Cape Town - The legislature’s ad-hoc committee for the appointment of a Public Service Commissioner has finally taken steps in the process of appointing one before the September 30 deadline when the term of the incumbent commissioner, Leonardo Goosen, ends.
In August last year Goosen advised the Standing Committee on the Premier and Constitutional Matters that it should have initiated a process by as early as November 30, 2022.
Goosen urged an early start and said experience at the national and provincial level of recent Public Service Commissioner appointments had shown there were often gaps of several months between appointments.
He said: “Vacancies take an inordinate amount of time to be filled. The last Western Cape PSC Commissioner appointment took nine months. The Mpumalanga Commissioner post has been vacant for three years.”
The committee was established for the specific purpose of considering applications for the post and then recommending to the House a candidate for nomination by the Premier for appointment to serve on the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The PSC is an independent body established in terms of Chapter 10 of the Constitution to provide oversight over the public service.
It conducts research, investigations and inspections, and also provides advocacy to maintain an effective and efficient public administration and a high standard of ethics.
Wednesday’s meeting was the first since March 16 this year when the ad-hoc committee elected DA Chief Whip Wendy Kaizer-Philander to chair the committee.
At that meeting committee member and ANC deputy chief whip Khalid Sayed raised a concern that the Ad Hoc Committee’s terms of reference were incorrect as the Act had been amended.
Sayed argued that the committee’s terms of reference should include reference to the renewal of a term of the office of the current commissioner, and not just the application procedure.
However fellow committee member Deidré Baartman (DA) pointed out that the issue had been covered and the references included “the Public Service Act as amended as well as the respective constitutional sections”.
Asked to give clarity on the question, the legislature’s legal adviser advocate, Romeo Maasdorp, said the committee members were splitting hairs
“One can certainly go the distance to interpret the amended Act, to interpret the understanding or the intention behind the resolution and the specific wording. I will not do that.
“You cannot have a renewal without being appointed to a new term. An appointment includes the renewal of a term. I fail to understand the extent to which hairs are being split.”
He told the committee it had been mandated by the House to initiate a process for the appointment of a commissioner and the appointee could include even an incumbent who is open to apply for a position in order to be appointed.
The committee agreed to invite the office of the PSC to address it on the hiring and interview process before it advertises for the post.