Minister signals move towards single public service

(Image: GCIS)

Speaking during the Governance and Administration cluster media briefing on Monday, Padayachie said currently there was a "great amount of work" being done to ensure the idea of a single public service was realised.

"So we are quite serious this year, we will advance the work to deliver on our commitment to deliver a single public service for our country," he said. He later told BuaNews that authorities believed there was sufficient capacity and institutional readiness to implement the plan.

The idea of the single public service has been around for some time but it was put aside by Parliament and the former Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi due to its massive administrative implications.

Dual public service

Currently, South Africa has a dual public service. National and provincial administrations are governed by a single Act of Parliament and local administration by another. Different conditions of service, codes of conduct, levels of remuneration, pension funds and labour bargaining processes also apply.

Padayachie said one of the options available was to streamline legislation to ensure that officials could move from one structure of government to another and how this would be managed would form part of deliberations.

The split in public administration means that it is not possible for officials to move easily from the public service to local administration and vice versa without resigning their present positions, pension funds and medical aid schemes.

"Currently, we [have] several pension schemes and we need to ensure that we put in place mechanisms that will allow us to manage the movement of officials from one arm to another. When I look at the amount of work that is being done, I think there is a possibility for us to go ahead," he said.

Aim is to work as one unit

At the heart of the initiative was the promotion of integration among the three different spheres of government so they can work as one unit. This would mean that there is a single legislation and that would require amendments to the current Act that governs local, provincial and national government.

Said Padayachie: "We want to see how we can ensure that there is an amendment to ensure that these structures work together in coherence ... our goal is to ensure that we have single public service that is pulling in one direction."

He said the move towards a single public service should not be seen as an attempt to change the Constitution but as another way of ensuring integrated service delivery at all government institutions.

Subsequent debates would focus on the measures that would need to be taken to ensure that amendments were made to the current legislation without causing divisions and discontent and resistance.