Mandatory skills training for top state job candidates
SENIOR government officials who wish to secure a top state job will, from next year onwards, have no choice but to undergo a pre-entry course to ensure they are competent for that post.
The Department of Public Service and Administration and the National School of Government have developed, designed and finalised an online course for entry into a senior management service post as part of their compulsory capacity development and the minimum entry requirements into top management. Senior management service includes directors, chief directors, deputy directors-general and directors-general.
According to the department, the course, which will take up to 120 hours, will be open for private and public sector applicants, and the pre-entry certificate requirement for entering the public service’s senior management service will come into effect from April next year.
The course will be offered to senior and middle managers with five to eight years’ experience with undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications.
It aims to strengthen the recruitment process at the senior management service level, and to ensure that senior managers are competent in their jobs. The course is applicable to public servants and citizens who wish to apply for a position in the senior management service of the public service.
According to the department, one of the challenges identified in the National Development Plan (NDP) was a skills deficit in the public service, as well as a lack of skills transfer among employees, which has resulted in an uneven performance at local, provincial and national levels of government.
As part of attempts to address the challenges, the NDP recommended development of mentoring and peer support mechanisms as one of the critical interventions that could be used to build a professional public service.
Auditor-general Kimi Makwetu has found that vacancies and a lack of financial management skills in finance units often had a significant impact on the quality of financial statements.
Makwetu discovered, during audits for the 2018/19 financial year, that chief financial officers had been in their positions for an average of just over four-and-a-half years, while 16% of CFO positions were vacant.
The auditor-general has also called for employees in finance units of technical and vocational education and training colleges to be provided with adequate training and skills to prepare financial statements.