The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has branded the Public Service Commission Bill of 2023 “plainly unconstitutional”, warning that it would allow the ANC to tighten its grip on hiring, promotion, and dismissal of officials in opposition-run municipalities.

The think tank’s head of policy research, Dr Anthea Jeffery, said the measure would extend the commission’s reach beyond national and provincial departments to local government, despite the Constitution reserving personnel decisions for municipalities. She argued that the ruling party hopes to sidestep the two-thirds majority needed for a constitutional amendment by rushing the Bill through the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) after it passed the National Assembly.

Jeffery added that the proposal echoes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for a “single, harmonised public service” that would centralise “all levers of power”. The NCOP, she noted, gave the public only ten days to comment on the Bill and failed to outline its fiscal impact.

Calling the draft law a “blatant power grab”, she urged provincial legislators to abandon the measure and uphold constitutional protections for municipal autonomy.