43 Acting DGs and HODs in the public service

5 October 2022

Please find attached a soundbite by Dr Mimmy Gondwe MP.

As at 1 June 2022, there were a total of 43 acting Director Generals (DGs) and Heads of Departments (HODs) in our public service.

This was revealed by the Minister in the Presidency, Minister Mondli Gungubele, in a written reply to a Parliamentary question by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on the number of acting DGs and HODs in the public service and the costs incurred by the state in paying acting allowances to these acting DGs and HODs.

According to the written reply, 10 out of the 45 national departments in the country were headed by acting DGs and 33 out of the country’s 111 provincial departments in the country were headed by acting HODs, with the Northern Cape and the Free State having the highest numbers of acting HODs.

Out of the 11 provincial departments in the Northern Cape, 7 have acting HODs amounting to a 64% vacancy rate and out of the 12 provincial departments in the Free State, 6 have acting HODs amounting to a 50% vacancy rate.

The written reply by Minister Gungubele further revealed that within a period of 6 months (that is from March 2022 to August 2022) the state had spent approximately R4 million in paying some of these acting DGs and HODs acting and non-pensionable allowances.

The DA is not only concerned about the high number of acting DGs and HODs but also about the costs associated with paying these acting DGs and HODs acting allowances, which costs would not have been incurred by the state had the appointments for these positions been made within 6 months of the positions becoming vacant.

Our public service is experiencing a plethora of challenges and simply cannot afford to have such a high number of national and provincial departments without accounting officers at their helm as this is likely to have a negative impact on the stability and performance of these national and provincial departments.

The DA therefore calls on President Ramaphosa and the relevant Premiers to expedite the appointments for these senior government positions in line with the provisions of the Public Service Regulations of 2016.

Issued by Mimmy Gondwe, DA Shadow Deputy Minister for Public Service and Administration, 5 October 2022