By Staff Reporter
There has been very little visible improvement in the performance of public servants despite training and upskilling programmes, according to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration.
During a briefing from the Public Service and Administration Department and its entities, committee members expressed concern about ethics and the prolonged disciplinary processes in the public service. They questioned whether lifestyle audits and disciplinary investigations translated into accountability.
Members believe finalising disciplinary cases still takes too long, eroding public trust.
“The department acknowledged the delays in finalising disciplinary cases. It informed members that a new national database system for disciplinary cases is underway, which will help identify and reduce bottlenecks and financial losses due to prolonged suspensions,” the committee said in a statement.
The entities attending the briefing included the Public Service Commission (PSC), the National School of Government (NSG), the Government Employee Medical Scheme (and the Centre for Public Service Innovation.
They discussed their performance plans for the 2025/26 financial year and strategic plans for 2025 – 2030. Government departments submit these plans to parliamentary committees to ensure accountability, transparency and effective resource management.
This enables committees to scrutinise departments’ performance and spending and hold them accountable to the public.
Committee chairperson Jan de Villiers reminded the meeting that during the State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the seventh administration’s priorities, including building a capable, ethical and developmental state and strengthening the role of the PSC.
The department said that its top policy priorities were improving government credibility through effective discipline management and the speedy resolution of suspensions, enforcing lifestyle audits and modernising service delivery systems using e-government.
The department was interrogated about the implementation of the professionalisation framework and if compliance monitoring was happening across the board.
Several members questioned the effectiveness of public sector training, especially training provided by the NSG and ongoing professionalisation efforts.
“The committee questioned the return on investment in training and upskilling, given the limited visible impact on service delivery or employee accountability, particularly in light of the high number of disciplinary cases across the public sector,” the statement read.
“Members emphasised the need for more effective mechanisms to measure the impact and improvement in performance following these training programmes.”
The PSC reports are meant to inform training interventions, especially in building an ethical and professional public service.
Some committee members highlighted career progression issues in the public sector, noting the frustrations of public servants with extensive workplace experience, but no formal qualifications, who were often overlooked for promotion.
The committee wanted to know how the NSG could support recognition of prior learning, especially for older employees with substantial experience. It called on the NSG to centrally coordinate tracking education levels, upskilling and productivity in the public service.
The department undertook to provide written responses to all questions.
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