School of Government on the cards

Friday, May 10, 2013

Pretoria – Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says a School of Government will be established before the end of October this year.

“This school will educate, train, professionalise and develop a highly capable, skilled, socially and committed public service cadreship, with a sense of national duty and a common culture and ethos,” she said.

Addressing the Tshwane Branch of the Black Management Forum last night, Sisulu said the new School of Government will seek to nurture a culture of professionalism and innovative thinking within the public service, and serve as a catalyst for reform, modernisation and performance-oriented the public service.

Sisulu said all public servants, regardless of their political orientation, religious background, rank or seniority, will attend the school.

With regard to corruption in the public service, Sisulu warned that double dipping by public servants will not be allowed.

“Public servants earning an additional salary to that of the main public salary on state time, these practices will no longer be allowed,” she said.

“The space that exists in the public service is specifically for people who are employed to provide government services. It was never intended to grow private wealth.

“We are in full agreement with our citizens that the mismanagement, corruption and fraud of public resources in the public service are unacceptable, and we have to deal with it contemptuously through application of law, systems and organisational change,” said Sisulu.

The minister said the Anti-Corruption Bureau for the public service will spread the net of detecting, investigating and preventing anti-corruption and fraud in the public service.

She said the bureau will work closely with other law enforcement and corruption busting agencies of government such as the Special Investigation Unit, Asset Forfeiture, Financial Investigation Unit and the newly established Office of the Chief Procurement Office in the National Treasury. – SAnews.gov.za