The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) says the institutionalisation of lifestyle audits in the public service continues to improve with 147 out of 160 national and provincial departments finalising their lifestyle audits by the end of July 2024.
Addressing the media in Pretoria on Monday, the department’s Chief Director of Public Administration, Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit, Dr Salomon Hoogenraad-Vermaak, reported that 191 senior managers or Senior Management Services (SMS) members were referred for investigations.
“These SMS members are from seven national departments and 20 provincial departments. The investigations include conflicts of interest but also includes serious allegations of unexplained wealth and conducting business with the state,” Hoogenraad-Vermaak said.
He said the DPSA was awaiting information on 39 SMS members in national departments and 31 SMS members in provincial departments.
“These departments will be issued with non-compliance letters.”
The Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU) provides support to departments with training on lifestyle audits. The unit was assisted in developing material by the World Bank, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Strengthening Ethics and Integrity Program and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
Hoogenraad-Vermaak said during the Public Service Month, held in September, various sessions will be conducted regarding departmental investigations.
“Discipline management is a decentralised function, meaning departments are responsible for the management of their own disciplinary cases and that the DPSA can not interfere in that.
“However, the PAEIDTAU is supporting departments with discipline management, as the unit has a mandate to set norms and standards on discipline, to build capacity within institutions to initiate and institute disciplinary proceedings into misconduct, to strengthen government oversight of discipline and to provide technical assistance and support to institutions in all spheres of government regarding disciplinary matters relating to misconduct in the public administration,” he said.
The department reminded public servants that it was a criminal offense for public service employees to conduct business with the state.
It warned that any public servant found guilty of such offenses was liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or both.
Regulation 13 (c) of the Public Service Regulations, 2016, prohibits public service employees from conducting business with an organ of state. Section 8 of the Public Administration Management Act, 2014, criminalises the conducting of business with the state for public administration employees and for special advisors.
The recently launched PAEIDTAU is a Chief Directorate within the DPSA which monitors the implementation of this prohibition and provides implementation support to departments.
In July 2020, the Ministers of Police, Justice, and Correctional Services and Public Service and Administration met with the Directors-General from their departments in order to devise strategies to eliminate the challenge of employees doing business with the state.
An agreement was reached that a multi-departmental team, consisting of DGs and senior management from these departments be established to ensure the implementation of this prohibition.
PAEIDTAU’s mission is directly aligned with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020-30 (NACS), which aims to, among others, enhance governance, oversight, and consequence management in the public administration. – SAnews.gov.za
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