Director-General for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Dr Sean Phillips,
Members of the Public Service,
Good morning all.
In 2009, we were given the mandate to regularly assess the quality of generic management practices in government departments. In response to this mandate, we developed the Management Performance Assessment Tool, in short the MPAT, after an extensive international benchmarking exercise we conducted.
The tool was developed in collaboration with the Offices of the Premier, National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), and in consultation with the Office of the Auditor General and the Office of the Public Service Commission.
Today, I have the privilege to welcome you to this workshop were we present the consolidated results of all national departments who participated in the 2012/13 MPAT assessments. We also take this opportunity to recognise and reward those departments which have demonstrated, through the assessments, the ability to not only comply with important legislation and policies introduced by this democratic government, but who have also ensured that the management and administration in their departments are smart.
I am informed that I will be awarding a floating trophy to the best performing department. I have been denied the privilege to know the best performer in advance, I am as curious as you are to find out where the trophy is going. The challenge for all departments is to learn from these level 4 departments and ensure that all our departments operate in an efficient, effective and accountable way to deliver the much needed services to all South Africans.
These results of the 2012/13 assessments are the first set of moderated results and present a detailed picture of the state of management practices of all 156 national and provincial departments. These results serve as a baseline for us to measure continuous improvements. The results show that more needs to be done by departments to improve levels of management practice.
It is the responsibility of Account Officers to implement improvements in this regard. Ministers and MEC must in addition ensure that these improvements are implemented and that Accounting Officers are held to account for implementing these improvements.
I look forward to viewing the results of the 2013/14 assessments to show to all South Africans that we are indeed on our way to building, what the National Development Plan refers to as a “Capable State.” If we fail to change the way the public service functions in terms of management and administration we will not meet the developmental objectives outlined in the National Development Plan.
In the development of MPAT we have received generous technical support and assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Canadian Treasury Board and the German Development Agency (GIZ) who I would like to acknowledge.
The MPAT experience is an example of how close collaboration between DPME, the Department of Public Service & Administration (DPSA), National Treasury, and all Offices of the Premier, can give practical expression to government’s commitment to the establishment of a strong administrative centre of government.
I would also like to express my appreciation to the DPSA, National Treasury, and the Officers of the Premiers, the Public Service Commission, and the Office of the Auditor General on their collaboration with DPME on this initiative.
I would further like to extend my appreciation to the moderators for their commitments and professionalism, and last but not least to the departments that participated in the assessment process in a manner which was honest and frank about the challenges we face.
I hope all departments have implemented improvements based on these scores and that next year I will be giving awards to many more departments who have reached level 4.
Lastly, I would like to wish you a fruitful discussion in this workshop.
I thank you!
