Issued by the Ministry of Public Service and Administration
13 September 2000
RESTRUCTURING OF THE CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
In response to rising personnel costs over the last five years, DPSA revealed the results of its sector-based research and proposed strategies for each differentiated sector for the downward management of personnel expenditure.
This year's negotiations are essentially about restructuring conditions of service of all the public servants. The focus is about ensuring that the conditions of service in particular the package is also beneficial to the lower staff level.
A new wage policy for the public service has been developed, which proposes the streamlining of the allowances and benefits to make them more cost-effective and to increase take-up of pension, housing and medical aid benefits by lower level workers in the public service.
We want to focus on managing benefits, (medical aid, housing and leave) and redesigning remuneration structures (rank and leg ). Most of the work will be done through joint task teams that will generate final detailed proposals.
The application of the Basic Conditions Employment Act variation will go ahead and will be enhanced by progress in negotiations particularly for health and police personnel. Government is insisting that there must be negotiation on exit management framework to regulate retrenchments, explore alternatives but also ultimately guide process of managing redundancies
Information Technology
South Africa has the highest number of Internet connections in Africa; our technology sector is growing fast and we have become exporters of IT skills. Government recognises that IT provides immense opportunities for improving delivery of services. To that extent, a draft information technology policy for government has been developed by DPSA, which will be finalised at a high-level E-government seminar in October.
We are also currently finalising major electronic delivery projects to enhance service delivery. Details of these projects will be announced soon, and they include electronic document management systems, a government wide call center, paperless government, government on line (providing public services electronically) and electronic procurement.
To achieve these objectives, government relies on the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). It is hence imperative that measures be put in place to complement the capacity of SITA to leverage quality IT products and services. In the near future, we will be inviting strategic equity partner(s) for SITA and are currently receiving advice and will release details at a later stage.
STRENGTHENING MANAGEMENT CAPACITY
DPSA has seen the need for a strengthened senior management cadre; recently cabinet has approved the formation of the Senior Management Service (SMS) with the Public Service. The SMS about more than just enhancing our ability to recruit and retain senior managers. SMS implies ability to appoint managers at the most critical level, hospitals, prisons, schools and service delivery institutions.
The aim of the Senior Management Service is to:
These interventions will affect the approximately 3000 senior managers, including heads of department, in the public service.
The preparatory work for these interventions will be completed by the end of the year, and implementation of the Senior Management Service will commence on 1 January 2001.
(ADDITIONAL NOTES)
1999 marks the devolution of management decisions regarding public service to executing authorities (the President, Deputy President, Ministers, Premiers and MEC's). The Public Service Management Framework holds the executing authorities accountable for outputs and performance of their departments.
Managers who are given more flexibility to take decisions that are more appropriate to their unique circumstances, as enabled by the new management framework. This required DPSA to develop a better management information system. In response to this need, DPSA has developed the first Vulindlela report on human resource information in the public service that was sent to provinces in August. A separate exercise to verify personnel information is currently being undertaken and findings will be made known in October 2000.
MANAGING PERSONAL EXPENDITURE DOWNWARDS
In response to rising personnel costs over the last five years, DPSA revealed the results of its sector-based research and proposed strategies for each differentiated sector for the downward management of personnel expenditure. A new wage policy for the public service has been developed, which proposes the streamlining of the allowances and benefits to make them more cost-effective and to increase take-up of pension, housing and medical aid benefits by lower level workers in the public service.
DPSA is working to ensure that the public service is in compliance with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and has made proposals to unions to limit the amount of leave that can be accumulated by public servants.
DPSA on behalf of the state has presented all the above elements as a package.
IIP AND MANAGEMENT PLANS
The integrated Implementation Programmed assisted departments and provinces to draw up management plans, consisting of strategic plans aligned to the department's budget, an organisational structure aligned to service delivery requirements, a service delivery improvement plan (to bridge the gap between actual and desired service quality and levels) and a human resource plan, to identify and address skills deficits, including over and under staffing. An in-depth analysis of the management plans submitted by departments has been conducted and will be presented to Cabinet by end of October 2000.
Following the successful assistance to departments and provinces in the IIP, especially in the three poorest provinces of the Eastern Cape, the Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal, a donor-assisted Inter-provincial Support Programme (IPSP) was established and is providing expert assistance to these provinces. The IPSP is likely to extend to two further provinces, the Free State and Mpumalanga, before end of 2000.
SERVICE DELIVERY IMPROVEMENTS
DPSA is developing a policy framework to facilitate the rendering of public services in innovative ways, such as public-private partnerships, outsourcing of non-core functions, and the establishment of agencies. A great deal has been done on proposals for the outsourcing of non-core functions. The Centre for Public Service Innovation, aims at showcasing and facilitating the establishment of innovative service delivery mechanisms, will be established before the end of the year with assistance form the private sector.
A task team made up of DPSA, PSC officials and International experts conducted a management audit of Department of Correctional Services.
All the reports emanating from these processes have been completed and will be released to the relevant Ministers before the end of the month.
In the interim, a plan for implementation of the recommendations has been developed in conjunction with the Department of Correctional Services.
ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT
South Africa has the highest number of Internet connections in Africa; our technology sector is growing fast and we have become exporters of IT skills. Government has increased the number of departments participating in the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).
A draft information technology policy for government has been developed by DPSA, which will be finalised at a high-level E-government seminar in October. The IT policy is designed to address IT security i.e. ensuring the confidentiality of personal data. It is also designed to influence measures geared towards incorporating IT in formal and informal education. Finally geared towards ensuring IT procurement is improved especially turn around time and competency of vendors. The seminar will also determine and priorities the major E-government projects. These projects will include the HANIS smart card system being developed for the Department of Home Affairs.
Cabinet has recently approved the establishment of Council of Government IT officers, which will co-ordinate the effective harnessing of IT in the public service for improved service delivery. Existing IT heads in departments and provinces will be redesignated Government Information Technology Officers (GITOs). They will be charged with leveraging IT to enhance service delivery in their respective departments. The GITO will also monitor trends in the rapidly changing IT field, and will ensure that economies of scale are utilised.
As Information Technology becomes obsolete at a high pace, government needs a vehicle that will continuously analyse Information Technology trends and influence better IT strategies.
The GITO Council will lead the co-ordination and consolidation of government IT initiatives, with a view to enhance service delivery. The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) will serve as the implementing arm of the GITO council, and will be led by the Council. The Council together with SITA will maximise efficiency and effectiveness of government service delivery in accordance with the principles of Batho Pele.
The first meeting of the Council GITO will be held before end of the month.
GOVERNMENT FOCUS ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Government is the biggest consumer of IT goods and services in the South African market, it currently owns above 60% of the IT purchases. Considering this advantage, SITA is well positioned to ensure that government gets value for money. It has now focused on positioning Government to use IT tools in support of its policies, sustain the ability of the public service to recruit and retain appropriately skilled personnel and manage IT procurement. For example, a saving of R3.3m on contractor tariffs has been realised through SITA initiatives. This has been realised through an exercise of renegotiating tariffs, product prices and service charges that has the potential of yielding savings that run into millions.
Elimination of IT duplications
Current functioning of government i.e. national departments and Provinces have been procuring and managing information technology led to multiple duplications running into millions of rands.
To this end SITA is implementing a plan to consolidate all mainframes, file servers and networks.
Presently, the following have been achieved:
Integration of state departments
In order for SITA to achieve the key objectives for which it was established, integration of state departments and provinces has been identified as a key strategic exercise. Integration of IT services will create a conducive environment to fast track realisation of value for the state. The formation of the GITO Council will have a major role in ensuring the appropriateness of the intergration of state departments and review where necessary.
The following state organs are either in the process of being integrated or have been integrated into SITA:
In order for all these initiatives to be successful, capacity building and training will be crucial. The South African Management Development Institute is focussing on programmes that are more supportive of the policy initiatives emanating from the department.
Training programmes are looking to:
1. identify, validate and prioritise customer and stakeholder training needs and expectations.
2. Develop and deliver SAQA and NQF aligned competency based Training Programmes in the priority policy areas
3. Develop and phase in improved support systems and processes (Marketing, IT and Course Administration)
Recently, SAMDI introduced a Service Delivery Programme that deals with department-focussed approach to training and development that target all levels of staff within the respective department. In addition, it provides support and implementations of learning through the operationalisation of practical service delivery improvement initiatives after each course. In this way, the programme not only builds capacity for staff it also applies quick service delivery improvements wins. It competes effectively alongside programmes that are mandatory to attend (Provisioning Administration, LRA etc) while in its case, attendance is still purely voluntary at this stage.
SAMDI has also introduced courses that are recognised and in some instances used by leading tertiary institutions (University of Pretoria and Technikon Southern Africa etc). Courses in the areas of Human Resource Management, Labour Relations and Provisioning Administration and Management are examples of such.
Their recognition is based on the quality of the content, practicality and relevance of the course. This means that the courses are portable and respond to the NQF requirement of providing courses with clear standards and measurable outcomes.
SAMDI also is developing strategic partnerships with other Public Service Training and Development providers both at the international, regional and local levels. At the international level, SAMDI worked closely with the Civil Service College of the UK, Institute of Public Administration of Ireland as well as the Maaschtricht School of Management based in the Netherlands. This relationship served to meet the goal of making SAMDI internationally competitive and responsive to global imperatives and trends in the field of leadership and management training and development.
At regional level the Africa Co-operation Programme (ACOP) project successfully initiated links with other African institutions such as Centre Africain de Formation et de Recherche Administratives pour le D%veloppement) CAFRAD, and other in Namibia, Ghana, Botswana and Uganda. The current interactions form the basis for establishing more long-term strategic regional partnerships.
The following are some of the projects that SAMDI is implementing to ensure capacity building within management:
1. PSLDP is a high -level strategic development programme aimed at increasing the capacity of the senior management and leadership in the public service. The programme is informed by the needs analysis conducted amongst Directors-General. Last month about 23 Directors General attended the first session organised under the auspices of (PSLDP).
The successful launch of the programme took place on 23 July 2000 and the Deputy President emphasised the importance of improving management skills in the public service. The programme will improve the participant's capacity to:
2. The Ministerial Support Programme was launched at the School of Governance on Monday 11 September as a joint venture training programme between SAMDI and University of Western Cape. This programme is aimed at improving service delivery, performance and support for the Ministers, Premiers and MECs.
Our International partners have also played a role in the conceptualisation of the Presidential Strategic Leadership Development Programme (PSLDP) and the Ministerial Support Programme. This will serve to promote the African Renaissance concept, while also strengthening the possibility of joint ventures in the development of leadership, management, and institutional capacity within the African region broadly and sub-region in particular. The inputs sourced from local and international experts and counterparts will ensure exchange of the best practices at senior executive level.
DPSA, PSC and SAMDI have all printed an annual report that contains useful information on departmental activities.