G Fraser-Moleketi: Senior Management Service Imbizo

Premier Marshoff,
MECs,
Councillors,
Senior managers

It is quite fortuitous that that the Senior Management Service (SMS)
workshop takes place at this point. This year is a very important year on the
South African calendar. This is a year during which we remember a number of
important historic occasions and people that inspired our journey to where we
are today, including Ingrid Jonker, who wrote: "Die kind is nie dood nie ...die
kind lig sy vuiste teen sy moeder wat Afrika skreeuâ-oe. Die kind wat net wou
speel in die son by Nyanga als orals. Die kind wat 'n man geword het trek deur
die ganse Afrika. Die kind wat 'n reus geword het reis deur die hele wêreld.
Sonder 'n pas.”

The event today, in particular the declaration by members of the SMS, shows
that we are committed to service delivery. The importance of this symbolism is
how it translates into reality. One other important step would be to include
the declaration in Performance Contracts.

I would like to congratulate Premier Marshoff on her address to the
provincial legislature on 10 February 2006. Clearly the Free State has made
great progress towards achieving synergy between and amongst all spheres of
government. Particularly impressive is the way in which the province has
already integrated many national programmes and projects into provincial
programmes.

I would like to strongly support the introduction of the cluster system at
provincial level, with clusters mirroring the national cluster system. This can
only smooth the way for the effective implementation of national and provincial
programmes and I understand that the cluster system will soon be extended to
local government as well. This together with the conscious efforts you are
making to align the National Spatial Development Perspective, the Provincial
Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) and Integrated Development Plans (IDPs)
will ensure the integration of government policies and effective co-ordination
in their implementation.

While we applaud your efforts on many fronts, we must also take heed of the
new mandates and strategic issues emerging from the January Cabinet Lekgotla
and President Mbeki’s State of the Nation Address.

You will be aware that the major thrust of the January Lekgotla and the
President’s State of the Nation Address was our determination to create
accelerated and shared growth for the country as a whole through Accelerated
and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (Asgisa). The President pointed
out in his address that "Asgisa is not intended to cover all elements of a
comprehensive development plan. Rather it consists of a limited set of
interventions that are intended to serve as catalysts to accelerated and shared
growth and development."

The underlying intention behind Asgisa, as with many national flagships
programmes in which provinces are asked to participate, is to galvanise into
action a broad range of role players – including national and provincial
departments, municipalities, parastatals, public entities, with the support of
organised labour and other social partners – for them focus their efforts on
the implementation of a highly focused set of projects to ensure greater
impact.

Joint programmes such as Asgisa, Project Consolidate, Expanded Public Works
and Integrated Sustainable Rural Development programmes, led by national
government, aim to bring together all sectors of society to achieve a common
goal. The Free State Provincial Government has been responsive to all of these
initiatives and has helped make them a success. We look forward to your
continued support, especially in the implementation of Asgisa.

From the priorities outlined by Premier Marshoff in her State of the
Province Address, it is clear that provincial and municipal senior managers in
this province are fully aware of government’s objectives, including national
policies and programmes. I would like to spend some time today talking about
some of the strategic work that is being driven by the G&A Cluster.

Capacity assessments:

One of the critical questions we have been asking ourselves in the second
decade of freedom is, do we have the necessary capacity and appropriate
organisation to deliver on the state’s social and economic objectives? The
President asked this question in October 2004, and the governance and
administration cluster of FOSAD has attempted to answer this question, at
subsequent Cabinet Makgotla.

An initial study presented to the January 2005 Cabinet Lekgotla found that
there are skills shortages across the board in the public service. These
include hard skills such as engineering and project management skills, as well
as soft skills such as communication and community facilitation. As you might
expect, critical skills shortages were identified in the Health sector, the
Criminal Justice sector, Education, Trade and Industry and Local Government,
amongst others.

The cluster accordingly conducted more detailed investigations into key
delivery programmes in these sectors, and findings and recommendations were
presented to the January 2006 Cabinet Lekgotla. One of the general findings was
that many departments spend 100% of their personnel budgets but have more than
20% vacancies, which suggests that they have many unfunded vacant posts on
their establishment. Outdated organograms are the likely cause. As a result the
cabinet also decided that in future revisions to departmental organisational
structures could be made only after consultation with the Minister for the
Public Service and Administration. An amendment to the regulations will be made
to ensure enforcement.

Health

In the Health sector the focus of the study was on hospital management, in
particular CEOs of hospitals. Wide-ranging recommendations were adopted to
speed up the devolution of decision-making to institutional level where
capacity has been demonstrated.

Education

Cabinet agreed on collaboration between the Department of Education and
specific specialised entities in India. A distinct management echelon for
school principals will be investigated. An assessment of science and maths
teachers will be done. The department will also develop staffing norms to
ensure appropriate ratios of teaching staff to support staff.

Justice

The focus of the study was the court management system. Accountability of
the courts emerged as a challenge, and the need for improved coordination
between the justice system role players. A shortage of management skills was
identified. A task team on the harmonisation of salaries of legally qualified
personnel will submit proposals to the July Lekgotla.

Economic sector

The G&A Cluster in consultation with the Economic Cluster will conduct
an assessment of the capacity of government to implement the Accelerated and
Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgisa) by July.

This is the kind of work we have been presenting to recent Cabinet Lekgotla.
We are trying to answer the question, in some detail, whether we have the
necessary capacity to deliver on government’s social and economic objectives.
We will ask the assistance and cooperation of provincial governments in this
endeavour, especially in the health, education and economic sectors where there
are shared competencies between national and provincial government.

The complementary question to the question regarding capacity is, whether
the state is appropriately structured and organised to deliver on these
objectives. Part of our answer to this question has been to develop proposals
to create a single public service.

Single public service:

The African National Congress (ANC) 2004 Election Manifesto, The People’s
Contract, calls for the establishment of "a common system of public services".
This common system has as its central objective improved and integrated service
delivery. The development of this system requires the harmonisation of
conditions of service between the public service and local government.

The Constitution provides that national and provincial governments must
assign to a municipality, by agreement, functions that would be more
effectively administered locally, in cases where the municipality has the
capacity to administer such functions. In some instances the Constitution and
legislation actually require the transfer of specific functions. One of the
implications of a transfer of functions between the spheres is that the
personnel who perform that function must also be transferred. In terms of the
labour relations Act, the function and the personnel must be transferred as "a
going concern".

Numerous complications have arisen in transferring personnel between the
spheres. The main challenge is that the conditions of service in the public
service and local government are significantly different. Efforts to address
this require initially that local government rationalise its conditions of
service. This is already happening, and there have been many positive
developments.

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), together with
key strategic partners, will undertake a review of conditions of service
(pension, medical aid, remuneration and other conditions of service) across the
public service and at local government level, and will develop policy
frameworks for the single public service. The DPSA has already commenced with a
personnel expenditure review that will ultimately inform the development and
implementation of a new remuneration policy for the single public service.
Existing human resource practices will also be reviewed with the objective of
developing common norms and standards to cover the single public service.

The legislation that we will draft by the end of the year will establish
norms and standards for a single public service. There will be mechanisms for
the transfer of functions and personnel within the spheres of government. The
roles and responsibilities of heads of institutions will be addressed, and the
establishment of a senior management service for the single public service.
Employment and other personnel practices for all employees and conditions of
service and labour relations will be regulated, allowing for deviations where
appropriate.

The single public service does not seek to undermine the distinctiveness of
local government. Achieving greater harmony between the spheres of government
will enable the South African developmental state to increase the effectiveness
and impact of its service delivery.

Local government

This year marks the beginning of the second term of our local government
since the introduction of the new local government System in 2000, and local
government elections for the second term of local governance will take place
next week. The January Cabinet Lekgotla reflected on the important lessons that
have been learned about the implementation of the policy and legislative
framework for local government over the past five years.

The January Cabinet Lekgotla approved three strategic priorities to ensure
that challenges facing Local Government are eradicated. The three priorities
are to:

* Provide mainstreamed hands-on support to local government to improve
municipal governance, performance and accountability;
* Address the structure and governance arrangements of the State in order to
better strengthen, support and monitor local government; and
* Refine and strengthen the policy, regulatory and fiscal environment for local
government and give greater attention to the enforcement measures.

A crucial exercise is the drafting of Integrated Development Plans (IDPs)
for the new term of local government. To assist the incoming municipal
councils, government support programmes will turn IDPs into more implementable
development plans for all three spheres of government to strategically respond
to community needs.

Attention will also be given to the role of ward committees, local
councillors and community development workers and steps will be taken to assist
them in communicating with their communities.

Local government must achieve a number of critical service delivery targets
in the coming years. Some of these are:
* Ensuring that all communities have access to clean water by 2010;
* Ensuring that all houses have access to electricity by 2012; and
* Prioritising the eradication of the bucket system in during 2006 and 2007

These are daunting targets, but we cannot fail to achieve them. Project
consolidate has firmly entrenched the principle that national and provincial
government are responsible for providing the necessary support and assistance
to local government, so that municipalities are able to play their crucial role
in the delivery of infrastructure and basic services.

Government Employment Medical Scheme (GEMS):

The newly established Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) is up and
running. The ultimate aim of GEMS is to ensure that Government becomes
responsive to the health and wellness needs of its employees. GEMS was launched
on 1 January 2006. By Tuesday this week, over 2000 new members had joined and
are benefiting from the scheme. However, 400 000 government employees remain
uninsured.

I would therefore like to encourage all public service employees in all
national and provincial departments to join GEMS. GEMS was developed to provide
comprehensive medical cover to public service employees at affordable prices.
The scheme is designed to make medical cover accessible to low income employees
who are not able to afford the membership fees charged in open medical schemes,
while also providing options for higher income employees who enjoy cover on
open medical schemes at present. I want to stress that GEMS caters to the needs
of the broad spectrum of public service employees and all employees should
seriously consider joining GEMS as they will find a level of cover they require
and can afford.

Furthermore, employees should note that GEMS offers a comprehensive HIV
disease management programme to its members. Members of GEMS who enrol on the
programme are treated with dignity and the utmost confidentiality while
receiving a high level of personal attention and support.

African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM):

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is an initiative of New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) that requires participating African countries
to conduct a self-assessment process focusing on democracy and good political
governance; economic governance and management; corporate governance; and
socio-economic development.

President Thabo Mbeki formally launched the African Peer Review Mechanism
(APRM) in September 2005, where after national and provincial Governing
Councils were established. The provincial Governing Councils have the
responsibility of ensuring maximum participation at the provincial level and I
would like to thank the Free State Province for their considerable efforts in
this regard.

The APRM process has created an opportunity for government at the national
and provincial levels to improve its ability to operate collaboratively with
other stakeholders. In fact, this process has made it possible for government
and all stakeholders to talk about South Africa’s achievements and challenges
openly, with the objective of developing an integrated programme of action that
can be owned and implemented by all stakeholders. Research workshops dealing
with the four thematic areas collate various inputs into a single report.

The national Governing Council is looking forward to further engagements
with the province on the country self assessment report and the programme
action. The second national consultative conference scheduled for April 2006
will set the scene for this process.

Anti-corruption

Government has stepped up its anti-corruption efforts significantly and
expects a high standard of professionalism and integrity from its employees.
The Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy has been the blueprint of our
anti-corruption work and this strategy is currently under review. As part of
this process we are looking at how departments have implemented the
requirements of this strategy.

Let me provide you with some statistics on the Free State’s progress in this
regard. Of the 11 departments, seven have provided information on compliance.
Of the departments that have responded:
* 90% have undertaken risk assessments
* 60% have developed fraud and corruption plans, of which 20% have been
implemented
* 30% have a capacity geared to investigate allegations of corruption
* 30% have put in place whistle-blowing mechanisms, but only one department has
a whistle-blowing policy in place

I think you would agree with me that these statistics indicate that the Free
State is not doing all it can and should to fight corruption within its
departments. At the same time it is encouraging to see that the Free State
hosted a provincial anti-corruption summit and that some departments are doing
ethics promotion through workshops and road shows.

Over the next 18 months government will appraise the impact of the national
anti-corruption framework. I look forward to your assistance in this
process.

Batho Pele

Cabinet has approved various measures to improve service delivery as part of
the ongoing Batho Pele campaign. I would like to encourage my colleagues in the
provincial EXCO to take part in the Service Delivery Watch initiative, which is
to make unannounced visits to various service delivery points to assess the
state of service delivery. Observations made thus far indicate that the queue
management, name badges, general conditions of buildings including proper
signage and help desk staffing arrangements need to be attended to.

Public Service Week (PSW) is one of the initiatives that take place annually
throughout the public service. The week’s focus and spotlight is on taking
service people to the people. Although the Free State province did not
participate in last year’s activities, it is expected to participate actively
this year. This year November will be declared Public Service Month so that
provinces can choose any week suitable to it. Local government will also be an
integral part of the initiative.

The Khaedu Programme (a TshiVenda word meaning ‘challenge’), gives managers
from national and provincial departments the opportunity to experience
first-hand the challenges at the coalface of delivery. The programme will soon
be further rolled out to Free State, the Eastern Cape and also extended to
local government so as to complement Project Consolidate during this year.

In conclusion I would like to thank you for the opportunity of addressing
this Imbizo. I have outlined today the gist of the G&A presentation to the
January Cabinet Lekgotla, in respect of capacity, organisation and local
government. I have also touched on certain critical national programmes in
which the province is already actively engaged. These form part of the
government mandates that we share.

The Free State Government has made great strides in achieving the
integration of its programmes with national programmes and policies. We need to
step up our efforts to ensure effective implementation, and especially
integration and coordination between the spheres of government, if we are to
build a better life for all. Let us make this our "Spring of Hope" by giving
life to the SMS declaration - a declaration to be emulated throughout.

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Public Service and Administration
24 February 2006