By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
25 March 2025– During its oversight visit to the North West province on Monday, the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration raised concern about the number of unfunded vacant posts in the provincial government. The committee is on a week-long oversight visit to the North West and Gauteng provinces to assess the state of public services.
The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan De Villers said noting that there are 6756 vacant unfunded posts, committee members said this might create a temptation
to fill these posts. De Villers said, however, it urged the provincial government to avoid a situation where it overspends on employee compensation and encouraged the province to remove these posts from its organograms, as per Treasury guidelines.
“The committee is conducting the oversight to better understand the issues affecting public service in the province. Often there is much waste in the public sector, especially with so-called ghost employees in the system and on the payroll.
“This creates incredible waste that should be investigated, as it works against efforts to create a professional and ethical public service. The committee has decided to prioritise this,” he said.
De Villers further said they are here to see what has been done to reduce wastage in the public service. He added that they raised the issue in the presence of the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi and asked what systems are in place to guard against it.
“The first step, the committee urged, is to clean up the province’s persal system. Noting the 255 misconduct cases the province recorded by quarter 3 of the 2024/25 financial year, the committee asked why finalising these cases takes so long.
“The committee heard that legal experts who chair these disciplinary hearings are often unavailable and the province has been advocating to run the process internally,” said de Villers.
He said the committee also heard that by the third quarter of this financial year, the cost for 15 officials on precautionary suspension was already in excess of R9 million and urged the department to finalise these cases more speedily. De Villers said the committee also said that relevant officials should be sent for training on disciplinary management.
“The Public Service Commission also made a presentation that outlined, among other things, the qualifications of senior management in the provincial administration.
“Members heard that based on data the PSC received from 11 departments in November 2023 and one department in May 2024, the departments of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, and Social Development and Public Works and Roads were the only departments in which all senior management members met the minimum requirements for their respective posts,” said de Villers.
He said the committee again stressed the need for adequate skills to build a capable and professional state. De Villers said the members also visit the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital to assess staffing and the level of service provided, among other things.
“Members asked about the status of the neonatal ward after the hospital made headlines about newborn babies placed in boxes amid a shortage of cribs a few years ago. The committee also raised concerns about the number of acting posts, including the hospital’s CEO.
“Members noted the frequent long waiting times caused by the hospital’s manual filing system. The committee was encouraged by the Centre for Public Innovation’s offer to assist in efforts to digitise systems,” said de Villers.
He said the committee also heard that the province, which was subject to a Section 100 intervention, is unsure about the status quo, as it never received a close-out report. De Villers said this is now affecting operations.
“The committee undertook to raise the issue with the relevant ministers and committees in the National Council of Provinces. Today, the committee will visit the Moses Kotane Hospital and the Home Affairs offices in Rustenburg before it makes its way to Gauteng for the second leg of the oversight visit,” said De Villers.
The Guardian 