Assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Office of the State Attorney

The Public Service Commission has released its Report: Assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Office of the State Attorney. "The following are some of the findings of the study on the OSA:  The Report reveals that from the limited information provided, it is evident that Rand value of legal costs is substantial in some of the sampled departments. For instance, the Department of Health indicated that it cost a total R20 464 585 on cases settled over two financial years, whilst the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO) had paid R928 442.11 for briefs provided to counsel over three financial years. On the other hand, South African Police Service (SAPS): Litigation and Administration had spent R5 931 700 for cases related to recovery of debt.  A total amount of R323 789 290.452 was spent by SAPS: Gauteng for cases that were decided against the department over the three financial years.  Furthermore, documentation provided to the PSC by the OSA revealed that an amount of R8 666 371 emanating from payment of invoices to a law firm was written off as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. It is noted that the OSA is still engaged in a legal process to recover the over payments.

Based on the findings, the PSC made certain recommendations:  The manner in which cases are allocated to attorneys at the OSA should be properly managed to ensure a more realistic distribution of work.  An independent Work Study should be undertaken to determine whether the capacity of the office is sufficient to deal with the workload.  A retention strategy should be developed to ensure that the OSA does not lose its highly qualified and competent employees.  Recommendations that were made and have been ongoing as far back as 2012 and beyond should be implemented with specific emphasis on the implementation of a briefing policy to curb perceptions of corruption in briefing patterns."