Statement of the Governance, State Capacity and Institutional Development Cluster media briefing

Programme Director,
Ministers,
Deputy Ministers,
Directors-General,
Members of the Media,

Good Morning,

Welcome to the Governance State Capacity and Institutional Development (GSCID) Cluster Media Briefing and thank you for joining us today.

This media briefing follows a delivery of the State of the Nations Address (SONA) by the President Ramaphosa on 10 February 2022.

Gathered at the Town Hall reminded us of the triumph over apartheid and the advent of democracy as Madiba made his first public speech there following his release from incarceration. It is indeed possible to overcome if we are united and work together, especially in relation to the challenges brought be Covid-19.

We need not be complacent as covid-19 continues to ravage our communities and impacting their lives at different degrees. The Covid-19 pandemic has also left behind devastation that continues to disrupt the lives of our people. Owing to the to the interventions we put in place to limit the spread of the virus, we were able to limit the destruction from the virus that was predicted during the early stages of the pandemic. Through each wave, the pandemic also had a negative impact on our economy and people’s livelihoods. Even under this difficult conditions, our government was able to respond effectively to the pandemic through the Disaster Management Act and the implementation of the Risk Adjusted Strategy.

This disruption caused by the pandemic calls on government to go an extra mile and also find better ways of supporting and delivering services to our communities. It is within this context that all public servants are back in offices and it is all hands on deck to deliver on our mandate.

Today we provide feedback on progress made thus far in the implementation of the National Programme of Action and outline plans aligned to the SONA.

In the SONA, President Ramaphosa reaffirmed that the foremost priority is to build a capable, ethical and developmental state. In support of this priority, the framework for the professionalisation of the public service is being finalised. President announced that this will include tighter measures for recruitment of public servants, continuous professional development through the National School of Government and partnerships between state bodies, professional associations, and universities.

The framework for the professionalisation of the public service was gazetted in December 2020 for public comments. In 2021, significant public consultations were undertaken with the following key stakeholders: professional bodies and associations; interested parties; civil society organisations; institutions of higher learning; think tanks; provincial departments; SALGA; provincial training academies and HRD co-ordinators in the public sector. A Ministerial Task Team of subject experts from across sectors was established to undertake an extensive peer review, which has now been completed.

The revised Framework will be presented to Cabinet within the next two months and will be proposing fundamental reforms, including:

• A stronger emphasis on merit-based recruitment and appointments. The principle of merit shall apply at pre-entry level, as well as to assessments, progression, and promotion. This reform will require a review of public sector recruitment frameworks and practices.
• Introducing instruments to undertake integrity testing before any individual joins the public sector. We are serious when we say we want ethical public servants who serve with the highest degree of integrity.
• Stabilising the political-administrative interface across the public sector. This we will achieve by appointing a head of the public service who will play a critical role in managing the career incidents of Directors-General. Regarding the tenure of heads of department, we shall consider making the tenure to ten (10) years, subject to performance.
• Collaborating with the higher education institutions, professional bodies/associations and governments departments/organs of the state, and the industry to work closely on curricula development matters to support the development of public servants and those who wish the join the public service.
• Reviewing the recognition of prior learning and exploring the possibility of targeted recruitment to optimise its use in the public sector by those whose prior experience needs to be recognised, not only for academic purpose but even for the awarding of professional designation by professional associations/ bodies/ councils/ boards.

We need to have in the employ of the state qualified officials with relevant skills and competencies for the job they have been employed to do, and such should have ethical disposition steeped in the Batho Pele principles. In other words, those who know what they are doing, and perform their duties conscientiously with a strong sense of public service embodying the basic values and principles of public administration as enshrined in the Constitution.

In response to building a capable, ethical and developmental state, the National School of Government continues to offer education, training and development programmes for all spheres of government and organs of state – as part of its expanded mandate.

The roll out compulsory courses and training programmes continues to attract training for public officials and public representatives. For joining the senior management echelon in the public service, 19 269 learners registered for the pre-entry programme (Nyukela) April 2020 to December 2021. With regard to ethics training, there has been 40 606 online enrolments from April 2020 to December 2021, including public servants and teachers.

The NSG will also be launching its suite of premium programmes for executive education opportunities in the public sector. The executive education will target senior managers, executives and public representatives in all organs of state. It will seek to improve the quality of public sector leadership & management by combining the science of experiential learning and enabling leaders to develop new knowledge, skills and attitude. It will also influence public policies and how state institutions respond to these policies. The programmes take on a blended approach, including classroom interaction, online learning, and onsite experimentations. Identified programmes will include Etella, Economic Governance and Scenario and Long-term Planning.

An integral part to building an effective corruption free public service is the introduction of the lifestyle audits since 01 April 2021 which is being implemented across the public service. The lifestyle audits in the Public Service became compulsory, with the adoption of a Guide to implement lifestyle audits in the Public Service. The Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (TAU) at the DPSA, provides implementation support to national and provincial departments and is monitoring the implementation of the Guide.

Linked to the above is the Public Administration Management Regulations on Conducting Business with the State, Disclosure of Financial Interests and Ethics, Integrity and Discipline Technical Assistance Unit and the Office of Standard and Compliance is at an advanced stage. The promulgation of the PAMA Regulations will ensure the proper implementation of the Public Administration Management Act, which provides for the prohibition of employees doing business with the State, Lifestyle Audits, ensuring compliance with minimum norms and standards prescribed for the public administration.

The DPSA is also working towards improving the Whistleblowing regime especially for the protection of whistle-blowers. The fight against corruption requires that we take away the personal burden and high costs that come with being an honest public servant and South African.

Government Departments need to foster a culture of good governance through ensuring full compliance across all three spheres of government with the Public Administration Norms and Standards. This is critical in how we build the capacity of the State, promote accountability and transparency across all state institutions. The establishment of the Office of Standards and Compliance in 2019 by the Sixth Administration is a welcomed initiative that is designed to improve compliance.

In line with the Service Delivery Improvement revised strategy, the Service Delivery Improvement Programme (SDIP) has been restructured to be in line with the broader Government Strategic Planning Framework. A revised Directive has been issued in this regard, indicating that the SDIP cycle will now be in line with the Strategic Planning Framework cycle i.e. five-year cycle. The Ministry of Public Service and Administration will provide reports annually to Cabinet highlighting proposed interventions in respect to Departments that are struggling with service delivery.

Subsequent to the successful 2021 Local Government Elections, the incoming and returning cohort of local representatives (Councillors) have been empowered through the comprehensive Integrated Councillor Induction Programme, to enable them to fulfil their extensive mandate in line with the legislative prescripts and community needs. Key to their roles and responsibilities is to enable us to realise the objectives of a developmental local government in line with section 152 of the Constitution.

As President said during the State of the Nation Address, we are now in the phase of reconstruction and recovery following the devasting impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Disaster Management Act has been an essential instrument towards our successful management of the novel COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration of the national state of disaster allowed the country to coordinate an integrated response plan to protect lives and mitigate the socioeconomic impact of the virus. Work is afoot to cautiously withdraw the National State of Disaster in line with our risk adjusted strategy. We cannot let our guard down yet, we need to improve our vaccination uptake to attain population immunity and continue to observe none-pharmaceutical health protocols.

The District Development Model (DDM) is an all of government and society approach that gives practical meaning to the principles of Cooperative Governance by enabling integrated and responsive planning, implementation, and budgeting. To this end, 49 ‘One Plans’ have been finalised and three (3) are at an advanced stage of conclusion. These ‘One Plans’ are currently undergoing a rigorous process of quality assurance by a multidisciplinary team of officials to ensure that programmes highlighted will accelerate infrastructure investment and service delivery throughout the country. We have made notable progress in firstly understanding the unique characteristics of each district through the profiles that have been developed and now this phase of institutionalisation reinforces the alignment of our plans to inform short, medium and long-range targets.

As part of implementing the DDM and responding to the impact of COVID 19, Economic Recovery Plans have been developed in 46 districts and metropolitan municipalities and the Department is working with the remaining districts to finalise their recovery plans. These plans highlight key interventions that will be implemented mainly focusing on relieve measures for both informal and formal businesses through financial and non-financial interventions.

The blueprints are beginning to emerge in the form of the Eastern Seaboard Development, launched by President Ramaphosa in November 2021 as a prime example of how the government is championing citizen-centred development. This initiative represents DDM in action under the theme Building Together. The Eastern Seaboard Development covers two provinces – KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape spanning over four district municipalities (Ugu, Harry Gwala, Alfred Nzo and O.R. Tambo), attesting to the value in collaborations beyond provincial and municipal boundaries. This initiative which is part of government’s commitment to drive Spatial Transformation to ensure integration of communities with economic opportunities to address the deficiencies and injustices of the apartheid spatial planning. The next steps for 2022 will include further mobilisation of private investors at a national and international level to pledge support and make commitments on the identified catalytic projects.

Our ongoing assessments of the state of local government necessitated various reviews of multiple pieces of legislation that govern this important sector. The Municipal Structures Amendment Act (No.3 of 2021) came into effect on 1 November 2021 coinciding with the new term of local government administration and will contribute immensely to strengthening oversight, governance, performance and accountability.

We are also finalising the Municipal Systems Amendment Bill, which seeks amongst others to professionalise local public administration, provide guidelines on the employment of senior municipal officials and promote an ethical local public administration through regulation of the employment of municipal employees.

Emanating from our State of Local Government Report is the need to enhance our support to local government and the introduction of the Intergovernmental Monitoring, Support and Intervention (IMSI) Bill will bolster our ability to successfully intervene to enable municipalities to deliver on their mandate. Priority municipalities flagged as dysfunctional will soon be capacitated through the Municipal Interventions and Support Packages whilst early detection mechanisms are being activated to maintain stability in local government.

The Demarcation Bill amendments have been introduced to Parliament, once adopted into law, the Bill will replace the current Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act of 1998. The amended Bill will expand and clarifies a number of issues relating to municipal demarcation, including the role and composition of the MDB. There are perhaps two important changes introduced by the Bill. Firstly, the limitation of major boundary decisions to once every ten years to minimise the disruptive effect of such changes.  Secondly, the establishment of the Appeals Authority to adjudicate disputes relating to the final municipal boundary or ward delimitation decisions of the MDB.

Our contribution to the realisation of a national consensus, will entail the further mobilisation of private investors at a national and international level to pledge support and make catalytic commitments identified in the ‘One Plans’ a citizen-centric reality.

The focus of government is the continuous provision of all services to the public and to save lives and livelihoods. We urge you to consolidate the gains we realized thus far by adhering to COVID- 19 regulations and protocols. We all have the responsibility to save lives and to this effect, we must all continue wearing our masks at all times when in public, observe a social distance, washing our hand regularly with soap or alcohol based sanitizer and always ensure that we are in properly ventilated spaces. We need to remember that not wearing of masks in public places as required remains a criminal offence. We urge everyone to play their part and join the countrywide drive to encourage our people to get vaccinated so that we can all be safe by protecting ourselves and those around us.

It is important therefore to state unequivocally that even during the nationwide lockdown, government continued to provide critical and essential public services to the public. We remain committed going forward to the delivery of services and ensuring that we improve the experience that our communities have when engaging government at various points.

In conclusion, government remains committed to and will continue to strive for the effective functioning Public Service which is a cornerstone of our work and an important interface with the public at various service points across the three spheres of government. We are working with our labour partners to achieve a capable and developmental state.

Source: Government of South Africa