1. OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
SELECT COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
26 May 2006

2. OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATION
Introduction
Performance Highlights
Challenges
Medium Term Expenditure Estimates
Strategic Objectives and Medium Term Programme Plan

3. INTRODUCTION
The Constitution mandates the PSC to, among other things, promote sound values and principles of public administration, and to propose measures to ensure effective and efficient performance in the public service.
Notwithstanding its independence, the PSC seeks to play a developmental role by ensuring that its programmes support government initiatives to strengthen service delivery.

4. Introduction (continued)
To this end, the PSC sees its strategic obligation as the generation of evidence to enable Parliament to exercise its oversight role, and to advise the Executive on good administrative practice.
This presentation, firstly highlights key achievements of the PSC as well as challenges the organisation faces in the execution of its mandate.
The presentation finally provides an overview of the medium term expenditure and strategic frameworks of the PSC.

5. PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
The PSC has an exemplary audit history with unqualified Audits being received for five years in succession.
The PSC continued to implement its transversal Monitoring and Evaluation system in selected national and provincial departments. As reported previously the system assesses departments according to a limited number of performance indicators drawn from the principles and values of public administration enshrined in the Constitution.

6. Performance Highlights (cont’d)
The 2006 State of the Public Service Report was launched. This edition is framed around the capacity of the Public Service to deliver on government priorities.
Recognizing the importance of citizens’ views in policy making and service delivery, the PSC continued to apply the Citizen Satisfaction Survey Instrument to selected sets of government services. The latest survey focuses on selected services offered by the department of Agriculture, Land Affairs, and Water Affairs.
A toolkit on Citizens’ Forums has also been finalized. The toolkit draws from research done by the PSC as well as pilots conducted in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

7. Performance Highlights (cont’d)
The PSC finalized a protocol that it will use to conduct inspections of service delivery sites. The inspections will provide the PSC with an opportunity to personally have first hand experience of the level of service delivery. Pilots of the Inspections have already commenced.
The PSC completed studies to evaluate the performance of national and provincial departments in implementing service standards in accordance with the Batho Pele White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (1997).

8. Performance Highlights (cont’d)
The PSC continued to facilitate the evaluation of the performance of heads of department (HoDs).
There has however been a noticeable decline in the momentum of evaluations. The PSC will be taking this matter up with Cabinet.
The PSC continued to promote sound labour relations, with a specific focus on grievance resolution.
In adding to handling specific grievances, the PSC has been instrumental in promoting the New Grievance Rules by translating the Rules into all the official languages and posting same on the website.

9. Performance Highlights (cont’d)
Management of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline (NACH) by the PSC has also continued. The Hotline handles an increasing number of cases relating to service delivery complaints, alleged unfair labour practices and allegations of corruption.
Since the establishment of the Hotline, the PSC has referred 1390 alleged corruption and 611 service delivery complaints cases to departments for further handling and investigation.

10. Performance Highlights (cont’d)
The PSC continued to offer secretariat services to the National Anti-Corruption Forum. In this capacity the PSC also coordinates the implementation of the NAP and has also been assigned the responsibility of managing and completing specific projects
Comprehensive reports were produced on a number of key Human Resource issues, including the management of HIV/AIDS in the Public Service, and Affirmative Action.

11. CHALLENGES
There is a need to manage the conflicts of interest of public servants in a structured manner. The work that the PSC has done on the development of a framework for managing conflicts of interest is envisaged to raise profound challenges for the PSC.
The NACH is proving to be a popular and accessible facility to report allegations of corruption, but the Hotline is placing a strain on the resources of the PSC.
There is a need to strengthen capacity in the PSC and in departments to investigate allegations of corruption that are referred through the National Anti-Corruption Hotline.

12. Challenges (cont’d)
Citizens’ Forums have been successfully piloted in Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, but the PSC faces serious resource constraints to support the roll out of these Forums.
Compliance with the Framework for the Evaluation of the performance of HoDs needs to be improved. The evaluation should also be linked to an analysis of departmental performance.
The PSC’s Transversal M&E System has, since its introduction in 2001, been working with fairly small annual samples of departments (about 15 departments per annum). Resources would be needed to increase the annual samples to about 50 departments per annum.

13. Challenges (cont’d)
The PSC needs to engage more vigorously with its stakeholders to ensure sustained and systematic advocacy and oversight.
The increasing demands for the PSC’s advice and support in all areas of its mandate is placing considerable strain on all its resources.
The PSC has experienced a high staff turnover especially with respect to secretaries and officials on levels 8 to 11. The PSC will have to review the posts of Deputy Director from a grading and retention perspective.

14. BASELINE ALLOCATION - MTEF
The PSC’s budget is divided into three programmes, namely:
Administration: Provides for general and financial management, personnel and provisioning administration, and the provision of legal and other support services used to formulate policy.
Investigations and Human Resource Reviews: Aims to enable the PSC to improve labour relations and management, undertake public administration investigations and to promote anti-corruption, and review implementation of human resource policies in the Public Service.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Aims to enable the PSC to establish a high standard of public service leadership, good governance and improved service delivery through public participation.

15. Baseline Allocation- MTEF (cont’d)
Although there is room for improvement, the PSC has endeavored to meet the Employment Equity targets. Progress is shown in the table below:
LEVEL
AFRICANS
COLOUREDS
INDIANS
WHITES
SUB TOTAL
TOTAL F# M* T+
01 to 08 49 28 77 1 8 2 10 58 30 88
09 to 12 19 27 46 5 6 7 13 38 66
13 to 16 17 25 3 4 11 36 76 72
148 9 12 29 97 93
190
# = Female * = Male + = Total

16. Baseline allocation – MTEF (cont’d)
Per Programme
R’000
2005/6
2006/7
2007/8
2008/9
Prog: 1
42 036
48 418
50 709
53 392
Prog: 2
23 279
24 883
26 366
27 617
Prog: 3
20 791
23 027
24 456
25 564
Total R R R R

17. Baseline allocation –MTEF (cont’d) Per SCoA classification: Programme 1
SCoA item
R’000
Budget
2005/6
2006/7
2007/8
2008/9
Compensation of Employees
26 612
29 796
31 660
33 303
Goods & Services
12 749
16 982
17 831
18 812
Transfers & subsidies
101 58 27 29
Payments for Capital assets
2 574
1 582
1 191
1 248
Total R R R
R53 392
SCOA Classification – Standard Chart of Accounts as prescribed by NT (used for reporting purposes).
Transfers and Subsidies – decrease is due to the scrapping of the RSC levies. For the 2007/08 and 2008/09 is only the amount budgeted for payment to international orgarnisations eg. CAPAM and IPMA.
Capital Assets
Funds were received from NT and are specifically earmarked for IT infrastructure: R1m (2005/06); R1,5 (2006/07) and R1,5m (2007/08)

18. Baseline allocation –MTEF (cont’d) Per SCoA classification: Programme 2
SCoA item
R’000
Budget
2005/6
2006/7
2007/8
2008/9
Compensation of Employees
16 055
18 353
19 545
20 531
Goods & Services
7 171
6 510
6 821
7 086
Transfers & subsidies 53 20
Payments for Capital assets
Total R R R
R27 617
SCOA Classification – Standard Chart of Accounts as prescribed by NT (used for reporting purposes).
Transfers and Subsidies – decrease is due to the scrapping of the RSC levies. For the 2007/08 and 2008/09 is only the amount budgeted for payment to international orgarnisations eg. CAPAM and IPMA.
Capital Assets
Funds were received from NT and are specifically earmarked for IT infrastructure: R1m (2005/06); R1,5 (2006/07) and R1,5m (2007/08)

19. Baseline allocation –MTEF (cont’d) Per SCoA classification: Programme 3
SCoA item
R’000
Budget
2005/6
2006/7
2007/8
2008/9
Compensation of Employees
14 562
16 384
17 458
18 328
Goods & Services
6 181
6 629
6 998
7 236
Transfers & subsidies 48 14
Payments for Capital assets
Total R R R
R25 564
SCOA Classification – Standard Chart of Accounts as prescribed by NT (used for reporting purposes).
Transfers and Subsidies – decrease is due to the scrapping of the RSC levies. For the 2007/08 and 2008/09 is only the amount budgeted for payment to international orgarnisations eg. CAPAM and IPMA.
Capital Assets
Funds were received from NT and are specifically earmarked for IT infrastructure: R1m (2005/06); R1,5 (2006/07) and R1,5m (2007/08)

20. THE PSC STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS
The line function of the PSC is divided into two Branches, each with three Chief-Directorates or Programmes:
Branch: Monitoring and Evaluation
Governance Monitoring
Service Delivery and Quality Assurance
Leadership and Performance Improvement
Branch: Investigations and Human Resource Reviews
Labour Relations Improvement
Public Administration Investigations
Professional Ethics and Strategic Human Resource Reviews
A discussion of the PSC’s key projects for the medium term follows.