Public Service Commission gets its own secretariat as new Act widens its reach to municipalities and state entities

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assented to the Public Service Commission Bill, which is now the Public Service Commission Act. The Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, Professor Somadoda Fikeni, welcomed the assent at a media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday, saying the law strengthens the Commission’s role in promoting effective and efficient public administration and professional ethics in the public service.

Two changes stand out. The Act is aimed at strengthening the Commission’s independence as a constitutional institution, and it extends its mandate to include local government and public entities. The Commission will for the first time have its own independent secretariat. Until now it depended on a secretariat created as a government department.

“It is for that reason that we celebrate, finally, that Public Service Commission, like other Chapter 9 institutions, will have its own independent secretariat,” Fikeni said.

New powers over municipalities and state entities

The expanded mandate covers local government, state-owned companies and state entities. The Act also empowers the Commission to conduct investigations on its own accord.

Fikeni described the reasoning behind that provision. In most of these entities, he said, the shareholder is a single Minister, and the same Minister generally signs and appoints the Chairperson and members of the board or council.

“So, when you say there is some governance failure, the Minister investigates. You are saying the Minister investigates the people they appointed. But this time, PSC is empowered to have its own accord investigation without having to depend on the shareholder,” he said.

He said the Commission would work with the institutions concerned and undertake stakeholder engagement, and that it has been consulting the South African Local Government Association and the Minister of local government and the department.

Phased implementation and staff protection

The confirmed mandate over municipalities and public entities is pended for a 12-month period to allow the Commission time to put operational requirements in place. The Act provides that full implementation of the confirmed mandate must be completed within three years after that initial 12-month period expires.

For PSC employees, the Act provides for continuity, protection and fairness through the transition. All current PSC employees automatically become employees of the new Secretariat, with no break in service or interruption to employment. Existing collective agreements and performance agreements continue to apply as if concluded under the new system.

Employees retain the right to opt out of moving to the Secretariat within 30 days. Those who choose not to move are safeguarded, with their salaries and conditions preserved until they are placed elsewhere in the public service or seconded to the Commission.

A joint employer-union task team will be established to assist with the placement of employees as part of consultation on the migration of staff and the shift of functions. The PSC Bargaining Forum remains recognised as the collective bargaining structure.

A course correction, and a funding question

Fikeni acknowledged a period of decline and described the reforms now underway as a course correction. He pointed to the professionalisation framework approved by Cabinet in October 2022, the Public Administration Management Act, the Public Service Amendment Act, work towards whistleblower protection that is underway, and the white paper on local government.

He also linked the state of the public service to wider outcomes. A weak public service and administration, he said, will lead to governance failures even where policies are good. “It leads to poor service delivery, it allows for crime and corruption to thrive. It makes investment difficult. The economy doesn’t grow. It makes the country vulnerable to the world,” he said, pointing to the close to 1.9 million public servants on the ground.

On implementation, Fikeni said the Commission will be given 12 months to begin consulting, to help with unfolding the changes and to meet with Treasury. “We have costed this particular Act. We need resources now to make it happen. But if there are no resources, it’s a Rolls-Royce without an engine,” he said.

The Commission will now embark on an implementation plan for the Act.

This report is based on SAnews (South African Government News Agency) coverage of the briefing at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/psc-chairperson-ushers-era-public-service-commission-act.