According to a circular from the Public Service Commission (PSC), government departments are expected to verify the qualifications of potential employees before appointing them to the public service.
This comes after the PSC released an updated report on the qualifications of Senior Management Service (SMS) members in the public service.
The PSC Acting Director-General, Mr. Matome Malatsi, stated that the PSC has finalized a study and report on the qualifications of SMS members in the public service.
This report was influenced by several updates on qualifications provided by the Minister for the Public Service and Administration in Parliament during the 2022/23 financial year.
After publishing the initial report on their website, the PSC received queries from a few departments whose data was erroneously omitted.
The PSC has since revised the report to address these issues and allow departments that were unable to submit their information or had submitted unusable data an opportunity to do so.
The objectives of the inquiry on the qualifications of SMS members in the public service are:
1. To establish accurate details on the qualifications of SMS members in each government department.
2. To establish the extent to which senior managers in the public service comply with additional minimum requirements for occupying positions as SMS members.
3. To identify measures that can be taken by departments where incumbents in SMS posts do not meet the requirements and make recommendations to assist government departments in improving compliance with regulations and moving towards a more professional public service.
To address the findings of the report, the PSC has proposed the following measures:
– The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) should regulate the capturing of all qualification information on the PERSAL system within 12 months.
– The DPSA should compel departments to comply with the Ministerial Handbook/Guide for all Ministerial appointments and take action against departments that deviate from the Handbook/Guide.
– The DPSA must issue guidelines on the management of transfers during organizational restructuring/reorganization to ensure that SMS members are placed in positions they qualify for or are properly capacitated.
– The DPSA must direct all departments with SMS members who still do not meet the minimum requirements to submit plans on how the gaps will be addressed with clear timeframes.
– Departments must complete the verification of qualifications before appointing potential employees, without exonerating employees from misrepresenting their qualifications.
– Accounting Officers must take responsibility for preventing non-compliant appointments and implementing consequence management measures where the appointment of SMS members was made without complying with the relevant prescripts.
– Departments should encourage employees to register for Recognition of Prior Learning Programmes where it is deemed relevant.
The updated report from the PSC has been brought to the attention of Head of Departments (HoDs)/Directors-General and will also be submitted to Parliament.
