The budget allocation for the Department of Public Service and Administration for the 2025/26 financial year serves as a roadmap for transformation, focusing on ethical leadership and efficient service delivery, Minister of Public Service and Administration Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi told the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Tabling the budget for his department, the minister said that, despite having the smallest departmental budget (R564.72 million, including the Centre for Public Service Innovation), his department is delivering high-impact reforms. He urged Parliament to support the budget to ensure continued progress towards a responsive and professional public service.
However, during the Budget Vote Debate on Votes 11 (DPSA), 7 (the National School of Government) and 12 (the Public Service Commission), members of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration shared some strong views on the state of the public service.
“We must be serious about the public service”
Committee Chairperson Mr Jan de Villiers used his speaking time to call for the urgent professionalisation of the public service, describing it as the most critical enabler of national progress. “Everyone agrees that things are not going as planned. Crime, unemployment and poverty are soaring, and inequality remains unacceptable,” Mr de Villiers said. “With all the talk about infrastructure, education, healthcare and economic recovery, what is overlooked is the very mechanism by which government acts: the public service.”
He stressed that no policy or strategy can succeed without a professional, merit-based and non-partisan public administration. “What is a government if not the public service – the people who implement decisions and policy? Without them, nothing can be achieved,” he said. Mr de Villiers said that Chapter 10 of the Constitution already outlines a clear vision for a non-partisan and accountable public administration – a vision reaffirmed in the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) founding principles.
Calling the budget vote “pivotal”, Mr de Villiers said that the department must uphold professional standards, the National School of Government (NSG) must build public sector skills, and the Public Service Commission (PSC) must ensure accountability. “If we are serious about the future of South Africa, we must be serious about the public service,” he said.
Rising to support the budget, Ms Wesiwe Tikana-Gxotiwe, a committee member representing the African National Congress (ANC), welcomed progress in digital transformation, human resource innovation and continuous learning. She also commended the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) for prioritising mental wellness. “A healthy worker is a productive worker,” she said, adding that the budget lays the foundation for sustainable delivery and modern governance.
Another committee member, Mr Thokozani Langa (Inkatha Freedom Party), expressed support for the budget, stressing the importance of technical competency in government. He also commended the government’s anti-corruption efforts, including lifestyle audits and financial disclosures. Mr Langa, however, expressed concern about the NSG’s small budget, which is not aligned with its growing mandate. “Treasury must recognise that while the NSG can generate revenue, this is not sufficient to meet its responsibilities across the entire public sector,” he said.
While expressing support for the vision of a capable, ethical and developmental state under the Government of National Unity, Ms Leah Knott, representing the Democratic Alliance in the committee, questioned the sincerity of this vision. “How can anyone take this seriously when ministers implicated in corruption remain untouchable and while whistleblowers face punishment?” she asked, calling for genuine accountability that applies equally across party lines. She also flagged the funding allocated to the DPSA and PSC as inadequate, given the expectation that they must deliver on critical reforms. Ms Knott noted a 7% real-term budget cut to the DPSA as well as staff shortages at the PSC, which is expected to oversee entire provinces with as few as five to ten officials.
“A budget too far removed from the people”
The two largest opposition parties represented in the committee – the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – both rejected the budget, calling it too far removed from the lived experiences of South Africans.
Mr Japhta Malinga (MKP), who is also a member of the committee, rejected the proposed budget for the DPSA, including allocations to the NSG and the PSC, as a “moral imperative”. “This is not political theatre. It is a moral necessity,” he said, calling it “diplomatic misdirection” and rhetorical promises about professionalising the public service. In reality, said Mr Japhta, the public service is plagued by exclusion and inefficiency. He cited some examples of dysfunction, such as thousands of “ghost workers” in the North West who continue to draw salaries from a fiscally constrained government. “There are no arrests, no disciplinary action, no accountability – just silence, like a grave,” he said.
Also singling out the PSC, Mr Malinga bemoaned the chronic underfunding of this critical “ethical watchdog” of the public sector. “Year after year, its budget is limited. This is not discipline – it is sabotage,” he said.
Echoing these concerns, Ms Sixolise Gcilishe, who represents the EFF on the committee, called the budget a betrayal of the working class, adding that the budget reinforces elite privilege and corruption under the guise of transformation. Ms Gcilishe condemned the NSG for spending over 50% of its budget on administration instead of training. “It costs more to organise a workshop than to teach,” she said. Ms Gcilishe also took aim at the NSG’s digital training effort, calling it a “scam for the elite”, as many rural civil servants lack access to reliable internet. With only 54 000 individuals targeted for training this year out of a public service of over one million, she also questioned the government’s sincerity, calling it a case of “digital delusion”, not a solution.
While views were mixed during the debate, there was one shared acknowledgement – that the future of South Africa depends on a capable, professional, and ethical public service – not just in rhetoric, but in policy, budget and action.
Alicestine October
3 July 2025
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