Minister G Fraser-Moleketi, Pretoria
14 May 2007
The Governance and Administration (G&A) Cluster strives to improve the
quality of life of the people by improving governance, the capacity and
organisation of the state and its underlying systems. The Cluster's priorities
derive from government's commitment to improve its service to the people.
Following the January 2007 Cabinet Lekgotla and the President's State of the
Nation Address on 9 February 2007, the Cluster developed a Programme of Action
(POA).
The Cluster has four priorities:
* promoting good governance
* strengthening the capacity of the state
* achieving and maintaining the optimal organisation of the state
* developing and enhancing the state's transversal systems.
Government's POA was approved by Cabinet on 5 March 2007. This is the first
report on the implementation of the POA for 2007.
Good governance
Anti-corruption
The Africa Forum on Fighting Corruption was successfully hosted from 28
February to 2 March as a forerunner to the Global Forum V on Fighting
Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity, which was successfully hosted by South
Africa from 2 to 5 April. The Africa Forum and Global Forum have established a
new continental and global understanding of and debate on corruption and its
impact on development.
The Africa Forum and the Global Forum gave South Africa the opportunity to
shape global anti-corruption discourse. Previously, corruption had been
narrowly defined, focusing only on the "bribe giver" and the "bribe taker". The
forums identified the need to address the root causes of corruption, which is a
structural global phenomenon involving all sectors of society, and which
affects both developed and developing countries.
The challenge now is to develop plans of action emanating from the
declarations of the forums and other bodies. The Africa Forum's declaration
will be implemented under the auspices of the African Union. The Global Forum's
declaration will be taken forward in anticipation of the conference of the
states parties in 2008.
Two provinces have convened launches of the Local Government Anti-corruption
Strategy and the strategy will be implemented in districts from May. An audit
of local government anti-corruption capacity has been conducted in 164 local
authorities. The Project Consolidate Anti-corruption Programme is now in its
second phase of implementation in 22 municipalities.
Promotion of employment equity
The Public Service Gender Equality Strategic Framework and implementation
guidelines are being consulted upon with stakeholders. National and provincial
road shows are being held. A project to implement the Job-Access Strategy for
the employment of disabled people in the public service has commenced. The
National Steering Committee on Diversity Management has been established. A
draft Social Audit template has been designed.
A Local Government HIV and AIDS Framework were launched in April 2007 to
assist municipalities in addressing the challenges of HIV and AIDS at a local
level.
Batho Pele
As part of the rollout of Batho Pele to local government, 138 municipalities
were trained in the Batho Pele Change Management Engagement Programme this
year. The programme is modelled on the train-the-trainer approach and
participants are encouraged to further cascade it in their municipalities.
In terms of the Public Service Regulations, departments are required to
adopt Service Delivery Improvement Plans. Compliance levels were low (less than
50%) and the Department of Public Service Administration (dpsa) embarked on a
campaign to ensure that departments develop these plans. To date 79% of
national departments and 80% of provincial departments (79% overall) are
compliant.
Preparations are underway for the massification of South African Management
Development Institute (SAMDI) compulsory induction programme. The aim is to
train 100 000 new public servants through a learning framework which may be
applied by departments and strategic partners. An implementation plan has been
developed and curriculum development is underway. The go-ahead will shortly be
sought from the Minister.
Public participation
The April Imbizo Week had over 300 events; 16 ministers, 12 deputy ministers
and nine premiers participated. A Presidency Imbizo was held on 9 April in
Johannesburg. A final draft framework on public participation in local
government is at an advanced stage of completion. Eighty two percent of ward
committees have been established. All municipalities have structures in place
for community participation in the development of Integrated Development Plans
(IDPs).
Capacity of the state
Public service
Regarding the pressing issue of the filling of posts, the public service is
having some success. The statistics show that in the 2006/07 financial year,
103 349 employees were recruited and retained. The highest proportions were
college and school educators (26%), followed by professionals and managers
(19%) and administrative staff (18%). In comparison to the current profile of
the public service, higher proportions of professionals and managers and
administrative staff are being hired.
On balance the numbers of new recruits are able to replace those leaving the
public service and in many instances exceed them, except in lower level
occupations such as elementary and craft and related occupations. This is in
line with a move towards a more professional public service. In the case of
professionals and managers each employee that left has been replaced with on
average 1,47 new appointments over the 12 month period. It is probable,
however, that in many instances a senior employee with many years of experience
is being replaced by a junior employee with much less experience.
Local government
National and provincial departments are continuing to support the
implementation of the five Year Local Government Strategic Plan. Many national
government departments have at least one programme directed at local
government. All provinces, through their departments responsible for local
government, have local government support plans in place. A draft Deployment
Management Framework is under preparation for the professionals that have been
deployed to targeted municipalities. Mobilisation of stakeholders is ongoing
for the recruitment of additional experts from inside and outside the public
service for deployment to local government.
The Department of Provincial and Local Government (dplg) is supporting
provinces to establish the appropriate forums to implement institutional and
operational systems to monitor, evaluate and report on the five Year Local
Government Strategic Plan. All Offices of the Premier have established
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) units. Six provincial departments of local
government have established units. Consultation on competency frameworks for
local government is underway. The skills audit of local government is being
undertaken in a phased manner.
An audit of Performance Management systems in municipalities has been
completed. 141 municipalities have developed and formally adopted performance
management system frameworks. The Municipal Leadership Development Programme
(MLDP) is been piloted in 14 districts. There has been additional demand for
the courses in these districts. A research report on the status of professional
bodies has been drafted in partnership with the Local Government Sector
Education and Training Authority (LGSETA).
A process has been developed for the submission of a report to Parliament on
the implementation of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act. Indicators
are being developed and a high level report will be developed based on reports
received from the various IGR forums. In the first week of May 2007, the dplg
unveiled a series of toolkits on intergovernmental relations.
Provincial departments of local government are being assisted to develop
regulations for the transformation of traditional authorities into traditional
councils and the establishment of local houses. A consultation process on the
National Support Programme for the Institution of Traditional Leaders has
commenced and a comprehensive costing is underway.
Draft policy proposals for the development of additional Municipal Property
Rates Act Regulations have been developed and consultation with the National
Treasury will be embarked upon. The Local Government Laws Amendment Bill was
submitted to Cabinet in March. Cabinet requested that further consultation take
place. This Bill will be resubmitted to Cabinet within the next month.
Promoting skills development
A successful workshop has been held with participating departments as part
of the rollout of the Public Service Skills Database. The project charter and
plan have been approved. The form to be used has been designed and tested. The
development of the Local Government Skills Database is dependant on the
conducting of the local government skills audit to commence in May.
The public service competency assessment framework and battery are being
reviewed and refined. A Leadership Development Management Framework is being
developed. The final draft of the review of the Public Service Human Resource
Development (HRD) Strategy and the final draft of the new HRD Strategy have
been submitted. An implementation plan for the new strategy is being
finalised.
Capacity building programmes
The South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) is developing a
strategy for the national co-ordination of learning frameworks and
programmes.
An initial consultative workshop on public sector capacity building
programme alignment, convened by SAMDI, has been held with provincial
institutes and HRD units, the Department of Public Service Administration, the
Department of Provincial and Local Government, the South African Qualifications
Authority (SAQA) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Comparative
research is being conducted.
Cabinet has approved the process for the transformation of the SAMDI into a
Public Service Academy. Labour consultations have been initiated.
All three groups for the Accelerated Development Programme completed the
Advanced Phase in January. All have undergone competency tests. The Executive
Phase is planned to commence towards the end of May 2007.
A total of 375 public servants and 338 local government officials have been
trained in supply chain management since January 2007.
A total of 18 municipalities have been trained in disability management in
2007. Draft unit standards for a gender-mainstreaming course have been
developed in collaboration with SAQA, with training on anti-corruption
commenced in May.
Macro-organisation of the state
Single public service
The Single Public Service Bill has been drafted. A schedule of amendments to
other Acts is being drawn up. The project charter for the development of Human
Resource practices for the single public service has been approved. Applicable
legislation and available policy documents have been reviewed. A project to
develop appropriate remuneration and conditions of service for the single
public service is underway.
Access to services
The Access Strategy has been developed and was presented to the G&A
Cluster. A process of consultation is currently underway prior to the strategy
being presented to Cabinet.
Five hundred and twenty six new Community Development Workers (CDWs) have
been appointed to the fixed establishments of provinces. 620 CDWs are currently
in the learnership. Two hundred and seventy CDWs (30 in each province) were
trained on co-operatives. The intention is to cascade the training to other
CDWs within provinces and trained CDWs are training communities. CDWs are
organising communities to form co-operatives and to also link them with
Co-operative Investment Scheme co-ordinated by the Co-operative Unit in the
department of Trade and Industry.
E-government projects
Two major catalytic projects are underway, the Citizen Relations Portal and
the track and trace system. The user requirements for the Citizen Relations
Portal will be finalised this month. System design and development will be
completed in May. Testing of the system will be conducted thereafter.
The Department of Home Affairs has introduced an Identification Document
application "track and trace" system. This system is now operational in
regional offices in all the provinces and in all Gauteng offices. The system
empowers Home Affairs officials to respond to queries from the public regarding
the progress of their applications received after 19 February 2007. Citizens
can also verify their marital status records via the system. Citizens can
obtain the information on the Internet (http://www.dha.gov.za), from the Call Centre (0800
601 190) or via short message service (SMS) (32551).
The Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) includes projects on
back record conversion and disaster recovery. Thirty million paper-based
records have been digitised and 29,6 million of these have been absorbed into
the HANIS infrastructure. Data synchronisation for disaster recovery has been
completed ahead of schedule and data replication from the primary site to the
recovery site is continuing.
Transversal systems
Planning across government
Work has been completed in eight of the 13 pilot areas for the application
of National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) principles and draft reports
are being finalised. A draft communication plan for the NSDP has been prepared.
Planning for extending the NSDP application in 10 districts/metros has been
initiated.
A national engagement process of all IDPs commenced in April 2007, this will
continue for the next two months. Sixteen district municipalities have received
hands-on support to develop credible IDPs. An IDP format guide has been
distributed to all municipalities.
Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation System
A draft policy on the Government-wide M&E System has been developed. A
draft Programme Performance Information policy framework has been prepared. A
project to review and enhance existing monitoring systems is underway. The
draft Mid-Term Review will be submitted to Cabinet at the end of May.
A project team is collecting information on the various monitoring and
evaluation systems run by national oversight departments. Processing of this
data has commenced. A project aimed at the development of mechanisms to enhance
public participation within monitoring and evaluation is underway. A review of
current initiatives is being undertaken where after a strategy will be
developed.
A conceptual framework for Government-wide M&E System training has been
developed. Programmes offered by other providers have been reviewed; data on
training needs has been received from provinces; and research tools for
training needs analysis have been developed.
The National Statistical System has completed the final draft of the
Compendium of National Development Indicators in collaboration with the Policy
Co-ordination and Advisory Services (PCAS). The quality of administrative data
of Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces has been improved so that
it can be included as official statistics on the Government-wide M&E
System. Statistical capacity audits at the departments of Transport, Education
and Minerals and Energy are underway.
Government Employees Medical Scheme
This G&A Cluster briefing opened with the statement that "The Cluster's
priorities derive from government's commitment to improve its service to the
people." In endeavouring to fulfil this mandate the Cluster has four priorities
of which the first two are 'Promoting good governance' and 'Strengthening the
capacity of the state'.
The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) is an example of how
successful the Cluster has been in fulfilling the mandate of government as well
as its priorities.
To date some of the achievements realised by GEMS include:
Governance
* The Scheme is in the process of electing members (employees) to its Board
by way of an open and fair election process. The 55 nominees standing for
election are from many departments in the public service; represent all races
and both genders. Quite a number of school principals have in fact stood for
election.
* The Scheme's annual financial statements have been submitted to the Council
for Medical Schemes and I am pleased to report that an unqualified audit
opinion was expressed.
* In an effort to espouse the principles of sound corporate governance the
Scheme has the declaration of interest and fraudulent activities as a standing
item on all agendas.
Member services
* In the first quarter of 2007 GEMS call centre received over 350 000 calls,
more than 25 000 short message services (SMS) and processed over 15 000
e-mails.
* The Schemes approach to member services lends from the principles of Batho
Pele and confirmation thereof is the fact the prevalence of member complaints
remain below 0,4% of the total member contacts to date.
Membership
* Membership doubled in size in the last quarter and no stands at more than
128 000 employees representing 350 000 people (families included). This is
testimony to its inherent value proposition and excellent member
services.
* Employees from all departments are enrolling on the Scheme with the education
and health departments constituting the majority.
* Employees enrolling on the Scheme represent all levels of employment in the
public services including some Directors-General.
* More than 50% of GEMS members are female.
* In some provinces, such as the Northern Cape, GEMS covers almost 20% of all
employees whilst in others, like the Eastern Cape, enrolment is increasing by
more than 25% each month.
The initial objective of promoting access to medical scheme coverage by all
public service employees is being realised by the implementation of GEMS. More
than 50% of the members of GEMS did not access the medical subsidy before they
joined the Scheme.
Issued by: Department of Public Service Administration
14 May 2007
