National Assembly - 13 April 2000
THURSDAY, 13 APRIL 2000 __
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
____
The House met at 14:02.
The Deputy Chairperson of Committees took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.
NOTICES OF MOTION
Mnu F BHENGU: Sihlalo, ndicela ukwazisa egameni le-ANC ukuba xa le Ndlu iphinda ihlala, ndiza kuphakamisa:
Ukuba le Ndlu -
(1) ivakalise umothuko nosizi yinkanyamba ethe gqolo ukuntlitha isithili sakuNtabankulu nethe kwakwesi sihlandlo yenza umonakalo ongathethekiyo nobalekayo;
(2) iwanike inkxaso onke amaxhoba ayo; nokuba
(3) yenze isimemelelo kuRhulumente sokuba imeko yala maxhoba ijongwe ngokukhawuleza, aze ke amaxhoba la anikwe uncedo olufanelekileyo.
[Ihlombe.] (Translation of Xhosa notice of motion follows.)
[Mr F BHENGU: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House, I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
(1) expresses its shock at the hurricane which has repeatedly hit the Ntabankulu region and which has, on this occasion, caused considerable damage;
(2) expresses its support to all its victims; and
(3) appeals to the Government to consider the plight of these victims and to give them appropriate help without delay.
[Applause.]]
Mr E K MOORCROFT: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DP:
That the House -
(1) condemns the ANC Government for adopting what appears to be a false comrades-in-arms position towards Zimbabwe, which has potentially catastrophic implications for our whole region … [Interjections.]
(2) notes with concern serious suggestions that the President of South Africa is preferring narrow party interests to national ones;
(3) resolves to call attention to the impact of the continuing crisis in Zimbabwe on our country and region;
(4) condemns the continuing silent inaction of President Mbeki;
(5) resolves to take strenuous steps to halt negative perceptions of critical elements in our own society and of investors with regard to the future of the region; and
(6) reminds the Government that the global community not only looks at macroeconomic conduct, but is less than enchanted with gross macropolitical misconduct.
[Interjections.] [Applause.]
Chief M W HLENGWA: Chair, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move:
That the House -
(1) expresses its deep condolences with the family of Misha Stofberg who died in January when an inadequate spot of welding, which was to act as a stop on a sliding gate, gave way and caused the gate to slide back beyond the support and topple on top of her; (2) further expresses its condolences to the relatives of all other victims of such tragedies;
(3) notes with alarm the fact that many similar accidents have occurred throughout the country involving electronic, mechanical and hand- operated sliding gates;
(4) further notes that there is currently no control over the manufacture and erection of these gate systems to any safety standard whatsoever;
(5) urges the SABS to act urgently to speed up the process of standardisation of gate systems to prevent such tragedies re- occurring …
[Time expired.]
Mr D J SITHOLE: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
(1) notes the contents of the Public Service Commission’s latest report on the management of remunerated overtime, in particular -
(a) that significant increases in the use of overtime paid by
Government departments between 1994 and 1998 have been
identified by the commission; and
(b) that the cost of overtime payments are set to increase still
further when the Basic Conditions of Employment Act comes into
force for Government on 1 June 2000;
(2) expresses its appreciation to the Public Service Commission for the reports of outstanding quality it has tabled in the National Assembly since 1 July 1999; and
(3) commends the Minister for the Public Service and Administration and the department for taking swift action in developing a more rational and sustainable overtime system for Government.
[Applause.]
Dr E A SCHOEMAN: Mr Chairman, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I will move:
That the House -
(1) notes that the farm invasions in Zimbabwe emanate from the inability and unwillingness of its government to implement land reform in an orderly and constitutional way …
[Interjections.]
(2) is proud that in South Africa land reform is managed according to constitutional guidelines;
(3) is concerned that less than 1% of the land surface area has been redistributed since 1994, a fact that leads to inevitable frustration, which could be the reason for the threat of farm invasions by farm workers in Mpumalanga; and
(4) requests the Government to accelerate land reform in South Africa, without creating unrealistic expectations, by making available farms owned by Government and the Land Bank, for commercial farming practice by adequately empowered emerging farmers.
Mr C T FROLICK: Mr Chairman, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I will move on behalf of the UDM:
That the House -
(1) congratulates the SA cricket team, under the captaincy of Shaun Pollock, on their morale-boosting victory, not only over the Australian team but also over huge adversity;
(2) acknowledges that our cricketers have once again shown that they are amongst the best in the world and that they do possess the pride and passion to represent our country; and
(3) commends the United Cricket Board, under the guidance of Dr Bacher, for its efforts to transform the sport and for its readiness to deal with any crisis so that cricket can remain the people’s sport.
Mr T M GONIWE: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
(1) notes the DP’s ridiculous accusation in the media that the ANC’s call for all parties to support land reform in our country is a threat to South Africans;
(2) acknowledges the ANC’s passionate commitment to the rule of law, land reform within a constitutional and legislative framework and trade union rights within the borders of South Africa and wherever else these principles are being threatened …
[Interjections.]
(3) recognises that the DP’s ludicrous interpretation can only be based on their mischievous dishonesty or sincere ignorance …
[Interjections.]
(4) calls on the Chief Whip of the opposition to refrain from scaremongering for politically opportunistic reasons and from spreading lies about the deeply held beliefs and principles of others.
[Interjections.] [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon member, please withdraw the word ``lies’’.
Mr T M GONIWE: Chairperson, I withdraw unconditionally.
Mr D H M GIBSON: Chairperson, on a point of order: He should also withdraw the words ``mischievous dishonesty’’ which he reputed to me as well. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Mischievous dishonesty?
Mr K M ANDREW: Chairperson, on a point of order: I draw your attention to the fact that that was not simply a speech by the hon member. It is, in fact, a motion. In view of the fact that the motion contains unparliamentary statements and words, it should be struck from the record. It should not be permitted as a motion. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon members, we will look at the motion and decide whether the language in which it is couched is parliamentary or not. As a motion, we cannot rule it out totally. [Applause.] Mr Andrew, we will strike out the unparliamentary words in the motion. I will not debate the issue, sir.
Mr K M ANDREW: Chairperson, I am not debating the matter. [Interjections.] What I am suggesting is that if one strikes out unparliamentary words in a motion, the motion becomes incomprehensible. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon Ken Andrew, we will make certain that it is comprehensible to every member of this House. The unparliamentary words will be struck out and words that are usable and parliamentary will be kept.
Mr K M ANDREW: Chairperson …
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! I am not going to debate the issue!
Mr K M ANDREW: Chairperson, I just want to ask you a question for the sake of clarity.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! No, I will not allow you to ask a question. I have given you leeway on that issue twice. Please be seated. [Interjections.]
Mr K M ANDREW: But, Chairperson, I just want to ask a question!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon Ken Andrew, please be seated!
Dr S E M PHEKO: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the PAC:
That the House -
(1) notes that the country’s policy on agriculture favours commercial farmers rather than small-scale women farmers;
(2) observes that small-scale women farmers utilise land efficiently and productively;
(3) urges that the agricultural policy must offer financial, technical and technological assistance to help African women farmers to gain access to markets; and
(4) acknowledges that there is a need to provide infrastructure, such as roads and transport, as part of the policy on agriculture to enhance women farmers’ efforts.
Mr M A MANGENA: Chair, I give notice that at the next sitting of the House I shall move on behalf of Azapo:
That the House -
(1) notes the excellent work done by the SANDF in rescuing flood victims in Mozambique;
(2) also notes that by their brave and compassionate actions they have become the darlings of all our people;
(3) observes that there are bridges of critical importance which have been washed away by floods in our own country;
(4) acknowledges that some of the affected communities, such as Nzhelile in the far Northern Province, are experiencing great difficulties in surviving as a result;
(5) further acknowledges that it might take some time for sufficient resources to be mobilised to rebuild the bridges; and
(6) therefore calls upon the Ministry of Defence to consider using army engineers to build temporary bridges where these are of critical importance.
Ms J A SEMPLE: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DP:
That the House -
(1) notes -
(a) the utterances made during the course of legal action in the
Labour Appeal Court in the case of Whitehead v Woolworths; and
(b) that discrimination on the grounds of gender and pregnancy is
prohibited, both in terms of the Constitution and the Promotion
of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act;
(2) expresses its concern that a senior member of the legal profession could compare a pregnant women with ``a male porn star suffering from erectile dysfunction’’; and
(3) continues its advocacy of gender equity and fair labour practice for all the women of South Africa.
[Applause.]
Mr J H SLABBERT: Chair, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) taxi operators have for many years continued to settle disputes
and disagreements with violence and excessive force; and
(b) innocent civilians, such as our fellow citizens who died in the
Kranskop ambush today, continue to pay with their lives on
account of this total lawlessness;
(2) begs the authorities to ensure that taxi operators who contribute to lawlessness, death and wanton destruction are totally denied the right to operate within the industry;
(3) suggests that every taxi operator be required, periodically and under solemn oath, to give an undertaking never to resort to violence or force to resolve any dispute; and
(4) requests that such an undertaking be made a prerequisite for a taxi operator to obtain a licence and that such an operator retains it only for as long as he or she offers a service that is strictly in accordance with this solemn undertaking. Mr S J LEEUW: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
(1) notes the publication of draft regulations by the Department of Finance in terms of the Public Finance Management Act;
(2) believes that the regulations will serve to ensure that Government departments perform their duties in a consistent and responsible fashion, within an approved regulatory framework, as opposed to the haphazard and arbitrary way in which government departments were run prior to 1994; and
(3) commends the Government and the Department of Finance for introducing systems that will enhance the ability of the House to fulfil its oversight function, as required by the Constitution.
[Applause.]
Mnr F J VAN DEVENTER: Mnr die Voorsitter, ek gee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag sal voorstel:
Dat die Huis -
(1) daarvan kennis neem dat die internasionale tydskrif Professional Management Review ‘n span van 42 Suid-Afrikaanse hoofekonome, internasionale beleggingsadviseurs en ontleders versoek het om ‘n ondersoek te doen na en hul bevindings bekend te maak oor onder meer -
(a) watter premier in die Republiek van Suid-Afrika die meeste doen
om sy provinsie se prestasie te verbeter; en
(b) watter provinsie die meeste doen om werkloosheid teen te werk;
(2) verder daarvan kennis neem dat die toekenning op 3 April 2000 in Johannesburg gedoen is;
(3) sy gelukwense uitspreek teenoor -
(a) die Wes-Kaapse Nuwe NP-premier, Gerald Morkel, met die Golden
Arrow-toekenning wat hy as die suksesvolste premier ontvang het;
en
(b) die provinsie Wes-Kaap, met die tweede goue toekenning wat hy
ontvang het as die provinsie wat die meeste doen om werkloosheid
te beveg; en
(4) derhalwe ‘n beroep doen op die sewe ANC-premiers en een IVP-premier om hul standaarde van diens te verbeter in belang van die mense wat hulle verkies het.
[Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)
[Mr F J VAN DEVENTER: Mr Chairperson, I give notice that I shall move on the next sitting day:
That the House -
(1) notes that the international publication Professional Management Review requested a team of 42 South African chief economists, international investment advisers and analysts to conduct an investigation and to release their findings on, inter alia -
(a) which provincial premier in the Republic of South Africa is
doing the most to improve the performance of his province; and
(b) which province is doing the most to counter unemployment;
(2) further notes that the award was made on 3 April 2000 in Johannesburg;
(3) expresses its congratulations to -
(a) the Western Cape New NP Premier, Gerald Morkel, on the Golden
Arrow award which he received as the most successful premier;
and
(b) the Western Cape province on a second gold award which it
received as the province which is doing the most to combat
unemployment; and
(4) therefore appeals to the seven ANC premiers and one IFP premier to improve their standards of service in the interests of the people who elected them.
[Applause.]]
Miss O N MNDENDE: Chair, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I will move on behalf of the UDM:
That the House -
(1) investigates if there is any moral lesson for South Africans in the parading of a half-naked woman to indicate the beginning of every round in national boxing tournaments;
(2) questions whether this parade is meant to entertain or entice the patriarchal elements in this male-defined sport; and
(3) calls on the Minister of Sport and Recreation to depatriarchalise this action and come up with a more constructive means of entertainment in the sport.
Nkk D G NHLENGETHWA: Somlomo, ngicela ukwazisa ukuthi ekuhlaleni kwale Ndlu okulandelayo ngizophakamisa: Ukuthi le Ndlu -
(1) mayazi ukuthi imindeni engamashumi amane nanyeyakhishwa epulazini laseNooitgedacht elisesifundazweni saseMpumalanga ngo-1996;
(2) mayikuphawule ukuthi leyo mindeni yalahlwa eDaggakraal lapho kungekho manzi ahlanzekile okuphuza, kungekho mhlaba abangalima kuyo futhi kungekho namadlelo ezinkomo kanye nokuthi seyihlale kuleyo ndawo iminyaka emithathu;
(3) mayazi ukuthi izindaba ezinhle ezithi sebeze banqoba kulo mshikashika, sebebuyiselwe epulazini labo elidala;
(4) iyawubongela umNyango wezoLimo nemiHlaba ngale mpumelelo; futhi
(5) mayazi ukuthi sikhuthaza isifundazwe saseMpumalanga ukuba sisize le mindeni ekutholeni izingqalasizinda kanjalo noxhaso lwezimali ukuze ikwazi ukuziphilisa. (Translation of Zulu notice of motion follows.)
[Mrs D G NHLENGETHWA: Chairperson, I give notice that at the next sitting of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House-
(1) must be aware of the 41 families who were evicted from the Nooitgedacht farm in the Mpumalanga province in 1996;
(2) notes that they were dumped in Daggakraal where there was no drinkable water, where they had neither land nor fields to graze their cattle, and where they have been staying for a period of three years;
(3) notes that the good news is that the battle has been won since they have been returned to their old farm;
(4) congratulates the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs on this success; and
(5) notes that we encourage the provincial government of Mpumalanga to assist these families in getting the infrastructure and sponsors to enable them to look after themselves.]
WORLD BOOK DAY
(Draft Resolution)
Mr G Q M DOIDGE: Mr Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) today, 13 April 2000, is world book day;
(b) books are an essential tool for learning and reading, and
empowerment of the individual;
(c) millions of our people have no access to books or libraries,
that thousands are not able to read and that the culture of
reading is extremely low in our country; and
(d) increasing the rate of literacy is critical to the development
of our nation; (2) calls upon national, provincial and local government to extend the
provision of accessible library services to all our citizens, to
place increased emphasis on literacy campaigns; and
(3) urges civil society to join in building a culture of reading in order to prepare South Africa to play a leading role in the foundation of the African renaissance.
Agreed to.
CONGRATULATIONS TO PROTEAS
(Draft Resolution)
Mr G Q M DOIDGE: Mr Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes the mammoth pressure the Proteas were playing under last night;
(2) further notes the fears of a threatened stayaway following former captain Hansie Cronjé’s dismissal;
(3) recognises the fact that under the circumstances it was a magnificent victory, arguably their best ever, over Steve Waugh’s world champions; and
(4) calls on all South Africans to continue supporting the Proteas.
Agreed to.
APPROPRIATION BILL
Debate on Vote No 24 - Public Service and Administration, Vote No 25 - Public Service Commission and Vote No 27 - SA Management Development Institute:
The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Chairperson, members of this House, those members of the public in the gallery who have joined us variously from communities and universities and, above all, my social partners in the trade union movement who are joining me as I present my first Vote as Minister for the Public Service and Administration … [Interjections.] The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order!
The MINISTER: This Vote covers the Department of the Public Service and Administration, the SA Management Development Institute and the Public Service Commission. It also refers to the work done by the State Information Technology Agency.
In the state of the nation address by the President, he stated: ``We are yet to complete the task of restructuring the machinery of Government.’’ Why is this such an important challenge for us as a country? South Africa has declared war, as a democratic Government, on poverty and underdevelopment. And unless it is underpinned by a Public Service … [Interjections] … that is effective, developmental and efficient, our country cannot rise to the occasion of defeating poverty.
Hence, central to this, is our ensuring the complete transformation of the Public Service, which is essential and critical for the transformation of the state. The Public Service is the visible face of the state for every citizen, from cradle to grave - be it for registering births, educating our children, getting identity documents, or any range of services, we all interface with the Public Service in one way or another. We are, therefore, obligated to take an active interest in the process of the Public Service transformation. This requires each and every public servant to be a patriot and a role-model of the values that this Government stands for.
My input today will be a report on progress made, and it will outline the plans for the restructuring of the Public Service. What do we mean by transformation? [Interjections.] In transforming the Public Service, we should ensure that the needs and convenience of citizens drive the provision of services, that services are of a high quality, and that services are indeed accessible to those for whom they are identified. Above all, services should be delivered in a manner that empowers the citizenry.
Although cost-containment is the key feature of the restructuring process, it is not the sole criterion through which we judge the performance of the Public Service. This is important, as Public Service organisations such as schools, clinics and police stations are effective and developmental. They contribute to society to a much greater extent than their cost.
We are not advocating change in pursuit of simplistic notions, favoured by certain theorists, that the state should be rolled back in favour of market forces. It must be a change with the principled motive to afford our country a human face, and to ensure that each and every South African will indeed benefit from a democratic Government. We are not removing the responsibilities of the state in relation to social and economic development. We are rather looking at building a strong, effective, developmental state. We are making changes that give the state the capacity to deliver better services. We are improving the systems and infrastructure of the state to incorporate modern technology and systems. We are ensuring that more money gets spent on development rather than on administration.
Now, we have succeeded in removing historical inequalities in legislation and the exercise of Government affairs, including the equalisation of wages and benefits as well as increasing the accessibility of Public Service employment to allow for greater representivity. Women now make up 51% of the total component in the Public Service. There is still underrepresentation of women at senior management and technical levels. I want to add that African women are the fastest growing component in the Public Service.
We have developed policy, regulations and legislation to allow for the decentralisation of management in the Public Service and the creation of a more flexible and responsive framework for service delivery. We are introducing modern systems and practices in all spheres of management, and we have launched the Batho Pele programme to build a culture of customer service among public servants, and we want to encourage departments to set quality standards against which they can be judged by their customers.
We have to build on the solid foundation we have laid in terms of some of the issues we have raised. Our future efforts will be focused on the following issues: firstly, the intensifying of the modernisation of Public Service systems and practices, and, secondly, the continuation of the quest for better quality services and looking at stabilising personnel expenditure. Let us reflect on these issues in detail.
On the issue of strengthening management capacities, of all the key challenges facing the Public Service today, nothing is more central than the need to attract, develop and sustain capable managers. We are currently reviewing our approach to the senior management corps, and among the key changes that we are introducing are the establishment of a separate and professional senior management service. We need to attract and retain the very best citizens and, above all, patriots to run our public institutions and ensure that all departments have a uniformly high standard of management.
We want improved prerecruitment screening to ensure that only the very best enter senior management service, and we want the remuneration of management to be risk-based and linked to performance. There should be greater contract flexibility with a transparent salary package, and there must be a tighter system of performance assessment with suitable bonuses for top performers.
All management positions in the Public Service will be subjected to competency profiling. What we will ensure is that there will be greater devolving of powers, and we have ensured this through heads of departments holding senior managers responsible for output, rewarding performance and ensuring that disciplinary measures are taken against those who perform poorly.
We want to introduce clearly established guidelines regarding conduct of senior managers. We have recently introduced regulations governing the financial interests of senior managers and plan to cascade this downwards and extend the regulations to other aspects of conduct. Of course, we are looking at broadening the definition of managers to include the managers of service delivery institutions such as hospitals, prisons, schools and other operational entities. We are also strengthening the capacities of our accounting officers through the presidential leadership development programme for directors-general and heads of departments. We will be launching this in May this year.
Personnel expenditure has increased immensely over the past five years for very legitimate reasons: the rationalisation and incorporation of the homeland systems into one South African Public Service, expansion in the use of benefits and, of course, substantial and appropriate increases in the minimum salaries for lower-graded workers. These increases in personnel expenditure have further been exacerbated by the automatic rank-and-leg promotion system in the Public Service.
On reviewing this, we do accept that this pattern of growth, as we have seen over the past five years, is neither affordable nor sustainable. With a deep understanding of the reasons for the increases in personnel expenditure, there is clearly a need to manage, control and stabilise expenditure. In order to stabilise expenditure levels, a number of strategies are necessary. Some of these we will be dealing with in detail in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Chamber. However, today I need to highlight some of these areas.
The costly scrapping of automatic rank-and-leg promotions is unmanageable and not directly linked to the improvement of service delivery. In its place we propose a pay progression system that is linked to performance and career pathing. As I have said earlier, the details of this matter will be negotiated with the trade unions. More cost-effective benefits and allowances are being explored. Here we are looking at housing, pension and medical assistance for the benefit of employees and, of course, a better role to be played by the employer. Systems will be put in place to curtail the abuse of the leave dispensation in the Public Service. By way of a motion reference was made to the study done by the Public Service Commission. This will include capping leave accumulation and complying with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. We will also ensure that we develop a labour relations framework suitable to the Public Service sector. We will review the application of certain aspects of national labour legislation, in particular the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, to the Public Service and particularly focus on the health and security services.
We are also reviewing the current voluntary severance package because that framework is not cost effective and has not produced the desired results. It has, therefore, become necessary to develop a tool that will serve as the basis for managing personnel who are in excess to operational requirements, in order to ensure that the Public Service operates as a skilled, cost-effective and efficient organisation and to ensure that the state indeed does play a much better role through its interventions in respect of service delivery to all communities.
To achieve this objective, the following measures are necessary. We need to terminate the voluntary severance package in its current form with immediate effect. We need to put in place a retrenchment tool that will comply with the provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act and other regulations in the Public Service, and the retrenchment tool needs to be supported by a clear social plan. Furthermore, the impact of retrenchments on regional and local economies needs to be alleviated by structuring protected procurement arrangements that will benefit workers and suppliers in these areas.
Those departments that face the problem of personnel in excess to service delivery requirements will ensure that they have, and have started working on, strategies to address this challenge. These strategies include reskilling, retraining, redeployment and, as a last resort, a very final option, retrenchment. The social plan that they and all of us need to put on the table needs to incorporate a number of initiatives. Some of these are advice on financial management to affected individuals, counselling for retrenchees, assessment of individual skills and identification of areas for further training, and advice on and facilitation of employment opportunities elsewhere in the economy. We need to ensure that there is a comprehensive approach regarding this that involves both economic and social departments as we take this forward.
Retrenchment in the Public Service, as I stated earlier, will have an impact on regional and local economies, especially in provinces where the Public Service is the principal employer. It is, therefore, imperative that we bear this in mind as we move forward. What is key is to place alternatives in order to deal with the negative effects on communities in these particular provinces. We have worked on possible proposals in this regard. These will include - and do include - public-private partnerships which will benefit local and regional economies. It looks at outsourcing in some instances, which will increase the quality and volume of service delivery and retain jobs that may have been lost otherwise, and at agencies that will carry forward these services and, in many instances agencies that will be drawn back and reintegrated into Government at a future point.
Moving on from that point, I feel it is important to just reflect of some of the work being done by the Public Service Commission. I am not going to deal with all the issues. The commission co-ordinates the monitoring of the implementation of resolutions that emanated from the 1999 national anticorruption summit. It has put in place a national co-ordinating structure that is required to manage the national anticorruption programme as part of an ongoing campaign that it leads and has been launched under the auspices of Government’s national anticorruption initiative.
At present a series of provincial anticorruption workshops are being run to lend support and mobilise vigilance of provincial administrations in implementing their plans to curb corruption sand to promote professional and ethical conduct amongst senior public officials. A risk management programme designed to focus on and control corruption trends is being developed. The commission offers support and assistance for the development of codes of conduct, whether it is for parliamentarians or provincial legislatures, and the employees of local governments. Systems are also being looked at for monitoring the implementation of and adherence to codes by national and provincial departments. This will lead to a reliable measure of adherence. In collaboration with the Department of the Public Service and Administration, a framework for the disclosure of financial assets by senior management has been developed. The assets register is a mechanism for accountability and prevention of corruption. It is aimed at deputy directors, upwards - actually, for all senior managers from the level of deputy director. This is being implemented from 1 April, and the commission will monitor the process. However, executing authorities - that is to say, premiers, MECs and, of course, the national Cabinet and the executive as a whole - will manage the assets register for senior officials in their departments.
A further area of challenge is, of course, the whole issue of improving management skills throughout the Public Service, because senior management training and development lies at the core of high performance and improved service delivery to our people. The strategic leadership development programme that I referred to in the beginning is an executive senior management programme aimed at improving skills and learning, and is specifically designed for directors-general and other senior managers.
We, furthermore, are also looking at an African co-operation programme that seeks to link our Public Service transformation with other African states in the context of the African renaissance. This forms a direct part of the strategic leadership development programme.
In terms of looking at improving the quality of service delivery, a recent analysis by the Department of the Public Service and Administration looked at how Government delivers services and highlighted the challenges related to the improvement of service delivery. The separation of Government into different units, though necessary for administrative purposes, often means that our people do not receive services in the most convenient manner.
People often have to give the same information more than once to different government units or sometimes even to the same unit. There is a lack of information on Government services, and, in many instances, a lack of clarity on where people should go for help. Our institutions would then arguably, in some instances, not be as friendly to the public as they should be. In many instances in rural communities, Government services are not accessible and people have to travel long distances to access them.
Accessing services is time consuming, and there is insufficient advice on requirements to access these services. There is also limited information on business hours in some instances, and, in many instances, not enough hours for people to access services. Hence, a key strategy for improving the quality of services is the deepening of a culture of accountability to citizens on the point of our Government services. Here members heard various colleagues of mine unveil how they were doing that during the Budget week.
Our agenda for action, therefore, will build on the Batho Pele principles and focus on practical initiatives to ensure that services are convenient for the needs of every citizen. In addition, some of the practical actions will include the greater use of information technology in service delivery in which Government will identify services that can be provided on line without visiting a Government office. We will use the Internet, the telephone and postal services to extend these services.
The launch of the Public Information Terminal by the Post Office and the provision of universal telecommunications services will ensure increased electronic access to services by most communities. Further identification of services that can be made more accessible through collaboration with the private sector and other state institutions, such as the Post Office, police stations and mobile units, is being dealt with. The focus will also be on increasing information about Government services and the location of offices.
Efforts will also be made to streamline information required for providing services, and, of course, this will be in line with the use of information technology through the State Information Technology Agency. We will ensure that services are of an appropriate quality and that there is a greater focus on feedback through members of the community indicating how effective the services are.
At this stage there is also a need to focus on how we intend ensuring that our human resource practices support the development objectives of Government. I will now look at the transforming efforts of Government. We are replacing automatic promotions with appropriate career-pathing and pay- progression systems linked to performance. We are introducing a range of flexible employment practices. We are nurturing a culture of performance management by developing and implementing a performance management system, but above all we are promoting ethical conduct by ensuring that there is an adherence to a code of conduct.
I think at this point one should draw this to a close by saying that through the State Information Technology Agency, Sita, once again, we will continue laying the building blocks for electronic Government and we will finalise a policy on information technology in the course of the year 2000. Such a policy will provide for the integration of existing Government systems and data bases. It will map out a single window for providing Government services on line, electronically address issues of certification and security in the conduct of Government business, look at using less paper in administration and, generally, suggest strategies for increasing the rate of information technology use by Government services.
Finally, I would like to say that clearly the HIV/Aids pandemic has, and will have, a major impact on the Public Service as a whole. It will be felt on the Government Employees Pension Fund, on human resources training, on medical aid and on remuneration and leave. As a result, a major project has been launched to assess the current status of this pandemic in the Public Service. The main objective is to ensure that the Public Service is able to sustain quality service in spite of the epidemic.
I just want to say that in any ascent of a mountain, things may seem difficult. Prior to that ascent, we may have the full plan and vision of the journey, but as we go through the journey, some of us may lose sight of the broader range and get overly focused on the areas we find ourselves in. We need constantly to remind ourselves of the overall purpose of the climb. We need to always contextualise the steps we take and the pain we endure to take those steps. It is only when we stand at the summit that the whole picture can be appreciated. But we always need to keep this picture in mind as we go along, otherwise we may lose our way.
The summit that we are aspiring to is the full transformation of the Public Service - a painful process, but a necessary one. On that note I would like to quote Brecht, especially for those who decided to heckle me in the beginning and ran away. As we deal with this transformation, Brecht says:
I stood on a hill and I saw the old approaching. But it came as the new. It hobbled up on new crutches which no one had ever seen before, and stank of new smells of decay, which no one had ever smelled before. The stone that rolled past was the newest invention, and the screams of the gorillas drumming on their chests set up to be the newest musical composition.
Let us not drum on our chests and be the newest musical composition on the complexities. Let us always focus on what the outcome should be, and let us put in place the fundamentals for that outcome and never be deterred from that.
On that note, I would like to thank the chairperson of the portfolio committee for the kind of co-operation that he and his team have provided in taking us forward on this journey of transforming the Public Service. I would also like to thank my directors-general, Muthanyi Ramaite, Mpume Skhosana from the Public Service Commission, and Job Mokgoro, the director- general of Samdi. I would like to thank the chair of the Public Service Commission, Prof Sangweni, and the team of commissioners. I would like to say to them, and all those patriots who are public servants, that they have a difficult task, but as a team we are going to drive ahead with the required transformation and restructuring in spite of the gorillas drumming their chests.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon members, before I call the next speaker, I recognise the Speaker of the Zambian Assembly in the gallery. [Applause.] Sir, you and your delegation are welcome to our country. May your visit be an enjoyable one.
Mr N P NHLEKO: Chairperson, the Portfolio Committee on the Public Service and Administration takes this opportunity to congratulate the following people on their appointments: Mr Robinson Ramaite as Director-General of the Department of the Public Service and Administration, Mr Job Mokgoro as Director-General of the SA Management Development Institute and Mr Mpume Skhosana as Director-General of the Office of the Public Service Commission. It is to the credit of the hon the Minister that the three key institutions for whose budget she takes responsibility have begun working together in a constructive and productive manner. At this stage the institutions all have well-defined powers and responsibilities. The Public Service Commission, which commenced work on 1 July 1999, has a constitutional mandate to monitor and evaluate the performance of Government departments. A revitalised Samdi came into existence on 1 October 1999 with the mandate to promote management development in the Public Service, and the Department of the Public Service and Administration has risen to the challenge of delivering hands-on assistance to departments, in addition to its ongoing policy-making role, with a vigorous focus on the implementation of service delivery policies and strategies. Yesterday, we were also pleased to hear, at the portfolio committee briefing, that the State Information Technology Agency, Sita, has aligned its business plans for IT delivery to departments to the priorities of Government in this area. The mandates of these institutions are complementary and interdependent, from policy-making to assistance with implementation; and from the provision and implementation of IT hardware and systems to capacity-building and monitoring and evaluation of performance.
For this key strategic realisation, a number of benefits to all institutions have followed. By focusing on areas of co-operation and co- ordination, the Department of the Public Service and Administration and the Public Service Commission in particular have identified joint operations and are thereby achieving maximum impact. One of the most important of these joint operations has been the management audits, the first of which was in the Department of Correctional Services. The directors-general of the department and the Public Service Commission, with the co-operation of the Department of Correctional, will be briefing a joint meeting of the Portfolio Committees on Correctional Services and on the Public Service and Administration this Friday on the results of the audit.
We applaud these positive steps that have been taken by the Public Service Commission, Samdi, Sita and the department to co-operate at several levels. We trust that there will be continuity of these good relations for the benefit of the Public Service and the people of this country as a whole. Even before 1994 we were aware that we had to change radically the ethos of the Public Service in order to improve its performance. There was a realisation on Government’s part that to transform the Public Service and the state, it was necessary to reposition and sharpen management to meet our political objectives as a country.
One of the most important ways of doing this was to entrench the concept of management accountability in the Public Service. Both the Minister of Finance and the Minister for the Public Service and Administration have been cognisant of the importance of the regulatory framework - in other words, the rule books - to transformation and the impact it makes on the way in which public servants do their work and account for their performance.
A new approach, and one which was adopted simultaneously in Finance and the Public Service, was to rewrite these rule books to afford Public Service managers greater flexibility in terms of how they deliver, while holding them personally responsible for what they deliver. For the Public Service and Administration the result was the Public Service management framework which came into force in July 1999 and the Public Finance Management Act which came into force this month. Together, these frameworks are now regulating the Public Service.
The greater advance represented by the implementation of both frameworks is in securing management accountability for performance. As part of this framework, all heads of departments are required to sign performance agreements with their Ministers or MECs. We were informed that there is no system in place yet for Ministers and MECs to conduct a structured evaluation of their heads of departments on a regular basis. We are very pleased to hear that the Public Service Commission has agreed to develop an appropriate methodology for Ministers and MECs to follow and, in addition, will provide advice to Ministers and MECs.
We, in Parliament, have a great deal of respect and admiration for the commissioners and officials of the Public Service Commission who carried out their duties under difficult conditions during the transition from the old to the new. We are pleased that the new regulatory framework and the constitutional provisions regulating the powers and functions of the commission are now fully operational. We would like to suggest that the commission’s most important contributions to Parliament, and in particular the National Assembly to which it is accountable, are the reports of the highest quality which it has tabled since then.
This week a report on the management of remunerated overtime was tabled, which drew Government and Parliament’s attention to the fact that Public Service spending on overtime has reached levels of R1 billion per year. The report is one of a series focusing on the financial implications of the coming into force of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. In essence, the Public Service Commission is pointing out that the new legal dispensation will inevitably bring increased costs in terms of overtime work.
Government has, for some time, already been working to reduce these costs, in particular through seeking exemptions for the Public Service from certain aspects of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. But Government’s wage policy will also make a difference in this particular area because it will seek to reduce the amount of overtime that public servants currently regard as part of their salaries by restructuring public servants’ remuneration packages.
Another report of the commission on the annual reports from Government departments was released during recess. The portfolio committee, together with the Committee on Public Accounts, has already been looking into the alignment of the annual reporting requirements of the Public Service and financial management frameworks. We look forward to providing inputs to the committee on accountability and oversight, which is taking place in this crucial area, on behalf of the Rules Committee of Parliament.
We are satisfied that the commission has defined for itself a very constructive methodology for addressing key focal areas in terms of its constitutional mandate, and that it has been very productive thus far. The commission, by tabling its reports in the National Assembly, is also presenting us as members of Parliament with the challenge of taking up these issues and engaging with Government to address any problem areas identified by the commission.
A number of top level studies and reviews have been conducted in the Public Service since 1994 and they have greatly enhanced our understanding of the functioning of the Public Service. Most recently, in 1999 Government asked all departments to draw up management plans aimed at improving planning in a number of key areas, but having the added benefit of providing a wealth of management information for analysis at national level. We look forward to the release, by the hon the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, of the first annual review report on the Public Service. In gathering information for ourselves as the portfolio committee, we have on occasion gone out to see what is happening in the Public Service. We would therefore like to report briefly on our visits to the Free State and Mpumalanga. At the same time, two other delegations went to the Eastern Cape, the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province.
Firstly, we must concur with the hon members of the Portfolio Committee on Transport. In their debate on Tuesday they said that they were facing a national crisis in terms of the maintenance of our roads. We heard, for instance, that in Mpumalanga alone they estimated the backlog to be R4 billion. Secondly, we were struck by the fact that there are still many problems relating to the integration of the former homelands and the rationalisation of their Public Service dispensations that persist till today. We are informed that in some other areas, homeland structures have remained almost untouched or with new names under regional offices, but in many instances without any work to occupy them constructively.
As yet we do not have a tool for rationalisation when it comes to staffing matters. This matter surely requires urgent political attention so that there is complete integration of former homeland structures into the new dispensation. Such action must be seen within the context of accelerating change and service delivery.
In fairness to the many dedicated and hard-working politicians and public servants whom we encountered on our travels, we did see very many positive developments too, particularly in the area of public-private partnerships and outsourcing. For example, we saw first-hand the Free State Department of Welfare’s mobile welfare pay-out points system, which won an international service delivery innovation award in 1998, and which has been adopted and replicated in several other provinces.
The political justification for the employment of 1,1 million people in the service of the state is that the Government is responsible, in terms of its mandate, for the delivery of certain basic services, with the necessary implication that these services will reach more people efficiently, effectively and economically. We must constantly ask ourselves whether our public servants - the human resources of the Public Service - are appropriately skilled and trained to execute our political objectives as a country. Properly skilled public servants in the right locations are essential to improved service delivery, and partnerships and outsourcing will keep costs down and promote efficiency. However, alternative service delivery mechanisms must be handled sensitively by Government and fully consulted upon with the relevant stakeholders.
In the context of our visits to the provinces, we would also like to argue today for the strengthening of our commitment to the existing service delivery policy, Batho Pele, or ``people first’’. We would like to call on Government to take bold steps to ensure that this policy is implemented comprehensively by all departments in the Public Service. We have seen that the benefits of successful implementation of this policy are enormous, in particular in reminding public servants of their role as service providers and in empowering citizens as service users. We appreciate the contribution of the unions, as social partners, for their commitment to service delivery and public sector transformation.
Finally, we would like to call on all members of the public to take ownership of the Batho Pele campaign. This budget is ours and we support it. [Applause.] The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, on a point of order: I want to enquire whether it is parliamentary for the DP to address this House when they do not have a quorum, because most of their members are busy marching to the Zimbabwean embassy during the sitting hours of this House. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! That is not a point of order. That is a point of information for everybody. [Laughter.] Please proceed, hon member.
Mr G A J GROBLER: Chairperson, my colleague will concentrate on Vote 16: Improvement of Conditions of Service, and I will give more specific attention to Votes 24, 25 and 27.
During 1999, and more specifically on 22 September 1999, the DP spelt out its views on the Public Service. We emphasised the need for downsizing the Public Service, merit increases and privatisation of services, to name a few things. We were met only with silence from the Minister. However, we realised that the silence was because the Government was in negotiations with its ally Cosatu.
Although we were very thankful to hear at the end of 1999 and in the middle of March 2000 that the hon the Minister would carry out plans to cut back the Public Service, she admitted that the Government’s previously disastrous attempts at rightsizing had led to the exodus of high-calibre public servants and left the Government with the deadwood. They lost the wrong people. The hon the Minister’s department is also looking at outsourcing. The Government’s ally Cosatu has not reacted favourably, of course, but this should not stand in the Minister’s way.
At least positive noises are being made regarding the reduction in the size of the Public Service - one of the central elements of the Government’s macroeconomic policy or strategy, Gear. But the most important issue is when. When will she get rid of the thousands of public servants who are not doing a day’s work, but are getting paid? The ones who are prepared to work should rather be paid. Again, there are very positive noises coming from the Minister. Ideas came forward this afternoon and we really appreciate this.
Furthermore, positive noises were made at the end of March by the hon the Minister regarding the lack of commitment from certain public servants, especially in the mismanagement of funds or, rather, I should say, the nonmanagement of funds. Promises of a major shake-up, in terms of the integrated implementation programme, were made in August last year by the hon the Minister and, again, there were good ideas, but when will we see the necessary results? However, we are here today. Things are moving.
People are dying in queues while public servants are not doing their work. Three people died on one day in the Eastern Cape because officials were not doing their work. Electronic equipment was not functioning owing to nonpayment of accounts. I am sure that since the day those poor people died not a single official responsible for this unacceptable situation has been fired.
During a recent portfolio committee tour to the State Information Technology Agency, organised by Mr Nathi Nhleko - whom I want to thank personally as I really found the tour very informative - I was surprised to learn that an amount of approximately R300 million is owing to Sita for services rendered to other departments. Again, this is a sure sign of incompetence on the part of officials on both sides - those who do not collect outstanding funds and those who do not think it necessary to pay outstanding accounts.
Sita is a very important institution and it must sell itself in this very competitive market. How does one do this? One does this by being seen as a worldclass-performance institution and by delivering an effective, competitive service, and by not waiting for Government to force departments to make use of one’s services, in this instance those of Sita. One thing I am very positive about is that we will have to look again at amending the State Information Technology Act.
Furthermore, I was surprised to see that new equipment worth R40 million was being installed there. Sita’s explanation, which was that they must be proactive in having the right equipment to cater for the needs of prospective clients, is recommended. But is it not better to get new business first and then upgrade one’s systems? We have a wonderful asset in Sita, but it is not being utilised to a fraction of its potential. I am sure we are going to look at this and hear positive noises again.
Before I come to Vote 25, I want to say that the media was full of the Human Rights Commission’s obsession with various racist reports in the press. Now, what does that have to do with me today? I am told, for instance, that when one lodges a complaint with the HRC one has to complete a question on what one’s race is. The Public Service Commission goes even further on page 10 of their report on dismissals as a result of misconduct in 1999. Here, misconduct among whites, Indians, blacks and coloureds was listed under the various race groups. This is, in my opinion, the worst form of racism in reporting. [Interjections.] Here a certain race group is being highlighted as more prone to misconduct than any other. It is here on page 10! [Interjections.] If the hon the Minister Jeff Radebe has some time to spare I will give it to him to read. We in the DP, and I personally, are only interested in one race and that is the human race. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order!
Mr G A J GROBLER: The DP therefore asks for a nonracialistic report of the various departments in future. We do not need to have these breakdowns on races who are now prone to misconduct, and so on. [Interjections.] On the positive side, the DP welcomes the statements from the Public Service Commission, that the reporting systems of the various state departments are not up to standard and need to be brushed up. The lack of proper reporting has for a long time been a serious concern to our party and many others. We agree that this lack of proper reporting is nothing …
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon Mr Bloem and hon Mr Mathebe, I do not see you adding to the debate by yelling from your seats. So please, contain yourselves. Continue, sir.
Mr G A J GROBLER: There are a few other drummings on their chest from that side.
I just want to say that more concerns that we share with the Public Service Commission are listed here, but owing to a lack of time and the interruptions I will have to go on with my speech.
As gevolg van ‘n gebrek aan genoegsame tyd wil ek graag die volgende paar opmerkings maak ten opsigte van Begrotingspos 27: Die Suid-Afrikaanse Instituut vir Bestuursontwikkeling, of Samdi soos dit alom bekend staan.
Sedert Oktober 1999 funksioneer dit as ‘n volwaardige departement met ‘n eie direkteur-generaal. Die departement het, soos sovele ander afdelings, eintlik nog geen prestasies gelewer waarop ons trots kan wees nie, maar die doel van die departement, naamlik om ‘n effektiewe rol te speel in bestuur- en organisatoriese opleiding in die openbare sektor, en om finansieel selfonderhoudend te wees, klink altyd prysenswaardig. Die vermoë om aan dié mooi ideale te voldoen, sal egter na gekyk moet word.
Ek stem saam met die nuutaangestelde direkteur-generaal dat opleiding op sigself, ná alles wat beplan word, nie die alpha en die omega is nie, maar wel die resultate wat behaal word, en ek het vertroue daarin. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Because I have insufficient time I would like to make the following few remarks with regard to Vote 27: The SA Management Development Institute, or Samdi, as it is generally known.
This institute has been functioning as a fully fledged department with its own director-general since October 1999. As in the case of so many other sections, the department has as yet not really achieved anything of which we can be proud, but the objective of the department, ie to play an effective role in management and organisational training in the public sector, and to be financially self-sufficient, always sounds praiseworthy. However, the ability to attain these excellent ideals will have to be examined.
I agree with the newly appointed director-general that, after everything that is being planned, the alpha and omega is not training itself, but the results that are attained, and I have confidence in this.]
Departments were once again identified in which training needed to be done by Samdi, but my question is, does Samdi have the staff to perform? Does Samdi have the skills? Does Samdi have the equipment?
In one of the presentations of the new Director-General of the Department of the Public Service and Administration, he said it could take between 10 and 15 years to transform an institution such as the Public Service. I say it is totally unacceptable to suggest that timeframe.
Weer eens is die DP nie ongeneë om die departmente wat ‘n visie het om sake reg te stel ‘n redelike kans te gee nie, maar ‘n tydskedule, en ek sien dit kom nou stadig in, is noodsaaklik om te verseker dat, indien geen wesenlike resultate behaal word deur sekere instansies nie, ons dit maar moet privatiseer sodat hulle byvoorbeeld dan maar vir ons opleiding doen as hierdie ding nie werk nie. ‘n Mens kan nie vir ‘n onbepaalde tyd aanhou nie.
Laastens, die Minister het altyd die voorreg om die laaste sê te hê aan die einde van ‘n begrotingsdebat. Gevolglik sal ek nie die geleentheid kry om myself te verdedig nie. Ek wil egter net sê, die agb Minister mag dalk voel om iets goed te sê oor die DP of om my dalk te wil prys, maar ek glo beslis nie sy sal dit wil doen nie en dat ek in daardie geval ernstig daaraan sou moet dink dat ek my werklike politieke rol nie behoorlik vervul het nie. [Tyd verstreke.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Once again, the DP is not unwilling to give those departments with a vision to rectify matters a reasonable chance, but a timeframe, and I see this now gradually emerging, is essential to ensure that if no substantial results are attained by certain institutions, we simply have to privatise them to enable them, for example, to undertake training for us if this effort is not working. One cannot carry on indefinitely.
Finally, the Minister always has the privilege of having the final word at the end of a budget debate. Consequently I shall not have the opportunity to defend myself. However, I just want to say that the hon the Minister might feel like saying something favourable about the DP, or might want to praise me, but I definitely do not believe that she would want to do that, and in that case I would have to consider seriously that I have not played my real political role properly. [Time expired.]]
Prof L B G NDABANDABA: Mr Chairperson, hon members, the IFP fully recognises the need for administrative transformation of the Public Service and acknowledges that it is vital that the process of transforming the Public Service should be guided by a clear, comprehensive and commonly accepted vision of the fundamental principles that should shape the new Public Service.
Until recently, the African people were systematically excluded from all positions of influence in the state and civil society. The IFP is concerned that persons with disabilities, irrespective of gender and race, are seldom found in any position of influence within the state. The system of service provision under the old regime was discriminatory and exclusionary towards black South Africans. It was concerned more with the application of rules and procedures than with the development of a culture and ethics of service.
To this end, the IFP hopes that the central Government’s initiatives on the Public Service will not be prescriptive with regard to the provinces. The IFP believes that the national Government should guard against dampening provincial initiatives by imposing centrally controlled measures upon provinces. Subject to the requirements of national security, the public should have access to all information available, as in the case of federal systems. Labour relations should be dealt with at provincial level rather than national level.
Having said that, the IFP applauds the improvements in the conditions of service, transformation and the new developments brought about after 1994, as shown by the following: The process of democratisation has seen the transformation of the Public Service in terms of the constitutional obligations and objectives of the current Government. When the Department of the Public Service and Administration was started, it focused mainly on the development of administrative policies and legislative frameworks that sought to guide the transformation process.
In addition, the department supports the Minister in her responsibility to oversee, facilitate and co-ordinate the transformation process in the Public Service, as set out in the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service. The department has reached a stage where more emphasis is now being placed on implementation. It has the responsibility for the following areas: To translate the broad policy framework contained in the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service into achievable policy objectives, performance measures, targets and timeframes; to ensure that this process is based on effective consultation with all key stakeholders and agencies within and outside Government at national and provincial level; to ensure that the transformation process is effectively co-ordinated at both national and provincial levels; and to develop a financial resource strategy to support the transformation process, taking, of course, into account the specific needs of individual departments and provinces.
The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service identifies policy objectives, guidelines and instruments in nine areas: the rationalisation and restructuring of the Public Service; institution- building and management; representativeness and affirmative action; transforming service delivery; democratising the state; human resource development and training; employment policies and conditions, and labour relations; the promotion of a professional service ethos; and information technology, which is very important. The main thrust in the area of legislative reform in the Public Service in recent years was to devolve powers to executing authorities and provinces, and this is applauded.
Numerous workshops have been held with most political heads and heads of departments in order to ensure that they understand their new roles and powers, and the format for management plans. The reform was aimed at enhancing the accountability of heads of departments, introducing employment contracts and performance agreements for heads of departments and modernising inefficiency and misconduct procedures.
The new Public Service regulations have changed the focus towards the implementation of policy. The practices, procedures and policy norms proposed in various White Papers will, as a result of the new Public Service regulations, be enforced. This we applaud. With regard to enhancing service delivery, one of the Government’s important tasks is to build a Public Service that is capable of meeting the challenge to improve the delivery of Public Services to South Africans, especially disadvantaged communities.
At the beginning of 1998 the Department of the Public Service and Administration launched the Batho Pele White Paper. The department also interacted extensively with three departments on a pilot project. These departments included Home Affairs and the North West departments of local government and housing, health and developmental social welfare, and finance and economic affairs. They reached agreements on the timetable for the implementation of the Batho Pele initiative service standards.
The Batho Pele initiative is in the process of being extended to the rest of the Public Service whose personnel are not regulated by the Public Service Act of 1994. The key elements of the Batho Pele White Paper were incorporated into the new Public Service regulations in order to ensure that they were integrated into all departmental activities.
The Minister for the Public Service and Administration launched the White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service in February 1998 in Parliament. A number of initiatives were introduced in order to ensure the successful implementation of the new policies. This, again, we applaud. The department held a number of workshops with national departments and provincial administrations. The objectives of these workshops were, inter alia, to identify problem areas in the staffing function and develop strategies for addressing these; to obtain inputs so as develop good practice and guidelines; and collectively to develop key performance indicators which are realistic and achievable.
Besides the above initiatives, the implementation of the White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service is being taken forward in the new Public Service regulations and the development of comprehensive good practice for the human resource function, which is very important. The White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public Service was launched in
- The occasion of the launch of the White Paper was used to recognise the work that has been done by other departments in transforming the Public Service.
Performance management forms an integral part of the whole process of the transformation of the Public Service, especially with regard to effective human resource management and service delivery. Performance management in terms of the new Public Service regulations is, of course, a radical departure from the past practice. It puts in place constructive mechanisms in order to assist employees in improving their performance. In terms of this new system, management will have to communicate more consistently with their employees; departments will have to define appropriate instruments and work with employee organisations to set up appeal routes; and departments will have to be more creative in overcoming blockages in the way of good work.
With regard to information technology, the department made significant progress in the area of information management and information technology in the Public Service. It was involved, inter alia, in driving the establishment of the State Information Technology Agency, or Sita; in finalising the Information Architecture Framework, or IAF, for the Public Service; and in assisting with the co-ordination of the year 2000, or Y2K, problem in the Public Service. The Government is better poised now to deliver IT solutions required by the departments and provinces faster and more effectively.
The establishment of Sita, as mentioned, will resolve a number of problems which have been plaguing Government in the IT sector. These problems include the exodus of IT-skilled personnel to the private sector, the inability to recruit and retain properly skilled personnel, the inability to manage IT procurement, the ineffective utilisation of IT resources and the inability of Government to utilise IT tools to support governance and service delivery.
With regard to employment conditions and labour relations, the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, or PSCBC, is the negotiating forum which attempts to reach agreements on salaries, terms and conditions of work in the Public Service. It has reached a number of agreements that represent a qualitative step forward in labour relations in the Public Service. It has reached agreements on some of the following areas. It has agreed to reduce the funding level of the Government Employees Pension Fund, and to provide for funds to help the development of sectional training plans. The PSCBC has established a committee to audit the service requirements and staffing levels of Government components, integrated with all departments and activities of the Public Service, human resource development and affirmative action.
The Minister of the Public Service and Administration has launched in Parliament the White Paper on Human Resource Development with all these good ideas in mind. A number of initiatives were introduced to ensure that this would be successful. Besides the above-mentioned initiatives, the implementation of the White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service is being taken forward in the new Public Service regulations and the development of comprehensive, good practice, as has been emphasised.
The department has undertaken to conduct a comprehensive review of the current conditions of service in the Public Service. It believes that remuneration is the largest single category of Government spending, and therefore how it is structured is important to the sustainability of Government spending. The Government wants to direct the bargaining process towards a more sustainable approach to salary increases, which is an important factor for all public servants. This will be achieved through reviewing and negotiating the current conditions of service. Such a review will include, among other things, a new wage policy; a review of current benefits, allowances and how they are structured relative to the salary; reviewing current bargaining processes, including the need for more sectoral approaches; and narrowing the wage gap whilst developing strategies to retain professional and senior managers.
Now I would like to make a few remarks about the Public Service Commission and its achievements. Members of the new Public Service Commission who were appointed in December 1998 have achieved a lot in the meantime. The commission has 14 members in total and has been set up in accordance with constitutional requirements. The commission is an independent body which has the role of assisting in the promotion of a professional and ethical Public Service and administration that is accountable - which is in agreement with IFP philosophy - equitable, efficient, effective and free from corruption. In order to achieve this vision, the commission has the power to investigate, monitor, evaluate, communicate and report on public administration.
Some of the achievements of the commission to date include the following. Following on the Public Service anticorruption conference which was held in 1998, the commission organised a national anticorruption summit which took place during 1999. Delegates from all sectors participated in this summit. One of the central objectives of the commission, of course, is to assist in the development of principles of good governance and preventing corruption in the Public Service as a whole. A number of resolutions came out of this summit, which will be followed up by the national co-ordinating structure.
The commission is highly involved in the practical implementation of the code of conduct for the Public Service, which was launched and implemented in 1999. The commission has organised workshops in the provinces to assist it in the implementation of a code of conduct. This also agrees with the IFP philosophy of doing things in the provinces.
The commission intervened in a number of important areas, in line with its mandate to promote effective service delivery and resource utilisation. These interventions included, inter alia, a report on the evaluation of departments’ annual reports as an accountability mechanism. This report identified serious problems with the content of departmental annual reports in terms of their usefulness for ensuring accountability. The commission has developed guidelines to assist the departments in this regard.
Benchmarking of departments against the key requirements of Batho Pele has been done by the commission. The purpose of this investigation was to check the extent to which departments have included policy … [Time expired.]
Mr M R BALOYI: Mr Chairperson and the honourable House, the Public Service transformation process is on course and under control, en route to a destiny of a Public Service with a culture of accountability and responsiveness. This is a course championed by the Department of the Public Service and Administration. The pursuit of the transformation agenda runs paralleled with a commitment to meeting the day-to-day challenges of rendering a legendary service.
Debating the budget of the Public Service and Administration is actually talking about the tool that the department has to achieve the twin objectives alluded to. It takes informed and responsible leaders and citizens to appreciate the challenges with which the Department of the Public Service and Administration is confronted. We note, with appreciation, that faced with practical challenges, the department introduced informed, observable and realistic interventions, such as striving for a balance between personnel and nonpersonnel expenditure, searching for a demands-based deployment of human resources, as well as boosting efficiency and effectiveness through alternative service delivery mechanisms.
What the personnel expenditure review advocates is that we should reduce the expenditure on personnel, so that we can have enough money for capital programmes. It is in answering this question that we talk of an objective realignment, with an express purpose that the impact does not compromise our mission for a better service for all. Our President said, on 25 June 1999, that there should be a downward management of personnel expenditure to facilitate greater spending on improving the quality of life of the poor. Expressing the same sentiments in his parliamentary opening speech on 4 February 2000, he indicated that such will be achieved by rightsizing the Public Service. In his Budget Speech, the Minister of Finance also said that personnel expenditure had grown strongly since 1995, and that from this financial year, the proportion of total spending that goes to personnel has begun to decline.
Statistically speaking, our Public Service is within the internationally bearable parameters. The only problem, though, is the fact that some of the public servants were randomly deployed during the apartheid era, when patronage was the overarching value for securing a job in the Public Service.
The impact is the inherent problem that manifests itself through the existence of employees outside the Public Service establishment, adding to the load of challenges that the department already faces. In dealing with this particular challenge, several options become available, such as the department’s training and redeployment interventions.
It takes informed and responsible leaders and citizens to recognise that the transformation agenda is not a single-item issue, stuck on the desire to retrench people from work, as the proponents of impoverishment will shout and scream that we do so indiscriminately. Instead, it is a broad- based intervention designed to ensure efficiency in service delivery. It also offers a management tool, in case retrenchments become inevitable, so that people are not left destitute in the process.
We appreciate the department’s move towards a policy on alternative service delivery mechanisms. This involves a more focused approach to strategic core functions, while the noncore functions are either outsourced, shared or handled in partnership with other agencies or the private sector. We, as the ANC-led Government, have said that we need a lean and efficient Public Service. Alternative service delivery mechanisms will usher us towards this essential goal while guaranteeing that for the first time in the history of South Africa, we shall have a service which has been devolved to the rural areas.
I recently led a delegation of the Portfolio Committee on the Public Service and Administration on a visit to the Northern Province and the Northern Cape. As a result of my experiences on these visits, I can confirm that the broader Public Service transformation objectives are realisable. The Roodepan one-stop shop in the Northern Cape serves as a good example of co-ordinating services for easy access by communities. In this set-up the provincial government, local government and parastatals render services under one roof which are co-ordinated by an official in the premier’s office. So, one has such functions such as electricity vending, processing of applications for birth certificates and identity documents, social advisory services, etc. The list is endless.
I know that those doubting Thomases swelling the ranks of the DP will shout and scream that the alternative service delivery mechanisms will not work and they will continue to say that what we are saying is just noise. This confirms that, indeed, it takes informed and responsible leaders and citizens to recognise that we are not stuck in transitional challenges. We have a workable solution.
I wish the Northern Cape provincial government would invite the hon the leader of the largest minority party to the launch, in May this year, of the Galeshewe one-stop shop so that he could wake up to what we mean when we say that we are taking services to the people. The people of the Northern Province are currently witnessing the impact of outsourcing the functions of road infrastructure construction and maintenance through the establishment of the Provincial Roads Agency. Despite problems related to the registration of the agency, which I believe the Department of the Public Service and Administration will address soon, and the effect of the devastating floods, the agency is making commendable progress.
The ANC supports the budget of the Department of the Public Service and Administration. [Applause.]
Mr A Z A VAN JAARSVELD: Mr Chairperson, someone once said: For that which we do or for that which we neglect to do, those who come after us have the right to ask account of us. We who live now carry the responsibility to work tirelessly to create a society in which the initiatives of the entrepreneur, the dreams and aspirations of the student and the plight of the poor and the destitute will be met in a country in which many years were lost on the road to becoming one nation.
Elke voorheen agtergeblewene of elke voorheen bevoorregte wat nou bereid is om saam aan een nuwe Suid-Afrika te bou, moet die reg hê om deel te neem en daartoe aangemoedig word. Kennis en ondervinding, asook aspirasie en realiteit, moet saamgesnoer word om ‘n Suid-Afrika te ontwikkel waarin die verskeidenheid ‘n eenheid sal word om die uitdagings van môre die hoof te bied. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Every previously disadvantaged person or every previously advantaged person who is now prepared to build a new South Africa together, must have the right to participate and must be encouraged to do so. Knowledge and experience, as well as aspirations and reality, must be combined to develop a South Africa in which the diversity will become a unity, to overcome the challenges of tomorrow.]
I believe that it was with this in mind that President Mandela appointed the Presidential Review Commission to investigate Government and to recommend measures designed to ensure that the process of reform and the vision that drives it are built into the governance of South Africa at a very high level.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEE: Order! Hon members in the cross benches, you are not allowed to speak to any members in the House. If you want to speak to them, please leave the Chamber and you can do so outside.
Mr A Z A VAN JAARSVELD: Mr Chairperson, what is it that the Government has to achieve in the process of creating a new culture of governance? I believe it is good that we stop and remind ourselves, from time to time, of what these aims are.
We must ask ourselves if the programmes which are being implemented are helping to protect and enhance representative and participatory democracy; to support civil society and its interaction with government; to promote economic and social development and the advancement and empowerment of disadvantaged people and communities; to shift power and authority from central Government to provincial and local government within the framework of national norms, standards and values; to locate responsibility for achieving efficient and effective delivery of services to the lowest possible level; to ensure that ethical and professional standards are developed and maintained throughout the Public Service and all other organs of state; to ensure that the functions and records of Government are open to public view and appraisal; to ensure accountable and transparent stewardship of public resources, so as to build the kind of society envisaged in the Constitution; and, lastly, to reward achievements, acknowledge failure, and give redress to grievances.
With this in mind, we in the New NP are pleased that the Department of the Public Service and Administration and the Public Service Commission have commenced management audits and investigations into priority departments. We welcome the major anticorruption clean-up that is currently under way in the Department of Correctional Services.
We believe that heads of departments cannot be allowed to run their departments as their own private enterprises, as has happened in the Department of Correctional Services and, previously, in the Department of Home Affairs. The New NP condemns this kind of criminality and flagrant abuse of power. We are looking forward to receiving a full report from the department and the commission and we hope that criminal and disciplinary prosecutions will come out of this process.
Now that the Public Service management framework and the Public Finance Management Act are in place, the roles and responsibilities of directors- general and other heads of department are very clear. With proper vigilance, such abuses can be picked up and dealt with by Government and Parliament. From the first of this month all heads of departments may be held personally liable as accounting officers for unauthorised, irregular and fruitless expenditure in terms of the Public Finance Management Act. New systems for tracking the spending of departments on a quarterly and even a monthly basis are being implemented by the Departments of Finance and of State Expenditure.
The Public Service regulations require all heads of departments to be appointed on contract and they must sign performance agreements with their Ministers and MECs. However, this requires Ministers and MECs to evaluate their directors-general on a regular basis and, unfortunately, in practice, this is not happening. This is a very serious matter, and we have raised our concerns in the portfolio committee. We were subsequently given assurance by the Director-General of the Office of the Public Service Commission that the commission is assuming responsibility for this area.
The agreement between the Minister or MEC and the head of department is critical, as it is the basis for subsequent agreements between the head of department and members of senior management in every department. The quality of this one agreement determines the performance level of the entire department. This kind of emphasis on performance, together with proper systems and controls, can assist in swiftly identifying and dealing with directors-general who are dishonest and do not perform.
I would like to agree with the chairperson of the portfolio committee about the high quality of the reports of the Public Service Commission and their importance in keeping Parliament informed about the performance of the Public Service. I say well done to the professor. The recent report on annual reporting is a harsh indictment of the inadequacy of the annual reports that the departments are submitting to Parliament. The commission states that our departments’ reports fall way below international best practice and that the quality of information is poor. These annual reports are descriptions of activities rather than reports on performance and results. I spoke earlier of the Public Service and public finance frameworks, and of annual reporting, which is one of the areas in which the Department of Finance and the Department of the Public Service and Administration must also play a role in determining a standardised reporting framework for departments, one that will assist us, in Parliament, to perform our oversight role.
I understand from the annual report of the Public Service Commission that the commission has almost completed an assets register for managers in the Public Service. We see this as a very positive development and hope that the register will be published soon. We would like to see some of the other resolutions of the anticorruption conference getting urgent attention, including the establishment of anticorruption hot lines and the strengthening and possible consolidation of the various anticorruption structures.
We are looking forward to the commission’s forthcoming report on the implementation of Batho Pele service delivery. We believe that for the best results this policy must become part of the operational procedure of service delivery points everywhere in the Public Service. Consultation remains the cornerstone of successful implementation and improved service delivery.
On a recent portfolio committee study visit to the Eastern Cape, the reality showed that this province is falling apart when it comes to service delivery. For example, there are clinics which lack adequate equipment and medicine, a welfare department that is totally dysfunctional, and a roads department that pays its employees but cannot provide them with a day’s work owing to a lack of funding for projects and road maintenance. There are other provinces where similar problems occur. In July last year, the hon the Minister for the Public Service and Administration started prioritising capacity-building for all public servants.
The relaunch of Samdi as a training provider focusing on the management echelon is a promising step. The fact that President Mbeki has asked Samdi to create structured interventions for directors-general is an indication of the confidence that is placed in the new director-general, Job Mokgoro. At the same time, we are concerned that the approach that the Department of the Public Service and Administration is taking in developing strategy for human resource development is not yet coherent or co-ordinated. Transversal human resource skills shortages or problems of large numbers of unskilled workers should be the strategic focus of the Department of the Public Service and Administration. In addition, there still does not seem to be finality regarding the future policy direction of Samdi, in particular whether it will phase in cost recovery. These matters should be resolved as soon as possible.
Yesterday, the portfolio committee was briefed by the State Information Technology Agency, Sita. We were pleased to see that Sita is overcoming some of the initial problems it had to deal with in terms of the integration of formerly separate components. Sita’s business plan for the short, medium and long term is very ambitious. Perhaps it is a little bit too ambitious. However, it is the product of careful strategic thinking, and we applaud the work that has been done by Sita up until now. The next step of drafting operational plans to tackle the individual aspects of the broader plan is critical.
In conclusion, the New NP agrees with Sita that we can all be part of the process to make the Public Service work for South Africa. I would like to quote from a book written by Yuda Tuval entitled Against the Flow: A New Strategic Framework for Business Success in the 21st century.
Mr D H M GIBSON: You want to go with the flow.
Mr A Z A VAN JAARSVELD: No, you cannot even go with the flow. [Interjections.]
I quote:
We believe that there are as many futures as your imagination will allow. They fall, almost invariably, into one of three categories. The first is more of the same …
More of the same, like the DP -
… the same game played according to the same rules - and if you opt for this option, you will in due course become a victim. Then there is a second category in which you manage, to some extent, to change the rules of the game. By being a skilful adaptor, you can influence these futures and prosper in the process. Finally, by changing the game itself, by creating a discontinuity that you are out on your own, playing a new game according to new rules, you can be a shaper, capable of turning your vision into reality.
We, in the New NP, believe that our role as a constructive opposition will make us part of the process of turning vision into reality. We will support the Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Ms C C SEPTEMBER: Chairperson, hon Minister, comrades, colleagues, hon members, Adam Lebor wrote in the Sunday Independent of 9 April this year about research done by a Hungarian institute, the Association of Law Enforcement. It found that if one was a Budapest motorist pulled over for a spot fine or if one was one of the city’s ``bigs’’, one could, with confidence, bribe one’s way out. A list published showed that a favour from a police officer with Ministry contacts cost about 15 million forints. that is approximately R370 000, but that a nod and wink from a lower-ranking officer could cost a mere 25 000 forints.
Our public sector in South Africa has been no different. We come from a public sector geared to meet the needs of a minority of citizens in this country, one that denied people access to services, one which duplicated administrations into so-called population groups. We have only to remind ourselves of the Department of Coloured Affairs in Cape Town.
As new policies have been and are being put into place, our challenge remains to overcome the legacy of the past. The following emerged at a recent international conference on the public service in Hong Kong which I attended. In South Asia there has been a notable decline in the quality of the large state bureaucracies of this region. Here, ``the public has come to believe that corruption in the public service is a way of life’’ and public trust in government has been greatly weakened as a result.
In Latin America most people consider most of the public bureaucracies in the region as a malady that has no cure, despite recent efforts at administrative reform associated with the transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes. In fact, a recent official report released by a special commission of the Brazilian federal government concluded:
… the organisational condition of the federal government and the public sector as a whole is grave … society is impatient and impotent before the incapacity of the majority of our administrative systems to respond to its needs, and the public servants are demotivated and paralysed by the majority of the organisational systems to which they are tied, both in terms of poor professional opportunities and conditions of work they provide, as well as the irrelevancy of their actions to satisfy the aspirations of the social sectors they serve.
At the same conference South Africa stood out as having moved very fast on reform in the Public Service. As a further tool for transformation in South Africa, the current status of labour relations and the future thereof must be safeguarded by our policy in section 5.10.5 of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, which calls for a sound labour relations philosophy, policy and practice for the requirement of building a motivated and committed cadre of personnel with a very clear vision of developmental goals.
Our policy in the RDP calls for a labour relations policy that is accelerated in terms of dealing with corruption and mismanagement, but clearly permits the participation of public-sector workers and their organisations in decision-making at various levels in the sector. Strategic choices in labour relations should be driven by efficient and effective delivery without losing sight of getting services to those communities which never had services in South Africa before; and the partnerships with all stakeholders should culminate in there being joint responsibility for implementation.
The department has been going through an exercise of scrutinising the demographics of the Public Service, in particular the personnel and expenditure review. The information given to us reveals that there is a skewed skills distribution in the Public Service. The department, together with the labour movements, should be congratulated on undertaking such an exercise, rather than listening to those who have an appetite for throwing workers on the street at any cost.
Government has intervened during the past four years to reduce the wage gap between high and low income workers, and between males and females. However, it is clear that the year-on-year negotiations will not be able to address all these issues. It is to be commended, therefore, that Government and labour have started the process of devising a wage policy. Such a wage policy should be guided and set by what the RDP calls for in section 5.10.3. Firstly, it says we should have staff policies. Secondly, we should have skills for subsectors. Thirdly, we should expand employment where it is required - not on the street. Fourthly, we should have service delivery.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon member, address the whole House in your speech and do not point to any particular member or any particular party in the House.
Ms C C SEPTEMBER: I apologise to you, Chairperson. Fifthly, we should narrow the apartheid income gap and, sixthly, have career paths and training. Those administrative government institutions, parastatals and public corporations would then do so with the skill of serving the nation, caring for the sick, upholding the Constitution, education the nation and ending illiteracy, and, of course, with the skill to spend Government funding in the correct manner.
Currently, the proliferation of benefits is very difficult to administer with regard to medical aid and housing loans. This should be safely placed in the collective buying power of the Public Service, rather than medical aid and housing loans being entered into on an individual basis. Year-on- year wage negotiations have been dogged by a considerable amount of controversy, and as we move forward it would be advisable to review negotiations continually.
Currently, the Vote on the improvement of conditions of service has been done away with. This means that there is no longer a single identifiable amount. Rather, it is included in each Vote of each department as a transfer payment. Whilst this may solve the problem of accountability in respect of accounting officers, recent provincial visits the committee has made to the Public Service no doubt point out that the departments in the provinces do not have the capacity to perform the tasks now expected of them. The Department of the Public Service and Administration, therefore, should continue to provide the support needed in these areas to build capacity.
With regard to the splitting of the amounts and the decentralisation of the Vote, again, during provincial visits to the departments, discomfort has been displayed in this area. Furthermore, it remains to be seen whether negotiations are being advanced by placing an inflexible offer on the negotiation table and also whether this would lead to the unintended consequence of decentralising collective bargaining.
The devolving of authority to local institutions, for example hospitals, would assist problem solving at the local level. It would assist in effective service delivery and, of course, it would assist in democratising at the local level. However, decentralising the improvement of conditions of service, I trust, would not undermine collective bargaining. Centralised bargaining provides Government with a tool for bringing about equity and cohesion in service delivery.
Prof Pradeep Saxena of the University of Rajasthan, India, argues this point:
In a centrally planned economy, administrative decentralisation and deconcentration is a vital issue of administrative reforms. Decentralisation in developing economies is generally considered a synonym of corruption, inefficiency and discretion. Therefore, decentralisation is avoided and done with great care and caution. For example, state governments have not been authorised to clear foreign direct-investment proposals. After a long time, state governments were authorised to clear such proposals in the power (electricity) sector only at their own levels, but such clearances will be subjected to the final clearances of the central government and the State Electricity Board Regulatory Authority. A very thoughtful exercise is needed to deconcentrate administrative structures as there are practical and human problems involving several complex situations in the deconcentration processes.
Transformation in the public sector is a long process. I therefore want to use the opportunity to congratulate the Northern Cape province, under the leadership of the hon the premier, Manne Dipico, on introducing a one-stop shop, a service for all Government service providers under one roof, in Roodepan, and on the forthcoming one they are going to launch in Galeshewe, which is much needed in that area. The project also involves the community in shaping the project, and roots out nondelivery.
Lastly, I want to congratulate the Congress of South African Trade Unions on the recent Public Service conference which they held on 24 March. They committed their members to rooting out corruption, improving service delivery and transforming the state. This commitment will certainly accelerate a lasting partnership with society and Government. [Applause.]
Mr P H K DITSHETELO: Mr Chairperson, a government is judged by the public servants it employs. If the officers and employees are not committed to the cause, then the government will not only show, but will fall apart at the earliest whirlwind.
South Africa launched the Batho Pele programme in an effort to raise the level of services to the people. This, however, is construed as having to serve the inner circle of relatives, comrades and buddies first. Reminders bandied about even by some hon members of this House, that the majority party has an overwhelming mandate are interpreted by public servants as meaning that they should serve ``batho’’ of the majority party first and foremost. This becomes obvious, even in the appointment of the public servants.
The Public Service Commission Act will have to be revisited. The commissioners are supposed to be neutral. It is unbecoming to have a commissioner who is a public servant at the same time. How can such a person be the referee whilst he is in the field of play himself? Let us have ``batho’’ appointed, not ourselves.
The state of the nation address of 4 February 2000 still rings clearly in my ears. Among other things, the President said that there would be training in management and financial administration. We are grateful that the situation has been beefed up with the appointment of a director- general. What remains is for Government departments to use the state institution for training their service officers.
There are managers of departments who desist from using other institutions and leave some things unused. Such practices indicate disloyalty to our own administration. For the Public Service to prosper, the Government must be concerned about delivery to the people on the ground. [Time expired.]
Mr B MTHEMBU: Chairperson, hon members, the transformation of the Public Service is not only on course, but also equally importantly, unstoppable. There is a great revolution that is taking place, especially with the passing of two pieces of legislation that have put in place a legal framework for a fundamental transformation of the Public Service.
It is important that we should locate this within the mandate that has been given to the Department of the Public Service and Administration. The Constitution of 1996 articulates unambiguous values, principles and requirements that must direct the management of Public Service delivery. In order to meet the constitutional requirements of the 1996 constitutional provisions, the Minister for the Public Service and Administration amended the Public Service Act of 1994 through a series of Acts from 1997 up to and including 1999.
This set of Acts and collective agreements reached in the bargaining process constitute what is known as the Public Service management framework, which came into effect on 1 July 1999 following the promulgation of the Public Service regulation. To complement the Public Service management framework, the Department of Finance passed the Public Finance Management Act in 1999, which became operative from 1 April 2000, which means that it is almost one and half months old. These two pieces of legislation constitute a fundamental change, which is sometimes called a paradigm shift, from the old public administration paradigm to an emerging management paradigm which is in line with the emerging management paradigm within the global environment.
South Africa, after a long period of isolation, is now trying to get itself located within this global environment. That is what constitutes this change. But I think the meaning and the purpose of transformation of the Public Service can best be understood if it is viewed from an historical perspective.
A comparative analysis of the underlying values of the Public Service and administration and the new emerging public management paradigm is very instructive. Firstly, there is the principle of accountability to all the people of South Africa, through their democratically elected representatives in the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures, in contrast with the old public administration which was secretive, opaque and accountable to a secretive security system, from the top to the local government level. The public administration was integrated into military intelligence structures in the form of joint management committees accountable to the powerful national security management system. It was not accountable to the legislatures, let alone the public, whom it was supposed to serve.
Another key principle is representivity, as opposed to the old public administration which was founded on a caste system. Hence its bureaucracy was dominated by the minority of white males, generally conservative, Afrikaans-speaking, and sometimes labelled Christian. I wish to direct this to the attention of the hon Mr Grobler, who says that it is not procedural to make a breakdown of whether we are making progress in restructuring representivity of the Public Service. The point is that we are carrying out our mandate of making the Public Service representative. We need to monitor and to know precisely whether we are making progress. We do not have to hide behind humankind. We need to make progress, because we do not need a state of affairs in which we have only a certain sector represented. We are making progress on that course.
The Public Service management framework and the Public Finance Management Act are very critical, and I think that it is important to point out the key features, because these are very important. Key to this legal framework is the question of accountability, managerial authority, customer service, and performance management. Accountability is very crucial, because Government is there to serve the people. The Public Service management framework makes provision for elected and unelected office bearers to be more accountable. As from now power has been devolved to the executive authorities - that is MECs and the Ministers - to make policies that are content-specific for their departments. We are no longer going to have Ministers saying that heads of department are not delivering, when in fact they are not giving directives.
In terms of this Act, one has to make policies in terms of human resources and organisational structure, and then give direction. In other words the authorities have to put clear, well-projected outcomes on the table, and this will make them more accountable. The hon member who is speaking over there must know that we had a situation at the height of apartheid where a certain Minister built hundreds of toilets in the veld. There was no accountability for the hundreds of toilets in the veld. The Minister said: ``I do not know. It is the fault of the directors-general.’’ In turn, the directors-general blamed the Minister. No one took responsibility.
We want MECs and Ministers who will be accountable, and this is the provision of this Act. Furthermore, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, the heads of departments will be accounting officers who will be responsible for delivery. We now have a complex approach which, unfortunately, our friends do not understand. This is a complex approach which intends to make managers effective. As our President said: ``Managers must manage.’’ For managers to manage, they must be given authority, but this authority must be controlled. So we now have an approach which will give the centre control without stifling flexibility, and that is the intention of this Act.
That is not the only issue. Another important provision is that those who are misusing funds will either be put in jail for not more than five years, or they will be fined. It is important to point out that this important piece of legislation only came into existence in 1999, almost nine months ago. And the other Act is only one and a half weeks old. It would be unrealistic for people, when we have all the instruments in place, to jump to conclusions and say that we are not delivering. The fact of the matter is that this is a constitutional democracy and we have to put in place instruments. The instruments are there: what is important is for us it to put them into practice. I am happy to report that on the recent visits to the provinces, we saw that these issues are being implemented. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr M L DA CAMARA: Chairperson, hon members, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those officials in the Public Service whose dedication, hard work and integrity has contributed to the upliftment of South Africa’s people and to the development of South Africa as a whole. The department is tasked with a huge responsibility of providing quality service to the people of our country, and especially to the poor, who have for so long being deprived by the New NP of a decent standard of living. It is understandable and, indeed, desirable that the department is concerned with the improvement of the conditions of service.
Unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So the road to service delivery in South Africa is paved with corrupt officials, a Government unwilling to put the people before its politicians, and legislation that restricts quality service rather than provides it. Unfortunately, when we take a closer look, we see a department shackled by the ill-conceived and impractical policies and practices of the rest of the Government.
It is indeed ironic that South Africa’s labour laws add a considerable burden to the Public Service, ensuring that the people, the poor, continue to suffer. We have arrived at a point where the Labour Relations Act makes it so costly and so difficult for departments to dismiss officials guilty of misconduct that it is often cheaper to offer massive golden handshakes or simply to retain these people.
We need only look at the cases of James Nkambule and Sibongile Sithole in Mpumalanga. Mr Nkambule, a self-confessed fraudster, demanded R867 000 as a severence package after being dismissed. Three weeks later, he had his job back because procedures of the Labour Relations Act were not followed. It is shocking. Even more shocking is that Miss Sithole, who was responsible for the scandal involving matric results, has walked away with R2,6 million. It is seen to be the cheaper option for Government - R2,6 million for a corrupt official. It would appear, further, that it pays to be corrupt and that it is too expensive to hold officials accountable.
When the time comes to implement the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, overtime costs in the Public Service will increase dramatically. This is astounding, considering that the Public Service Commission already puts the figure at R1 billion a year - R1 billion that belongs to the poor of this country. No wonder that the state has very little left with which to deliver. I repeat that it is the people, the poor, who continue to suffer.
When it comes to priorities, delivery capacity has taken a distant second to affirmative action. Government is so preoccupied by colour that there is little time left for questions of qualification, experience and dedication. [Interjections.] This is how that an official without matric became Mpumalanga’s head of the anticorruption unit. The fact that he worked for other Government agencies with false qualifications prior to coming to Mpumalanga and the fact that MEC Modipane does not see any need to see why and how this happened, is simply shocking. The ANC Government’s response to corruption merely serves to fuel the situation. Let us take the example of Premier Mahlangu in Mpumalanga. He has done everything in his power to prevent commissions of inquiry into corruption from completing their work. He has tried to stop at least two inquiries involving district councils and he has delayed the release of another commission’s report. When his local government MEC, Fish Mahlalela, attempted to continue with investigations …
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! On what point to you rise, sir?
Mr D M GUMEDE: Chairperson, I would like to know whether I can ask the member a question about corruption.
Mr M L DA CAMARA: No. [Interjections.] When MEC Mahlalela was only hours away from passing his findings on to the National Director of Public Prosecution’s office, he was fired. There he goes. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mnu B R MKHIZE: Sihlalo namalungu ePhalamende, ngiyanibingelela. Namhlanje ngimema wonke amanye amaqembu alapha ePhalamende ukuba abambisane noHulumeni kaKhongolose kumkhankaso wethu wempilo engcono kuwonke-wonke.
Angazi-ke ukuthi, umhlonishwa lo oqeda ukusuka lapha, ngabe wazini ngamalungelo abantu kanye nokuthi futhi wazini ngabantu abahluphekayo ngoba bayasivimba kuyo yonke into esifuna ukuyenza lapha. Zonke izichibiyelo zomthetho abazifuni. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)
[Mr B R MKHIZE: Chairperson, I take pleasure in saluting all members of Parliament. I would like to invite all political parties to work together with the ANC on its campaign to create a better life for all.
I doubt if the hon member who was here just now knows anything about people’s rights. I am also not sure if he knows anything about people who live in abject poverty. Usually he and his party oppose everything that we want to do. They oppose all legislative amendments.]
Many reports tell us that we do not have a bloated Public Service and we are happy about that. However, public servants are, generally speaking, underskilled. Many public servants lack the skills and competencies which would allow them to be more usefully employed in their departments or perhaps in other departments or in another location. At the same time, we can no longer afford to have skewed numbers of public servants. The answer to the matter cannot be training, but some strategies should be considered, such as redeployment to other areas.
All departments at national and provincial levels have been required to draw up a human resource plans, which will identify which public servants need to learn new skills and competencies, which must be moved to a different location, and which must be given the choice to move or be retrenched. However, the issue of retrenchment is a last resort. The purpose of the human resource plan is primarily to identify skills shortages, incidents of overstaffing and understaffing where these exist, to develop training interventions to address skills shortages and to develop recruitment strategies for bringing in new people.
I am very pleased to announce that the Minister appointed Mr Job Mokgoro as the Director-General of the SA Management Development Institute at the end of last year. We congratulate him.
Sithi halala Mnumzane. Siyabonga. [Ihlombe.] [We say congratulations, sir! Thank you. [Applause.]]
The main focus of Samdi remains management development, but the institute has been re-engineered to deliver training intervention that supports the policy determinations of the Minister and the Department of the Public Service and Administration, in particular with regard to the implementation of the new Public Service management framework.
The broader policy questions regarding Samdi still have to be resolved. An example of this is whether Samdi is going to move towards cost recovery and commercialisation, and if so, in what timeframe. One of the new areas of focus for Samdi is organisational development. Samdi also has an important role in facilitating the EU-funded Joint Universities Training and Education Trust programme. A key area of responsibility that has been identified for Samdi recently is capacity-building for director-generals, assigned by the President, following a meeting of the forum of South African directors-general last year.
Samdi experienced some organisational problems during 1999-2000, but the organisation played a very critical role in developing and improving the management skills in the Public Service. Samdi managed to train about 9 500 public servants between March 1999 and March 2000.
Lowaya Mnumzane akalalele lokhu futhi. [The hon member over there must listen to this again.]
Samdi has and still continues to train and develop senior managers. In addition to that, 205 senior managers were trained by Samdi during 1999.
I am very keen to highlight the fact that there have been some problems with the implementation of the White Paper in line with the Skills Development Act and the Skills Development Levies Act of the Department of Labour, because the labour legislation requires that sectoral education and training authorities must be established, but does not allow dual membership, for example, of a Public Service sectoral authority and another sector such as health. The Public Service incorporates several factors. This question must be resolved soon, as 25 sectoral educational and training authorities were launched in March last year by the Minister of Labour.
I am also pleased to inform the House that Samdi offers training intervention for managers, either on its own or in partnership with several tertiary institutions in South Africa, such as universities. The Department of the Public Service and Administration is responsible for the implementation of key aspects of the White Paper, in particular satisfying the requirements of the Minister of Labour as set out in the Skills Development Act and the Skills Development Levies Act.
However, the training of public servants, especially at the levels below middle management, is the responsibility of the line managers in each and every department. We must not forget that perhaps in the past there has been a shift of responsibility from one person to the next and now, with the new regulations, it is clear that it is an aspect of line management, such as performance management or the maintenance of discipline. It is managers and ultimately the heads of departments who must be held accountable for capacity-building. In conclusion, the Department of the Public Service and Administration must produce an integrated strategy and facilitate the establishment of an institutional framework and infrastructure. Samdi must train managers and managers must be responsible for the career development of the officials under their supervision.
Kubafowethu, ngithi uHulumeni oholwa yi-ANC akangabazi ukufuna ukwazi ukuthi yini eqhubekayo mayelana nezinguquko ukuze kuguqulwe izinto esimweni sezemisebenzi. Ngalokho ngithi-ke kuyangimangaza namhlanje ukuzwa ilungu elihloniphekile le-DP lithi kukhona abantu abayi-dead wood. Angazi-ke ukuthi ngingathini ngesiZulu uma ngisho i-dead wood ngoba abantu abafile ngeke umuntu ababone behamba lapha.
Uma ngabe i-DP izophikisana nayo yonke inqubekela-phambili yokwenza ngcono impilo kawonke-wonke lapha eNingizimu Afrika, abantu balapha eNingizimu Afrika bazoyibiza ngokuthi ingama-dead wood alapha ngaphakathi ePhalamende. Baphikisana cishe nazo zonke izichibiyelo zemithetho emisha yokwenza ngcono impilo yabantu. Yazini-ke namhlanje i-DP nge-human race? Uma namhlanje i-DP ingaphupha, iphuphe umbuso iwuphethe, kungathomba ukhiye kubheke le ngoba i- DP ayinalutho esandleni lokubusa izwe. Umuntu angabona kahle uma nje oTony Leon kungasa kusasa nje ngephupho, bephethe umbuso. Kungaqhaqhazela amabhulukwe, kuqhaqhazele yonke into ngoba ayikho into abayiphethe esandleni yokwenza ngcono impilo yabantu. [Ihlombe.] Uma umuntu engayibheka kahle i-DP, angathola ukuthi ayibandi futhi ayishisi, intukuntuku nje. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)
[I would like to say to our brothers that the ANC-led Government is confident. It wants to know what is being done to change the employment situation. Therefore, I am perturbed to hear the hon member of the DP saying that there are people whom he refers to as ``dead wood’’. I cannot translate this into Zulu, because if he means dead people, people who are dead are not visible.
If the DP is going to oppose any progressive attempt to improve the lives of all South Africans, the people of this country will call it ``parliamentary dead wood party’’. The DP seems to oppose almost all legislative amendments aimed at improving the lives of our people. What does the DP know about the human race? Even if the DP can imagine itself in power, I am sure if this happened there would be a problem because it has no vision to rule this country. Outrageous things can happen, for instance, if the hon Tony Leon becomes the president of South Africa tomorrow. His legs will tremble in his trousers. Everything will tremble, because the DP has no plan to improve the lives of the people of this country. [Applause.] When one watches the DP closely, one finds that it is neither hot nor cold, it is lukewarm. [Applause.]]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order!
Mr B R MKHIZE: Sengisalelwe yiminithi namasekhendi ayi-30 kuphela. [I only have one minute and thirty seconds left.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon member, please come back to the topic. [Laughter.]
Mr B R MKHIZE: Oh, OK.
I-DP, uma umuntu eyibheka kahle ngempela, isekulesiya simo sakudala sobandlululo ngokwengqondo lapha ekhanda. Uhulumeni wobandlululo wawungawazi amalungelo abantu. Khona manje, uma singenza isichibiyelo sokusebenza komthetho wezakhiwo zokusiza abantu bakaHulumeni, i-DP ingathi vinini ngejubane isiya kumaphephandaba.
Ngifuna ukwazi namhlanje futhi ngifuna i-DP itshele abantu ukuthi ngabe uHulumeni wayo ubuswa ngamaphephandaba yini? Qha, into okufanele yenziwe yi- DP ngukuthi yazi namhlanje ukuthi noma iyathanda noma ayithandi uMnyango wezemiSebenzi yemiPhakathi sizowuguqula futhi impilo yabantu sizoyenza ngcono. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)
In fact there is no doubt that psychologically the DP is still living in the apartheid era. The apartheid regime did not know anything about human rights. If we try to amend the law regarding buildings that will assist Government employees, the DP will run to the media.
I want to know today whether the DP is led by newspapers. No, from now on the DP must know that the Department of Public Works will definitely amend this law and that we will improve the lives of our people. [Applause.]]
Mr S SIMMONS: Chairperson, hon Minister and members, it is the role of the opposition to hold the Government accountable for its failures, expose inefficiencies and systematic breakdowns where these exist and put forward sensible and practical alternatives. The question to the hon the Minister is: How successful was the Government in delivering an efficient and quality service to the citizens of South Africa over the past financial year?
In some instances the Government had success, but in many cases the services rendered ranged from poor to putrid. The facts speak for themselves. Between 1994 and the end of 1999 more than one million jobs were abolished, pushing unemployment up to a dangerous 30% and thereby increasing and aggravating the poverty position in the country. In the Eastern Cape alone, the unemployment rate is 54%.
Secondly, according to the recent Public Service Commission report, insufficient Public Service managers and unwieldy disciplinary procedures were blamed for the fact that misconduct cases nearly quadrupled since 1996, that is from 305 to 1 113, an increase of 264%. Of even more concern, according to the report, was the long delay in finalising misconduct cases. Of the 2 247 cases reported since 1996, only 1 077, less than 50%, have been finalised.
Thirdly, according to a recent Auditor-General’s report, it was found that huge underspending of poverty relief funds to the amount of R293 million occurred, punishing innocent, poverty-stricken South Africans through negligence on the part of the officials. Owing to problems of capacity and skill which resulted in poor planning and management, the Department of Welfare recently included nonexistent projects in a list of recipients to be awarded R203 million for poverty relief, according to the Independent Development Trust.
According to a recent report, the state could be liable for millions of rands in claims for damage, because hundreds of prisoners are being detained unlawfully since the Department of Correctional Services is not delivering prisoners to courts on time.
A Public Service Commission Report on overtime payments to public servants in all departments, tabled before the portfolio committee, indicated that over a period of five years, that ended with the 1997-98 financial year, the amount paid out has increased from R9 million to R956 million. The report said that these claims had become part and parcel of many officials’ lifestyle and that control measures are inadequate and open to manipulation.
So I could go on referring to weak service delivery, but in respect of the following, where it mattered most, the present South African Government has failed the South African community. Time prevents me from elaborating on them, but they have been covered thoroughly in the press and include education, health, welfare, the police, justice, transport and correctional services, not to mention provincial administrations in which the ANC governs and the corruption in the Public Service. These examples are only a selection of the evidence presented, and it indicates that the Government is not delivering on the fundamental task at the core of every government’s responsibility.
The New NP takes cognisance of the steps taken, besides others, to halt the terminal decline which could have dire consequences for socioeconomic and political stability, to put mechanisms in place to monitor service delivery, to eradicate corruption in the Public Service and to train officials in so far as management skills and sound financial procedures are concerned. These steps referred to must not be lip service, but I must really address the said shortcomings on a continuous basis.
Mrs L MALONEY: Mr Chairperson, Minister for the Public Service and Administration, hon members, today I would like to talk about a few issues pertaining to our Public Service Commission.
Firstly, I wish to remind this House of the vision and mission of this body which are derived from the values and principles of the Public Service administration, as laid down in section 195 of our Constitution of 1996. The overall aim of this body is to promote constitutionally enshrined democratic principles and values in the Public Service by investigating, monitoring, evaluating, communicating and reporting on public administration. Through research processes, it will ensure the promotion of excellence in governance and delivery of affordable and sustainable quality service. Its operating principles, to mention but a few, will be, firstly, impartiality and independence in all action, and, secondly, a good working relationship of trust and respect with all clients and stakeholders through consultation, assessment and feedback. The co-operative governance of the Public Service Commission is also informed from the model articulated in the country’s Constitution.
The commissioners are supported by the Office of the Public Service Commission, whose head office is situated in Pretoria. The Director-General of the Office of the Public Service Commission is the accounting officer for the head office and the regional offices in the nine provinces. Our expectation is for the Public Service Commission to maintain a high standard of professionalism, efficient, economic and effective use of public resources, development orientated administration, and the provision of impartial, fair, equitable and nonbiased services, including responding to people’s needs and participating in and encouraging leaders in policy- making. Its core business should include anticipation, accountability and transparency.
As a member of the Portfolio Committee on the Public Service and Administration, I wish to confirm that most of the functions I have mentioned so far have been achieved. I also wish to mention that this commission has a very healthy working relationship with the Department of the Public Service and Administration. This was proved when the Public Service Commission, together with the department, conducted a review of management practices in the Department of Home Affairs and the investigation currently taking place in the Department of Correctional Services.
On the achievements of this commission, I would like to highlight some few issues since 1999. They had embarked on the project of evaluating annual reports as an accountability mechanism, which helped a lot to improve the quality of reporting in the departments. The benchmarking of departments against the key requirements of the Batho Pele White Paper and the code of conduct workshop were successfully conducted by the commission in the provinces. These workshops were aimed at properly directing and strengthening the working capability of departmental managers.
Regarding reports to the National Assembly, the commission managed to disclose discrepancies on the management of leave. The commission has reported the discovery of other discrepancies with regard to overtime remuneration, sick leave and disciplinary procedures at management level. The good news is that most of these discrepancies have been corrected by the commission. This means that a lot of taxpayers’ money is being saved.
The commission’s plan for the years 2000 to 2009 is for the office to set up information technology infrastructure in all regions. The commission will also be reporting on how the Public Service has dealt with the question of representivity targets that were set in the White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public Service during the coming year. We cannot afford a situation in which the Public Service is dominated by white males in grey suits and shoes and wearing a uniform hairstyle. [Laughter.]
One of the key functions of the PSC in the coming year is the establishment of regional offices of the commission. We hope that the commissioners who were provincial nominees in the beginning will be dedicating a reasonable amount of their time to working in the provinces, and that they will have a clear plan on what they intend to achieve in their respective provinces. They should also be in constant touch with the commission in Pretoria because they are not free agents, but disciplined members of a unified constitutional institution.
Before I conclude, I wish to quote the words of the President during his state of the nation address. He said:
However, I am certain that we are all inspired to act with greater vigour
- and will indeed act with greater vigour - to achieve the fundamental transformation of our country, because at no point during its entire history has our country been in a better position to confront the challenges we face than it is today.
At no other point in time have we ever been as well placed as we are today …
[Applause.]
Adv Z L MADASA: Madam Speaker, the ACDP is not very concerned about the hairstyle of officials. [Interjections.] Instead, we are concerned about their efficiency.
We support the budget of the department. We welcome the creation of institutions such as Samdi and Sita. However, on behalf of Sita, I would like to urge the department to pay the debts owed to Sita, as the director- general requested. I am therefore using this platform to urge the department to pay that money so that this institution can function properly. The question I would like to ask the Sita director-general is how he reconciles his saying that Sita is a provider of choice with his argument that procurements by departments should be certified by Sita. I see a contradiction in that statement. With regard to Samdi, I would like to make the following comments. According to reports we have received, specifically with regard to the Eastern Cape, the Samdi programme is good but too general. They complain that it is not relevant and specific to particular departments. I would appreciates it if the director-general could take that into account.
I am addressing the following comments to the Minister generally. As a member of the tour group which visited the Eastern Cape, I observed that as much as the policies of the department are good, there are difficulties of implementation. One of the problems is that middle management is untrained. Training has only taken place at the top. The integrated implementation programme has not been implemented in that province in particular, nor, I suppose, in other provinces. The major concern from our side is the fact that the Department of Public Works has completely collapsed and this makes it difficult for all other departments to function effectively and to deliver services.
Another issue that was raised was that there were indeed additional unskilled workers. The problem is that they are unskilled and cannot be utilised to fill certain vacancies. Vacancies that have been caused by the departure of skilled employees are difficult to fill. That is one of the problems, and the voluntary severance package is not working to address the problem.
Another issue is that there is a policy discrepancy in that the definition of overtime has not been resolved. The impression is created that overtime refers to when one works after official hours, whereas, depending on the nature of the job, it could be that it is the only time a particular job can be done. That cannot be described as overtime, but at the moment people are claiming to be doing overtime when they are working after hours, when in fact they cannot work within office hours in those particular sectors.
Lastly, there is the problem of the devolution of powers. Some provinces are unable to take disciplinary measures on certain issues, because they are unsure whether they have the authority to act in those particular instances, for example with regard to justice and land affairs, where property belonging to the state is being looted.
Mr M R SIKAKANE: Madam Speaker, it is important to remember that, before one says anything, one should be well informed. It is unfortunate that I have to respond to the member Grobler. We have just undertaken a visit to the provinces, and Mr Van Jaarsveld can bear me out. When we went to the provinces, we all agreed that we should stop this business of sitting in our revolving chairs in Sandton and Durban North and criticising public servants, because we found that public servants in the provinces are dedicated, committed and doing wonderful work. We were saying that we in Parliament should start to motivate those public servants.
Mr Grobler went with us to Sita. After that he went home, but he tells the House that the people in the Eastern Cape died in the queue and that this is because of the irresponsible public servants. He was sitting in his revolving chair in Sandton or wherever he went. [Laughter.] Secondly, he was talking about dysfunctional electronical equipment. Sita has no control over the equipment referred to by the hon member. He should be knowledgable and not just go: ``Bam, bam!’’ All that equipment belongs to nonparticipating departments.
The maintenance of the equipment belonging to nonparticipating departments is mostly outsourced to the private sector. An unfortunate point, though, is that this equipment is linked to Government infrastructure managed by Sita. As soon as all Government departments, provincial legislatures and all organs of state participate in Sita the problem will be solved. Sita cannot accept responsibility for areas not under its control. The DP is talking about R3 million. It is true that after the portfolio committee went there, departments paid to such an extent that Sita now is left with a remaining debt of R2 million and there are arrangements for Sita to fix that.
Perhaps when we talk of Sita I have to explain, for the sake of members who were not here, that there was a reason for the Government to form Sita. When we came here in 1994 the tendency was for managers or heads of departments to resign and form consultancies. They came back to Government and charged the Government exorbitant amounts of money, which was tantamount to exploitation. That is why the Government started Sita.
Sita is ours, as we are sitting here. Sita belongs to the people out there. Let me relate to hon members the history of Sita. The State Information Technology Agency is a company formed in terms of the Companies Act, through the State Information Technology Agency Act of 1998. It is an information system facility, which is responsible for the management and execution of information technology, information systems and related work for, and on behalf of Government.
The motivation for the establishment of Sita received a unanimous endorsement in the National Assembly in October 1998. In April 1999 Sita took concrete form and commenced with its operations with one goal in mind: To make the Government work better and cost less through information technology and information systems, as well as to make a difference in Public Service delivery.
The primary issues which Sita was created for and mandated to confront and resolve are still fresh in our memories: Recruiting, developing and retaining skills in information technology and information systems personnel; managing information technology procurement, and ensuring that Government gets value for money; using information technology to support transformation and service delivery; the efficient utilisation of expensive information technology resources; integrating information technology initiatives; and reducing duplication, thereby saving the Government money.
Given these factors, the Sita mandate was expressed beyond any shadow of doubt by the State Information Technology Agency Act. The mandate of Sita provides for information technology, information systems and related services to, or on behalf of, participating departments in regard to these services, and to act as an agent of the South African Government.
The Portfolio Committee on the Public Service and Administration understands Sita. Firstly, members of the portfolio committee had an opportunity to visit Sita headquarters in Pretoria on 24 March 2000 and were briefed on the extent of the operations of Sita by the acting managing director, Mr Sello Mokale, who is seated there in the gallery. Seated next to him is the ever-busy chairperson of the board of directors of Sita, Mr Sello Rasethaba. We thank them and commend their work. They should keep up the good work.
Secondly, the statement of strategic direction and the business plan for Sita was presented to the portfolio committee on 12 March 2000. The presentation was conducted with the chairperson of the board of directors giving a report on the progress during the first year of operation, and the acting managing director presenting the strategic direction and business plan.
From the presentation, it was clear that the Sita management knew where Sita was going, and what needed to be achieved in the short, medium and long term. The vision clearly states: To become a leading and respectable public sector information technology company in the world that provides relevant products and services to the Government cost-effectively. It is an employer of choice, an advance user of information technology and delivers value for money to the shareholder. The shareholder here is Government; and if it is Government, it is the people on the ground.
Clearly, Sita is on track, but for them to be effective, Government must recognise Sita as a redeeming instrument at Government’s disposal. This recognition will be visible when the national and provincial departments - and all other organs of state - begin to consider Sita as a starting point and central frame of reference for Government’s information technology needs, information systems, policies and strategies.
Sita is ready and willing to work with departments to set standards, respond to the needs of the departments, help consolidate infrastructure and involve the private sector in procurement for Government requirements. Sita was created by us here. So, I would urge the Minister to begin, firstly, to address our own frustrations; secondly, to facilitate service delivery; thirdly, to take government to the people; and, fourthly, to save money and redirect it to meeting other needs, to enable us to focus on our core business.
We are frustrating our own creation, our own instrument for effective service delivery by allowing organs of state to do their own information technology and information systems procurement, delaying the incorporation of organs of state into Sita and withholding payment to Sita for services rendered. I think we as members should know that we cannot afford to frustrate an establishment which was founded by us for the purpose of helping the Government by giving money to private individuals who got their experience within Government departments, went out to establish their own companies and came back to charge the exorbitant amounts I have mentioned.
We have not demonstrated sufficiently our resolve to make Sita work for us. One year after its creation, only two departments, Safety and Security and Defence, participate in the affairs of Sita, while other departments and provincial governments are going on as if Sita did not exist. It is clear that the time has come for the Government to revisit the State Information Technology Agency Act to demonstrate the Government’s commitment to the ideals for which Sita was created. A delay will, no doubt, be costly.
To make Sita work, I suggest that we transfer immediately the Chief Directorate: Centre for Applied Government Financial Management under the Branch: Office of the Accountant-General in the Department of State Expenditure, because it deals with that part of the department’s mission that aims to develop, implement and maintain an acceptable accounting and reporting system, and comprises the following directorates: Financial Software Support I, Financial Software Support II and Financial Software Support III. This would enable Sita to appoint its own directorate, as is the case with similar Schedule 2 entities. External auditors can be appointed by companies such as Sita, provided this is done in agreement with the Auditor-General. This would be preferable as it would ensure that Sita is audited as a (Pty) Ltd company.
However, as the State Information Technology Agency Act is specific in terms of auditing, it would override the Public Finance Management Act in this respect. Therefore, in order to remedy this, the Act would have to be amended in order to conform with the Public Finance Management Act, which has just been promulgated. A possibility, however, exists that as the Public Finance Management Act was not promulgated at the time the State Information Technology Agency Act was passed, the state law advisers may feel that a regulation is possible to bring it in line with the Public Finance Management Act.
I feel that we in this Parliament must begin to force Government departments to be incorporated into Sita’s activities. There seems to be a reluctance by state departments to integrate their IT functions with Sita. The question is: Why? This could be for the following reasons: firstly, a case of waiting to see whether Sita will survive and deliver what it is supposed to deliver; secondly, not trusting another entity with noncore business activities, namely Government information technology management; thirdly, circumventing integration by going into long-term contracts with private vendors that Sita may not wish to take over; and, fourthly, a lack of clearly defined Government priorities for integration based upon the business requirements of the Government.
Now I wish to address the restrictive nature of Sita. Concerning the restrictive nature of the State Information Technology Agency Act, the amendments to the Act, Act No 88 of 1998, are required to address the way that that Act was written. Making certain changes will enhance the ability of Sita to operate in the way it was intended to operate and to provide solutions to Government which are aligned with the recommendations contained in the Presidential Review Report.
In conclusion, the existence of this Government relies on the effective and efficient Public Service delivery. Sita is here to deliver. Do members know what Sita is proposing? Sita states that in rural areas there are schools and police stations with electricity and all the facilities, yet there are mjondolos [shacks] 20 km away that have no water and electricity. Sita will prevent that by putting cables in those areas.
So I urge this House to begin to argue that all Government departments must join Sita. The Government has the capacity to steer all departments to work with Sita. The existence of this Government relies on effective and efficient Public Service delivery. Sita is the information technology vehicle which we created to facilitate the concept of Batho Pele. Sita is asking for an honest chance to make information technology work for South Africa. Therefore, the issues limiting Sita to operate as it should must be removed immediately to make both Sita and the Government work.
I wish to end by saying that we ask the DP … While we were visiting provinces last week, we got into the KwaZulu-Natal parliament.
The SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, your time has expired.
Mr M R SIKAKANE: Madam Speaker, I was going to tell members a very interesting story. [Interjections.] Because they are all the same. Everywhere, they are the same. [Interjections.]
The SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, you may tell your story after the session. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Madam Speaker, I would like to start out by just re-emphasising one or two issues, I think, especially for the benefit of those members who participated in this debate and clearly responded as though certain issues were never raised.
We have stated upfront, as a Government, repeatedly, whether through the state of the nation address or in interventions by Ministers, that we are involved in the critical process of transforming the Public Service, improving productivity, reviewing the skills level that is there in Government, looking at the current structure of the Public Service, reviewing current organisations and working towards ensuring that we have a Public Service that will indeed take forward what was raised in the Freedom Charter, ie that ``the people shall govern’’. The governance of the people comes also through ensuring that there is accessibility to services and that there are good quality services.
Hence, as a key issue, we do need to address performance in the Public Service in order to ensure that we address the motivation of public servants. I would like to thank those members who participated in this debate, who were clearly informed and who took care to go into the detail of issues and came out by sharing details that were quite critical for the public. They deliberately did not look at using this House to mislead the public.
There are, however, certain members, such as the hon Grobler, who made a late discovery about the human race. It is like him to discover this evident fact so late in the day. Hence, he now wakes up and wants to equate the Government and what the Government is doing in terms of redressing issues with the apartheid government’s institutionalisation of racial discrimination, which did this in a way that was clearly intended to create divisions and have partisan service delivery.
The idea that the Government is now left with deadwood is a spiteful and unwarranted attack by hon Grobler on the many civil servants who do their work. We want to state that there is a need for us to be careful that we do not paint all public servants with the same brush. We must acknowledge that the programmes we have referred to are at different degrees of development, but they are indeed going forward. We are looking at developing sustainable solutions to the transformation project, and anyone who knows anything about Public Service reform will tell you that if it is to be done on a sustainable basis, it cannot be done in one day and will not be done in two years either.
Clear progress has been made and is being measured as we go along, and I would hence call on members to rise above their less noble instincts when discussing issues of such importance. I also want to go further by saying that the hon Grobler has a colleague, the hon Da Camara, who came to the front here and clearly, as he stood here acted in line with what Brecht raised when he spoke about the parade of the old new, saying:
Roundabout stood such as inspired terror, shouting: ``Here comes the new. It is all new. Salute the new. Be new like us!’’ And those who heard, heard nothing but their shouts, but those who saw, saw such as were not shouting.
I think we should distinguish between coming here, spewing and and walking out, and then coming back and hoping that one will get limited kudos when one comes in much later, but not caring one bit about the broader issues being raised by other members in the House. [Interjections.] I think we should be careful about wanting to be heard and shouting. [Interjections.] If hon members stop shouting they will hear, but they must listen carefully too.
I want to go forward and say: Let us look at what has been raised as issues that are being and will be dealt with. [Interjections.] We have said that all irregularities are being investigated, and those that are recent will be investigated by bodies such as the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission is doing an extensive audit in Mpumalanga at this point in time, amongst other things, on the qualifications of managers. We have - and I raised this earlier, but again it was about shouting and not listening - indicated that we are in discussions with the Department of Labour regarding the review of certain requirements for some of the sectors in which service delivery requires and compels different approaches. This is being looked at.
The Department of the Public Service and Administration will continue to regulate the standards and norms of the Public Service, and we will continue this into the future. I do want to say that it is not costly to dismiss corrupt officials. What is missing - and I raised this earlier, but members do not want to listen - is a degree of enforcement of existing regulations by managers and heads of department. We are enforcing this throughout the Public Service.
I want to go on to what Mr Van Jaarsveld said and say that he raised a number of welcome issues. I think he raised them appropriately because he is, indeed, constructive. He is not like that hon member who thinks his job is to come and spit here. This is not what this Parliament is about.
The Public Service Commission has developed a framework for the evaluation of heads of department. This has been circulated in Government departments. We await comments from all executing authorities in order to implement it. It will be implemented in this financial year, 2000-01, in which we will evaluate performance within the context of institution-building, which is quite critical.
In closing I want to emphasise a certain area of work that I could not focus on in my opening input, namely the strengthening of institutional performance. Over the past six months we have supported the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Northern Province in finalising their management plans and in clearly identifying areas in which they require further support. Following a request for additional support, we launched an integrated provincial support programme and committed R25 million to support programmes aimed at enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in these provinces.
The programme focuses on supporting key departments in these provinces and it is being extended to Mpumalanga, the Free State and the northern provinces. In a collaborative effort at national Government level, we are busy conducting management audits of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Departments of Public Works, of Justice, and of Home Affairs. We have completed the audit of the Department of Correctional Services and, at the moment, partnership programmes are also under way to support the Department of Welfare in strengthening its management systems.
In total we have committed over R70 million through donor funding to the re- engineering of programmes with the identified departments. These collaborative programmes reflect our commitment to working with departments in finding solutions to the challenges facing us. This is not about us just lamenting the difficulties and pinpointing them, but about actually putting in place programmes that will ensure effective and sustainable solutions to problems in Government.
As we continue this work we are constantly reminded that it will take longer to change systems that were put in place over decades and which were aimed at delivering services to selected communities and to certain population groups at the expense of the majority. We know that as we go into rural communities, service delivery is being rolled out, but that it needs to be improved upon to a large degree. Once again I would like to say that we need to commend those hard-working and patriotic public servants who are rolling out services on a daily basis, who have ensured that services are extended to areas that were previously underserviced and unserviced. We also want to commend those who have the steel and temerity to take on the challenges in the Public Service and to expose problems, but with a clear focus on turning them around.
What we do need to view with deep regret, is those of us in this House who come here and simply shout, seeking to score points by focusing on the negative, without looking at what they must do constructively to ensure that we monitor what is happening in order to improve on these actions and to put sustainable programmes in place. [Interjections.] This is the lot who dance like cats on a hot roof. This is the lot who have always been there, who looked at what was there in the past, but made muted noises in terms of changing things. What we are definitely going to ensure is that transformation takes place, that it will be sustainable and that it will be done in a manner that those who need to be part of the army leading such transformation will be part of it.
I would like to thank all those who came out in support of the Vote. Again, I would like to thank members of the management team, who are with me here today, for taking forward their hard work diligently, in spite of all obstacles. I know that I did not mention Mr Sello Rasethaba earlier, who is the chairperson of the State Information Technology Agency. However, he has heard the expectations from Parliament, as well as the commendations for the work that has been done. I would like to say to the team that it has done a fair amount of work, but nangomso [tomorrow] is important. We need to look at tomorrow.
At this point, I would also like to use this opportunity to thank Dr Gonda Perez for the period of time which she has worked with me, first in Welfare and now in Public Service and Administration. She is taking leave to go to the University of Cape Town. Indeed, coming with the kind of commitment that she has had over a number of years, I can see her just adding to the transformation project that she will be working on at the University of Cape Town. Good luck to her for her future work. Once again, I would like to thank hon members for their participation in this debate. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
SADC PARLIAMENTARY FORUM
(Announcement) The SPEAKER: Order! Hon members, I would like to inform the House that the Deputy President will be opening the SADC Parliamentary Forum workshop at 09:30 on Monday, 17 April, in the Old Assembly Chamber. That will be an open meeting.
The House adjourned at 17:17. ____
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:
- The Speaker and the Chairperson:
(1) The following Bill was presented to the National Assembly by the
Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government on 13 April
2000:
(i) Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Second Amendment
Bill [B 23 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76(1)).
For further information on the Bill, see under the heading
"COMMITTEE REPORTS" of the "Announcements, Tablings and Committee
Reports" of today, 13 April.
TABLINGS:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:
Papers:
- The Speaker and the Chairperson:
Draft Code of Ethics for Members of the Cabinet and Members of
Executive Councils as submitted by the Committee of Ministers convened
by the Minister of Education, Prof A K Asmal.
The copies have been made available to members.
- The Minister of Finance:
1. Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa regarding the
establishment of the Swedish South African Business Partnership
Fund, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
2. Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa regarding the
establishment of a Rapid Response Fund (RRF), tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
3. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Department
of Trade and Industry Policy Support Programme, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
4. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning SADC
Regional Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) of Fishing
Activities Programme, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
5. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Technology
Support for SMMEs Pilot Programme, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
6. Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa on Support for the
Establishment of a Furniture Technology Centre in George, South
Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
7. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
Participation by South Africa in the SADC Regional Food Security
Training Programme, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
8. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support for
the SADC Finance and Investment Protocol (FISCU), tabled in terms
of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
9. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Trade and
Investment Development Programme for Small, Medium and Micro
Enterprises, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry and the
Select Committee on Economic Affairs.
10. Arrangement between the Government of the Republic of South
Africa and the Minister for Development Co-operation of the
Netherlands on Sectoral Budget Support, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
11. Arrangement between the Government of the Republic of South
Africa and the Minister for Development Co-operation of the
Netherlands on Sectoral Budget Support 1999, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
12. Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the
Republic of South Africa concerning the Support for Economic
Reform Grant, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
13. Financial Protocol between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the Government of the Republic of France, tabled
in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
14. Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of
South Africa on the Customs Transformation Project, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
15. Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the Government of Sweden regarding the
establishment of a Bridging Fund, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
16. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Conference,
Workshop and Cultural Initiatives (CWCI) Fund, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
17. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Technical
Assistance Team (TAT) to support Planning, Implementation and
Monitoring of RDP Projects, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
the Constitution, 1996.
18. Amendment to Arrangement on Development Co-operation between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
Australia, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
19. Addendum Number One to Framework Agreement between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Nordic
Investment Bank, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
20. Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark and
the Government of the Republic of South Africa regarding the
Danish Assistance Programme to South Africa, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
21. Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Technical Assistance Consultancy Programme, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
22. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Financial
Management Improvement Programme (FMIP), tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
23. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway concerning the
Promotion of the Reconstruction and Development Programme of the
Republic of South Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
24. Framework Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the European Investment Bank for Financial Co-
operation, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
25. Framework Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the European Investment Bank for Financial Co-
operation , tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
26. Framework Agreement between for Financial Co-operation between
the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
Investment Bank, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
27. Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the Government of
the United States of America acting through the United States
Agency for International Development and the Government of the
Republic of South Africa for the Support for Economic Growth and
Analysis and Mandela Economics Scholars Program, tabled in terms
of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
28. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Support for
Economic Growth and Analysis and Mandela Economics Scholars
Program, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Select Committee
on Finance.
29. Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa on Support to
Comprehensive Urban Planning Project in King William's Town, 1
June 1999 to 30 June 2001, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
the Constitution, 1996.
30. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Cato Manor
Development Programme, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
31. Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa on Support to Local
Economic Development in Port Elizabeth, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
32. Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Support to the
Provincial Administration of the Eastern Cape for the period 1
July 1998 to 30 September 1999, tabled in terms of section 231(3)
of the Constitution, 1996.
33. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
Strengthening Local Governments in Mpumalanga and Northern
Province, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
34. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Community
Projects Fund(CPF) Support Programme in the Free State, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
35. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Local
Governance Support Program, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government
and the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration.
36. Memorandum of Understanding on Development Co-operation between
the Government of the Republic of Italy and the Government of the
Republic of South Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
37. Agreement regulating Technical Assistance between the Government
of Italy and the Government of the Republic of South Africa,
tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Health, the Portfolio Committee
on Education and the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry. Also
referred to the Select Committee on Social Services, the Select
Committee on Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on
Economic Affairs.
38. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Young
Doctors for South Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
39. Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Young Doctors for South Africa, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
40. Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on
Development Co-operation in the Health Sector in the Eastern Cape,
tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
41. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning 2000 Public
Health Sector Support Programme (PHSSP), tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
42. Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Public Health Sector Support Programme, tabled in terms
of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
43. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Public
Health Sectoral Support Programme (PHSSP), tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
44. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
America acting through the United States Agency for International
Development for the Equity in Integrated Primary Health Care
Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
45. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
America acting through the United States Agency for International
Development for the Equity in Integrated Primary Health Care
Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
46. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
America acting through the United States Agency for International
Development for the Equity in Integrated Primary Health Care
Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Health and the Select Committee
on Social Services.
47. Specific Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of
Denmark and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
regarding the establishment of an Environmental Rapid Response
Facility, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and
Tourism, the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry and the
Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy. Also referred to the Select
Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs and the Select Committee on
Economic Affairs.
48. Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the Government of
the Republic of South Africa on Development Co-operation for the
period 1 January 1999 - 31 December 2001, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Education, the Portfolio
Committee on Housing and the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture,
Science and Technology. Also referred to the Select Committee on
Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on Public Services.
49. Agreement between the Government of Switzerland and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support to
the Bloemdal Block 23 South Project in Port Elizabeth, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Portfolio
Committee on Housing. Also referred to the Select Committee on Finance
and the Select Committee on Public Services.
50. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support to
the National Development Agency (NDA), tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Welfare and Population
Development and the Select Committee on Social Services.
51. Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Education Support to
the Department of Education in the Northern Cape, tabled in terms
of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
52. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning South
African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
53. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning EU -
Education Sectoral Support Programme (ESSP), tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
54. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Technical
Support to the South African Department of Education, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
55. Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Technical Support to the South African Department of
Education, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
56. Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Education Sector
Support to the National Department of Education, tabled in terms
of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
57. Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the Government of
the United States of America acting through the United States
Agency for International Development and the Government of the
Republic of South Africa for the Support to Tertiary Education
Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
58. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Tertiary
Education Linkages Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
the Constitution, 1996.
59. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Tertiary
Education Linkages Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
the Constitution, 1996.
60. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Four between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Tertiary
Education Linkages Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
the Constitution, 1996.
61. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
the United States of America acting through the United States
Agency for International Development for the Primary Education
Results Package (formerly the South African Basic Education
Reconstruction Project), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
62. Grant Agreement Amendment Number Four between the Government of
the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United
States of America acting through the United States Agency for
International Development for the Primary Education Results
Package (formerly the South African Basic Education Reconstruction
Project), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Select
Committee on Education and Recreation.
63. Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Support to the Office
on the Status of Disabled Persons, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of
Life and Status of Children, Youth and Disabled Persons.
64. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Public
Service Management Development Programme, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
65. Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Public Service Management Development Programme, tabled
in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and
Administration and the Select Committee on Local Government and
Administration.
66. Grant Agreement between the Government of the United States of
America acting through the United States Agency for International
Development and the Government of the Republic of South Africa for
the South African Global Climate Change Support Program under the
Environmentally Sustainable Housing and Urban Development Program,
tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
67. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the South African
Global Climate Change Support Program under the Environmentally
Sustainable Housing and Urban Development Program, tabled in terms
of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
68. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support to
the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative Pilot Programme,
tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and
Tourism and the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.
69. Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the Government of
the United States of America acting through the United States
Agency for International Development and the Government of the
Republic of South Africa to provide support to the Office for
Public Enterprises, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises and the
Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises.
70. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Administration
of Justice Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
71. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Four between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
the United States of America acting through the United States
Agency for International Development for the Administration of
Justice Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
72. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Administration
of Justice Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
Development and the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional
Affairs.
73. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Municipal
Infrastructure Investment Framework (MIIF) Program, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
74. Grant Agreement between the Government of the United States of
America acting through the United States Agency for International
Development and the Government of the Republic of South Africa for
the Local Governance Support Program, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
75. Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa on Human Resource and
Financial Management Co-operation Programme from October 1999 to
December 2002, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government
and the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration.
76. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Institutional
Development Project (IDP) under the Shelter and Urban Development
Support Project ("SUDS"), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
77. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Institutional
Development Project (IDP) under the Shelter and Urban Development
Support Project ("SUDS"), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
78. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Shelter Access
Facilitation Programme under the Shelter and Urban Development
Support Project ("SUDS"), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
79. Exchange of Letters between the Government of the People's
Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of South
Africa regarding a grant for Low-cost Housing Project in Edenvale
and Modderfontein, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
80. Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the Government of
the Republic of South Africa concerning Development Co-operation
in the Field of Urban Development and Housing, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Housing and the Select Committee
on Public Services.
81. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
the United States of America acting through the United States
Agency for International Development for Assistance with the
Restructuring of State Assets, tabled in terms of section 231(3)
of the Constitution, 1996.
82. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
Institutional Strengthening of Public Works, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and the Select
Committee on Public Services.
83. Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
Government of the United States of America acting through the
United States Agency for International Development and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Institutional
Development Program under the Shelter and Urban Development
Support Project (SUDS) and Environmentally Sustainable Housing and
Urban Development Project (ESHUD), tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
84. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Sector
Support Programme for Community Water Supply and Sanitation in the
Northern Province, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
85. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Community
Water Supply and Sanitation Programme, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
86. Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Sector Support Programme for Community Water Supply and
Sanitation (SSPCWSS), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry and
the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.
87. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
and the People's Republic of China regarding Integrated Fish
Farming Technology Training Course, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
88. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Reinforcing
the participation of South Africa in Maize and Wheat Improvement
Research Network (MWIRNET), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
the Constitution, 1996.
89. Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Grand Duchy of
Luxenbourg and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on
Development Co-operation in the Agricultural Education Sector in
the Eastern Cape, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
90. Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Land Reform Pilot Programme, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs and
the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.
91. Agreement between the Government of Spain and the Government of
the Republic of South Africa on Grant Assistance for Building a
Primary School in the Free State Province, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Portfolio
Committee on Public Works. Also referred to the Select Committee on
Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on Public Services.
92. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark concerning the
Promotion of the Reconstruction and Development Programme of South
Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
93. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the
Kingdom of Denmark and the Government of the Republic of South
Africa for the period 1999 to 2001, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, the
Portfolio Committee on Education, the Portfolio Committee on
Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the Portfolio Committee on
Agriculture and Land Affairs and the Portfolio Committee on Safety and
Security. Also referred to the Select Committee on Economic Affairs,
the Select Committee on Education and Recreation, the Select Committee
on Land and Environmental Affairs and the Select Committee on Security
and Constitutional Affairs.
94. Exchange of Notes between the Government of the Republic of
South Africa and the Government of Ireland regarding Technical
Assistance, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
Development, the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Portfolio
Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry. Also referred to the Select
Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs, the Select Committee
on Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on Land and
Environmental Affairs.
95. Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the Government of
the Republic of South African on General Terms and Conditions for
Development Co-operation, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Select
Committee on Economic Affairs.
96. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning EPRD
Information and Communication Programme, tabled in terms of
section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Communications and the Select
Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises.
97. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Labour
Market Skills Development Programme, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Labour and the Select Committee
on Labour and Public Enterprises.
98. Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Non-Grid
Electrification of Rural Schools, tabled in terms of section
231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
99. Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the European
Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
concerning Non-Grid Electrification of Rural Schools, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy and the
Select Committee on Economic Affairs.
100.Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Assistance
to Policing in the Eastern Cape, tabled in terms of section 231(3)
of the Constitution, 1996.
101.Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
Institutional Development Cooperation between the South African
Police Service and the Swedish National Police Board, tabled in
terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security and the
Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs.
- The Minister for the Public Service and Administration:
Review Report of the Department of Public Service and Administration
for 1999-2000.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
National Assembly:
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Report of the Portfolio Committee on Transport on the Road Accident Fund Commission Amendment Bill [B 12 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 12 April 2000:
The Portfolio Committee on Transport, having considered the subject of the Road Accident Fund Commission Amendment Bill [B 12
- 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the JTM as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill without amendment.
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Report of the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government on the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Amendment Bill [B 11 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76), dated 11 April 2000:
The Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government reports as follows:
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The Committee initially considered the subject of the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Amendment Bill [B 11 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76), and recommended in its Report thereon that certain Clauses be omitted in order to fast-track Clauses 2 and 4 of that Bill, and that the Committee be granted permission to present the rejected Clauses in a separate Bill.
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That Report was adopted by the House on 9 March 2000 (see also Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports, p 167), and the Committee accordingly presents the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Second Amendment Bill [B 23 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76), which contains the said rejected Clauses without amendment.
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