PSC sees surge in reports of irregular appointments, qualifications in government

The Public Service Commission (PSC) says it is witnessing an increase in complaints regarding personnel practices in government departments, including irregular staff appointments, transfers, and qualifications of those appointed to various positions.

These complaints, reported through the national anti-corruption hotline, saw an increase during the first, second, and third quarters of 2023.

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PSC Commissioner Anele Gxoyiya briefed the media on the quarterly Pulse of the Public Service bulletin on Monday. The bulletin covered the period between 1 October and 31 December 2023.

PSC on payments of service providers

Gxoyiya bemoaned the National Treasury’s late publication of the third-quarter report on how government departments were doing in paying service providers on time.

“Recently, the National Treasury made the information available very late, and we are unable to publish that information. They have not yet made the information for the third quarter of last year available,” said Gxoyiya.

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“It’s a problem for us at the Public Service Commission. We believe that for the sake of transparency, we need to make available the information that we have at our disposal regarding the payment of service providers.”

According to the PSC, the total number of invoices paid by the national departments during the third quarter was 33 394, with a total value of R1 billion.

“These are the invoices that were paid after the prescribed 30 days, indicating delays in payment to service providers. It constitutes non-compliance,” emphasised Gxoyiya.

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Out of the 40 national departments, only 17 paid service providers within the prescribed time. This was an improvement from the first quarter when only 15 departments complied.

“Although we cannot determine the exact number of invoices and their value with the information at our disposal, we encourage departments to pay suppliers within 30 days as prescribed in the PFMA. We also call on accounting officers to institute consequence management for those who fail to adhere to this policy directive.

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“For the remaining 23 departments that were unable to comply with timely payments, it’s a problem because it means R1 billion worth of money was retained by the departments when it was supposed to be in circulation from service providers who are often struggling to pay their own employees due to late payments by departments.”

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development was the main culprit in this area.

“The very entities tasked with enforcing the law and ensuring compliance are the ones flouting those very provisions, which is a cause for concern.”

Provinces

The total number of invoices paid after 30 days by provincial departments was 48 000, with a value of R5.9 billion.

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The North West Province reported the highest number of invoices that were settled late, with 14 676 invoices amounting to R759 million.

In the Eastern Cape, 12 757 invoices worth R1.7 billion were settled late. The province also recorded the highest number of unpaid invoices, totaling R2.7 billion, as of the end of September 2023.

Although Limpopo recorded the least number of invoices that were settled late, with 163 invoices worth R30 million, it did not receive any commendations from the commissioner.

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“We do not commend the province for this; there is room for improvement. We will only commend them when they report zero.”