Suspending officials ‘costs R50m a year’
ALMOST 1,560 public servants are on precautionary suspension, costing taxpayers more than R50m a year, Public Service Commissioner Richard Sizani said yesterday.
He said it was unacceptable that officials remained on precautionary suspension beyond the prescribed 60 days. This amounted to abuse, Mr Sizani told a round-table discussion in Pretoria.
Widespread disregard of elementary processes over appointments and the handling of grievances remained major obstacles in the creation of a professional public service, he said.
Mr Sizani committed the Public Service Commission to the compilation of a “fact sheet report” on policy matters, includ- ing appointments, affecting the creation of a professional public service. The report, meant for Parliament, would be out within three months.
Mr Sizani made the commitment after hearing presentations from several government departments about ministerial interference in appointments, and contract appointments made without following proper procedures.
He said officials were often suspended without reason, after which forensic experts were appointed at a cost of millions of rand to find justification for the suspension while the person was sitting at home and getting paid.
“We have told departments that it is unacceptable.
“It is abuse. We cannot have a dual system where people are staying at home and getting paid while the department brings in a contract worker that just continues in the job and government pays for two people.
“It is a waste of resources,” Mr Sizani said.
Representatives of the departments of labour; agriculture, fisheries and forestry; higher education, and human settlements expressed concern over the disregard of policies in the appointment of personnel.
One official told the round table that many appointees were “parachuted” into posts without having been screened or vetted to establish whether they had the necessary qualifications and skills required for the positions.
Some were paid at the level of a deputy director-general, having sidestepped processes other candidates had had to endure.
Mr Sizani admitted that there was often “political influence” in the appointment of people for “policy consideration”.
He said that after 1994 the country found itself in a period where there was political mistrust and it was necessary for politicians to influence control over certain aspects. “We need to let go of that. We need to introduce professionalism, we need quality and merit in appointments.”
The role of the South African Qualifications Authority also came under fire, with representatives claiming that they waited up to four months for qualification verifications.
Security clearance certificates also posed a major problem, with some people occupying a position for years, dealing with highly sensitive information, despite the department still waiting for the certificate.