Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said he has ordered a skills audit of all government departments in the public service.
This happens exactly five years after Ramaphosa announced plans to introduce lifestyle audits for members of the Cabinet and civil servants when he ascended to the Union Buildings.
Speaking during his reply to the State of the Nation Address (Sona) debate, Ramaphosa said he had given the departments nine months to do the audit.
“We are taking steps to professionalise the public service across all spheres, to ensure the right people are in the right positions, that they are held accountable, and that they are empowered to provide the best possible service to the people,” he said.
Ramaphosa also said he had directed all infrastructure and service departments to conduct skills audits within nine months.
“These audits must not just tell us what training officials think they require but must help us understand where critical skills do exist in these departments, to effectively deliver infrastructure and services.
“The National School of Government will work with other organs of state, like the Human Sciences Research Council, to conduct these audits.”
He made the statement within the context of various speakers during the Sona debate, talking about the poor state of the infrastructure.
Ramaphosa said investment in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure has been declining over many years, and they had taken important steps to reverse that trend since they took office.
“Through Infrastructure South Africa, we have focused on building the capacity within the state to design, prepare and implement infrastructure projects.
“Through the Infrastructure Fund, we have sought new approaches to funding infrastructure, drawing on a diversity of sources,” he said.
The president also said they were undertaking structural reforms in energy, water, ports and railways that would enable greater investment in vital industries.
“We have significantly increased the budget allocated to infrastructure across government, and as I indicated in Sona, significant road, water, housing, and other projects are underway.
“To succeed in all these efforts, we need to ensure that the state has the necessary resources, capacity and skills,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa, who was elected to his position five years ago, had previously promised lifestyle audits for Cabinet and civil servants.
The government put on hold the lifestyle audits for members of the executive pending the submission of the final report of the Zondo Commission.
The Acting Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi has previously said although much work has been done on the approach and methodology to lifestyle audits of members of the executive, the finalisation of that work was being held in abeyance pending the final report of the Zondo Commission.
In June last year, 18 national departments had not started conducting lifestyle audits on civil servants, while 24 had done so.
Cape Times