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DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES: VOTE 19
REPORT OF THE ACCOUNTING OFFICER
for the year ended 31 March 2008
SCOPA, fifth report
of 2008.
SCOPA, fifth report
of 2008.
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Many of the debts are very old.
While the debt might be identified, the documentation of the debt to
substantiate these is difficult to source/obtain.
Monitoring of action plan at the Chief Directorate, Branch level and
Audit Steering Committee levels.
Vacancies. Recommendations:
(a) That vacant position is filled and the department’s retention strategy is
implemented successfully.
Status:
(a) On the area of scarce skills the Department advertised these vacant
posts on a regular basis and also implemented head hunting frameworks
for Nurses, Pharmacists, Medical Practitioners and Psychologists.
(b) With Medical Practitioners it was also possible to upgrade their salaries
to Level 12 which lead to the filling of some of the positions.
(c) On the other Occupations the department is also restricted within the
salary framework of the broad Public Service and currently only the
new OSD for Nurses has been implemented and approved by DPSA.
(d) The Commissioner has approved the translation of all Professional
Nurses to the occupational stream of Primary Health Care. This approval
implies a higher compensation package which will ensure the
more effective recruitment and retention strategy for this critical occupation.
(e) The new structure for Social Workers was successfully implemented in
the Department which presents Social Workers with better salary and
career opportunities. This also led to the filling of some of the positions.
(f) Regarding Psychologists, the department is faced with a situation that
the current public service salary is not sufficient to attract and retain
qualified Psychologists. There is also a deeper imbedded problem
which relates to the working environment conditions which impact
negatively on this professional field. As a counter measure the department
has presented flexible working hours and a framework for head
hunting.
(g) It is a fact that the department alone cannot address the critical shortage
experienced with Psychologists and the new OSD as developed
by DPSA for Psychologists which is scheduled for 2008 will assist
a great deal in eliminating salary disparities within the Government
sectors and provide for a platform from where open competition can
prevail.
Consultants. Recommendations:
(a) That the department ensures that there is proper skills transfer to staff
to eventually decrease the department’s dependence on consultants.
Status:
(a) The Public Sector has not been able to compete successfully with Private
Sector in relation to amongst others the ruminations and Human
Capital Investment to support the attraction and retention of skills.
(b) The reasons for outsourcing are the following:
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To source expertise and skills that are not available within the
Department;
The high turn-over and the inability to retain and match what the
private sector is offering in terms of salary and other benefits;
Prolonged process of staffing;
To allow the department to refocus on its core function;
Improve service delivery of the department on the rendering of
the core services;
DCS Annual Report 2007/08 89