Issued by: SA Communication Service
Johannesburg, 1 Feb 1996 - A-three-day Workshop for Provincial Service Commissions held from January 29th to 31st at Aloe Ridge reflected a strongly positive view of the further evolution of the South African Public Service. Dr Zola Skweyiya, the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, opened the workshop, charging participants to support the continued transformation of the South African Public Service with vision, care and dispatch.
Workshop contributors included representatives of the Public Service Commissions of Canada and three of its provinces, and all nine South African Provincial Service Commissions. Also attending were members of the national Public Service Commission. Discussions focused on the issues of "rightsizing", building a representative public service, methods and tools for rationalization of government organizations, and training and human resource development.
A clear consensus emerged on the importance of the basic principles of a non-partisan Public Service which is broadly representative of the South African community, service oriented and appointed based on competence and merit. It was agreed that these must be enduring principles of government, regardless of the mechanisms identified in the new Constitution and associated legislation to implement and protect them.
The Workshop was organized by the CIDA/IDRC Programme on Governance at the invitation of Dr. Skweyiya, and included an address to participants by the Hon. Gary Filmon, Premier of the Canadian Province of Manitoba.
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