Public Service Commission on Annual State of the Public Service
Report

14 May 2007

Since the inaugural edition in 2002, the State of the Public Service (SOPS)
reports by the Public Service Commission (PSC) have evolved to mark themselves
as valuable overviews of public service performance in South Africa. Today, the
PSC is pleased to announce the release of its 2007 State of the Public Service
Report. In line with previous editions, the 2007 Report provides a high-level
overview of the progress made by the Public Service in giving effect to the
nine Constitutional values and principles of public administration.

While the 2006 edition focused on the capacity of the Public Service to
deliver, the 2007 edition focuses on the contribution of the Public Service
towards the achievement of growth and development objectives in South Africa.
The promotion of growth and development has been a high priority for South
Africa from the inception of its democracy. As the key implementation agency of
the state, the Public Service is central to efforts of achieving growth and
development and improving the standard and quality of life for South
Africans.

The 2007 Report, which contains overviews of selected PSC and other research
findings, looks at each of the nine Constitutional principles and values of
public administration and then assesses how the Public Service has adhered to
it in a manner that contributes to growth and development.

The following are a few salient points from the 2007 State of the Public
Service Report:

On the first principle

The promotion and maintenance of a high standard of professional ethics

A professional and ethical Public Service enhances the credibility of the
state as a development partner and promotes confidence in its programmes. The
Report notes that South Africa has generally performed well in the
establishment of an integrity-driven system of governance. The country has
received largely positive ratings since its re-integration into the global
community, with confidence reflected in improved investment. South Africa is
one of the first countries to ratify the United Nations Convention against
Corruption and to comply with its mandatory requirements. At a continental
level, South Africa has also taken the admirable step of voluntarily having the
quality of its governance assessed through the African Peer Review
Mechanism.

The Report thus acknowledges the deepening of South Africa's commitment to
rebuilding a strong culture of ethics. Nonetheless, it argues that it is at the
level of implementation that the real challenge of promoting professional
ethics and fighting corruption is experienced.

A sound framework has been put in place to promote a strong culture of
ethics, which is recognised internationally. The National Anti-Corruption Forum
(NACF) has strengthened the country's partnership approach to promote ethical
conduct, the work done to date shows that the NACF is yielding positive
results. South Africa's anti-corruption drive has a strong public participation
dimension whereby citizens are encouraged to actively play a role in reporting
acts of corruption. By 30 November 2006, 2 297 allegations of corruption
relating to national and provincial departments had been reported through the
National Anti-Corruption Hotline (NACH).

However, feedback from departments and agencies remains generally sluggish
(feedback has only been received in 38% of the cases referred to provincial
departments). Cases reported to the NACH have already led to the dismissal of
20 officials from the Public Service while 17 were suspended pending
finalisation of their cases. The Report says that low feedback rate on cases
referred to departments is unfortunate as it may encourage perceptions that
there are high levels of corruption in the Public Service.

With regards to compliance with conflicts of interest legislation, the
Report notes that senior Public Service managers fail to lead by example, with
only 66% of them having disclosed their financial interests for the 2005/06
financial year.

The Report concludes that the foundation for an integrity driven Public
Service has been laid. The main consideration going forward is to deepen
implementation of the frameworks and strategies that are in place.

On the second principle

The promotion of efficient, economic and effective use of resources

Public spending impacts on the production, investment and employment
patterns in the economy. There has been an improvement in financial reporting
in the Public Service, but more needs to be done to ensure that the Public
Service is competent in the utilisation and management of resources.

While increases in budget allocations are commendable, the lives of people
can only be positively impacted on if the Public Service has the capacity to
spend the resources it is provided with. In this regard, it is encouraging to
note that under-spending in provincial departments is mostly on the decrease.
However, the same cannot be said about national departments where
under-spending went up from an average of 0,9% in 2004/05 to 1,5% in 2005/06.
Although some of these percentages may appear insignificant, in rand terms the
amounts involved are worth watching closely.

There are already concerns around the highly uneven quarterly spending
patterns of departments, perhaps a signal that funds are not always used
efficiently and effectively. In certain instances, departments tend to spend a
large portion of their budget during the last month of the financial year.

The Report concludes that the Public Service needs to ensure that its
performance reporting strikes a balance between quantitative achievements such
as the number of beneficiaries and the value that the services provided
generate for the beneficiaries. This requires among others sound planning and
focused evaluative studies. Priority initiatives such as Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) should be supported by
comprehensive monitoring and evaluation processes which would facilitate
meaningful and regular reporting to keep the public informed.

On the third principle

Development orientation of public administration

A development oriented Public Service plays a proactive role in the
realisation of government's objective of creating a better life for all.
Efforts such as social security and social assistance programmes have reached
many beneficiaries, however these need to be augmented by more sustainable
efforts of eliminating the second economy. While planning for growth and
development has been a priority for the government and frameworks have been put
in place to facilitate such planning, the challenge is to ensure that the plans
that are generated through these frameworks are not only conceptually and
operationally rigorous, but are in alignment with each other to facilitate
collaborative intergovernmental implementation.

The Report also notes that assessments of progress made in reducing poverty
tend to be defused by different definitions of poverty. The role of a
developmental Public Service is to transcend these definitional differences and
provide clarity on what poverty means in the South African context. This is a
key issue on which to frame discussions because the extent to which there has
been progress in poverty reduction also depends on the definition and the
indicators that get used for such an assessment. Notwithstanding these
definitional differences, it is acknowledged that there is still a huge
challenge facing the government to reduce income poverty through productive
employment.

The Report says that in addition to social security, there are many other
poverty reduction programmes that the Public Service is implementing. These
include Free Basic Services and school fee rebates for poor families.
Ultimately, the key issue is to ensure that departments demonstrate the
requisite capacity to design, plan, implement and monitor these programmes in
such a manner that they achieve their objectives.

The Report concludes that there is growing recognition that social
assistance does in fact achieve some developmental objectives as well. A key
challenge, however is that reducing poverty through grants is not
sustainable.

On the fourth principle

Services must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without
bias:

The provision of services impartially, fairly and equitably is essential for
growth and development, as it ensures that the current inequalities that exist
are addressed. The Report notes that although a legal framework to entrench
impartiality, fairness, equity and a lack of bias is in place, implementation
still remains a challenge for some departments. Some of the legislation in this
regard includes the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), the
Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), the Promotion of Equity and the
Prevention of Unjust Discrimination Act (PEPUDA), and the Employment Equity Act
(EEA).

Studies by the PSC show that the implementation of the PAJA remains a
challenge for departments. Proper communication of decisions as required by the
PAJA is important in that it not only encourages decision makers to ensure
procedural rigour in decision making, but it also inspires public confidence in
the legality and fairness of the decisions. In only three (27%) of the
departments assessed could an element of fairness in decision making be
established. When it comes to the proper communication of decisions in terms of
giving prior notice, providing opportunities for representations, communicating
decisions that adversely affect people and providing reasons for decisions on
request, only one (9%) department was found to be compliant.

A key consideration for the Public Service is for departments to improve the
manner in which they work with current legislation to ensure that they can
effectively promote fairness, impartiality and lack of bias. In a developmental
state such as ours where the Public Service is central to the achievement of
transformation and development, the machinery of the state can be rendered
ineffective if it is perceived to be partisan. The immediate outcome of such a
situation could be a lack of willingness by potential development stakeholders
to engage with government.

The Report also recommends a high degree of transparency and fairness in the
adjudication of tenders. Given the several high level events that the country
will be hosting in the near future, the allocation of government business
through the public procurement process poses a challenge as well as a window of
opportunity which should be exploited.

On the fifth principle

People's needs must be responded to and the public must be encouraged to
participate in policy making

The involvement of citizens in the decision making process is important to
ensure that experiential and grounded perspectives inform government of what
the needs are, and how these can best be addressed. There are pockets of good
practice in the Public Service that promote citizen engagement, but more still
needs to be done to heighten the level and quality of participatory
governance.

South Africa is recognised as having a more open policy making process than
most other countries. Parliamentary hearings, processes such as National
Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), engagement with trade unions
and Izimbizo are all illustrative of consensus building which supports the
implementation of policies. The partnership between government and civil
society groups on HIV and AIDS is an example where critical interest groups
collaborate with government to seek solutions.

However, at the level of implementation the Public Service has had mixed
results in the promotion of participatory governance. Most of the mechanisms
that have gained momentum are those that are organised by political
representatives. For example, government has continued to conduct its Izimbizo
which provide ordinary citizens with the opportunity to interact with
government and to raise their frustrations and concerns about issues that
affect them. Since its launch in 2001, the programme of Izimbizo has gained
increasing momentum, and has also become regularised as part of government's
annual programme of action.

The PSC believes that public participation needs to be entrenched through
the development and implementation of supporting policy guidelines at
departmental level. Accordingly, the PSC has assessed a sample of departments
to establish, among other things, if they have a policy or guideline on public
participation, whether a system for soliciting public inputs on key matters is
in use and whether all policy inputs received from the public are acknowledged
and formally considered.

Based on the information obtained from a selection of 12 provincial and two
national departments from the Public Service Monitoring and Evaluation System
for the 2005/06 cycle, the PSC found that only 21% of the departments evaluated
have policy and guidelines to deal with public participation. Just over a
quarter (29%) of these departments have systems to solicit public participation
in the policy development process. It was also found that only 29% of the
departments include public comments in their policy formulation process.

These findings indicate that the Public Service needs to do more to improve
the scope and quality of participation by citizens in its work. The execution
of participatory models requires a particular set of skills from public
servants, such as the ability to negotiate, understand community dynamics and
work with, rather than work for, communities. This would require the
reorientation and re-skilling of public servants to address the challenges
posed by working in such a context.

On the sixth principle

Public administration must be accountable

Accountability for performance is critical for a Public Service that is
charged with the important responsibilities of implementing government policy
and managing public resources. South Africa is generally recognised for having
in place credible accountability mechanisms which are supported by legislative
and regulatory provisions. While mechanisms such as annual reports and
performance management and development systems are in place, however, their
implementation needs to be improved to ensure that they achieve their intended
purpose.

The Report cautions against the late submission of annual reports to the
Auditor-General to facilitate regularity audits. During the 2005/06 audits,
these reports were often delayed, with most departments (56%) failing to submit
their reports by the due date of August 2006. Twenty one percent of departments
submitted their annual reports after the signing of their audit reports. The
Auditor-General has, however, reported some encouraging improvements in the
quality of departmental reporting. For example, in 71% of the departments
reviewed, the objectives and performance information reflected in their annual
reports were aligned to what is contained in their strategic plans as well as
National Treasury's Estimates of National Expenditure. This is a notable
increase compared to preceding year's 39%. In addition, 86% of the departments
had specific measurable objectives, an improvement from the previous year's
71%. These findings can only mean that the Public Service is continuing to
improve its reporting on performance against deliverables.

However, an area that still needs attention is that of ensuring consistency
from one reporting period to the next in order to allow for comparisons between
performance information contained in quarterly reports and that which is
contained in annual reports. The Auditor-General noted that it was only in 50%
of the departments that such consistency could be established.

A worrying trend in the Public Service's accountability measures is the
increase (from 7 to 11) in the number of qualified audits for the period
2005/06. The most significant number of qualifications (78%) is in respect of
only five departments, namely, Correctional Services (21 issues), Home Affairs
(13 issues), Defence (10 issues), Independent Complaints Directorate (8 issues)
and Water Affairs and Forestry (7 issues). There has also been an increase in
the number of issues raised under emphasis of matter during the past three
years, with fewer than 200 items in 2002/03 to over 300 items in 2005/06.

During 2006/07, the PSC continued to facilitate the evaluation of the
performance of Head of Departments (HoDs). A total of 44 HoDs of national and
provincial departments were evaluated for the 2004/05 financial year. Overall,
HoDs were rated at a performance level of higher than fully effective. More
than 80% of the 44 HoDs evaluated received a rating of four (performance
significantly above expectations) or higher. The correlation between HoD
performance on the one hand and departmental performance on the other still
warrants closer assessment.

The PSC is concerned that the Performance Evaluation of HoDs is still not
being used optimally as an accountability mechanism. There are still HoDs who
qualify to be evaluated but do not get evaluated. For example only 44 HoDs were
evaluated for the 2004/05 financial year out of 73 that qualified. This raises
concerns about how such HoDs account for their performance and that of their
departments. The PSC has established that many of the instances where HoDs do
not get evaluated come about as a result of Executive Authorities who do not
initiate such evaluations as provided for in the Framework for the Evaluation
of the Performance of HoDs.

At the heart of effective accountability for performance is the signing of
performance agreements (PAs). PAs translate departmental strategic plans into
specific deliverables for officials. Unless each official enters into such an
agreement, accountability for the implementation of departmental programmes
becomes compromised. In the PSC's experience, PAs are not always entered into
on time (or at all).

On the seventh principle

Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely,
accessible and accurate information

Transparency facilitates public scrutiny of government programmes. Key to
the promotion of transparency is the provision of accessible information to
different users. The provision of information through public reports has
generally improved although departments still need to improve their
responsiveness to individual requests for information. South Africa has made
significant progress in the promotion of transparency through access to
information. However, these improvements are largely in the areas of availing
information through reports as opposed to responsiveness to individual requests
for information.

A further improvement has also been in the quality of reporting by
departments. Based on the information from the Public Service Monitoring and
Evaluation System for the 2005/06 cycle, the results show that most of the
departments evaluated had produced an annual report through which they account
to the taxpayers in a transparent manner as required by Treasury and Public
Service Regulations. The content of the Annual Reports of 79% of the
departments evaluated satisfied 90% of the requirements set out in the
Regulations. The Annual Reports are accessible to the public in 71% of the
departments evaluated.

South Africa's budgeting processes are recognised as among the most
transparent in the world. A study by the International Budget Project has
scored South Africa 85 out of 100 in terms of budget transparency. The study
included 59 countries, and South Africa was placed in fourth place, after New
Zealand, France and Britain.

The above measures of promoting transparency through accessible information
are commendable. However, at the level of responsiveness to individual requests
for information, the Public Service is still facing challenges that need urgent
attention. Evidence in this area suggests that most departments are still not
able to adequately respond to the information needs of citizens.

Government needs to invest in departmental capacity to respond timeously and
meaningfully to individual requests for information. While information provided
through reports and internet postings is useful, individual citizens and
companies may need certain information that responds to their specific
needs.

* On the eighth principle, good human resource management and career
development practices to maximise human potential must be cultivated:

Good human resource management is critical for ensuring that the Public
Service is optimally poised to promote growth and development. The acquisition
and retention of skills requires an effective management of the entire human
resource management value chain, and the Public Service still manifests areas
of weakness in this regard.

Activities that constitute the human resource management (HRM) value chain
of the Public Service need to be managed effectively if a strong skills base is
to be created. The Public Service still has a lot of challenges that needs to
be dealt with in order to achieve such effective HRM. Part of the challenge is
about striking a balance between basic technical HRM on the one hand and
strategic HRM on the other. The technical aspects relate to basic compliance
with prescripts while strategic aspects are about ensuring that HRM practices
strategically support service delivery imperatives. The Public Service is still
experiencing challenges in both technical and strategic HRM.

Basic requirements such as entering into performance agreements and
scheduling performance assessments are still not always complied with. In
certain instances, performance rewards are even given to employees without any
evidence of credible performance management processes having been followed.

Grievances lodged by employees are an indicator of the level of
dissatisfaction with how HRM is conducted in departments. PSC databases show
that performance assessment, the handling of salary payment and increases and
the filling of posts are among the highest types of complaints that employees
lodge. Whilst complaints do not necessarily imply that there are administrative
weaknesses; it is of concern, however, that the Public Service is still
experiencing many grievances that relate to what is otherwise a basic set of
administrative processes.

At the level of basic requirements relating to recruitment and selection of
staff, there is evidence that certain key compliance aspects are still not
adequately addressed. Fourteen per cent of the 863 complaints lodged with the
PSC in 2005/06 were about such HRM matters as recruitment, selection and
filling of posts.

In terms of the strategic aspect of the human resource management value
chain, the Report notes that Public Service has successfully put in place
credible frameworks to inform implementation. However, putting these frameworks
into practice remains a challenge for many departments. For example, a Human
Resource Planning Toolkit has been developed by Department of Public Service
Administration (DPSA). The Toolkit emphasises the centrality of human resource
planning, noting that it must ensure that an organisation obtains the quality
and quantity of staff it requires, that it makes optimum use of its human
resources, and that it is able to anticipate and manage surpluses and shortages
of staff. That, notwithstanding, departments largely still do not have sound
human resource plans in place.

On the ninth principle

Public administration must be broadly representative of the people of South
Africa

The Public Service is obliged to set a good example for the attainment of
representivity targets intended to end exclusion on the basis of race, gender
and disability. The Report acknowledges that successes have been made in terms
of increasing the number of women in management and providing programmes to
fast track the development of middle-managers. Improving the employment of
people with disabilities remains a challenge.

However, it is important that measures to promote representivity are applied
objectively and fairly. Adherence to representivity requirements should not,
for example, result in credible selection processes being abandoned. The South
African Public Service has generally done well in the promotion of certain
categories of workplace representivity. For example, good progress has been
made overall in terms of increasing the number of female employees in
management positions.

An area of workplace diversity that still remains a challenge for the Public
Service is that of the employment of people with disabilities. Statistics show
that as at 30 September 2006, the total number of people with disabilities in
the Public Service was 1 808 out of a total staff complement of 1 137 587.
This represents only 0,16% of the entire civil service corps, an achievement
that is still below the 2005 target of two percent.

Furthermore, in its investigation the PSC found that there is still not a
strong enough commitment within the Public Service, beyond numerical targets,
to actually create the necessary enabling environment for gender mainstreaming
and gender equality. Policies and the work environment do not recognise the
importance of providing social benefits such as breastfeeding and child care
facilities. Flexi-time to accommodate child caring is also lacking. There is
need for a specific programme targeting women for accelerated learning for
specific roles and senior positions, and a structured mentoring programme so
that women who are advanced to leadership positions have the necessary
support.
This edition of the State of the Public Service Report provides an analytical
overview of the role played by the Public Service in promoting growth and
development within the context of the nine Constitutional values and principles
of public administration. The Report acknowledges that interpretations of the
scope and purpose of growth and development may vary, but ultimately what is
key, is improving the standard and quality of life of citizens. There is
therefore an obligation on the Public Service to develop the capacity and
skills to address this challenge.

From the overview provided in this report, it is clear that significant
milestones have been achieved by government. The solid work that has taken
place in the Public Service over the past decade must be maintained and
improved upon.

What is important now is to systematically and on a sustained basis,
strengthen the operational ability of the Public Service to translate these
policies into fruitful activities.

The PSC will continue to monitor the performance of the South African Public
Service and through its reporting generate a broader discussion and debate in
the service delivery discourse.

Enquiries
Humphrey Ramafoko
Tel: 012 352 1196
Cell: 082 782 1730

Kabelo Ledwaba
Tel: 012 352 1070
Cell: 082 952 0460

Issued by: Public Service Commission
14 May 2007