Parliament, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration today unanimously adopted the Public Service Commission (PSC) Bill.
This Bill aims to strengthen the Public Service Commission and make it more impartial and independent. It also extends the Commission’s powers to local government and public entities and will provide more legislative teeth to government efforts to professionalise the public service.
Introduced in the Sixth Parliament on 13 October 2023, the Bill was revived on 25 July 2024 when the National Assembly resolved that the House resumes proceedings on the Bill. The Bill seeks to regulate the process for the appointment of commissioners of the Commission. It also provides for the establishment of the Secretariat of the Commission to support the work of the PSC.
Committee Chairperson, Mr Jan de Villiers, said today’s adoption of the Bill is an important step in the fight against cadre deployment, professionalising the state and creating a merit-based public service because the government cannot deliver the services our people need without professionals. As historically a part of the Department of Public Service and Administration, this hamstrung the PSC fulfilling its constitutionally mandated function of being an independent oversight body that looks after personnel and staffing issues in the public service without fear, favour or prejudice.
“To date, the PSC has had to rely on national government to ensure that it has both an adequate staffing component and budget. This has impacted on the functioning and perception of the PSC’s independence. Now, the Bill introduces a Secretariat as a separate staffing mechanism for the PSC, divorced from national government, to strengthen the entity’s independence,” the Chairperson explained.
“Importantly, the PSC Bill is in line with foundational principles of the Statement of Intent of the 2024 Government of National Unity, and specifically principle number 9 which commits all parties in the GNU to uphold a professional, merit-based, non-partisan, developmental public service that puts people first."
The committee noted that this Bill and other legislative amendments through the Public Service Amendment Bill and the Public Administration Management Amendment Bill that Parliament approved will help ensure meaningful improvements across the public sector.
“It is not lost on me that throughout the process in the committee, it has been non-partisan and there was no objection from any committee member in terms of what we are trying to do,” said the Chairperson, thanking members and stakeholders. “It shows that there are certain issues we can all agree about.”
The Bill will now be referred to the National Assembly for consideration.
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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