Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, while we have to focus on the real challenges and whether this budget will deliver the desired outcomes, it is necessary to reflect on the sudden and unexpected passing away of Minister Roy Padayachie.
I worked with the Minister since February. From the first day he made a very good impression on me. He was not only very friendly and accommodating, but I experienced a very sincere and honest approach from him to do whatever was needed to influence a much-desired turnaround in the way that the Public Service is not effectively supporting the competitive position of South Africa as a preferred economic development destination.
While the Public Service is faced with severe and very real problems, the Minister was not prepared to turn a blind eye and only reflect his master's voice. This sentiment is supported by the DA and especially my colleague, the hon Dr Ena van Schalkwyk.
He acknowledged the real problems and challenges, and he acknowledged the contributions from us and from institutions like the Public Service Commission and the National Planning Commission. To his family, loved ones and the Cabinet, please accept my sincere condolences at the unexpected passing away of Minister Padayachie. He will not be forgotten and his legacy will stay with us. God bless him and may his soul rest in peace.
While we do not know who will follow in his footsteps, we want to assure the new, still-to-be-appointed Minister of our support and our robust involvement to ensure a much improved Public Service sector in the future.
Voorsitter, laat ek terugkeer na hierdie begrotingsdebat. Dit is 'n feit dat indien ons ekonomies eksponensiel wil groei en ontwikkel, werk wil skep en Suid-Afrikaners uit die loopgrawe van armoede en mismoedigheid wil lig, Suid-Afrika 'n voorkeurland vir buitelandse beleggings moet wees. Plaaslike en buitelandse ondernemings moet die gemaklikheid, sekerheid en vryheid ervaar waarbinne hulle presies dit kan laat gebeur. Behalwe vir al die ander algemeen aanvaarde vereistes, het ons 'n Staatsdiens nodig wat, onder meer, kundig, eerlik, objektief, voorspelbaar, konsekwent, produktief, diensbaar en lojaal is aan ons nasionale doelwitte. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, let me return to the budget debate. It is a fact that if we want to grow exponentially and develop economically, if we want to create jobs and lift South Africans out of the trenches of poverty and dejection, then South Africa must be a country of choice for foreign investments. Local and foreign enterprises must experience the ease, assurance and freedom in which this can happen. Except for all the other generally accepted requirements, we need a Public Service that is, inter alia, competent, honest, objective, predictable, consistent, productive, subservient and loyal to our national objectives.]
In this budget an amount of R731,5 million is allocated to produce the required outcomes to achieve all of this. It is our task to determine whether this is achievable and whether this will give value for money to the already overburdened taxpayers.
Let us look at what we are faced with. In the Diagnostic Report of the National Planning Commission it is stated, among others, as follows on the state of the Public Service:
The uneven performance of the Public Service results from, among others, the tension in the political administrative interface; instability of the administrative leadership; skills deficit; the erosion of accountability and authority structures; poor organisational design; inappropriate staffing and low staff morale.
Seventeen years after the end of apartheid, the public sector remains chronically unstable.
Too often, initiatives to address this prove to be divisive and destabilising, while doing little to address the underlying issues impeding the public sector performance.
Corruption weakens and undermines the government's legitimacy and ability to deliver services.
According to the Special Investigating Unit, it is estimated that 20% to 25% of the state procurement expenditure, amounting to roughly R30 billion a year, is wasted through overpayment or corruption.
The Public Service Commission gives the reasons for underperformance in the Public Service as follows:
Inadequate leadership; management weakness; inappropriate institutional design; misaligned decision rights, which includes or refers to delegations and accountability; and the absence of a strong performance culture with effective rewards and sanctioning.
It is evident that we have a huge systemic problem of unacceptable low levels of skills, efficiency, professionalism, and especially discipline within the Public Service. How can we therefore expect that domestic and global confidence must increase to support investments, economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation?
Part of the problem in the Public Service sector clearly rests in the unacceptable levels of the ill discipline of staff, which again leads to high levels of corruption and wasteful expenditure.
Voorsitter, in 'n amptelike antwoord op vrae van die DA het die volgende aan die lig gekom: Die gemiddelde tyd wat dit neem om dissiplinre sake af te handel waar dit oor voorkomende skorsings handel, is 243 dae in nasionale departemente en 444 dae in provinsiale departemente. Op 'n amptelike vraag van die DA is ook bevestig dat R93,6 miljoen betaal is aan 365 amptenare wat sedert April 2009 met volle betaling geskors is. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, in an official reply to questions from the DA the following came to light: The average time it takes to conclude disciplinary cases regarding precautionary suspensions is 243 days at national departments and 444 days at provincial departments. In response to an official question from the DA it was also confirmed that R93,6 million had been paid to 365 officials who had been suspended with full pay since April 2009.]
The Public Service Commission has reported a general noncompliance with the prescribed 60-day period within which to institute disciplinary action, as stipulated by Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council Resolution 1 of 2003. It has reported that national departments spent a total of R52 million on the salaries of 1 559 employees who were placed on precautionary suspensions in the 2010-11 financial year alone.
Suspensions not only strain the public purse, but have a negative effect on service delivery. From discussions with the Public Service Commission and department representatives, it became clear that, whilst the Department of the Public Service and Administration must answer to these queries and concerns, it has very little influence on how each state department manages discipline, efficiency and productivity. Clearly, there are no effective cross-cutting measurable criteria, guidelines and, especially, punitive monitoring mechanisms to ensure that predetermined norms and standards are implemented.
The National Development Plan states that fundamental steps need to be taken to improve the required professionalism in the Public Service and the capability of the state in support of the objectives of a high quality Public Service, improving and maintaining infrastructure and improving the conditions for economic development. Reforms that will enable staff to do their jobs effectively by strengthening skills, enhancing morale and clarifying the lines of accountability are needed.
The DA is in agreement with the National Planning Commission that the Public Service Commission, as a Chapter 10 institution, has a proven record to be independent, objective and knowledgeable. Its role should be strengthened to ensure compliance and, in order to achieve this, some fundamental amendments need to be implemented, including the following: The Public Service Commission must get enforcement powers, with consequences to different heads of departments and Ministers if found in error. It must get its budget allocation directly from the National Treasury and not be part of the Department of Public Service and Administration's budget allocation. The budget must be realistic for this Chapter 10 institution to effectively fulfil its constitutional obligations with reporting and accountability directly to Parliament.
The National Planning Commission and the Public Service Commission must be assured that the DA-governed Western Cape is ready to implement the relevant proposals. However, in order for the Western Cape to play a more supportive and substantive role, we call on the President to finalise the appointment of the outstanding position of the Western Cape commissioner in the Public Service Commission.
In die lig van bogenoemde uiteensetting moet die begroting van R158,5 miljoen bevraagteken word, veral as dit vergelyk moet word met, byvoorbeeld, die begroting van die Departement van Ekonomiese Ontwikkeling. Hierdie begroting maak nie voorsiening vir enige uitgebreide magte nie en ook nie om meer effektief te kan verseker dat die Staatsdiens se prestasies noemenswaardig sal verbeter nie. In die strategiese planne van die departement word dit ten doel gestel om die Leierskaps- en Bestuursakademie vir Openbare Administrasie, Palama, te omskep in 'n skool vir openbare regering. Hul strategie is gebaseer op 'n beginsel dat hulle opleiding sal fasiliteer op grond van die behoefte uitgespreek deur die klint, wat die staatsdepartemente en die amptenary is. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[In view of the above-mentioned account the budget of R158,5 million must be questioned, especially if it is to be compared to, for example, the budget of the Department of Economic Development. This budget neither makes provision for any extended powers, nor to more effectively ensure that the performance of the Public Service improves significantly. In the strategic plans of the department, the goal is set to convert the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Palama, into a school for public government. Their strategy is based on a principle of them facilitating training on the grounds of the needs expressed by the client, namely the government departments and the officialdom.]
There is a saying that you don't know what you don't know, because you don't know that you don't know it. This approach will not facilitate a more professional, knowledgeable and capable Public Service. In our opinion, this will enhance mediocrity and a downward spiral in the performance of the Public Service. [Interjections.]