Civil servants should forget about their desire to “serve as both administrators and political actors,” PSC Commissioner Anele Gusoiya said in a file photo.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has again warned new ministers that it is legally impossible for them to try to sack the heads of their own departments.
The PSC, which monitors and evaluates the organisation, operation and performance of the civil service, made the disclosure at a press conference in Pretoria on Monday ahead of the first meeting of President Cyril Ramaphosa's new cabinet later in the week.
It also called on civil servants to “maintain their loyalty and support to the new leadership” appointed to a 32-member cabinet that includes ministers from the Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and other parties involved in the government of national unity.
During coalition negotiations, the DA had demanded a review of director-general positions in the ministries it inherited and had suggested it wanted a role in deciding who was appointed to key posts.
The PSC, which is opposed to the idea, recently held a plenary meeting to discuss the problems posed to the civil service by the reforms introduced in the May 29 elections and made its decision public in a media briefing.
The company also launched Pulse of the Public Service, a quarterly publication that provides up-to-date information on important issues related to the civil service.
PSC chair Anele Gusoiya said that although elections may change the priorities and plans of the previous administration, civil servants' “focus should be on moving forward, respecting the choice of the people and supporting those who have been elected without party affiliation.”
Civil servants should abandon the idea that they should play both administrative and political roles, and politicians should focus on policies and leave their implementation to the bureaucracy.
Gusoiya said the transition of power “must not undermine service delivery” and that the often contentious relationship between politics and administration needed to be properly managed.
“The director-general is the director-general of the civil service and not the director-general of a particular ministry,” Gusoiya said.
He acknowledged that “there may have been mistakes in the past” in which directors-general were dismissed for political reasons, but said, “There needs to be a process to insulate civil servants from politics.”
“If there is nothing to do with incompetence or misconduct, there is no reason to remove the directors. They simply need to continue to perform their duties as public servants,” Gusoiya said.
“We will absolutely thwart any attempt to remove someone from office because they were not appointed by a specific person.”
He said that during the period when there was no government, civil servants had continued to perform their duties and provide services in accordance with their mandates.
“That's the kind of public servant we want,” he said. “We don't want someone who is obsessed with politics.”
Commissioner Vusumuzi Mavuso said ministers could not “tell the chief minister to pack his bags and leave because he is not needed”.
All directors general serve on five-year contracts, are subject to review and will remain in their jobs unless they have committed wrongdoing, which must be dealt with through due process.
“The civil service must be professionalised. This is non-negotiable,” Mavuso said. “Everyone who is appointed has the right to be in the civil service.”
He said it was up to ministers to make an effort to “build good relationships with their ministers” rather than considering removing them and replacing them with local talent.
Gusoiya said public servants “must be ready and prepared to serve whoever is elected to public office, regardless of political affiliation.”
The Quarterly Pulse report revealed that national and state government departments have not paid service providers within the “generous” 30-day grace period set by the Ministry of Finance.
National ministries and departments have failed to pay more than 108,000 invoices to service providers in the first four months of this year, totalling more than R4.6 billion.
That was a 2% improvement from the previous quarter, but the PSC said it was “not impressed” as it wanted service providers to be paid on time.
As of the end of March, 1,427 invoices totalling R53 million were more than 30 days overdue, a situation that was “of real concern”.
The biggest offender was the Department of Defense, whose late payments accounted for 78 percent of the 30-day backlog.
Gusoiya said this was unacceptable as it had destroyed the lives and livelihoods of service providers and action should be taken against financial officers who failed to make payments.
Until then, the abuse will continue.
“When ministries and agencies enter into contracts, they need to be quick to pay on time, just as they need to be quick to terminate contracts with service providers and suppliers that are not delivering,” Gusoiya said.
He said PSC was paying suppliers within 14 days, which showed that government agencies were also capable of making payments if there was political will in the finance department.