drive to solicit public views for further consideration by Parliament through the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Government departments, before any given budget cycle, are required to conduct intensive engagements with civil society and the public in general through budget road shows also known as ‘imbizos’. In addition to this, the Minister of Finance and provincial Members of the Executive Councils (MECs) solicit inputs from the public via social media. At the local government sphere, municipalities engage the public and civil society stakeholders through Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), which links municipal budgets to projects identified by local communities. Reports from the Auditor-General and the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC), statutory bodies supporting democracy, are taken seriously at all levels in South Africa. highlights progression expenditure. After the 2013 State of the Nation address and Budget Vote Speech, government will host a national conference to capacitate Community Development Workers (CDWs) in terms of Government Priorities, the national Budget and its implications for citizens. CDWs will be tasked to share this information with citizens through their door-to-door visits in communities. This will better equip citizens to hold government to account on expenditure in relation to priorities.
Further, the guidelines that have so far been developed as part of the Action Plan were not attached and would have been useful for gaining full and considered public opinion on current progress. ODAC is concerned that there does not seem to have been engagement with other government departments in establishing progress on the Commitments, though this can be rectified moving forward. We would also like to note from the outset that the OGP call is for a “stretch [of] government practice beyond its current baseline” in relation to the Commitments made. Such a stretch we do not believe has been reflected in a consideration of the current Progress Report. Importantly as well, are eight commitments tabled at the OGP. Progress report only reports on seven, failing to address at all the commitment to “Develop and implement an accountability/consequences management framework for public servants”, the outcome of which was to have a framework in place and implemented in the public service. Below, we have tabled some general comments on the specific progress indicators. Full description of commitment Progress Way Forward Comment Formalise partnerships with civil society organisations in all nine provinces to establish Service Delivery Improvement Forums (SDIFs) at local level to provide timely citizen report cards on service delivery levels at community level, especially in relation to primary health care, water, sanitation, environmental management and housing. Finalised a concept document on the institutionalisation of the SDIFs which unpacks the approach; institutional and governance arrangements; terms of reference, among others. The DPSA engaged all nine provinces and some national government departments on the SDIF concept and there is a general commitment to establish SDIFs as mechanisms to enhance public service access and citizen participation in Provinces consulted on the establishment of SDIFs indicated that they have Service Delivery Forums in one form or the other. The next steps will be to align and strengthen them into SDIFs with adequate community representation. ODAC would submit that something more innovative is needed as a way forward. This project has been a core project of the Department of Public Services and Administration since 2010. There is thus no development of the current 2010-2014 Strategic Plan and for real OGP progress something more innovative should be pursued to realize success – such as the use of ICT’s in coordinating provincial forums and displaying report cards centrally so that the information gathered can be used by national civil society groups to facilitate
government accountable. distribution to schools. Enhance national integrity through institutional capacity-building of National Forum (NACF) and Hotline. This will include the capacity development of anti-corruption officials and strengthening the Hotline`s advocacy and investigation functions. The DPSA is implementing the Public Sector Anti-corruption Capacity Building Programme focusing on capacitating categories of public service officials, i.e. (1) anti-corruption practitioners (487 officials capacitated); (2) law enforcement officials including investigators, prosecutors and presiding officers; (3) general public servants (1531 officials in category 2 and 3 capacitated) Capacity development of anti-corruption practitioners is ongoing and will end in December 2012. In to assess progress, ODAC would suggest that a report on the numbers reached and distribution must be included to be measurable. Further, it should be explained how these results distinguish themselves from the normal DPSA targets? Approve guidelines on sanctions for corruption related cases A generic guideline on discipline in the public service has been developed by the DPSA (see attached Guideline) A generic guideline on discipline in the public service has been developed by the DPSA ODAC query whether there are going to be a public comment procedures, in line with the spirit of the OGP? Further, how will the department expand on this Commitment moving forward? Develop a Citizen Participation guideline for Public Sector departments that ensure that every public sector department across all spheres have a functional, resourced and capacitated citizen On 13 October 2011, the DPSA hosted a roundtable discussion to engage national and provincial government departments, including academia, on drafting a generic Public Participation In the financial year period 2012/13, the DPSA will work with nine national departments (three per quarter) with the aim of institutionalizing Public ODAC would like to note that, according to the PSC, most departments already have their own such guidelines – the report does not reflect on how the PSC will be included in the pursuit of this Commitment. Further, it should be clear what further steps are needed to be taken
engagement unit which regularly and proactively engage with civil society. guideline and to solicit inputs by stakeholders before the actual drafting of the guideline. On 24 November 2011, a first draft of the Public Participation guideline was presented at the Community Development Worker Programme (CDWP) National Task Team, representing the Public Participation Units of the Department of Cooperative Governance in all nine provinces. These stakeholders made inputs and a second draft was generated. The second and final draft of the generic guideline on Public Participation has been completed and is awaiting final approval by the DPSA (see attached Guideline on Public Participation) Participation in these departments. The DPSA, in collaboration with PALAMA, will provide training for officials in all departments to build internal capacity to successfully implement and sustain Public Participation activities in their respective departments. Monitoring will be ongoing; and an evaluation will be conducted in after three years. for the DPSA to approve the Guidelines? Enhance the involvement of civil society at every stage of the budgetary process across all Awaiting feedback from Department of Finance Awaiting feedback from Department of Finance As a general reflection (in spite of no progress being reported) in 2008 a PSC study specifically recommended that Departments should be assisted in ensuring all