Pretoria - The Public Service Commission (PSC) has confirmed it is conducting a probe into more than 2 000 senior government employees not in possession of the relevant qualifications.
PSC chairperson Professor Somadoda Fikeni made this revelation after the DA’s Mimmy Gondwe had asked the commission to investigate the matter last month.
In his reply to Gondwe, Fikeni said the PSC had corresponded with the office of the Acting Minister of Public Service and Administration Thulas Nxesi, to provide it with particulars of 2 349 public servants who did not have the qualifications for the positions that they held.
“We are still awaiting correspondence from the office of the acting minister,” Fikeni said. He promised Gondwe that he would keep her informed on progress in the probe.
Gondwe had asked the commission to probe the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa and the office of Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
The Presidency has 16 officials while Zondo’s office has seven.
The probe followed Nxesi’s revelation that more than 2 000 senior officials did not have qualifications for the positions they occupied in national and provincial governments.
The SAPS, under Minister Bheki Cele, had the highest number, 214, while the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Service, under Minister Ronald Lamola, accounted for 144. The National Treasury had 63 officials who did not have the required qualifications.
In the provincial governments, Health, the premier’s offices and Education top the list with officials who don’t have the requisite qualifications.
In Gauteng, the office of former premier David Makhura was in the top 3, while in the Western Cape, the office of Premier Alan Winde occupied the first spot. Makhura’s office, however, had the highest number compared with other provinces. Gauteng Health leads the pack with 50 officials, Education under former MEC Panyaza Lesufi has 33, and Makhura had 30 such officials in his office.
The provincial Treasury led by former MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko follows closely, with 26 other departments having lower numbers.
An almost similar trend in Health was found in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.
In the Eastern Cape, the office of Premier Oscar Mabuyane has four officials while the key departments of Education, Sport and Social Development have higher numbers. In the Free State, the corruption-riddled agriculture department has 16 officials, education 14, health 13, while the office of Premier Sisi Ntombela has 14 officials.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the office of Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube also has 14 officials while the Education Department tops the list with 28; Transport, provincial Treasury and Economic Development, and Environmental Affairs have 19, 17 and 15 respectively.
In Limpopo, while health has 34, education has 23; co-operative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs has 17.
The provincial transport and community safety and public works, roads and infrastructure have 14 and 13 respectively.
Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha’s office has seven officials; other departments have five and under officials.
In the North West, the Treasury under Finance MEC Motlalepula Rosho topped the list with 21 officials, public works and roads, 17, and agriculture and rural development 12.
The office of Premier Bushy Maape has 11, education has 10 and health seven.
In Mpumalanga, health has 25, education and human settlements each have 14, while public works, roads and transport has 12. The office of Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane and Treasury each has eight officials.
In the Northern Cape, health, education and economic development and tourism each have 10 officials, while Premier Dr Zamani Saul’s office and the agriculture department have seven each. Other departments were under six and lower.
In the Western Cape, as Winde tops the list with 14, his health department has 11, education 10 and transport seven. Other departments have four and lower.
But, according to the Department of Public Service and Administration, at a provincial level, the department with the highest number of senior managers with no qualifications were the Eastern Cape Department of Education followed by the Limpopo Department of Health.
Pretoria News