This OGP Mid-term Government Self-Assessment Report is submitted in accordance with the requirements of OGP Articles of Governance and the OGP Self-Assessment Report Guidance Note. As such, it focuses on the development of South Africa`s second National Action Plan (NAP2), in particular the consultation processes followed, the relevance and ambitiousness of action plan commitments and progress to date. As per the requirements of the OGP Articles of Governance, South Africa’s NAP2 commitments emanated from extensive consultative processes with citizens and representatives from the business sector and civil society organisations from across the country, including inputs from the National Planning Commission’s Diagnostic Overview (2012) consultation processes. At a horizontal level, these commitments are aimed at directly addressing the four core OGP principles of transparency, civic participation, public accountability, and technology and innovation for openness and accountability. Table 2 (below) lists South Africa’s NAP2 commitments, the measure of success for each commitment, and its interface with the OGP core principles as well as the key democratic governance principles enshrined in the South African Constitution, which is the supreme law of the Republic. TABLE 2: Interface between NAP2 commitments, OGP principles and the constitutional values and principles governing Public Administration in South Africa Commitment Indicator OGP Principles RSA Constitution Development and implementation of an Management Framework for Public Servants Integrity Framework developed and approved Enhance accountability to promote the highest standards of professional integrity throughout the public service A high standard of professional ethics must be promoted and maintained [Chapter 10, 195(1)(a)] Service Delivery Improvement Forums established in the 9 provinces to monitor public service delivery Enhance citizen participation and citizen monitoring to promote accountability in service delivery. People`s needs must be responded to, and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy-making [Chapter 10, 195(1)(e) Know Your Service Rights and Responsibilities Campaign Enhance the capacity and capabilities of communities to access socio-economic rights Enhance knowledge of legal frameworks for accountability, transparency and citizen participation in public service delivery matters Public administration must be development-orientated [Chapter 10, 195(1)(c)] Develop a comprehensive and publicly accessible portal of environmental management information An integrated and publicly accessible portal of environmental management information Harness the power of new technologies increase access to information and promote transparency Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible and accurate information [Chapter 10, 195(1) (g)]
want to engage with broadly representative formations of civil society, this is not always possible due to constraints within civil society itself – constraints which this sector will have to resolve on its own. Developing the plan in a timely manner: Time is a real constraint when consultation has to be conducted in the manner prescribed by the OGP Articles of Governance which outlines seven “Guidelines for Public Consultation on Country Commitments”, including the requirement to ensure the participation of hard-to-reach groups which in the South African context includes rural women and the urbanised youth. Meeting these requirements have proven to be time-consuming (as was expected), but worth the effort in that the NAP2 that was developed through the prescribed OGP participation processes and in the end endorsed through the 1 000 Voices Campaign reflected the views of a diverse group as stakeholders as reflected by Table 2. V. IRM Recommendations The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) recommendations on South Africa`s first OGP Government Self-Assessment Report (2012) included recommendations specifically related to the country action plan commitments as well as general recommendations on open governance. These recommendations, summarised in Table 4 below, were considered in developing the country’s NAP2 commitments in the manner reflected in the table. Table 4: Consideration of IRM recommendations in NAP2 IRM Report recommendations NAP2 The IRM Report highlighted that South Africa’s report omitted the commitment to develop an Accountability/Consequences Management Framework. The report recommended that this commitment should be reaffirmed in the next action plan. As per the recommendations of the IRM Report, this commitment was reaffirmed as Commitment 1 in the NAP2: Development and implementation of an Accountability/Consequences Management Framework for Public Servants The IRM Report highlighted that although the commitment to establish Service Delivery Improvement Forums were technically completed in that a concept note was developed, civic participation needs to be widened to ensure that the commitment is effective. To give effect to the IRM Report recommendation to broaden civic participation regarding this specific commitment, the commitment was again included in the NAP2 with a strong focus on civic/citizen monitoring of public service delivery. Hence, the refocus on Citizen-Based Monitoring of public service delivery. The IRM Report highlighted that the commitment to implement a national “Know Your Rights and Responsibilities” campaign can be strengthened going In this regard, the “Know Your Rights and Responsibilities” booklet has been made available in all 11 official languages of South Africa. assessment
Annexure 1: Advertorial on Protection of Information Bill Annexure 2: Summary table of progress and results (NAP2) Commitment 1: Development and implementation of an Accountability/Consequences Management Framework for Public Servants Lead implementing agency Directorate: Ethics and Integrity Management Name of responsible person from implementing agency Dr. Salomon Hoogenraad-Vermaak Title Department Public Service and Administration Emails Phone 012 336 1805 Actors Involve Government National and Provincial CSOs, private Sector, Working multilaterals Status quo or problem/issues to be addressed Accountability of Public Servants Main objective Enhance accountability to promote the highest standards of professional integrity throughout the public service Description of commitment (140 character limit) By developing, adopting and implementing an Integrity Framework, the commitment aims to address the issue of accountability and to promote professional integrity throughout the public service. OGP challenge addressed by the commitment Public accountability