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

The Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) supports the Public Service Amendment Bill for shifting HR and appointment authority from executive authorities to departmental heads and barring senior public servants from political office. However, PARI argues the Bill is insufficient to fully implement the 2022 Professionalisation Framework, as it lacks enough checks and balances to prevent political corruption in the appointment of Heads of Department (HoDs) and subsequent procurement decisions.

• The Public Service Amendment Bill aims to separate political and administrative functions by transferring authority over 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.
• PARI contends that the Bill fails to fully realize the Professionalisation Framework adopted by Cabinet in 2022, leaving the appointment of Heads of Department (HoDs) vulnerable to political corruption. This vulnerability may allow such interests to influence the administrative hierarchy and procurement decisions through the newly granted authority over recruitment.
• The objective of civil service reform should not be the total depoliticization of administration, but rather the introduction of checks and balances in appointment and dismissal processes to insulate the administration from corruption while maintaining responsiveness to democratic mandates.

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} }