Public comment | Public Service Commission Bill 2023: Submission to the NCOP

Public Service Commission Bill (B 30B–2023): Submission of public comment to the National Council of Provinces Submitted by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI), Public Service Accountability Monitor, The Equality Collective and The Ethics Institute (TEI) 12 September 2025 The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is now receiving public comment on the Public Service Commission (PSC) Bill. PARI and other organisations have been tracking the journey of this Bill closely. In our most recent submission – with the Ethics Institute, the Equality Collective, and the Public Service Accountability Monitor – we have our support to the Bill, which seeks to enhance the impartiality and independence of the PSC, and to enable the Commission to play its constitutionally mandated role in local government and public entities. We commended Parliament for making recent changes to the Bill that further strengthen the independence of the PSC. But we highlighted that the legislation currently under deliberation in Parliament represents only a partial implementation of the promised reforms aimed at depoliticising the public administration (i.e. as outlined in the NDP and in the Professionalisation Framework adopted by Cabinet in 2022). Neither this Bill, nor the Public Service Amendment Bill (currently also making its way through Parliament), address this reform imperative. In our detailed comment on the Bill, which can be downloaded here, we suggest there is room for Parliament to include an additional clause in this Bill that could support progressive movement in this direction.