National Departments

The mission of the Department of Home Affairs is the efficient determination and safeguarding of the identity and status of citizens and the regulation of immigration to ensure security, promote development and fulfil our international obligations. The Department's strategic outcome-orientated goals are to: establish a Border Management Agency and build a comprehensive, secure National Identity System, which will contribute significantly to reducing fraud and preventing identity theft; facilitate the importation of skills that are critical to ensuring economic growth and the creation of jobs; and provide an efficient, effective and development-orientated public service by being the custodian of the identity and status of citizens.

The Department of Human Settlements (DHS) has a mandate that is integral to the effort of the government to change the lives of South Africans for the better. This includes transforming the apartheid spatial and land and development patterns of social and racial exclusion. During the previous administrative term, we stayed true to the mandate by continuing to build and augment the work already done in creating sustainable human settlements and improving the quality of life for all households.

The mission of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) is to promote South Africa's national interests and values, the African Renaissance and the creation of a better world for all. The Department's strategic objectives are to: protect and promote South African national interests and values through bilateral and multilateral interactions; conduct and coordinate South Africa's international relations and promote its foreign policy objectives; monitor international developments and advise government on foreign policy and related domestic matters; protect South Africa's sovereignty and territorial integrity; contribute to the formulation of international law and enhance respect for the provisions thereof; promote multilateralism to secure a rules-based international system; maintain a modern, effective and excellence-driven department; provide consular services to South African nationals abroad; and provide a world-class and uniquely South African State Protocol service.

The vision of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) is to ensure an accessible justice system in a vibrant and evolving constitutional democracy. The Department's main strategic goals are to: enhance organisational performance on all aspects of administration in line with set standards, meeting and exceeding the needs and aspirations of key stakeholders, facilitate the (effective and efficient) resolution of criminal, civil, and family law disputes by providing accessible, efficient and quality administrative support to the courts; and effectively and cost-efficiently provide state legal services that anticipate, meet and exceed stakeholder needs and expectations.

The vision of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development (DLRRD) is to have equitable access to land and integrated rural development. Its mission is to accelerate land reform and catalyse rural development to stimulate economic development through transformed land ownership patterns; agrarian reform; implementation of an effective land administration system; promotion of access to opportunities for youth, women and other vulnerable groups; and integrated rural development.

The mission of the Department of Military Veterans is to facilitate delivery and coordinate all activities that recognise and entrench the restoration of dignity and appreciation of the contribution of military veterans to our freedom and nation-building. The Military Veterans Act aims to: establish a framework for the implementation of the national policy and standards governing military veterans' affairs; improve the quality of life of military veterans and their dependants so they may realise their socio-economic progress; and recognise and honour military veterans in life and remember them in death for their sacrifices on behalf of the nation. The Act places an obligation for the state to roll out the following proposed services and benefits to the military veterans and their dependents: military pension; housing; free access to military health services; free/subsidised access to public transport; skills acquisition and education support; job placement; burial support; entrepreneurial support services; and counselling. All the proposed benefits are accessed through a means test. In other words, each individual application is evaluated on a needs assessment and case-by-case basis.

The mission of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is to lead and partner in statistical production systems for evidence-based decisions. Stats SA's key goals involve: broadening the role and reach of official statistics - information should enable citizens, the government and businesses to understand and change society, and the important role that numbers play in this context emphasises the importance of relevance and use of official statistics; growth through coordination - the Organisation is moving away from producing statistical series as isolated products to an approach of a production system focusing on integration and analysis that cuts across series, products and organisations; enhanced quality - setting standards for statistical products, providing statistical advice and designating statistics as official of all organs of state within a statistics system are important deliverables for the strategy, and will contribute to improving and assessing the quality of statistical information; sustained capacity - developing and sustaining skills and infrastructure within Stats SA and amongst organs of state that produce statistics, within a systems framework; and doing more with less - being innovative, the use of technology, and a motivated and productive workforce are key enablers to deliver the strategy in an efficient and effective way.

The mandate of the State Security Agency (SSA) is to provide the government with intelligence on domestic and foreign threats or potential threats to national stability, the constitutional order, and the safety and well-being of our people. This allows the government to implement policies to deal with potential threats and better understand existing threats, and, thus, improve their policies. Among the areas of focus of the SSA are the following matters of national interest: terrorism, which refers to deliberate and premeditated attempts to create terror through symbolic acts involving the use or threat of lethal force for creating psychological effects that will influence a target group or individual and translate into political or material results; sabotage, which refers to activities or purposeful omissions conducted or planned for the purpose of endangering the safety, security or defence of vital public or private property, such as installations, structures, equipment or systems; subversion, which includes activities directed towards undermining by covert unlawful acts, or directed towards, or intended ultimately to lead to the destruction or overthrow by violence of, the constitutionally established systems of government in South Africa; espionage, which refers to unlawful or unauthorised activities conducted for acquiring information or assets relating to sensitive social, political, economic, scientific or military matters in South Africa, or for their unauthorised communication to a foreign state; and organised crime, which includes analysis of the origins and reasons behind organised crime, the identification of key role-players, the nature and extent, as well as the modus operandi, of organised crime syndicates.

The mission of the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) is to provide support to the Judiciary to ensure effective and efficient court administration services. The mandate of the OCJ is to provide effective administrative and technical support to the Chief Justice as the Head of the Judiciary and as Head of the Constitutional Court as well as to render administrative, operational and governance support to the Judiciary.

The National Treasury is responsible for managing South Africa's national government finances. Supporting efficient and sustainable public financial management is fundamental to the promotion of economic development, good governance, social progress and a rising standard of living for all South Africans. The Constitution of the Republic (Chapter 13) mandates the National Treasury to ensure transparency, accountability and sound financial controls in the management of public finances. The National Treasury's legislative mandate is also described in the Public Finance Management Act (Chapter 2). The National Treasury is mandated to promote government's fiscal policy framework; to coordinate macroeconomic policy and intergovernmental financial relations; to manage the budget preparation process; to facilitate the Division of Revenue Act, which provides for an equitable distribution of nationally raised revenue between national, provincial and local government; and to monitor the implementation of provincial budgets. As mandated by the executive and Parliament, the National Treasury will continue to support the optimal allocation and utilisation of financial resources in all spheres of government to reduce poverty and vulnerability among South Africa's most marginalised.

The National School of Government (NSG) has a constitutional and legislative mandate to provide Education, Training and Development (ETD) in the three spheres of government, state-owned entities (SOEs) and organs of state. This mandate is in line with Section 195 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which declares public administration to be development-oriented and participatory, and the basic values and principles being the basis of interaction between public administration (three spheres of government, organs of state, public enterprises) and society. This is achieved through integrated and collaborative network of training institutions and practitioners, including independent individual contractors, onboard trainers, higher education institutions and private entities, providing the public service with affordable access to quality training opportunities. The NSG also has collaborated with different international partners on board that assist with delivery of programmes at an international level. In terms of current legislative arrangements, government departments must annually budget one per cent of the employee compensation budget for training of its employees. The responsibility for training employees is vested with departmental accounting officers (Public Service Act) and is undertaken primarily through competitive procurement processes. The NSG is required to generate revenue towards ensuring its financial viability and sustainability and, as such the NSG is placed on a competitive and cost-recovery footing, together with internal and external training providers. The cost recovery model is made up of partial funding appropriated by Parliament and income derived from cost recovery through training course fees, which is managed in the Training Trading Account (TTA). The cost recovery model requires that all costs associated with the design and development of learning material and implementation of training courses from the training fees are recovered. The ETD interventions are delivered to public representatives and public servants and are clustered in accordance with the following occupational bands: I. Cadet and Foundational Management: Providing ETD interventions to graduates who wish to join the public service, public service interns and public servants up to occupational level 8 (support staff, administrators and supervisors. II. Middle Management Development: Providing ETD interventions for junior and middle managers with emphasis on occupational skills (know how), supply chain management, budgeting, supervisory skills and pathways to (further) qualifications. III. Senior Management Development and Professionalisation: Providing ETD interventions to senior managers. These include analytical skills, problem solving as well managing money and people. This is in addition to the core competencies (expertise) required to perform as a professional public servant.

The National School of Government (NSG) has a constitutional and legislative mandate to provide Education, Training and Development (ETD) in the three spheres of government, state-owned entities (SOEs) and organs of state. This mandate is in line with Section 195 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which declares public administration to be development-oriented and participatory, and the basic values and principles being the basis of interaction between public administration (three spheres of government, organs of state, public enterprises) and society. This is achieved through integrated and collaborative network of training institutions and practitioners, including independent individual contractors, onboard trainers, higher education institutions and private entities, providing the public service with affordable access to quality training opportunities. The NSG also has collaborated with different international partners on board that assist with delivery of programmes at an international level. In terms of current legislative arrangements, government departments must annually budget one per cent of the employee compensation budget for training of its employees. The responsibility for training employees is vested with departmental accounting officers (Public Service Act) and is undertaken primarily through competitive procurement processes. The NSG is required to generate revenue towards ensuring its financial viability and sustainability and, as such the NSG is placed on a competitive and cost-recovery footing, together with internal and external training providers. The cost recovery model is made up of partial funding appropriated by Parliament and income derived from cost recovery through training course fees, which is managed in the Training Trading Account (TTA). The cost recovery model requires that all costs associated with the design and development of learning material and implementation of training courses from the training fees are recovered. The ETD interventions are delivered to public representatives and public servants and are clustered in accordance with the following occupational bands: I. Cadet and Foundational Management: Providing ETD interventions to graduates who wish to join the public service, public service interns and public servants up to occupational level 8 (support staff, administrators and supervisors. II. Middle Management Development: Providing ETD interventions for junior and middle managers with emphasis on occupational skills (know how), supply chain management, budgeting, supervisory skills and pathways to (further) qualifications. III. Senior Management Development and Professionalisation: Providing ETD interventions to senior managers. These include analytical skills, problem solving as well managing money and people. This is in addition to the core competencies (expertise) required to perform as a professional public servant.

The mission of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is to be an effective, independent and impartial investigating and oversight body that is committed to justice and acting in the public interest, while maintaining the highest standards of integrity and excellence. The aim of the Department is to ensure independent oversight over the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Municipal Police Services (MPS), and to conduct independent and impartial investigations of identified criminal offences allegedly committed by members of the SAPS and the MPS, and make appropriate recommendations.

The mission of the Government Printing Works (GPW) is to provide cost-effective, reliable and timeous services to all spheres of government in printing; deliver equitable information to the public; and disseminate government information through technology, innovation and service excellence. Having invested in modern and world-class printing and data management technology, the GPW is fully equipped to meet its customers' printing needs, offering a comprehensive suite of standard printing, security printing and publishing services to the South African government. The GPW also supports the dissemination of government information to the public. As the editor and publisher of Government Gazettes - the official publications used by government to communicate messages of national importance to the general public - the GPW now also provides its customers with convenient electronic access to submit content, read current gazettes and access all back issues. The GPW's wide range of products and services comprises printing services, security printing and consulting services, gazette services, publications, and government stationery services.

The mission of the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) is to effectively and efficiently administer fund benefits on behalf of its clients and stakeholders. The GPAA ensures effective, transparent, accountable and coherent governance of the pension funds it administers on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and the National Treasury. The Agency's strategic plan is based on the need to achieve the following: enhancement of administrative capacity; modernisation of processes and systems; enhancement of human capital, including people competence and wellness; meeting of service levels as per service level agreements; and managing of the roles and responsibilities of employer departments with regards to the GPAA.