Deputy Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga: Public Service and Administration Dept Budget Vote 2021/22

Honourable House Chairperson; 
Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Hon. Senzo Mchunu; 
Honourable Members of Parliament, in particular the Chairperson and Members of the Portfolio Committee; on Public Service and Administration; 
Our Honoured Public Servants; 
Fellow South Africans. 

Introduction 

Honourable House Chairperson; 

The year 2021 was declared as the year for Mme Charlotte Maxeke, who would have turned 150 years this year had she lived. We pause to remember this outstanding proudly African daughter of the soil. To-date we are still holding the baton and are committed to address the imbalances of the historic past. Together, we are growing South Africa by building a capable, capacitated ethical and developmental state which will bring a better life to all South Africans. 

Honourable Members;
 
The Honourable Minister Senzo Mchunu has outlined the priorities we would be implementing this financial year.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted public service systemic challenges that warrant a paradigm shift on the use of conventional models in delivering services. It brought to the fore the reality of the 4th Industrial Revolution and the need to move with speed in the implementation of e-Government and ICT related solutions to fast-track service delivery. The pandemic has taught us the importance of: 

  •  Improved evidence based decision-making and made government more response-driven; 
  • and most importantly 
  • It has highlighted the endless dynamism and possibilities in the use of technology and innovation which knows no boundaries, time, and distance. 


E-government Services and Infomration Management (e-GSIM) 

Honourable Members;
 
South Africa’s e-Government policy framework proposes the use ICT to improve government's efficacy in delivering services. 

e-GSIM Area of focus and Budget Projections for 2021/22 

  • In this financial year 2021/22, the Department will focus on the digital transformation change management strategy. The goal of which is to implement processes, tools and techniques to manage the people-side of change arising from introducing IT in a business environment. 
  • The priority will be given to business process re-engineering interventions aimed to harness and manage the vast data estate already in our possession, which will be used as raw material for the 4th Industrial Revolution. The business processes will assist to improve decisions making in the Public Service. Appropriate regulatory frameworks will be introduced to facilitate the above. 
  • To achieve the above for the 2021/22 financial year an amount of R35.8 million has been allocated. 
  • Based on the studies done by the DPSA in the 2018/19 financial year; government spending on ICT was R38 Billion. Arising from this study is the need to explore various ways in which maximum benefit and value for money can be obtained from leveraging of ICT in the public service. 
  • House Chair; 
  • Amongst the successes, we have introduced electronic payslips to about 20 National Departments and 30 provincial departments (KZN, Western Cape and Limpopo).This has led to the saving of R4.7 Million per quarter. We project savings of more than R100 Million over the MTEF period by ensuring that all departments adopt this innovation. 
     

Government Employee Medical Scheme 

Honourable House Chairperson; 

Since its inception 15 years ago, the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) has continued to grow and has become the second largest medical scheme and the largest closed medical scheme in the country. 

To-date GEMS has 751 000 registered principal members and covers over 1.9 million beneficiaries. This growth occurred despite the adverse economic conditions brought about by the pandemic and the general decline in membership in the industry. 

  • GEMS paid around R 3.2 billion towards COVID 19 related costs for its members by the end of the 2020 financial year. This figure rose to R 4.7 billion by the end of March 2021. 
  • The Scheme reported a surplus of almost R5.6 billion for the 2020 Financial Year and increased its reserve ratio to 42.06% when compared to the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) target of 22.7%. Accumulated funds increased to R18.6 billion in 2020. This must be interpreted in the context of the reduced utilisation of some of the usual healthcare services during the Pandemic lockdown. However the unpredictable COVID-19 related costs were covered in full, it is anticipated that the reserves will reduce significantly during 2021 as a result of the possibility of a third wave of the pandemic and the estimated spend on vaccination costs. 
  • As per Cabinet mandate, from the 17th May 2021, GEMS assumed the responsibility to lead the Vaccination Programme for Public Service Employees and their dependents. This workplace vaccination programme is part of the Phase 2 Vaccination Roll Out efforts aimed to reach “herd immunity”. 
  • The Scheme has also maintained its track record of unqualified audits since inception, including 2020 financial year. 
     

Focus Area for 2021/22 Financial Year

In-Sourcing Capabilities Programme 

Honourable Members; 

The Board of Trustees has now adopted a new strategy where almost all of GEMS services will be in-sourced.  The in-sourcing capabilities programme will enable GEMS to: 

  • Develop a bespoke healthcare ecosystem that will position GEMS as an integral component of driving transformation of the South African healthcare industry, in line with the requirements of National Health Insurance (NHI) for Universal Health Care (UHC) access in the long-term. 
  • The security and cleaning support services as well as project liaison communication office are services that have already been in-sourced. 


Centre for Public Service Innovation

Honourable House Chairperson;

The Centre for Public Service Innovation mandate as articulated in the Public Service Act, has found expression in a number of strategic national programmes. The COVID-19 pandemic has critically heightened the need to invest more resources in public service innovation. 

Focus Areas and Budget Projections for 2021/22 CPSI

Honourable Members; 

Since August 2020, we undertook an exercise to reposition the Centre for Public Service Innovation. This was done to determine a suitable organizational form which will enable the CPSI to deliver on its broadened mandate to drive innovation in the Public Service.  The honourable Minister for the Public Service and Administration, announced that the CPSI will remain a government entity, but will need to review and adopt an organizational structure suitable for the expanded mandate.

To this end, the process to finalize a fit for purpose CPSI organizational structure is at its tail-end. This is done with the primary objective to increase research and development capability amongst others, but most importantly to ensure that the CPSI is fully capacitated to conduct extensive research, develop, and replicate new solutions. 

In this 2021/22 financial year the CPSI will: 

  • Conduct innovation research; 
  • Facilitate solution development; 
  • Create knowledge sharing platforms; 
  • Ensure unearthing and recognition for innovation; 
  • Facilitate replication and mainstreaming of innovative solutions; 
  • Provide integrated corporate governance; 
  • The CPSI commits to replicating e-learning solution in some of the District Development Model Municipalities to contribute to the implementation of the DDM. 
  • It will continue to participate in international Public Sector Innovation Programmes in order to import global lessons into our local environment. 


The budgetary allocation for the CPSI in this financial year is fourty two million five hundred and seventy six thousand rands (R 42, 576 million rand). 

Innovation research and development initiatives undertaken 

House Chair;
 
As a consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic disruptions on the conventional work arrangements; the CPSI developed a number of in-house solutions to enable remote working. These include: 

  • An Online COVID-19 screening form; 
  • An online bid evaluation and adjudication process flow and verification. These are currently being refined to be replicated by government departments. 
  • The CPSI, in partnership with the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) conducted a rapid assessment of the state of public sector innovation. The survey has already indicated a number of organisational and systemic strengths and weaknesses which will guide the future interventions of the CPSI. 


CPSI Achievements
 
Honourable Members CPSI recorded successes, to mention just a few: 

  • CPSI successfully hosted the Public Sector Innovation Conference 2020. 
  • It also hosted the 2020 Public Sector Innovation Award Programme. Our 2020 Innovator of the Year winner, is a government organisation. The project ushered in new system that allows applicants to register for SARS, UIF and Compensation Funds, business Bank account and B-BBEE application all online in a single platform. The project overhauled the company registration process to a completely paperless environment. This saves time and money for many of our aspirant entrepreneurs. 
  • Relating to governance, the CPSI has once again achieved a clean audit (3rd in a row). 
  • We also applaud the CPSI for keeping its COVID-19 related expenditure below R520 000 and within the Treasury limits during the previous financial year (2020/21). This expenditure was audited and no irregularities were identified. 
     

Conculsion
 
Honourable Members; 

I wish to extend my appreciation to Minister Senzo Mchunu for his stewardship and visionary leadership towards a Single Proffessional Public Administration. 

  • To our Director-General Yoliswa Makhasi; 
  • The Principal of NSG Professor Busani Ngcaweni; 
  • The Acting Executive Director of the CPSI Ms Lydia Sebokedi, 
  • The GEMS Chairperson Dr Millicent Hlatshwayo and Board of Trustees, 
  • The GEMS Principal Officer Dr Stan Moloabi; 
  • The PSC led by the Chairperson Advocate Khaliphile Sizani and Commissioners as well as the PSC Acting Director-General Ms Irene Mathenjwa; 
  • The Minister’s Advisors Advocate Pikoli and Ms Mosilo Mothepu 
  • The Staff of the MPSA Portfolio, and 
  • Our honoured Public Servants. 


We value your support and commitment in ensuring delivery of the strategic vision of the department and the country. 

The ANC led government commits to work tirelessly to consistently improve the implementation of ICT and innovation in the public service. We owe it to isithwalandwe Mama Charlotte Maxeke to do this, for we Belong, We Care and we Serve. 

I thank you. 

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