Underqualified cadres who are parachuted to state cushy jobs will soon be stopped in their tracks.
This is if the sweeping reforms currently under deliberation in the Department of Public Service and Administration see the light of day.
According to the department, the move is part of a broader scope to professionalise the public sector and ensure that properly qualified personnel with the required skills and competencies are appointed in junior and strategic positions.
The plan is under the banner of the Implementation of the National Framework Towards Professionalising of the Public Sector.
Jan de Villiers, the portfolio committee on public service and administration, said under the 7th administration, the primary focus will be to ensure oversight over the implementation of the proposed changes.
“The focus is about building a capable, ethical and developmental state to ensure that government plays a critical role to drive the development agenda,” said De Villiers.
According to De Villiers, among other thematic issues that the committee will push include the Public Service Commission Bill, building an ethical public service and addressing the backlog of disciplinary cases in the public service.
“A critical part of this plan involves professionalising the public sector, eliminating cadre deployment and shielding institutions from political interference to restore competence and public trust,” he said.
The framework also prioritises merit-based recruitment and improved performance management systems. It includes competency assessments and integrity tests are now applied across the public sector.
“Key pieces of legislation have also been amended to support this, including amending the Public Service Act to provide for devolving powers of human resources from the executive to the accounting officers.
“The Public Service Commission (PSC) has developed a database of a pool of technical experts that executive authorities must use during recruitment and selection processes of the Director-Generals and the Deputy Directors-General in the public sector,” De Villiers further stated.
The committee also resolved to take an oversight visit to North West and Gauteng towards the end of March this year. The purpose of the oversight is to assess the state of public administration, with the focus on overseeing the human resource management practices or services of all government departments in many areas related to the committee’s mandate.
