Cape Town – Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi says recently amended National Treasury regulations are helping government to flag civil servants who are doing business with the State.
The Minister said this when she tabled the department’s Budget Vote speech in the Old Assembly Chamber on Wednesday.
On 1 February 2017, National Treasury amended the registration process for prospective suppliers to be registered on the Central Supplier Database (CSD), with the aim of prohibiting public service employees from being registered.
“During the registration process, all suppliers are matched against the PERSAL system to establish if they are public service employees or not.
“If a match is obtained, the person is flagged and is then required to provide proof that he or she is not a public service employee,” the Minister said.
The Minister said the Central Supplier Database has already assisted the department and the National Treasury to identify public servants who were already conducting business with the State.
She said in January, the department forwarded letters to Executive Authorities, identifying those officials that are registered on the Central Supplier Database and those who are conducting business with an organ of State, to create awareness on the transitional arrangements.
“In March this year, we matched the Central Supplier Database information with PERSAL data.
“A total number of 11 516 public officials were found to be registered on the Central Supplier Database and were therefore in a position to perform business with an organ of State.
“As at the end of February 2017 and for the period 1 October 2016 to 28 February 2017, a total of 2 536 employees, who were registered on the Central Supplier Database, have resigned from the Public Service.
“We are currently following up with departments to assess if there are any remaining public servants who have not resigned from the companies they were associated with,” Minister Muthambi said.
More public servants submitting financial disclosure forms on time
The Minister said, meanwhile, that the number of public servants who are submitting financial disclosure forms has gone up since the inception of the Financial Disclosure Framework in 1999.
The Minister said that progress was recorded during the 2016/17 financial year, wherein five provinces and 35 national departments achieved a 100% submission rate of financial disclosure forms.
“This is the highest submission rate by both the national and provincial departments since the inception of the Financial Disclosure Framework in 1999.
“For the financial year ending 30 April 2016, 92% of Senior Managers filed their disclosures on time.
“The introduction of the eDisclosure, an electronic format of submitting financial disclosures, has assisted in increasing compliance rate,” Minister Muthambi said. – SAnews.gov.za
