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The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration today resolved to push ahead with processing the Public Service Commission (PSC) Bill.

This followed a legal opinion on the constitutionality of the Bill that the committee received on Tuesday from Parliament’s Legal Services unit. Last week, the committee held oral public hearings in which concerns about the constitutionality of some aspects of the Bill were raised.

Committee Chairperson, Mr Jan de Villers, said the committee reached a potential fork in the road with the options set out in the presentation. “The committee recognises that there might be a constitutional risk in terms of the extension of the PSC’s mandate to local authorities and state-owned entities (SOEs) but remains convinced that the Constitution intends that there should be one public service that includes all public servants in the country.”

The Chairperson said the uncertainty around the constitutionality is only one aspect of the Bill. “The Bill is not only about extending the PSC’s mandate to local government and SOEs, which may be potentially unconstitutional, so we will push ahead. Should constitutional challenges exist in the future, that process will have to unfold. The committee is satisfied with the views of the state law advisor and the PSC stating that the idea of a single public service is entrenched in the Constitution and with that a PSC that will exercise oversight over all public officials,” he said.

“The law is not always clear,” said Mr de Villiers. “Drafters of the Constitution could not have foreseen what we practically have to deal with today with municipalities having serious service delivery issues. There is a fear that the PSC will meddle in the affairs of local authorities, but it is not about meddling. It is also about creating laws and practices that govern the appointment of officials working for the state, which must be merit-based and able to do their jobs. That is why this piece of legislation is vital.”

Next week, the committee will start the clause-by-clause deliberations.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the chairperson of the portfolio committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan de Villers