Over 1,800 senior government officials ‘unqualified’ for their positions

[Nat Quinn]

Almost two thousand senior managers in government at both national and provincial levels are considered to have no qualification for the position they occupy.

This is according to the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) with data taken from PERSAL – the central system used for the administration of the public service payroll – in response to a parliamentary Q&A.

The department was asked for the total number of senior managers within the Public Service that do not qualify for their current positions as of March 2023.

“In terms of information taken from PERSAL, as of 1 March 2023, there were 1,874 senior managers within the Public Service who have no qualifications for the positions that they currently occupy,” said the DPSA.

The minimum qualification requirements for senior managers under the 2016 directive for the appointment of senior management service (SMS) members are as follows:

• Director and Chief Director level: Undergraduate qualification on NQF Level 7; and

• Deputy Director General and HOD: Undergraduate qualification and a post-graduate qualification on NQF Level 8.

Senior managers who are considered to have no qualification for the position they occupy are officials in positions who either do not poses the minimum NQF level qualification or qualifications have not been captured on PERSAL by the department that they work in.

The department said, however, that 1,372 of these managers within national and provincial departments were appointed before the minimum requirement directive was implemented in August 2016, while 502 were appointed after the fact.

“It should be noted that engagements are continuing with departments to ensure that all qualification details are updated on PERSAL, especially for senior managers appointed after August 2016,” said the DPSA.

“The DPSA is intervening to investigate appointments made after 2016, and information obtained indicates that some departments may not be updating their information on PERSAL, even when senior managers are in compliance with minimum requirements,” it added.

The number of unqualified senior managers per national and provincial department is listed in the tables below.

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National departments

Department	Number of unqualified senior managers
National Treasury	64
National Prosecuting Authority	61
Correctional Services	49
Public Works and Infrastructure	49
Higher Education and Training	48
Employment and Labour	44
Water and Sanitation	42
Health	39
International Relations and Cooperation	33
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	31
Cooperative Governance	31
Human Settlements	28
Mineral Resources and Energy	26
Home Affairs	25
Environment, Forestry and Fisheries	24
Transport	22
Statistics South Africa	16
Justice and Constitutional Development	15
Public Enterprises	13
The Presidency	13
Sports, Arts and Culture	12
Science and Innovation	11
Trade, Industry and Competition	11
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation	10
Tourism	9
Basic Education	7
Communications and Digital Technologies	7
Office of the Chief Justice	7
Public Service and Administration	7
Traditional Affairs	7
Independent Police Investigative Directorate	5
Social Development	5
Government Communication and Information System	4
Police	4
Small Business Development	4
Office of the Public Service Commission	3
Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities	3
Civilian Secretariat for the Police Service	2
Military Veterans	2
Total:	845

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Provincial departments 

Department	Number of unqualified senior managers
Gauteng (264)
Health	44
Education	32
Provincial Treasury	30
Office of the Premier	28
Agriculture and Rural Development	20
Roads and Transport	18
Human Settlements	17
E-Government	13
Economic Development	13
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	12
Community Safety	12
Infrastructure Development	11
Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation	10
Social Development	4
Kwa-Zulu Natal (139)
Education	26
Transport	19
Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	16
Finance	16
Office of the Premier	13
Health	12
Social Development	11
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	6
Arts and Culture	5
Community Safety and Liaison	5
Human Settlements	4
Public Works	4
Agriculture and Rural Development	2
Eastern Cape (137)
Health	38
Education	18
Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism	12
Human Settlements	12
Rural Development and Agrarian Reform	12
Social Development	12
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	9
Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture	8
Transport	7
Office of the Premier	3
Public Works and Infrastructure	3
Provincial Treasury	2
Community Safety	1
Limpopo (119)
Health	34
Education	18
Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	17
Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure	13
Transport and Community Safety	12
Economic Development, Environment and Tourism	9
Social Development	5
Agriculture and Rural Development	4
Office of the Premier	3
Provincial Treasury	2
Sports, Arts and Culture	2
Mpumalanga (112)
Health	26
Human Settlements	14
Public Works, Roads and Transport	13
Education	10
Office of the Premier	10
Social Development	8
Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs	7
Economic Development and Tourism	7
Provincial Treasury	7
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	5
Community Safety, Security and Liaison	4
Culture, Sport and Recreation	1
North West (99)
Provincial Treasury	20
Public Works and Roads	17
Agriculture and Rural Development	12
Office of the Premier	10
Education	8
Social Development	8
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	6
Community Safety and Transport Management	5
Health	5
Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation	3
Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism	3
Human Settlements	2
Free State (68)
Health	15
Agriculture	12
Education	10
Office of the Premier	7
Police, Roads and Transport	6
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	5
Human Settlements	4
Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation	3
Public Works	2
Social Development	2
Economic Dev, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	1
Provincial Treasury	1
Northern Cape (49)
Education	10
Health	7
Roads and Public Works	7
Office of the Premier	5
Sport, Arts and Culture	5
Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Affairs	3
Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	3
Economic Development and Tourism	3
Provincial Treasury	2
Social Development	2
Transport, Safety and Liaison	2
Western Cape (42)
The Premier	12
Health	10
Transport and Public Works	6
Economic Development and Tourism	3
Human Settlements	3
Local Government	3
Social Development	3
Environmental Affairs and Development Planning	1
Provincial Treasury	1
Total:	1,029

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