Statement on the National Assembly’s passing of the Public Service Amendment Bill

The Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) welcomes the Public Service Amendment Bill for shifting HR and administrative authority to departmental heads and banning senior public servants from political office. However, PARI contends the Bill does not fully implement the 2022 Professionalisation Framework and fails to sufficiently prevent political corruption in the appointment of Heads of Department (HoDs).

• The Public Service Amendment Bill shifts authority for administration, appointments, and HR management from the executive authority of national or provincial departments to the departmental head, such as the Director-General for national departments. Additionally, the Bill prohibits senior public servants from holding political office to better separate political and administrative functions.
• PARI argues that the Bill is insufficient in implementing the 2022 Professionalisation Framework adopted by Cabinet. The institute suggests that the Bill leaves room for political corruption to influence the appointment of Heads of Department (HoDs), who could then use their new authority over recruitment and appointments to promote specific interests throughout the administrative hierarchy and into procurement decisions.
• PARI asserts that the goal of civil service reform should not be total depoliticisation, but rather the introduction of checks and balances in appointment and dismissal processes. This approach is intended to insulate the administration from political corruption while maintaining responsiveness to the democratic mandate.

APA

Public Affairs Research Institute (2024). Statement on the National Assembly’s passing of the Public Service Amendment Bill. https://pari.org.za/statement-the-public-service-amendment-bill-does-not-go-far-enough/

Chicago

Public Affairs Research Institute. Statement on the National Assembly’s passing of the Public Service Amendment Bill. 2024. https://pari.org.za/statement-the-public-service-amendment-bill-does-not-go-far-enough/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Public Affairs Research Institute |title=Statement on the National Assembly’s passing of the Public Service Amendment Bill |date=4 March 2024 |url=https://pari.org.za/statement-the-public-service-amendment-bill-does-not-go-far-enough/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{publicaffairsresearchinstitute2024statement, author = {{Public Affairs Research Institute}}, title = {{Statement on the National Assembly’s passing of the Public Service Amendment Bill}}, publisher = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://pari.org.za/statement-the-public-service-amendment-bill-does-not-go-far-enough/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }