GCIS amongst top performing departments

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Cape Town – Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) was amongst the state organs that were mentioned for the quality of their management practices across the national and provincial spheres.

This is according to assessment results that were presented to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Performance, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation on Wednesday.

Announcing the results of the 2013 performance management assessment, the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation’s programme manager for management performance monitoring, Ismail Akhalwaya, said GCIS demonstrated full-compliance in one of the four key performance areas (KPAs) that the department used to assess good practices.

The Assessments, which were launched in 2011, were introduced to assess and tackle weak administration that leads to poor service delivery in the areas of strategic management, governance accountability, financial management and human resource management.

“When it comes to recruitment and retention standards, the GCIS, the Northern Cape Roads and Public Works scored at level four.

“GCIS is the only department to meet equity targets and the only one that could fill vacancies within two months.

“GCIS also showed good practice in conducting exit interviews and an analysis of why staff leave,” he said.

Across the four key performance areas, a department that is fully compliant and doing things smartly is classified under level four, while the one that is fully compliant with legal/ regulatory requirements is listed under level three.

Those that are partially compliant are classified under level two, while the ones in the red – non-compliance with legal or regulatory requirements are scored under level one.

An eagle’s view of the results showed that GCIS was ranked sixth across national departments below Trade and Industry, Science and Technology, Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Environmental Affairs and Mineral Resources.

GCIS was also found to be fully compliant (level four) in the areas of strategic planning, management structure, audit committee, professional ethics, internal audit, risk management, delegations, management and diversity, disciplinary cases and cash flow.

It was found to be fully compliant with legal or regulatory requirements in the area of paying invoices within 30 days.

Government departments are improving

The assessments, which are conducted annually, are used to zoom into key performance areas of 155 national and provincial departments.

“Noted improvements are evident when comparing the 2013 results to the 2012 results across most departments – in some areas of management however, there has not been significant improvement,” he said.

In 2013, 69 out of 155 departments were assessed as compliant or working smartly in at least half of the standards measured, as opposed to 59 in 2012.

Akhalwaya also said, however, that while there has been an improvement in many standards, more than half of all departments do not meet legal requirements in the areas of fraud prevention, HR planning, payment of suppliers, unauthorised, wasteful and fruitless expenditure.

“The National Treasury, the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development need to review regulatory frameworks or provide additional support in areas where the majority of departments do not comply.

“Executive authorities and accounting officers should ensure that their departments implement improvement plans to reach level four for all standards,” he said, adding that would be ideal. – SAnews.gov.za