The environment within which the South African public service renders a variety of services is always changing. Some needs may be justifiable and some may not meet the expectations of the South African citizens as their expectations increase while the human resource and financial capacity do not increase in the same proportion. A direct consequence of this situation is a backlog in service delivery, unresponsive service delivery and impatience on the part of consumers. Human resources, therefore, need to be managed for optimum service delivery. The public service needs to invest more in human resource and be able to retain skilled employees. This article attempts to define concepts that relate to human resources development. Furthermore, this article pays attention to the policy and institutional framework within which public services have to be rendered. The objectives of human resource development are also explained in this article