Government employees across all spheres have been advised to refrain from engaging in political activities that lack proper authorisation, as the Public Service Commission moves to safeguard the integrity of South Africa’s coalition-driven administration.
The advisory comes after the United Democratic Movement and Democratic Alliance voiced objections over reports that public officials are being called to attend political party study sessions. Public Service Commission Chairperson Somadoda Fikeni stressed that such practices threaten the constitutional boundary separating non-partisan administration from political leadership.
Fikeni highlighted the particular complexities introduced by the Government of National Unity structure. “You may have one head of department who reports and has to support a minister from another party,” he explained. “Unauthorised or non-transparent engagements with political parties can generate friction and erode the professionalism that keeps administration distinct from political actors.”
While acknowledging that political parties legitimately require technical briefing when preparing for parliamentary work, Fikeni clarified that such support should flow through political appointees—ministers and deputy ministers—rather than career officials. When directors-general, heads of department, or other senior civil servants are drawn directly into party-level preparatory forums, several risks emerge.
Information asymmetry is one concern: a senior official attending a study group without the relevant political principal present may possess knowledge not shared with their minister. Another risk involves the gradual blurring of roles, where technical support begins to resemble joint political strategy development. “It can start encroaching into the political space wherein it would look like they are planning together on how to approach the presentation itself,” Fikeni noted.
The PSC deliberately framed its guidance around foundational constitutional values—particularly Section 195 and Chapter 10—rather than launching party-specific investigations. Fikeni explained this approach prevents perceptions of bias while reinforcing ongoing public service reforms, including the forthcoming Public Service Commission Bill and provisions of the Public Administration Management Act aimed at clarifying the division between administrative and political functions.
When questioned about potential links to cadre deployment practices, Fikeni declined to attribute the issue to any single organisation. “We opted for an advisory instead of a deep-dive investigation,” he said. “It was not about counting meetings in this party or that party, but about asserting principles that apply at municipal, provincial, and national levels.”
Fikeni warned that unresolved tensions around these engagements could carry tangible consequences for public servants. Officials who attend political sessions may later face difficult questions from their principals about discussions they cannot fully disclose. “That’s where friction begins, that’s where mistrust begins,” he said. “In the next round of contract renewal, this particular public servant may suffer—not because they invited themselves, but because they could not say no.”
He urged Parliament and GNU partners to develop transparent protocols for instances where technical input from officials is genuinely necessary, ensuring proper permissions are secured and purposes clearly documented. “This is in the interest of protecting public servants and maintaining a clear delineation of administration from politics,” Fikeni added, observing that declining public confidence in state institutions may partly reflect confusion over these role boundaries.
In related parliamentary proceedings covered during the same session, the City of Johannesburg updated the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on enhancements to its digital security infrastructure. Johannesburg Group Chief Financial Officer Tebogo Moraka confirmed that a specialised entity now manages the municipality’s cybersecurity systems following identification of prior vulnerabilities.
Muraka referenced an incident approximately five to six years ago in which external actors penetrated the city’s first security layer and accessed certain customer information, though not billing records. The breach was detected and contained within an hour. Since then, the municipality has formalised a partnership with the CSIR—a government science council with recognised cybersecurity capability—to oversee protection of sensitive financial and personal data, replacing earlier arrangements with third-party commercial providers.