The idea of the single public service has been around for some time but it was put aside by Parliament and the former Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi due to its massive administrative implications.

Currently, South Africa has a dual public service. National and provincial administrations are governed by a single Act of Parliament and local administration by another. Different conditions of service, codes of conduct, levels of remuneration, pension funds and labour bargaining processes also apply.

Padayachie said one of the options available was to streamline legislation to ensure that officials could move from one structure of government to another and how this would be managed would form part of deliberations.

The split in public administration means that it is not possible for officials to move easily from the public service to local administration and vice versa without resigning their present positions, pension funds and medical aid schemes.

“Currently, we [have] several pension schemes and we need to ensure that we put in place mechanisms that will allow us to manage the movement of officials from one arm to another. When I look at the amount of work that is being done, I think there is a possibility for us to go ahead,” he said.

At the heart of the initiative was the promotion of integration among the three different spheres of government so they can work as one unit. This would mean that there is a single legislation and that would require amendments to the current Act that governs local, provincial and national government.

Said Padayachie: “We want to see how we can ensure that there is an amendment to ensure that these structures work together in coherence … our goal is to ensure that we have single public service that is pulling in one direction.”

He said the move towards a single public service should not be seen as an attempt to change the Constitution but as another way of ensuring integrated service delivery at all government institutions.