Over 1,800 senior government officials ‘unqualified’ for their positions

Almost two thousand senior managers in government at both national and provincial levels are considered to have no qualification for the position they occupy.

This is according to the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) with data taken from PERSAL – the central system used for the administration of the public service payroll – in response to a parliamentary Q&A.

The department was asked for the total number of senior managers within the Public Service that do not qualify for their current positions as of March 2023.

“In terms of information taken from PERSAL, as of 1 March 2023, there were 1,874 senior managers within the Public Service who have no qualifications for the positions that they currently occupy,” said the DPSA.

The minimum qualification requirements for senior managers under the 2016 directive for the appointment of senior management service (SMS) members are as follows:

• Director and Chief Director level: Undergraduate qualification on NQF Level 7; and
• Deputy Director General and HOD: Undergraduate qualification and a post-graduate qualification on NQF Level 8.

Senior managers who are considered to have no qualification for the position they occupy are officials in positions who either do not poses the minimum NQF level qualification or qualifications have not been captured on PERSAL by the department that they work in.

The department said, however, that 1,372 of these managers within national and provincial departments were appointed before the minimum requirement directive was implemented in August 2016, while 502 were appointed after the fact.

“It should be noted that engagements are continuing with departments to ensure that all qualification details are updated on PERSAL, especially for senior managers appointed after August 2016,” said the DPSA.

“The DPSA is intervening to investigate appointments made after 2016, and information obtained indicates that some departments may not be updating their information on PERSAL, even when senior managers are in compliance with minimum requirements,” it added.

The number of unqualified senior managers per national and provincial department is listed in the tables below.

National departments

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Provincial departments