After two days of unpacking the strategic and operational implications of the National Framework Towards the Professionalisation of the Public Sector, the session closed off the jam-packed programme with decisive resolutions. These include the urgent need to establish a multi-stakeholder structure to ensure that the ideas generated during the retreat are implemented in the next nine months and before the end of the current administration’s term in 2024.
The retreat on the National Framework Towards the Professionalisation of the Public Sector was initiated by the Public Service Commission (PSC) in partnership with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), the National School of Government (NSG) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Action plan
Among the expected outcomes of the retreat was the need to provide a theoretical grounding or the “theory of change” that would underpin the practicalities of realising the objectives of the Framework. More critically, the diverse gathering had to come up with a comprehensive implementation plan to ensure that the retreat was not just another “talk shop”. It had to identify priorities for the Framework’s short, medium and long-term implementation.
Three breakaway commissions had the task of concretising and giving practical expression to the ideas generated on the first day of the retreat, respectively looking at the Change Management, Institutional Capabilities and Public Sector Reform implications for comprehensively implementing the Framework.
Change Management
Arguably the most critical starting point, the Commission on Change Management’s recommendations included undertaking a national advocacy campaign on the Framework at the same scale and intensity as those of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) drives in preparation for national elections. The Commission on Change Management recommended that such a campaign be led by the Government Communication and Information Management System (GCIS) and led by the Presidency as the proposed lead in implementing the National Framework Towards the Professionalisation of the Public Sector.
Institutional Capacity
The need to explore modalities for encouraging cross-pollination skills and expertise across the Public Sector was among the range of recommendations that the Commission on Institutional Capacity presented. The commission, however, emphasised the distinction between individual and institutional capacity needs, which would require interventions to be tailored accordingly instead of broad-stroke responses. Moreover, dovetailing with ideas from the Commission on Change Management, the Commission on Institutional Capacity put emphasis on the “need to agree on the language that must be used in the popularisation of the Framework” to forge a common purpose better.
Public Sector Reform
Lastly, the Commission on Public Sector opened its presentation, ensuring that the current legislative process that would see amendments in the Public Service Act, the Public Administration Management Act and the Public Service Commission Act is concluded by the end of the term of the sixth administration. The commission argued that the proposed legislative changes to the respective Acts constitute quick wins in reforming the Public Sector. While the Batho Pele Principles and the Public Service Charter remain important guiding policies too, the Commission of Public Sector Reform recommended the need for more sophisticated measures to institutionalised these along with the Framework for professionalisation to ensure “a quality public servant” and consequences for non-compliance to basic norms and standards.
As a summary of the two days of deliberations at the retreat, the recommendations echoed the keynote address by the Minister for Public Service and Administration, Ms Noxolo Kiviet, when she emphasised the need for the clarification of roles and responsibilities among stakeholders in the implementation of the Framework as well as calling for the development of a comprehensive plan of action to take forward in the short, medium and long term.
