More than 150 000 vacant posts in national and provincial governments
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Minister of Public Service and Administration Noxolo Kiviet. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
Pretoria - There are more than 150 000 vacant funded posts in the national and provincial government – at a time of deterioration of public confidence in the government’s ability to deliver quality and effective services.
Minister of Public Service and Administration Noxolo Kiviet revealed these statistics in a written reply to questions from DA spokesperson for Public Service and Administration, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, in Parliament.
Gondwe asked the minister to give details of the total number of funded posts currently vacant in the public service, and the breakdown of the specified numbers in the national government and each provincial government. She also wanted to know the reasons for the funded posts remaining vacant, and by what date was it envisaged that the positions would be filled.
In her reply, Kiviet said according to Persal data, as at December 31, 2022, the total number of funded posts that were vacant in the Public Service stood at 166 365.
Reacting, Gondwe said it was perturbing that government departments were battling to fill vacant posts, especially funded posts.
“Over 75% of these vacant funded posts, namely 128 214, are to be found in provincial departments. Further, according to the written reply by the department, the province with the highest number of vacant funded posts is the Eastern Cape, with 31 062 posts, followed by Gauteng with 23 687 posts and KwaZulu-Natal with 22 267 posts.”
As regards the reasons for the funded posts being vacant, the department attributed the delays to, among other things, budget constraints, or the reprioritisation of funds intended to fill vacant posts; internal and external administrative hurdles which delayed the finalisation of appointments; and competition from the private sector, especially with respect to the appointment of registered Occupation Specific Dispensation professionals and technicians.
Gondwe said the high vacancy rate in the public service ran contrary to purported attempts to professionalise the service, because professionalising the public service needed government departments to keep their vacancy rate as low as possible.
“What is also worrying is that in terms of Regulation 65 (7) of the Public Service Regulations of 2016, a vacant funded post has to be advertised within 6 months of it becoming vacant, and also has to be filled within 12 months of it becoming vacant. As such, continued delays in filling some of these vacant funded posts by government departments, in particular provincial departments, may well be in direct violation of the Regulations.”
Gondwe said the DA had submitted follow-up written questions to the minister of public service and administration, to ascertain the length of time that these posts have been vacant; in which national and provincial departments these vacant funded posts were to be found; and to determine the nature of the positions.
Pretoria News