Issued by: Ministry for the Public Service and Administration
STATEMENT BY DR ZOLA SKWEYIYA, MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION REGARDING THE ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
23 FEBRUARY 1996
The President in his opening address to Parliament provided a glimpse of the Government's commitment to a streamlined, efficient and transparent Public Service. An important aspect in achieving this objective, is to redefine the role of key players within the Public Service system.
The Government has accordingly taken stock of the historically accumulated functions concentrated in the Public Service Commission, as well as the demands from many quarters for the unbundling of the wide-ranging executive functions of the Commission. The creation of the Ministry for the Public Service and Administration and the changed system of governance since 27 April 1994 also required a greater degree of managerial autonomy and responsibility on the part of Ministers and departments.
At the advice of a joint working group formed by the Minister and the Public Service Commission, Government has decided to redefine the role and functions of the Public Service Commission by -
This new model, which was approved by Cabinet on 21 February 1996, favours increased managerial autonomy and responsibility, whereby only broad policy frameworks are set nationally and all day to day executive functions are left to Ministers and the heads of department.
The Public Service Commission will no longer be involved in the day to day administration of departments and primarily perform an advisory function to promote sound administration, as well as fulfill an important monitoring role. To monitor effec- tively, the Commission will be enabled through legislation to inspect, investigate and evaluate public administration and management in departments. The Commission will also serve as an independent body of recourse and review for public servants.
All policy matters relating to INTER ALIA human resource practices, conditions of service, labour relations, organisation development and information technology will be placed with the Minister for the Public Service and Administration. On the other hand, all executive powers relating to career incidents of public servants, organisational structures and post establishments of departments will be exercised by Ministers and their departments. This includes career incidents such as recruitment, advertising, selection, appointment, promotion, transfer, secondment, placement, retirement, discharge and misconduct and internal organisational functions such as organisational structures, creation of posts, abolition of posts and the allocation and transfer of functions. All these executive powers will be performed subject to the national policy in this regard as is to be laid down by the Minister for the Public Service and Administration.
The necessary amendments to existing legislation to give effect to the envisaged new roles of the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, the Public Service Commission and Ministers and their departments will receive priority attention and will be finalised during the current session of Parliament.
I sincerely believe that this initiative of Government will pave the way for the transformation of the Public Service, as envisaged in the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service, towards a more efficient and effective Public Service. It will empower Ministers and their heads of department to manage their departments more effectively and will ultimately lead to a better quality service delivery to all South Africans.
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