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6 May 2008

Introduction

In our briefing in February, following the State of the Nation Address I made reference to the President's clarion call for a "Business Unusual approach" to our programme.

To quote from that briefing:

"The question that we need to address is how we change from business as usual to "Business Unusual"?

What this change needs is relentless driving and leadership from our senior managers, from our elected representatives – both those who serve as members of the government and those in the legislatures who hold the machinery of government to account. "Business Unusual" requires extraordinary commitment, dedication and, may I say it, patriotism. We need to move away from the mindset that achievement of seniority in our ranks means we have arrived at a point where we can sit back and let our subordinates carry the burden. We need to lead by inspiration, by innovation and by dedication."

I believe that in the G&A cluster we are seeing that response, that we are moving at a pace that we have not seen before in achieving the priorities of government and our programme of action

The Governance and Administration (G&A) Programme of Action (POA) contains projects identified in the January Cabinet Lekgotla and President Mbeki's State of the Nation Address.  This is the first bi-monthly report on progress in implementation of the POA.  The report covers the Apex projects for which the Cluster is responsible and Cluster priority projects.  A website report outlining progress on each of the Cluster's 44 projects will be published on Government's website today.

Apex Priorities

G&A is responsible for projects 15, 16 and 17.

Project 15 aims to measure the number of vacancies in top posts in government and the proportion of senior managers who have concluded performance agreements.  Occupancy rates for heads of department in the public service are approximately 88% and municipal managers 82%.  Currently levels of compliance by public service managers, at around 62%, measured on 31 January 2008 (for the year ending 31 March 2008), are unacceptably low. Similarly only 57% of municipal managers have signed agreements, measured at 31 December.  A survey for the new financial year will be conducted during June and results of the survey will be made know to the media.

Project 16 aims to integrate the planning of the three spheres of government and to develop proposals for national long-term planning capacity.  The focus for the integration of planning is the district municipality, and about 25 are currently at different stages in this exercise. Various models are being considered for long-term planning. A comparative study has found that some countries have dedicated planning departments.

Project 17 is the drive to improve Home Affairs civic services.  Good headway has been made as can be seen from key indicators. The turnaround time for the processing of an application for an ID has been reduced from 186 days on average to 103 days. The track and trace system to assist citizens to track progress with the processing of their ID applications by sms has been fully rolled out. A single service provider now delivers and collects IDs, which has improved efficiency and security. A high-tech printer for the e-Passport has been purchased.

An Online Fingerprint Verification Project has been rolled out to 40 offices. Online verification allows temporary ID certificates to be issued on the spot as opposed to the seven-day waiting period previously applicable. Preparations are underway to issue pilot smart ID cards by the end of the year. Changes to the late registration of birth procedures have been effected to reduce fraud and protect the integrity of the national Population Register.

Home Affairs Turnaround Strategy

Phase 1 of the Home Affairs Turnaround Strategy has been completed.  Phase 2, which is a large-scale change programme to improve the citizen experience at Home Affairs offices, is now underway.  Some of the phase 1 achievements regarding internal governance include:

* The previous six audit reports of the Department have been reviewed and all key risk areas have been categorised and prioritised;
* Over 200 officials have been suspended or dismissed for dishonest activities in the last six months;
* A new operating model for the Department was determined after a customer survey and stakeholder engagement;
* A new organisational structure was designed in line with the operating model;
* Top posts were filled and a budget structure determined; and
* A programme to stabilise the existing operational infrastructure including the network is underway, aimed at developing real time online capability and enhanced security.

Single Public Service

Legislation to establish a Single Public Service by unifying the administration and personnel practices of national, provincial and local government was made available for public comment between 9 and 30 April. A summary of the feedback received will be shared with the media in due course. The draft Bill, called the Public Administration Management Bill, aims to improve service delivery by integrating the institutions that provide services to the public.  The next step for the draft Bill is a consultation at Nedlac.

Improving access to government services

Thusong Centres are a government initiative to bring services closer to the people by providing a one-stop government service centre for citizens. Most of these centres are located in rural areas. They offer services such as ID applications, social grant applications, among other services, and provide information on employment opportunities. Community Development Workers work closely with centre staff to bridge the gap between government and citizens. 127 Centres have been established and are operational throughout all nine provinces. A challenge experienced has been the lack of ICT infrastructure at these Centres. An ICT Blueprint to improve connectivity at the centres has been developed and connectivity will be extended to 50 Centres this year. Space is being secured at Maponya Mall in Soweto for the establishment of an "urban mall" version of the Thusong Centres.

Local Government Strategic Agenda

The Local Government Strategic Agenda was adopted by government in January 2006 following the successful implementation of Project Consolidate from 2004. Both initiatives include the provision of hands-on support to local government, in particular the deployment of technical skills to municipalities. In September 2007, 85 municipalities were receiving assistance and by March this figure had increased to 109, covering almost 40% of municipalities. A programme to give youth the opportunity to work in infrastructure development has also been developed.

IDP Analysis sessions to assist national and provincial sector departments to define their participation in municipal planning processes are being held from 11 April to 16 May.

A comprehensive Local Government Skills Audit is being conducted.  The audit has been undertaken in the first nine municipalities and is continuing in 14 municipalities. A strategy to institutionalise the management competency framework has been developed. The Local Government Anti-corruption Strategy which focuses on policies, advocacy and ethics is being rolled out to 150 municipalities. The number of municipalities implementing the Performance Management System has increased from 27 (9.5%) in 2006 to 105 (37.1%) by the end of March 2008.

By the end of March 2008, a total of 998 officials from 256 municipalities (90%) completed a Batho Pele training course. A successful Imbizo Focus Week was held in the week of the 7-11 April 2008.

Policy Review Process

The dplg is undertaking a review of provincial and local government policy.  A detailed progress report outlining emerging policy options from the first phase was tabled at a meeting of the President's Coordinating Council on 25 April 2008 and will subsequently be discussed at the July 2008 Cabinet Lekgotla.  Hundreds of submissions were received and processed. The research has brought into focus key questions, including: whether there should be legislation for provinces to give effect to their developmental role and to address planning; the need for a re-examination of the role and functions of provinces; whether the two-tier system at a local government level should be retained, reformed or phased out; whether legislation is required for the better management of the assignment of powers and functions; and whether legislation is required for local economic development.

Traditional Leadership

Cabinet has approved the creation of a dedicated government department to implement the National Programme of Support (NPS) for traditional leadership.  The Traditional Courts Bill has been introduced in Parliament.  The Bill provides for traditional leaders and traditional councils to perform functions for the administration of justice subject to the Constitution and other applicable laws. A capacity building programme for traditional leaders is being implemented, focusing on the effectiveness of traditional structures (local, provincial and national houses) and their role in communities. 

Capacity building

SAMDI has initiated an online inter-provincial collaboration forum through its website. The Minimum Anti-Corruption Capacity learning manual has been developed by the SAMDI and is currently undergoing an accreditation process. The Gender Mainstreaming curriculum framework has been completed.  SAMDI has submitted a proposal to the Office on the Status of Disabled People for funding for the revision of the Disability manual. SAMDI launched a Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity Building Programme on 1 April 2008. 

An evaluation of the Accelerated Management Development Programme (ADP) Training has been completed. The ADP is a programme aimed at preparing middle managers to assume senior management positions. Various departments have been identified nor the next intake.

The train-the-trainer programme on the Massified Induction Programme (MIP) being rolled by SAMDI has been completed in all provinces. The MIP aims to train all new recruits to the public service (approximately 100 000 per year).  A total of 304 trainers have successfully completed the eight-day training of trainers programme in the provinces. SAMDI has also trained other departmental trainers in national departments to ensure adequate capacity to provide training.
Project Khaedu aims to expose middle and senior managers to the realities at the coalface of service delivery. To date 2260 managers have attended Khaedu Core Skills week, which prepares them for deployment, and 1250 of these members have completed their deployment week.

Compliance Reports for tabling to Parliament:

The Municipal Performance Report: performance of municipalities against key indicators.
The Disaster Management Report: Inaugural report to Parliament on the implementation of this Act.
Intergovernmental Relations Act: Report on the implementation of the Act will be tabled in Parliament.

Key dates:

Conference on Multilingualism and Capacity Building – 4-6 June 2008. 

National Anti-corruption Summit – 4-5 August 2008

Outcome indicators

Research was conducted by the Cluster in response to Cabinet's request that Clusters also reflect on the outcomes and impact of the implementation of the Programme of Action.  Some of the key findings for Governance indicators are listed below.

Representivity

People with disabilities constitute less than 0.2% of the total number of employees in the Public Service. In 2002 people with disabilities comprised 0.11% of the Public Service and they have increased marginally between 2002 and 2007. The figure currently stands at 0.17%. At the rate in which government employs people with disabilities, it appears as if the target of 2% will not be achieved by March 2010.

There has been a positive trend regarding employment of women within the senior management service, which increased from 8% in 1995 to 33% in 2007 as indicated by the graph below. This remains well below the target of 50%, which must be met by March 2009.

Transparency

In order to improve transparency within government all senior managers are compelled on an annual basis to disclose their financial interests in order to manage conflicts of interest within management. The graph below clearly indicates that there is a high level of compliance in this regard.  However, nothing short of 100% is satisfactory.

Retaining skills

The following graph indicates the distribution of Public Servants by years of experience in the Public Service.  There is a significant decline in employees who have been employed for 6-10 years, indicating that the Public Service has difficulty retaining staff beyond an initial five years of service.  The evidence seems to indicate that within the last ten years people have used the Public Service to obtain experience and then leave for other sectors.  The retention of employees that have more than 10 years of service seems to follow a natural attrition trend.

The graph below indicates that the turnover rate for professionals and managers is significantly higher than the rest of the Public Service.  The turnover rate and research confirm that there are concerns about the ability of the Public Service to retain scarce and critical skills. 

The Occupational Specific Dispensations were introduced in an attempt to improve the Public Service's ability to recruit and retain the appropriate skills in specific occupations. OSDs for nurses, educators and legally qualified personnel have been implemented. OSDs for social workers, office-based educators, and medical personnel and Correctional Services personnel will be implemented this year.

For more information, contact:
Ramona Baijnath
Cell: 082 308 2666

Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
6 May 2008