Public Service and Administration Minister, Ms Noxolo Kiviet says the government is well on track to implement the framework to professionalize the public service fully.

Minister Kiviet made this statement while outlining the DPSA’s priorities for the 2023/24 financial year during her maiden Budget Vote Speech on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Parliament, Cape Town.

The Minister described the approval of the professionalisation framework by Cabinet last year as a milestone and commitment by the government that building state capacity towards a capable, ethical, and developmental state remains the priority of the 6th administration.

“We are well on course for full implementation of the framework, and this will include the issuing of a Directive that will cover the tenure of Heads of Department; the abolishment of experience requirements for entry levels posts in levels 1 to 5 as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during this year’s SONA. This includes an extension of pre-entry tests including competency assessments to the whole of the public service, and revised PMDS for Heads of Departments,” she said.

The national framework seeks to ensure that public servants have the right qualifications, and technical skills and are properly inducted into Batho Pele principles. The framework is also taking a public sector-wide approach as the government is working towards a single public administration that applies to the national, provincial, and local government, as well as State-Owned Entities (SOEs).

It also seeks to ensure that only qualified and competent individuals are appointed into positions of authority to pursue a transformed, professional, ethical, capable, and developmental public administration.

According to Minister Kiviet, the department is currently leading national and provincial departments to appoint Professionalisation Champions as they move towards integrating deliverables in the Performance Agreements, Annual Performance Plans and Annual Operational Plans.

This, she said is to ensure that there is ownership and accountability which is accompanied by the appropriate allocation of resources for the full implementation of the framework.

The allocated for the DPSA

The DPSA budget allocation for the 2023/24 financial year is R553,460 million which is an increase of 1% from the final allocation for the 2022/23 financial year.

  • Compensation of Employees constitutes R300 million or 54% of the total budget allocation.
  • Goods and Services are R194 million, and the Capital budget is R6 million.
  • Transfer payments are R52 million of which R45.8m will be transferred to the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) as budget allocation for their activities for the 2023/24 financial year.

The DPSA consists of five (5) programmes which collectively are expected to lead the public service through norms and standards on:

  • Human Resource Planning and Development.
  • Performance Management and Development.
  • Employee Health and Wellness.
  • Transformation.
  • Wage Bill Management.
  • Negotiations and Labour Relations Management.
  • Discipline, integrity, and ethics management.
  • Rolling out eGovernment, eServices and cyber security.
  • Service Access, revitalising the infusion of the Batho Pele Principles in the public service, improving the functionality of government and accessibility; and Innovation, public participation, and knowledge management.

“We are committed to leading the integration of government plans, and functionality in the delivery of public goods and services as we pursue the Constitutional mandate of improving the quality of life of all citizens and freeing the potential of each person,” she said.

The framework aims to achieve the following:

  • The tightening of pre-entry requirements as well as effective recruitment and selection processes that inform meritocratic appointments at the middle and senior management levels.
  • Undertaking workplace orientation and induction programmes that promote a healthy organisational culture.
  • Effective planning, performance management and appraisal systems, including performance standards and assessment instruments for different categories of employees.
  • Performance management can also be aligned with professional bodies or association registration.
  • Public servants undertaking continuous learning and professional development. This will include the professionalisation of certain categories of occupations in the public sector.
  • Managing the career progression and career incidents of public servants and heads of departments.