Third of senior government employees in SA are not qualified

By Hanno Labuschagne for MyBroadband

Around 35% of senior managers in government do not have the necessary qualifications or credentials for their position.

This was revealed by the Minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu in a written response to a parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance.

Senior managers in South African government require at least an NQF Level 7 qualification, which is equal to a Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma.

According to information captured in government’s Personal and Salary System (PERSAL) as of 15 February 2021, however, there were no records of such qualifications for 3 301 of the 9 477 senior managers in the public service.

• 5 447 of government’s senior managers operated at national level
• 1 987 did not have a record of a suitable qualification
• The largest number of those were in the police department, which accounted for 228 unqualified senior managers
• The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development follows with 227
• The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has 189
• 1 314 out of 4 028 senior managers at provincial government departments did not have the required qualifications
• Gauteng accounted for the highest number among the provinces, with 381 senior managers lacking the necessary qualifications for their jobs – the largest number of these were in the Health department
• KwaZulu-Natal has 246 unqualified senior managers
• The Eastern Cape has 185 unqualified senior managers