Parliament, Thursday, 27 March 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration on Wednesday called on departments in the Gauteng government to heed the recommendations of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and to do more to recover money lost through misconduct.
The committee met with the Premier of Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi, and the senior management of the provincial administration as part of its week-long oversight programme in North West and Gauteng.
On Wednesday, the committee heard from the PSC’s Commissioner in the province that, out of the 17 reports the Commission published between the 2016/17 and 2023/24 financial years in response to complaints and grievances, the PSC made 106 recommendations. The relevant departments only implemented 17. The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements and the Department of Infrastructure, respectively, received five and 25 recommendations from the PSC during this period. None of the recommendations were implemented. Members were informed that the PSC Commissioner holds quarterly meetings with the Director-General and has separate meetings with the Premier to discuss these matters.
Noting this with concern, the committee stated that this is why the Public Service Commission Bill, recently approved by the National Assembly, is so important. The Bill, among other things, will give the Commission more “teeth” and make it more independent.
During the meeting, Committee Chairperson Mr Jan de Villiers stated that the oversight visit is intended to help the committee understand the issues affecting good governance in the province. He said there is huge wastage in the public sector wage bill on many fronts. He said this includes employees who do not work the hours they are contracted to work, those who do business with the state while in the state’s employ and those who receive government grants despite being public servants.
“This Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration agrees that this wastage in the public sector wage bill and specifically ghost employees creates unnecessary expenses for taxpayers and stops service delivery to people who deserve it. It also stands in the way of creating a professional, independent and merit-based public service. So, members of this portfolio committee decided to prioritise these efforts and to conduct oversight over what is being done to identify ghost employees and to reduce wastage,” said the Chairperson.
He emphasised that the oversight visit is not intended to police the province but rather to identify the bottlenecks and challenges the provincial administration faces in public service issues and provide support where possible.
The committee heard that the provincial government has been cleaning up its Persal system, particularly in the provincial departments of education and health, to determine if there has been double dipping and to act correctively if this is the case. The Director-General undertook to provide the committee with more details in a report. Members heard that the issue of staff productivity has been a concern, but were assured that the provincial government can account for every employee in its service.
The committee was also informed about the provincial government’s integrity management status. Members were encouraged to hear that the province has established the Gauteng Ethics Advisory Board (GEAB), which comprises the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Office of the Public Protector and the PSC, among others, to strengthen partnerships and promote integrity in the fight against corruption. Premier Lesufi informed members that the GEAB comprises people with a demonstrated commitment to clean government.
The committee welcomed the province’s efforts on lifestyle audits and noted that the Premier led by example, as he and all members of his executive council underwent these audits. Members were encouraged to hear that the province is now conducting these audits for all senior management members and officials involved in supply chain management.
On submission of financial disclosures, the committee welcomed the province’s compliance rate of 99.7% of senior management members’ disclosures in 2024. Members, however, were concerned about the 152 officials who were found to be doing business with the state; most of them (124) were recorded in the provincial Department of Education.
The committee also noted with concern that R49.4 million was lost due to financial mismanagement, and the recovery of this money is very low. Members heard from the PSC that of the R49.4 million, about R19 million is deemed unrecoverable and urged the provincial government to find ways to recoup this money.
The committee was also concerned about the only 39% (184 of 471) disciplinary cases that have been finalised and wanted more details on the costs and why it is taking so long. The provincial government undertook to provide the committee with a written report to clarify the issues raised. Mr de Villiers informed the delegation that there has been a recent breakthrough in labour law, creating an opportunity to establish more independent disciplinary panels with independent and impartial chairpersons. He suggested that this is another avenue to explore to improve disciplinary processes.
The committee also heard from the PSC that 95.3% of senior management members across provincial departments possessed the necessary qualifications for their positions, and only seven departments had verified the qualifications of all these people. Committee members urged the provincial administration to do more to verify qualifications.
Today, the committee will visit the Kalafong Hospital and the Ga-Rankuwa Thusong Service Centre to assess human resource management practices that impact the efficiency of services.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION, MR JAN DE VILLIERS.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s media officer:
Name: Alicestine October (Ms)
Cell: 083 665 4345
E-mail: aoctober@parliament.gov.za
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