The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Executive Council resolved to conduct a skills audit in government to ensure that public servants deliver higher quality public services to the people.
Addressing the Government Capacity and Performance Review Conference in Durban, on Monday, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said the skills audit has been conducted on municipal officials while the skills audit in government departments will be finalised in 2023.
“The Public Service will not be able to deliver higher quality public services to our citizens if public servants are not capable and competent. [The skills audit] will assist us to ascertain whether as the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Administration has the required skills set to deliver services to our people. The exercise is assisting us to know the skills in supply and the skills in demand,” the Premier said.
The audit for skills on municipal officials revealed training needs for senior managers in amongst others, financial management, strategic capability and leadership, risk management, change management, policy development and monitoring and evaluation.
“Our province has developed a Framework for Mentorship and Coaching to address the findings of the skills audit. Councillors are being capacitated on the complexities of the District Development Model through the Integrated Councillor Induction Programme and Sector Based Councillor Orientation Workshops.
“The capacity development of public servants has been conducted with 791 officials already trained. The repositioned Provincial Training Academy is prioritising key skills and capacity building interventions to improve service delivery in partnership with the National School of Governance and other institutions. Through this partnership, several training courses have taken place, including the course of Ethics, Theory of Change and related competencies,” Dube-Ncube said.
She said building capabilities is key to retooling the State for higher performance.
“We need to have a good cadre of public service that is desired in Singapore and other world-class economies that is proud to work for the State. A functional and integrated government requires a professional, responsive and meritocratic public service cadre that is obsessed with efficiency and citizen-focused delivery. To be able to lead a state that is capable of playing a developmental and transformative role, this public service must be immersed in the development agenda but must be insulated from undue political interference,” the Premier said.
She said the province was addressing corruption through the Provincial Anti-Corruption Implementation Plan.
In addition, the Office of the Premier, together with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), the Special Investigations Unit, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority are working together as a forum in conducting the ethics and anti-corruption awareness campaigns.
The Premier made these remarks during the three-day conference, which aimed at celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the National Development Plan (NDP).
Chapter 13 of the NDP commits the government to build its own capacity for the efficient and effective delivery of services and to close the trust deficit between the government and citizens.
The conference is centred on this commitment by the government over the last 10 years through the NDP. It seeks to ascertain the extent to which the government has manifested this commitment ten years later.
It brings together a variety of stakeholders working in the field of state capacity and government performance. This includes academics from across South African universities, researchers, public servants and cabinet leaders.
The conference is being hosted by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the National Planning Commission as well as the KwaZulu-Natal Office of the Premier.
