Dear Editor
The fight to end and abolish ANC Cadre Deployment took a step forward today as the National Assembly debated and adopted the Public Service Commission Bill, which will make the Commission far more independent of any political influence.
The National Assembly debated the Second Reading of the Bill today, after the Bill passed through the Public Service Portfolio Committee process with support from all parties, and no objections, and the National Assembly has now voted to advance the Bill to the National Council of Provinces.
The Bill will strengthen the independence of the PSC by introducing a dedicated Secretariat to facilitate its work, meaning that the Commission will no longer need to rely on national government for staffing and budget. In the past this reliance on national government has left the Public Service Commission open to political influence.
The Bill will also create a separate staffing mechanism for the PSC, within its Secretariat, divorced from national government, and outside of national government’s centralised staff recruitment processes.
An independent Public Service Commission is absolutely critical for ensuring that the public service is made up of professional, best qualified, and merit-based appointees, free from political influence. The law will align the sought-after independence of the Public Service Commission, as guaranteed in the Constitution, with the reality on the ground.
Without an impartial, credible Public Service Commission, it would remain impossible for thorough oversight, impartial investigations and independent action to be taken against state employees who stray from their mandate, exceed their powers or break the law. The PSC must also play a central role in the reduction of the public sector wage bill, which suffers from wastage of salaries on many fronts, including employees who don’t work the hours they are contracted to, some who do business with the state while being employed by the state, those who draw Sassa grants whilst being employed by the state and the ludicrous expense of ghost employees on the payroll.
Casper, the not so friendly Ghost workers in the Public Service, syphon taxpayer money from the public sector wage bill, which ends up in the pockets of unidentified criminals. A newly independent PSC will play a vital role in the hunt for these ghost employees like Casper, and it must use its newfound independence and powers to identify this waste in the public sector wage bill. This will stop the bleeding of taxpayer money that should be used to improve the lives of citizens.
As Chairperson of the Committee on Public Service and Administration, we will immediately engage the PSC on their commitment to identify ghost employees, track their operations and eliminate them from the South African public service payroll. The committee will expand its search by also engaging with both Treasury, the Department of Public Service & Administration as well as provinces.
To truly end Cadre Deployment, not only must the practice of deploying cadres be stopped, but those who are currently in the employ of the state must be held to account, and held to perform, to the letter of the law. There is no space for state employees who are there to occupy positions to keep up patronage networks, and political influence peddling.
Establishing a merit-based, independent and professional public service is critical for government to work.
Regards
Jan de Villiers MP
DA Spokesperson on Public Service & Administration
springheel jack
Sudan: You have two cows. The southern one ran away because it contains more beef.
HOV
In Toronto I saw a bumper sticker on a parked car that read: \”I miss South Africa.\” So I broke the window, took the radio and left a note that read: \”I hope this helps.\”