(2) The offices of the secretary of the Commission and other members of staff referred to in subsection (1) shall be public offices but not form part of the Public Service. [Subsection substituted by section 3 of Act 16 of 2001] (3) Subject to this section and the directions of the Commission, the control and supervision of the staff of the Commission shall be exercised by the secretary of the Commission. [Subsection substituted by section 3 of Act 16 of 2001] (4) The Commission, with the concurrence of the Minister, may make regulations providing for the conditions of service of the secretary of the Commission and the staff of the Commission. [Section inserted by section 3 of Act 16 of 2001] 11 Directions to Commission (1) The President may give general directions of policy to the Commission, and the Commission shall take all necessary steps to comply with them. (2) If the Commission has failed to carry out any duty imposed upon it by or under the Constitution, this Act or any other law, the Minister may direct the Commission to take such action as he considers necessary to rectify the matter within such time as he may specify: Provided that before doing so, the Minister shall give the Commission an opportunity to make any representations it may wish to make in the matter. (3) If the Commission fails to take action in accordance with a direction in terms of subsection (2) within the time specified by the Minister, the Minister may take appropriate action on behalf of the Commission to rectify the matter. (4) The Commission shall report to Parliament the nature and substance of every direction given to it in terms of subsection (1) or (2), together with any comments the Commission may wish to make thereon, either by means of a special report submitted in terms of section twelve or in its annual report submitted in terms of that section. 12 Reports of Commission (1) The Commission— (a) shall, as soon as possible after the 31st December in each year, submit to the Minister an annual report upon matters dealt with by the Commission during the previous year, save such matters as the Commission may consider inexpedient to publish; and (b) may at any time submit to the Minister a special report on any matter upon which the Commission considers it desirable to report. (2) The Minister shall lay before Parliament on one of the fourteen days on which Parliament next sits after the report is received by him— (a) the annual report submitted to him in terms of paragraph (a) of subsection (1); and (b) any special report submitted to him in terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) which the Commission requests be laid before Parliament. 13 Validity of decisions and acts of Commission (1) No decision or act of the Commission or act done under the authority of the Commission shall be invalid solely because there were one or more vacancies on the Commission when the decision was taken or the act was done or authorized. (2) If any decision or other act of the Commission is rendered invalid through a procedural irregularity, the Commission may at a duly convened meeting ratify the decision or action, and any decision or action so ratified shall be valid in all respects with effect from the date of its ratification. PART IV THE P UBLIC S ERVICE 14 Constitution of Public Service Subject to section 113 of the Constitution, the Public Service shall consist of all persons in the service of the State, other than— (a) judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court or persons appointed to preside over any special court in terms of section 92 of the Constitution; or (b) members of any Commission established by the Constitution; or (c) members of any body corporate established directly by or under an Act for special purposes specified in that Act; or (d) members of the Defence Forces, the Police Force or the Prison Service; or (e) members of any organization established in the President’s Office for the protection of national security; or (f) persons employed by the trustee of the District Development Fund in terms of the District Development Fund Act [Chapter 29:06]