People's Assembly

Potgieter, Ms LR question

(1) Whether, with reference to his replies to questions 1849 on 2 December 2024 and 2460 on 2 January 2025, wherein he indicated that the financial cost of suspended employees for the Quarter 1 reporting period, April-June 2024, is R140,379,612.44, and yet in the latter the cumulative cost for suspended employees is recorded as R118,004,977 over a broader five-year period, he will clarify this apparent contradiction in financial reporting; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether, with reference to his reply to question 2460, wherein he stated that the total number of suspended employees at the national level is 345, and yet in the reply to question 1849 he mentions no specific figure for suspended employees within the same reporting framework, he can reconcile the specified differences and provide a consistent and accurate breakdown of the financial and personnel data for suspended employees at both national and provincial levels; if not, what is the position in this regard if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether, with regard his reply to question 2460, wherein reference is made to disciplinary case resolution rates and detailed reports on PERSAL data, and yet on the other hand, his reply to question 1849 highlights the decentralised management of payroll controls and responsibility at the departmental level, he can clarify the oversight role of his department in reconciling and standardising such data across departments; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

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Minister of Public Service and Administration answer
The content utilized to respond to question 1849, was data received for the FOSAD report which comes directly from department and the content for question 2460 was sourced from the PERSAL system. The two methods are informed by the fact that the DPSA has no single system to receive and monitor disciplinary cases in the government sectors. As a result, information from two main databases is used to monitor discipline management in the Public Service. The first set of information is to source and track disciplinary cases directly from departments. This is a manual report mostly submitted in a pdf format that the DPSA consolidates. This information is sent by departments to the DPSA on a quarterly basis and signed off by the respective heads as correct. This data is also utilised to brief the Forum of South African Directors General (FOSAD). However, some departments fail to timeously submit their reports, and such conduct is escalated as non-compliance to the Minister for the Public Service and Administration.
1. The second set of information is that which is captured on the PERSAL system directly by departments. The PERSAL system is a payroll system and is not geared for monitoring discipline management. However, this method assists with accurate calculations on the costs of suspensions and other employment records. Although a lot was done to streamline the capturing of discipline management related data on PERSAL, recording errors still happen and some departments still do not capture information. Other departments wait for their cases to be finalized before capturing their cases on the PERSAL system. By comparing the two systems (over time), a more accurate reflection of cases is obtained.
2. The contradiction again is as indicated above the use of different sources to provide the information.
3. PERSAL was established as a payroll system and not as a case management system. To address this gap, the DPSA is in a process of creating a case management system that will be a live system, with up-to-date information. However, the system will depend on the capturing of data for it to be reliable and accurate.
Please accept our sincere apology for the delay in the response, it was caused by the reconciliation of the two sources of information.

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2025-w190 - 03 March 2025