WHAT IS THE PSAM?
The Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) is an independent monitoring and research institute dedicated to strengthening democracy in South Africa. We believe that transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of a healthy democracy. The PSAM conducts independent research, monitoring and policy analysis. We are based at Rhodes University in South Africas Eastern Cape Province. We gather information on the management of public resources and the handling of misconduct and corruption cases by government departments. This information is collected in a rigorous, objective and politically impartial fashion. By publishing this information the PSAM hopes to give members of parliament, civil society organisations and ordinary citizens the tools necessary to hold government ministers and public officials accountable for their performance. Through our website we also hope to give government ministers and officials the opportunity to communicate their successes and achievements to the South African public.
Vision
To build African institutions and social relationships of accountability which ensure government responsiveness to socio-economic rights and the effective use of public resources.
Strategic Objective
- To entrench the principle of accountability as an obligation by those in public office to answer to citizens for their performance in meeting socio-economic rights and in delivering effective public services.
- To provide civil society and constitutional oversight bodies with vital information required to hold the executive and administrative arms of government to account for their management of public resources and delivery of public services.
PSAM Projects
- Case Monitoring
Since 2000, this project has maintained a public access website providing a detailed list of cases of misconduct, corruption and maladministration in Eastern Cape government departments. The project intends to also establish and maintain a database of cases of misconduct, conflicts of interest, corruption and maladministration for selected national government departments. Its methodology involves identifying such reported cases by constant monitoring of the press and official documents such as Auditor-Generals reports, minutes of oversight committee meetings and the annual reports of government departments. An effort is made to establish whether there has been any reported corrective action in each case. The cases are then compiled into lists and sent to the Heads of the responsible departments along with a request for details of the corrective action taken in the case. This gives the departments the opportunity to demonstrate how well they are performing in respect of their handling of disciplinary cases and to inform the public of their efforts to re-train and build the capacity of their staff in instances where problems have been reported. These cases are continuously updated in the light of new information brought to the attention of the PSAM. In the event of a non-response from any government department or other official information source the PSAM requests this information in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The project aims to hold the executive and relevant government departments accountable for the prompt investigation and initiation of disciplinary/criminal proceedings and recovery of public funds in (Eastern Cape and selected national) cases of misconduct, corruption and maladministration. It also seeks to ensure that legislature oversight committees and constitutional bodies are informed of all such cases and the corrective steps taken; and to encourage these committees and bodies to ensure that government departments take steps to resolve these cases. It serves to raise awareness among civil society organisations (CSOs) and the general public of the negative impact of corruption and maladministration on public service delivery and on the realisation of socio-economic rights. - Performance Monitoring
The PSAMs Performance Monitoring project collects and databases information on the performance of Eastern Cape and selected national government departments. PSAM researchers extract information on the budget allocations and resources available to these departments, their plans to utilize these resources and the problems that they experience in the course of implementing these plans. They track the recommendations made by oversight bodies to address and resolve these problems and attempt to establish whether these are implemented. In addition, records are kept of all promises and commitments made by government ministers and departmental officials in respect of service delivery in order to establish whether these are redeemed. All this information is extracted from a range of official documents which are often produced by government departments themselves. These include budget documents, policy speeches, strategic plans, operational plans, and annual reports. Information is also obtained from the reports of oversight bodies such as the Auditor-Generals reports and the minutes of parliamentary committee meetings. The objective is to make the information contained in these bulky volumes of documents available to ordinary citizens and parliamentarians in an easily accessible and user-friendly format. We hope that this will empower civil society and improve legislature oversight by providing Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and oversight committees with accurate and accessible information on Eastern Cape government departments. Recently the project also began monitoring interventions made by the Eastern Cape Legislature oversight committees and steps taken to ensure the implementation of recommendations by committees. The project also aims to monitor the effectiveness of systems established, and steps taken, by selected national government departments (Finance, Education, Health and Social Development) to ensure the implementation of national policies in the Eastern Cape. - Surveys
In 2001, the PSAM conducted a benchmark survey of Eastern Cape government officials knowledge of regulations and codes of conduct and attitudes toward transparency and accountability. It also attempted to measure officials experiences and perceptions of corruption. These survey findings have been published in the form of a booklet Government Corruption seen from the inside, A survey of Public Officials Perceptions of corruption in the Eastern Cape. The full text of this booklet is available under the heading Reports and Papers on this website. It is hoped to re-administer this survey at regular intervals in order to gauge any changes in the attitudes, perceptions and experiences of Eastern Cape government officials as South Africas new constitutional democracy takes root. - Civic Empowerment
This project launched a website in 2002 advising citizens of their rights, the responsibilities of public officials and mechanisms for reporting their complaints. In 2003 it helped form the Eastern Cape Human Rights Working group which has set out to coordinate strategies for monitoring the delivery of public services and the realisation of socio-economic rights in the province. The project has facilitated and hosted quarterly meetings of this group and was responsible for the production of the Know Your Rights/Wazi Amalungelo Akho booklet, which provides advice on a range of rights and public services. The project has recently begun monitoring the quality of actual service delivery at social grant pay-points (the majority of which have been outsourced to two private service providers) in the Eastern Cape. It has inspected more than 40 pay-points, interviewed over 600 grant beneficiaries, and has advised the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development of service delivery problems encountered by beneficiaries. A new activity, which the project will conduct in conjunction with the Treatment Action Campaign, is the monitoring of a selection of health facilities in the Eastern Cape. This will be done by conducting on-site inspections and administering a survey questionnaire to patients at provincial hospitals and clinics focusing on distribution of antiretroviral drugs and HIV related services. A second new activity will be the monitoring of a selection of poverty alleviation programmes in the Eastern Cape , by conducting on-site inspections and administering a survey questionnaire to programme beneficiaries. This activity will be undertaken at the request of the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development. Research reports in relation to all these activities will be produced. The project aims to:
- Promote awareness of citizens constitutional rights and rights to good public services.
- Inform citizens of the responsibilities of public officials and mechanisms to report complaints about poor public services.
- Monitor the quality of service delivery by surveying users of public services and by inspecting selected public service facilities (including social grant pay-points, hospitals and clinics and poverty alleviation programmes) in the Eastern Cape.
- Inform citizens, partner CSOs, constitutional bodies (such as the South African Human Rights Commission) and legislature oversight committees, of the quality of services being delivered by selected government departments in the Eastern Cape.
- Advocacy and Communications Project
This project was established in late 2003. It aims to inform the South African public of the level of accountable conduct of government officials, the performance of government departments in the management of public resources and delivery of public services, the constitutional rights of citizens to good services and the responsibilities of public officials. It provides constant updates on the PSAMs monitoring and other projects. This is achieved through regular press releases, opinion and analysis pieces in the media and regular press and radio interviews. Since its establishment, the project has also published a weekly Accountability Monitor newspaper column in the Daily Dispatch containing a mix of information on the responsibilities of Eastern Cape government officials and the performance of departments in combating corruption and maladministration and in delivering effective and accountable public services.