| (1) | The Commission may, in terms of section 10 of the Act, conduct an inquiry into a grievance— |
| (a) | referred or lodged directly by a head of department, if the Commission is of the opinion that the subject matter of the grievance cuts across or has or is affecting different operations of the relevant department; |
| (b) | relating to an employee other than a head of department, if— |
| (i) | the Commission is of the opinion that the subject matter of the grievance cuts across or has or is affecting different the operations of the relevant department; and |
| (ii) | the grievance, although lodged and referred by one employee, affects other employees; |
| (c) | if the Commission is of the opinion that the subject matter of the grievance is of a complex nature and requires the Commission to call for written or oral evidence of experts in particular fields of study involved in the subject matter of the grievance. |
(2)
| (a) | The decision to conduct a formal enquiry on the grievance must be made by the Chairperson of the Commission, Deputy Chairperson of the Commission, Cluster Commissioner or Provincially-based Commissioner. |
| (b) | The other Commissioners on the Panel of Commissioners and investigators assigned to the investigation of the grievance may participate in the hearing. |
| (3) | The Commission must notify the aggrieved employee or executive authority in writing that a formal inquiry will be conducted on the grievance. |
| (4) | The Commission must summons any person required to provide information or documentary evidence to the Commission in terms of section 10(2) of the Act. |
| (5) | The Commission must follow an inquisitorial and not an adversarial approach during the inquiry. |
| (6) | The inquiry is an internal closed process which may be chaired by either— |
| (a) | the Chairperson of the Commission; |
| (b) | Deputy Chairperson of the Commission; |
| (c) | Cluster Commissioner; or |
| (d) | Provincially-based Commissioner, who must before the commencement of the hearing— |
| (i) | welcome the parties and explain the purpose of the hearing; |
| (ii) | formally record the details of the participants and their designations; |
| (iii) | explain the inquisitorial nature of the hearing and the procedure to be followed; |
| (iv) | summarise the grievance and state the issue to be determined; |
| (v) | indicate the order in which evidence will be taken from the witnesses and the role of other participants during the process; |
| (vi) | make a determination on how documentary evidence will be taken; and |
| (vii) | make any other determination necessary on any other aspect of the hearing. |
[Rule 17(6)(d) substituted by section 13(a) of the Public Service Commission Rules on Referral and Investigation of Grievances of Employees in the Public Service Amendment of 2023, Notice No. 2374, GG50311, dated 22 March 2024 - effective 1 May 2024]
| (7) | The chairperson of the hearing may, if he or she deems it necessary, administer an oath or accept an affirmation from a witness. |
| (8) | The chairperson must make a determination on the admissibility of evidence. |
(9)
| (a) | At the conclusion of the inquiry the Panel of Commissioners must evaluate the evidence and produce a provisional report with findings and recommendations, which, where necessary, must be made available to the parties to comment or respond thereon within the timeframe provided by the Commission. |
| (b) | The Commission may, in exceptional circumstances, and in accordance with the provisions of rule 9 consider comments submitted to it outside the timeframe it has set for the parties to submit their comments in terms of rule 17(9) of these Rules. |
[Rule 17(9) substituted by section 13(b) of the Public Service Commission Rules on Referral and Investigation of Grievances of Employees in the Public Service Amendment of 2023, Notice No. 2374, GG50311, dated 22 March 2024 - effective 1 May 2024]
| (10) | The Commission must issue the final report with findings and recommendations, where necessary, after considering the comments or response from all the parties. |
| (11) | The Commission must, if no comments or response is received after the date contemplated in subrule (9), continue to finalise the report. |
| (12) | The Commission musts if does not agree with any aspect of the comments or response from any of the parties— |
| (a) | continue to finalise the report regardless of the comments or response; |
| (b) | indicate in the report any aspect with which the Commission does not agree and the reasons for disagreement; and |
| (c) | attach the response of the party to the final outcome of the inquiry as an annexure. |
| (13) | Legal representation is not permitted in the process since the intention is to facilitate a speedy resolution of the grievance. |
(14)
| (a) | The hearing must be conducted in English, unless a witness requests otherwise. |
| (b) | A witness contemplated in paragraph (a) must inform the Commission within three days of receipt of the Commission's notification of the hearing in which language he or she wishes to testify. |
| (c) | The Commission must then obtain the services of an interpreter if necessary. |
