President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a law strengthening the independence of South Africa’s Public Service Commission and promote professional conduct by civil servants.
Ramaphosa said on Wednesday that he had signed into law the Public Service Commission Bill, which aims to strengthen the role of the Public Service Commission in promoting constitutional values and professional ethics in the public service.
The commission is mandated to undertaking monitoring and evaluation of a wide range of practices in the public service and is able to investigate administration practices and service delivery failures.
“The new Public Service Commission Act should be welcomed by public servants and citizens alike as a means to improve the lives of all South Africans and to enable growth through ethical and efficient conduct in our public service,” Ramaphosa said.
Among others, the law would regulate the procedure for the appointment of commissioners by the president and provide for the establishment of the secretariat of the commission to support its work.
The new law, which repeals the Public Service Commission Act of 1997, would also strengthen the independence of the commission as a constitutional institution and extends the commission’s mandate to include local government and public entities.
The Act gives the commission the power to direct the relevant executive authority or any other person against whom the commission makes a decision, to report to the commission progress in implementing such decisions.
Any person found guilty of obstructing the commission in the exercise of its powers and performance of its functions would be guilty of an offence and liable for conviction to imprisonment of up to 12 months or a fine of up to R50,000 (about $3,125), or both fine and imprisonment.
JN/APA