'Most Notably' (13 April 2026)

This week's 'Most Notably' focuses on the Public Service Amendment Act, which joined the statute books on 2 April 2026 – triggering a flurry of media reports, few of which mentioned that the new piece of legislation has yet to be operationalised. This is likely to require the development, release for public comment, finalisation and publication of enabling regulations, which can be a lengthy process. If only mainstream media journalists would take the trouble to scroll down to the final section of new legislation where information on its commencement is usually located. In the case of the Public Service Amendment Act, section 20 clearly states that it will come into operation "on a date determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette".

On 9 April 2026, Daily Maverick associate editor Stephen Grootes wrote, "With the Public Service Amendment Act now law, South Africa faces a pivotal change in governance, reducing political control over public service appointments and focusing on merit." Which, in a nutshell, is precisely what will happen once the Act is in force. Which it isn't – not yet. The Act may well be on the statute books, but as things now stand it is not enforceable law.

The heading to Siphesihle Buthelezi's The Mercury article, "Ending cadre deployment: Ramaphosa signs Public Service and Administration Acts into law", is equally misleading. "Cadre deployment" has not come to an end and won't until the Act is operationalised . The heading is also technically flawed. Bills, not Acts, are signed into law by the President: a detail even the Department of Public Service & Administration's Sakhikhaya Dlala missed in his media statement on the new legislation.

Fortunately – assuming he was quoted correctly – Public Service & Administration Minister Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi is fully aware of the challenges ahead. According to the Minister, "while the enactment of these legislative reforms marks a significant milestone, more work remains necessary to realise meaningful and sustained change within the public service". "Committed and capable public servants ultimately drive service delivery", the Minister is reported to have added, noting that "no legislative framework, however well-crafted, can substitute for the right attitudes, ethos, and sense of purpose within the system".

Strangely, media reports ignored the other reforming piece of legislation to which the Minister referred: the Public Administration Management Amendment Act, which joined the statute books the same day. According to the departmental statement, once operationalised it is expected to "harmonise critical aspects of public administration across all spheres of government" – among other things by addressing "disparities in conditions of service". This, in turn, will facilitate employee transfer and secondment in the best possible interests of improved "state capacity and capability" where these are found wanting.

Welcoming the Public Service Amendment Act's addition to the statute books as a "significant reform", a Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) press release nevertheless warns readers that "the legal framework to support the development of an impartial public administration and a productive political-administrative interface is still not fully in place".

Although the Public Service Amendment Act does transfer the responsibility for staff appointments from politicians to administrative heads of department, PARI believes "there is still plenty of room for political corruption to enter into decisions" about the appointment of heads of department themselves – and for department heads appointed that way "to then promote those interests down through the administrative hierarchy". With that in mind, is it sufficient for the Act simply to ban heads of department and employees reporting directly to them from holding political office? Time will tell whether regulations operationalising the Act will close those loopholes.

Last week and the week before having been shortened by the Easter public holiday, that's all for now!

Until next Monday ...

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