Public Service Commission to ask Treasury for R435m more as mandate expands

Public Service Commission chair Somadoda Fikeni on Sunday warned senior public servants and politicians that the commission’s directives could not be ignored as they are now binding and can only be set aside by a court of law.

Before the enactment of the Public Service Commission Bill by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week, the PSC’s findings were only recommendations, which could be ignored with little consequence.

The issue of consequence management in the public service has remained a thorny issue in the country and the new act will provide the necessary teeth the commission needed to arrest corruption and poor public sector governance.

The commission, which has a constitutional mandate to ensure effective and efficient performance, has the legal power to investigate and issue directives.

The act comes amid troubling revelations implicating top public service officials in corruption at the justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga-led commission of inquiry investigating the infiltration of the criminal justice system by organised criminals.

“This particular act helps a great deal. We were being ignored. Now the essence of this, you will have to, if we give directives, go to court to challenge our findings,” Fikeni said. “You can no longer ignore them. That in itself is beginning to tighten the noose and give more muscle to our constitutional bodies,” he said.

Some findings by independent institutions, such as the South African Human Rights Commission, are not legally binding but have to go to court to be implemented.

The Public Service Commission amended act provides the commission with two options: either to give recommendations or directives in its reports after investigations on public service matters.

The act provides that a person to whom a direction is issued must implement such direction in the period determined.

“If a person to whom a direction has been issued believes that he or she has a valid reason not to implement the direction, the matter must be taken on review in a court of law,” the amended act says.

The act, which repeals the act of 1997, also empowers the commission to conduct investigations into personnel and public administration management practices in municipalities. Before, the commission was not empowered to probe municipality matters.

With the expanded mandate Fikeni said the commission would be speaking to the Treasury for an additional budget to fund the implementation of what the amended act requires of the commission.

The commission will now ask the Treasury for additional funding of R435m in the next four years to fund an expanded mandate triggered by the amended act.

The commission, which has a budget of R354m in the 2026/27 financial year, wants an additional budget of R28m.