. The Department's vacancy rate, which was reduced to 11 per cent in the 2010/11 financial year, has increased to 13.4 per cent by the end of the fourth quarter in the 2011/12 financial year. The Department's key challenges were loss of key personnel due to an absence of an effective retention strategy and delays in appointments, particularly at Senior Management Service (SMS) level; as well as the inability to fill vacancies within three months as per the President's State of the Nation Address.