In a bid to effectively and efficiently meet the ever changing citizens' wants and needs, governments around the world are increasingly searching for the best mechanisms to improve the extent to which public office holders can be effectively held accountable and responsible for their actions. In the absence of a comprehensive public accountability framework, achieving effective public accountability still remains increasingly a challenge for most South Africa's government departments. It is on that basis, that this paper provides reflections on public accountability in South Africa with the motive of postulating a comprehensive framework which can be used to enhance accountability across South Africa's government departments. The study is motivated by the fact that public accountability in the South African public service is hinged on discrete and uncoordinated mechanisms which render coherency, efficiency and effectivene