The Public Service Commission together with the National Planning Commission, the National School of Government and the UNDP has today entered into an agreement on a joint programme to contribute to government’s efforts to build state capability over the next five years.
The four organizations share a common vision of achieving excellence and good governance in the public service sector. Therefore, it envisaged that through this partnership the parties will deliver strong results and draw South Africa closer to achieving a state that is well-governed by effectively coordinated state institutions as recommended by the National Development Plan (NDP). The parties will implement a series of joint activities in a form of three inter-related projects all aimed at strengthening capacities, introducing innovative practices, and creating an enabling environment for policy development.
Professionalisation of policy analysts/ planners
This project will contribute to the broader professionalisation programme in the public service by starting to professionalise one critical occupation. The project can then serve as a demonstration project to professionalise other occupations subsequently. The project will define the scope of work of the occupation as well as the entry requirements, the structured experience that policy analysts and planners must be exposed to and the continuous professional development requirements. Upon completion a number of members of the occupation will get professional certification and recognition. This work will be implemented through a partnership with the National School of Government.
Strengthening the capacity of the public service to use data and evidence in planning and implementation
It is often said that South Africa has good policies but poor implementation. This is incorrect. A policy cannot be implemented if the detailed implementation planning is not done, and the implementation capacity and context is not considered. A key outcome of the project will be proposals for enhancing planning and modelling capability and enhancing the planning system. Specific focus will be placed on strengthening district level planning.
Building strong and dynamic institutions built through improved public administration processes
Current public administration practice has not achieved the right balance between a rules-driven and values-driven administration. This project aims to influence the development of South African public administration practice to make the public service much more responsive, agile, effective and development-oriented. Public administration practice under each of the public administration principles in section 195 of the Constitution will be evaluated and the change that is required under each principle defined. The partners will establish a Committee of Experts and Change Champions drawn from different segments of society and former senior government officials.
