Parliament slams PSC for 'non-compliance' as commissioner's fate remains undecided

26 January 2022 - 16:56
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Members of the public service and administration portfolio committee began conducting interviews on Tuesday to fill the vacancies at the PSC. Stock photo.
Members of the public service and administration portfolio committee began conducting interviews on Tuesday to fill the vacancies at the PSC. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/Dmitrii Balabanov

A process meant to consider the renewal of commissioner Dr Bruno Luthuli's term of office at the Public Service Commission (PSC) came to a halt on Wednesday due to the absence of performance criteria.

Members of the public service and administration portfolio committee lamented the PSC's failure to furnish it with criteria they would be able to use to assess his performance and, ultimately, if he should be given the job back. 

MP Rosina Komane took a swipe at the PSC’s "incompetence", which was standing in Luthuli’s way.

“It is a fact ... there is someone who did not do justice to us or to the whole process, which is the PSC, by not doing what was expected of them, though they were requested more than once. So now the problem is that the candidate falls prey, he now has to be the victim of the consequences of non-compliance of other people,” said Komane. 

In a letter to the committee, Luthuli asked to be granted another chance. Among other reasons, he cited his contribution to the professionalisation of the public service and urged the committee to consider institutional memory and the importance of retaining personnel.

President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote to the National Assembly last year requesting it to initiate a process to fill the vacancies of Richard Sizani and Phumelele Nzimande, whose terms expire at the end of the month. He also requested Nzimande’s possible renewal or for the positioned to be filled. 

On Tuesday, the committee began conducting interviews to fill the vacancies.  

On Wednesday, however, MPs were spilt on whether Luthuli should be subjected to another interview after stating his case in writing. Some argued he must undergo an interview and be tested against other potential candidates, some said it would violate his rights and others said it was difficult to decide his fate.

Komane said the committee was sitting with a “big giant in the house”.

Meanwhile, MP Teliswa Mgweba expressed concern with the suggestions in the absence of performance criteria. She suggested a legal opinion be sought and pave a way forward, “so that we take a sober decision as this committee”.

Another MP, Dr Leon Schreiber, moved to argue that the constitution does not make provision in terms of what process must be followed in the appointment of a commissioner.

“But the concern is about, what yardstick do we use? It sounds to me like the PSC has been given an opportunity to develop criteria which would obviously assist us and them in these processes ... they failed to develop the criteria and now it is in the hands of this committee to come up with an appropriate mechanism to judge whether someone’s contract should be renewed,” he said. 

Chair of the committee Tyotyo James ruled that the matter be taken to parliament’s legal service.

“I have listened to both views, which are valid in my view. However, I want to buy what honourable Mgweba is saying, to say, can we source guidance legally and hopefully arrange a meeting very soon for that purpose, so we may understand how we take this process forward?” he said.

MPs agreed it was a responsible way to go about it.

TimesLIVE


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