35% of senior government officials not qualified for their jobs

The DA says it will write to the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) to request an investigation into reports that nearly 35% of senior managers employed by national and provincial government departments do not have the required qualifications and credentials for the positions they occupy.

The information was revealed by Minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu in a written response to a parliamentary question posed by the DA.

“According to information from (Personal and Salary System) Persal as at 15 February 2021, there are currently a total of 9,477 senior managers employed in the public service. Out of this total, 3,301 members do not have the required qualifications,” Mchunu was quoted as saying.

“However it needs to be stated that many departments do not capture the qualification information on Persal and therefore the information in the tables below are skewed. The information also excludes the Department of Defence and State Security Agency.”

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According to DA public enterprises spokesperson Michele Clarke on Monday, the main culprits are the departments of agriculture, land reform and rural development with 227 staff members, the police service with 228, justice and constitutional development with 189, trade, industry and competition with 128, and environment, forestry and fisheries with 107 senior managers that do not have the necessary qualifications.

Middle management positions in the national government typically pay between R779,802 and R922,750, with senior management earning between R1,078,267 and R1,974,067, depending on their level of employment.

“How much longer must South Africa suffer under this incompetence? Some of these are key to the country’s economic and food security, yet cadre deployment is more important to the ANC government than good governance and the wellbeing of its people,” said Clarke.

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The party has called on South Africans to read and comment on its End Cadre Deployment Bill which seeks to enforce the appointment of civil servants to be wholly based on merit and not political loyalty.

All comments on the bill must be emailed to speaker@parliament.gov.za and copied to leon.schreiberei@gmail.com before the end of April.

Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde