| (1) |
The Office of Standards and Compliance is hereby established. |
| (2) |
The organisational form of the Office must be determined in terms of applicable legislation. |
| (3) |
The head of the Office and all its personnel must be appointed in terms of the Public Service Act. |
| (4) |
The functions of the Office are to— |
| (a) |
evaluate the appropriateness of norms and standards and their basis of measurement as determined by institutions in relation to public administration and management; |
| (b) |
promote and monitor compliance with minimum norms and standards determined by the Minister in relation to public administration management; |
| (c) |
advise the Minister on the execution of his or her duties with regard to— |
| (i) |
the determination of minimum norms and standards contemplated in section 16; and |
| (ii) |
enforcing compliance with the minimum norms and standards; |
| (d) |
conduct capacity and functionality audits of skills, systems, processes and advise on capacity building initiatives; |
| (e) |
develop and implement an early warning system to detect public administration non-compliance; and |
| (i) |
at least once every quarter to the Minister on the performance of the Office’s functions; and |
| (ii) |
as directed by the Minister on the progress made in the investigation and finalisation of matters brought before the Office. |
| (5) |
Every head of an institution must cooperate with the Office in the performance of its functions and ensure that the employees in the institution do so. |
| (6) |
The objects of the Office are to ensure compliance with the minimum norms and standards set by the Minister in section 16, taking into account that the spheres of government are distinctive, inter-dependent and interrelated, by— |
| (a) |
monitoring compliance by institutions with the minimum norms and standards in the public administration; |
| (b) |
submitting a report to the Minister and the relevant head of institution; |
| (c) |
directing in that report, if necessary, steps to be taken by the head of institution to comply with the applicable minimum norms and standards and assisting the institution in taking those steps; |
| (d) |
reporting to the Minister at least once a year or at the request of the Minister on the performance of the Office’s functions, the effectiveness of the minimum norms and standards, or any other matter related to the Office’s functions which may be requested by the Minister; and |
| (e) |
performing any other prescribed role in the promotion, monitoring and enforcement of the minimum norms and standards. |
(7) The Minister must prescribe the powers of the Office and its members including those necessary to achieve the objects referred to in subsection (6).
Protection of Businesses Act, 1978
