The Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Mr Senzo Mchunu, has noted a number of vacant Directors-General and Head of Departments positions in national and provincial departments respectively, and has written to the Honourable President, advising the President of the need for these vacancies to be filled.
Given the detrimental effect that these vacancies have on business continuity, the performance of a department and the fact that it further exacerbates the stability and capability of Government in executing its responsibility, the Minister has further requested that the matter be discussed in a meeting of the Presidential Co-ordinating Council (PCC).
“In working towards a capable, ethical, developmental and professional public service, those in the upper echelons need to lead by example. Prolonged vacancies in such critical posts cannot persist; executive authorities need to ensure that their departments are fully capacitated and able to deliver on their respective mandates,” said Minister Mchunu.
At the end of the 3rd quarter of the 2020/2021 Financial Year, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), in its assessment of the public service, identified 8 vacant Director-General posts, whilst in the case of Heads of Department, the number of vacant posts stood at 24. The duration of the vacancies range from as far back as 2017 in respect of a particular Director-General post (Department of Social Development) and 2014 in respect of the Head of Department: Provincial Treasury Northern Cape. Whilst some of these vacancies have since been filled, there is an urgency for the filling of the remaining ones.
Given the nature of their appointments (which is contractual), there are instances where departments (nationally and provincially), are without a head of department, and in such instances, an employee with the requisite competencies is appointed to act in the position – section 32 of the Public Service Act and regulation 63 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 allow for same.
Earlier this month, the DPSA published the Public Service Amendment Bill as well as the Public Administration Management Amendment Bill for public comment. Proposed policy reforms initiated within government necessitated by the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP) and other policy imperatives, various court decisions relating to the field of public administration, are but some of the influences in the decision to amend the legislation.
One of the amendments to the Public Service Act 1994, concerns the devolution of administrative powers to heads of department in national and provincial departments and government components.
Currently, section 7 (3) (b) of the Public Service Act provides that the head of department shall be responsible for the efficient management and administration of their department, citing a number of elements which inform this. Great responsibility is also accorded to heads of department as ‘Accounting Officers’ in terms of the Public Finance Management Act. The above mentioned is evidence of the critical role played by a head of department.
“This matter deserves urgent attention; executive authorities provide political leadership; whereas heads of department are a component of administrative leadership. For the country to develop, not only must there be public service and public servants, and any other public space component for that matter, but heads of department in particular must be at the forefront – putting their knowledge and skills into action, in the interests and to the benefit of the country.”
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