1. INTRODUCTION

The organisational aspect of the rationalisation of public administration had as its object the design and implementation of a comprehensive new array of departments, offices and services for the performance of government functions at both national and provincial level. The Constitutional injunction in this respect was clear: all institutions performing governmental functions under the control of the governments (excluding local governments) of the former Republic of South Africa, the TBVC states and the self-governing territories were to be rationalised in order to establish effective administrations at the national level of the new state and in each of the nine new provinces.

2. SCOPE

It is difficult to conceive of a task of larger proportions in public administration than that of erecting a comprehensive new structure of administrative institutions for the performance of state functions at the first and second levels of government. The modern state has assumed responsibility for a multitude of diverse functions all aimed at ensuring a safe and orderly existence for its people, as well as promoting their general well-being. In a developing country like South Africa, the development process itself places substantial additional demands on the State. The functions performed by governmental institutions include all those activities which are of fundamental importance to the existence of the State and the quality of life to which its inhabitants can realistically aspire.

The rationalisation of the existing institutional structures presented a daunting challenge. In its pre-rationalised state, South Africa was served by 15 major administrations, made up of the central administration of the Republic of South Africa, its four long-standing provincial administrations (Transvaal, Natal, Orange Free State and Cape Province), the administrations of four states regarded as independent (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei) and the administrations of the six self-governing territories (Lebowa, Gazankulu, Kangwane, KwaNdebele, KwaZulu and Qwa-Qwa). Each of the 15 major administrations was divided into a varying number of departments and other organisational components. Most of the departments in the 15 administrations were further subdivided into regional offices, sub-offices and other institutions.

Immediately before the commencement of the Interim Constitution, the15 administrations consisted of some 195 departments, distributed as indicated in the accompanying table.

The Interim Constitution stipulated a central administration and nine provincial administrations. In effect, 15 existing administrations, made up of I 95 departments and other organisational components, had to be fitted into ten new administrations, with a redetermined departmentalised structure. This would be a massive and technically involved exercise, requiring the division, re-assignment and combination of a great number of existing components.

An example taken from the health field adequately illustrates the technica complexity of the rationalisation of institutional structures to comply with the 34 Interim Constitution. In the new Northern Province, the existing health departments of Venda and the self-governing territories of Lebowa and Gazankulu, together with the existing regional organisations of the Transvaal Department of Hospital Services and the national Department of Health, had to be consolidated into a single new provincial health department. From the perspective of the new provinces, this was a problem of amalgamation. However, from the perspective of the former Transvaal Provincial Administration, the problem was fundamentally different, i.e. one of division. The Transvaal province had been broken up by the Interim Constitution and apportioned to four new provinces: Gauteng, Northern Province, North West Province and Mpumalanga. In consequence, the Transvaal Department of Hospital Services had to be correspondingly dismantled and apportioned to four new provincial health departments. This applied to both line functions and supporting or staff functions. A great many similar situations had to be addressed in the reorganisation process.

Achieving a substantial reduction in the large number of departments and other organisational components referred to above presented a particular problem, especially in those new provinces which had to absorb territory and government services from one or more of the erstwhile TBVC states and self-governing territories. The Eastern Cape Province, for example, had to absorb the territories and many of the services of the former Transkei and Ciskei. As indicated above, the two states had a combined total of 38 departments, each department headed by a Director-General and with its own top management echelon. By contrast, the new consolidated provincial administration would have some ten departments and a single Director-General.

However, the most fundamental technical problem to be addressed in redesigning the machinery of government at national and provincial levels would be the division of functions and powers in line with the Constitutional directives. The negotiated solution to this extremely sensitive issue, as built into the Constitution, linked functions to legislative powers. Simply stated, each level of government would perform functions in line with its Constitutionally assigned legislative competence. This measure would also apply in the assignment of existing laws to the provinces for administration, a matter dealt with fully in a separate chapter of this report. A less problematic factor, but still to be brought into the reckoning in the deployment of functions, was the provision made in the Constitution for the delegation of powers to provincial executives in terms of laws administered at the national level of government.

The provinces were empowered by the Constitution to make laws regulating matters falling within the functional areas stipulated in a schedule to the Constitution. Twenty-nine such functional areas were listed, but the provincial legislative competence was qualified by a provision that an Act of Parliament would prevail over a provincial law in certain important respects. These Parliamentary overrides are dealt with more fully in Chapter 3 of this report.

In considering the problem of the division of functions and associated legislative and executive competences, it is necessary to bear in mind that in the dispensation brought about by the Interim Constitution, many major functions of the State could not be neatly or readily sorted into either the "national" or "provincial" category. The national overriding competences, although circumscribed and limited by the Interim Constitution, implied that in functions like agriculture, education, health, welfare, and many more, certain aspects of a function would have to be performed at national level, leaving the rest of the function to be performed at provincial level. At the risk of over-simplification5 the national overrides would apply mainly in the areas of policy (especially as regards norms and standards), overall planning, and essential national co-ordination; the actual delivery of services to the public would be done by the provinces. However, the exact content of the functional aspects to be dealt with by national departments was not spelt out by the Interim Constitution. A workable and acceptable deployment of what, essentially, were integrated functions, would require careful functional analysis, interpretation of the Constitutional language on overrides and, in many instances, agreement on lines of demarcation between political office-holders at national and provincial level.

A very practical problem of government reorganisation on the scale required by the Conshtubon arose from the essentially dynamic nature of the reorganisation process. A living structure or organism, vast and incredibly diversified, had to be changed into a radically different structure, without causing the demise of any essential part of the organism. In other words, while the drafting and discussion of new organograms was taking place; existing components were being variously dismantled and combined; new lines of command and reporting were being established; post establishments were being redetermined (often with substantial reductions) - all this was taking place over an extended period of time - the delivery of essential services to the public had to continue with the least possible disruption.

The task of recreating an acceptable institutional structure at both national and provincial levels should also be viewed against the background of the many roleplayers involved and the need to achieve consensus among them. Reorganisation would arguably have been easier if a single institution, possibly a reorganisation commission, had been clothed with the authority to determine and enforce a new organisational structure. However, such an approach was completely out of the question. While a neutral institution like the Commission could show the way, no new structure would be implemented unless it enjoyed sufficient support at both political and senior administrative level, and in addition would be tolerable to the employee organisations representing staff earmarked to man such a structure. Increasingly too, the committees of Parliament and of the provincial legislatures had come to interest themselves in the evolving new dispensation, and to take positions on the structures to be implemented.

However daunting it may be, the technical aspect of extensive government reorgan~sabon is never more important than the human aspect. Inevitably, reorganisation would affect the careers, lives, hopes and aspirations of many thousands of people. From an employee perspective, talk of rationalisation invariably raises the prospect of significant numbers of people being found redundant and retrenched. Clearly, the reorganisation process would need to be especially sensitive to the human factor, without compromising the essentially objective and impersonal nature of the organisational decisions to be taken.

Despite its magnitude, organisational rationalisation had to be carried through in the shortest period of time possible. The Constitutional injunction specifically stated that the erstwhile institutions had to be rationalised into effective new administrations at national and provincial level as soon as possible. The Constitution further provided that, in terms of an Act to be passed by Parliament, the Labour Appeal Court Sitting As A Special Tribunal would be competent to adjudicate any claim or dispute of right arising from rationalisation. Such an Act was passed by Parliament and assented to by the President in duly 1995, setting 27 April 1996 as the final date for claims and disputes to be lodged with the Labour Appeal Court. Although this date was to be extended, it was clearly the intention of the Constitution writers and the newly elected Parliament that rationalisation was to be completed at the earliest possible date. It should be noted that for claims and disputes of right to arise, staffing first had to take place, but that staffing could not be proceeded with until the new organisational structures were in place.

The urgency surrounding the rationalisation process was self-evident: the rationalisation of institutions is inherently destabilising, invariably associated with a degree of disruption of operations, and always causing uncertainty amongst the affected staff. Given the need to rationalise, there was a concomitant need to do so as quickly as possible.

3. EXECUTION

3.1 The role-players

The Interim Constitution stipulated that the responsibility for the rationalisation of the erstwhile governmental institutions would rest primarily, but not exclusively, with the national government. The national government was required to discharge this responsibility in co-operation with the provincial governments and the Commission on Provincial Government, and with due regard to the advice of the Public Service Commission. Special arrangements were stipulated in the case of policing services and military forces, such arrangements not including a role for the Commission. As far as the internal rationalisation of the new provincial administrations was concerned, the primary responsibility was vested by the Constitution in the respective provincial governments, with due regard to the advice of the Public Service Commission and the provincial service commission, should one have been established. The Constitution made no mention of the internal rationalisation of the new national departments. Presumably, the primary responsibility in this case would rest with the national Minister concerned, who would be required to obtain, as and where necessary, the advice or a formal recommendation of the Commission.

The Commission saw its role as pro-active and thus took the lead in giving form and direction to the rationalisation process. As regards the internal rationalisation of the new provincial administrations, the Commission took the position that it would advise a provincial government up to the point at which a decision was taken on the basic departmentalisation of the provincial administration. Beyond that point, the advisory role could, in the Commission's view, be taken over by the provincial service commission, should one have been established. In the event of a provincial service commission not having been established, the Commission would continue in its advisory role for as long as was necessary. Political office-holders engaged strategic management teams at both national and provincial level to assist them in taking effective charge of their portfolios.

3.2 The general approach

Theoretically viewed, a comprehensive new organisational structure for the national administration and the nine new provincial administrations could have been developed in full detail down to the last of rice and section, cleared with all interested parties, and implemented in full on a predetermined, convenient date. In practice, however, such an approach would have been impossible and would probably have resulted in a massive dislocation of services to the public. The task was simply too large and complex, the time too short, and the compelling need to maintain services too strong, for it to be accomplished in this way. A workable approach to organisational rationalisation had to be devised.

After thorough consideration, the Commission decided that to bring about a fully rationalised structure of national departments and provincial administrations as quickly as possible, while at the same time containing as far as possible the almost inevitable disruption of operations, a phased approach would have to be followed.

Organisational rationalisation would commence with the formal establishment of the national departments, offices and services decided upon by the Government of National Unity, as well as nine new provincial administrations. This would constitute the first phase of rationalisation, and would be accomplished on proclamation of the new Public Service Act. Indeed, all the national departments, offices and services, as well as the nine provincial administrations, would be identified by name in the appropriate schedules to the Act. The Act would provide each new component with one post, that of its head, with the designation "DirectorGeneral" or other appropriate title. Each of the new components would, to start with, be an "empty shell", to be filled as the rationalisation process proceeded. A new component would be activated on the filling of its head post, either by way of a fixed or acting appointment. The new departments, administrations and other components constituting the major administrative units of the new dispensation, would thus be in place at the earliest possible date, and be able to receive organisational modules, post establishments, staff and other resources on relocation from the structures of the previous dispensation.

In the second phase, existing organisational components, consisting of departments or parts of departments, would be relocated as whole units to the new departments, of rices and services at national level, and the new administrations at provincial level. The functional content of an existing component could accord with or differ in various degrees from the Constitutionally determined functional content of the new components established in the first phase. However, the immediate objective would be to place all existing components, together with post establishments, staff and resources, where they fitted best in the emerging new organisational structures. Where the functional content of an existing component could be related to two or more new conmponents, placement would be decided on the preponderance ot an existing component's activities. To illustrate: a department of Agriculture of a homeland would go to the appropriate provincial administration even though a (smaller) part of its function belonged with the national Department of Agriculture under the new dispensation. The all-encompassing initial relocation of components in this phase would take place on the same date.

The third phase of organisational rationalisation would commence immediately after the second, and would in essence consist of a refinement of the initial placement of components. Components found on investigation to be wrongly placed would be moved to the correct new organisational locus. A component with a functional content Appropriately constituted in terns of the Constitutional directives would be dismantled into sub-components, each corresponding functionally to a new component, and the various sub-components then appropriately relocated. There was no reason why all such refinements should take place on the same date. Implementation would therefore take place over a period of tinge as consensus was reached between the relinquishing and receiving authorities.

With all organisational components from the erstwhile governmental structures correctly assigned to the new departments, offices and services at national level and the new administrations at provincial level, the final phase of organisational rationalisation would be entered. This would consist of the de novo designing of an effective organisational structure for each national department, office and service and each provincial administration, and the rationalisation of each new institutions "inherited' components into its new structure. Implementation of an institution's new organisational structure would take place as soon as the required work had been completed and the necessary authorities obtained. It was foreseen that phases three and four could overlap. Where an institution's new organisational structure had been implemented, the late relocation of an inappropriately located component from the previous dispensation would still be possible, with the organisational structure being adjusted accordingly.

In considering the placement of organisational components, the Connnission had to ensure that two basic requirements were satisfied:

• The placement had to be in line, as best the Commission could judge, with the Constitutional stipulations concerning the assignment of powers and functions to the national and provincial levels of government.
• The recipient institution had to be administratively and managerially in a position to accept the component.

3.3 Preparation

Organisational rationalisation was preceded by substantial preparatory work, which had commenced some time before the commencement of the Interim Constitution. This enabled the Commission to proceed with this aspect of rationalisation soon after the political executives at national and provincial level had assumed office.

The departmentalisation model for the national level of government suggested the creation of 30 departments, offices and services covering the full spectrum of functions to be performed under direction of the national government. In respect of each of the 30 major components a succinct statement of core functions was provided, together with a list of all existing parastatal bodies bearing a functional relationship to the particular component. The format used in the model is illustrated in Annexure C to this report, using the proposed Department of Agriculture as an example. The identification and description of functions was checked with experts in the field, and adjusted in the light of their comments.

In the case of the provincial level of government, the departmentalisation model contained a so-called "full scenario" as well as a "reduced scenario". These options were built into the provincial model because of the marked differences in population and other appropriate statistical measures between the various new provinces, which would influence the size of their respective provincial administrations. A further consideration in developing the options was the provision in the Constitution setting the number of Members of the Executive Council of a province at a maximum of ten, implying that a Premier could choose to appoint a smaller number. The "full scenario" provided for 14 provincial departments and of rices. Information on functions was presented in a format similar to that employed in the national model; no particulars of functionally related parastatals were, however, included due to the incompleteness of the Commission's data base. The functional content of a proposed provincial department is reflected in Annexure D to this report. Agriculture has again been used as an example. The "reduced scenario" provided for ten provincial departments and of rices, the reduction being accomplished by the combination of certain departments and offices appearing in the "full scenario".

A document closely related to the departmentalisation models was developed containing a suggested allocation of functions to the national and provincial levels of government. This document provided information on functions, without attempting an ordering of functions into departments, services and offices. It consisted of two parts, one providing information on functions (and functional content) appropriate to the national level and the other to the provincial level of government.

As a further part of the Commission's preparatory work, a database was developed containing information on the organisational structures and post establishments of all departments, offices and services under the direct control of the governments of the erstwhile Republic of South Africa, the TBVC states and the self-governing territories. The database could not be fully completed because of the lack of records in certain of the homelands. However, a reliability factor in the region of 90% was achieved. Using the information in the database, a sorting exercise was carried out in which every existing organisational component, with its approved post establishment, was assigned as accurately as possible to a new national department or new provincial administration on the basis of its functional content or preponderance of functional content. The results of the sorting exercise were consolidated into a comprehensive document which was subsequently used as a manual in the actual relocation of components.

3.4 Relocation of components

The formal relocation of organisational components from the old institutional structure into the new commenced on I July 1994. On this date, the Commission conveyed its formal recommendations to each national Minister and each provincial Premier for the movement of organisational components, posts and staff to the respective national departments, services and offices, and the provincial administrations. In effect, the new organisational "shells" (departments, etc.) which had come into being with the proclamation of the Public Service Act, 1994 were filled, albeit imperfectly because of the approach that had been decided upon.

The written communications addressed to Ministers and Premiers in July I 994 set the pattern and laid down the procedure for the completion of the rationalisation process. Although each communication was worded to fit the particular executive and administrative environment, it followed a more or less standard format:

• A Commission recommendation in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994, was conveyed for -
• (a) the transfer of identified functions to the recipient institution;
• (b) the formal abolition of the existing organisational components and concomitant posts provided for the performance of the functions and forming part of the pre-rationalised institutional structure; and
• (c) the formal creation of corresponding organisational components and concomitant posts in the organisation of the recipient institution.
  "Organisational component" is used here in a generic sense, including a whole department, a branch, office or section, or any other class of component. At the same time, a Commission recommendation was conveyed for the transfer of all serving staff manning the organisational components in question to the service of the recipient institution, with an indication that the Commission would be issuing directives in due course concerning the absorption of staff in the organisational structures to be developed for the new departments, offices and services, and the provincial administrations.
• Each recipient was informed of the possibility that the functions and components being transferred might contain functions, or aspects of functions, and associated components, which in terms of the Constitution belonged with another institution or even another level of government, and that any such function and component would be moved to the appropriate location in a subsequent phase. Likewise, recipients were requested to note the possibility of further transfers being made to them.
• Each recipient was requested to submit, in consultation with the Commission's Office, proposals regarding the rationalisation of the organisational structure of the institution entrusted to him or her, including the formulation of purposes and functions for the institution as a whole, as well as for each of its constituent parts.
• Each recipient was further requested to
• (a) give consideration to the activation of an implementation team or teams to facilitate the transfer of components, posts, personnel and funds; and
• (b) ensure that complete establishment records for the new institution were created.
• Where necessary, arrangements were mandated for the provision of agency services, particularly in the area of supporting or staff functions, by relinquishing institutions releasing staff to recipient institutions, and vice versa, for an interim period, until rationalisation could be finalised.
• Recipients were further informed that matters pertaining to accountability and related financial matters would be addressed by the Department of State Expenditure in a separate communication. Should system, structural or administrative problems be foreseen which, if implementation was not postponed, could lead to a substantial weakening or impairment of financial management and administration, the administrative head of the institution could communicate with the Commission concerning a postponement of the generally applicable date of implementation (1 July 1 994).

The Commission received and, after consultation with the Department of State Expenditure, granted requests from five departments and one service at the national level of government for the postponement of the date of implementation of the initial relocation of functions and components to them.

Steps to refine the initial relocation of functions and organisational components followed immediately after I July 1994. A large number of investigations were required in this connection, encompassing eighteen major functions of the State, including agriculture, education, health, finance, home affairs, justice, labour and water affairs, and eight other functions either linked to or supporting major functions.

The follow-up investigations were focused chiefly on achieving the correct placement of functions and components between the national and provincial levels of government. As it was apparent that the new political office-holders would be involved in the resolution of placement issues, the Commission's document on the suggested allocation of functions to the national and provincial levels of government had been made available to all Ministers and Premiers in June 1994.

At the end of July 1994, the Commission approached Cabinet requesting a decision that Ministers with responsibilities impacting on the functional areas assigned to provinces by the Interim Constitution initiate discussions between themselves and the relevant Members of the Executive Councils, aimed at reaching consensus on the allocation of functions, or aspects thereof, between the national and provincial levels of government. The Cabinet decided accordingly in August 1994. This initiative of the Commission was bolstered by a decision taken by the Intergovernmental Forum in the same month, requiring the setting up of ministerial forums for the various functions, to accord priority attention to the assignment of political executive powers for the administration of existing laws to the provinces.

The follow-up investigations differed in scope and involved work of varying degrees of complexity. In a number of cases, functions performed by the independent and self-governing homelands were clearly of a national character, and had to be relocated with national departments. Such investigations were relatively straightforward. The more difficult investigations concerned the separating out from major functions like agriculture, education and health of the aspects appropriate to each of the two levels. Resulting from such an investigation, a series of relocation actions could become necessary, often consisting of the movement of functions and organisational components from one or more provincial administrations to a national department or, conversely, from a national department to the new provincial administrations. Some major relocations involved the decentralisation of service delivery to the provinces, notably in the agriculture, education and health functions. Possibly the most difficult investigations concerned the breaking up of the head office corporate structures of the former Transvaal and Cape provincial administrations' and the relocation of pro-rata resources to four new administrations in the case of the former, and three new administrations in the case of the latter. These resources included human resources, fixed and moveable assets, as well as financial resources.

The volume of investigatory work to be done was beyond the capacity of the Commission and its Office. Extensive use was therefore made of joint investigation teams consisting of officials of the affected national departments and provincial administrations, with officials from the Commission's Office acting as facilitators, advisers and, quite often, as referees. The Commission consulted widely with relevant parties and obtained agreement in order for it to furnish a formal recommendation for the movement of functions and components. The modus operandi followed in the case of the Cape Provincial Administration for example was that a team comprising officials of all the affected administrations advised on the division of all resources and the three Directors-General concluded an agreement on the division of all resources. This division was then formalised by the necessary recommendations. An out of the ordinary example was the transfer of the Grootfontein Agricultural College to the Northern Cape Provincial Administration, although it was actually situated within the boundaries of the Eastern Cape. This matter has still to be finalised by the two provinces.

The programme of follow-up investigations occupied the second half of 1994 and the best part of 1995. By the end of 1995, the relocation of functions and components had, with a few minor exceptions, been completed.

3.5 New organisational structures

The final phase of organisational rationalisation consisted of the development and implementation of organisational structures for each new national department, office and service, and each of the nine provincial administrations. This phase proceeded somewhat differently at the national and provincial levels and the two levels are discussed separately in the following paragraphs.

3.5.1 National level

3.5.1.1 The Presidency

The staffing of these Offices was purely interim and thus the expectation was that they would be reconstructed at a later stage. The functional content of these Of rices, the shape of the organisation, and the size of the post establishment are ordinarily influenced by the personality and role orientation of the incumbent. The earliest new organisational structures instituted at the national level of government on the recommendation of the Commission were those of the Office of the President and the Offices of the two Executive Deputy Presidents. During the period June 1994 to March 1996, the Commission attended to the Office of the President on eight occasions and variously to the Offices of the Executive Deputy Presidents on 13 occasions, furnishing a series of formal recommendations for the adjustment of the organisational structures and/or post establishments of the respective Offices.

3.5.1.2 National departments

The design of new organisational structures, and the associated determination of post establishments, was a major task for all the new departments, offices and services. The work to be done encompassed not only the head office organisation and establishment, but also every regional of rice and other outlying institution. In the case of large departments performing nationally placed functions and with extensive regional organisations, like Home Affairs, Labour, and Water Affairs and Forestry, the task assumed large proportions, bearing in mind the urgency attached to it. The task was complicated by the number, size and diversity of the components from the old dispensation to be accommodated and rationalised in the new structure.

There was no way in which the Commission, with a complement of less than 20 organisation and work study advisers at its disposal, could itself undertake the total task of determining organisational structures and post establishments for the new departments, offices and services. It was decided therefore to invite the new institutions to submit proposals for the Commission's consideration. The Commission's experts were made available to assist with the development of proposals. Where an institution did not have the technical capacity to develop organisation and establishment proposals and requested assistance, the Commission assigned an official or team to carry out an investigation and formulate proposals for the Commission's consideration. This was done in the case of the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, the Department of Sport and Recreation, and the Office for Public Enterprises.

Through the activities and contacts of its officials, the Commission was involved throughout in the development of organisation and establishment proposals for national departments and similar institutions. The Commission's officials were required to keep the Commission abreast of developments and to raise particular problems with the Commission for its guidance. The Commission had direct discussions with numerous Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Directors-General. The Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Directors-General were variously assisted by ministerial advisers, senior officials, and members of strategic management teams.

The magnitude of the task, and the short time span in which it had to be completed, rendered it impossible for the Commission to attend in detail to every aspect of every institution's proposed new organisation and establishment. A measure of suboptimalisation was clearly called for, and the Commission resolved to ensure broad compliance with certain basic criteria rather than to insist on a high degree of precision. The usage was long established for the Commission to concern itself more particularly with the management echelon (top four grades) of the public service, and the Commission decided that this would be its main focus.

3.5.1.3 Criteria applied at national level

In considering the proposals of departments, offices and services, the Commission applied the following criteria:

• The organisational structure had to accord with the Constitutionally determined distribution of functions between the national and provincial levels of government.
• There needed to be a logical grouping of functions and sub-functions in the structure, with a satisfactory balance between line functions, and between line functions and staff functions.
• The linking of regional organisations with the head office organisation had to make good sense in organisational and managerial terms.
• Functions were not to overlap and no functions not clearly mandated for the particular institution were to be provided for.
• The policy directives of the Government of National Unity contained in the White Paper on Reconstruction and Development were to be reflected in the deployment of organisational resources. Of particular importance was the White Paper's insistence on the containment of the size of the public service, while redeploying resources to the areas of greatest and most urgent need.
• * Because of the assumed advantages of consolidating previously fragmented structures, the proposed post establishment should be smaller than the initially amalgamated establishments (phases two and three of organisational rationalisation). This applied particularly to the management echelon.
• The post establishment proposed should reflect an acceptable span of control between supervisory and supervised posts throughout the entire organisational structure.
• There needed to be evidence of the proper processing of proposals, with proposals being submitted to the Commission under the signature of the head of the institution.

3.5.1.4 Communication with national departments

On 1 July 1994, each national Minister had been requested by the Commission to submit, in consultation with the Commission's Office, proposals regarding the rationalisation of the organisational structure of the institution or institutions entrusted to him or her. On numerous occasions subsequently, the Commission communicated with the Directors-General or other administrative heads of departments, offices and services, asking them to expedite the submission of proposals. At the request of the Commission, the Minister for the Public Service and Administration similarly impressed on his colleagues the urgency of finalising the new organisational structures. The Commission placed its staff at the disposal of departments to assist with the formulation of proposals.

It took somewhat longer than anticipated for proposals on new organisational structures to reach the Commission. The first such proposal reached the Commission in September 1994, the last in April 1996. Most institutions found it convenient to submit proposals in two steps, the first set of proposals dealing with the management echelon and the second with the remaining part of the structure. In some instances, the second set of proposals included adjustments to the proposals initially made and already dealt with by the Commission. Having considered a set of proposals submitted to it, the Commission furnished a recommendation for the organisation and establishment it considered to be justified. At the same time, the existing organisational structure and post establishment was abolished. Because of the involvement of the Commission and its Office in the process of the development of proposals, the recommendations finally made by the Commission to a large extent reflected agreement already informally reached with departments. However, in a number of cases, the Commission continued to differ from departments, especially in regard to the containment of the post establishment.

With one or two exceptions, organisational rationalisation at the national level of government had largely been completed at the end of April 1996.

3.5.2 Provincial level

The general approach to organisational rationalisation devised by the Commission for the national level of government applied equally to the provincial level. However, there were significant differences arising from the particular Constitutional status of the provinces and the position of the new provincial administrations within a single, unified public service.

3.5.2.1 The Premier and Provincial Director-General

Having been cast by the Constitution in the role of adviser on rationalisation to the provincial governments, the Commission interpreted its role in a holistic sense as one focused on each individual government. Its advice on a specific provincial administration would, at the political level, be addressed to the provincial government, headed by the Premier. A few requests concerning the rationalisation of provincial departments which were received from MEC's were therefore channelled back to the provincial authorities for integration into a co-ordinated set of proposals for the provincial administration as a whole. The situation differed from that obtaining at the national level of government, where the Commission engaged directly in discussions with individual Ministers and Deputy Ministers.

At the administrative level, the protocol to be observed by the Commission in its relations with a provincial administration was even clearer. For purposes of the application of the Public Service Act, 1994, a provincial administration was a single, composite administrative unit with the same status as a national department. Indeed, in terms of the Act, a provincial administration was a department. The Act further specified the head of a provincial administration as being its DirectorGeneral. The Commission was therefore formally bound, in its dealings with a provincial administration, to communicate through its Director-General.

3.5.2.2 The Public Service Commission and Provincial Service Commissions

The Commission's role in organisational rationalisation at provincial level was further substantially influenced by the establishment of provincial service commissions. Although the establishment of service commissions was a prerogative of the respective provincial authorities, they had been provided for in the Interim Constitution, and their establishment was to be expected. This likely development would not affect the Commission's role as adviser on rationalisation to the provincial governments, but would affect its role as the maker of formal recommendations for the creation of organisational structures and post establishments. In the event, the Commission made formal recommendations only in respect of the Gauteng and Northern Cape Provincial Administrations, this role being fulfilled by the newly established provincial service commissions in respect of the other provincial administrations.

3.5.2.3 The Top Management Model

The creation of organisational structures and post establishments for the new provincial administrations was substantially influenced by the top management model inherent in a provincial administration's status as a department for purposes of the application of the Public Service Act, as well as by the Constitutional requirement that, should a provincial service commission be established, such a commission would be bound by norms and standards applying nationally. The Commission developed a top management model to fit the particular political executive and administrative structure pertaining to a provincial administration.

The model acknowledged the Director-General as the corporate administrative head in overall charge of the administrative activities of the province, reporting to the Premier and the Executive Council. The heads of provincial departments and offices were each fully responsible for the administration of their institutions but were required to act in stipulated administrative matters in accordance with delegated powers generally applicable throughout the provincial administration. In line function matters, a head of a provincial department or office liaised directly, in other words not via the Director-General, and, as necessary, with his or her political office-holder, i.e. the Premier or other Member of the Executive Council. The Commission considered that the new provincial administrations would require effective co-ordination and management at top administrative level, especially during what was bound to be a difficult period of transition, and that this need could best be supplied by the management model which had been developed.

The top management model was fully documented and made available to all provincial Premiers and Directors-General. It was later augmented with a comprehensive addendum fully explaining the question of accountability to the provincial legislatures in terms of the model. Formal, overall accountability was seen as vesting in the Director-General, with each head of a provincial department or office being managerially responsible and accountable for his particular part of the provincial budget.

A number of provincial legislatures adopted exchequer Acts modelled on the Exchequer Act applicable at national level, and which vested or opened the way for the vesting of accountability in the heads of provincial departments and offices. A fundamental difference arose in the parallel application of the top management model (which dealt with administrative processes) and the models derived from the Exchequer Acts (which dealt with financial accountability). The Commission pointed out to the provincial Directors-General and the provincial service commissions that, where such an arrangement was in place, Directors-General would not be directly involved in financial administration.

The organisational implication of the top management model was that the DirectorGeneral would occupy a unique place in the structure of a provincial administration. An abbreviated organogram depicting the position of the DirectorGeneral in relation to the Premier, the Members of Executive Council, and the heads of department is contained in Annexure E to this report. It is important to emphasise that the Top Management Model was an interim arrangement to grant Premiers the flexibility to manage the provinces until the rationalisation of departments was accomplished.

3.5.2.4 Chapter J

As soon as a provincial service commission was established in a province, the Commissions role in organisation and establishment matters in respect of the province concerned would be taken over by its service commission. As the new public service would be a unified whole, it was necessary to ensure an acceptable degree of uniformity in the actions of the various provincial service commissions.

The Interim Constitution recognised the need for uniformity by stipulating that a provincial service commission would be subject to norms and standards applying nationally. Immediately after the commencement of the new dispensation, the Commission acted to set in place the required norms and standards concerning organisational and establishment matters. This was accomplished by the addition of a new chapter (Chapter J) to the revised Public Service Regulations, issued by the President on the recommendation of the Commission in dune 1994.

Chapter J of the Public Service Regulations contains a number of principles and certain other provisions regulating organisational and establishment matters throughout the public service that are applicable equally to national departments and provincial administrations. An annexure to the Chapter, which is applicable only to provincial administrations, contains norms and standards which set certain limits to the post establishments of the administrations. There is a global limit restricting a provincial administration's expenditure on the salaries of its public servants to 55% of its total annual expenditure budget, and a specific limit restricting the number of posts which a provincial administration can create in the four management grades of Director, Chief Director, Deputy Director-General and Superintendent-General (equivalent to Director-General). The number of management posts was calculated taking into account geographic area, total population, gross geographic product and per capita income.

The prescribed norms regulating the number and grades of managerial posts had a pervasive influence on the design of departmentalised organisational structures for the provincial administrations. The departments and offices of a provincial administration had to be set up and structured internally within the constraints of the number of managerial posts allowed to the province. Posts in the management echelon had to be apportioned to provincial departments in relation to their size and managerial complexity. As a result, the number of managerial posts and the grading of head posts differed between departments of the same provincial administration, and between similarly designated departments of different provincial administrations. The Commission advised provincial administrations not to use their full provision of posts initially, but to keep some in reserve, and to determine their departmentalised structures in such a manner that each department would be headed by an official on a grade not lower than that of Chief Director.

4 CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS

The constraints imposed on the new provincial administrations by Chapter J of the Regulations, and specifically the annexure to the Chapter, were challenged by some of the provinces. The Commission noted these concerns while at the same time recognising the imperative of an orderly administration of the public service. The Commission urged the provincial administrations to design their organisational structures in accordance with the post provision, assuring them from the outset that the provision was an initial one and would be revised in the light of experience gained with the building of the new structures. To accommodate the concerns, the mechanism was adjusted on two occasions to exclude certain categories of posts from the maximum provision (thus setting free more posts for utilisation in other areas). A comprehensive revision was undertaken in the first half of 1995, with the full co-operation and involvement of the provincial service commissions and the provincial Directors-General. The revised mechanism for determining the maximum provision of managerial posts for each province was cleared with the Intergovernmental Forum, and implemented by way of an amendment of the Public Service Regulations in June 1995. The revised mechanism was in general well received by the provincial authorities.

The approach followed by the Commission in the development and consideration of proposals for the creation of organisational structures and post establishments for the provincial administrations was similar to that activated at the national level of government. Each provincial administration was required to develop its own set of proposals for submission to the Commission, while the Commission would make available experienced officials in its Office to assist with and advise on the development of proposals. The Commission expected the provincial DirectorsGeneral to play a leading role in the development and co-ordination of proposals, and insisted that proposals be cleared with the Executive Councils before being submitted to the Commission for its formal consideration and advice, as required by the Constitution.

As was the case with the national departments, the formulation of organisation and establishment proposals by the provincial administrations took somewhat longer than had been anticipated. All the provincial administrations availed themselves of the services of the advisers which the Commission had made available from its Office, but to differing degrees. The Commission from time to time communicated with the provincial authorities, either directly or through the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, urging them to submit their proposals for consideration. Particular emphasis was placed on the importance of finalising the broad departmentalised structures of the provincial administrations. This was an essential step towards appointing the heads of the provincial departments and offices who, in the Commission's view, had an important role to play in the further development and refinement of the organisational structures. The first set of proposals reached the Commission in duly 1994 and the last in February 1995.

In view of the recent or imminent appointment of provincial service commissions who would see the rationalisation process at provincial level through to completion, it was not necessary for the Commission to consider the proposals of a provincial administration in the same detail as in the case of a national department. The Commission concerned itself particularly with the logic of the proposed departmentalisation, the position of the Director-General, and the provision made for supporting services. The Commission obviously had to check compliance with the provisions of ChapterJ of the Public Service Regulations, but also interested itself in the way in which the permissible managerial posts had been utilised in the organisation. After having studied a provincial administration's proposals and consulted its own advisers, the Commission furnished the provincial administration with its written advice as required by the Constitution, for submission to the provincial government. Where the necessary particulars were available for it to do so, and a provincial service commission was not yet in position, the Commission conveyed to the provincial administration its formal recommendations in terms of the Public Service Act for the creation of a new organisational structure and post establishment.

The Commission advised provincial administrations to consider the establishment of a department of auxiliary or corporate services, charged with the performance of certain key supporting functions, especially personnel, finance and provisioning administration, for all the departments of the provincial administration. If necessary, components of such an auxiliary services department could be detached to the various operating departments while still constituting a single organisational and administrative unit. The Commission felt that an auxiliary services department would fit in well with the top management model discussed above, and would offer a provincial administration the best chance of the optimal performance of the functions in question. Some provincial administrations heeded the advice of the Commission, some did not.

4.1 Size of the Public Service

Within a week of its appointment in May 1994, the Commission approached the Cabinet regarding the size of the public service, indicating that the Commission regarded it as essential that strict control should be maintained over the creation or upgrading of posts during the time in which the rationalisation of public administration was to take place. The Commission further advised Cabinet that the filling of posts should be made subject to certain criteria. The Commission argued that the proposed measures were necessary to enable the Commission to co-ordinate the rationalisation process effectively, as well as to obviate as far as possible the occurrence of situations of redundancy. On the recommendation of the Commission, Cabinet approved that the creation or upgrading of posts be made subject to a recommendation of the Commission in respect of posts in the management echelon and to its concurrence in respect of all lower graded posts. The Cabinet also approved the Commission's recommendations aimed at ensuring strict control over the filling of posts. Posts were to be filled only where -

• filling was necessitated by statutory requirements;
• public peace and order could be seriously disturbed;
• loss of human life could occur;
• delay in the filling of a post could result in substantial financial losses for the State;
• filling was imperative for the implementation of the Constitution;
• filling was imperative for the implementation of the Reconstruction and Development Programme; or
• exceptional humanitarian reasons existed.

The filling of a post above the level of Assistant Director was to be approved by the political head of a department or administration; below that level it was to be approved by the head of the department or administration. The measures could be waived in specified circumstances related to the rationalisation process and the promotion of greater representativeness in the composition of the public service.

Three months into the new dispensation, questions arose in Cabinet as to the necessity of the post establishment and staffing control measures imposed on departments. In a follow-up memorandum to Cabinet, the Commission maintained its position that the measures were necessary during the rationalisation period. The Commission motivated its position on the following key points:

• It was a national objective to strive for a lean public service.
• Although substantial autonomy was envisaged for the provincial administrations, it was essential to maintain overall control of the size of the public service.
• Employment capacity arising from the control measures could contribute in a cost effective way to the promotion of a more representative public service.
• As the measures were not prohibitive but left room for discretionary decisions to be taken, they were not counter-productive, but indeed supportive of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, obliging departments to redeploy their resources in line with RDP objectives.
• The uncontrolled expansion of post establishments while fundamental organisational rationalisation and restructuring were taking place could lead to costly retrenchments when rationalisation was finalised.

On reconsideration of the matter, Cabinet confirmed the approval it had given in May 1994 for the application of the control measures.

In terms of the post establishment measures, national departments and provincial administrations were required to clear every proposed creation or upgrading of a post, from the highest to the lowest grades, with the Commission. Where the Commission was satisfied that the proposed creation or upgrading was justified, it would furnish a formal recommendation in terms of the Public Service Act in respect of posts in the management echelon, and signify its concurrence in respect of lower graded posts. In the latter case, the department or administration would then be free to create or upgrade a post under delegated powers. Each proposal submitted to the Commission was considered on its merits. In the light of experience gained in administering the establishment measures, the Commission formulated a set of guidelines for departments against which it would judge proposals submitted to it. These guidelines were made known to departments in a general policy directive issued by the Commission in August 1995. The key guidelines were as follows:

• The redeployment of available human resources in line with RDP objectives should be considered before proposing establishment increases.
• A concerted effort should be made to obviate a nett increase in the post establishment by relinquishing posts of equivalent grading for new posts to be created.
• Where a substantial number of posts on the establishment were vacant, the creation of additional posts could hardly be justified. Consideration should be given to the re-allocation of vacant posts to the areas of greatest need.
• Departments should be mindful of the criteria which had to be satisfied in filling vacant posts, as there would be little purpose in creating a post if it could not be filled in the light of the criteria to be applied.

In the period June 1994 to March 1996, close to 500 ad hoc proposals for the creation or upgrading of posts were received by the Commission. The Commission was relatively strict in judging the merits of a proposal, but endeavoured throughout to be fair and consistent. In numerous cases the Commission made the creation of posts conditional upon the department or administration relinquishing a similar number of posts of equivalent grading elsewhere in its organisation. The Commission was in general averse to the ad hoc creation or upgrading of posts in the management echelon, preferring a departments post requirements at managerial level to be determined comprehensively in the process of designing its new organisational structure. Exceptions were, however, made where the Commission was convinced that an additional or upgraded post was urgently required to enable a department to discharge its functional responsibilities.

It is not possible to assess how successful the measures were in containing the growth of the public service over the period in question. A complete record of the amalgamated post establishment of the eleven former public services was not available at the time, and the Commission had no way of monitoring, on a month by month basis, changes in the post establishments of individual departments and administrations. The Commission cannot declare authoritatively that all departments and administrations did, in fact, adhere to the directives of Cabinet and the Commission. The Commission is satisfied that, in respect of those departments and administrations who did, the measures did succeed in restricting the creation or upgrading of posts to that which was essential and, indeed, unavoidable.

5. EVALUATION

The organisational aspect of the rationalisation of South Africa's public administration constituted a task of herculean proportions and of great complexity. The magnitude of the task is largely self-evident, entailing as it did the re-creation of a full array of departments, offices and services at the national level of government, as well as the creation of nine new provincial administrations. Its complexity arose from the very nature of the exercise, in respect of which a number of key factors can be identified: the disintegrated, dispersed and, in some areas, malfunctioning structures inherited from the previous dispensation and which needed to be accommodated in the new structures; the web of statutory and managerial relationships which had to be untangled; the many role-players, at both political and administrative level, who had to be involved in the process and consulted prior to substantial decisions being taken; a fundamentally new and highly sensitive deployment of functions over the national and provincial levels of government; the limiting legal and resource parameters within which the Commission had to fulfil its role; and the urgency attendant on the rationalisation process.

In retrospect, the Commission is satisfied that the approach followed with organisational rationalisation was the best under the circumstances. It was consciously sub-optimal. An optimal approach would have seen the development of comprehensive sets of organograms for the national and provincial levels, complete in every detail; the clearance of such blueprints with all affected parties; and their implementation on a single date. The Commission was, and is, convinced that such an approach would have been doomed to failure. Instead it opted for a phased approach, marked by a degree of organisational untidiness and a number of anomalies until the final structures could be put in place. However, the advantages offered by the phased approach were indisputable: it placed substantial organisational and associated resources under the control of the new political officeholders and administrative heads at the earliest possible date; it provided assurance that the serious dislocation of services would be avoided; it made it possible to show steady progress with rationalisation; and it kept a massive task within manageable proportions.

Organisational rationalisation, when it did commence with the proclamation of the new Public Service Act on 3 June 1994, was immeasurably facilitated by the comprehensive and sound preparatory work which had been done prior to that date.

Developments concerning the provincial administrations, especially the mechanism for limiting the size of provincial post establishments built into Chapter J of the Public Service Regulations and the top management model to fit the political and administrative features of the new administrations, were particularly noteworthy. Both constituted important innovations in the practice of public administration. The real importance of these measures lies in their contribution towards setting in place an accountable framework within which the provincial authorities could administer their respective parts of the country's public service without continual interference from the national level.

The measures introduced to limit post establishments were significant beyond the immediate results produced. They served to focus attention anew on a somewhat neglected area of public administration, and were instrumental in clarifying the need for a comprehensive control system operating on a reliable database.

Organisational rationalisation as described in this chapter was completed in slightly less than two years. Towards the end of the process, some criticism was voiced in political circles and in the media of the time it took to complete the task. There was particular concern about the application of the provision in the Constitution in terms of which persons affected by rationalisation could within a specified period of time submit claims and disputes of right to the Labour Appeal Court for adjudication. At the start of organisational rationalisation, the Commission estimated that it would take at least one year to complete the process. From its unique vantage point, and having been involved in the entire process throughout, the Commission is of the opinion that the completion of this massive task in under two years was a remarkable achievement of the new national and provincial authorities.