Issued by: SA Communication Service
The Chairman of the Presidential Review Commission on the Transformation and Restructuring of the Public Service, Prof Bax Nomvete, today launched the work plan of the Commission.
The Commission was announced by the President in March 1996, with the aim of designing a medium and long term plan for restructuring the public service. In its first three months, the Commission had developed a business plan, identified personnel, and agreed a operating budget of R18.5m. R14.5m of this will be contributed by grants from the governments of Britain, Canada and Sweden.
"The Commission has been established to create the guidelines for building a first class public serhe next century", said Nomvete. "It is not designed to carry out fire-fighting in relations to wage or other short-term problems but create the foundations for the future".
The Commission has sixteen members, of whom four are international. They have identified six key areas for investigation - Departmental structures and functions; performance assessment; policy planning and budgeting; public participation, political and financial accountability; human resources development, and information management and technology. Task teams, each supervised by two to three Commissioners, will carry out necessary research and prepare proposals for the reform and development of the public service.
"The Commissioners will be taking evidence from all interested parties, particularly from departments, provincial and local governments, and will travel throughout the country to find out first hand how the public service can be improved", added Nomvete.
The Commission is expected to provide an interim report by February 1997, and complete its work in September 1997.
14 August 1996