The number of public servants in senior management whose requisite qualifications are not reflected on persal went down from 35% to 29.9%.
This is according to the Department of Public Service and Administration’s Parliamentary reply on the number of senior managers in the public service who do not have the qualifications required for the positions that they currently occupy.
According to Acting Public Service and Administration Minister, Mr Thulas Nxesi, as of April 7, 2021, the information available from persal, indicated that over 35% of senior managers (SMS) did not have the requisite qualifications for the positions that they occupied. However, Minister Nxesi said by January 31, 2022, the figure reduced by almost 10% to 25.9%.
“As it stands, a total of 2 412 out of 9 309 senior managers do not have their qualifications reflected on persal,” he said adding that 50 departments updated the qualifications of their senior managers on the persal system between October 31, 2021 and January 31, 2022.
The Minister added that the DPSA is monitoring the updating of persal data and continues to remind Accounting Officers of the importance of maintaining this information.
“The current exercise has indicated that there might be SMS members who possess proper qualifications but such are not reflected on the persal system. It is however, clear that departments are gradually responding to Circular HRD0301 to update PERSAL data, therefore further punitive measures might not be needed.
“It is important to reiterate the fact that the matter of the senior manager’s or other employees’ qualifications be understood within the broader context of the professionalisation of the public service efforts that are underway,” he said.
