investigation into the Management of Public Servants in Terms of Prevailing
Provisions who are elected as Municipal Councillors in the Limpopo and Western
Cape provinces
17 October 2007
The Public Service Commission releases a report on the investigation into
the Management of Public Servants in Terms of Prevailing Provisions who are
elected as Municipal Councillors in the Limpopo and Western Cape provinces.
Public servants are constitutionally bound to provide impartial, fair,
equitable and unbiased services to the country's citizenry. It is expected that
public servants dedicate their energy and time to the public service and stay
committed in the execution of their duties. Concerns however have been raised
about the effect of dual-employment by public servants. An area that has been
subject of public comment and that has come to the PSC's attention is the
election of public servants as councillors in municipalities.
Presently there is no clear legislative provision contained in, amongst
others, the Public Service Act, 1994, or the Public Service Regulations
requiring the resignation of public servants elected as full-time councillors
or the management of public servants appointed as part-time councillors. In an
attempt to address this gap, the Department of Public Service and
Administration issued a circular in October 2005 with a view to provide
guidance to departments on the management of public servants who are candidates
in municipal elections and or elected to municipal councils.
Despite these measures there are concerns about the ability of such public
servants to perform in both the work environments, given the new political
responsibilities. If not correctly managed, the statutory and the regulatory
provisions governing remunerated work outside the public service may also be
transgressed. In accordance with its mandate, the PSC has conducted an
investigation into the management of public servants who were elected as
municipal councillors following the 2006 municipal elections.
Although the investigation included only those employees in the employment
of the Limpopo and the Western Cape Provincial Administrations, the PSC is of
the opinion that focusing on two provinces with such diverse profiles will
provide baseline information and a good basis for comparative analysis.
According to the data obtained from the various municipalities in these two
provinces, a total 1877 persons (public servants and non-public servants) serve
on these municipal councils. Of these, 1 057 are in the Limpopo and 820 in the
Western Cape provinces. Furthermore, in terms of the data, out of the 1877
persons elected to serve on municipal councils, a disturbingly high number were
public servants (606). Of these, 456 were employed in departments in the
Limpopo and 150 in the Western Cape provinces.
Government's integrated human resource, personnel and salary system,
commonly known as Persal, verified that the number of current public servants
elected as municipal councillors subsequent to the municipal elections held in
March 2006, is 340 (i.e. 321 in Limpopo and 19 in the Western Cape). The
difference of 266 between the data supplied by the municipalities and that
verified by Persal could be ascribed to, among others, the termination of such
public servants' services or resignations.
Of the 340 public servants elected as municipal councillors, 124 are female
and 216 male, whilst the majority of these employees in both provinces fall
mainly in the age group 40 â 49. The investigation also revealed that in both
the Limpopo and the Western Cape provinces, 85% of the public servants elected
as municipal councillors are employed at the production level, i.e. salary band
one to eight.
Departments that participated in the investigation verified that all the
affected public servants are elected as municipal councillors on a part-time
basis. However, in some instances it was indicated that the officials did not
inform their departments of their election as municipal councillors.
Subsequent to obtaining and analysing information from the departments, the
PSC found, amongst others, the following:
* Not in all instances were public servants informed by departments' human
resources components of the provisions and conditions that regulate their
participation in municipal elections.
* Public servants elected as municipal councillors did not in all instances
request and obtain approval from the Executing Authority or designated official
to perform remunerative work outside the public service as is required under
the Public Service Act, 1994.
The report also noted deficiencies in managing public servants elected as
part-time municipal councillors. Not all departments:
* continuously monitor the nature and extent of public servants' duties and
responsibilities as councillors
* determine whether the nature and extent of public servants' duties and
responsibilities as councillors are in conflict with their official
duties
* monitor the impact that public servants' duties as councillors have on their
attendance and performance of work
* ensure that public servants serving as municipal councillors perform their
duties as councillors outside official hours
* require that vacation leave be taken in instances where employees have to
perform Council-related duties during official hours of work.
Nevertheless, the investigation revealed that in the Office of the Premier
and the Department of Agriculture in Limpopo, as well as the departments of
Agriculture and Health in the Western Cape, strict control measures were
implemented to manage public servants elected as part-time municipal
councillors.
The PSC is firmly of the view that the practice of continuing to employ
public servants elected as part-time councillors should be discontinued
considering the partisan responsibilities that go with holding political
office. However, if the practice is to be continued much more detailed
attention must be given to the correct management of part-time councillors.
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 good governance and service delivery discourse. This and other reports can
be accessed on the PSC website http://www.psc.gov.za. Acts of possible corruption
can be reported to the national Anti-Corruption Hotline: 0800 701 701.
For enquiries, please contact:
Humphrey Ramafoko
Director: Communication and Information Services
Tel: 012 352 1196
Cell: 082 782 1730
E-mail: ramafokoh@opsc.gov.za
Kabelo Ledwaba
Deputy Director: Communication
Tel: 012 352 1070
Cell: 082 952 0460
E-mail: kabelol@opsc.gov.za
Issued by: Public Service Commission
17 October 2007
