Government vacancy rates affect service

IT CAN take up to three years for government departments to fill a funded post, with one department in the Free State having the highest vacancy rate , 68%.

Yesterday, Parliament’s portfolio committee on public service and administration said it was concerned about the continuing underachievement by government departments in filling vacant positions.

The Department of Public Service and Administration found that of the 115 provincial departments in total, including offices of premiers, 43 departments met the target while 72 departments had vacancy rates of higher than 10%.

Of these 72 departments, 12 had vacancy rates above 30% with the Free State department of social development having the highest vacancy rate of 68.24%.

The committee says that high vacancy rates in some departments “continue to be a major impediment to service”.

“The committee is of the view that for every position that is not filled, it is the people of South Africa that suffer, as the standard of services rendered are reduced to compensate for the vacancy,” said committee chairwoman Peace Mabe yesterday.

She said the committee remained “worried” that the average vacancy rate within the public service was standing at 14.25%, which was above the 10% average median.

“This is a concern primarily because the average has increased over the three quarters of 2014. The vacancy rate was 9.51% as of end of April 2014, rising to 14.25% by the end of January 2015,” said Mabe.

A Department of Public Service and Administration report on vacancy rates presented to the committee last week found that 17 national departments exceeded the sixmonth national target to fill a vacancy.

“Of these departments, the longest vacancy rate period appeared at the SAPS that featured a period of 36 months,” read the report.

The department also lists the Eastern Cape Transport Department, which took a “median” period of 36 months to fill a vacancy.

“It is unacceptable that some departments take up to 36 months to fill vacancies. The public service is meant to deliver essential services to the people, a majority of which are poor, and this turnaround time has a direct impact to the quality of services rendered,” said Mabe.

She said the committee was also alarmed that government departments continued to struggle to achieve 50% placement of women at senior management level, as well as 2% of people with disabilities across all levels.

“It is worrying that while women, at 57.6%, represent the biggest share of public service employees, this does not translate into more females in decision-making positions.

“The current 40.4% of women (at senior management level) should be improved without delay,” said Mabe.