MINISTRY: PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 3389.
Mr A P van der Westhuizen (DA) to ask the Minister of Public Service and
Administration:
What has he done to expedite the filling of the post of the chairperson for
the Public Service Commission that has been vacant for 10 months?
NW4048E
REPLY
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent constitutional body
established in terms of Section 196 of the Constitution of the Republic of
South Africa, 1996. It comprises 14 Commissioners appointed by the
President of which five (5) are approved by the National Assembly and nine
(9) are nominated by each of the Premiers of the respective province.
Section 4(1) and (2) of the Public Service Commission Act, 1997 states
that:
â(1) Whenever the President is required to appoint a commissioner who has
been approved by the National Assembly, the President shall address a
request in writing to the Speaker of the National Assembly that a fit and
proper person contemplated in section 196(10) of the Constitution be
approved of as soon as may be practicable by the National Assembly in
accordance with section 196(8)(a) of the said Actâ, and
â(2) Whenever the President is required to appoint a commissioner who has
been nominated by the Premier of a province, the President shall address a
request in writing to the premier of that province that a fit and proper
person contemplated in section 196(10) of the Constitution be nominated as
soon as may be practicable by that Premier in accordance with section
196(8)(b)â,
In terms of Section 5(1) of the Public Service Commission Act, 1997, âthe
President shall designate one commissioner as chairperson and another as
deputy chairperson of the Commissionâ.
Therefore, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission is not a direct
appointment as the vacancy does not get advertised but the chairperson is
drawn from amongst Commissioners within the employ of the Public Service
Commission. It is the prerogative of the President to designate one
Commissioner as the chairperson and another as a deputy chairperson of the
Public Service Commission.
The President is waiting for the filling of the vacant post at national
level of which the National Assembly of Parliament is in a process of
identifying the candidate for nomination and recommendation to fill this
vacant post.