Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - September 26, 2004
Dominic Mahlangu

Auditor-General Shauket Fakie has warned Parliament that the empty desks pose a risk to the government's ability to carry out key social-delivery projects.

Fakie, in his 2003 audit outcomes report, said a review of vacancy rates in national departments showed that 11 government departments had in excess of 20% in unfilled positions. And there were no signs of the situation improving this year, he said.

Nearly 18% of senior management posts were vacant. "This represents a serious lack of management to execute the functions of government, and a serious risk to financial management and service delivery," the report said.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Fakie accused officials of "dragging their feet in getting the recruitment process started" once there was a vacancy.

The Sunday Times has figures for 10 departments which show vacancy rates are at:

* 66.7% in Science and Technology;

* 49.1% in Social Development;

* 41% in National Treasury;

* 39.3% in Provincial and Local Government;

* 37% in Arts and Culture;

* 35.7% in Public Works;

* 33% in Public Enterprises;

* 24% in Public Service and Administration;

* 25.1% in Foreign Affairs; and

* 20.9% in Health.

The Department of Health, which has a number of vacancies for senior positions, has had to function without a director-general for almost a year since the departure of Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba.

The ministry's media spokesman, Sibani Mngadi, said the posts of DG, chief director responsible for HIV/Aids and TB infections, and director of communications were vacant. The department advertised for Ntsaluba's replacement in September last year, but has yet to make the appointment.

Mngadi said that though the department had taken a year to find a director-general, measures to appoint a new person were "at an advanced stage".

The Department of Social Development has a shortage of about 6,503 social workers across the country, 70% less than the required number.

Often the child protection units of the South African Police Service feel the pinch.

Senior Superintendent Mary Engelbrecht said police often found social workers were unavailable after hours or on weekends.

Director of the Durban Children's Society, Sheila Hurford, said urgent intervention was necessary to attract and retain social workers in South Africa. Hurford said the NGO sector had had to contend with a critical shortage of social workers for years. Case loads had increased while subsidies had not, Hurford said.

Thoraya Pandy of the national Treasury said it had commissioned the Institute for Public Finance and Auditing (IPFA) to conduct a skills assessment across the government to determine the available skills in relation to those required. The findings are expected to be released next month.

Cosatu, the million-member union federation said it was unacceptable that jobs remained vacant for as long as eight months.

The Department of Home Affairs has a total of 4,267 vacant posts. Some of these are newly created and will be filled only over the next three years.

Vuyo Tetyana of Rhodes University's Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) said the recent Interim Management Team report identified the lack of managers in the Eastern Cape government as a serious obstacle to adequate service delivery.

He said the PSAM found that, in some cases, departments were not spending money earmarked for social delivery because they did not have managers in position to make the disbursements.

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