Hon Speaker, in order to monitor the implementation of the President's pronouncement in the state of the nation address, the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation used an average unit cost calculation to derive the number of funded vacancies, based on unspent personnel budgets at the end of the financial year. The calculations done by the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation showed that there were approximately 9 000 funded vacant posts in the national departments at the end of March this year. Thus, the average rate of vacant funded posts was 2,6% by the end of the first quarter of 2011. This is encouraging, considering that for the same period last year the rate was close to 4%.
Furthermore, based on average unit cost calculations, the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation estimated that there were less than 1% of the total number of funded posts at the provincial level at the end of March 2011.
However, the hon member should note that behind these averages lie some worrying variations which need to be addressed. There are also economy-wide challenges that affect the government's ability to fill the funded vacant posts. Among the key challenges experienced, the departments have cited the difficulty of convening selection committees, particularly for posts at top management level, which often leads to lengthy selection processes. They have also indicated that some of the posts involving critical skills such as financial management and engineering often have to be readvertised, which points to difficulties in attracting qualified candidates.
Going forward, the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation and the Department of Public Service and Administration have assured Cabinet that they will continue to monitor the situation closely and, where possible, recommend measures that the departments can employ to speed up the processes. In addition, Government continues to prioritise developing critical skills through targeted training programmes. I thank you for your attention.
Mr Speaker, I thank the hon Deputy President for his detailed response. Whilst I agree that the internship programme in the Public Service has a specific function, for the sake of aligning this programme with the human capital needs of the respective departments, is it not feasible for it to be linked to the future filling of vacant funded posts? I thank you.
Hon member, I agree that it is possible. Thank you.
Mr Speaker, I thank the Deputy President for his response. Whilst it is encouraging that only 2,6% of posts have not been filled, what is of concern is that when those posts are filled, the personnel must be fit for purpose. The Auditor-General's report on infrastructure development has revealed that some projects, from planning to completion, can take up to 13 years. One of the reasons for that is a lack of capacity and qualified staff. That is the first part.
The second thing is that in a briefing by the Department of Basic Education a few days ago we were told that senior posts had not been filled because it had not been possible to constitute interviewing committees made up of Ministers. It seems Ministers were not available to constitute committees to interview people for these posts and this is why the posts were not filled. This is a serious concern, Mr Deputy President, and we hope that something will be done either to relook at the policy on Deputy Ministers being able to constitute interviewing committees or to get the Ministers to sit on these interviewing committees. Thank you.
Thank you very much, hon Singh. Indeed, that is exactly what I alluded to in my response to Mr Ntuli's question. We need to get the Ministers, and Deputy Ministers where Deputy Ministers are required. It is a convention in Cabinet that where a director-general is to be interviewed, the presence of two Ministers and a director-general from other departments is essential. So, co-ordination is required to get all of them together to arrange a time to conduct the interviews. We must ensure that this happens without resulting in such shortfalls. I agree with you that all we have to do is to ensure that it happens. Thank you.
Thank you, Speaker and hon Deputy President. Following your response I just want to get clarity on the 2,6% of vacant posts. When you interact with the departments and see the reports, you actually see a different picture from the 2,6% in vacant posts that you referred to. You see more than that percentage. I just wanted to clarify that point.
Secondly, has any evaluation been done with respect to the bloated wage bill in this economic climate? We already have 40% of the GDP being used for this expenditure. Will more posts mean that there will be less money available for other expenditure? Are we not going back to the voluntary severance packages, VSPs, that we had before - where government had to drive a programme of reduction of personnel - because the wage bill is increasing? If so, what is the response of the government to that?
Thank you very much, hon member. Indeed all of the Cabinet, led by the National Treasury, keep an eye on the percentage of the wage bill in the overall budget of government. Everything possible is done to ensure that we attract the correct skills and people are placed in accordance with their strengths so as to ensure that we do not end up with a bloated staff complement, and therefore a ballooning wage bill. The Treasury is hawk-eyed when it comes to that. They really do keep an eye on that, and where temptation gets the better of any Minister in regard to personnel, the Treasury is always there to ensure that we keep to the approved organogramme of each department. Thank you.
Thank you, Speaker. Deputy President, Chapter 13 of the National Development Plan of November 2011 suggests that the Public Service be professionalised in order to become efficient, effective and development-orientated, which is Outcome 12 of the Delivery Agreement. In order to attain that goal, qualified officials will have to be appointed on merit to vacant posts. What steps are being taken to make certain that the Minister for the Public Service and Administration will force departments to make such quality appointments? Thank you.
Thank you, hon member. The Minister for the Public Service and Administration, together with colleagues in the Cabinet, has to present the decisions to employ senior managers at least, and this is approved by the Cabinet. There is a thoroughgoing process of interviews, including checking and verifying qualifications. The responsibility to appoint the lower personnel in the departments is normally that of the accounting officers. Of course, the sentiment expressed in Chapter 13 of the National Development Plan resonates with the approach of the Cabinet. Thank you.
Government's role in dealing with challenges relating to South and Southern African economies
15. Mr D D van Rooyen (ANC) asked the Deputy President:
What role will the Government play in the short- and long-term measures that are necessary to deal with the challenge of (a) slowing international economic growth and (b) the (i) implications and (ii) impact of the eurozone debt crisis with regard to the South and the Southern African economies?