Ethics Management in the Public
Service
Presentation to Portfolio Committee
21 October 2015
1
Outline of Presentation
• Introductory remarks
• Ethics management gaps
• Proposed amendments to the Public Service
Regulations
• E-Submission of financial disclosure forms by sms
members – 30 April 2015
• DPSA Implementation support
• Implementation Support Structures
• Ethics survey
2
Introductory remarks
• Areas covered in the previous presentation
– Existing ethics management measures
– Other legislative measures
– Public Service Integrity Management Framework
3
Ethics Management Gaps
• Non-compliance and weak implementation:
– Code of Conduct breaches;
– Submission rate of financial disclosure forms;
– Performance of other remunerative work without
permission;
– Inadequate institutional capacity to deal with unethical
conduct and corruption;
– Supply chain management procedures and processes are
not always adhered to; and
– Inconsistent application of disciplinary measures
4
Ethics Management Gaps
• Gaps in legal prescripts:
– Inconsistency regarding acceptance of gifts. Chapter 2 vs
Chapter 3 (Public Service Regulations) – No gifts vs gifts
that exceed the value of R350;
– Financial disclosures only applicable to senior managers.
5
Proposed Amendments to the Public
Service Regulations
• Chapter 2:- Conduct, Ethics and Anti-Corruption
 The Code of Conduct has, apart from technical amendments, been revised to prohibit employees from conducting business with any organ of state or to be a
director of a public or private company conducting business with an organ of state;
 include special focus on what constitutes ethical conduct that is expected from
employees;
 include specific provisions on obligations on employees who have been granted
permission to do outside remunerative work in terms of section 30 of the PSA.
 The Part on Financial Disclosures has substantial amendments that Expands the definition of “designated employees” to allow the MPSA to determine
employees/categories of employees to whom these provisions apply;
 Place an obligation on a HOD to keep a register of disclosures of such designated
non-SMS members;
 Require the disclosure of interests that include motor vehicles;
 Sets out a process of verification of the interests disclosed, steps to be taken in the
case of a conflict and reporting thereof.
6
Proposed Amendments to the Public
Service Regulations
 The Part on Anti-Corruption is new in its entirety and seeks
to Place certain anti-corruption functions on a HOD including
analyzing corruption risks, developing and implementing an anticorruption plan, establishing systems that allow employees to
report corruption, referring allegations of corruption to relevant
law enforcement authorities, establishing educational and
awareness programmes;
 Require EAs to designate Ethics Officers to promote integrity
and ethical behavior, assist employees on ethical matters and
identify and report unethical behavior and corrupt activities.
7
E-SUBMISSION OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS BY
SMS MEMBERS – 30 April 2015 (excludes those that submitted manually)
No. of SMS
National
Departments
National
Entities
Registered
%
Disclosed to EA
%
5227
4809
92%
3772
72%
721
690
96%
628
87%
Eastern Cape
814
618
76%
242
30%
Free State
383
323
84%
181
47%
Gauteng
785
781
99%
548
70%
KZN
665
624
94%
574
86%
Limpopo
533
511
96%
427
80%
Mpumalanga
341
312
91%
253
74%
Northern Cape
266
265
100%
248
93%
North West
330
330
100%
327
99%
Western Cape
376
376
100%
376
100%
10441
9639
92%
7576
8
73%
TOTAL
DPSA Implementation Support
• Implementation Support: Technical Assistance, Training and
Awareness on the Framework (since 2014/15):
Level
Number of sessions
National
1
Provincial
7
1 on 1 sessions
8 (SA Police Service, National Prosecuting Authority,
Special Investigating Unit, Department of Science and
Technology, Department of Public Works, DPSA and
Office of the Chief Justice)
9
DPSA Implementation Support
• Implementation Support: SAPS:
–
–
–
–
–
Conceptualisation
Hosting of internal workshop
Organisational development of ethics infrastructure
Assistance with Framework
Training material and development on ethics for new
recruits
10
DPSA Implementation Support
• Technical Assistance:
– Toolkits:
• Ethics Management Plan
• Ethics Risk Assessments
– Guides:
• Guide on Managing Other Remunerative Work
Performed Outside the Public Service
• Guide on Managing Gifts and Other Benefits in the
Public Service
• Guide on Managing Ethics in the Public Service
11
DPSA Implementation Support
• Technical Assistance:
• Developed training material on ethics management together
with the National School of Government:
–
–
–
–
–
Ethics Management for Local Government
Ethics Management Workshop for National and Provincial Government
Ethics Module to use in senior management induction
Ethics Workshop to use for Ethics Officer Training
Ethics Module to use in Compulsory Induction Programme for Public
Service
• The first training on the Ethics Management Workshop
for National and Provincial Government took place in
August 2015.
12
DPSA Implementation Support
• Technical Assistance:
– Anti-Corruption training courses were developed on NQF
levels 4, 5 and 6.
– Anti-Corruption training was provided to 5342 anticorruption practitioners and public servants.
13
Implementation Support Structures
• Support structures created:
– National Ethics Officer Forum (March 2015): To provide a platform
for interaction and exchange of knowledge. Focus – strengthening
capacity of practitioners to implement anti-corruption and ethics
management strategies and policies.
– Public Sector Anti-Corruption Working Group: The South African
government has adopted a multi-agency approach coordinated by
the Anti-Corruption Task Team, supported by a comprehensive anticorruption architecture of which this programme is one.
– Objective: To build a transparent and accountable public sector that
is ethical and gives effect to Government's anti-corruption agenda.
14
Implementation Support Structures
• Public Sector Anti-Corruption Working Group :
– Key deliverables:
• To develop a Public Sector Anti-Corruption Strategy, to develop a system
to support investigations and discipline management (irt conflicts of
interests detected) and to improve suitability and vetting (ethics
screening).
•
To collaborate with civil society and business to forge beneficial strategies
to prevent and combat corruption.
•
To strengthen capacity in the Public Sector by establishing a learning
network, to broaden the knowledge base of practitioners and to improve
the general ethics of employees.
•
To coordinate South Africa’s international obligations pertaining to anticorruption work.
15
Ethics Survey
• Baseline: Will be able to test effectiveness of policies and
measures and assess the impact thereof on the ethical culture
of the public service.
• DPSA, SA Local Government Association and Department of
Cooperative Governance undertook: 2 phases: 1) focus group,
2) online survey.
• Online survey closed 21 August. Analysis will be done by
EthicsSA.
16
Ethics Survey: Spheres of Government
Category
%
N
National government
41.4%
3 254
Provincial government
40.9%
3 218
Municipalities
17.8%
1 397
Total
7 869
17
• THANK YOU
• QUESTIONS
18