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The probe by the Public Service Commission (PSC) into more than 2 000 senior government employees who do not have the requisite qualification for the position they occupy should be welcomed as a step in the right direction and should receive cooperation from all the government departments and provinces concerned.

PSC Chairperson Somadoda Fikeni revealed that he has written to acting Public Service & Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi’s office for particulars “pertaining to the allegation of the 2,349 public servants that do not have the qualifications for the positions they hold”.

PPF President Kashif Wicomb says: “These numbers are very high and unacceptable as they suggest that a quarter of senior managers do not have qualifications for the position they occupy.  Appointment of unqualified public servants has a direct impact on service delivery and renders the state vulnerable to corruption and can enable a repeat of another era of state capture. The interference by political heads in the day-to-day operations of departments, SOE can easily be stopped if the right people are employed".

“Professionals in the public sector in many cases receive ‘political instructions’ from their political seniors to implement a decision that eventually gets flagged by the Auditor General SA as irregular expenditure and maladministration,” Wicomb added.

When President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa testified at the Zondo Commission into State Capture in August 2021, one of the admissions he made at the Commission is that competent and highly skilled state officials either left the civil service or were sidelined as they refused to perform certain illegal instructions.  

“Without qualifications to re-enter the job market, an argument can be made that those without qualifications will do anything to protect their bread and are the most vulnerable to being coerced into wrongdoing,” Wicomb says.

The PPF strongly believes that South Africa deserves civil servants who are duly qualified, experienced, and patriotic.   To break the cycle of poor service delivery, the PPF says the following should be a prerequisite for public representatives and civil servants:
1. Professional, competent, and duly qualified persons must be appointed in the civil service.
2. The appointees must support the principles and policies of the administration
3. De-link appointments of the Directors General to the office term of the Minister. This will ensure continuity and senior public servants who serve at the behest of political leaders.
4. Public representatives must have a minimum qualification and have the ability to analyze budgets, understand technical reports and have a firm understanding of by-laws and how local government functions.
5. Civil servants and MPs, MPLs and councilors must enter into a performance management agreement with Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) which are annually reviewed.
6. Should KPI’s not be met, consequence management must be implemented, and persons removed

Issued by Ngokwethu Communication on behalf of Progressive Professionals Forum