OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 1.30pm
NEW regulations boosting the powers of ministers in managing their departments were launched in Pretoria on Tuesday.
The public service management framework, which comes into effect on July 1, will enable ministers to create and abolish posts, as well as to recruit, appoint, promote, transfer and discharge employees.
Deputy director-general in the Department of Public Service and Administration, Mpume Sikhosana, told a workshop in Pretoria that the new regulations were aimed at improving public service delivery by eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic red tape.
In terms of the framework, departments would have greater flexibility in managing personnel. They would be able to set salaries higher than prescribed in order to recruit and retain staff with sought-after skills.
According to existing regulations, public servants may not be paid according to the work they actually perform, but only in terms of the grading of their jobs.
The new framework will introduce performance-based employment contracts for all heads of government departments.
Sikhosana said many managers could in the past not be charged with inefficiency due to a lack of evidence.
“This new contract is not a tool to get rid of people, but will provide evidence on whether a person is inefficient or not,” he said.