Cape Town - The DA wants Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet and her department to assist departments to take appropriate disciplinary action against senior managers who cannot prove they obtained permission to engage in paid work outside the public service.
This comes after Kiviet revealed, in a response to parliamentary questions from DA MP Mimmy Gondwe, that the Public Service Commission found 379 members of the senior management service (SMS) were engaged in other remunerative work.
Kiviet said only 203 SMS members provided proof that they obtained prior permission to engage in other remunerative work.
“The national departments had in total 212 SMS members who were engaged in other remunerative work during the period under review.
“Only 128 of these SMS members provided proof of prior approval to engage in other remunerative work. The other 84 did not provide such proof, which could either mean that they engaged in other remunerative work without obtaining prior permission to do so, or it could have been oversight on their part,” she said.
Kiviet also said the total number of SMS members who were able to provide proof that they sought permission prior to engaging in other paid work was a revised total of 216.
“The majority of these SMS members (128) were found in the national departments. Provincial departments has a revised total of 88 SMS members.”
The minister added that those SMS members not able to provide proof that they sought permission prior to engaging in other paid work was a revised total of 161.
“Of this number 84 was from the national departments and a revised total of 77 from provincial departments.”
Kiviet’s responses showed that the senior managers pocketed R45 049 361 10 during the 2021-2022 financial year.
“Of this total, R31 385 858 50 was generated by SMS members in the National Departments and National Government Components. The amount of remuneration generated by SMS members in the provincial departments was R13 663 502 62.”
The Western Cape government had a total of 35 SMS members who were engaged in other remunerative work during the period under review.
“Three of these SMS members did not provide proof of prior approval to engage in other remunerative work.
“They are from the Departments of Education; Provincial Treasury and Transport and Public Works,” she said.
“The three affected SMS members who did not provide proof of approval to engage in other remunerative work generated a combined total amount of R26 057 47 during the period under review,” Kiviet said.
She said various actions were taken as a result of the Public Service Commission’s findings and recommendations.
“The actions taken were not limited to infractions relating to other remunerative work, but to non-compliance with the Financial Disclosure Framework in general.”
Gondwe said the DA was calling on Kiviet and her department to assist government departments in ensuring that the appropriate disciplinary action was taken against all senior managers who could not prove they obtained permission to engage in other paid work in contravention of the Public Service Act as and the Public Service Regulations.
“Also of particular concern, the reply by the DPSA further indicated that disciplinary action was taken against only a total of 114 senior managers who could not prove they obtained the required permission to engage in other remunerative work,” she said.
“Unless urgent action is taken to address this growing practice of engaging in other remunerative work without obtaining permission from the relevant EA, conflicts of interest, and possibly corruption, will be difficult to root out of the public service,” Gondwe added.
Cape Times