Business Insider SA reports that thousands of senior managers in SA’s public service do not have the qualifications required for the positions that they currently hold.

On a national level, the police department is the worst offender. At the start of 2022, more than 25% of senior government managers "did not have the requisite qualifications for the positions that they occupied," according to Thulas Nxesi, acting minister of public service and administration. This was revealed in response to a parliamentary question delivered in May. Nxesi, when quizzed by DA MP Martha Gondwe, confirmed that a total of 2,412 out of 9,309 senior managers did not have their qualifications reflected on Persal, the government's Personnel and Salary System. Nxesi, however, added that "there might be SMS [senior management] members who possess proper qualifications, but such are not reflected on the Persal system." Despite subsequent Persel updates, the level of unqualified senior managers has barely budged. This was revealed during the latest round of questioning by Gondwe. Roughly half of the unqualified senior managers can be found in national departments. Of all national departments, the police recorded the highest number of unqualified senior managers, totalling 214 and accounting for 9% of all those defined as not having proper qualifications. The civilian secretariat for police service, on the other hand, had one of the lowest numbers of unqualified senior managers, recording only two as of the start of May. The department of justice and constitutional development also performed poorly, with 144 senior managers not having the requisite qualifications for the positions that they occupied.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Luke Daniel at Business Insider SA

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