National School of Government

delivering quality education, training and development interventions that are relevant to the needs of the public sector

The principal of the National School of Government (NSG), Professor Busani Ngcaweni has been dealing with among others organisational restructuring and implementing a new strategy through developing a new service delivery model. Ngcaweni considers having had two heads of state, current President Cyril Ramaphosa and former President Kgalema Motlanthe participating in the school’s programmes as one of the key highlights of the school. Municipal Focus Magazine caught up with Ngcaweni for a conversation about the school, its mandate and programmes targeting the local government sector.

Q: Would you please unpack the significance of the National School of Government across all spheres of government and its contribution towards the establishment of a capable, professional, and responsive public sector in SA?

Prof. Busani Ngcaweni (BN): The National School of Government (the NSG) is a part of the portfolio of institutions reporting to the Minister for the Public Service and Administration. We have a mandate to provide or facilitate the provision of education, training and development (ETD) in the three spheres of government, stateowned entities (SOEs) and organs of state. Our mandate is in line with Section 195 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which declares public administration to be development-oriented and participatory, and the basic values and principles being the basis of interaction between public administration (three spheres of government, organs of state, public enterprises) and society.

The foremost priority of this administration is to build a capable, ethical and developmental state. A capable state has the required human capabilities, institutional capacity, service processes and technological platforms to deliver on the NDP through a social contract with the people.

An ethical state is driven by the constitutional values and principles of public administration and the rule of law, focused on the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights and social justice as outlined in the Bill of Rights.

A developmental state aims to meet people’s needs through interventionist, developmental, participatory public administration. Building an autonomous developmental state driven by the public interest and not individual or sectional interests; embedded in South African society leading an active citizenry through partnerships with all sectors of society.

The NSG must ensure that it provides ETD interventions to appointed public servants and elected public representatives in order that they fulfil their responsibilities. Our public service requires that we have qualified public servants with relevant skills and competencies for the job they have been employed to do and have ethical disposition steeped in the Batho Pele principles.

The NSG delivers on its mandate by taking on a blended approach of classroom interaction, online learning, onsite experimentations, webinars, thought leadership master classes, and conferences.

In addition, professionalising the public sector is one of the key imperatives for building state capacity. This is important to ensure that the state is staffed by qualified and competent officials who know what they are doing. In other words, those who are fully equipped to perform their public function conscientiously with a strong sense of public service and ethical disposition.

The NSG has a key role from pre-entry into the public service to managing careers of public servants through our interventions.

Q: Would you please explain what the Compulsory Induction Programme is about?

(BN): The Compulsory Induction Programme (CIP) aims to challenge public servants to live the Batho Pele principles and to imbue them with knowledge and understanding of the intrinsic values and building blocks of our democratic state. These intrinsic values and building blocks of our democracy represent the cornerstone of our Constitution, the Bill of Rights and related legislation as well as our Legislative Frameworks.

The public servants entering the State, regardless of their differing backgrounds, skills and experience, need to be orientated around a common programme to understand and implement the agenda of the State.

Responding to this need, the CIP is designed to ensure that new officials are inducted into the culture and ethos of their department and the work it is mandated to carry out. It is assumed that a well inducted new entrant will be able to contribute meaningfully towards the functioning of their department in particular, as well as the Public Service in general.

Q: Would you please explain your Local Government Leadership Development Programme (LGLDP) and what it seeks to achieve?

(BN): The purpose of the LGLDP is to enable municipal leaders and managers to provide effective governance to the municipalities that they run, and in particular to structure governance arrangements so that municipalities are politically stable, well-administered, financially sustainable and able to deliver municipal services optimally. This programme is specifically for municipal leaders, manager officials in municipalities.

The LGLDP is structured into five (5) modules:

i. Municipal Government Legislation and Policy Framework: The local government legislative context is critically explored with a focus on the role of political and administrative functions to enable service delivery in the South African Local Government.

ii. Cooperative Government and Intergovernmental Relations: This module focuses on the role of government promoting cooperation amongst the three spheres of government. The main intergovernmental and policy processes at national and provincial level local government are considered in the context of NDP objectives.

iii. Leadership, Governance and Ethics in Municipalities: This module focuses on leadership principles, attributes and values supporting service orientated leadership for a capable state. The personal role of leaders in enhancing ethical, effective and efficient service delivery in the municipality is analysed.

iv. Political oversight and Communicative Functions: The political-administrative interdependencies are highlighted, together with the importance of the oversight role, accountability and communication responsibilities for the realisation of policy objectives and strategic outcomes.

v. Systems and Processes in a Municipality: This module deals with important municipal processes which include the budget and budgeting system, local economic development and an integrated development system.

Q: Is the school likely to offer new courses in future and what areas do you think needs attention?

(BN): In response to systemic demands, the NSG expands its course offerings for targeted audiences such as Executive Authorities, Accounting Authorities, Mayors and Councillors. To this extent, the NSG is currently working on consolidating such executive programmes for example, Ethical Leadership and Executive Oversight for Members of the Executive; Induction Programme for Board Members; Economic Governance Schools for Members of the Executive; and Etella – Programme for Executive Managers.

We are now in consultation to finalise the curriculum for a Mayoral Programme. We are also expanding our programme offerings targeting Youth.

Q: Could you expand on the NSG’s work in the local government sphere?

(BN): We continue to provide capacity building opportunities for municipalities with priorities on enabling officials to perform responsibilities. Amongst these priority areas are members serving on various bid committees. These are officials whom some do not possess any background in financial and supply chain management and it becomes critical that such members are not just thrown in the deep end of serving in these committees that oversee millions of rand in spending, in a high-risk environment, without equipping them with the necessary knowledge of the supply chain environment. We have trained thousands of officials in many municipalities in this area and we still hope to train more as supply chain management remains a key risk area in various AG reports every year.

Capacity to deliver services at local level continues to be challenging regardless of various interventions by state entities, and part of the challenge is the lack of coordination in the work of various departments. The NSG will, as a response to that be finalizing a training programme to improve capacity to provide a more effective coordination amongst various spheres of government which eventually have an impact on the municipal space.

Q: Who are you partnering with in delivering programmes, specifically those aimed at local government, and what do participants who complete your modules receive?

(BN): The NSG partners with SALGA, LGSETA and uses independent individual contractors with the experience and expertise relevant to the local government and particular course. The participants receive a certificate of attendance or a certificate of completion.

Q: Issues such as oversight, monitoring and evaluation are often a weakness which are picked up by the Auditor-General, including in the local government sector, are any of your programmes looking into issues of oversight?

( BN): We have reviewed two of our programmes focusing on managing and commissioning evaluations for government in order to strengthen its offering in this field. Evaluation Methodology and the Use of Evaluation Results in government encourages evidence-based decision making for government programme development.

Q: Would you please unpack the recently signed memorandum of understanding signed with the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality to provide training programmes to the employees of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality entails?

(BN): In pursuance of the spirit of collaboration with the NSG, the City of Cape Town is procuring exclusively from the NSG for the following training programmes:

SOME OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMMES OFFERED FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Local Government Leadership Development Programme Ethics Management in Local Government

Contract Management: MFMA Bid Committees: MFMA

Mainstreaming Gender in the Public Service Foundation Management Development Programme Advanced Management Development Programme Municipal Standards Chart of Accounts

a) Advanced Acquisition Management

b) Anti-Corruption training for Practitioners

c) Bid Committee (MFMA)

d) Contract Management (MFMA)

e) Demand Management

f) Detection & Combating Bid Rigging in the public Sector

g) Ethics Management in Local Government

h) Excellent Customer Services i) Strategic Sourcing (Assessment Development and Execution)

j) Inventory Management k) Basic and Advanced Project Management programmes

We are also working with many other municipalities of all categories not only metro municipalities in providing training and these include amongst others Musina Local Municipality in Limpopo, Nkangala District Municipality in Mpumalanga, Buffalo City Metro in Eastern Cape, City of Johannesburg and many others and we aim to eventually sign these agreements with all of the 257 municipalities in the country.

Q: The National School of Government also recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Gauteng Provincial Legislature for training and other capacity building interventions for Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs). Would you please explain the training that will be covered by this agreement?

(BN): The two parties agreed that the NSG will conduct Training Needs Analysis (TNA) for both officials and members of the Provincial Legislature. This work will further inform their developmental needs to be progressively addressed during this multi-year agreement. We agreed that the following immediate training interventions be rolled out for both officials and members of the Legislature:

a) Bid Committee (PFMA)

b) Project Khaedu

c) The enrolment in the Legislative Sector in Governance and Leadership (LCBP) offered by the NSG.

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature will further encourage participation by its members in the bespoke programmes such as Etella, and both Local & International Seminars/Webinars as organised by the NSG.

Q: How critical is the role of the National School of Government in a young democracy that South Africa is?

(BN): As a training institute that has been in existence before 1994 – having transformed and evolved from a Public Service Training Institute to South African Management Development Institute, to the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy and since 2013 as the National School of Government.

Developing capacity for the public service has always been a critical role for us to play. We have recalibrated ourselves over the years – for example from focusing on management and leadership development to covering every occupational/salary level so our focus is on all public servants. As such we develop courses, programmes and interventions for certain salary levels (e.g. senior managers) but at the same time have courses and programmes that cut across all levels (e.g. ethics). Furthermore, we are in a dynamic and complex environment with changes being brought about by digital transformation, climate change and the COVID19 pandemic, amongst others. We therefore have to keep public servants abreast with new knowledge and workplace learning.

Q: The National School of Government unveiled more online courses during the Covid-19 national lockdown in 2020. Are those courses still being rolled out and what has been the response from participants?

(BN): The courses added to the online offering of the NSG are still being rolled out. eLearning uptake continues to grow even after the requirements of social distancing have been adjusted.

The total number of enrolments recorded on the NSG eLearning platform increased by 48% from the 2020/21 to the 2021/22 financial year.

Q: Briefly unpack your journey as the principal of the NSG?

(BN): I consider myself somewhat of a “crazy person” dreaming up of crazy ideas in the odd hours of the night. What I found in the NSG is a group of highly committed, skilled and professional employees who are able to translate my craziness into practical deliverables. My journey thus far has been one of huge satisfaction, as I truly believe we are making a difference to our public servants.

In my journey, we dealt with a long outstanding matter of organisational restructuring, implementing a new strategy, developing a new service delivery model and service delivery charter. We have opened up the learning pathways across the board.

Q: What are the key indicators of the NSG’s successes or failures?

(BN): The key indicator for us is to train as many public servants and public representatives as we can. As our vision states, we wish to build a capable and ethical public sector in the service of the people. I believe that the suite of offerings by the NSG – be it courses, programmes, webinars, master classes, simulated learning, online learning – are making a difference to our public servants. The high numbers we see on our eLearning platform or those who join our webinars indicate our success as an institution that we are doing something correct.

Another success factor for us has been to diversify our offerings, and not just focusing on traditional course offerings. We have ventured into areas such as disaster management and scenario planning. Our international partnerships is another significant indicator of success. We are now able to offer our public servants global opportunities and exposure to international academics and thought leaders.

When we see public servants behaving unethically, unlawfully, with mediocrity in the performance of their duties or treating citizens badly, we see this as an element of failure. We may not have complete control of their behaviour and attitude but we try by all means to provide our public servants with the learning to always respect the Constitution and serve with empathy.

Q: What, if anything, do you think needs to be done to enhance the impact of the NSG?

(BN): From the findings of the impact evaluations that have been undertaken by the NSG, it is evident that where effort has been put in ensuring that the training programmes are well developed, the curriculum is sound, the correct target audience attends, and the work environment of these participants is conducive for implementation of their newly acquired knowledge and skills, behavioural changes in the participants have been realised.

In many instances, systemic changes as well as improvements in operational procedures in the Departments also occurred as a result of application of learning that occurred.

Where departments and all other relevant stakeholders are committed to ensuring that they are supportive of participants from the time of entry into the programme, impact and outcome can be measured.

Therefore, in order to enhance the impact of the NSG the following initiatives are/should be undertaken:

(i) Training needs analyses should be conducted for municipalities (or any other relevant stakeholders) who will receive the training to ascertain which training programmes would address the training needs in these municipalities.

(ii) The programmes to be offered to officials must be selected based on the training needs that have been identified – where necessary the content has to be contextualised for the audience (who will be the correct target audience for the training programme).

(iii) Senior Management in municipalities (and any other departments) have to be fully committed and on board to ensure that the workplace is conducive for the application of learning once employees return to the workplace. The necessary support for the application of newly acquired knowledge and skills is vital.

(iv) Senior Management in the municipalities (and any other departments) should provide their full co-operation to the NSG when impact evaluations are conducted of the training programmes that they received.

If these conditions are met, the impact of the programmes offered by the NSG will be enhanced as the changes can be measured and will be visible in the various departments and municipalities where training programmes were offered.

Q: What have been the achievements of the National School of Government thus far? And in this fiscal?

(BN): We have implemented our five year strategy in 2020, and we are in the third year of implementation. This strategy was implemented at the time of the COVID19 pandemic and the national lockdown. Safe to say, we were entering a period of uncertainty and trepidation. As the leadership, we had to recalibrate our delivery modalities and this has now led us to a new trajectory. We can say that we turned a crisis into an opportunity.

Our successes include the following:

a. Enrolling in excess of 100 000 learners on our eLearning platform over a 2 year period. This is unprecedented for the NSG or many training institutions.

b. Building the NSG brand and a very strong global partnership footprint.

c. Diversifying our course and programme offerings. We are now able to respond to many public sector institutions, including local government and SOEs on their training needs. Where we cannot provide directly we engage with our partners.

d. Generated more than R116m in two years and brought in other funding sources as well, including private sponsorships.

(BN): We are going to become the premier training institution for the public sector. We are going to influence the theory and practice of public administration through our interventions in the ecosystem of education, training and development.

We are going to be a global player, recognised among some of the best, when we introduce our own suite of executive education programmes. We are also going to open our space for international learners.

We are going to expose our public servants and public representatives to global exchanges and opportunities, so that they learn and implement here in South Africa. We are going to offer qualifications to all our public servants.

We are starting off now with a post-graduate qualification but this will grow to other qualifications. We must give every public servant from the lowest level up the President of this country every possible opportunity to improve him/her self.

Finally, we are going to realise a professional and meritocratic public administration that really respond to the needs of the people. The public sector will no longer be a place for unlawfulness, corruption, fraud and mediocrity.

CONTACT DETAILS

Enquiries about the Economic Governance Programme should be directed to Mr Khomotso Radebe at: khomotso.radebe@thensg.gov.za/ +27 83 268 0219 Enquiries about Local Government Programmes should be directed to The NSG Contact Centre: contactcentre@thensg.gov.za/ 086 100 8326 / 012 441 7000 Visit: www.thensg.gov.za