The Public Service Award is one of SAAPAM’s highest honours which is intended to recognize officials and former officials in the public sector and researchers who have demonstrated exceptional service in the field of Public Administration and practice.
It recognises those people who have consistently performed to the highest standards and have made an extensive contribution to their communities. The Public Service Award was established to recognise employees of the South African Government and other organs of the State at national, provincial and local government spheres as well as those who have given outstanding service in research and scholarship in the field of Public Administration and Management. Importantly, officials and researchers in the African continent are also eligible for this award should they meet the criteria.
Outstanding service could be shown through:
Only a maximum of three (3) awards of the SAAPAM Public Service Award (SPSA) can be made within a two (2) year period. This means that up to 3 awards can be awarded to employees of South African Government, its agencies and the field of academia and the continent at large.
The sole criterion for the award of the SPSA is to recognize outstanding achievement in the public service. “Outstanding service” includes service above and beyond the normal requirements of the position, a special achievement or success in the performance of duty in difficult or unusual circumstances, or sustained high level performance by an individual with a focus on outcomes and recognisable benefits to clients and the workplace.
All (current and former) employees of the South African Government at national, provincial and local sphere of government are eligible for the award. The SPSA is open to all levels of the public service.
The SPSA may be awarded only once to each recipient in a five (5) year circle. A person who has received an award from SAAPAM is not excluded from receiving an SPSA if the five years period has lapsed.
Retired public office bearers, academics and researchers can be nominated for this award.
All nominations should be prepared in word format.
As the SPSA is part of the official national honours of SAAPAM, it is important to provide full personal details of the nominee, including the full name and home address. All information provided is treated as confidential.
Full position details are required so that the SPSA Committee can assess the nomination relative to the duties that would normally be expected of a person at a particular level. This is very important for the committee when comparing nominations.
The nomination statement must contain comprehensive information on the service or achievement for which the nomination is being made. A list of positions held over a number of years is not sufficient. Because the nomination will be considered alongside other nominations in what is essentially a competitive process, the committee needs to be given a clear idea of what the nominee has done to fulfil the criterion of outstanding service. It should not be assumed that the committee has a detailed knowledge of the area in which the nominee is employed or was employed, or a full understanding of the significance of certain achievements. The nominee’s service should be put into context in the nomination statement.
Adjudication support- Nomination reports are limited to 2 pages.
To be properly considered by the committee, all nominations must be accompanied by referee statements which comment on the service of the nominee. It is also often appropriate to obtain referee statements from outside the agency, especially if the nominee is being nominated for outstanding service to a particular community or industry. If the nominee’s service relates to the work of another agency, a referee statement from that agency may also help the committee in their consideration of the nomination. Two referee statements would be sufficient.
A completed nomination should be forwarded to the National Board of SAAPAM.
The various SPSA Committees consider nominations for eligible candidates. The National Board of SAAPAM will publish dates for nominations on the SAAPAM website annually.
After considering the nominations, the committee recommends a list of proposed recipients to the President and Executive Director of SAAPAM who will approve or decline the recommended names for the awards on behalf of the association. This decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into beyond this decision.
Responsibility for contacting the proposed recipients rests with the Nominations Committee Chairperson, SAAPAM President/Vice President or Executive Director, who arranges for the announcement of the awards to appear in the SAAPAM website. Proposed recipients may decline an award if they so wish. Sometime after announcement the recipient will be notified by SAAPAM Administration of the arrangements for them to receive their award at an official investiture.
Nominations for the SAAPAM Public Service Award should be directed to the office of the Executive Director of SAAPAM on contact details provided below before 30 June 2026.
Prof John Molepo | Executive Director
Telephone: 076 750 2300
Email: MolepoJN@tut.ac.za or SAAPAM@tut.ac.za
South African Association of Public Administration and Management Administrative Office
Telephone: 012 382 9769
Email: SAAPAM@tut.ac.za
