South Africa will not be able to progress if the state is not fully capacitated, says Professor Mashupye Maserumule. 

Maserumule, said this at the Editor’s Breakfast Engagement on the National Framework towards the Professionalisation of the Public Sector in Pretoria.

Maserumule is the Chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Panel – Responsible for the Review of the Draft Professionalisation Framework.

“There is nothing that can happen in terms of the development of the country if we don’t pay closer attention to developing the capacity of the state.

“We can talk about fighting poverty and other aspects that are key to the development of the country but until such a time that we address the question of the capacity of the state, you have not made any significant progress,” said Maseremule.

Cabinet recently approved the Framework, which provides five pillars on interventions in professionalising the public service.

The pillars include pre-entry recruitment and selection within the public service; induction and onboarding; planning and performance management; continuous learning and professional development; and career progression and incidents.

Monday’s session was hosted by the Government Communication and Information System in partnership with the National School of Government to create a platform for conversation on the best practices of professional public sector.

Some of the speakers invited to share their insights at the event included Professor Busani Ngcaweni of the National School of Government, Professor Somadoda Fikeni of the Public Service Commission  (PSC) and Yoliwa Makhasi, Director-General at the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA).

Weakened state institutions formed part of discussions.

“Today the country is experiencing political crisis in different forms, at another level it is experiencing the weakening of institutions of state, wherein even if you read the reports from the Zondo Commission or other commissions, it boils down to one thing, the weakened institutions of state,” said Chairperson of the PSC, Professor Fikeni.

He added that Chapter 13 of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030, which speaks to developing an ethical, capable, professional development of our state, should have been Chapter 1 of the plan.  

The NDP is South Africa’s blueprint for socioeconomic transformation.

He urged the media to follow not only the story but also legislations that is going to come in to effect these changes.

“[The] Public Service Commission features quite prominently in this document. In my role as the Chairperson we have embarked on the repositioning of the Public Service Commission itself. Each time we meet I say: ‘are we ready to assume the higher purpose and the higher role?’.”

“It’s not the policy reforms that we’re going to make per se, but how are we going to change the consciousness of public servants to embrace the Constitutional values that Chapter 10 section 195 says that [the] public service should embrace,” he said.

He also spoke of the importance of value systems.

“Some of the people involved in the state capture, some of the people involved in wrong things that are done in the delivery of services to the public are smart and well educated, but the character, the value is perhaps the last frontier where we ought to focus our attention on,” said Fikeni.

Amendment of legislation

DPSA Director-General Makhasi said the National Framework towards Professionalisation of the Public Sector takes forward the NDP and brings the country closer to the attainment of Priority 1: An Ethical, Capable and Developmental State.

She said that the DPSA is currently in the process of amending the Public Administration Management Act which will help in the working together of national, provincial and local government.

“The working together will more so help on the norms, standards and some of the areas that need standardisation and uniformity and allowing for an easy flow of employees between national, provincial and local government in terms of transfers. The Public Service Act is also undergoing amendments; and reviewing the Public Service Regulations,” she said.

The National Framework Towards Professionalisation of the Public Sector was released on 25 October 2022 as approved by Cabinet on 19 October 2022.

Source: South African Government News Agency