Parliament, Tuesday, 27 February 2024 – The National Assembly (NA) has at its hybrid plenary sitting today passed the Public Service Amendment Bill, Public Administration Management Amendment Bill, and the Statistics Amendment Bill. The Public Service Amendment Bill proposes amendments to the Public Service Act to give effect to various court decisions affecting public administration. The Bill also seeks to provide for the devolution of administrative powers to heads of department and an alternative mechanism for recovering overpaid remuneration and benefits. It also seeks to clarify the role of the Public Service Commission in respect of grievances. The Public Administration Management Amendment Bill, on the other hand, seeks to amend the Public Administration Management Act of 2014, to provide, among other things, for the transfer and secondment of employees; to provide clarification on the prohibition against employees conducting business with organs of state; to provide for the National School of Government to be constituted as a national department; to provide for the removal of employment disparities across the public administration, and to provide for the coordination of the mandating process for collective bargaining in the public administration. Lastly, the Statistics Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Statistics Act and proposes to introduce ten-year intervals between national censuses instead of the five-year intervals currently provided for in the law. Once passed and implemented, the Bill is expected to strengthen coordination and enhance collaboration among data producers and data users by creating an enabling environment for the production and consumption of quality statistics. The Bill also provides for the establishment of statistics units by organs of state, the submission of annual statistics plans and annual reports by organs of state and the establishment of the Statistical Clearing House to promote the functions and objectives of the National Statistics System. The three Bills will now be sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. ISSUED BY PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo
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