The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration/Performance Monitoring and Evaluation is concerned at the continuing underachievement by government departments in filling vacant positions as well as reaching employment targets for people with disabilities and women.
The Committee is of the view that high vacancy rates in some departments continue to be a major impediment to service delivery. “The Committee is of the view that for every position that is not filled it is the people of South Africa that suffer as the standard of services rendered are reduced to compensate for the vacancy,” said Mrs Peace Mabe, the Chairperson of the Committee.
The Committee remains worried that the average vacancy rate within the public service is standing at 14.25% which is above the 10% average median which is aimed at creating an efficient, effective and development-oriented public service. This is a concern primarily because the average has increased over the three quarters of 2014. The vacancy rate was at 9.51% as of end of April 2014 rising to 14.25% by the end of January 2015.
The vacancy rate challenge is compounded by the average time taken to fill vacancies. “It is unacceptable that some departments take up to 36 months to fill vacancies. The public service is meant to deliver essential services to the people, a majority of which are poor, and this turnaround time has a direct impact to the quality of services rendered,” Mrs Mabe said.
Furthermore, the Committee is alarmed that government departments continue to struggle to achieve 50% of women at Senior Management Level as well as the 2% of people with disabilities across all levels. It is worrying that while women, at 57.6%, represent the biggest share of public service employees this does not translate into more females in decision making positions. “The current 40.4% of women at SMS level should be improved without delay,” Mrs Mabe emphasised.
The Committee has urged the Department of Public Service and Administration to look into drafting and enforcing punitive measures aimed at ensuring that senior managers take the matter of gender equity and employment of people with disabilities are taken seriously.
Furthermore, the Committee is concerned by the slow verification of qualifications as well as vetting processes. It is even more concerning that certain departments conduct the vetting and verification processes after appointing. “The Committee has urged the Department of Public Service to ensure that this phenomenon is reversed. We also appeal to South Africans to refrain from misrepresenting their qualifications as this has an impact on the quality of services rendered,” Mrs Mabe emphasised.
Meanwhile, the Committee has raised concern on the delay in finalising and fully implementing the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS). The IFMS was intended to modernise and integrate the public service’s transversal information technology systems including PERSAL, BAS and LOGIS. The committee is concerned that it is now 10 years since Cabinet approved IFMS. While the Committee is aware of the technical challenges that are involved within the IT sphere, the Committee is adamant that efforts should have been made to complete the project timeously.
As a means of strengthening the Committee’s oversight role a resolution to call departments that have underachieved in relations to filling vacant positions, turnaround times in filling positions as well as employment of people with disabilities to appear before the Committee to account for this underachievement has been made.
Enquiries:
Malatswa Evans Molepo
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
