PSETA Podcast Series

Welcome to the PSETA – Wits REAL podcast series

The Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) and the University of Witwatersrand’s Centre for Researching Education and Labour (Wits REAL) have, over the last three years, been involved in an exciting research partnership.  This partnership has sought to support the PSETA in providing evidence-based research to facilitate skills development and effective skills planning so as to contribute towards the development of a competent and capable state.

As part of the partnership’s deliverables, the Wits REAL Centre has introduced a PSETA podcast series which is aimed at, firstly, showcasing the findings of key areas of research conducted on behalf of the PSETA. Secondly, to reflect and engage with some of the key challenges facing the public service sector for example, in relation to skills, capabilities, competence and capacity. This is with the aim of provoking reflection and action on the challenges that confront the public service sector.

In view of this focus, this podcast series will unpack a number of questions such as what are the skills needs for the public service sector in view of its mandate to deliver public value for citizens? And within that is skills really an issue or a “red herring”? How do we understand the notion of a performing state? How can we measure and monitor competencies and performance better? How can the public service sector plan more effectively around its skills needs?  What is needed to facilitate the building of a capable state?

Introduction to the first podcast

This, the first podcast in the PSETA series, is hosted by REAL director Dr Presha Ramsarup who explores the role of the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) in supporting the development of a capable state with its Chief Executive Officer Bontle Lerumo. In exploring the PSETA’s role, Lerumo discusses some of the key challenges intermediaries like the PSETA face in getting skills “right” in the public service sector. Some challenges highlighted include the lack of alignment of planning processes with Lerumo pointing out that if government is to address the socio-economic challenges facing the country, then to build skilled public servants, more coherent planning processes are needed. She also pointed to interventions around rethinking the future of work and how to look at the skills profile of a high-performing public service sector.

Introduction to the second podcast

This, the second podcast in the PSETA series, is hosted by REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala who explores the nature of the research partnership with REAL director Dr Presha Ramsarup. In discussion, Ramsarup stresses the importance of such partnerships which seeks to assist public institutions such as the PSETAs in connecting to thought leadership organisations such as REAL to think about its role in terms of skills supply and demand. Whilst highlighting key areas of research, Ramsarup also pointed to the work being done to assist the PSETA in an approach towards more effective skills planning so as to contribute towards a more capable state.

Introduction to the third podcast

This, the third podcast in the PSETA series, is hosted by REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala who explores the challenges around skills planning within the public service sector with Professor Anne Mc Lennan. She explores skills planning within the context of a developmental and capable state as well as tracking supply but also touches on whether skills in of itself are relevant to a state that needs to deliver to the poorest. Or are there other factors which need to be considered?

Introduction to the fourth podcast

This, the fourth podcast in the PSETA series, is hosted by REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala who explores with Professor Francine de Klerq and Kate Mlauzi how competency frameworks are used within the public service sector. During discussions, they touch on how different departments use them, whether they are effective and if they are empowering human resource tools. De Clercq and Mlauzi also talk to how they can be improved to ensure performance is properly managed for effective delivery.

Introduction to the fifth podcast

This, the fifth podcast in the PSETA series, is hosted by REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala who explores the uptake of e-learning as a vehicle for the delivery of education and training in the public service sector together with Dr Wilma van Staden. During the discussion, she explores what the change drivers and difficulties of introducing e-learning in the sector. She then touches on how the PSETA can support the uptake of e-learning as well as what criteria are needed for evaluating e-learning programmes.

Introduction to the sixth podcast

This, the sixth podcast in the PSETA series, is hosted by REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala who explores what progress has been made towards meeting the United Nations (UN) Sustainability Development Goals (SDG’s) in relation to quality education together with Dr Tolika Sibiya. During the discussion, Sibiya and Jenkin explore whether the state has the skills and capabilities to work towards achieving the SDGs more broadly and what progress has been made to meet selected SDG 4 targets. What emerges is that the skills exist to some degree but what is needed is greater coordination and enhancing monitoring and reporting to deliver on the goals.

Introduction to the seventh podcast

This podcast in the PSETA series is hosted by REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala who explores the notion of jobs, occupations and qualifications in the public service sector together with Glynnis Vergotine. During the discussion, Vergotine explains that the research was embarked upon so as to develop a framework for mapping jobs to occupations within the public service sector. This was achieved by exploring the links between jobs, qualifications and occupations and how to align work tasks of a job, the core knowledge and qualifications of an occupation and the contextual needs of specific departments within the sector – this all with the aim of assisting the PSETA in supporting education and training interventions in the sector and guiding departments in identifying skills requirements.

Introduction to the eighth podcast

This, the eighth podcast in the PSETA series, is hosted by Renee Grawitzky who explores how skills demand and provision planning happens in the public service sector together with REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala. During the discussion, he teased out how planning currently happens and at what levels as well as drawing a distinction between current and emerging demand and medium to long-term demand and how these needs are being addressed in the public service. Tshabalala also touched on the opportunities for improving mechanisms for skills supply and demand and what the implications are for different stakeholders within the post-school system.

Introduction to the ninth podcast

Hosted by REAL researcher Themba Tshabalala, the podcast explores the impact and importance of the professionalisation framework and what it means for skills in the public service sector with Professor Mbongiseni Buthelezi, Executive Director of the Public Affairs Institute (PARI). Buthelezi – who served as a member of the Ministerial Task Team on the professionalisation of the public service – explains that the National Framework towards the implementation of Professionalisation of the Public Sector (approved by Cabinet on 19 October 2022) builds on a significant amount of work that had already been done. The challenge, he argues, is now a case of implementation and ensuring that organisations and structures such as the DPSA, the PSC, the National School of Governance and the PSETA take this work forward. As part of this, he suggested that what was key was having champions at both a political and administrative level to drive implementation. Another key theme highlighted was the need to roll back the extent of political interference in the public service or what he called the political-administrative interface.