Lynda Loxton reports on moves to make the public service more creative and efficient
More than a year after the first democratic elections, South Africa’s previously mainly white civil service has started to reflect the new South Africa.
But if the recently released draft white paper on the transformation of the public service is anything to go by, a lot more still needs to be done.
The white paper, on which public comment has been invited by June 30, warns that without the envisaged reform of the civil service, the socio-economic goals of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) are not likely to be achieved. This is because the public service does not represent the majority black population, lacks legitimacy because it contains people who helped implement and maintain apartheid, and is not geared to service and
“Because the public service was a control mechanism against the majority population, it became, of necessity, highly authoritarian and rule-bound in its operation,” says the white paper.
“It was characterised in particular by the development of a vertical, top-down management structure in which the lower levels (as well as clients) were hardly consulted and seldom dared to question a decision.”
Accountability in the service tended to be limited to administrative and budgetary accountability rather than efficiency and productivity. There was also no wider accountability of the service to the public, and various government services were, in fact, characterised by secretiveness and a lack of consultation.
Management information systems were poor, resulting in the fact that there are few reliable statistics on staffing and the composition of the public service today.
Most civil servants were poorly paid and demotivated, and promotion had in the past been based on political allegiance, race and gender.
Labour relations, particularly between black and white, tended to be conflictual and there was an all-round lack of a professional ethos and work ethic.
The white paper’s recommendations include revised pay scales to promote professionalism and work ethics, a code of conduct, a special anti-corruption unit and a fast track affirmative action programme.
The white paper also calls for a new approach that puts less emphasis on sticking to the rules and regulations and more on the “creative use of consultation and team work”. This, it says, will “reduce the annoying and wasteful delays which resulted from the old system of referring even the smallest decision to a higher authority”.
Staff should also be retrained to be more responsive to the public’s needs. The white paper recognises the right of civil servants to strike but says government will “expect the unions to use this right responsibly, as a last rather than first resort, thus minimising the disruption of public
The white paper says that the restructuring of the civil service should start off with a comprehensive review of the structure and functions of all government departments. This should be followed by a concerted, phased affirmative action programme to employ more qualified blacks in the still predominantly white civil service.
“It is important to stress that no public servant has an inherent entitlement to retain his or her particular post,” the white paper says. “Existing posts may therefore be deleted and new ones created.”
Early retirement and retrenchment packages can be used to make room for qualified blacks in top managerial posts. Civil servants who believe their rights or interests are being adversely or unjustly affected by the rationalisation process can appeal to the Office of the Public Protector.
Performance auditing should be introduced in all departments to ensure maximum effectiveness and a comprehensive training policy should be developed.
The white paper says it recognised that any attempt to restructure the civil service would have financial implications. Most of the extra costs should be absorbed within existing budgets through the re-prioritisation of spending and savings.
“Some of the costs will not be absorbed, however, and will need to be accommodated within the national budget,” the white paper says.
National Assembly Public Service Committee (PSC) chairperson Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka believes that all these goals are achievable, especially now that Public Service Minister Zola Skweyiya has at last been allowed to set up his own department.
“One of the things that has frustrated us is that the responsibility for restructuring the public service has, until now, fallen between the cracks,” she told a media
This was because Skweyiya did not have a department of his own to implement policies on restructuring while the PSC was more concerned with administering the public service than with implementing changes.
Chairman of the Senate PSC Mohammed Bhabha told the briefing that this had also led to an “adversarial relationship between the PSC and government ministers” with many ministers asking: “Who will protect us from the PSC?”
Now, said Mlambo-Ngcuka, the department would be responsible for policy formulation, labour relations and restructuring while the PSC would maintain standards through training.
“We are trying to purify the PSC and relieve it of its transformation duties,” she said.