SAAPAM CONFERENCE, 22-24 November 2000
By Geraldine Fraser Moleketi, Minister for Public Service and Administration
Over the last two months we have been enriched by a number of conferences and seminars dealing with issues crucial to the future of the public service. There has been the Biennial Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) conference, the Information Technology Seminar hosted by the DPSA, and now the SAAPAM conference. The issues of HIV/AIDS, Productivity, Challenges facing public managers and Service Delivery Innovation have been central at all of these forums and today is no exception. My address aims to contextualise these issues within the transformation and capacity building framework of the public service, with a special emphasis on our achievements and challenges thus far.
Transformation in the public service is about maximising the impact of the state on society. The state system must ensure that public goods reach the right clients prompt and effectively. Acceleration in the provision of public goods and services is about accessibility and quality of services, how efficiently they are provided and whether these services are achieving the desired impact on society. This is what the state and especially the public service is ultimately accountable for. Hence the key questions that the transformation process, with in the context of the public service, must answer are the following:
In many ways the approach taken by our public service is affirmed by academics like Gordon Draper, CAPAM Director for International Development (2000: 29 CAPAM Conference paper) in his reflection on governance at the turn of the century. He notes contemporary elements of the new public management environment as:
It is encouraging that the work of our public service is very much in line with the vision of public management practitioners and academics internationally. Like many other countries we too have our challenges to make our vision a reality.
Parliament's broader objectives for the DPSA in 1999 include: (Cameron & Tapscott 2000: 86):
This is in addition to standing DPSA policy frameworks within which the public service functions such as the Affirmative Action bill, the Public Service Act and the Batho Pele principles based on the White Paper for Transforming Service Delivery 1995. This White paper requires long term changes by national and provincial departments on the following issues:
We have had many achievements in meeting these expectations and dealing with our challenges. I will however limit my discussions of our work to the key areas that will be discussed in the breakaway sessions later today. These being Productivity in the Public Sector, Service Delivery Innovation, HIV/AIDS as a factor in Public Administration and Management and Challenges facing Public Service Managers in the 21st Century.
Given discussions that have come before I will restrain my input on productivity in the public sector to key capacity building programmes targeted at the leaders and managers of the public service.
Presidential strategic leadership development programme (PSLDP) Of all key challenges facing the public service today none is more important than the need to attract, develop and sustain capable managers.
The Presidential Strategic Leadership Development Programme (PSLDP) is a strategic development programme aimed at increasing the capacity of senior management and leadership in the public service. The PSLDP seeks to achieve the President's vision of a highly effective public service, through the development of strong leaders who work to improve the lives of South African people. The aim of the programme is to improve the participant's capacity to:
Another initiative, which targets the development and support of this echelon of public servants, is the Senior Management Service (SMS).
The Senior Management Service programme, which will commence in 2001, has paved the way for developing managers that will lead the public service into the changing environment of the 21st century. Broadly the aim is to:
In South Africa the need for highly qualified managers relates specifically to translating policy intentions into practice. We expect our managers to be closely attuned to the needs of our communities, detecting unintended consequences of well-meant policies and advising government on changes in strategy and then ensuring that implementation takes place
Service Delivery Innovation is an optimum mix of flexible service delivery mechanisms and tools that can be strategically used to achieve Government's service delivery objectives either directly by Government or in collaboration with other sectors such as the private sector or through non-government organisations. Partnerships can complement the capability of the public service to deliver services, as well as create ownership by communities. But they do not substitute the need for an effective and responsive public service.
The SDI option is not an end in itself but a means available to deliver services affordably and efficiently in the context where the demand for basic quality services continues to outpace the available resources. SDI is not meant to be a replacement of the traditional methods of direct service delivery but a strategy to provide departments with greater flexibility in addressing service delivery objectives.
To ensure that the Public Service remains at the cutting edge of service delivery innovation in the future we are establishing a Centre for Public Service Innovation, which will:
The impact of HIV/AIDS in our workplaces throughout South Africa has to be taken seriously. We have an obligation to our employees, their families and to our country.
This year we initiated a major programme aimed at assessing the impact of HIV/AIDS on the public service and acting to mitigate that impact. As employers of 1.1 million people, service delivery in the public service will be severely affected by HIV/AIDS unless we are willing and able to do something substantial about this.
A critical component of the response to HIV/AIDS in the public service will be the capacity building and strengthening of managers. All public service managers must provide strong leadership in the fight against AIDS. Managers should know how to manage the various impacts among their staff and should be powerful role models with regard to prevention, as well as powerful supports for those infected. That managers might know about AIDS and be able to quote statistics is not enough. They have to know about HIV/AIDS as it applies in THEIR workplace, they have to know and understand those who are infected, and they need to take a hands on approach to develop policy and manage workplace programmes.
Our Impact Study is focussing on the demographic impacts, our employment framework and capacity, an audit of employer benefits, and impact on service delivery. In addition we have completed a rapid assessment of workplace policies in the public service, and studied a number of successful private sector initiatives. Some of the information the study should yield includes:
Once we have examined all the facts and issues we will design and implement, a number of responsive activities or programmes with various partners. One of these 'responsive activities' will be comprehensive workplace policy and practice standards to ensure that the public service at national and provincial levels establish or strengthen meaningful workplace programmes.
Challenges for public sector management in the 21st century include resource constraints and political and public demands for quality services and improved productivity. There have been improvements in instilling a new management culture and collective responsibility among Heads of Department. Managers are being given more freedom to lead and centralised procedures are being deregulated. The role of the centre is shifting from a point of control to providing a framework of accountability aimed at managerial improvement, especially in the areas of human resource and financial management.
Inter-departmental coherence and co-ordination are being seen as practical and political necessities. In this way Heads of Department become better attuned to the political direction of Government. The new management approach emphasises the articulation of a vision and values with a reliance on communication and involvement to transmit corporate direction throughout the public service and departments. Instead of relying on a hierarchical process of control and regulation, the new management culture centralises and then disseminates this vision as widely as possible.
The transformation and administrative reforms that have been introduced in the South African public service have generally been in line with world trends. Much remains to be done in anchoring and embedding the new values, and of course, leadership has a critical role to play. Unfortunately contradictions such as those found in a declaration of flattening the organisational design of departments, but insisting on a hierarchical reporting system, or punishing mistakes made through risk-taking and innovation are definitely stifling the development of this new management culture. Leadership and management development programmes also have to prioritise the understanding and inculcation of these new practices.
Consideration needs to be given to the potential contradiction between the imperatives for a strong centre in order to enhance good governance and a corporate public service on the one hand, and the need for decentralisation and devolution so as to empower managers and bring service delivery closer to citizens, on the other.
Whilst he was still Deputy President, Mr. Mbeki initiated the development of a Forum for South African Directors-General (FOSAD). FOSAD's key role is to ensure coherence and co-ordination in the execution of policy directives of Cabinet. It consists of clusters designed along similar lines and corresponding to Cabinet Committees. The roles and functions of FOSAD clusters include policy development for consideration by Cabinet committees and processing and implementation of directives from Cabinet Committees and Cabinet. . This integrated approach to governance should effect a more focussed and dedicated execution of Government priorities. Although it is still too early to expect tangible results from this cluster system, at least the culture of coherence and co-ordination is beginning to settle.
It is encouraging that the South African public service, at least at leadership level, is not lagging behind developments in the world. The key challenges we face are appropriate systems and structures and continuous communication to all staff. Above all, a culture of continuous learning is urgently needed. This has the unstinting support of the President and Cabinet.
Looking ahead at the public service capacity to deliver on government priorities (Ramaite 2000: presentation) and past experiences it is clear that there is still weaknesses within the system that needs to be dealt with. These include:
The DPSA action plan aims to accelerate the transformation of the system of government and the public service. The idea is to develop an agenda for action, as opposed to a policy framework, recognising that there has been significant policy development and numerous transformation initiatives that have been developed over the last few years.
Realising that transformation is a long agenda, the aim of the action plan is to:
We believe that if we keep to this action plan, while being sensitive to our dynamic environment, that we will succeed in building on our successes to meet the expectations of our government and the nation.