Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms G Fraser-Moleketi
26 September 2006
This briefing provides highlights of the progress made in the implementation
of Government's Programme of Action (POA) for 2006. This third report for 2006
was presented to the Governance and Administration (G&A) Cabinet Committee
on 12 September and approved by Cabinet on 20 September.
The G&A has three broad priorities reflected on the POA:
1. capability needs for the developmental state
2. macro-organisation of the state
3. planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
Capability needs for the Developmental State
Capacity assessments
Following presentation of capacity assessments of various clusters to the
July 2006 Cabinet Lekgotla, the Cluster will focus on the Economic sector in
the next six months. The following work will be undertaken and presented to the
January 2007 Cabinet Lekgotla:
* a capacity assessment of the Department of Transport
* an assessment of government's capacity to provide micro-finance (specifically
the APEX fund of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and the Mafisa
fund of the Department of Agriculture)
* business process re-engineering of the licensing process within the
Department of Minerals and Energy
* skills analyses of the Departments of Agriculture, Minerals and Energy and
provincial departments responsible for economic affairs.
Skills database
The skills database will create a picture of the skills profile of the
public service, and inform redeployment of scarce skills to where they are
needed and guide capacity building programmes. The pilot programme has been
completed and the system is operational. Officials in four departments are
completing the questionnaire which will be used to populate the system. Rollout
to 20 government departments, including those prioritised by government such as
Home Affairs, will follow. It is anticipated that the rollout will be completed
in the 20 departments by the end of January 2007.
Sustainable pools scheme
The accelerated development programme for middle managers will significantly
strengthen the pool of middle managers from target groups (black people, women,
the disabled) who are well placed to apply for senior management positions.
Three cohorts began training in the reporting period: the Western Cape (14
August 2006), the Ministry for the Public Service and Administration (4
September) and Mpumalanga (18 September 2006). Training of selected middle
managers will begin soon in KwaZulu-Natal and the Department of Home Affairs
and the dti.
Global Forum V
The Global Forum V on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity will
take place in South Africa from 2 - 5 April 2007. It is expected that
approximately 1 500 persons from all over the globe will attend, including
Ministers, leaders of international and regional governmental organisations,
senior anti-corruption officials, academics, experts and civil society
representatives. The Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding
Integrity is the premier inter-governmental forum aimed at fighting
corruption.
The focus of the Forum will be implementation and practical application of
the various international and regional standards at domestic, regional and
international levels. Because this Global Forum will promote the African
anti-corruption agenda, inter-governmental organisations from all regions of
Africa are closely involved in the preparations for Global Forum, and Africa
will showcase the governance advances that are being made. During November 2006
the Africa Forum on Fighting Corruption will take place in South Africa, partly
as a precursor to Global Forum V.
Public Service Capacity
Intervention Support Team at the Department of Home Affairs: Following a
disclaimer audit report received by the Department of Home Affairs during the
2004/2005 financial year, the Minister requested the National Treasury to
invoke Chapter 2 of Section 6 of the Public Finance Management Act. In terms of
this arrangement, the National Treasury may assist departments and
constitutional institutions in building their capacity for efficient, effective
and transparent financial management. Subsequently the Director-General in the
Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC) was seconded to the Department
of Home Affairs to lead the intervention support team of Directors-General that
comprise of Directors-Generals of Home Affairs, Public Service and
Administration, National Treasury as well as the Accountant-General.
The team was established to intervene on various critical areas including:
leadership and management; human resources; information technology; service
delivery improvement; programme management; internal audit; accounting
services; risk management and support to governance structures. On the other
hand, National Treasury identified weaknesses in the collection and deposit of
revenue; suspense accounts; poor contract management; data integrity;
information technology (IT) projects; vehicle management and excessive travel
expenditure.
A full intervention support team's report with recommendations will be
tabled by the end of September, which marks the middle of the six-month life
cycle of this intervention.
Enhancing capacity of Immigration Services: In line with the objectives of
the Department's Turn Around Strategy, appointments were made in the National
Immigration Branch. A shortlist for 78 funded vacancies of Chief and Control
Immigration Officers was made while 83 Refugee Status Determination Officers
were appointed. In Addition, efforts to activate the Border Co-ordination
Control Committee (BCOCC) operational centre to effectively manage border posts
are underway. The centre will be managed by an interdepartmental team.
Macro-organisation of the State
Single Public Service
A sound governance framework has been put in place for the management of the
Single Public Service Project. Five work streams [Service delivery, information
and communications technology (ICT), Human Resource Management and Development
(HRM&D), Anti-corruption, and Legislation] report regularly to the G&A
Task Team on the Single Public Service. The first draft of the legislation for
the Single Public Service has been developed for submission to Cabinet in
November. In parallel, the National Treasury and the Department of Public
Service and Administration (DPSA) are developing legislation on public
entities.
e-Government
The Cluster has identified several "catalytic" projects, i.e. projects which
will promote the use of ICT both within government and by the citizens. Amongst
others, a Track and Trace application will allow citizens to access service
status information using SMS technology. A Single View of the Public Servant
will be developed to facilitate the HR management aspects of the Single Public
Service.
The Batho Pele Gateway portal is now accessible in seven languages. Work has
already begun on the remaining four official languages, which are expected to
be completed by 31 March 2007. Cluster work on the portal in the medium term
will focus on incorporating the information about services of provincial and
local government into the portal. The Gateway portal is being made available at
Multi-Purpose Community Centres. Initially 35 sites have been identified for
the establishment of connectivity.
Batho Pele
The DPSA has developed a draft Access Strategy and implementation plan that
is currently undergoing of process of consultation. It is anticipated that once
the consultation process is complete, that the Access Strategy will be
submitted to Cabinet by November 2006. The purpose of the document is to
formulate a government-wide access strategy document to accelerate access to
public services over the next 10 years, thus allowing greater convenience and
improved responsiveness to the needs of citizens.
The rollout of the Batho Pele Change Management Engagement Programme is
yielding results. The Change Management Engagement Programme has been
rolled-out to a number of provinces to inculcate a positive organisational
culture that enhances service delivery. A total of 139 public servants went
through the programme during July and August 2006, bringing the total number
trained during this financial year to 639. The following provinces were
covered: Eastern Cape (37), Gauteng (21), Northern Cape (30), North West (23)
and Mpumalanga (28).
Cascading of Batho Pele to Local Government
A number of municipalities were trained in Batho Pele. In July, 70 Customer
care staff in City of Joburg were trained. A further 9 from the following
municipalities were also trained: Endumeni, Umzinyathi, Sisonke, Ndwedwe,
Newscastle and Amajuba. A workshop was held on the 22-23 August 2006 for the
following municipalities: City of Tshwane, Greater Kokstad, Ubuhlebezwe,
Sisonke, Msunduzi, Endumeni, Ugu, eThekwini, Umvoti, Newcastle, Umzimkhulu and
Msinga. The workshop was attended by 23 delegates.
The 2006 Public Service Week (PSW) will mainly focus on provinces that did
not participate in 2005. It will take place from 6 â 10 November 2006 and the
main hub will be the Free State province. Unannounced visits are envisaged.
Khaedu trainees will take the lead during the unannounced visits.
A process of ensuring participation of local government in the Service
Delivery Watch (SDW) has been initiated. To that effect, discussions are taking
place among DPSA, Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) and
Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG). In agreement with GCIS,
Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) will be a major focus for the
implementation of the SDW project.
To date 518 Senior Managers have been trained, of whom 290 have been exposed
to the coalface (service delivery points). The roll-out of Project Khaedu will
soon be decentralised to national and provincial departments.
All departments have been requested to submit their Service Delivery
Improvement Plans (SDIPs) to the DPSA for evaluation, with a view to advising
them on how the SDIPs can be improved if need be. To date, 23 departments have
submitted their SDIPs and are being reviewed by the DPSA. A similar process has
been undertaken to assist branches within DPSA with the development of their
Service Delivery Improvement Plans. The aim is for all departments to have
their SDIPs reviewed by DPSA by the end of this financial year.
Imbizo
The Deputy President's imbizo in Mpumalanga, Enhlanzini district
municipality, is the sixth of the scheduled izimbizo for 2006. During the
Imbizo Week from 26 to 31 October 2006, Ministers and Deputy Ministers will
participate in various events, including surprise visits to service delivery
sites. The thrust of the October Imbizo Week is on second economy interventions
and local economic development.
Planning, implementation and Monitoring and Evaluation
Integrated planning
Work is continuing in the harmonisation of the National Spatial Development
Perspective (NSDP), Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDSs) and
the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). Meetings have been held in each
province to identify pilot sites. The updated NSDP was presented and discussed
at the Forum for South African Directors-General (FOSAD) workshop and the July
Lekgotla.
Deployment of experts to local government
A total of 218 experts have been deployed to 80 Project Consolidate
municipalities. Sector departments, private sector, deployment agencies and
state-owned enterprises continue to mobilise additional resources for the
balance of municipalities. Sixty experts have been confirmed for deployment
through the Siyeza Manje Programme. Municipalities who are recipients of
deployed experts have displayed technical capacity improvements.
Local Government skills development
A competency framework and profiles for section 57 employees (managers) has
been refined and integrated with Municipal Performance Regulations, which were
published in July 2006. Position profiles for senior and middle managers within
the electricity, water and sanitation departments of selected municipalities
have been developed. A local government skills audit is underway. Preparations
are being made to start the pilot Municipal Leadership Development Programme
(MLDP) in selected Project Consolidate Municipalities.
Local Government capacity assessment
An assessment of the capacity of provincial departments of Local Government
is being undertaken by the dplg. Preliminary findings and an emerging trends
report are being tabled at relevant intergovernmental forums.
Local Government regulatory framework
Amendments to Chapter 5 of the Municipal Systems Act and the regulations for
the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act are being drafted. The review of
the two-tier system of Local Government is complete. Work on the definitions of
schedules 4 and 5 of the Constitution is continuing. Work on the division of
functional responsibilities between B and C municipalities is underway, led by
dplg and National Treasury. Background work and consultation processes are
being undertaken to concretise options for District Shared Services.
Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) System
A draft document on principles and practices for the Government-wide M&E
System (GWM&ES) has been drafted. An assessment is currently being made of
M&E skills levels in departments to guide the development of training
courses for M&E. Reporting formats are being designed and a
database/warehouse integrating information including departments' strategic
plans, quarterly reports and annual reports will be deployed by March 2007.
The Public Management Watch, a system established by the Cluster to monitor
the management performance of government departments, will be deployed soon to
provide a report for Cabinet on the state of governance and administration in
the public service.
African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)
The country self-assessment report was submitted to the APRM Panel of
Eminent Persons in June 2006. South Africa hosted the APRM Review Mission from
9 to 25 July 2006. The Mission consulted with stakeholders at the national
level and in the provinces of Gauteng, North West, Northern Cape, Western Cape,
Free State, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. The corporate governance expert
members of the Mission had consultations with additional stakeholders between
the 26 and 28 July 2006.
The Review Mission will submit their draft Review Report to the South
African Focal Point, the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, at
the beginning of October. South Africa will have the opportunity to comment on
the Review Report before the end of October. Thereafter the final Report will
be submitted to the African Peer Review Forum of Heads of State in November.
The APRM process has enabled maximum participation in the development and
implementation of a Programme of Action to improve the quality of life of all
South Africans.
For more Information please contact: Clayson Monyela
Tel: (012) 336 1167
Cell: 082 806 7405
E-mail: Claysonm@dpsa.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
26 September 2006
