The Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Mr Senzo Mchunu, has urged government departments in all spheres of government to enrol public servants to do a range of Anti-Corruption Courses offered by The National School of Government (NSG) which are designed to equip them to prevent, detect, combat and investigate corruption in the public service.
The NSG, which is responsible for strengthening state capacity through education, training and development, is currently offering a bouquet of integrity management courses to promote ethical behaviour in the public sector. The country will be joining the world in marking the United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day on the 9th of December 2020.
Minister Mchunu, under whose portfolio the NSG falls, said: “Our number one priority as government is to promote honesty, ethics and integrity in the public service. Corrupt practices impact negatively on the poor and make them unable to enjoy the quality of public services that they are entitled to. We want to strengthen all government departments and empower them with the capacity to prevent, detect, combat and investigate corruption. The four aspects are critical pillars in the fight against corruption”.
Last month the Minister called upon public servants to enrol for the Ethics in the Public Service course, which is offered online by the NSG. Section 195 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 envisages a public service that will promote a high standard of professional ethics. “It is envisaged that through providing ethics training, it will give effect to this constitutional principle and thus enable the State to function more effectively”, said the Minister.
There has been a dramatic increase in uptake since the Minister’s call last month for officials to enroll for the course. More than 8 866 public servants have enrolled for the course, with almost 4 360 successfully completing it. This is a twofold increase in enrolments compared to the same time period last year.
This course was developed in partnership with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), to help officials understand the revised Code of Conduct outlined in Chapter Two of the Public Service Act 2016 Regulations as well as to serve as a tool for Ethics Officers to institutionalise ethics standards within their organisations. All Ethics Officers therefore had to complete the Ethics online course. The NSG will work closely with the newly established Public Administration Ethics Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit of the DPSA to further capacitate the Ethics Officers. This unit will be responsible for conducting lifestyle audits on public servants and provide technical assistance to departments in managing the adherence of public servants to the public service Code of Conduct. The NSG Ethics online course has been designed to unpack the Code of Conduct in detail.
The following additional accredited courses in the NSG integrity management suite of courses are available for government departments in all spheres of government to enrol officials in:
Investigate Corrupt Activities and Related Offences
The goal of this training programme is to build the capacity of internal investigation components within the public service. It is aimed at officials investigating alleged corrupt activities and related offences both in the public sector and private sector, particularly investigating officers or agents.
The course will equip participants with the following skills upon completion:
- Understanding what corruption and related offences are.
- Develop the necessary knowledge and skills to execute powers within the limitations set by legislation and ethical code of practice.
- Develop the necessary knowledge, skills, values and understanding how to investigate in a systematic manner.
- Develop knowledge and skills to identify information sources and compilation of an individual or company profile.
- Develop the necessary knowledge and skills to evaluate and analyse allegations in order to determine the charge, scope and investigation plan.
- Develop the necessary skills and approach to identify, gather and present evidence.
- Develop the knowledge and skills regarding the establishment of an internal investigation unit.
- Develop knowledge and skills to execute post investigation options.
Anti-Corruption Training for Practitioners
The purpose of this learning programme is to build the capacity of anti-corruption practitioners within the public service. It is aimed at persons who take the overall responsibility for co-ordinating the implementation of the various elements of the anti-corruption programme strategy within departments and institutions.
The programme will equip anti-corruption practitioners with the following skills:
- Critical thinking skills to customise an anti-corruption strategy at operational level for a public sector component.
- Design and develop implementation plans.
- Monitor implementation of programme elements.
- Evaluate the impact of the proposed department/organisational component’s anti-corruption programme.
- Analyse and interpret the current national anti-corruption regulatory framework and to contextualise these in a specific government component.
Promoting Anti-Corruption in the Public Service
This course is intended for capacity building of employees in the public sector to implement the Minimum Anti-Corruption Capacity Requirements as well as use Batho Pele principles to prevent corruption in service delivery.
Ethics Management for Local Government
The course is aimed at officials and leaders in municipalities who play a role in ethics management, corruption prevention and ensuring high standards of professionalism within their organisations.
These include Section 57 Managers, those that report to them and Councillors. The course provides a basic overview of ethics management within municipalities.
eLearning: Ethics in the Public Service (Compulsory Course)
The purpose of this programme is to help build an ethical culture in the public service by developing the capacity of officials for personal and professional ethical conduct. It is aimed at all public servants.
Upon completion public servants must be able to:
- Reflect on their own values.
- Recognise common areas of ethical dilemmas for public service employees.
- Apply the core ethical values and standards contained in prescripts which have relevance for the conduct of employees in the public service.
- Uphold and promote Professional Ethics in the workplace.
The Ethics online course is open and available at no cost to the departments and officials. For self- registration and enrolment:
- Go to the NSG website (https://www.thensg.gov.za/).
- Click on "Open eLearning courses" under the eLearning tab on the NSG website.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to register an online profile (if they have not done so yet).
- Enrol for the Ethics in the Public Service Course. If officials have forgotten their username and/or password, use the “Forgotten your username or password?” link on the login page.
- Officials can also contact the eLearning Helpdesk at eLearning@thensg.gov.za for assistance.
Enquiries for the Anti-corruption courses may be directed to:
Dr Bunny Subedar
Cell: 012 4416201
E-mail: bunny.subedar@thensg.gov.za
Petunia Matsapola
Tel: 012 441 6353
E-mail Petunia.matsapola@thensg.gov.za
Ntebogeng Mudau
Cell: 012 441 6709
E-mail Ntebogeng.Mudau@TheNSG.gov.za
Media enquiries:
Dikeledi Mokgokolo
Cell: 082 888 2355 2355
E-mail Dikeledi.Mokgokolo@thensg.gov.za
