South African Management and Development Institute (SAMDI): progress report

Meeting report

PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
29 January 2004
SOUTH AFRICAN MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (SAMDI): PROGRESS REPORT

Chairperson: Mr Gomomo (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Presentation by SAMDI

SAMDI website

SUMMARY
The Director General of SAMDI appeared before the committee to brief them on the current situation in the department. SAMDI has had financial and capacity problems. The new director general took over in May last year and promised full commitment to solve the situation. The meeting was aimed at informing the Committee and facilitating co-operation between them.

MINUTES
SAMDI presentation
Mr Bobby Soobrayan (Director General) and Ms Masutha (Chief Executive Manager: Change Management & Leadership Development) represented SAMDI.

Mr Soobrayan presented the 2002/3 Annual Report and informed the Committee of what had happened since. He also spoke about the Auditor-General's report on SAMDI which audited SAMDI with a disclaimer, which is the worst possible rating given by the Auditor General. On the job for just over six months, Mr Soobrayan promised full commitment to solve the situation and a clean sweep. The current problems and challenges that SAMDI face are outlined in the presentation. He added that they are working very hard - to the extent that some of his colleagues are ill from work-related stress.

Discussion
Mr Sikakane (ANC) asked Mr Soobrayan to elaborate on his comments on outside service providers.

Ms Mentor (ANC) enquired whether the Director General was satisfied with SAMDI's human resources as at the moment.

Dr Roopnarain (IFP) enquired whether SAMDI's financial position impacts on their operations currently.

Mr Mohlala (ANC) commented that because of the fresh change and the clean sweep since Mr Soobrayan arrived, he was not surprised that five senior managers had resigned from SAMDI. He did caution that one should not revel in colleagues having work-related stress.

Mr Abrahams (ANC) thanked the DG for his frankness. He stressed that South Africa has stringent safeguards against mismanagement as in the Public Finance Management Act. The problems in SAMDI have been festering over a long period. Why were they not detected and addressed? How can such problems be detected earlier?

Mr Baloyi (ANC) asked about SAMDI's action plan. He insisted it should be time-bound so this committee could know what happens and when.

Mr Soobrayan replied that he appreciated the input by members. He emphasised that he is not revelling in his workers being under stress. It is an indication that they are working very hard to solve SAMDI's problems which are of tremendous concern. He added that SAMDI has no option but to deliver. Regarding their human resources, he explained that they are now giving all SAMDI employees a one year contract. After that year, full time appointments will be made that will be performance-driven. He is committed to getting rid of all free riders in the department.

Mr Soobrayan explained that he was only appointed in May last year and therefore started in the middle of the 2002/3 financial year and therefore had inherited the problems. He added that before he started the job he had looked at all presentations made by SAMDI to parliament thanks to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group's good work. On outside service providers, he said that they often take the government for a ride and overcharge them. He emphasised that sometimes you have to use outside providers but that it is imperative that government is able to do it themselves as far as possible.

He lamented the financial situation in SAMDI. He explained that his finance people had thought a disclaimer on the Auditor-General's report was a good thing although it is the worst possible. A situation like that is unacceptable. They are working hard to sort it out as stated in their strategic plan. Mismanagement has done a lot of damage to SAMDI's name. Part of the problem is that they had no Director General for a while and nobody took responsibility.

Mr Soobrayan assured the Committee that their action plan is time-bound and added that it might be a good idea for SAMDI to do a presentation on their plan and its results.

Mr Kgwele (ANC) asked about learnerships in SAMDI. He also enquired about partnerships with universities.

Mr Van Jaarsveld (NNP) commented that SAMDI's track record the last couple of years leaves him with an uneasy feeling and urged the Director General to act swiftly. He wondered how SAMDI can teach other government departments how to manage themselves when they cannot run their own department. The Committee should assist the Director General in whatever way they can as its oversight body.

Mr Soobrayan thanked the Committee for their support. He also clarified that they have done an in-depth risk assessment for their action plan. He stressed the importance of getting SAMDI on its feet for the role it has to support other government departments in terms of leadership development. On learnerships, he explained that they have established a program through which they will identify candidates for learnerships. He acknowledged that they have a lot of work to do and added that this committee's support would be invaluable.

The Chair thanked the department for their presentation and said that he was looking forward to a more positive presentation next time. The meeting was adjourned.