Page 11 - Service Delivery Review

News in Brief

Proposed PAMA and PSA Bills to be tabled
in Parly soon

The proposed Public Administration Management “In terms of section 30 of the Public Service Act, 1994
Amendment Bill and the Public Service Amendment (PSA), public service employees (including senior
Bill will soon be tabled in Parliament. This was con- managers and heads of departments) are allowed to
firmed by newly sworn-in Public Service and Admin- perform other remunerative work outside their em-
istration Minister, Ms Noxolo Kiviet while responding ployment with the written permission of the executive
to a Parliamentary Question for written reply. authority of the department.

“The Public Administration Management Amendment “This would also apply to the 379 senior managers
Bill and the Public Service Amendment Bill have both identified in the Public Service Commission Report to
be performing other remunerative work.
been drafted, consulted publicly, and processed in
terms of the requisite internal and statutory process- Regulation 24 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016
es. (PSR), established a formal process that employees
must follow to apply for permission to perform other
“The Bills are being processed to Cabinet for approv- remunerative work.
al to table to Parliament by 31 March 2023,” she said.
Minister Kiviet said measures have been put in place “Therefore, if permission was received to perform
to ensure that public servants are not conducting other remunerative work by completing the pre-
business with any organ of state and/or being a di- scribed form, and the application was approved by
rector of a public or private company conducting the executive authority or delegated authority, the
business with the state. employee concerned will be allowed to perform oth-
er remunerative work for 12 months, after which the
To strengthen the implementation of section 8, her permission will expire, and the employee will have to
department monitors the Central Supplier Database request for new approval.
(CSD) monthly.
“If successful, the employee will be provided with a
certificate of approval that is valid for twelve calendar
This database (hosted by National Treasury) contains months.
the information of all individuals seeking to tender
business with government. “This certificate of approval is attached when the em-
ployee concerned completes his/her financial disclo-
The information on this system is compared with in- sures on the eDisclosure system and serves as proof
formation on the Personnel Salary System (PERSAL) of permission to perform other remunerative work.
to identify public service employees attempting to
register on the CSD. “This certificate is verified during the lifestyle review
process to determine if approval was sought and
As soon as the DPSA detects employees on the serves as a measure to detect employees perform-
CSD list, their departments are informed to take dis- ing other remunerative work without permission and
ciplinary steps and if guilty of conducting business those conducting business with the state,” she said.
with the State, to open a criminal case with the South
African Police Service (SAPS). Minister Kiviet further said that the procedure that al-
lows employees to perform other remunerative work
(as per Regulation 24 of the PSR) does not in any
The DPSA follow up with the affected departments way permit public servants to request permission to
monthly to establish progress made.
conduct business with the state.
The DPSA, South African Police Service (SAPS) and She singled out section 8 of the Public Administration
the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) also formed Management Act, 2014 that criminalises the act of
a task team that assists departments with the inves- public servants conducting business with the state,
tigation process and to fast-track cases for prosecu- as the contravention of this section is a criminal of-
tion. fence.

According to the latest report from the Public Service The Minister said any person found guilty of the of-
Commission (PSC), a total of 379 senior managers fence is liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period
including Heads of departments at national depart- not exceeding 5 years or both.
ments, have found to be engaged in other remuner-
ative work. By Nthambeleni Gabara, The Public Servant online

SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 15. No. 3 of 2023 11