Programme Director
The Director General of PALAMA, Dr Mark Orkin
Professor Solly Mollo
Senior Leaders of our Public Service
The PSTF Management and the Advisory Committee
Representatives of various Stakeholders
HRD Managers and practitioners
Invited Guests and Speakers
All protocol observed

It takes an informed civil society to understand the environment around them, so that the people would know when to act in defence of their course as they advance the journey of transformation.

This conference of the Public Sector Trainers Forum takes place during the time that we see at some areas in our country, people taking to the streets in demand of services that they expect from our Public service.

When these people are called upon to explain their actions, they give different accounts from place to place and from situation to situation.

As conferences are themselves fora meant to discus issues, it will be an opportunity missed if we were to ignore some of these issues as we engage at this PSTF conference.

I had some discussion with PALAMA late last year, wherein I raised an issue about public service trainers and their understanding of the environment around them.

I said in my input there that there is a need for trainers to have sufficient grasp of the situation so that when they have to provide the capacity-development interventions, they must at all times be relevant to the immediate challenges facing society.

For the Public service to respond adequately to all the issues raised in the so-called service delivery-related protests that we are experiencing, there is a need for the public servants to relate perfectly to the demanding environment.

In this regard, I want to share with this conference, some of the issues I reflected upon at one of the forums of the public servants.

I said “It is proper at a gathering of this nature that we put ourselves in the position of the intended receivers of the service that our public service has to deliver, and reflect on those things that we would like to raise as an indication that our service is sometimes below expectations.

And, of course, not out of choice but as an act in self-assessment.

We need to rise above what other people call escapism in dealing with issues where people raise genuine concerns.

We need to be focused where we are seen as providing responses that only address issues at theoretical level”.

Programme Director

One of the values guiding the operational activities of our public service is that of participative governance.

Through public participation, we will arm our communities to understand the need for prioritization in the provision of services, and the inherent reality that whereas we may at times be able to provide services to some, there will always be others who will have to wait for their turn in the delivery of services.

We may not have difficulties in agreeing that the Government has for the past fifteen years demonstrated a clear commitment and a practical record of accelerated service delivery, and we may also not disagree with the fact that whereas that is so, there is still more than remains to be done.

But of course, some of the protests and demonstrations are motivated by political interests and other subjective considerations.

You will find in some instances, people crying foul on Government’s service delivery programmes when in actual fact they know that theirs is to promote their selfish narrow interest and they take advantage of any situation that they know will appeal to the hearts and minds of the people.

It is only through an accelerated programme of awareness building through campaigns that we may win this battle.

The people need information, for that is the power they will use against opportunists. Who can mislead our communities if they know about Government’s service delivery programmes?

Even if, due to limited resources, those programmes have to be reprioritized, who will mislead our people if the information about such changes reach the people concerned?

It is time our training interventions reach out to empower our public servants to become foot soldiers of service delivery and be readily available to interact with the people.

Maybe it is time we go back to such campaigns as Masakhane, which encourages taking mutual responsibilities in the development of a Nation.

We need to have a public service cadre, and we can only achieve that through the efforts of our trainers.

But what are the attributes of a public service cadre who is equal to what it takes to be in a position to fast-track the policy-implementation agenda of the Government?

What qualities should that public servant have?

Is it a matter of academic qualifications that matters?

Is it cadreship profile that matters?

If it is a merit issue, what constitutes an ideal merit?

I had an opportunity to contribute in response to these questions sometimes in the recent past, and I referred to arguments espoused by different people.

I indicated that we heard some people argue that the question of having an ideal public servant, a public service cadre, should not arise and therefore no-one should make an effort to answer that question, because at all the stages, governments come and governments go, but the public service remains.

The adherents of this view subscribe to the notion that public servants are ready-made machines suitable for all governments, irrespective of the nature of that government and the policies developed.

They believe that even if you can overthrow a government and substitute it with a new one, you should absorb the public servants of the old order and make an effort to learn from them, for they believe that those workers will adjust, adapt and champion the service delivery agenda of the new

political order, otherwise they know it all and who are you to  tell them how to do things.

They will always advise the public service trainers that yours is to approach things business as usual, and they will prove to you that the only approach that works is a conservative one.

Even in situations where, for instance, PALAMA would like to procure training services from the academic community, the advocates of this view would say that you do not have to be worried, as you can utilize the services of those individuals and institutions at will, including those that will challenge the Government and say that the idea of a developmental state is a distant dream.

If we were to agree with this school of thought, we would be saying that all is well and be complacent.

Unfortunately, reality dictates otherwise.

It says that any political dispensation needs public servants that are equal to the tasks, challenges and priorities of the order of the day.

They should understand the political direction of the electoral mandate and internalise their obligation to service the public in terms of the policies and laws that they understand, cherish and ready to uphold.

They must have political understanding and the will to serve.

Of course there is a view of extremists who would argue that the change of political authority should mean the change of public service leadership in its entirety.

They go to the extent so high to even suggest that we should have only liberation struggle-time heroes and activists to swell the ranks of our public service for us to begin to see the fruits of a transformed and competent public service.

Unfortunately, too, reality dictates otherwise. It says that in South Africa we have adopted an approach that gives opportunities to all South Africans to contribute in their own unique way in building and servicing the country according to their capabilities and not necessarily limited to the extent as defined by their history, but committed to implement the policies of the Government.

Reality therefore suggests that we need a public servant of a special kind, whether historically belonging to the so-called “sunset clause” workers or to the struggle heroes’ category.

We need a public servant who will be equal to the challenges and priorities of the current political dispensation, and we can only produce such a worker through training and development.

In addition to being in a position to implement all the policies and laws, that public servant should reflect some or all of the following attributes, to mention but a few.

Breaking new ground: An official with this attribute is innovative and does not shy away from coming up with new ideas for the public good.

The point of departure for this official should be the policies that we have, the legislation that we have developed, the service delivery mechanisms that our government has initiated and the expectations of the public.

He or she will then be able to make personal interventions to translate policy into action. We should agree that gone are the days that individual innovative capability will be theoretically located in the history of that person.

Yes, history is important, but competency first and equal opportunities for all.

Inspiring success: The public servant that we need is self motivated and ready to motivate others to service the public. Those who are responsive to this attribute always provide leadership wherever they find themselves, irrespective of rank or status.

Raising the standard: An official who is responsive to this attribute is capable of giving her/his best regardless of whether she/he is in the front office or at management level.

Nothing is impossible: This is the type of a public servant who comes up with turn-around strategies to salvage a failing situation.

This public servant will not turn on policy and resource constraints as an excuse for not doing work, but will always seek solutions where it appears that solutions are not readily-available there in ordinary circumstances.

Making a difference to people: A public servant who upholds this quality understands that the public service has to serve a larger population, and this population has expectations that should always be considered when doing work. This worker will always be committed and work towards the attainment of the people’s expectations, and will be results-oriented and always measure the impact of his/her actions against those expectations.

Collective responsibility and teamwork: An ideal public servant must believe in partnership and be practically seen to work with other people. He or she considers the opinion of other colleagues, peers and the public. Even in working under pressure, this official does not work behind people’s backs. This worker is able to network with organs of civil society, community development workers and all other stakeholders.

On board: A public servant who is on board is the one that owns the processes of service delivery and this person understands that blame for the failure of the system should be laid squarely on his/her shoulders.

This person is able to identify early warnings in situations where some challenges may be standing in the way of service delivery, thus being prepared for timeous intervention.

International activism: This is a public servant who is an active agent in implementing the public service agenda on the continent and in the world.

Programme Director,

It will be of value to see our public sector trainers continue to make an effort to provide support to our public servants in such a way as to ensure the realization of some of the attributes reflected herein.

We are continuing with the transformation of PALAMA as a vehicle for public service training. It is an academy of choice and we support them.

We commit ourselves to service delivery priorities because we know that PALAMA will lead the course for training and development of the public servants.

On this score, I want to take this opportunity, once more, to say to Dr Orkin: Your footprints are clear, and so clear that I believe you are leaving behind capable men and women who will in no doubt, shape in perfectly well with the transformation agenda to which you contributed. 

This conference is taking place during the time that efforts are being accelerated to finalise the debate on the single public service.

It is our debate, let us face it straight on, but the debate does not stop us, through PALAMA, to take the process forward and make sure that training and development across the sphere of Government becomes a accelerated agenda.

Thank you very much.