A. Background
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has released its first provincial consolidated Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Report, which provides an assessment of the performance of departments within the North West Province against the nine constitutional values and principles governing public administration. The report highlights strengths and weaknesses in terms of departmental performance and recommends strategies for improvement. The report also compares the current performance of departments with previous assessments.
B. Comparison of performance between the previous assessments and the 2009/10 evaluation cycle
The findings of the Report show that the North West Province’s average performance has improved from an average of 47 percent in the previous evaluation cycles to an average of 52 percent in the 2009/10 evaluation cycle. In spite of the improvement, the PSC is of the view that the performance of the Province still requires a lot of attention for it to be beyond adequate. At a departmental level, significant improvement has been observed in the Economic Development and Tourism, shifting from adequate performance (49 percent) to good performance (71 percent).
Similarly, the Department of Health has improved from poor (31 percent) to adequate performance (45 percent) and the Department of Transport has also improved from poor (31 percent) to adequate performance (41 percent). The PSC is concerned about the decline in performance in two Departments, namely, Public Works who were rated good (69 percent) in the previous assessments but have since gone down to adequate performance (58 percent) in the 2009/10 evaluation cycle. Similarly, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture were at an adequate performance (51 percent) in the previous assessments but have now gone down to poor performance (41 percent) in the 2009/10 evaluation cycle.
In spite of the recommendations made by the PSC to assist the departments to improve their performance in the previous assessments, the PSC has also noted with concern that none of the 11 Departments had implemented all the recommendations. However, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism implemented the highest number of recommendations made, i.e. 45 of the 58 (78 percent) and has improved its performance by two performance bands from poor to good. On the other hand, the Department of Transport, Roads and Community Safety has implemented the least number of recommendations, i.e. 5 out of 33 (15 percent).
Below are some of the significant issues emanating from the 2009/10 evaluation cycle:
C. Key findings per principle
1. Principle one: Professional ethics
- The overall average performance against the principle of professional ethics was good (61 percent).
- The province has fully complied with the submission of financial disclosure forms, which is commendable.
- The capacity to handle misconduct cases remains an area requiring improvement, with departments scoring an average of 59 percent. Although departments have policies on the handling of misconduct in place, all departments have exceeded the range of 20 to 80 working days within which cases should be finalised. As such, the PSC is concerned that the delay in resolving cases of misconduct may send a wrong message that unethical behavior is tolerated and could thus result in a breakdown in discipline.
2. Principle two: Efficiency, economy and effectiveness
- The overall average performance against the principle of efficiency, economy and effectiveness was adequate (47 percent).
- The notable achievement in the Province is the improvement in the ability of departments to craft measurable performance indicators.
- However, improvement is required across all departments in terms of the achievement of pre-determined outputs. The Province received an average score of 32 percent (poor performance) in terms of the achievement of pre-determined outputs. The PSC is concerned that although departments spent their allocated budget they did not necessary achieve all their planned outputs.
3. Principle three: Development orientation
- The findings of the Report show that the average performance of departments against this principle was adequate (59 percent). The only department that achieved a performance rating of “excellent” was Agriculture (90 percent), followed by the Departments of Economic Development and Tourism; and Social Development, both with a score of 80 percent.
- The findings also showed that on average, departments scored 72 percent against the standard that development projects should be aligned with Integrated Development Plans, which represents good performance.
- Beneficiary participation in the design of poverty reduction projects is one of the main areas where improvement is needed in the Province. Departments’ performance against this standard was adequate (43 percent).
4. Principle four: Impartiality and fairness
- The overall average performance against the principle of impartiality and fairness was adequate (47 percent).
- The findings show that five departments’ performance against this principle was excellent with their scores ranging from 85 percent to 100 percent. These departments were Economic Development and Tourism, at 100 percent; Public Works (95 percent); followed by Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Education and the Office of the Premier, which scored 85 percent each. However, the performance of the Departments of Transport, Roads and Community Safety (40 percent) and Sports, Arts and Culture (30 percent) against this principle was poor.
- The indicator used by the PSC in this instance is compliance with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), and the score of 47 percent implies that many departments did not comply with this Act.
- If departments do not comply with the provisions of PAJA, they can expose themselves in terms of Section 6 of the Act to proceedings in a court or tribunal for judiciary review, which can be instituted by any person who is convinced that his/her rights were negatively affected by a department’s administrative action(s).
5. Principle five: Public participation in policy-making
- The overall average performance against the principle of public participation in policy-making was adequate at 57 percent. Four departments’ performance against this principle was good ranging from 70 percent-80 percent, namely Education, Finance and the Office of the Premier, which scored 80 percent, followed by the Department of Agriculture with a score of 70 percent.
- In terms of putting in place systems for soliciting public participation in policy-making, the average performance was good (77 percent).
- The PSC is concerned that despite its recommendations made during previous assessments, some departments still do not have an approved policy or guideline on public participation in policy-making.
- The findings also revealed that departments could not show that they have actually considered or provided feedback on inputs made by the public.
6. Principle six: Accountability
- The overall performance against the principle of accountability was adequate (60 percent). A positive development is that departments have put in place performance management systems for all departmental programmes.
- A major challenge facing the Province is the capacity constraints of the Forensic Unit (FU) located in the Office of the Premier to investigate cases of fraud and corruption referred by departments. During the evaluation of the Premier’s Office, the PSC found that although posts are available in the FU, most of them have not been filled, mainly due to budgetary constraints and the moratorium placed on the filling of posts. As a result of capacity constraints, the Province is unable to investigate and provide feedback to the PSC on corruption cases referred to them from the National Anti-Corruption Hotline.
- The PSC is concerned that, based on the Auditor-General’s (AG) findings, half of the departments did not have effective internal financial controls, which increases the risk of irregular expenditure, wasteful expenditure and over/under expenditure. These departments are Agriculture; Education; Economic Development and Tourism; Health; Developmental Local Government and Housing; Social Development; Transport, Roads and Community Safety. However, five of the eleven departments received an unqualified audit opinion, namely, Agriculture; Education; Health; Roads, Transport and Community Safety and Social Development. The Department of Developmental Local Government and Housing received a Disclaimer opinion.
7. Principle seven: Transparency
- The average performance of the province against the principle of transparency is adequate at 50 percent.
- Departments generally still tend not to report on all the areas for annual reporting prescribed by the National Treasury (NT) and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). Since these prescribed areas are all critical issues that the public has an interest in, the lack of compliance against this principle might signal that departments are not taking issues of transparency seriously.
- However, 95 percent of departments’ annual reports are attractively presented and written in simple and accessible language.
d. In relation to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), departments in the province are generally not complying with the Act. For example, regarding the appointment of Deputy Information Officers and publishing a Manual on Access to Information, departments scored extremely poor (9 percent and 18 percent respectively).
8. Principle eight: Good human resource management and career development practices
- The average performance of the province against the principle of good human resource management and career development practices is adequate at 49 percent. This level of performance is mainly due to departments not meeting the requirement that a vacant post should be filled within three months. In the province it takes an average of 11 months.
- The lack of effective monitoring of the recruitment process could be one of the possible reasons for the delay in the filling of posts.
- In relation to skills development, the report notes that 61 percent of departments have put in place Skills Development Plans, which indicates good performance against this standard. However, it is of concern to the PSC that most of these plans are not based on thorough skills needs analyses. Likewise, the skills development activities are not implemented as planned and the impact of training is not assessed.
9. Principle nine: Representivity
- The overall performance of the Province against the principle of representivity was poor (40 percent) due to the absence of an Employment Equity Policy and Plan in most departments, and the non-reporting to management on the progress with achieving employment equity targets. Furthermore, none of the eleven departments have met the representivity target of 2 percent for people with disabilities and only 4 out of 11 have achieved the 50 percent national target for women at senior management level.
- The findings also show that most departments have exceeded the 75 percent national target for Blacks at senior management level.
D. Recommendations per principle
The PSC recommended the following:
Principle one: Professional ethics - The processes used to manage cases of misconduct must be reviewed, in order to ensure that line function managers keep track of these cases and take corrective measures in time. Furthermore, a performance improvement plan to reduce the turnaround time must be put in place, monitored and reported on to the provincial Cabinet.
Principle tw Efficiency, economy and effectiveness - departments should strengthen their performance monitoring and evaluation system in order to ensure that all planned outputs are achieved. Particular attention should also be paid to monitoring expenditure patterns in order to ensure that expenditure is always in accordance with the budget.
Principle three: Development orientation - departments should ensure that beneficiaries participate in the design, management and monitoring of poverty reduction projects in order to ensure ownership of the poverty reduction project.
Principle four: Impartiality and fairness - departments that recorded no or poor performance should ensure that their decision-making processes comply with PAJA requirements and that all steps are properly documented.
Principle five: Public participation in policy making - departments should develop guidelines/policy on public participation that clearly articulates the objectives of public participation and the process to be followed during engagement with citizens. Similarly, departments should familiarise themselves with the Citizen’s Forum Toolkit that the PSC developed because it is a useful resource for public participation.
Principle six: Accountability - Management should encourage the timely and accurate reporting of suspicion of fraud, corruption and other irregularities. Furthermore, regular fraud detection reviews should be undertaken to ensure the timely identification of potential fraud and other irregularities. In addition, the Office of the Premier should determine the exact capacity requirements for the handling of fraud cases and ensure that the necessary training is provided to officials in these units to investigate fraud and corruption cases.
Principle seven: Transparency - departments should provide all the details in their annual reports as required by the NT and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). Departments should also prioritise the appointment of deputy information officers with delegated authority to deal with requests for access to information.
Principle eight: Good human resource management and career development practices - departments should put measures in place to reduce the recruitment period from an average period of 11 months to 3 months. Likewise, management reporting on this aspect must be instituted. Departments should also ensure that all the necessary details prescribed by the Department of Labour are included in their skills development plans.
Principle nine: Representivity - departments should strive to meet the two percent national target set for people with disabilities by indicating that people with disabilities will receive preference during the selection process, and the wheelchair emblem must be included on such advertisements. Similarly, links with organisations representing people with disabilities should be fostered to create access to people with disabilities.
E. Conclusion
The PSC’s Consolidated Public Service Monitoring and Evaluation Report for the North West Province: 2009/10 evaluation cycle provides in depth commentary on the performance of departments against the nine Constitutional Values and Principles governing public administration. The report has been presented to the North West Provincial Administration and the PSC hopes that the leadership in the province will implement the recommendations to improve performance.
Enquiries:
Humphrey Ramafoko
Tel: 012 352 1196
Cell: 082 782 1730
E-mail: humpreyr@opsc.gov.za
Ricardo Mahlakanya
Tel: 012 352 1070
Cell: 073 483 7846
E-mail: RicardoM@opsc.gov.za
Source: Public Service Commission
