By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa told directors-general (DGs) time for “heel-dragging is over” and they needed to take “decisive action” to deliver services to South Africans.
Ramaphosa addressed a meeting of Director-Generals (DGs) and Deputy Director Generals (DDGs) in Pretoria. The meeting follows engagements with members of the executive that reviewed and re-aligned Government priorities for the remainder of the term.
Ramaphosa expressed concern at departments that set unrealistic targets that are being missed and implementation failures that continue to cause a credibility deficit for the government.
“It is urgent that we narrow the gulf between priority setting and effective execution. And in doing so our focus must not be on setting unrealistic goals that cannot possibly be achieved in less than a year, but on a few tangible actions that can move the needle, and meaningfully so,”said Ramaphosa.
He urged accounting officers to be more innovative in leading their departments.
The rise of adverse audit outcomes and the failure to arrest them with urgency was identified as leadership weakness that undercuts the progress that Government is making in rebuilding the upper ranks of the Public Service.
The meeting further reflected on processes of filling vacancies that are moving at a snail’s pace in many departments, causing inefficiencies and complete paralysis.
In charting the way forward Ramaphosa outlined that Clusters will be required to indicate the actions they are going to take to address outstanding actions.
The Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation will provide data sets to assist Clusters evaluate progress in implementing the MTSF 2019 to 2024, as well as all State of the Nation commitments since 2019.
Importantly, the President further directed that public communication must be strengthened for increased public accountability.
“The time for half-measures and heel dragging is over. It is time for decisive actions that will lift this country above the many crises we have faced over the course of this administration. It is time for high-impact, measurable interventions that will make an actual difference,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa paid tribute to DGs, DDGs and Heads of Department across the public service for their contribution and commitment to the building of a capable, ethical, developmental state.