Cape Town – Public Service and Administration Minister Collins Chabane says his department, in partnership with National Treasury and the Presidency, has formed a task team to deal with the establishment of the new departments.
Speaking to journalists in Cape Town ahead of delivering his Budget Vote in Parliament on Thursday, Minister Chabane said his department will do its best to ensure that the new departments are well resourced in an accountable manner.
The announcement comes at the back of media reports that compared the quality of service delivery versus what is perceived to be a bloated public service.
Minister Chabane said these reports were “mischievously” linked to the establishment of new departments.
“For this reason, where applicable, we will consider identifying and transferring various units doing related work – and currently existing in other departments – to the newly established departments.
“However, where certain professional skills and experience are required, we will create the necessary space for departments to source in high quality people to fill those posts,” he said.
The minister also said that by doing so, this will ensure that the public purse is spent on actual service delivery instead of increasing the wage bill.
Minister to meet ordinary civil servants
The minister said professionalising the public service is still a top priority for government, as this is linked to improving the quality of service delivery.
He said that as the National Development Plan (NDP) requires, the public service is key to the state’s main objective of improving the lives of all South Africans.
Minister Chabane said there is a need to reinvent how public servants work, and this requires professional and effectively coordinated and well managed state institutions with skilled servants.
“I will therefore embark on a national programme, after consulting with ministers and premiers, to speak directly to ordinary civil servants about how we can improve the way we work in order for them to deliver better services to our people.
“This process will be undertaken during September and October and will signal the start of a critical task of reinventing how we work as a department and how we work as public servants,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
