SA’s public service needs an adequately tech-skilled workforce to build strong state capacity.
South Africa’s public service workforce lacks some of the technology skills essential for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
Additionally, even though most government officials are aware of these technologies, they struggle to apply them to enhance public administration and recognise how these can be used to optimise the efficiency of the state.
This is based on insights from professor Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, who led a study of the skills and competencies required for the public service in a changing world.
The study, done at the behest of the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA), in partnership with the Tshwane University of Technology’s Institute for the Future of Work, seeks to respond to concerns raised in the National Development Plan (NDP).
The NDP highlighted that planning for skills development in SA’s public sector was inadequate to build a capable and developmental state.
According to the study, officials in government departments that interact directly with citizens lack the technologies and tools essential to take advantage of the new breakthroughs. For example, they did not know how big data, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, or the automation of public administration could be used to improve public service.
The technology skills limitations among civil servants are “not really surprising”, says Maserumule, adding that the study looked at trends worldwide to learn how other countries managed to build state capacity.
“We did a bit of comparative analysis, and what emerged was that countries that managed to reinvent themselves from various regions worldwide − including Asia, North America, Europe and Africa − is that they invested so much in technology skills in the public sector. They even went beyond that in terms of investing in digital infrastructure.
“A key lesson that emerged from the study, especially in most countries in the global North, is that technology skills are not simply a trend, but the means by which the technologies of the 4IR are leveraged to manage public affairs more effectively.
“When you compare South Africa with those countries, you realise that in our case, we haven’t really done much in terms of investing in digital infrastructure, but also generally in being deliberate in equipping future public servants with technology skills.
“This is not only a challenge for these public servants, it is also a challenge of where they are being educated and where they are being tried, which I often refer to as the source-of-talent pipeline – the post-school system.”
Maserumule notes that most universities grapple to adequately integrate elements of technology in what students are studying towards. However, he points to the University of Johannesburg, which has introduced a module in AI or robotics for every student, across qualifications.
“If we could actually [all] do that, we’ll go a long way as the source-of-talent pipeline in making sure our graduates ultimately graduate, not only with the knowledge of what they have gone to university for, but also with technology skills, because that is what the labour market needs.”
Professor Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, professor of public affairs at the Tshwane University of Technology and head of the Institute for the Future of Work.
The qualitative study began in 2023 and was completed in mid-2024, according to Maserumule, and featured interviews with various officials in different government institutions. It also comprised focus group discussions and literature reviews, to pick up certain trends related to the topic.
After it was submitted, it went through internal processes and was released in April, with PSETA making it available for public consumption, reveals the professor.
“While technology skills are very important, they are not really a panacea to the problems that we have. It came it out very clear that as much as we are talking about technology skills, basic human skills also tend to be a challenge. Simple issues of basic financial management skills were also found to be a challenge.”
According to Maserumule, despite there being a critical skills shortage, the study uncovered a skills mismatch in public service. This, he explains, was quite a revelation considering government set up a system called HR Connect, which makes HR data available and distributed to various HR divisions within the state.
Instead of aiding in strategic HR decisions, the system is poorly utilised and doesn’t examine the impact of not creating a model public servant.
“You’ve got a system created to give you data that will assist to take strategic decisions on HR matters; instead, all you use that system for is compliance, to account for training and development budgets given to different government departments. Instead of also using it to attend to issues that relate to skills mismatching and knowing exactly the areas that need training and development intervention.
“The study was not about looking into the HR management system of government. However, HR management is inextricably linked to skills development, training and interventions. The system is not really used adequately to assist in that regard.”
Used appropriately, the system would provide insights on the shortage of skills and competencies, revealing various means of intervention, notes the professor.
The Department of Public Service and Administration, in partnership with the State IT Agency − which is responsible for modernising government systems and processes − should oversee that the HR Connect system is used effectively within the state, he comments.
“These are the organisations that need to work very closely to ensure this system works optimally and works for the purpose for which it was equally designed for.”
Public administration in the country will continue to fail if government doesn’t have people with the appropriate skills and competencies, he adds.
“There is no way that we can talk about state capacity if the very same people who are in the employ of the state are not adequately and fully skilled with the necessary competencies to undertake the various responsibilities they have been employed to do.
“If we don’t intervene defensively, in terms of making sure that our public sector is geared and competent, we’ll continue to have a very serious challenge of weak state capacity.”
