A professional public sector ready to deliver government programmes

Anew year symbolises new beginnings; a time to set new goals and priorities. For us, as public servants, our resolutions should align with government priorities and plans to ensure that we fulfill our mandate to serve the people of South Africa, leaving no one behind.

We entered 2023 with some relief as the COVID-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc in the past two years, now under control. We are, however, still recovering from the effects of the pandemic on the economy. Government has set targets and put measures in place to set the country’s recovery pathway. These include the Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan, which aims to build a new economy and unleash the country’s true potential – with the goal of creating a sustainable, resilient and inclusive economy.

To achieve these goals, public servants are expected to pull up their socks and effectively execute their duties. We need a workforce that is ready and well equipped to imple - ment and deliver government programmes.

One way to achieve this is the professionalisation of the

Public Service. In October 2022, Cabinet approved the National Framework Towards Professionalisation of the Public Sector. The framework is expected to contribute to the building of an efficient, capable and ethical state, free from corruption – one of the priorities of the 2019 - 2024 Medium Term Strategic Framework.

This priority puts forward a vision of strong leadership, a focus on people, and an improved capability to implement government plans. Achieving this will involve a transition to a more functional and integrated government; one that is capacitated with professional, responsive and meritocratic public servants.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has often stated that, “only a capable, efficient, ethical and development-oriented state can deliver on the commitment to improve the lives of the people of this country”.

The framework recommends five pillars in the value chain for the professionalisation of the public sector. These are:

• Recruitment and selection, which calls for the tightening of pre-entry requirements for middle and senior managers;

• Induction and onboarding, which calls for the orientation and induction of new employees to help them understand the culture and dynamics of the workplace;

• Planning and performance management, which calls for an alignment across public administration, reviewing of systems to make them fit for purpose and collaborating with professional bodies, among others;

• Continuing learning and professional development; and

• Career progression and career incidents.

The framework also addresses the instability caused by frequent changes of leadership in the public sector. As noted in the Report of the State Capture Commission, political and corporate interference has weakened some organs of the State. In some instances, Ministers bring changes each time they join a new department.

In his support message for the framework, President Ramaphosa notes that departments that have stable leadership often have positive audit outcomes and can account for public funds, while the same cannot be said about those that always change leaders.

To support this, the framework calls for the extension of the tenures of DirectorsGeneral (DGs) to at least 10 years, with thorough review of performance and clear exit clauses for poor performance.

Furthermore, the DG in The Presidency will be the designated head of public administration while in provinces this role will be held by DGs in the offices of the Premier.

Through the framework, government will position the public sector as a profession of choice with a career system based on meritocracy and an ethical disposition guided by the Batho Pele principles.

Let us view the framework as a pillar aimed at strengthening our sector and work together to ensure that it succeeds.

In the words of the President, “by working together, we can and will rebuild our country, we can and will improve our economy and improve the lives of our people”.