
• Where did the priorities of this Department lie: in policy formulation, programme development or in coordination of different units in the department?
• Further clarification was needed on the role and status of the Department’s Provincial Offices -and also the extent to which the services of these Offices were utilised.
• What were the performance indicators for the Labour Centres? Did they need restructuring (type, location, function, organisation).
• Why in the pursuit of efficiency could the following areas not be outsourced:
  • Unemployment Insurance,
  • Compensation (actual pay-outs; not the evaluation of claims) and
  • Labour Centres?
• What is the relationship between the legal services section in the Department of Labour and the State Attorneys in the Department of Justice?
• What are the elements that are taken into account in determining expenditure on training and development? Can the figure of 2.5% (of a department's budget) be recommended to other departments for expenditure on education and training? Or should it be 4% of the wage bill?
• Would the 360 degree Performance Review be considered in the Performance Management System?
• Elaboration was needed on the Department's ideas for a "One-stop Inspectorate".
• What financial constraints were caused by the payment of R 7 million on supernumeraries while there are currently 600 vacancies? (Information on shortages and excess personnel were needed.)
• The IT systems seemed well established at a national, regional and local level. Is this so?
• This Department's criticism of State Expenditure regarding coordinating of the budgets for educational training undertaken by the department, needed further exploration.
• Query their criticism of State Expenditure regarding the lack of substantial explanation for budget cuts and "arbitrary withdrawal of funds".

Cross-cutting issues

• It seemed that the Dept of Labour, was left out of the MTEF process and are therefore unable to formulate corporate objectives because they do not learn about national priorities being formulated at the MTEF working groups. Check.

DEPARTMENT OF LAND AFFAIRS

Issues

• We need to explore substantively all the issues raised in the DG’s submission to the Commission, eg Public Service and treasury prescripts on staffing.
• Public Service change overall has been ad hoc and not fundamental.
• Too many things have been changed at the same time.
• Rules governing the employment of new staff and the dismissal of inefficient personnel have resulted in enormous delays in reshaping the DLA .
• Prescripts on filling vacancies below management should be dropped. Departments should be able to design their own controls.
• VSP has not achieved its goals; it has been attractive to good professional staff and of little assistance to those who should, in the interests of the public service, leave government.
• A mechanism for employer-initiated retrenchments was needed to assist rightsizing and improve quality of staff.
• The grievance procedure should be "decriminalised" ie it is currently adversarial and makes future working relations difficult.
• The Central Bargaining Chamber does not take into account the diverse needs of the role players from the side of the employer. The "one blanket fits all" model is very inappropriate for a diverse organisation; it is difficult to attract and retain key personnel to implement reform.
• Managers who are currently in the public service should be able to convert their employment to a time-linked contract without loss in pension.
• PERSAL data is unreliable and deficient and not able to assist a manager who wishes to know how many staff are employed and the details of that employment and latest qualifications.
• Greater discretion needs to be given to DG's to authorise deviation from the Treasury rules (less senior officials in the DoSE in practice often make the decisions).
• Communication within government is inefficient and poor -a strong central agency is needed.
• Departments should have an accommodation budget from which they must meet their needs -the DPW proposals for reform should be supported.
• We need to look critically at this Department’s recommendations for transformation.
• How solid is this Department’s implementation and performance management?
• There is the impression that managers do not have sufficient latitude to manage. How strong is the Department’s capacity for financial planning and management?
• What is the Department's record of representivity at the level of middle and senior management?

Cross-cutting issues

• Many departments are creating SMME databases, but these are not being cross-referenced so they can be accessed more widely.
• Only a few changes in financial management or human resources development may bring about big strategic changes in departments: we are therefore looking for leverage on core problems.
• We need to give credit to DPSA and DoSE for the changes that have already been made, these are already having an effect on departments.
• How meaningful is the current role of inter-governmental forums?.
• Intergovernmental relations seem mainly administrative and are not dealing with political issues which may give rise to political antagonisms. This question needs to be explored.
• Is the disparity between capacity and political will of provinces factored into the formulation of policy?
• It seems that national expectations are not being met in provinces and this raises questions about the uniformity of policy and minimum standards.
• It seems that the minimum standards are not being costed at a provincial level and that this is not being linked to the devolution of functions.

OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Issues

• There is a concern about the capacity of the Cabinet Secretariat to support cabinet. Capacity constraints of both needed further research.
• The communication and interface between the two offices need further investigation.
• The working relations between the two offices were not clear. (This did not refer to the functions of the offices).
• Further information was needed as to whether the Coordination Unit was appropriately structured to undertake the brief (To what extent if at all was the Coordination Unit funded by donor funds).
• To what extent did the new structure meet the long-term institutional requirements of the Office or was it an interim arrangement?
• We need to assess the structure of the unit; the need for its establishment and capability to coordinate.
• We need to consider the advantages and constraints of two Offices of the Presidency and possibly suggest an alternative structure.
• We need to establish what the processes are in establishing new Units; closing the RDP office etc, how programmes are assessed and who has responsibility for documenting decisions.
• The organograms of both offices suggest a duplication of some levels of activities. We need to address this.
• Does the coordination unit fill the vacuum identified at the centre of government?
• We need to assess the efficacy of communication regarding decisions taken at cabinet eg (How do DGs learn about policy discussions?).
• We need to address performance evaluation in the two offices.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES

Issues

• The department is very small -altogether a staff component of 39.
• There is need for staff to specialize in asset restructuring.
• Enormous use of expensive consultants without internal capacity-building
• This is a department whose mandate is to phase itself out. How feasible is this?
• To what extent is the monitoring facility of the department effective, sufficiently specialized to provide direction and leadership?

Cross-cutting issues

• Do size and responsibilities of public servants have any bearing on the remuneration package? (Does the DG of such a small department deserve the same salary and conditions of service as, say, the DG of Police Services? Is there a case for differentiation?)
• What advantages does this Ministry take of the advantages of the MTEF to integrate responsibilities?

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION (GRADING PRESENTATION )

Issues

• The new policy on grading was not costed. There was a lack of clarity about the relationship between performance and grading.
• It was not clear how rank promotion contributes to greater efficiency and transformation.
• There seems to be no job-evaluation in the linking of salaries to grading.
• To what extent is the principle of equal pay for equal work applicable?
• Is there a rationale for retaining 329 occupational classes?
• Should there be substantially fewer grades and what is the argument of labour for requesting fewer grades?

Cross-cutting issues

• There is a lack of coordination in both salary reform and budgetary reform.
• There seems to be a lack of direction in this respect in both State Expenditure and DPSA.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION (IT PRESENTATION)

Issues

• What mechanisms have been used to motivate departments to develop their IT?
• Is the DPSA the best agency for promoting and/or managing IT strategy nationally?
• Where should the proposed IT Board be located?

Cross-cutting issues

• There is a lack of a national IT vision.
• There seems to be a lack of commitment and capacity to provide and/or communicate such a vision.
• There is a lack of capacity to integrate IT policy at a national and provincial level.
• What benefits are gained from the R 300 million spent annually by the state on IT?
• What mechanisms and political support are needed to develop a coherent national IT strategy?
• Has the reliance on outside consultants inhibited departments from taking ownership of their IT systems and led to the under-development of capacity?
• Is the issue of inter-operability being addressed in departments?
• Does IT relate to the future organisation and administration of the whole public service?
• There seems to be a lack of understanding around the profound role of IT to amplify the effect of government policy, especially in getting feedback and managing the needs of the public.
• Is IT a factor in current performance measurement and does it feature in education and training programmes?
• Is there a potential conflict between IT’s ability to deliver services and the need for job creation?
• How can IT be used in the planning of national objectives?

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION -PRESENTATION ON RIGHTSIZING

Issues

• Were the DPSA programmes on reform likely to pre-empt the PRC's recommendations?
• There was some ambiguity about rightsizing -query "optimal size", supernumeraries, others.
• Follow-up was needed on the internal transformation programme of the DPSA itself.
• To what extent did national departments / provinces accept the proactive approach to policy formation and reform taken by the DPSA? Were there conflicts of roles, projects etc?
• To what extent was international experience considered: Was there any external expertise in the DPSA rightsizing team?
• Consider in detail the written submissions on rightsizing.

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

Issues

• Define role of PSC (evaluation, policy-making, implementing).
• Responsibilities of the department versus the PSC in evaluating outcomes or outputs.
• The issue of merit is undefined.
• Should the PSC be pro-active in preventing mis-management in the public service rather than just to react to problems once they occur?
• How should post establishment be fixed?
• Is the PSC the best agency to decide post establishment?
• The PSC does not seem to be grappling with the complexities of post establishment (policy, finance, HR, quality, etc.).

Cross-cutting Issues

• What is the best or most practical way of institutionalising the process of public service reform ( this question relates to the respective roles of the PSC, DPSA, DoF, DoSE, Cabinet, Office of the Deputy President, Public Protector, Auditor-General, Provinces, etc)?
• The PSC needs to describe in practical terms how the communication flow happens between it and other key players?
• Who is responsible to ensure public service is representative?
• Should there be a code of conduct for consultants and advisors?
• How does the general public become aware of the Public Service Code of Conduct?
• Is the code of conduct clear enough on whistle-blowing and criticism?
• Do the concerns of the PSC involve just Public Service administration or Government delivery?

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

Issues

• Is there adequate progress in internal and external transformation?
• The department seems unwilling to rationalise the functions of the regional offices and the provinces. Is this so?
• To what extent does the national DPW have influence over the provinces (re 10 point plan)?
• What are the new competencies and skills required by the provinces?
• Should the current provincial departments (health, education) retain their Public works functions? Should they be undertaken by the national department?
• To what extent are their key management systems aligned with national objectives?
• There seems to be a conflict with other departments (health, education) regarding works functions.
• Will downsizing by 5000 eliminate all staff but management and a small number of support staff?
• The department seems to need greater specialist capacity in managing current as well as future activities.
• Is there insufficient attention to development planning?
• Is the substitution of user departments for the tender boards problematic (re corruption, equity, service delivery)?
• How will the department prioritise the maintenance backlog?
• To what extent should capital expenditure be prioritised over maintenance?
• Who should prioritise?
• To what extent does the department see IT as a management tool?
• To what extent would it allow the information collected by it to be used by other departments?

Cross-cutting issues

• Does the use of consultants undermine the departments capacity building and employment equity strategies?
• What are the implications of APOPs for other departments engaged in public-private-partnerships?
• How can the department retain skilled staff (varying public service salary scales?)?
• The intergovernmental relations between national departments and provinces needs to be dealt with generally.

SAMDI

Issues

• Questions were raised as to why SAMDI should offer courses already provided by other educational institutions.
• Consideration needed to be given to the utility of SAMDI in its present form. Whether it needed a new mandate and if so what that mandate should be? (Ought they to become a regulatory and standards-setting body within the DPSA; work with the PSC in establishing public service education and training needs...or have some other function(s)?)
• Was there a need for a distinct Civil Service Education and Training Institution in South Africa? If so, what compelling reasons for this were there?
• SAMDI's relationship with other service providers needed clarification.
• Clarity on how they perceived their role was needed -providing only training ("emergency training activities" ) rather than taking on the responsibility for educating future civil servants in a systematic and coordinated manner.
• Was SAMDI working in too many different directions. did they need to focus their activities more appropriately?
• We need to consider the comments of some of the Provincial Administrations that SAMDI is not relevant to them.
• We need to question whether the experience SAMDI drew on from long-time incumbents of the Public Service is relevant. (Could that experience be a liability that simply consolidated existing inertia?)
• It was a matter of concern that SAMDI had not undertaken a needs analysis of Public Service personnel to establish what training programmes were needed.

SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE

Issues

• We need to explore the mandate of the Provincial Secretariats in the provincial offices of Safety and Security.
• We need to understand the role and relationship between Commissioner Fivas, Meyer Kahn and Secretary Cachalia and also the Independent Claims Commission.
• To what extent was the perceived lack of leadership in the team and tension between SAPS and the secretariat accurate and (if so) what is its effect on delivery?
• To what extent has SAPS progressed in their transformation and other strategies.
• We need further information on the deployment of people from Head Office to operational units.
• We need to consider whether SAPS’s remuneration scales should be different from other public servants.
• We need to explore whether there are any linkages between performance management and remuneration.
• Information is required on visible policing.
• Further comment from SAPS is required on the issue of corruption.
• We need to know the origins of the Shubane Report.
• We need more information on collaboration within the region (SADC) regarding drugs and syndicates etc.
• SAPS’s Information Technology seems to focus mainly on operating systems and not on financial management. This needs to be explored.

Cross-cutting issues

• Can there be a common grading and salary scale for the public service?
• We need to further consider the role and modus operandi of the central bargaining council.
• To what extent is there any linkage between financial management, human resource planning and budgeting in medium term planning.
• To what extent is it feasible to have an Office of Management and Budgeting to link budgeting, planning and personnel planning?
• The problem of IT personnel needs immediate attention, perhaps through the use of consultants and /or contractors so as to overcome the constraints on full time employment.
• In terms of IT training and capacity building, we need to know who is undertaking this and what kind of training?
• Is SAMDI being used by departments to service their training needs?

SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICES

Issues

• A process study (ideally) is needed on the SARS, capturing the tax process.
• We need to consider the relative advantages or disadvantages of organisations such as SARS which are set up to be independent of the Public Service.
• All the Finance related departments (Finance, State Expenditure and SARS) seem to have a problem with representivity. We need to consider how this can be addressed.
• There seems to be a particular problem with training in SARS specially around their bursary programme.
• We need more information on the structure of their staff in terms of the specialised skills required.
• We need to think more about flexible remuneration to help retain staff.
• There is little evidence of HR planning in the Department, (given the specialised nature of this Department’s work).
• The governance of national statistics needs further consideration and there seems to be a need for a closer relationship between CSS and SARS.
• Strategic Planning appears to need attention although note needs to be made of the ground-breaking work undertaken by this department.
• There seems to be a problem with SARS being separated from the policy-making aspects of Finance.
• Is there any case for outsourcing if the department is functionally autonomous?

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT

Issues

• The department appears to have a well articulated conception of what the public service ought to be providing and the scope of its activities. (This was rare among departments and provinces who made presentations to the PRC).
• There has been careful attention to policy development but to what extent is this accompanied by institutional (systemic) change within the department?
• To what extent is policy implemented? Beyond the frameworks provided, what impact has this department made on the public?
• Transformation is seen as a "trade off" between efficiency, professional competence and Affirmative Action?
• There is a sense that the department is dismissive about its gender, racial and occupational imbalances as well as disability. (The emphasis is on professionalism, certification and the dearth of "specialists" in the field.)
• What is the focus of the department; what is its core business?
• Despite intractable problems, some progress on the resolution of taxi violence and regulation is discernible but slow.
• Important new agency arrangements and partnerships had been entered into which might provide a model for other departments.

Cross Cutting Issues

• What is the relationship between this department and Transnet?
• What is the relationship between this Department and the Department of State Enterprises?

DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS

Issues

• To what extent is the department a model for others in respect of innovation?
• How is policy-making institutionalised in the Department?
• To what extent does the national department use its authority to ensure policy implementation?
• Determine whether the Department's affirmative action policies are too cautious.
• Institutional arrangements for performance monitoring seem weak and need analysis. It is unclear what attributes are currently being measured?
• Clearer definition is needed on the institutionalization of policy regarding public-private partnerships.
• Inquire into the seemingly undue length of time it takes for departmental decisions to be made.
• There seems to be a weakness in HR Planning strategy. To what extent does HR planning actually occur?
• Representivity seems to be confined to the level of deputy-directors. An audit of the profile of the department's personnel is needed.
• Do public impressions of Water Affairs match results?
• To what extent do consultancy jobs include the SMMEs?
• How great is the reliance on donor funds to implement policies? Is this a problem?
• How prepared is the department for multi-year budgeting?
• Is over-centralisation a problem in this department. Is the executive overly dominated by the political leadership?
• How effective is the department's organogram? Are its structures appropriate, adequate, productive?
• There seems to be a problem that MINMEC is insufficiently multi-lateral to deal with issues effectively.

Cross-cutting issues

• There seems to be a need for policy integration at national level, perhaps through a clustering of departments?
• "De-bureaucratization" needs to be addressed.
• How is the relationship between DG's and Ministers managed? Eg should ministers take responsibility for delivery? How does this affect the devolution of decision-making?
• The relationships between the Ministers and administrative heads need analysis.

DEPARTMENT OF WELFARE

Issues

• Lack of literature and reports provided by welfare meant that a lot of welfare issues have not been covered.
• The department’s budget reform process linked to the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) needs examination.
• Given that the department handles large transfer payments linked to national norms, they may have a problem forecasting trends for the MTEF.
• The department’s reliance on outsourcing needs addressing. What are the implications for capacity building in these instances?
• There seems to be an immediate priority to put systems and databases in place for purposes of policy support.
• There is a need to address the degree of representivity in the department's committees and among its consultants.
• The functional relationships between the political and administrative heads need addressing.
• To what extent does the department have capacity to project future trends? Does it maintain a data base for this purpose?
• There does not appear to be a system to provide an impact assessment on the work undertaken by the department. Inquire into this.
• The recruitment, selection and induction of people joining the department need to be looked at (re bottlenecks/ quality of personnel/ representivity).
• Assess the department’s rationale and policy (if this has been formulated) for rightsizing.
• Consider the department’s capacity to anticipate and deal with fraud and corruption.
• Assess the department’s performance management, appraisal and appraisal instruments. Is there too much reliance for this on the DPSA?
• Assess the department’s systems for the flow of decisions and communication. (How far are decisions made at a senior executive level not filtering down?)
• The appropriateness of the salaries of social workers is becoming a national issue. Is this being addressed?
• Is there a comprehensive social security policy?
• Is the department’s financial planning constrained by the relative autonomy of the provinces? There seems to be a reluctance to interact regarding provincial affairs (concerning social security).
• Assess the efficacy of the department’s business plan to guide day to day management.

EASTERN CAPE

Issues

• There is a need to investigate the extent to which powers are delegated to provinces without the necessary resources.
• The capacity of the Office of the DG to cope with the scale and complexity of its numerous requirements needs to be explored.
• We need to further examine the difference between strategic planning, development planning and operational planning in the provinces.
• We need to question whether all provinces have as high a degree of centralisation as appears to be the case in the Eastern Cape.
• There seems to be a need to clarify who is the chief accounting officer for the province.
• We need to further investigate the public sector work ethic, the question of supernumeraries, the statement "people have nothing to do", the lack of productivity focus, and the emphasis on posts rather than jobs people do.
• We need to investigate the problem arising from funding local authorities (either directly or through the province) and how this affects accountability to the province.
• There is a need to further investigate the relationship between the provinces and FFC, especially with regards to the formula for allocating funds.
• The relationship between the provinces and the national bargaining council needs to be clarified.
• We need to check the status of agreements made at the bargaining council.
• We need to question whether national government should be delegating powers in some areas, while it should be centralising in others.
• We need to investigate what should be the pre-conditions for a national authority devolving functions to the provinces.
• There is a need to clarify whether the PAS requirements concerning seniority appointments still apply and if so, how this has affected delivery.
• There is a need to enquire whether all stakeholders are drawn into social compacts to address service backlogs.
• Clarity is required on the provinces "Marshall plan" and whether this is seen as an alternative to the macro economic policy. (Is the Eastern Province a special case?)
• The idea of having two budgets (one for on-going operations and one for overcoming service backlogs) needs to be explored.
• There is a need for a set of benchmarks on acceptable service levels, allocating additional resources to areas which fall below par.
• We need to give more thought to the link between public service demotivation and the apparent lack of HR planning.
• We need to investigate (possibly recommend a skills audit) in regard to supernumeraries and consider whether these cannot be re-deployed in creative ways.
• We need to investigate why the DoSE continues to have two financial management systems in the Province. (To what extent is there a resolution of the problem of separate financial management systems?)
• To what extent is it feasible to sort out IT problems in the Province without waiting for new options to be provided by the Department of State Expenditure?
• There is a need to enquire into the functional role of the DG in this province.
• There is a need to address the political and administrative interface in this provinces.
• There is a need to investigate the relationship between Permanent Secretary and DG.
• There is a need to enquire into the precise role of the PSC in this province.
• We need to obtain the "backlog document" (referred to by Dr. Trudi Thomas).
• Obtain information on how the Provincial cabinet will follow-up on the backlog document.
• Obtain information on the updated organogram of the province.
• Obtain more information on the current HR capacity in the province.
• Acquire more information on the current skills audit.
• Obtain more information on "ghost workers".
• Acquire more information on staff vacancies.
• Obtain information on the provincial responses to the Ncholo report.
• Acquire more information on HR and training policies.
• There is a need to interview the provincial audit team.

Cross-cutting issues

• To what extent do the national departments have competency to determine provincial priorities in terms of Schedule 6 of the Constitution.
• We need to investigate whether there should be a national competency to determine IT strategy for all public sector agencies.
• We need to receive the responses of individual provinces on the Ncholo Study; explore the process adopted and obtain information as to the level of officials interviewed.
• Enquire into staff who received retrenchment packages and who have been re-employed as consultants.
• There is a need to recognise the asymmetry of different provinces. (We will therefore need to include issues specific to particular provinces in our enquiries as well as generic issues).
• There seems to be a perception that provinces have been incorrectly treated as national departments by government. This should be addressed.
• There is a need to question the extent to which provinces are constrained to follow national policy norms and standards.
• There is need to enquire into the difficulties of the provincial tender boards.
• There is a need to clarify the relationship between provincial and national departments.
• We need to get more information on stakeholders forums.
• We need to get more information on the R 1.3 billion that the national government owes the provinces (Why? What is the position?).
• We need to get more information on transfer payments to the provinces.
• Obtain further information on what is being done about involving personnel below management in policy formulation.
• We need to get more information on whether there are special programmes to address gender and disability imbalances in senior management.
• We need to get more information on how women and the disabled can be better integrated into mainstream public sector activities.
• We need to get more information on structures to address the needs of disabled people and what is being done to redress gender imbalances? To what extent does the province utilise the services of the Gender Commission?

GAUTENG PROVINCE

Issues

• Delivery needs to be queried. It was not clear to all the persons on the PRC team whether there was a gap between the vision of the Province and implementation.
• There seems to be a communication problem between senior management and other levels.
• There was a query as to what will be happening to the PSC in the province? Will the absence of a PSC create a gap in policy formation/coordination/oversight of personnel/ standards in the provincial administration?
• It was refreshing to find solutions in some cases and not just problems. To what extent are these solution transferable to other provinces?
• The political and administrative inter-face in this province was novel and appeared to work, but would it work in other provinces?

Cross-cutting issues

• There seems to be a lack of communication between national departments and the provincial administrations over policy implementation.
• Further investigation is needed regarding unfunded mandates. What are the linkages between planning, costing and implementation?
• There seems to be a problem with the MTEF which is formulated on sectoral lines; financial implications are only understood later.
• Regarding safety and security, we need to know from all provinces what they have delivered?
• We need to examine the impact of specific decisions of the central bargaining chamber on provinces and departments.
• We need to look into the apparent inadequacy of PERSAL to meet its expected needs.
• We need to explore what provisions are being made to teach people the necessary financial management skills.

KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE

Issues

• There seems to be a need to enquire into the interface between politicians and administrators in the everyday operation of departments.
• We need further information on the role of the (acting) PSC in the Province.
• We need to investigate whether legislation exists to facilitate in the transfer of excess personnel from the provinces to local authorities.
• There is a need to examine service delivery in the province.
• There seems to be considerable complexity in the relationship between the province and rural local government. This needs investigation.
• There is a need to obtain a more precise view of the Province’s corporate objectives and to evaluate how the DGs presentation is linked to this.

NORTHERN PROVINCE

Issues

• The Tender Boards need investigation; answers to our concerns about tendering were not clear.
• There seems to be a leadership gap in the Province. Lack of political and administrative leadership seem to be an important cause of the problems in the Province.
• Responsibility for coordination of the activities of different departments in the province is not clear. Who has responsibility for strategic planning?
• To what extent are the structures and functions of the province working?
• Transformation Unit does not seem viable.
• Answers on gender questions were incompatible with transformation; there is a need for a gender office.
• To what extent have misappropriated state assets been recovered in the province?
• It was not clear why there are 16000 vacancies while there were so many supernumeraries?
• We need a clearer definition of funded vacancies.
• There seems to be a problem with 93% of the budget going to staff costs. Was this figure accurate?
• Definition of HRD was vague.
• Problems with delivery seem to relate to a failure in HRD.
• There seem to be tensions between different levels of management, and the distribution of powers between office of the premier, DG and PSC.

Cross-cutting Issues

• We need to investigate the configuration of provincial departments given that these do not match up with National.
• We need to consider the role of the DG's, HOD's and MEC's in all provinces.

WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

Issues

• We need to explore to what extent the centralisation question in the W Cape is a problem: i.e. issues relating to the devolution of functions; issues around dis-empowerment and de-motivation of personnel and structural issues.
• We need to enquire into the reasons for the province’s conflicts in inter-governmental relations.
• Further information concerning progress in inter-sectoral collaboration is needed.
• We need further information on how the different delivery agencies interact.
• We need further information on the process of budget formulation (transparency, debate, dialogue).
• The statements about affirmative action did not reflect an appropriate attitude towards transformation.
• There was a lack of IT vision and policy.

Cross-cutting issues

• The centralisation/decentralisation issue needs further investigation.
• We need to follow-up the statement that the DPSA’s Provincial Audits were characterised by a lack of consultation.

The following include cross-cutting issues some of which need to be reflected in the Final Report of the Commission. Where they were taken up they are more fully articulated in the Report.

• To what extent is there a lack of inter-connectedness between the policy initiatives emanating from the various departments.
• There are currently parallel efforts at transformation -what's in place to align these? Do we endorse the DPSA initiatives? What is the DPSA doing about alignment of processes following the Ncholo Reports?
• There is concern about the the re-design of the role of Provincial DG's. (Would they retain overall oversight and accountability?)
• What is the need / function of the Deputy President's Office in terms of coordination?
• Structures of the Deputy President's Office and the President's Office. How adequate were these?
• What changes were needed in the structures of departments involved in the criminal justice system SAPS / Correctional Services / Safety & Security.
• Departmental / ministerial clusters. These needed to be further studied.
• Capacity building in the Public Service -what was the role of SAMDI?
• DPSA and PSC -what should their roles be?
• What would be the role of DPSA beyond transformation?
• What should be the role / function of the PSC?
• Autonomy of provincial departments: (to what extent were they "autonomous" of the national).
• Which are the core national / corporate functions which provincial departments cannot have autonomy / authority over.
• Moratorium on IT procurement -proposal by sub-group.
• To what extent was there a supply of specialist skills for government especially IT and Financial Management?
• Is HR seen as a critical factor for success in government?
• Relationship of IT to other applications / functions e.g. finance.
• How adequate were Government resources in terms of information, institutions, money, people?
• SARS -what is the difference between public administration and the public service? Does SARS have distinguishing factors to treat it as an exception?
• What is the status of autonomous entities (like SARS, CSS etc)?
• Systemic weaknesses -budgeting functions.
• Unfunded mandates. Further enquiry was needed.
• To what extent was there ministerial participation in planning and budgeting.
• What special steps were needed for the creation of a professional ethos and the development of a culture of governance.
• Hierarchies -impact on transformation?
• What is the quality of information sharing across government ( horizontal / vertical).
• Performance management -institutional / individual / central government. What recommendations were necessary?
• Discussion was needed as to how to internalise transformation and bring it into the mainstream .
• How does performance monitoring / organisational culture / transformation impact on service delivery?
• Affirmative action -need for a national policy for the Public Service to avoid the duplication of AA policy making processes across departments.
• Need for consensus on AA policy.
• Should we assess and comment on specific departments in the Report or deal with issues broadly?
• Service / Performance Contract employment -only for DG's? Why not broader?
• The various views on the procurement system needed to be considered.
• What does "autonomy" mean vis a vis procurement?
• Policy / HR / Control / Corruption in procurement. What public confidence is there in the procurement system at present?
• Financial administration requirements (what progress was being made towards uniform systems across government)?
• Right sizing position / status at present?
• There is a need for a matrix of what government should be doing during the transformation and post transformation process.
• What is the role of the State ie "what ought the public service to be doing"? Need for regular skills audits in the Public Service.
• What phase is government in regarding development / transition?
• There is a need for clarity on what is meant by the "developmental state" and how this is best achieved in the context of limited resources.
• What conditions should be put in place to ensure that public servants remain in public employment and don't leave as soon as they are trained?
• What was the extent of Government's role as a development agent? Models?
• What needed to be done to ensure performance monitoring of Provinces?
• What is the Commission's position on the conclusions in the Ncholo Reports?
• Is the Constitution a given?
• To what extent do portfolios of Ministers and MEC's need to be re-examined?

• We need to ask COSATU to answer the list of questions included in the transcripts and including those below.
• We need more information:

• on their views on job creation;
• on their views on supernumeraries and ghosts;
• on their views on a larger civil service;
• on their views on the MTEF;
• on their views on the "developmental state" (including comments on productivity, rightsizing and work ethic);
• on their views on social compact on development and transformation (what would it include);
• on their views on their "sympathy with the provincial dilemma" (re central bargaining);
• on their views on public private partnerships.

• We have a new government, but old business and old labour attitudes. Should labour attitudes not cooperate more with the new dispensation?

Contents   Appendex4  Appendix 5