Durban:  The public service was not an employer of choice for many people and it had difficulty attracting the "brightest and the best", the public service commissioner, Phelele Tengeni, said in Durban on Tuesday.  The reasons for this included comparatively low salaries, the negative image of the public service, relentless criticism of public officials and stifling bureaucracy, she told the 12th annual public service trainers' forum conference at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.
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Tengeni said there was a need to position the public service as an employer of choice and selecting the most suitable candidates was just one step in ensuring that the most competent person was hired.  She said that since l994, many companies in South Africa had grown to become multinationals and talent was being deployed to globalised firms.  Competition from these companies had placed a "great strain" on the public service and the loss of highly skilled employees to more lucrative jobs had seen certain areas of the public service struggling to maintain effective and efficient service delivery, Tengeni added.
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"It is imperative that departments ensure the policies and procedures are put in place to retain, train and develop employees."
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She went on to stress the importance of recruitment and selection, saying that service delivery was directly influenced by the quality and performance of its employees.  Tengeni told the 650 delegates - mostly human resource practitioners from all nine provinces as well as national government - that 14 years after the advent of democracy "we still have not geared our public sector to the responsive, competent and confidence-inspiring institution that we promised it would be".
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She added that, although HIV/Aids committees had been established, there was a lack of counselling and support and there needed to be a more pro-active approach in ensuring an effective HIV/Aids-related health and counselling infrastructure was in place in the public service.
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"On one hand, there is a great loss of talent through deaths resulting in a decline in the skills base, and on the other hand, the increase in absenteeism negatively impacts on the productivity and ultimately on effective and efficient service delivery," said Tengeni.
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Saying that the public administration had to be broadly representative of the people of the country, the commissioner said the low representativeness of women in management as well as people with disabilities remained an area of concern.
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KwaZulu-Natal Premier, S'bu Ndebele, said in a speech delivered for him at Tuesday night's gala dinner by the Director-General, Zwazi Mbanjwa, that, like many organisations, the public service was a brand and it was imperative "that we work tirelessly to develop and maintain that brand".
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Being the largest employer in the country, the demand for developing the competence of public servants was high, he said.