the road map for africa’s renewal - the dpsa · a tale of two nations 38 research colloquium a...

A l e a r n i n g j o u r n a l f o r P u b l i c S e r v i c e M a n a g e r s

S e r v i c e

Vol. 4 No. 3 2006

9 771681 782004

I S S N 1 6 8 1 - 7 8 2 6

D e l i v e r y

APRMThe Road Map for

Africa’s Renewal

SPECIAL REPORTS5th Annual SMS Conference

3rd Public Management Conversation

Managing Editor Thuli Radebe

Editor Jabulani Sikhakhane

PublisherSTE Publishers

on behalf of the Department of Public Service

and Administration

DesignMad Cow Studio

ISSN 1681-7826

Editorial team Thuli Hadebe

Acting Executive Manager, Service Delivery Improvement

Dudley MoloiCase Study Writer/Analyst

Bongani MatomelaCase Study Coordinator

Nsizwa DlaminiProfessional Writer

Send all your comments and editorial

correspondence to: [email protected]

Each of us is a knowledge worker and a learning champion in this

knowledge economy. We all have arole to play in turning the Public Service

into a “Learning Public Service forQuality Service Delivery”. Let us pursuethis ideal by using the Service Delivery

Review as a facility for sharing ourexperiences, successes, mistakes andmethodolgies and for growing our

own intellectual capital

We belong,we care,we serve

Volume 4 No. 3 2006

Opinions expressed in this journal are not those of government but

reflect the views of individual writers

ContentsAPRM ConversationNo Finger-pointing Exercise 10Reflections on the APRM 12African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM Lessons from Kenya) 14Peer Learning: How to Conduct Inclusive and Transparent Reviews 17Africa’s Trailblazer: Ghana and the APRM 22A Conversation 27A Few More Good Men 30Auditing for the Peer Review Process 34A Tale of Two Nations 38

Research ColloquiumA Systemic Search for Knowledge 40The State of Africa’s Health System 42Poor Coordination of Government Efforts Hinder Development 45

SMS ConferenceSMS: A Shorthand for Improved Service Delivery 61Re-organising the State 64South Africa: The Good News 67Communicating with Civil Servants 70Towards a Common Ethos 74Botswana Develops a Strategy for Better Delivery 78Building Skills for Sustainable Growth 81The Role of the Senior Management Service in Advancing NEPAD 84A Guided Tour of the SMS 87Towards a Global City 90

Making Government Stronger 49Through the Revolving Door 56Infrastructure and the Quality of Life 92

ProfilesA CDW at Work 54Public Servant 58

Case StudiesLessons From Canada 95Lending a Hand 99The Changing Heart of Home Affairs 102

RegularsFrom the Editor’s Desk 2Letter from Tshwane 4News in Brief 8Book Reviews 106Odds & Ends 108

SDR Vol 4 No 3 2006.qxp 3/28/06 11:56 AM Page 1

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Two major conferences in the public service calendar pro-vide the bulk of food for thought in this edition of theService Delivery Review (SDR) journal. These are the

Public Management Conversation and the Senior Manage-ment Service (SMS) events that took place at the tail end of2005. Though catering to two distinct audiences and differingin their subject lines, the over-arching thought processes andobjectives of these two gatherings were, simply put, to “makethings work”, both for South Africa and the African continent.

A delegate at one of the conferences eloquently expressedthis sentiment by calling for a single-minded need to turn thecontinent’s nations into “African lions”. This was with specificreference to the Asian economic turnaround miracle, under-pinned by the so-called “Asian Tigers” countries.

But what does it take to turn South Africa, and its continen-tal counterparts, into a pride of African lions, occupying itsrightful political, economic and social space in the global king-dom of nations?

Appropriate politics

Political, social and economic stability are the most logical pre-requisites for the desired metamorphosis of the continent.From around the 1990s, a number of African countries tookpromising tentative steps towards multi-party democracy, withSouth Africa’s “miracle” transition as the cherry on top. Thepolitical landscape across the continent has taken a dramaticturn over the past twenty years or so. This new political move-ment, which is bolstered by the creation of the African Union(AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development(NEPAD) is, arguably, only rivalled, in its intensity and signif-icance, by the rise of post-colonial independent states over fiftyyears ago.

Much of this new political impetus is reflected in the rangeof SDR articles on the African Peer Review Mechanism(APRM) process as well as case studies on Ghana, Kenya andMauritius. The unfolding APRM country processes are notonly a demonstration of growing political confidence andmaturity, they are also a bedrock for continuous political capac-ity building.

In his overview article, Africa Institute of South Africa(AISA) head, Dr Eddy Maloka, succinctly captures both thespirit and the modus operandi of the APRM process when he

says “[r]ather than being an abstract, one-size-fits all, theAPRM should take as its point of departure the country’s his-tory, [the nature of] its state and level of development, and thepriorities that the country has set for itself”.

More state role

Once the political kingdom has been secured (or at least itsfoundations laid), then kicks in the tasks of economic anddevelopmental reconstruction, which are much needed inter-ventions given the dire deficits in social services for the conti-nent’s people. It is also in the above context that the role ofAfrican states in providing political, economic and develop-mental impetus has been a reoccurring theme over the past fewyears.

Contrary to the counsel of neo-liberal advisors, the recon-struction efforts on the continent require more state involve-ment — minus the dictatorial excesses that defined manyregimes across the continent for years. The restoration andreaffirmation of the role of the African state needs to be under-pinned by concerted efforts to rebuild pre-colonial civil socie-ty-wide movements and alliances that played a critical role inthe liberation movement.

Many faces of capacity

This would require the harmonisation of institutions across thecontinent which, in turn would be dependent on the followingtypes of capacities, as identified by Levin:• Ideological state capacity – active commitment to govern-

ment programmes. • Political capacity – the ability of political heads to lead and

drive performance.• Technical capacity – the intellectual and practical ability to

produce practical policies.• Implementation capacity – the skills and other resources to

implement policies successfully.In his 2005 State of the Nation Address President ThaboMbeki questioned whether the public service has the capacityto implement government programmes. A similar question iswhether the continent as a whole has the capacity to turn itseconomies into “African lions”? The devil, as it is often said, isin implementation. •

A Pride of African Lions?

By Dudley Moloi


T he Senior Management Service (SMS) conference, now inits fourth year, is becoming an important goalpost in ourannual activities. It offers the opportunity to focus our

attention on important challenges that we face and exchangesome lessons and advice and how to overcome these. The SMSconference also offers an important platform to reconfirm thepriorities of government, the implementation of which restsquarely on the shoulders of Senior Management Service.

The 2004 conference grappled with the challenges associatedthe notion and practical aspects of the developmental statewithin the specific context of the country’s two economies. Thetheme of the 2005 gathering is not unrelated to the 2004 theme.It carries over some of the issues raised then, but during the2005 conference we concentrated specifically on the issue ofimplementation for sustainable growth and development.More specifically we focused on what the capacity require-ments are for ensuring sustainable growth and development.

This is the single most important question that the executivehas been grappling with at the beginning of our second decadein government: “Do we really have the capacity to implementour development programmes?”

At the January 2005 Lekgotla, and again at the JulyLekgotla, Cabinet dedicated a significant part of the agenda tothis question. The President in his February 2005 State of theNation Address, elaborated on the January Lekgotla decisionand expressed his concern over the “lack of all-round capacity”and “weakness in the implementation of certain national pro-grammes”.

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Building aNew SMS

Cadre


I would like to dwell on some of the implementation chal-lenges that we are facing and identify some of the critical fac-tors that I believe contribute to the existing implementationgap. Let us look, by way of example, at the issue of housing todemonstrate the gap - a gap that in fact is growing.

In the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP),published in 1995, it was estimated that the housing shortage in1990 was 3 million units, and that each year a further 200 000would be added, resulting in a minimum of 2.8 million unitbeing added by 2005 to thebacklog of 3 million units.Our effort in delivery on thehousing front resulted in 1.8million units built since 1994,a performance record not tobe sniggered at in any terms.However, posed against thebackdrop of a growingdemand, it translates into asituation where we are 1 mil-lion units behind in terms ofmeeting the growingdemand, without addressingthe initial identified need for3 million units in 1990. Weclearly have a problem, andthis example is not the excep-tion. It is demonstrative ofour performance across theboard. Capacity limitationsare recognized as one of thekey underlying factors of theexisting discrepanciesbetween what we intend toachieve and what we manageto do.

As easy it is to give a labelto many of our problems,capacity is not a simple con-cept. It is multi-dimensional,as well as dynamic and should be considered in its entirety ifwe want to appreciate completely the ramifications of the shortsupply of capacity and want to identify the aspects requiringintervention in order to overcome implementation gaps. Onewould like adopt a broad view of capacity, acknowledging bothits internal and external dimensions. Internal dimensionsinclude: • Enabling legal and policy frameworks;• Budget and other resource support;• Institutional capacity such as structures, systems and process-

es, leadership and management, communications and orga-nizational culture;

• Human resource, and finally, but not least important; • Coordination and cooperation capacity.

The external dimension of capacity relates to the interdepend-ence of modern day government on external actors and stake-holders. For example, it is generally recognized that consulta-tive efforts and processes inclusive of stakeholders improve thechance of policy, programme and project decisions being seenthrough to their full consequences. To design and manage suchparticipatory processes does not come naturally but requiressubstantial competencies, including conflict management andconstituency building. In addition, government officials must

be able to mobilize externallycontrolled resources andensure that these becomeavailable to governmentthrough effective public-pri-vate and public-communitypartnerships.

Although the main dimen-sion of capacity may be fairlystandard, reforms withinmodern government,demands by citizens, theeconomy, the global contextas well as changes within thecontext government operatesin, bring about perpetualchange that demand regularreview of particular capacityrequirements.

For example, according tothe Construction IndustryDevelopment Board, (CIDB),South Africa currently doesnot have enough engineersand artisans needed to sup-port the large private sectorcapital projects as well as gov-ernmental infrastructureprojects. This will becomemore critical towards the2010 World Cup soccer event.

The situation is aggravated by the international demand forprofessionals, illustrated by the emigration of more than 1400engineers between 1996 and 2004. Although the training ofprofessional is increasing steadily, numbers are, according tothe CIDB, not adequate to meet the demand.

Radical corrective action and capacity building on a largescale is required urgently. The executive will keep this issue onthe agenda and systematically chip away at it. During the pastLekgotla we have focused on the housing sector. TheGovernance and Administration cluster has already beentasked to focus on other key sectors in the near future. At theJanuary 2006 Lekgotla we addressed capacity challenges inEducation, Health, Justice and Trade and Industry. This willbe a continuous programme until we are satisfied that all sec-

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Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi


tors have addressed their capacity constrains.As important as the issue of capacity might be for delivery, it

is not nearly the only issue that impacts negatively on imple-mentation. An overview of the implementation literatureundertaken in 1996 identified at least 14 recurring themes thatpoint to typical factors that give rise to the implementation gap.

These include among others capacity issues already referredto, but also issues of coordination and integration, notably poorinter-governmental relations, the complexity that joint actionbrings to the implementation process and the absence of goalconsensus between the different role players.

In implementation, making the necessary connections is ofcritical importance. The ability to see how every initiative isaffected and in turn affects other initiatives is critical. Otherthemes that frequently leadto poor implementation arethe issues of bureaucratic loy-alty and commitment to thecauses by all those involved.These are known under thelabels of administrative con-trol, bureaucratic leakage,and the disposition of actors.The theory suggests imple-menters of policy, especiallywhen they feel little owner-ship of particular policies,have the ability to sabotagethe best intentions of policymakers. The reduced controlover the implementers of pol-icy creates opportunities forthe sabotage of those policiesby the bureaucracy. In a sys-tem where the managerialmandate has been extendedat the cost of political over-sight and where decentraliza-tion is the prevailing battlecry, we open the door wide and invite this dynamic into ourimplementation equation. In the process, we do not engageadequately with the requirements of what kind of controlremains necessary and what innovative forms can these take inthe face of the new organizational context.

There is a very logical explanation for the caveat. It is seniormanagers who fought hardest for their perceived interest ofbeing as remote as possible from political decision-makers andwhose agenda is best served by the prevailing arms lengtharrangement. At the same time it is they who are supposed toprovide policy support to the executive and thus have to comeup with suggestions to overcome the very loose administrativecontrol arrangement that currently prevails and threatensimplementation. However, it could be argued that it is not intheir interest to do so, and I have not seen senior managers

falling over one another to come up with solutions in terms ofthis matter.

I want to tie this issue to the matter of “professionalism” and“professional ethics” of our senior bureaucrats. Much has beenwritten about the behavioral patterns associated with profes-sionalism in public sector employment. In conversations withcareer public servants, reference is often made to the need topreserve and protect this “professionalism”. In a way manypublic sector reform initiatives over generations had at theircore the issue of protection for “professionals” from politicalinfluence.

The most recent reform initiatives that speak to this politi-cal-administrative interface have been those falling under therubric of neo-economic institutionalism or managerialism, as it

is more generally known. Inthe name of managerialautonomy and the protectionof implementation agenciesagainst political interference,attempts have been made tointroduce stark, yet unrealis-tic, divisions between the pol-icy role of political officeholders and the implementa-tion responsibilities ofappointed mangers. Theyhave specific spin-offs forcountries that pursue a devel-opmental agenda.

Some of the characteristicsassociated with the publicsector professional are: beingsubstantially proficient in thespecific field or activity, act-ing in the public interest, sup-portive of the process ofinformed decision-making byall officials, law abiding, loy-alty to the state, obedience to

superiors, pride in one’s work, avoidance of conflict of inter-ests, proper use of official positions, rejection of political nepo-tism, exemplariness in conduct, sobriety, circumspection inpersonal financial matters, reliability, incorruptibility, honesty,dedication to duty and probity. This is not my list, but takenfrom the literature on ethics of public administration.

Although professional ethics demand demarcation betweenthe role of the professional administrator/manager and thepolitical office-holder, close functional proximity and dynamicinteraction between them prevents a tight watershed arrange-ment. It is appropriate and necessary for the manager and pub-lic administrator to be fully familiar with the political pro-gramme of government, which is drawn from the Cabinet col-lective. Appointed officials must do their utmost to assist theirpolitical principals in carrying out that particular programme,

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No matter how hard theeffort to limit politicalinfluence under theguise of professional

“neutrality” andmanagerial “autonomy”,in a democratic system

the bigger challenge forgovernment is to retain

control over itsbureaucracy


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and although providing policy advice, the professional admin-istrator must avoid making policy decisions. For this purposethe professional administrator should provide sufficient infor-mation to outline all policy options and their full implicationsto political decision makers, and on the basis of this make aninformed recommendation to his or her political principal. Butthe final decision-making authority remains with the politicalprincipal. Senior bureaucrats undermine their own profession-alism if they fail to provide their political principals with fullall the information they require to make informed policy deci-sions.

No matter how hard the effort to limit political influenceunder the guise of professional “neutrality” and managerial“autonomy”, in a democratic system the bigger challenge forgovernment is to retain control over its bureaucracy.

Government official throughout the history, have, however,ignored the descriptions of “professional ethics” of their jobsand pursued agendas other than those of their political masters.Officials who behave in such self-serving and rent-seekingways contradict the required characteristics of a professionaladministrator or manager. This is a well documented in phe-nomenon. Alexander Kouzmin and his colleagues for exampledescribe this as follows:

“[an] inherent tendency for such bureaucrats to be deceitful,even dishonest, by distorting information communicatedupwards so as to promote their own self-interest, and by mak-ing decisions in such a way as to promote their own-interest.”

My more recent reading of the history of public administra-tion in South Africa revealed a number of scholars comment-ing on the phenomenon of bureaucratic sabotage. The oldapartheid civil service and its remaining proponents make abig deal of “professional neutrality”. It is, however, said thatsome of the most vicious opposition to political reformsattempted by Chris Heunis came from the rank of officials inthe old Administration Boards. For all their neutrality andprofessionalism, these officials actively pursued political agen-das that differed from those of their political master and pre-vented them from introducing certain changes. At a pointwhere they saw their own influence dwindling they came oververy decisively in a political manner that protected their ownnarrow interest

By now you might be asking why I am raising these issues. Iam doing so because I want to clearly add the agenda of issuesthat we look at when we interrogate the reasons that are giv-ing rise to our poor implementation performance. I want tosuggest that during the six years I am have now been associat-ed with this particular portfolio, I have come across some veryspecial and very professional public administrators/managers.They have been absolutely exemplary. I honour them and I amprepared to walk a long way with them. But I have also comeacross many who do not deserve the right to call themselvesprofessionals, nor who are not entitled to invoke protectionfrom politicians in operational affairs. These officials activelyundermine our implementation record and we need to see how

we deal with them.As much as we are turning the emphasis to capacity develop-

ment, training, organizational development and so forth, thereis an urgent need to develop systems to protect us and our citi-zens from disloyal public managers who sit at the top of ourpublic service structure. They are cancer eating away at ourcapacity. They spread the cancer to uninfected parts of ourorganizations. They usurp positive energy and create negativeenergy. Just turn your own mind eyes to the damage that cor-ruption cases, sexual harassment, and so forth are doing. Thinkabout the times that tensions play out between senior managersand the executive authority when managers introduce theirown agendas, for example making policy pronouncements andactively seeking a profile in the media We need to look at whathappens to organizational energy and performance when sen-ior managers constantly bicker.

I want us to end off with the positive image, an image toinspire us all to work towards, and to re-dedicate ourselves to,becoming such Senior Management Service. Yehezkel Dror, aprofessor of political science at the Hebrew University inJerusalem, wrote in 1997 that a “delta type” senior civil servicewas what was required for the senior civil service in the 21stcentury. By now these characteristics have been more broadlyrecognized as key success factors within the ranks of seniorbureaucratic leadership.

These “delta type” attributes are:• Super-professionalism; • Innovative-creativity;• Merit-elitist, but society reflecting;• Virtuous;• Autonomous but subordinated; and• A strong sense of mission, dedicated to pursuing a career

working towards the public good.If we can address our capacity challenges as they are beingidentified, but at the same time build a senior managementservice that reflects in abundance these delta-type characteris-tics, we will go far in overcoming many of our prevailingimplementation challenges.

We have been talking about the means we need to perform,whether it is human resources, management skills, legislativesupport, or financial capacity. However, Victor Frankl remindsus that it is not only about means, but ultimately about mean-ing. In our case the meaning of government action should beclear for anybody who looks at our society. A society stillmarked by huge divisions between the haves and the have-nots.

As servants of the public, as those who enjoy full-timeemployment and SMS level certainly counts among the mostprivilege upper percentiles of our population, the adage of“noblesse oblige” is applicable. Privilege entails responsibility,and significant privilege entails significant responsibility. Itrust that we are now in an era where senior mangers own thatresponsibility that comes with their privilege and are ready todeliver against it. •


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GEMS a CallAwayBy Themba Gadebe

A call centre has been established forpublic service employees wishing to gainmore information about the newGovernment Employees MedicalScheme (GEMS).

The call centre started operating on 1December. The member for the centre is0860 00 GEMS or 0860 00 4367. E-mailenquiries can be sent to [email protected] and people can also log onto www.gems.gov.za for more informa-tion.

Blum Klan the Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Metropolitan HealthGroup which won the tender to admin-ister the scheme, said “joining GEMS isnow a phone call away. We have trainedsixty people to work in the call centreand we are ready for calls from allprovinces”.

GEMS, which is a closed medicalscheme aimed at current and retiredpublic service employees, beganenrolling members in January 2006. Allgovernment employees are legible tojoin the scheme. However, this does notapply to employees in the security forcessuch as the police, the defence force,intelligence and secret services.

Given its low cost structure, GEMSmeans that employees earning less thanR2 500 will also be able to afford med-ical cover. Employees will make a per-sonal contribution that is as little as R109per month, which will allow them accessto comprehensive benefits offered by thescheme.

GEMS product offering consists offive benefit options. These are Onyx,Ruby, Emerald, Beryl and Sapphire.Sapphire is the most affordable packageoffering essential cover and the Onyx isthe top option and provides extensivecover.

Bua News

Efforts to FightPoverty ReceiveMajor BoostBy Nozipho Dlamini

Government has boosted its efforts tofight poverty, inequality and grosshuman rights violations by setting up aresearch and development unit knownas the Charlotte Maxeke Collaborationin the Economics of Social Protection.

Speaking at the unit’s launch at theUniversity of Pretoria, Social Develop-ment Minister Zola Skweyiya said thecountry had now created a platform andthe institutional capacity for real workto begin. He said the research and pro-gramme development activities under-taken under the auspices of this collabo-ration should also speak to SouthAfrica’s own Accelerated and SharedGrowth Initiative.

The collaboration will look at issues

such as infrastructure development, sec-tor investment strategies, education andskills development, second economyinterventions and ways of improving thestate’s capacity to provide economicservices. The Minister said that the maingovernment objective was to cut povertyand unemployment by half by the end ofthe second decade of democracy and theCharlotte Maxeke collaboration had avital role to play in this effort.

He also noted that the collaborationwill also help public servants at all levelsof government to respond effectively tothe challenges of social transformation.Over the next two years, the collabora-tion will train about 120 public sectorparticipants: 100 at undergraduate level,15 at the Honours degree level, and fiveat Masters degree level.

Bua News

Minister HostsCounterparts onPan-AfricanIssues

Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi metwith her counterparts fromMozambique and Ethiopia, representa-tives from the African Union (AU), theEuropean Union (EU) and the NewPartnership for Africa's Development(NEPAD) on Friday, 10 March 2006, toapprove work plans for the Pan-AfricanMinisters of Public Service andAdministration.

Ministers Fraser-Moleketi, FikruDelasenge of Ethiopia and LucasJeremias of Mozambique are membersof a Ministerial Project SteeringCommittee (PSC), which was formedunder the auspices of the Pan-AfricanMinisters of Public Service andAdministration at a meeting inJohannesburg last year.

The meeting approved work plans for


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the Pan-African Ministers of PublicService and Administration, and alsosigned a funding agreement with theEuropean Union Commission.

During their December 2005 confer-ence held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, theMinisters adopted the Addis AbabaDeclaration. According to theDeclaration, programmes such as skillsdevelopment, monitoring and evalua-tion, knowledge exchange, humanresources development and anti-corrup-tion, among others, must be implement-ed following the approval of the workplans and the signing of the fundingagreement.

Led by Minister Fraser-Moleketi inher capacity as the Chairperson of theFifth Conference of the Pan-AfricanMinisters of Public Service andAdministration, the Project SteeringCommittee will present details ofprogress on the ministers' programme ofaction to the Pan-African MinisterialBureau, to be held in April 2006.

The programme of action is a conti-nental Governance and Administrationinitiative, driven by the AU to enhancestate capacity and public service reformon the African continent. •

SudaneseDelegationCompletes anIntensive TrainingProgramme The DPSA was a hive of activity in thepast three weeks as it hosted a 31-mem-ber contingent of high-ranking SouthSudan government official. The DPSAtreated the Sudanese to a three week-long practical training programme thatinvolved an intensive interaction withvarious units.

The practical intervention was pre-ceded by a comprehensive theoreticalprogramme that was undertaken by the

University of South Africa (UNISA) fora period of two weeks. The inductionprogramme was coordinated by theDepartment of Foreign Affairs. TheSudanese received practical trainingfrom the DPSA, SAMDI, the DPLGand the Department of Housing. TheAfrican National Congress (ANC) didalso share its liberation struggle experi-ence with the Sudanese officials.

The DPSA has given a firm commit-ment to assist the government ofSouthern Sudan and indeed other post-conflict African countries in their effortsto resolve conflict and strive for a peace-ful and democratically governed state.One of the critical elements for securinga lasting peaceful solution to the conflictin Southern Sudan is the imperative forthe establishment of a strong PublicAdministration and Governance systemwhich is a prerequisite for efficient pub-lic service delivery.

This training programme is a followup to past initiatives in 2005 to trainSouthern Sudanese on areas of PublicService and Administration with rele-vant DPSA components making presen-tations to the Sudanese who came on astudy tour.

The programme was structured toensure an intensified and fruitful train-ing that would skill the senior cadre ofthe South Sudan government. This pro-gramme arose from the realisation thatSudan is in the process of setting upfunctional government machinery todeliver efficient services to the peacestarved people of South Sudan.

The grand finale was the Certificateawarding ceremony that was organisedby UNISA. This project is the first of itskind and challenges the DPSA, especial-ly given the fact that South Africa is thechair of the 5 th Pan-AfricanConference of Ministers of PublicService that oversee the ContinentalGovernance and public administrationprogramme.

The Sudanese Minister for Inter-national Co-operation Dr Benjaminwho is overseeing the programme calledon Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketito thank her for the DPSA's contribu-

tion to the programme. Minister Fraser-Moleketi in turn assured Dr Benjaminof South Africa's commitment to helpthe people of South Sudan to reconstructand manage their public service in orderto deliver services to the people of southSudan. •

ASGISA Boostedby Public-PrivatePartnership Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka launched the IBM's IntegratedDelivery Centre (IDC) as a public-pri-vate partnership to provide the neces-sary skills needed to implementAccelerated Shared Growth Initiative ofSouth Africa (ASGISA).

The IBM's call centre provides sup-port for services such as server installa-tion, monitoring and maintenance andback office support. The help desk sup-port is provided in several languages.IBM will invest R300 million in the callcentre which employs 600 people. It isexpected that another 900 people will beemployed this year.

Speaking at the launch, DeputyPresident Mlambo-Ngcuka said, "Thekey interventions in ASGISA are inInformation and CommunicationTechnology (ICT), sector developmentand second economy initiatives focusingon small, medium and micro enterprises(SMMEs), rural development and uni-versal access to basic services.

IBM's initiative is one of the answersto several problems that remain even asour economy grows. There are gooddevelopments as well. We now boast ofCall Centre in South Africa with 16 lan-guages. We can only grow to greaterstrengths with the initiative such asIBM's Integrated Delivery Centre".

IBM is expected to also invest a fur-ther R24 million in the next 12 monthsfor its training programme, whichincludes various technology skills andlanguage skills. •


Pub l i c Managemen t Conve r sa t i on : A P RM S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

10 T here is increasing agreement thatthe challenge of the new millenni-um is to increase the levels of pub-

lic involvement in governance. SouthAfrica is fortunate because it has a veryrich history that has led into our democ-racy. It has been a history of involve-ment and engagement of the populationas a whole in governance. A critical issueis to what extent have we been able tosustain public participation over the pasteleven years and into the future.

The capacity of the “governed” tocontribute towards this process is con-tingent of many factors that have to beconsidered if we are to make sure thatthe motto “the people shall govern” isnot just something found only in theFreedom Charter. There is also the issueof the ability of the “governing” to listen,which is depended on many factors,including our culture and history.

Implementation

According to the APRM BaseDocument, the primary purpose of theAPRM is “to foster the adoption of

appropriate laws, policies, standards andpractices that lead to political stability,high economic growth, sustainabledevelopment and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic inte-gration.”

The APRM is not just a once-offevent. It is not a one shot in the arm. It isa process that will continue on an annu-al basis until we undertake the secondreview in four years’ time. The APRMprocess is a long haul and seeks to ensurethat good governance practices and poli-cies are put in place on the African con-tinent and that African countries estab-lish benchmarks so that we can learnfrom each other. The APRM processincorporates the following stages:• Studies of the political, economic and

corporate governance and develop-ment environment in the country areprepared and reviewed;

• The APR Team undertakes aCountry Review Visit;

• APR Team prepares a report and rais-es its concerns where necessary;

• The APR Secretariat submits theAPR Team’s report to the APR Panel,

NoFinger-pointing

Exercise

In her presentation at the

Public Management

Conversation Minster of

Public Service in South Africa

(MPSA), Geraldine Fraser-

Moleketi, outlined the

African Peer Review

Mechanism (APRM) process

and how its various aspects

relate to South Africa’s

specific input.


Pub l i c Managemen t Conve r sa t i on : A P RMS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

11

which reviews the report and submitthe recommendations to the APRForum; and

• The APRM Report is publiclyreleased, followed by two-yearlyprogress reports on the implementa-tion of the Programme of Action(PoA).

The themes of the APRM are the fol-lowing:

• Democracy and good political gover-nance;

• Economic governance and manage-ment;

• Socio-economic development; and• Corporate governance.South Africa’s approach to the APRM isa participatory process that is led by gov-ernment but inclusive of Civil Society(business, academics and others). Arange of mechanisms will be used toensure that citizens have a chance tocontribute towards the APR processthrough consensus and buy-in to a coun-try Programme of Action. The mecha-nisms used in the case of South Africainclude the following:• Two National Consultative Confer-

ences;• Nine Provincial Consultative Confer-

ences;• District and local level consultations

led by ward committees;• Several Community level discussion

groups led by Community Develop-ment Workers (CDWs); and

• Several sectoral input sessions andother consultative events.

Some of the provinces, for exampleLimpopo, have done well in terms ofimplementation thus far. The LimpopoProvince has already completed the con-sultative process in six districts andreports. These processes are not govern-ment processes as they involve multiplestakeholders. Parliament will also havean opportunity to do its own process. It,however, has to be stressed that the par-liamentary report will be submitted tothe focal person and be integrated into acountry report because we will have onecountry self-assessment report. Thereare going to be no parallel reports andthe parliamentary report is not going to

be an annexure to the country report. Ithink we need to bear in mind that theoverall objective of the process is to buildconsensus and to ensure that we have acountry dialogue. It is not a critic of eachother but talking together in order todevelop a report that we will be proud ofas a country.

As hinted earlier, inclusiveness is ahallmark of South Africa’s approach tothe APR process and CommunityDevelopment Workers and WardCommittees are to play a central role incommunity and local level consultations.Another innovation in terms of theSouth Africa’s approach is drawing inaccredited research partners to partici-pate in the process by making submis-sions in their areas of specialization aswell as participating in technical work-shops on each of the four thematic areasto ensure that the process is technicallysound.

South Africa aims to complete theprocess in the recommended ninemonths, that is, from November 2005 toAugust 2006. And the process of compil-ing inputs, drafting the report and thePoA and finalizing the documents afterconsultation with stakeholders will takeabout three months. While the assess-ment review by the APRM Panel andconsideration of the report by the headsof state and government will take aboutthree to four months, which leaves twomonths for extensive consultation andmobilization.

The President formally committedSouth Africa to the APRM on 28September 2005 and the Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) was signed onthe 11 November 2005. On the 29September 2005 the National GoverningCouncil with alternate members andrepresentatives from the provinces waselected. Provincial Governing Councilshave been subsequently established in allnine provinces. The Governing Councilhas met four times and is doing soincreasingly productively and provincialworkshops are taking place, increasingthe levels of public awareness and par-ticipation. Parliamentary hearings onthe four thematic areas are taking place

across the country and the CountrySupport Mission took place from 9 to 11November 2005 and 6 to 8 December2005.

Governance in South Africa

South Africa has always seen the needfor a thorough going transformation inthe context of our past and lookingtowards a developmental future. Thishas been based on very specific ideologi-cal underpinnings derived from theethos of the majority party. We alsodraw on our constitution. We see localgovernment as the last hurdle to cross interms of dealing with some ofapartheid’s most obvious consequences,particularly in the restructuring andtransformation of local government.

It could be argued that South Africa isa quintessential post-modern society andit is an anvil in which the future getsshaped. This is because South Africadeals with many of the challenges thatmany developed countries have dealtwith much later. In fact, when theAustrian Chancellor visited SouthAfrica around 1998, he said to the thenDeputy President Thabo Mbeki, thatthey look at South Africa as this largepilot project the world can look up toand emulate because we are dealingwith some of the biggest challenges inthe world.

Model of prosperity and inclusion

In conclusion, we need to ask ourselveswhether we are becoming an Africanmodel for prosperity and inclusion. Wealso need to ask ourselves whether wecan deal with issues of stagnation versuseconomic growth; poverty versus devel-opment; marginalization versus inclu-sion and impunity versus human rightsand democracy. The APRM process isnot a finger pointing exercise. It is anopportunity for open-minded engage-ment that is both meant to acknowledgethe challenges and celebrate the success-es. It is supposed to assist in ensuringthat our programme of action will besustainable into the future. •



12

T he countries that are members ofthe Africa Peer Review MechanismAPRM are very diverse, a factor

that should be taken into account in thereview exercise.

For example, the four countries thatare being reviewed (namely Ghana,Kenya, Mauritius and Rwanda) not onlyhave different historical backgrounds,but their governments also have differ-ent priorities. In Rwanda, for example,the focus is on completing the post-con-flict transition. Institution and nationbuilding as well as reconciliation aretherefore among the country’s priorities.

At the opposite end is Mauritius,which has experienced a relatively longhistory of stability and democratic tradi-tion. By contrast, Kenya has justemerged from a long history of authori-tarian rule and, as recent developmentsin the country suggest, it is struggling tofind a post-Moi political footing. Ghana,on the other hand, seems to be succeed-ing in overcoming the legacy of militarydictatorial rule.

South Africa, for its part, has just cel-ebrated ten years of its post-apartheidtransition. Ridding the country of thelegacy of the apartheid remains the cen-tral focus of the country.

So, rather than being an abstract, one-size fits all, the APRM exercise should

take as its point of departure the coun-try’s history, its state and level of devel-opment, and the priorities that the coun-try has set for itself.

The APRM as a programme ofNEPAD, rests on the following assump-tions:• That the exercise is comprehensive; it

is a review and appraisal of the per-formance of the country and its politi-cal, civil society and business elites;

• That the countries under review arecapitalist countries;

• That the countries being reviewedhave a multi-party political systemswith a liberal democratic content; and

• That the state has a central role toplay. As the questionnaires indicate,the state is expected to play an active,interventionist role in the economyand broader society.

APRM in the African renaissance

The APRM is an integral part of theAfrican Renaissance, and is particularlyrelated to the following objectives:• Promotion of democracy and good

governance. There is now recogni-tion, unlike the 1970s and 1980s, thatAfrican’s problems cannot be solvedwithout appraising the role of thepost-colonial state and elite;

Dr Eddy Maloka, the

executive director of the

Africa Institute of South

Africa, argues that the

African Peer Review

Mechanism should avoid an

abstract, one-size fits all,

approach and take as its

point of departure the

country’s history, its state

and level of development,

and the priorities that the

country has set for itself.

Reflections on the

APRM



13

• The promotion of self-reliant and sus-tainable development, including waron poverty, lack of education and shel-ter;

• Peace and security as important pre-conditions for Africa’s development;and

• Improving Africa’s global standing bydeveloping institutions and capacities.

In this context, the APRM should helpAfrica advance in the following areas:• By insisting on common standards

and norms, the APRM is contributingto Africa’s integration efforts. TheAPRM should help harmoniseAfrica’s diverse institutions, practicesand, indeed, the value and outlook ofthe elites. This should support theefforts of the African Union to devel-op an African charter on democracy,good governance and human rights;

• By insisting on compliance of partici-pating member states, APRM shouldhelp Africa address a problem inherit-ed from the days of the OAU where-by countries adopt declarations andaccess to instruments which they donot have the intention of implement-ing;

• Building self-reliance. But this cannotbe achieved while economic policy-making in many African countries isstill in the hands of the foreign institu-tions (especially the World Bank andIMF) and donors. The assumption inthe APRM is that those states that areactive and interventionist in societyare in a better position to determinetheir policies and priorities. What isthe point of giving a country feedbackon its APRM review while the coun-try’s agenda and priorities are exter-nally determined? and

• A successful continent-wide APRMprocess should help build and mobi-lize a constituency (motive force) forthe African Renaissance.

Implied APRM principles

The APRM document is full of detailedreference to objectives and principles.However, there are three implied princi-ples that must be singled out.

• Integrity and independence: hence theprocess is independently led at bothcountry and continental level. TheAPRM panel drives the latter, whichat country-level is in the hands ofindependently constituted, multi-stake Governing Council. The “whoand the how” processes of the coun-try-level self-assessment report andprogramme of action are alsoinformed by the principles of inde-pendence and integrity. However, theAPRM is not punitive or intended toembarrass poor performance, nor isthe APRM a platform for the opposi-tion to bring down government;

• APRM is a dialogue among leadersthemselves, and between leaders andthe people, at country and continentlevel. Hence the process is simultane-ously a self-assessment at domesticlevel and external review in the formof the APRM panel mission to thecountry; and

• The APRM process is underpinned bystrong emphasis on consultation,exclusivity and popular participation.

South Africa’s role

South Africa, as one of the NEPAD ini-tiating countries, has a responsibilityand obligation to ensure that the APRMbecomes a success. This contribution isnot limited to providing material sup-port to the process, but should includean effort at country-level that thenational APRM process can showcasethe achievements of the country sincethe end of apartheid and the commit-ment of the country to the objective andprinciples of the APRM.

The following are among the areaswhere South Africa can contribute:• To the benchmarking of the APRM

member countries. Three stages ofdevelopment can be envisaged. At thebottom could be countries meeting theminimum APRM standards; in themiddle, countries making progressand consolidating their implementingof APRM standards; and at the top,countries at the advanced level, pio-neering new APRM standards. A

package of support measures andincentives could be deployed depend-ing on the country’s APRM rating. Itis however, possible that a country’soverall performance could be at thetop while being rated lower in certainsectors. For example, South Africacan get at the top overall rating, butstill rate “middle” in socio-economicdevelopment;

• To ensuring that its national APRMprocess is, at least, perceived to beindependent and of unquestionableintegrity; and

• By playing a role in the review of thisfirst wave of the APRM experience.Possible candidates for the reviewphase should include (a) the APRMprocess itself; (b) the questionnaire; (c)post-country self-assessment feedbackand follow-up; and (d) ideologicalconcepts and assessment informingthe APRM exercise.

The success of the APRM as a minimumcommon programme for the renewal ofAfrica should help place the continent ina better position in the 21st century. TheAPRM is essentially about freedom forthe African people, fighting poverty andunderdevelopment, and eradicating vio-lent conflicts on the continent. TheAPRM reports of Ghana and Rwandahave unearthed problems, which arecommon in many African countries.These include:• Lack of indigenous capacity at the

level of institutions and resources;• A weak regulatory environment;• Challenged delivery of services to the

people;• Challenges of widening the political

space especially for opposition politi-cal parties, minorities and other vul-nerable groups;

• A weak and underdeveloped privatesector; and

• Donor dependency, with nationalbudgets in many African countriessuffering from over 50% reliance onthe injection of donor money.Surely, if Africa overcame (as a mini-

mum) the six challenges outlined above,the continent would be a different andbetter place in the 21st century. •


Public Management Conversation: APRM Case Study S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

14 A story is told of a father and hischild who were spending anafternoon at home. The father

was reading his newspaper, probablycatching up on the latest at the AfricaCup of Nations. However his child wasat that inquisitive age and every other 3minutes the child would run up to thefather with all manner of questions. Thefather noticed that one of the pages ofthe paper had a map of Africa and in aneffort to distract the child the father toreoff this page, tore it into pieces andasked the child to go into his room andattempt to put the map of Africa backtogether. Much to the father’s dismaythe child came back after 2 minutes andhe had put Africa back together. Thefather asked his son how he had man-aged to do it so fast. The son replied.“Well you see Dad on the other side ofthe paper was a picture of a man and Iknew if I could make the man right Icould make Africa right”

This story captures what the APRM isall about, for if we can make ourselvesright, our families right, our schoolsright, our churches right, our organisa-

tions right, our companies right then wecan make our countries right and we canmake Africa right.

The APRM is a voluntary mechanismconsidered to be the most innovativeaspect of NEPAD. It aims to track andmeasure progress towards countries’good political, economic, corporate andsocial governance. It is a powerful tool toassess the performance of all spheres ofnational life and assist countries to iden-tify deficiencies and capacity gaps andrecommend possible solutions. It isimportant that one make the distinctionbetween governance and government.Governance goes beyond government.Governance refers to the how those whohave been entrusted with power use it.To have good governance in a countrywe must inculcate a culture of good gov-ernance from the very basic unit. In hisbook Africa’s Moment, Pete Ondeng, says“I cannot think of Africa without think-ing about myself, every time I ask doessomeone care, the question comes backto me - do you care? Every time I pointan accusing finger I find the fingerpointing back at me”

Muratha Kinutha of the

Kenyan NEPAD

Secretariat outlines

Kenya’s APRM country

assessment process

while drawing lessons

for South Africa

African Peer ReviewMechanism (APRM)

Lessons from Kenya


Public Management Conversation: APRM Case StudyS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

15

APRM in Kenya

Kenya among other African countriesacceded to the APRM during theAfrican Union Summit held in Abuja inMarch 2003 and in February 2004 vol-unteered to undertake peer reviewalongside Rwanda, Ghana andMauritius. To get the African PeerReview process going, the governmentof Kenya established a broad basedinterdisciplinary taskforce that includedgovernment, civil society, and privaterepresentatives. This taskforce metunder the chairmanship of the Ministryof Planning and National Development.The task force was charged with prepar-ing the ground for the inaugural consul-tative forum by undertaking to make aninitial identification of all stakeholders.The task force also held several nationaland other consultative meetings withleaders from the media, civil society andprivate sector.

Structures

The Kenya APRM Task Force set out asits first priority to draw up clear andconcise Terms of Reference for theAPRM structures in Kenya. This was inrecognition of the need to clearly andconcisely think out the roles of thesestructures to avoid any conflicts and inorder to give ample direction to thesestructures. After much discussion andconsultation a consensus was arrived aton the roles of the National GoverningCouncil (NGC), the Government, TheLead Technical Agencies (LTAs), theConvenors, the Kenya APR Secretariat

The challenge with creating the NGCwas that it had to have 4 key qualities; ithad to be legitimate, credible, competentand have authority. In order to havelegitimacy and credibility the taskforceheld two National Stakeholders Forumsto allow stakeholders to gain an under-standing of the APRM and to elect theirrepresentatives to the NGC. It was alsodecided that there was need for compe-tent Lead Technical Agencies to sit onthe NGC and to equally have represen-tatives of the line ministries as they have

the authority and responsibility to exe-cute the Programme of Action. In theend, a 33 person NGC was created andmembers were allowed to elect theirown chair.

Positioning APRM into existingnational developmentframeworks

It is important that the APRM is notseen to replace existing programmes butto reinforce them. It is therefore quitecritical that the APRM process has link-ages with existing programmes. Kenyaset out to use the APRM to provide indi-cators on how well the country has beenserved by the nation’s designated roadmap for economic growth and humandevelopment, namely the EconomicRecovery Strategy for Wealth andEmployment Creation (ERSWEC)paper. This road map spells out theessence of an enabling environmentrequired for productive economic activ-ities, including reforms in the public sec-tor, promotion of good governance andthe rule of law, the fight against corrup-tion, investment in human capital of thepoor, as well as a thriving private sector.The APRM, to be relevant to the needsof the Kenyan people, was intended toassess and contribute tangibly towardsthe realization of the goals of theERSWEC.

Finding the appropriate positioningof APRM in Kenya’s context was as aresult of several consultations with rele-vant government agencies and stake-holder groupings.

Non-state operations were consideredto be critical to developing a culture ofgood governance and directly impact onprogress on human development. Assuch, the APRM was positioned to notonly track public or state governance,but aligned the practices in the privatesector towards the national goals ofdevelopment. APRM in Kenya wastherefore designed to provide a systemfor tracking non-state operations in thedelivery of services and within the cor-porate sector both at a national level andat a devolved community level. This

information provided a critical set ofindicators to evaluate progress towardsmeeting ERSWEC and MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) targets.

The APRM was equally positioned toappraise the efficacy of the new nationalsystem wide Monitoring and Evaluation(M&E) framework to ensure that anycapacity gaps identified are rectifiedthrough a National Programme ofAction that outlines a set of actions andpolicy inputs that strengthen the capaci-ty of the national M&E framework. Inthis way it doesn’t duplicate existingnational M&E tracking programmes,rather it complements them.

Methodology

Stakeholders also got a chance to gothrough the indicative questionnairesent by the APR continental secretariatand to identify any gaps and domesticateit. It was proposed and adopted that fourresearch instruments be developed foruse as follows: 1) Desk Research – based on existing

literature. Civil society was free toshare any literature they may havedeveloped on any of the 4 areas ofreview;

2) Expert Panel Survey – questionnaireswere sent out to 100 experts in each ofthe pillars of the review. Experts notlimited to academic accomplishmentsbut a mastery of the subject. A goodnumber were drawn from civil socie-ty. In addition civil society represen-tatives in the NGC were involved inthe selection of experts;

3) Focus Group Discussion – Heldcountrywide in 16 sample districts. Ineach of these districts focus groupdiscussions were held separately withmale youth, female youth, maleadults, and female adults. The pur-pose being to get data that is disag-gregated along gender, age/genera-tional, geographic lines. A total of1920 participants were involved; and

4) National sample survey – this was ahousehold based survey conducted on1950 sample households country-wide. It was based on a random strat-



16

ified sample. All the districts in thecountry were targeted.

National programme of action

The beauty of the APRM is that it doesnot only seek to review governance andidentify the gaps. It goes the extra step toprovide a National Programme ofAction to fill those gaps. In Kenya afterthe development of the NationalProgramme of Action the various gov-ernment ministries and departmentswho were identified as the implement-ing agencies were asked to assist in cost-ing the Programme of Action. This wasto make as realistic as possible. The chal-lenge now is for Kenya to move forwardto implement the Programme of Action.

Public engagement strategy ofthe APRM

The APRM is designed to be a partici-patory and inclusive process. Com-munication and public engagement istherefore at the heart of the process.Kenya invested in an integrated infor-mation, education and communicationsstrategy to ensure that a sustained andcoordinated approach to the process ofdisseminating vital APRM informationis achieved. This strategy included map-ping of dissemination strategies andactivities and outline of stakeholderidentification strategies.

These strategic approaches were:• the mass outreach strategy that aimed

at ensuring that the main APRM mes-sages reach out to as many Kenyans asis possible and as far down as districts,locations and village levels;

• promotional and marketing strategywhich focused on providing and shar-ing information on the APRM thatwill interest critical institutions to bepart of the partnership that is envis-aged in the reform process institutedby the APRM; and

• National sharing and feedback strate-gy that was meant for use in nationalinstitutions to feedback and feed-for-ward on the progress in the imple-mentation of the APRM.

Some of the activities executed withinthe APRM IEC Strategy included,printing of English and Swahili APRMbrochures, development and launch ofan interactive APRM website(www.aprmkenya.org); promotionalmeetings with key media houses, radioand TV spots, interviews and talk-showappearances, wide use of the print mediathrough news coverage, editorials andcommentaries., provincial disseminationforums were undertaken by the

National Governing Council in all theprovincial capitals of Kenya, various sec-toral and stakeholder forums were heldwith groups such as youth, women,farmers, faith based organisations, pri-vate sector, the disabled.

The key lesson from the communica-tion strategy was the need to effectivelyunpack the APRM such that all wouldbe able to understand it. The use of localpeople to facilitate the sessions out in theprovinces and districts greatly enhanceddialogue.

Validation of technicalassessment by key actors

During the data collection stage,Kenyans asked for assurances that what-ever inputs they give will actually con-tribute to the report. It is thereforeimportant that stakeholders be given anopportunity to validate the report. Oncethe draft self-assessment report was

ready, it was subjected to a panel ofexperts for quality control. After that anational stakeholders’ validation confer-ence was held. About 1,000 people fromall over Kenya were invited to this con-ference. This helped identify any gaps inthe self assessment report. For instance,participants felt that not enough empha-sis had been given to youth and margin-alised groups.

Country review visit

Kenya completed it self assessment inSeptember 2005 and from the 3rd to17th of October Kenya hosted Dr GracaMachel and the country review team.This team held provincial forum in allprovinces of the Country and also heldvarious meetings with representatives ofcertain sectors and stakeholder groupssuch as youth, women, faith-basedorganisations, private sector, academia,people living with HIV/AIDS, peopleliving in informal settlements and thedisabled.

Conclusion

A key highlight of the Kenyan processwas the high involvement of young peo-ple in the process. This was identified asa best practice that needs to be sharedwith other countries. Equally there weredeliberate efforts to ensure women par-ticipated. In fact in most APRM meet-ings women outnumbered men.

Throughout the whole APRMprocess the one thing that I appreciatedthe most was to see Kenyans from allwalks of life dialoguing. In some areasthe problem was simply that citizenslacked information and the APRM pro-vided a forum for leaders and citizens totalk to each other.

The APRM also provided a neutralnon-political platform to address someof the more touchy issues such as cor-ruption which have become so politi-cized in our country. As this was a self-assessment the report was easily accept-ed by all. My hope is that we can findways to sustain the dialogue that wasstarted. •

It is importantthat the APRMis not seen to

replace existingprogrammes

but to reinforcethem



17T he African Peer Review

Mechanism (APRM) in 2005moved from the realm of theory

into practice as the first round ofAfrican states conducted their initialcountry self-assessments during theyear. Four countries, Ghana, Rwanda,Kenya and Mauritius have elicited inter-national scrutiny in their efforts toengage in an honest and inclusivenational conversation on the nature ofgovernance in their respective states.Whilst Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya haveconcluded their self-assessments andpresented national action plans for thenext five years to the African PeerReview Panel of Eminent Persons (APRPanel) for consideration and implemen-tation, Mauritius has lagged far behindits peers in conducting a successful self-assessment. With South Africa alreadywell along the path towards completingits own self-assessment, the problemsand delays experienced by Mauritius incompleting its report can and should beconsidered in order to avoid similarexperiences in South Africa. The SouthAfrican government has publicly statedits intent in completing the country self-assessment process in a timely fashion,

and in order to ensure that this applaud-able objective is achieved, South Africawould do well to learn some lessonsfrom the experiences of its SADC part-ner in the challenges of conducting afully inclusive and transparent review.

Since its official accession to theAPRM in July 2004, Mauritius has expe-rienced repeated delays in compiling itsself-assessment report. At first glance,there do not appear to be any obviousbarriers to completion of the country’sreport, as Mauritius boasts an impressivehistorical governance record, vigorousmulti-party democracy, manageablepopulation size and the APRM hasreceived the complete backing of theMauritian government. Yet despitethese apparent strengths, Mauritius hasto this point been formulating its sub-mission to the APR Panel for more than18 months (double the expected lengthof an assessment), and has extended itsexpected date of completion to mid-2006.

Overview of Mauritius

The African Peer Review Mechanism ismade up of African states who have vol-

Grant Masterson, a

researcher at EISA,

examines the reasons

behind the delays in

Mauritius completing its

self-assessment report in

terms of the African Peer

Review Mechanism

(APRM).

Peer LearningHow to Conduct Inclusiveand Transparent Reviews



18

unteered to open themselves up toscrutiny regarding their governancepractices to both their own citizens aswell as other African states. The processis intended to act as a catalyst to bothencourage better governance practices inall members of the APRM, as well asassist in information sharing and dia-logue between governments, state insti-tutions and civil society.

The APRM core document outlinesthe process of a peer review in fivestages, as follows:

Stage One – The preparation of up-to-date background documentation onthe country’s governance and develop-ment environment, as well as a draftprogram of action outlining steps toimplement governance reforms.

Stage Two – A visit by a countryreview team, which consults broadlywith the widest possible range of stake-holders and other organizations in theAPRM process.

Stage Three – The APR countryteam, using the background material aswell as the materials gathered during itscountry visit, prepares a country reportfor submission to the APR Panel ofEminent Persons.

Stage Four – The country team’sreport is submitted to the APRM Headsof State and government through theAPRM Secretariat. This stage concludes

when the report is adopted in its finalform by the HSGIC.

Stage Five – Six months after theadoption of the report, it should be pub-licly tabled in key regional and sub-regional structures. This constitutes thefinal stage of a peer review.

The attached table illustrates theprogress made by various countriespresently engaged in the APRM vis-à-vis these five stages. Note that despitehaving signed the APRM memorandumof understanding in March 2004, andlaunched the process at approximatelythe same time in mid-2004 as the otherstates, Mauritius has yet to completeStage One of the APRM process.

This is in direct contrast with thetimeframes of Mauritius peers’ in thefirst batch of countries to engage in self-assessment. Does this lack of progressrepresent factors which are unique toMauritius, or could other countriesundertaking the process also experiencethe delays that have been observed inMauritius?

In order to understand this questionbetter, it is important to understand howMauritius undertook the APRMprocess. Diagram 2 represents the sim-plicity and lack of multiple institutionsin the APRM process in Mauritius. TheMinistry of Foreign Affairs is the gov-ernment ministry tasked with maintain-

ing oversight regarding the APRMprocess in the country. The NationalEconomic and Social Council (NESC)was appointed as the country’s nationalfocal point (the institution that is taskedwith the overall responsibility of pro-ducing the country’s APRM submis-sion). The NESC is comprised of repre-sentatives from government, civil socie-ty and trade unions. The NESC, in turnset up a National CoordinatingStructure (NCS), which operated as aforum for representatives from mainlygovernment and para-statal bodies, andto a lesser extent civil society and themedia. The intended purpose of theNCS was to act as a broadly representa-tive forum to engage in and discuss gov-ernance issues. However, given the con-straints which exist in Mauritius, theNCS turned out to be a largely state-dominated and ineffective body.

Main constraints

The NESC submitted a “final” report tothe APRM secretariat and various armsof government in August 2005. Thereport, which was urgently recalledfrom the APR Secretariat by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, was widelycriticised within Mauritius for failing toinclude inputs from a broad range ofparticipants, and for a shallow analysis

Country Signed MOU Process Launched Stage One Stage Two Stage Three Stage Four Stage Five

Ghana 9 March 2003 June 2004 Complete Complete Complete Complete ExpectedFebruary 2006

Kenya 9 March 2003 July 2004 Complete Complete Complete To be completed Jan 2006

Mauritius 9 March 2004 July 2004 To be completed late 2006

Rwanda 9 March 2004 August 2004 Complete Complete Complete Complete ExpectedFebruary 2006

South Africa 9 March 2004 October 2005 To be completed July 2006

Diagram 1 - Progress of Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa in APRM process



of governance issues in Mauritius. Theembarrassment of retracting the reporthas prompted serious reflection on thevalue, merit and significance of theAPRM in Mauritius. At the time ofwriting, the entire process had beenreset, and the NESC now operatesunder far closer supervision of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs than waspreviously the case. Whilst the NESChas borne the brunt of the criticism ofretracted report, it would be simplisticto assert that weaknesses within theNESC are the sole cause of the country’sdelays in producing a report.

Weaknesses

The NESC is a para-statal body which isgovernment funded, but whose mem-bers are drawn from civil society, busi-ness, and private charities. It is guidedby a body of 35 persons1, with commit-tees delegated to pursue specific objec-tives for the body. The selection of theNESC as the national focal point wasreceived with mixed feelings, particular-ly amongst Mauritian academics andcivil society, who were concerned thatthe para-statal body would struggle tofind consensus on the most challengingand controversial aspects of governancein Mauritius due to its conflicting inter-ests.

From the outset, the NESC borealmost complete responsibility for thecountry’s self-assessment. The body wasprovided with a budget from the gov-ernment, and was tasked with imple-menting the process. It was responsiblefor: the sensitization of the Mauritiuspublic; the coordination and implemen-tation of the country questionnaire andgovernance surveys; and the draftingand editing of the country report. TheNESC communication strategy waswidely criticised, in particular the body’sfailure to address adequately the APRMquestionnaire to the general public.Initially, the NESC simply completedthe questionnaire in-house and re-sub-mitted it to the APRM secretariat. Aftersubsequent consultations with the secre-tariat, the NESC publicised advertise-

ments calling for submissions based onthe questionnaire, which could be madein French and English. In total, less than70 submissions were received, includinga number of duplications from govern-ment departments. These submissionsformed the basis of the NESC draftreport which was eventually retractedby the government.

Instead of delegating the four areas ofgovernance to separate agencies, withspecific and relevant experience in thosegovernance areas under review, theNESC, in partnership with a singlesocio-economic consultancy, took almostcomplete responsibility for gatheringdata, compiling and editing the draftreport, which was drawn only fromdirect responses to the NESC’s requestsfor submissions, and did not draw onany other existing research.

Whilst the weaknesses within thenational focal point clearly impacted onthe Mauritius APRM process, given thecentralised design of the Mauritiusprocess and the importance of theNESC in that design, it is unlikely that

this is the entire reason for the delay inproducing a report.

Civil society

The NESC approach, whilst widelycriticised for Mauritius’ delay in com-pleting the first stage of the APRMprocess, does not by itself explain whythe response to the APRM from civilsociety and state institutions was initial-ly so tepid. Even today, high levels ofignorance and misunderstanding existin Mauritius regarding the significance,procedures and value of the APRM.The NESC did not conduct any exten-sive sensitization program, and even itspublic announcements and advertise-ments were irregular and allowed onlythe minimum notice periods requiredfor responses. As a result, only 5 submis-sions from non-governmental depart-ments were received prior to the sub-mission of the first report to the APRsecretariat.

The minimal impact of the sensitiza-tion campaign had the subsequent con-

Government Focal PointMinistry of Foreign Affairs

Hon. Madan Murlidhar Dulloo

National APRM Focal Point/Governing Council/SecretariatNational Economic and Social Council (NESC)

National Coordinating Structure (NCS) made up of ministries, theprivate sector, the civil society including the media, labour organisations,political parties, parliamentarians, professional associations, NGO’s

and others.

The majority of respondents to the APRM questionnaire came fromthe NCS

Drafting of self-assessment reportNational Economic and Social Council (NESC)

Diagram 2 - Mauritius National Organisation and Process

19



20sequence of stifling national debate anddialogue on the APRM process. Theengagement of civil society, as well asthe private sector in the APRM processwas initially almost non-existent. Thiscould be attributed to a wider malaise incivil society, however, and not only tothe botched sensitization campaign.Mauritian civil society is neither particu-larly strong nor organized, and there areonly a handful of independent CivilSociety Organisations (CSO’s) whichhave thus far engaged in work on gover-nance in general and the APRM specifi-cally. This weakness has had a directimpact on the scope of consultations thathave been possible up to now inMauritius.

Role confusion

An aspect of the Mauritian experiencewhich is unique to the island state is the“role conflation” of individuals who rep-resent multiple interests simultaneously.In Mauritius it is common for a singleperson to sit on the board of businesscorporations, act as a representative ofcivil society organizations and consult

with or even form part of a governmentdepartment or ministry. This practice,which is prevalent and widespreadthroughout Mauritius, has a particularlysalient impact on civil society organiza-tions, as their interests are often subli-mated beneath those of big business andthe government. In these circumstances,it has been a major challenge for theNESC, as well as the APRM reviewteam, to engage in frank discussionswith civil society on governance issuesaffecting civil society.

Mind your language

The issue of language in the self-assess-ment process has also limited the oppor-tunities for broad-based consultation.Whilst the official languages of govern-ment in Mauritius are French andEnglish, the most widely spoken lan-guage, particularly at the rural level inMauritius is Creole. In requesting sub-missions for its draft report, the NESCtranslated the APRM questionnaireinstrument from English into French,but there was no provision made for aCreole translation. In light of the often

complex and subtle variations of thegovernance issues being discussed, thisomission excluded a sizeable proportionof the island’s population from partici-pating on the basis of language differ-ences.

Parliamentary elections

Possibly one of the most significant rea-sons for the retraction of the first self-assessment report in Mauritius has to dowith the country’s general elections heldon 30 July 2005. The parliamentary elec-tions coincided with a critical period inthe country’s self-assessment process,and given the hotly contested nature ofthe election, there is little doubt that ithad a detrimental impact on the qualityof the country’s self-assessment. InMauritius, the parliament is dissolved atthe start of the campaign period.Additionally, the election campaignperiod draws in numerous volunteersfrom the civil service, civil society andpolitical parties, whose focus becomescampaigning for their preferred candi-dates. During this period the APRMwas forced to take a back seat to the elec-tions, as engagement with civil societyproved virtually impossible during theelection period.

The APRM process was further com-plicated by the results of the elections,which returned a new government toparliament, unseating the regime whichhad initially acceded to the APRMprocess. This created a huge amount ofuncertainty regarding the future of theprocess, as unlike their colleagues inGhana, the Berenger government didnot make any provisions in the Mauritiusprocess for a change of government halfway through the country’s self-assess-ment. Whilst the new governmentaffirmed the country’s commitment tothe APRM process, and did not interferein the structures which were already inplace, the change of personnel in thegovernment undoubtedly impacted onthe engagement of the government andother stakeholders in the production ofthe report. The change of governmentalso temporarily disrupted communica-



21

tion and support channels between theNESC as the country’s national focalpoint and the government ministryresponsible for supporting it in its func-tions. This further impacted on thesmooth functioning of the self-assess-ment during the post-election period.

Constraining factors

The Mauritius process, which has thusfar made little progress in producing asubmission to the APRM Panel, appearsto have been constrained through anumber of factors. These include: insti-tutional weaknesses in the national coor-dinating structure, a lack of engagementfrom civil society, role confusionbetween civil society and government,not accommodating all major languagegroups, and the impact which the parlia-mentary elections had on the process inMauritius. A combination of these fac-tors has thus far conspired to constrainMauritius from discharging its responsi-bilities in terms of the APRM.

Lessons

The delays experienced in producing aself-assessment report in Mauritius illus-trate several important points whichother countries that are already or soonwill engage in the APRM can andshould take note of.

The importance of establishing aneffective and capable national focalpoint is essential to the future health of acountry’s self-assessment. The size of theNESC (35 members on the governingcouncil), and its weak mandate from thegovernment undermined the body’scapacity to discharge its responsibilitieseffectively. Additionally, there is littleevidence to suggest that the NESC ade-quately delegated responsibility beyondits own members, which reduced thebody’s effective capacity and delivery.Sufficient delegation of responsibilityfor the analysis of the four main areas ofgovernance to four lead technical agen-cies, which is provided for in the APRMOrganization and Process, would haveenhanced broad-based participation,

and added vital expertise in vital gover-nance issues in Mauritius.

Mobilizing civil society is essential inensuring that a country self-assessmentis broad-based and participatory. Theexample of Mauritius highlights theimportance of engaging civil society inthe process of self-assessment at the ear-liest possible stage. The weakness andlack of engagement in the NESC reportfrom civil society had a direct impact onthe quality of its final submission. Aclear and effective sensitization cam-paign might have engaged a more sig-nificant percentage of CSOs andenhanced a mutual understanding of thevalue and importance of the APRMprocess at all levels of Mauritius society.

The issue of language in Mauritiushighlights the importance of nationalgovernments taking into account theprevailing local conditions in which self-assessment takes place. It is also impor-tant to give serious consideration to theadaptation of the APRM questionnaireto make it accessible to people at all lev-els of civil society, to ensure that themaximum possible participation isachieved. It is important to recognisethat the APRM base questionnaire is alarge and technical document which ispotentially intimidating for the vastmajority of a country’s citizens.Consideration should be given to multi-ple adaptations of the questionnairewith clear target groups in mind whendesigning the questionnaire to engageall levels of society in a country self-assessment.

The omission of making sufficientaccommodation for the Mauritius gen-eral elections in the middle of the coun-try’s process highlights the importanceof long-term planning and forethoughtduring the planning stage of a country’sself-assessment. It should be noted thatthe Ghanaian people were able to com-plete the self-assessment successfullydespite scheduled general elections inGhana by taking the elections intoaccount during the planning phase of itsself-assessment. This type of anticipa-tion regarding major events whichcould impact on the completion of a

country self-assessment is essential inensuring that the process is carried outsmoothly and efficiently.

The final, and perhaps most signifi-cant lesson that can be learnt from theexample set by Mauritius, is the coun-try’s dedicated and unflagging commit-ment to the worthwhile cause ofimproving its governance practices. TheAPRM is a new and untested initiative,and given the delays and obstructionsexperienced in Mauritius, it would nothave been very surprising had the newMauritius government decided uponreflection to withdraw from the APRMprocess. Instead, the new regime, as wellas the NESC and Mauritian civil society,has elected to overcome the present dif-ficulties and press towards completionof the review. Although this decision hasnot come without costs, the respect andseriousness which the Mauritian peopleare presently demonstrating in engagingin the peer review should set the tone forother members of the APRM to follow.

The experience of Mauritius has high-lighted a number of factors which canimpact on the quality of a country’s self-assessment and the submission of itsreport to the APRM secretariat andPanel of Eminent Persons. The presentdelays are unlikely to have a long-termimpact on Mauritius peer review butthey have nonetheless proved costly interms of money, time and effort. Othercountries can and should seek to avoidthese types of costly delays in order toadvance the vision of the APRM and theenhancement of governance quality onthe African continent. After all, learningfrom the mistakes of others is surely partof what the APRM is all about, and tofail to do so would be to allow an oppor-tunity for the type of transparency anddebate that underpin the APRM to go towaste. Mauritius may have been the firststate to experience lengthy delays in pro-ducing a report, but it certainly will notbe the last, and as much as other statescan learn from the manner in whichGhana, Kenya and Rwanda have con-ducted their reviews; the Mauritiusprocess is likely to be as instructive asthat of any of its peers. •



22 W hen Ghanaian PresidentJohn Kufuor defended hiscountry’s African Peer

Review (APR) report to 25 fellowAfrican leaders in Khartoum, Sudan inJanuary 2006, the West African country— the first to shake off colonialism in1957, once again become a pioneer.Ghana was the lead guinea pig inAfrica’s latest governance experiment— the African Peer Review Mechanism(APRM). Although Ghana had noroadmap to follow, its experience in suc-cessfully producing a credible and inclu-sive analysis of its own nationalstrengths and weaknesses offers a valu-able blueprint for others engaged in thepeer review process.

Why was Kufuor so keen onAPRM?

John Kufuor’s victory in the 2000 elec-tions marked the end of Jerry Rawlings’22-year rule and Ghana’s first peacefultransfer of power since independence.

Why then was a new president so eagerto open his state to intense scrutiny inthis untested and potentially risky peerreview process, on a continent notoriousfor using sovereignty to hide widespreadmismanagement, maladministrationand systemic dysfunction? Kufuorquickly grasped the domestic, regional,international and symbolic advantagesof being first in the APRM queue.

At home, Kufuor had embarked onan ambitious programme to strengthenGhana’s fragile democratic institutions.He had revamped the security forces;modernised the tax regime, court systemand legal framework; and bolsteredmedia freedoms. Kufuor committed hisadministration to clean government,increased accountability and diversifiedeconomic growth. APRM and Nepadwere continental ideas that gave impetusto his domestic political and economicobjectives.

“John Kufuor believes that he is ademocrat, and APRM was a way todemonstrate his personal commitment

Steven Gruzd is the

Research Manager on

the Nepad and

Governance Programme

at the South African

Institute of International

Affairs (SAIIA).

Africa’sTrailblazer

Ghana and the APRM



23

to promoting good governance in thecountry” said Dr Baffour Agyeman-Duah, Associate Executive Director ofthe Ghana Center for DemocraticDevelopment, one of the four thinkthanks that conducted research for thereport. “He had already embarked on apolicy of transparency and accountabili-ty in his administration, and APR was amechanism to further this approach.”

Political analyst Grant Masterson atthe Electoral Institute of SouthernAfrica suggests that Kufuor was in a no-lose situation — he had only been inoffice a short time, and could thereforeblame any harsh criticism received in areview on his predecessors, or his shorttenure.1

Ghana is a relatively stable state in thetroubled West African region, and facesfallout from the military, political andeconomic chaos of its neighbours,including refugees and rebel activity.Ghana has always strongly supportedregional integration in the EconomicCommunity of West African States(ECOWAS). Undergoing APRM earlyoffered Ghana the chance to positivelyinfluence West African states involvedin the process, including Cameroon,Senegal and Burkina Faso, as well asdraw closer to Nepad-originators suchas Algeria and South Africa, to counter-balance Nigeria’s considerable muscle inthe region.

Participation in the APRM wouldpotentially win Ghana prestige and ben-efits from international donors, who hadshown great enthusiasm for Nepad andAPRM from its inception. Ghanaremains a heavily aid-dependent state,with about 40% of its budget donor-funded.

“The president realised that APRMcould improve governance in the coun-try, as well as make Ghana more attrac-tive for donors and investors”, said DrChris Stals, the member of the APRPanel of Eminent Persons responsiblefor the Ghana review, and formerGovernor of the South African ReserveBank.

Agyeman-Duah agrees, “No doubtpart of Kufuor’s thinking in being first

was to attract investment and aid. IfGhana was perceived to be open andtransparent, it would be seen as a goodplace to do business. The G8 will usehow a country does in peer review toinfluence its decisions, whether formallyor informally.”

The final reason offered is symbolic,even romantic. “Ghana has always had astrong history as a pioneer” saidEvelynne Change, Coordinator forCorporate Governance at the APRMSecretariat in Midrand. “It was the firstindependent country in Africa, it drovePan-Africanism and the anti-colonialstruggle championed by the likes ofNkrumah. I think this may have fac-tored into its desire to be a leader inAPRM.”

“Wanting to be first is something of atradition in Ghana. The country likesthe idea,” said Dr Stals.

Ghana could therefore develop theAPRM precedent and set the standardfor future reviews. It signalled its intentearly. It was one of six countries todeclare its desire to accede to APRM inNovember 2002 even before the plansfor peer review had been fully formed.

“When Ghana signed up, they said‘We’re ready’ even though the prepara-tory phases for the institutionalisation ofAPRM were still underway. The Panelhad to be put in place and the docu-ments for APRM implementationdeveloped,” recalls Change.

It formed a Nepad Secretariat withinthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whichlater became part of a new Ministry ofRegional Co-operation and Nepad, thefirst country to have a minister responsi-ble for implementing Nepad. Ghanaformally acceded to APRM by signing aMemorandum of Understanding withthe APR Secretariat on 9 March 2003.

Civil society pressure transformsthe process

In its enthusiasm to drive peer review,Ghana’s government initially exhibiteda tendency to dominate, a pattern thathas been repeated in every other APRcountry. The president chose and

appointed the National APRMGoverning Council (NAPRM-GC) tooversee the review process, and selectedsympathetic civil society partners. At anAPR workshop held by the SouthAfrican Institute of InternationalAffairs (SAIIA) in Accra in November2003, many Ghanaian civil societygroups were openly angry with theirgovernment, dismissing claims thatwide consultation had occurred. Theyquestioned the unrealistic timetable,perceived an urban bias, and denouncedthe undemocratic selection of governingcouncil members who could be consid-ered elitist and unrepresentative. Theiroutrage influenced the course of peerreview in Ghana, as more extensive con-sultations were held across the country(especially in selecting the researchers),government ceded considerable space tocivil society, and a more transparent andcredible review resulted. The Ghanaianexperience shows that civil societygroups can exert strong influence bybeing informed and vocal at the start ofthe national peer review process.

Autonomy confers authority

Kufuor knew that APRM could becomepolitically volatile in Ghana, and not justfrom disaffected NGOs. Oppositionparties could use the report’s assessmentof deficiencies as ammunition againstthe incumbent government, particularlyas a general election was due inDecember 2004. To avoid APR becom-ing embroiled in politics — and possiblybecoming derailed if his New PatrioticParty lost those elections — Kufuorensured that Ghana’s peer reviewprocess was independent of him and hisparty.

“When we were there for the APRsupport mission in May 2004, thePresident told me that there would bean election at the end of the year, andrather than delaying APR until after thevote, Ghana would design a system thatwould not be affected by the electionresult,” said Dr Stals.

Ghana’s key APR infrastructure wastherefore established not in the presiden-



cy, a ministry or government depart-ment. While Dr Francis Appiah — aformer senior technical advisor toGhana’s Nepad minister, Dr KofiKonadu Apraku — was designated asthe Ghanaian government’s focal point(a communication conduit betweenMidrand and the governing council), thegoverning council was deliberately madeindependent of government, to preservethe integrity and autonomy of theprocess. The seven-member NAPRM-GC headed by Professor SamuelAdjepong comprised credible, respectedindividuals drawn exclusively from out-side government, including prominentacademics, retired diplomats, distin-guished lawyers, international consult-

ants and senior religious leaders. “To ensure transparency and open-

ness, the governing council memberswere of impeccable public standing,”said NAPRM-GC member ProfessorSKB Asante, “Its size made for econo-my, flexibility and effective decisionmaking.”

The NAPRM-GC was afforded thesame status and legal protection fromgovernment interference as theElectoral Commission and Commissionfor Human Rights and AdministrativeJustice. Its members were not requiredto swear the customary oath of alle-giance to the president or government.The governing council physically relo-cated from Nepad Ministry premises to

offices elsewhere in Accra to underscoreits autonomy. The Council was support-ed by an independent National APRMSecretariat headed by an ExecutiveSecretary.

“The president made sure that thegoverning council could do its workoutside of the political world,” said DrStals.

Strong think tank model

“We had no template,” said ProfessorSKB Asante. “We were a fore-runnerand so we had to break new ground andbe innovative.”

Confronting the complex demands ofthe peer review exercise — making the

President John Kufuor at a polling station in Accra, 2004

24



25

self-assessment questionnaire relevantand accessible to Ghanaians; includingthe voices and views of a diverse popula-tion; ensuring that the report was robust,accurate, credible and independent —one governing council innovation was toturn to Ghana’s top research institutionsfor assistance. Four Technical ReviewTeams were established in each of thefour focus areas of the APR. The Centerfor Democratic Development headed theDemocracy and Political Governanceteam, the Centre for Policy Analysistackled the Economic Governance andManagement material, CorporateGovernance was analysed by the PrivateEnterprise Foundation, and the Socio-Economic Development section was theresponsibility of the Institute ofStatistical, Social and Economic Re-search. Each of these respected thinktanks eventually produced frank, rich,detailed reports of approximately 300pages apiece.

“The four teams helped keep govern-ment at a distance,” Professor Asanteexplained. “They all had strong trackrecords, autonomy, expertise, capacityand integrity. Many had showed leader-ship in advocacy and lobbying in civilsociety.”

Robust research

The researchers confronted tough ques-tions. How does Ghana best evaluateitself? How should it adapt the often-vague and generic self-assessment ques-tionnaire? How could they minimisespeculation, allegation and bias? Howcould Ghanaians come to consensus onproblems and solutions? And, mostimportantly, how would they keep theprocess transparent, fair and inclusive?

The Technical Review Teams devel-oped a four-phase research process. Thepre-field methodology entailed fivestrands: an education and sensitisationdrive to inform and excite Ghanaiansabout APRM and foster a sense ofnational ownership; coordinating andharmonising the methodologicalapproaches of the four teams; identify-ing stakeholders; adapting the self-

assessment questionnaire into a scientif-ic survey instrument; and gatheringinformation and data for the APR panel.

Ghanaians managed to popularise thecomplex, unfamiliar and somewhatobscure concept of APRM. The govern-ing council issued widely-distributedmonthly newsletters updating thenation, and held well-publicised meet-ings across the country. The question-naire was translated into indigenouslanguages, and APRM songs becameradio hits. Special seminars were held toeducate the media on APRM.

Dr Stals singled out Ghana’s effectivesensitisation efforts. “Every time I land-ed in Ghana, I was met at the airport byseveral radio stations, TV crews andjournalists,” he said. “They used my vis-its to promote APRM, but they also usedthemselves. The governing councilmembers and Minister Apraku werevery active in the media.”

The field methodology involved: elitesurveys among experts with intensiveknowledge about key governance issuesin government, academia, the privatesector and civil society; a mass house-hold survey in all Ghana’s ten adminis-trative regions to gather representativeviews; and focus group discussions withtargeted groups (such as women, youthor people with disabilities) on particularquestions.

The in-house methodology coveredthe internal operation of the researchteams. It involved extensive deskresearch to review existing literature,and internal peer reviews where theteams criticised each other’s drafts.

Agyeman-Duah said, “We spentmonths putting the report together, dayand night. You have to get the experts togather the facts and analyse and getthem to involve the people. There is nosubstitute for solid research.”

Finally, the post-field methodologyserved to test the findings generated inthe first three phases. The drafts weresubjected to a reality check. Technicalexperts interrogated the four draftreports, and the draft went through a“validation workshop” in February2005, where a wide array of stakeholders

- including government, unions, parlia-mentarians and businesspersons - com-pared the academic analysis to dailypractice in Ghana.

“Ghana’s self-assessment report wascandid,” said Change. “It had beendeveloped by credible national civil soci-ety institutions. It was clear thereweren’t any no-go areas.”

From self-assessment to peerreview

Kufuor won a landslide in theDecember 2004 election, and with arenewed mandate, his governmentbecame more involved in owningGhana’s APR programme of action, thedocument outlining solutions to the gov-ernance weaknesses identified.

“In the end the government commit-ted strongly to the programme ofaction,” said Dr Stals, “and broughtsome practical sense to what was previ-ously in some respects an ambitious,rather unrealistic wish-list generated bycivil society. Government took fullresponsibility after the elections.”

A year after the inauguration of thegoverning council (and two years aftersigning the MOU), Ghana submitted itscountry’s self-assessment report to theAPRM Secretariat, in March 2005. Itconsisted of a consolidated report, exec-utive summary, the four technicalreports as appendices, and a programmeof action — amounting to about 2,000pages. Government appended its com-ments to the national report, in accor-dance with APR guidelines.

Dr Stals led a 16-member countryreview team to Ghana, comprisingmainly of people seconded from institu-tions such as the United NationsEconomic Commission for Africa,United Nations Development Pro-gramme and African DevelopmentBank to Ghana from 2-15 April 2005.They interacted with government, oppo-sition parties, parliamentarians, civilsociety organisations, the media, aca-demics, and professional bodies acrossthe country, and concluded that the selfassessment was “technically competent,



26

credible and free of manipulation.”The APR Panel then combined its

own background paper, the country self-assessment and its country review mis-sion report plus the Panel’s recommen-dations into its final report, which waspresented to the APR Forum (the headsof state of all APRM countries) in June2005 in Abuja, Nigeria, along withRwanda’s APR report.

The final stage of the process occurredseven months later, in January 2006 inKhartoum, where President Kufuordefended the report for four hours to theleaders of the APR Forum. Interesting-ly, Ghana submitted a revised pro-gramme of action, where the price tagballooned from $2.9 billion in June 2005to $5 billion in January 2006 (includingexisting projects and programmes, andwith more detailed costing on infra-structure requirements). Kufuor report-ed that 19 of the 159 recommendationswere already being implemented.

Muratha Kinuthia, Public Relationsand Communication Officer fromKenya’s Nepad Secretariat said, “TheKenyan Delegation was very impressedwith the ease with which the GhanaianPresident spoke on some of the keyissues emanating from the report. Wefeel that the fact that the Cabinet retreatin Ghana was chaired by the Presidentto discuss the report also speaks to thecommitment of the Ghanaian govern-ment. We have taken up discussionswith Ghana on their plans for theProgramme of Action and we are hop-ing to learn a lot from their experience.”

Some observers expressed disappoint-ment with this meeting: they said therewas little discussion of best practices inGhana; some heads of state seemed notto grasp the ethos of the peer review andspent time castigating Ghana for follow-ing (and the APR panel for supposedlyendorsing) western-inspired neo-liberalpolicies; Ghana’s report was sufficientlycandid that there was little for the peersto add; and there was no press briefingarranged for Kufuor and little mediainterest generated.

Disappointingly, the Rwanda reportwas not presented to the Forum, as

President Paul Kagame did not attendand his prime minister was not permit-ted to present on his behalf. Rwandawill therefore have to wait at leastanother six months until the nextForum.

Another frustration is that the GhanaAPR report, now almost a year old, isyet to be formally released. There issome confusion over the reasons. ThePanel feels that it should now be madepublic, having been presented to theForum, but it may still take several moreweeks or months to sort out protocolissues between the APRM and NepadSecretariats and the African UnionCommission, and to table the report atthe Pan-African Parliament. Ghanaiansand the world still wait to see what waswritten.

Ten lessons llearned

1. Leadership matters: Ghana’s presi-dent was completely committed toAPR, determined that Ghana shouldproduce an honest report, and pre-pared to trust civil society to run thereview.

2. Early civil society pressure deliversresults: Although governments areusually better resourced and betterprepared for APRM than non-gov-ernmental players, informed andvocal CSOs can exert most influenceby lobbying early for a more inclusiveand consultative process. Oppor-tunities to change the dynamicsdiminish as systems solidify

3. Independence lends credibility:Ghana’s report will be taken serious-ly because of the autonomy grantedto its researchers and governingcouncil.

4. Governing council must commandrespect: By choosing competent,respected, media-savvy, independentpublic figures, Ghana’s governingcouncil had the trust of the people.However, public nominations wouldhave been preferable to presidentialselections.

5. Prepare the ground for APRM:Ghana’s efforts to raise awareness of

and interest in APRM before em-barking on the field research meant amore educated and receptive popu-lace.

6. Sound methodology enhances quali-ty: The mix of research approaches -combining education and sensitisa-tion; eliciting expert views; undertak-ing broad household surveys; con-ducting exhaustive desk research;using focus groups; and validatingand testing findings — ensured thatGhana’s report was accurate, fair andrepresentative.

7. Participatory process fosters owner-ship: Ghana involved a wide range ofits people in preparing and endorsingthe country’s report. It advertisedAPRM events widely. People feltthey owned the process.

8. Government must run with pro-gramme of action: While theresearchers can sketch a programmeof action, the line ministries affectedmust buy into the process.

9. Reconsider the peer review process atForum level: The Ghana case showsthat the APR Forum meetings needto be better planned and executed tomake the peer review process moremeaningful.

10.Reports must be released morequickly: The impetus and effect ofAPRM is lost when this crucial infor-mation remains out of the publicdomain for long periods.

Although Ghana has set high standards,not all of its experiences and methodolo-gies will be applicable and appropriatein other countries at different stages ofdevelopment. However, it does offerexcellent models to others wishing theirreviews to stand up to scrutiny. As SKBAsante said, “If you dare make APR agovernment thing, it won’t last. It won’tbe believed, unless it’s truly a people’sAPRM.” •

1 See Masterson G, Governance Quality andGovernment Commitment to the NepadAfrican Peer Review Mechanism,Electoral Institute of Southern Africa,Johannesburg, 2004, pp 50-60.


S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

27L et me start by confessing before you

that I feel like I am a real doublecontradiction. My contradictoriness

is however not the normal one of a typi-cal petty bourgeoisie who is caughtsomewhere between the real ruling classand the masses, and is by virtue of thatposition condemned to vacillate betweenthe two main social forces. The classpositioning of the petty bourgeoisie —and there are plenty of us everywhere inour society as the process of class forma-tion accelerates with the advent ofmulti-racial constitutional democracyunder a capitalist socio-economic forma-tion — make them sway to and frobetween the power wielding class andthe disposed or marginalised classes on acontinuous basis. The reason for this isthat the insecure middle class is not poorenough to fully belong and identify withthe masses and, at the same time, hasvery little or no real stake in the owner-ship and control capital and otherimportant levers of power. He or she isvery unstable socially, economically andpolitically due to his/her straddling posi-tion between the class of the rich andpowerful on the one hand and the vari-ous strata of the toiling masses on theother.

The reasons why at this moment I feellike a contradiction first comes from thefact that I happen to be one of the so-called experts who have been commis-sioned by the African Peer ReviewMechanism secretariat (APRM) to writea background paper for them onDemocracy and Political Governance inSouth Africa. This is intellectually verychallenging. However, I am part of thisconversation and, as a citizen, I amequally committed to contribute toSouth Africa’s effort to develop a coher-ent and quality national self assessmentreport. The second source of my feelinglike a contradiction is my role as thechairperson of the national panel ofexperts to advise government on thedevelopment of a regulatory policyframework on foreign ownership ofland. The public hearings and submis-sions the panel organised throughoutthe country came up with strong sugges-tions that golf courses and estates, suchas Fancourt where we are dinning to-night, should be discouraged becausethey are perceived to be underminingaccess to land for the ordinary citizensand promoting spatial racial and classapartheid. You may be aware thatPresident Thabo Mbeki has also strong-

Professor Shadrack Gutto,

Chair of African Renaissance

Studies and director of the

Centre for African

Renaissance Studies at the

University of South Africa

(Unisa) calls on the public

sector to a common

purpose of service and a

collective responsibility to

the public.

A ConversationPub l i c Managemen t Conve r sa t i on : A P RM



28

ly pronounced himself on the matter. Ihope you now appreciate the sources ofmy contradictions and empathise withme!

I now turn to the substantive themes Ichose to address and hope that they con-tribute favourably to your appetite to-night.

Integrated governance

The Hon. Minister Comrade EssopPahad suggested — and many peoplehold the same view — that the masseson the ground are sometimes disen-chanted with performance of govern-ment at the local level. This might implythat the provincial and national spheresof government are not challenged in asimilar manner. He also indicated thatsome local government structures do nothave independent sources of generatingtheir own revenue and this affects theircapacity to deliver services. My consid-ered opinion is that in the real con-sciousness of most ordinary citizens,there is one state and one government inSouth Africa, and that the ruling party isthe African National Congress. If every-one in the public service or who holds apolitical position in government wouldunderstand this and approach theirresponsibilities accordingly, it is likelythat they would develop a common pur-pose of service and a sense of individualand collective responsibility to the pub-lic. They would know that the strengthof any chain lies in its weakest link. Thestrength of the state and government inSouth Africa depends and relies on allthe three spheres of government func-tioning optimally. If one sphere is weak,it affects the potential and performanceof the whole. Of course, snap opinionpolls taken around particular incidentsmay give the impression that the citizensevaluate the performance of the differ-ent spheres of government separately.But we must delve deeper. It is from thisperspective that I strongly believe thateveryone who is in government or stateemploy must acquaint themselves notonly with the division of responsibilitiesamong the three spheres as stated in

Schedules 4 and 5 of the Constitution,but also with a sense of collectiveresponsibility and accountability. Whereone has no institutional competence theymust know the precise location in gov-ernment that can serve the particularneed of the citizen — and direct the cit-izen there instead of passing the buck orexpressing ignorance.

As far as lack of revenue in certainmunicipalities is concerned, those poorstructures should not necessarily beblamed. Rather, the constitutional andlegislated principles requiring equitableand fair sharing of the national cakeshould be interpreted responsibly andapplied accordingly. If this is not donethere will be uneven development thatmay lead to instability.

Non-partisanship

Linked to, but distinct from, the issue ofcollective responsibility of the spheresand structures of government and stateis the challenge many people seem tohave with the notions of political neu-trality and non-partisanism in carryingout government and state responsibili-ties. Let me hasten here that I do notnecessarily blame them. After all,favouritism and partisanism were cul-tures carried over from the erstwhilecolonial and apartheid past. Many per-haps, thought that by defeatingapartheid and assuming power, the stateand the party would be used to advancethose who support the regime in power.Many find the new constitutional orderconstraining their narrow person inter-ests and ambitions. One possible remedyfor this disease of false consciousness isfor the ANC to take the lead is provid-ing effective political education to itsmembers. Since 1994 the ANC hasbecome even a broader church than itused to be as a liberation movement.Many of its latter day card carryingmembers appear to lack revolutionaryconsciousness of a progressive rulingparty in a constitutional democracy. Therest of the population is not any better.Those in the public service and adminis-tration also need political education and

consciousness — to enable then to makeinformed decisions in providing servicesto the public without unfair discrimina-tion.

The reality of capital

The third issue I want to address is thereality we have of living and operatingin a capitalist economy, with its atten-dant class-based relations of productionand other associated forms of societalorganisation. The implication of this isthat the state, even a developmental statelike ours, is limited in what it can do toaddress the socio-economic and culturalneeds of society. The state as a state cando a lot. However, the state is alsodependent on its ability to regulate andpressurise the private sector and the restof society to play progressive develop-mental roles. The sense I get is that thestate is pushing players who are general-ly reluctant. Even with progressive leg-islation such as the Employment EquityAct, Promotion of Equality andPrevention of Unfair DiscriminationAct, Basic Conditions of EmploymentAct, Preferential Procurement PolicyFramework Act and the Broad BasedBlack Economic Empowerment Act,one does not see the accompanyingpatriotism similar to what the youngman, Roland Schoeman, demonstratedwhen he declined the multimillion dol-lar offer to compete for Qatar instead ofhis mother/father land, South Africa.Long centuries of slavery, colonialismand apartheid racism fractured, dis-membered and traumatised the people.The project of building a nation inSouth African is a daunting historicalproject that will take a long time toachieve. It has just begun and all mustplay their part.

Broader context

The fourth issue is the need to contextu-alise the APRM. Essentially the APRMis one of the mechanisms and tools of theNew Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD). There aremany who embark on implementing the



29

APRM without bothering to under-stand NEPAD and its identity withinthe reforming African regional system,as led by the African Union. The APRMis seeking to contribute to a new para-digm shift in the way we pursue theinterrelated and interdependent goals ofpolitical and corporate governance aswell as economic and social develop-ment. It requires understanding the roleof the state, regional economic commu-nities and the international order. Aboveall, meaningful engagement with theAPRM requires appreciation of theobjectives and principles of the AfricanUnion and its institutional architectureas well as the larger vision, mission andspirit of African Renaissance. Principlessuch as peace, gender parity in leader-ship positions, non-acceptance of uncon-stitutional changes of government andthe imperative for collective interven-tion to stop or prevent genocide, warcrimes and crimes against humanityneeds to be understood.

Unfortunately, those of us who wereinvolved at the initial stages in conceptu-alising the operationalisation of thereview processes for the APRM seem tohave overlooked an important dimen-sion — namely cultural dimensions ofdevelopment. I believe that in future, weshall not be called upon to assess andjudge ourselves only on the current fourareas: political governance, economicgovernance and management, corporategovernance, and socio-economic devel-opment. All regions of the world thathave progressed and that we need tolearn from have all relied on thestrength of their diverse and unique cul-tural heritages and identities. Africa andpeople of African descent, the Diaspora,shall not progress as a people if theyremain mere copycats and imitators ofother civilisations. We must revoke andrely on the spirit of innovation and cre-ativity as well as values that charac-terised Africa from the times of the cra-dles of humankind through the greatcivilisations of the Nile Valley and thegreat kingdoms and empires that dottedthe continent before European andArabian slavery and colonialism.

Conclusion

Last but not least, I strongly believe thatthe APRM process that we are involvedin can and should be transformative.The process was conceived and isdesigned to bring fundamental changesin the relationship between states, gov-ernments and the people they govern, aswell as changes in the way people relateto each other. It is designed to make par-

ticipatory governance substantive andreal. Civil society ought to emerge fromthe process understanding that they arepart and parcel of governance and gov-ernment has to know its potential andlimits. Above all governments needs anddepends on its people and the peopleneed and depend on their government.At the African Union level, the estab-lishment of the Economic, Social andCultural Council is expected to have thesame effect. •



30

T he early 1990s was a period of pro-found social and political changesin South Africa. It was against this

background that the King Committeeon Corporate Governance was set up in1992. Corporate governance in SouthAfrica received heightened attentionand the King Committee’s work culmi-nated in the publication of the KingReport on Corporate Governance in1994.

The adoption of a new Constitutionand consequent overhaul of legislationnecessitated the revision of the KingReport, and the second King Report waspublished in 2002.The purpose of theKing Report is to promote the higheststandards of corporate governance inSouth Africa.

The King Report (2002) Code appliesonly to certain categories of companies.These are companies listed on the JSE;banks, financial and insurance entities;public sector enterprises falling underthe Public Finance Management Act(No. 1 of 1999) [PFMA] and the LocalGovernment; Municipal FinanceManagement Act (No. 56 of 2003),including any state department acting interms of the Constitution or legislation.

Another important document on cor-porate governance in South Africa is thePublic Finance Management Act (No. 1of 1999). In the public sector, the PFMAplays an important role in regulatinggood corporate governance practices.The PFMA aims to secure transparency,

accountability, and sound managementof the revenue, expenditure, assets andliabilities of the institutions to which theAct applies. This Act applies to, amongothers, constitutional institutions such asthe Electoral Commission (IEC), majorpublic entities and national and provin-cial government departments.

South Africa has played an importantrole in the rest of the continent since1994. A key activity was its participationin the establishment of New Partnershipfor Africa’s Development (Nepad) . Thevision of NEPAD is to chart a course forAfrican countries which will lead to sus-tainable economic growth. There istherefore a challenge to establish aframework for well-governed publicand private enterprises which will inturn be the driving force behind thiseconomic growth. The issue of corpo-rate governance has therefore nowachieved a place on the continentalstage.

In an effort to promote good corpo-rate governance AU member states haveadopted five broad objectives:• Promoting an enabling environment

and effective regulatory frameworkfor economic activities;

• Ensuring that corporations act asgood corporate citizens with regard tohuman rights, social responsibilityand environmental sustainability;

• Promoting adoption of codes of goodbusiness ethics in achieving the objec-tives of the corporation;

Advocate Pansy Tlakula,

the Chief Electoral Officer

(CEO) of the Electoral

Commission of South

Africa (IEC), says that good

corporate governance

requires that South Africa

develop the necessary

human capital to populate

the governance structures

but also strengthen the

good framework that

is in place.

A Few MoreGood Men



31

• Ensuring that corporations treat alltheir stakeholders including share-holders, employees, communities andsuppliers fairly; and

• Providing for accountability of corpo-rations, directors and officers.It is these objectives which will form

the bases for the evaluation of SouthAfrica’s performance in terms of corpo-rate governance.

Characteristics of goodgovernance

Good corporate governance is markedby seven characteristics: discipline,transparency, independence, accounta-bility, fairness and social responsibility.These characteristics should be presentwhen one scrutinises the prevalent prac-tices in the structures which comprisesthe governance models of businessenterprises.

The board and the CEO

A lot of the discussion of corporate gov-ernance practices centres on the role ofthe board of directors. It is ultimatelythe responsibility of the board to ensuregood corporate governance. The boardhas many important functions whichinclude strategy development and exe-cution.

The corporate governance processinvolves certain key activities. These are(i) giving strategic long-term directionfor the future of the enterprise, (ii) tak-ing crucial executive decisions, (iii) mon-itoring and overseeing managementperformance, and (iv) responding tothose who have legitimate demands foraccountability.

The board of directors owe their dutyto the company and are accountable toshareholders and not to all stakeholders.The board however is responsible formaintaining relationships with all stake-holders in order to achieve the corporateobjectives.

The directors have generally acceptedresponsibilities. These include:• The fiduciary duty of being trustwor-

thy in acting in the best interests of

those whom the director represents;• The duty of loyalty and duty of fair

dealing;• The duty of care, which means acting

carefully in carrying out responsibili-ties;

• The duty not to entrench; and• The duty of supervision.It is therefore important that the boardand its committees must include theright skills, attitudes and that the com-pany’s governance structure should havethe appropriate safeguards. In the con-text of a heterogeneous society such asSouth Africa, it is also important toensure demographic diversity on theboard.

There is some evidence to support theview that a strong executive directorwho is not distracted by a board domi-nated by independent non-executivedirectors can deliver favourable results.A study of the Australian StockExchange found that of 145 companies,the companies that had predominantlyindependent boards produced lowerreturns to shareholders and lower levelsof sales growth.

However, more research suggests thatcompanies which employ good corpo-rate governance practices overall arethose which have a clear majority ofindependent directors on their boards. Itis therefore recommended that a boardshould not have more than two non-independent directors and that thereshould be no non-independent directorson the audit, nominating and compensa-tion committees.

An independent director is a non-executive director who is not:• A representative of a shareholder with

the ability to control management;• Employed by the company for the

preceding three years;• A professional advisor to the compa-

ny, e.g., someone who draws consult-ing or legal fees from the company;and

• A significant supplier or customer ofthe company.

In addition, independent directors haveno contractual relationships with thecompanies on whose boards they serve

and are free from relationships whichcould interfere with their capacity to actin an independent manner.

Good boards will include, at least, oneindependent director with experience inthe company’s core business and, at least,one CEO of a company of similar sizeand stature. The well-governed compa-ny will ensure that, at least, one inde-pendent director with financial oraccounting experience serves on theaudit committee.

Furthermore, interlocking director-ships are discouraged. This would be asituation where, for example, a CEO ofone company sits on the board of anoth-er company and the CEO of that compa-ny sits on the board of the first one.

At the same time, the directors shouldhave a significant stake in the companyand may receive a large proportion oftheir pay in the form of share options.

Companies which practice good cor-porate governance also follow formalprocesses of evaluation of directors andare responsive to investor requests forinformation on governance issues..

The quality of the directors should beabove question. They should not beovercommitted and should attend, atleast, 75 percent of board meetings.Well-governed companies have boardsthat meet, at least, four times a year andan audit committee that meets, at least,three times a year.

One of the challenges that boardsoften face is the question of other direc-torships held by board members. As arule, other directorships should notinterfere with the immediate responsi-bilities of an executive director.Directors should also not sit on theboards of rival companies. Other direc-torships should be limited in number soas to ensure that companies enjoy thefull benefit of their expertise. In Kenya,for example, the limit is five boardappointments. In South Africa, threedirectors hold six directorships each andanother five directors hold five director-ships each. Elsewhere it is suggested thatfully employed directors should not siton more than three boards.

As has been indicated above, the com-



32

position of the board is a matter of cru-cial importance. Central to this is thepeople involved and how they wereappointed to the board. Procedures forboard appointments should be formaland transparent. Typically the board as awhole takes responsibility for these pro-cedures though they might sometimesuse a nomination committee.

As in any organisation, continuity ofmembership is very important for aboard. For this reason staggered rotationis recommended and incoming directorsmust receive adequate formal orienta-tion. At the same time, incompetent andunsuitable directors should be removed.

The personalities and styles of thechairperson of the board and the CEOwill also affect the functioning of theboard. The dominance of either canhave a detrimental effect on the abilityof the board to execute its functions. Thequestion of the balance of power andauthority is therefore an important oneto resolve. Caution should be taken toavoid an individual or bloc from domi-nating the board’s decision-making.

The relationship between the boardand management is an important oneand one that will often be tested.Ultimately it is the board that choosesthe CEO. Its responsibility does not endthere though. The board:• Delegates to the CEO the responsibil-

ity for running the company;• Seeks to understand and approves the

CEO’s strategies and plans; • Monitors the execution of plans and

evaluates results; and• Decides when and how it should

intervene.Through all its actions the board mustfind the balance between being activeand interfering. It is incumbent on theboard to intervene:• Based on past events, i.e., unsatisfacto-

ry results;• Based on views of the future; and• Loss of confidence in the CEO;• It is important for the board to remain

independent. The independence ofthe board is tested through;

• The administration of the CEO andexecutive performance appraisals and

compensation;• The willingness to question and — if

necessary — overrule managementrecommendation; and

• The effectiveness of the auditingfunction.

Generally speaking, boards can fail intheir duties in a number of ways. Theseinclude:• Conspiring in or tolerating legal viola-

tions;• Presiding over poor results which

earn the dissatisfaction of sharehold-ers;

• Lack of leadership, which couldinclude dominance by the CEO;

• Political or personality conflicts; and• Ineffective board organisation and

processes.It should be pointed out that many ofthe principles applicable to businesscompanies can also be translated to con-stitutional institutions and the publicsector as a whole. While there are somedifferences, the division of roles betweenthe executive authority and accountingofficer is broadly comparable to those ofa board of directors and a CEO.

The relationship is more complexthough and requires hard work on thepart of all public sector entities to ensurethe successful implementation of goodcorporate governance practices. In thecase, of some constitutional institutions,for example, commissioners areappointed by parliament. These com-missioners are not executive officers.Their role and functions are also notlimited to those of a board of directors ofa private company. It therefore requiresgreat dedication from the commission-ers and the CEO to define roles whichwill work best, bearing in mind therequirements of the PFMA and thebroader principles of good governance.

In addition, the roles of commission-ers appointed to constitutional institu-tions are bound to be subject to sometension. While appointed and held toaccount by parliament they are alsoexpected to oversee and monitor theexecutive functions of the state. Theyalso have the duty to ensure that the rul-ing party does not benefit unfairly from

being in office. In summary, the requirement for

good corporate governance in the publicsector — and of constitutional institu-tions, in particular - is more demandingand of a very intricate nature.

Independent auditors

The independence of auditors is crucialto good corporate governance.Questions about the independence ofauditors arise especially when there is along close association with the companyby key partners and staff of the auditfirm or when partners and staff of theaudit firm have equity holdings in thecompany.

In addition, the use of the non-auditservice of the auditing firm can poseserious risks. Such inappropriate assign-ments could include appointment to thedual functions of internal and externalauditors; major consulting engagementsfor the design or implementation ofimportant information systems; orassignments to act as legal representa-tives. The PFMA, in addition, requiresthe establishment of audit committees ofwhich the majority of the membershipmust be external.

Disclosure of non-financialinformation

Increasingly good corporate governancepractices are being seen in the broadercontext to include non-financial matters.Such matters include the role that com-panies play in society, e.g., investment inhuman and intellectual capital.

Effective framework for economicactivities

There is a strong framework in place toensure good corporate governance inSouth Africa. Recently though, MervinKing warned against a “tick-boxapproach” to governance by someboards. Even boards which adhere to allthe guidelines can still fail as was thecase with Enron in the USA.

It is therefore the quality and morali-



33

ty of the individuals on a board and inthe company that play an instrumentalrole in ensuring good governance prac-tices. What might be important to con-sider here is the professional develop-ment of individuals to take up positionsas directors, company secretaries andinternal auditors.

In particular, it has been noted thatthere is a shortage of truly independentnon-executive directors in South Africa.As a result of higher levels of compli-ance required from boards, individualsare less likely to risk financial harm or tocompromise their reputations by servingon boards. In addition, as companiesbegin to restrict outside board service forexecutive directors, the pool of talentedindependent directors will shrink.

There seems to be a lack of adequateattention to the induction and trainingof directors. This gap also exists in somepublic sector institutions. The need todevelop and keep in supply a cohort ofindependent directors is thereforeimperative. This is especially true incases where directors are required tohave specialist knowledge such as thosewho serve on the audit committee of aboard.

Good corporate citizens.

The issues on the transformation agendaare complex and varied. They includeemployment equity, skills development,diversity management, BEE, and corpo-rate social investment. The increasingemphasis in this area is warranted. Inparticular greater attention should bepaid to the issues of gender equality andcorporate social responsibility. Theimportance of this is the need to ensurethat companies do not only respond totheir direct investors but also to thebroader society in which they operateand that they contribute to social devel-opment. This serves the interests ofcompanies in that it promotes greaterstability and breaks down the divisionswhich led to conflict under the previouspolitical dispensation.

The transformation agenda is there-fore truly the next level when it comes to

corporate governance. Space forimprovement exists. The release last yearof the first of the BEE Codes of GoodPractice is therefore an important step tofill the gap.

Business ethics

The King Report (2002) favours anincrease in shareholder activism thoughit is conceded that remedies available toaggrieved shareholders are limited.Criminal action is possible in only somecases and civil action is rare because of

the costs of litigation. One of the preven-tive remedies that the state can imple-ment is a register of delinquent direc-tors.

Fair treatment

As suggested above, shareholderactivism levels are not very high inSouth Africa. Shareholder activismbrings its own set of challenges especial-ly as they might relate to labour relationsand full disclosure and if they are linkedto shareholder dissatisfaction with inter-nal matters of the board such as boardentrenchment or overcommitted direc-tors who hold multiple directorships.

Accountable corporations

The concept of a unitary board — con-sisting of both executive and non-execu-tive directors — is the favoured boardstructure in South Africa. The applica-tion of this principle should also beextended more widely into the publicsector to ensure that boards or equiva-lent governing structures are composedof a healthy mix of people from in- andoutside the sector.

However, there is a need to strength-en mechanisms to ensure effective mon-itoring of the actions of directors. Theeffective monitoring of directors andofficers is a complex issue. For example,board members of LeisureNet incurredan R18.5 million fine as a result of actingon incorrect information which was fedto them by the chief executives of thecompany. At the heart of all of this is theneed for governing structures to engagein intense periodic self-evaluations. Thisshould be made applicable to the boardas a whole as well as to individual boardmembers.

Conclusion

There can be little doubt that SouthAfrica has stringent requirements towhich both private companies and pub-lic sector enterprises must adhere if theyare to claim to be successful imple-menters of good corporate governancepractices. The present dispensation is infact a tougher regime than what pre-vailed prior to 1994.

Various challenges remain though ascan be seen by some high-profile corrup-tion cases. In addition, negative publicperceptions seem to linger and are rein-forced by tools such as the TransparencyInternational Corruption Perceptionsindex.

The hard work that remains is totranslate the various codes of good prac-tice into action. To this end we have todevelop the necessary human capitalthat will not only populate the gover-nance structures but will also continueto strengthen the good framework thatis in place. •

It has been noted thatthere is a shortage oftruly independent non-executive directors in

South Africa. As aresult of higher levels

of compliancerequired from boards,

individuals are lesslikely to risk financial

harm or tocompromise their

reputations by servingon boards



34 T he Auditor-General (AG) supportsconstitutional democracy by audit-ing and reporting on the accounts,

financial statements and the financialmanagement of all national and provin-cial state departments, municipalitiesand any other institution or entityrequired by national or provincial legis-lation to be audited by the AG. Auditingcomprises various aspects, such as regu-larity auditing, performance auditing,special investigations and performanceof agreed upon procedures.

Regularity auditing comprises finan-cial auditing and compliance with lawsand regulations and currently the AGallocates the majority of its resources ondoing regularity audits. This means thatthe AG focuses most of its resourcestowards ensuring that the money spentis on the intended purpose, and not gen-erally in relation to the effectiveness andperformance of an entity. As entitiesdevelop and financial controls improveand mature, the intention is to shiftfocus towards auditing the effectiveness,efficiency and the economy of the publicsector.

Performance auditing is still at itsinfancy world-wide and research isunderway to improve it. The AG’sintention is to increase the focus on per-formance auditing. For the 2006/07financial year the AG budgeted 7 per-cent of its resources on auditing per-formance information. However, theeffectiveness of performance auditingcan only be achieved if the entity hasimplemented effective internal controlsystems and is able to produce informa-tion that is correct, accurate and reliable.Only then can an entity really succeed insetting pre-determined performancemeasures and monitor their achieve-ment successfully.

The AG’s activities are governed bythe Public Audit Act which replaced theAuditor-General Act and the AuditArrangements Act on 1 April 2004. Themain purpose of the Public Audits Act isto allow the AG greater authority inperforming the audits, increased deci-sion power over the auditing of publicentities and clarity on the type of auditservices that could be provided. The AGis also governed by the Public Finance

Auditing for thePeer Review Process

Simphiwe Cele outlines

the view of the Auditor-

General (AG) on the

assessment of South

Africa’s status on

corporate governance

in the context of the

African Peer Review

Mechanism (APRM).



35Management Act (PFMA) and theMunicipal Finance Management Act(MFMA).

The PFMA and the MFMA set spe-cific deadlines for the AG within whichall audits have to be finalised. Obviously,finalising the audits in time depends onreceiving accurate and complete finan-cial records, supported by adequateaudit evidence. Experience has shownthat evidence supporting the financialstatements is not in all cases adequateand could in some cases strictly beregarded as financial misconduct on thepart of the relevant Accounting Officersin terms of legislation.

The credibility of the AG depends toa large extent on the independence frommanagement of the entity on whosefinancial statements are examined. Itsindependence is entrenched in theConstitution, and it is also recognised inthe code of professional conduct of theauditing profession. However, regard-less of the fact that the AG’s independ-ence is entrenched in the Constitution,we are constantly striving to manage ourindependence and not to be perceived as

not to be independent. I have indicated that specific questions

have been asked as part of the AfricanPeer Review Mechanism (APRM) self-assessment process. The first questionrelates to how are we doing as a countryin meeting the five broad objectives thatwere adopted by the Heads of State andHeads of Government to guide corpo-rate governance reform in the conti-nent? The objectives in question are thefollowing: • Promoting an enabling environment

and effective regulatory frameworkfor economic activities;

• Ensuring that corporations act asgood corporate citizens with regard tohuman rights, social responsibilityand environmental sustainability;

• Promoting adoption of codes of goodbusiness ethics in achieving the objec-tives of the corporation;

• Ensuring that corporations treat alltheir stakeholders including share-holders, employees, communities andsuppliers fairly;

• Providing for accountability of corpo-rations, directors and officers;

The second question asks, how are wedoing as a country in adopting theStandards and Codes adopted by theHeads of State and Government as sug-gestive guides for corporate governmentreform in the continent? The Standardsand Codes in question are the following:• NEPAD Framework Document

(2001);• Principles of Corporate Governance

(OECD and Commonwealth);• International Accounting Standards;• International Standards on Auditing;• Core principles of Effective Banking

Supervision;• Core principles of Securities and

Insurance Supervision and Regu-lations;

• African Charter on Human andPeoples’ Rights; and

• Labour Codes of the InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO).

The last question is about the extent towhich these standards and codes (whichare universal codes governing corporatebehaviour) have been developed, imple-mented and enforced in our country?

As can be seen these questions arequite broad and cover a variety of areasthat can only be answered with exten-sive research on a variety of disciplinesboth in the public and private sector.The AG cannot be expected to talk withauthority on all questions raised by thequestionnaire other than public sectorauditing and related areas. Therefore, inattempting to answer the questions theAG is guided by the mandate and rolethe institution plays in the public sector,work that has been done to fulfil suchmandate and the resulting findingsbased on the work done.

Self-assessment

Based on the summary above, it is there-fore necessary to re-phrase the questionin such a manner that they address onlythose areas that the AG can talk to withauthority and can support based on thework conducted. The questions statedabove are therefore re-phrased to specif-ically deal with corporate governance inthe public sector as follows:



36

• How is the South African public sec-tor doing in meeting the five broadobjectives that were adopted by theHeads of State and Government toguide corporate governance reform inthe continent?

• How is the South African public sec-tor doing in adopting the standardsand codes adopted by the Heads ofState and Government as suggestiveguides for corporate governmentreform in the continent?

• To what extent have these standardsand codes (which are universal codesgoverning corporate behaviour) beendeveloped, implemented andenforced in the South African publicsector?

In this next section, I discuss the AG’sresponses to the objectives and standardsand codes contained in the question-naire respectively.

Enabling environment

In this area, the public sector is general-ly doing quite well. There are mainlytwo pieces of legislation that are key andfundamental instruments of corporategovernance — the Public FinanceManagement Act (PFMA) or theMunicipal Finance Management Act(MFMA). The majority of governmententities are governed by these pieces oflegislation. The PFMA and MFMA arehighly regarded world-wide and incor-porate many good practices. There areother pieces of legislation and regula-tions to support the PFMA and theMFMA. For example, TreasuryRegulations are issued in terms of thePFMA and provide for more detail onthe financial management of depart-ments and public entities, while theMunicipal Systems Act and theMunicipal Structures Act provides foradditional aspects to the MFMA.

Public Sector entities such as depart-ments, constitutional institutions andlisted public entities are subject to therequirements of the PFMA of 1999,which came into effect on 1 April 2000.A significant portion of the PFMA dealswith the establishment and functioning

of the National Treasury and the prepa-ration of budgets. The general princi-ples of the PFMA deal at some lengthwith accounting and reporting issuesand are based on its objectives being to‘secure transparency, accountability,sound management of the revenueexpenditure, assets and liabilities of enti-ties to which it applies. PFMA providesfor the establishment of an AccountingStandards Board which has the respon-sibility of setting standards of generallyrecognised accounting practice (GRAP)for the financial statements of statedepartments, public entities; constitu-tional institutions, municipalities andboards, commissions, companies andcorporations.

Corporate governance protocol

The Department of Public Enterpriseshas issued a document, Governance inthe Public Sector, which sets out theprinciples to be applied by NationalPublic Entities as defined in the PFMA.The protocol is applicable to entities list-ed in Schedules 2 and 3 (B) and (D) tothe PFMA, as well as unlisted publicentities that are subsidiaries of the pub-lic entity, whether listed or not. Thereporting requirements of the protocolgo beyond those of the PFMA. The pro-tocol sets challenging standards of cor-porate conduct, which are considerablymore stringent than those for privatesector companies.

Good corporate citizens

The AG has undertaken limited workin this area. Auditing of aspects such ashuman rights, social responsibility andenvironmental sustainability is difficultsince it borders on the auditing of per-formance information. For this to effec-tively take place requires two things.Firstly, that financial management andsystems need to be at a level where theyproduce credible and reliable informa-tion. Secondly, performance measuresagainst which performance will bemeasured must be set upfront. Based onthe general outcomes of our audits, we

do think that the public sector has a fewchallenges in this regard. We do howev-er acknowledge that government isdoing some work to develop the neces-sary framework to assist with measuringperformance information.

Business ethics

The main tool that the public sector usesto measure this is the extent to whichcompanies comply with the recommen-dations of the King Report on CorporateGovernance. The King Report also cov-ers public sector enterprises and agen-cies that fall under the PFMA and theMFMA, including any department ofState or administration in the national,provincial or local sphere of govern-ment. Albeit only a guide, the KingReport contains specific examples andgood practices to promote good businessethics.

It is also quite important to note howsome of the key recommendations of theKing Report also feature on the mainlegislation covering the public sector.The establishment of Audit Commit-tees, the Internal Audit Function, andRisk Management are some of the keytools of Corporate Governance that thepublic sector has adopted.

Fair treatment of all stakeholders

Our assessment of this particular objec-tive varies depending on the context andstakeholder concerned. In the context ofregularity audits, most of the work donehere focuses on the testing of compliancewith the law. An example of this is pay-ment of suppliers. From a supplier’spoint of view, late payment by govern-ment for services rendered might simplybe regarded as unfair and detrimental tobusiness from a cash flow point of view,particularly for small business. But froma compliance point of view, the PFMAsays the accounting officer must ensurethat all contractual obligations are set-tled within “the prescribed or agreedperiod”. In fact, in terms of the TreasuryRegulations creditors should be paidwithin 30 days. This is not always



37

adhered to by government departmentsand from the point of view of corporategovernance, this is not only bad, butagainst the law and exposes governmentto potential litigation by aggrieved par-ties.

Over the past few years the AG hasissued general reports on audit outcomesfor national departments, provincialdepartments, public entities and munic-ipalities. In these reports key areas havebeen identified which need attention toensure that the public sector deliver onits mandate. Whilst the issues identifiedhave been a result of the general auditmandate that the AG carries and havenot been specifically conducted toanswer the question raised on the objec-tive directly, we do think that otherfindings contained in the reports can beuseful in assessing the extent to whichgovernment acts fairly towards its stake-holders in the context of financial man-agement. The main areas where entitiescontinually have weaknesses are assetmanagement, internal audit and auditcommittees, procurement, personnelexpenditure and information and com-munication systems.

Accountable corporations anddirectors

In the case of the public sector, thisobjective should be read as the state,government and government officials.In the context of what the AG does,accountability is at the core of its exis-tence. The AG exists to facilitateaccountability of all tiers of governmentand public entities.

There are various accountabilitymechanisms in place to ensure that thepublic sector in general is accountable,particularly in regard to use of financialresources. The first mechanism is prepa-ration of a strategic plan and budgetwhich are debated publicly andapproved in parliament. Legislation likethe PFMA and MFMA also exist main-ly to facilitate accountability. Thesepieces of legislation provide for specificdeadlines, which ensure that the finan-cial statements are submitted timeously

to the AG for auditing. The AG is alsogiven specific time scales to “audit andreport” on the financial statementswhich should be tabled to parliamentwithin a specified time frame.

The implementation of internal auditand audit committees are other mecha-nisms aimed at improving accountabili-ty. However, the AG’s concern over thepast few years has been that these mech-anisms have not yet been fully function-al and not as effective as intended. Thismay be due to a lack of resources such asfinancial support, skills and staff. Basedon the audit report and findings con-tained, the Standing Committee ofPublic Accounts (SCOPA) will prioritisehearings for departments and in somecases public entities.

The AG participates in SCOPA com-mittee meetings, where it scrutinises thefinancial affairs of a specific entity. Theaccounting officer is required to answerspecific questions and provide reasonsand explanations for specific shortcom-ings at his or her department. A keydocument during this process is theAG’s audit report since it providesSCOPA with the basis from which todetermine questions to be asked partic-ularly regarding the shortcomings iden-tified. SCOPA meetings are in fact pro-viding another key platform foraccountability by government to thelegislature. There are similar commit-tees at provincial level, referred to asProvincial Public Account Committees.I might also add that Section 129 of theMFMA provides for the establishmentand functioning of public accounts oroversight committees. This is anotherimportant mechanism, aimed atimproving accountability at local gov-ernment level.

Standards and codes

In the field of accounting and auditingspecifically, South Africa has done verywell to ensure that international stan-dards and codes are adopted, imple-mented and enforced. The SouthAfrican Accounting Standards havebeen substantially harmonised with the

International Financial ReportingStandards (IFRS). Companies havebegun implementing the IFRS stan-dards.

For the public sector, the AG has alsoadopted the South African AuditingStandards and is also in the phase ofadjusting to the international standards.

Public sector

In the public sector, there are variousaccounting standards that have beenadopted. For example departments use amodified cash-basis of accounting,referred to as Generally RecognisedAccounting Practice (GRAP); publicentities prepare financial statementsusing the GAAP which is based on theInternational Financial ReportingStandards, while municipalities preparefinancial statements on either Institutefor Municipal Finance Officers (IMFO),Generally Accepted MunicipalAccounting Practice (GAMAP) orGRAP.

There are specific challenges thatresult from the use of different stan-dards by the various entities particularlywhen it comes to the preparation of con-solidated financial statements. The AG,National Treasury and the AccountingStandards Board have over the pastnumber of years been working togetherto research and improve the accountingstandards used in the public sector. TheAG participated in this process toimprove accountability, although certainmeasures were implemented to main-tain our independence.

Conclusion

As can be seen from our assessmentabove, the South African public sectorhas come a long way in the journey ofcontinuously improving corporate gov-ernance and accountability. We considerthis as a journey. Some areas need moreattention than others. As the AG wewill continue to play our part to ensurethat Corporate Governance, accounta-bility and transparency are improved inthe public sector. •



38T he views contained in this presen-

tation are drawn from my personalexperiences on how those of us in

the non-governmental organisations(NGOs) and the civil society sector areimpacted upon at a micro-level by gov-ernment and private sector policies.

I make my comments as well by tak-ing encouragement from comments byProfessor Shadrack Gutto who said thatthe self-assessment prompted by theAfrican Peer Review Mechanism(APRM) process should, at best, leave usas South Africans transformed. In otherwords, it should usher in a beginningfrom which we could do things in a bet-ter way or a little differently.

He also said the APRM is not justabout government and the private sec-tors. It invites all organs of society toreview or self-assess their respective per-formances over the past 11 years and, onthe basis of their findings, begin to dothings differently towards achievingSouth African, continental and interna-tional developmental goals.

The socio-development section of theAPRM is intended to highlight effortsand progress made in designing appro-priate policies and delivery mechanismsin key social development areas and topropose a programme of action. In my

experience, there have been seriousshortcomings in the design of pro-poorpolicies as well as the design mecha-nisms in several key areas that rangefrom finance, housing and water deliv-ery.

Through processes leading to theReconstruction and DevelopmentProgramme (RDP), South Africa pro-duced clearly articulated pro-poor pro-grammes which inspired many of us incivil society to design and begin pro-grammes that would assist our govern-ment to reach out to the poorest sectorsof our community with a variety ofdevelopment services. We expected todo this in partnership with governmentin terms of policies, regulation andfunding. The expectation from govern-ment, which had such a strong commit-ment to poverty alleviation, included apro-poor regulatory environment thatwould promote the development ofcommunity-based organizations andNGOs

It is widely accepted that while NGOsmay not have the same reach as govern-ment, they have the ability to reach iso-lated communities more speedily andcan be innovative in designing pro-grammes that are responsive to localneeds. Government responses are

Zanele Mbeki provides a

critique of governments

pro-poor (or lack there of)

policies in her capacity as

a civil society activist

A Tale ofTwo Nations



39

understandably slow as a result ofprocesses of regulation, legislation andbudgeting, which take time. In manyinstances when NGOs have shown whatcan be done, government is able to thentake over the spreading out of pro-grammes because NGOs cannot beresponsible for social services. NGOs area support system.

There was also an expectation thatinstitutions or agencies would be createdto serve exclusively the needs of the poorand even boost traditional survival insti-tutions, such as stokvels, that promotedself-reliance and social cohesion.

It was also hoped that developmentalcolleges would sprout throughout thecountry and that they would produceagricultural extension workers, commu-nity development workers and artisans,amongst other.

Appropriate skills training andhuman resources management are per-haps even more critical currently due tothe fact that the new governmentdenuded the NGO sector of practicallyall its leadership and operational skills.Very little was done to replace this layerof civil society workers among the peo-ple. This was also probably as a result oflack of clarity in terms of the role of civilsociety organization in a post-ApartheidSouth Africa. We expected a resourcebase far beyond the welfare grants but aspecific developmental fund because wewere creating a developmental state andnot a welfare state.

Poor people are regarded by tradition-al economists as consequences of a mar-ket failure, which implies that they areunder-resourced. We expected all thesethings but many of them did not hap-pen. I think it is because government atthe time recognised that South Africawas a two-nation society, with one sectorwealthy, and mainly white and male,and the other one poor, mainly black,and female.

It took much longer for governmentto recognize and admit that these twoare products of two economies, onehighly developed and resourced andsupported by appropriate institutionsand a legal framework, while the other,

was poorly developed with no support-ing institutions and legal infrastructure.In a universalist policy approach thatgovernment took, there was an under-standing that there are two nations oper-ating within one economy. It was nevera question of first and second economy.

The two sectors, or nations, areexpected to operate within one economyand regulatory frameworks, perhapswith variations and exemptions hereand there to accommodate members ofthe second economy.

The universalist policy approach,however, does not adequately make pro-

visions for the needs of specific pro-grammes that are run by the poor. Forinstance, many women’s groups that weworked with had no residential addressor post-boxes which they are required tohave these when they open bankaccounts as per Financial IntelligenceCentre Act (FICA) requirements. Thisis because the universalist approach doesnot ring-fence the needs and pro-grammes of the poor and as a resultmarginalises them, which is why inter-ventions that are aimed at the poor, forexample micro-lending, end up beingdominated by the very established banks

that are often prejudicial to the needs ofthe poor.

Services for the poor have to be target-ed. We need to ring-fence beneficiariesby identifying who the poor are, so thatwe can be able to properly target them.Any programme that is open to the poor,the not-so-poor and the wealthy willexclude the poor because the others rushin faster than the poor. A case in point isthe issue of micro-finance which was soopen to the extent that it unwittinglyexcluded the pro-poor micro-lendinggroupings. This was the reason why wefought for five years for a different fundthat was eventually approved.

What also needs to be looked at aswell in terms of the programme ofaction is the recognition of the skills ofthe poor. A lot has been said about thelack of capacity and skills in the secondeconomy. However the fact of the mat-ter is that there are skills that are notrecognised.

The credit bill, for example, excludesthe poorest as it requires people to haveassets as a pre-requisite to access to cred-it. The opposite applies in the pro-poormicro-lending sector - we provide cred-it to the poorest and asset-less on thebasis of the fact that they do have someskills for self or community develop-ment.

In conclusion, I want to comment onSouth Africa’s rising Welfare Bill, whichis one of the best on the continent, sur-passed only by Egypt, Libya andTunisia. However we should watch thatgovernment is not putting itself in dan-ger - what happens in a situation wheregovernment is unable to provide theseservices as a result of an economic crisis?

Another issue that has to be noted byway of conclusion is the whole notion ofmainstreaming of women’s issues thathas had the consequences of removingresources. We often say that women arethe poorest, that they need the mostaffirmative action and yet (when itcomes to the implementation of affirma-tive action policies) we mainstreamissues that affect them by not puttingdedicated funding for women empow-erment. •

There have beenserious

shortcomings inthe design of pro-poor policies as

well as the designmechanisms in

several key areasthat range fromfinance, housing

and waterdelivery


R e s e a r c h C o l l o q u i u m S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

40

Richard Levin, the Director-

General of DPSA, says that

research in the public

service should be

considered from a creative,

dynamic perspective that is

not traditionally defined.

W hen compared to academicresearch, public serviceresearch is often theoretically

weak. It often lacks rigour in its choiceand use of methods. It is also very incon-sistent in terms of quality. I thereforepropose that public service researchshould selectively adopt certain academ-ic practices. These practices couldinclude protocols for testing innova-tions, making use of peer reviews, usingstandard proposal and report formatsand ensuring sources are acknowledged.

Public service research is close toaction research (AR) in that it also drawson a multidisciplinary and customisedapproach. However, it usually does nothave the sensitivity to processes thatcharacterize action research. It also doesnot have action research’s freedom toexplore and investigate, especially since

its outcomes are often predefined.In practice most public service

research is seen as a separate activitydivorced from programme manage-ment. This is mainly because it is mostlydriven by short-term priorities and con-ceptualised without theoretical founda-tions. As a result, it is usually outsourcedto service providers. This often happenswithout attempts to build internalcapacity to lead or even participate insuch research. However, most worryingis that research findings are often notdisseminated and thus inaccessible.

Research for implementation

Research needs to be seen as somethingdone by everyone involved in pro-grammes. This is because research isimportant for planning since it should

A SystemicSearch for

Knowledge


R e s e a r c h C o l l o q u i u mS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

41

provide the knowledge base on whichoperations function. Clear knowledgerequirements and standards for plan-ning would improve the quality of pro-gramme and implementation plans andwould ensure they are realistic andachievable.

It should be noted that implementa-tion often falters because reality does notmatch expectations. This is the case alsobecause assumptions turn out to beinvalid. This is where research is moreuseful. It should support implementa-tion and provide implementers with anongoing reality check. This should com-pel them to adjust activities as required.Research in this instance is therefore,often simply making reflective use ofthoughtful reports.

I must say that monitoring and evalu-ation (M&E) is often unjustifiably mysti-fied and treated as an add-on in the areaof public service research. Practical, use-ful M&E is another form of research thatshould give policy planners and coalfaceimplementers useful information. Itneeds to be part of the everyday man-agement cycle and integrated into it on apractical basis.

Knowledge management (KM) is anoverarching approach that could sup-port a public service research strategy. Itentails the systematic and sustained cap-turing of knowledge, including the tacitand implicit, and making it available tothose needing it. Despite often beingseen as an information technology solu-tion, knowledge management is aboutpeople and the organisational set-up inwhich they work.

Public service research strategy

I want to propose the adoption of a for-mal, written public service researchstrategy for widespread adoption bygovernment departments. This strategyshould be based on principles drawnfrom South Africa’s Constitution. Itshould also include perating principlessuch as accessibility, accountability,ethics and communication.

The overall strategic approach shouldbe based on an open framework without

barriers to entry and should be based oncooperative partnerships with otherstakeholders. Its key elements should bedefining procedures and standards andensuring findings are shared and takeninto account. This strategy, I may alsoadd, should not involve new structures,but should use existing bodies and makecreative use of information communica-tions technology.

The strategy needs to speak directly tothe needs of its role-players. To makesure this is the case it must be based onthorough research that identifies stake-holders’ needs and their preferred solu-tions. Like any strategy, it needs aguardian or champion. We need to

think about who could play this essentialrole. A body with research as its corebusiness might be the ideal for this func-tion.

The research strategy shouldunequivocally aim to foster and promoteexcellence in public service research. Anequally important goal should be build-ing internal research capacity. In itsearly days the research strategy shouldguide and assist research practitionerson procedural and similar issues. Itshould also assist in providing a mecha-nism to share and learn from experi-ences.

Weak methodologies

Public service research is characterised byan inadequate analysis of methodologiesand the choice of research tools. Survey’squestionnaires and review formats areoften structured without due reference tooriginal plans and objectives. Researchtools developed by others outside thepublic service are used. This makes everystudy conducted within the public servicea baseline instead of updating existingdata. Longitudinal perspectives areimpossible in this strategy.

The notorious and unproductive ‘self-completed questionnaire’ is over-used inpublic service research. Many studiesconducted by the public service are inac-curate because information submittedby research subjects is rarely verified.Linked to this, is that less imposing tech-niques such as self and peer assessmentsare underused. This suggests a lack ofregard for those researched. Further-more, findings are often not shared withresearch subjects, which creates a formof ‘knowledge imperialism’.

One of the results of a public servicestrategy should be that researchersdevelop an awareness of their method-ological options and choices. The strate-gy should also encourage methodologi-cal triangulation wherever possible.Moreover, it should encourage stream-lined and integrated research to over-come the sense of being under constantscrutiny felt in many institutions. Thereis also a need to record experiences sothat good practices can be identified andpromoted. This will have the effect ofimproving the methodological practicesused in public service research. This isknowledge management in practice andis essential for excellence.

In conclusion, I want to point out thatbuilding learning organisations in thepublic service is the real challenge.Meeting this challenge will take a longterm, incremental approach.

This will mean putting structures andsystems in place and building capability.It also requires that organisational cul-ture and the built environment be takeninto account. •

Knowledge

management

(KM) is an

overarching

approach that

could support a

public service

research strategy



42

Dr Lilian Dudley of the Health

Systems Trust gives a brief tour

of the findings the 2005 South

African Health Review (SAHR),

including the increased

demands made by the HIV/Aids

pandemic on the country’s

healthcare system.

L et me begin by providing a few def-initions that are critical in theassessment of capacity challenges

facing the health sector. One of the keyconcepts in this area, is the humanresources for health (HRH), whichrefers to persons engaged in any capaci-ty in the production and delivery ofhealth services. These persons may bepaid or volunteers, with or without for-mal training for their functions, and inthe public or private sector. Humanresources for health encompass “all indi-viduals engaged in the promotion, pro-tection, or improvement of the popula-tions health, including clinical and non-clinical workers”.

The second key concept is humanresources development (HRD), which

encompasses the planning, production,and management of health personnel.

Key in the area of policy framework,is the National Health Act, 2003. TheAct establishes the National HealthCouncil to develop “policy and guide-lines for, and to monitor the provision,distribution, development, managementand utilization of human resources inthe national health system”.

It also provides grounds for the devel-opment of human resources planningthat is required by provinces and dis-tricts to deal with capacity challengesfacing the sector. In August 2005 the pil-lars of the HRH plan were proposed.These were mainly the human resourcespolicy and planning; human resourceproduction; HR information system;

The State ofSouth Africa’sHealth System



43

HRH research; monitoring and evalua-tion and HRH management or leader-ship (capacity development).

In July 2004 the global crisis in HRHwas acknowledged. This crisis wascaused by a range of factors, the majorone being the destructive impact of HIVand Aids on human resources.

However, there are other factors thathave contributed significantly to the cri-sis. These include the skills shortages,maldistribution of HRH and migration.Others are the chronic underinvestmentin HRH, poor work environments and aweak knowledge base on HRH.

In response to the crisis, a fivepronged strategic approach was pro-posed. It involved, firstly, engaging allstakeholders on matters of HRH devel-

opment. Secondly, it involved planninghuman investments. It enforced theacknowledgement of the developmentof human resources as critical invest-ment. Thirdly, the strategic approachproposed the careful management ofperformance. Fourthly, it proposed thedevelopment of enabling policies. Lastly,it encouraged learning for the improve-ment of HRH.

The Health Systems Trust (HST)commissions and conducts research insupport of strengthening health systems,including human resource aspects. Aspart of this, the HST has since 1995 pro-duced the South African Health Review(SAHR), an accredited journal is peerreviewed by internal and internationalexperts as well as the National and

Provincial Departments of Health.The main users of the SAHR are

mainly National, Provincial and Districtdepartments of health, municipalitiesand parliamentarians. Academic institu-tions, non-governmental organizations,the corporate sector, the internationalcommunity including foreign missionsalso use the SAHR. It is often accessedthrough the web (www.hst.org.za)

Ratio of health worker topatients

In 2005 the review’s theme was focusedon human resources. There are severalkey HRH issues raised in the SAHR2005 volume. It provided the interna-tional context of the HRH and outlined



44

national strategic priorities for the peri-od between 2004 and 2005.

The review also engaged with humanresource policies. The nursing profes-sion, mid-level workers, communityhealth workers and HRH at district hos-pitals are also dealt with.

The international context as it isimportant in local HRH thinking anddevelopment. It is worth noting thatSouth Africa has the lowest ratio ofhealth workers to population. Adding tothese are three factors identified asmajor deficiencies of HRD. Theseinclude the lack of planning and poormanagement, which result in low staffmorale and poor performance.

The 2005 review took place againstthe backdrop of South Africa as devel-opmental state. It drew a balanced pic-ture of the achievements in areas such asthe reduction of smoking, the HealthAct and less success in other areas suchas HRH, TB, and cervical cancerscreening. The HRH was seen as a crit-ical constraint to the achievement ofother targets.

A few recommendations were madeas part of the HRH plan. Firstly, it wassuggested that politicians and managerscommunicate a vision or mission thatresonated with the front line healthworkers. This should be followed byclear operational strategies.

Secondly, there was a call for a pro-gramme of action that is developed withthe front line workers and one that cap-tures their imagination.

Thirdly, the review called for theimplementation of an effective gover-nance and management system. Lastly,it recommended the mobilization of acritical mass of skilled and motivatedhealth managers and workers.

The 2005 review concluded that whilethe Health Act was a positive and a bigstep towards the improvement of capac-ity in the health sector, there remainedchallenges facing the sector. Theseincluded the provision of clarity ofassignments or delegation to local gov-ernments and the building of coopera-tive governance.

Other challenges were the provisionof guidelines on how the functioning ofthe district health team, the issue ofdemotivated health workers, and HRmanagement.

The review also found that rural areasfaced the most shortages of skills withinthe health sector. It recommended moreprimary health care nurses and a stan-dardized definition of what is a ruralarea.

Looking at the figures

It also called for appropriate trainingand support for hospital managers andthe striking of a balance between finan-cial management and service care andquality. The recruitment and retentionof professional staff (especially nursesand doctors) needed a private sectorapproach.

During the period 1996-2004, thenumber of nurses increased at a rateslower than that of the populationgrowth. Making matters worse was thatat the same time demand for nurses rosesignificantly because of the effects ofHIV/Aids and migration.

It should be noted that the productionof professional nurses declined from2682 (1997) to 1553 (2003). Universitiesmake the smallest contribution to thetraining of nurses. All universitiestogether have total graduation of 400 perannum. For example, 3 universities inWestern Cape produce 50 nurses perannum. Nursing colleges produce morethan 80 percent of all professional nurs-es. In addition, more than 40 percent ofall professional nurses are produced viabridging courses.

The number of enrolled nurseincreased in 2005, albeit off a low base.The private sector is now producingmore nurses per annum than public sec-tor nursing colleges. Private sector insti-tutions in KwaZulu-Natal produceabout 90 per cent of nurses. Public sectortraining is also not equitably spread, forexample, the Eastern Cape provinceproduces very few enrolled or employedauxiliary nurses.

ART demands

The conditional grant funding of aboutR325 million currently covers 50 000people on anti retroviral treatment(ART). This figure will rise to one mil-lion people by 2009, at a cost of R6.5 bil-lion. The ART programme will alsodemand more health care workers,including 3100 doctors, 2300 nurses, 765social workers, 765 dieticians, and 2000data capturers.

Current spending on primary healthcare (PHC) needs to double to R308 perperson. This means that R13.5 billion isrequired for the PHC. If PHC continuesin hospital out-patient departments(OPDs), an extra R4.5 billion isrequired. On top of this, R1.8 billion isneeded for community health workers(CHWs) programmes by 2009 and 2010.

The review found a need for researchon norms, standards, staffing establish-ments and workload. It also called for aninvestigation of the availability and dis-tribution of skills, the impact of retentionstrategies, including special allowances.There was also a need to study healtheducation and training with a particularfocus on funding, the interface betweenthe department of health and the depart-ment of education, and the rethinking ofthe settings of training and the nursingeducation reform.

Research and information were alsonecessary to ensure the continuity of pro-fessional development and career pro-gression. They should also help advanceknowledge and the development of newhealth worker cadres and also to consoli-date the role of community health work-ers. Research should also help to establishstructures and systems for effective HRHplanning and management.

Lastly, research should also assist onimpact assessment of HRH planning. Inconclusion, priority in the developmentof capacity in the health sector shouldfocus on the implementation of effectivepolicies, planning and management ofHRH. This should be informed andsupported by research, reliable informa-tion systems and routine monitoringand evaluation in HRH. •



45

A study by the Department

of Public Service and

Administration finds that

despite the existence of the

interdepartmental fora,

coordination between the

activities or functions of

various departments is

almost non-existent, writes

DPSA researcher,

Glenda Moss.

T he Department of Public Serviceand Administration (DPSA) con-ducted a study into the capacity of

government to implement integrateddevelopmental programmes. Examplesof such programmes include theExpanded Public Works Programme(EPWP), the Breaking New Ground(BNG), the Urban Renewal Programmeand the Integrated Rural DevelopmentProgramme.

Due to resource constraints, the focuswas limited to the relationships betweenthe infrastructure component of theEPWP, which seeks to promote the useof labour intensive methods; and theBNG, which is piloting a new imple-mentation plan in the delivery of hous-ing. These programmes are driven bythe Department of Public Works andthe Department of Housing, respective-ly. In addition, these departments col-laborate with other relevant depart-ments and stakeholders to deliver sus-tainable human settlements.

The central question is whether thedifferent programmes have sufficientcapacity in terms of human and physical

resources and whether there is any coor-dination amongst these programmes.Indeed, our assumption is that coordina-tion is central to the successful imple-mentation of joint programmes.

Qualitative and quantitative methodswere combined into a single approachknown as rapid appraisal. This allowedfor an in-depth exploration and quan-tification of capacity and other relatedconstraints faced by integrated pro-grammes.

Further, capacity was defined broadlyto account for both internal and externalvariables, which impact on the success-ful implementation of joint pro-grammes. Specifically, internal capacityrelates to factors such as the legislativeand policy framework; budgetary allo-cations; human resources, etc. Externalcapacity on the other hand relates to,amongst others, variables such as com-munity participation in government ini-tiatives. This approach represents a shiftfrom the narrow focus on internalcapacity constraints, such as human orfinancial resources.

Poor Coordination ofGovernment Efforts

Hinder Development



46

Human resources

Skills Shortage: Generally, there is ashortage of appropriately qualified peo-ple with technical qualifications or“hard” skills, such as engineering, land-surveying, and other related skills. It hasbeen posited that South Africa currentlydoes not have sufficient engineering andartisan skills to support the large privatecapital as well as governmental infra-structure projects. Apparently this willbecome more critical towards the 2010World Soccer Tournament. The situa-tion is aggravated by the internationaldemand for professionals.

However, there is a view that there isa tendency to overemphasise thedemand for “hard” skills and to over-look the role of “soft” skills. Forinstance, it has been reported that thereare instances where community mem-bers have rejected some developmentinitiatives because of failure by govern-ment to engage effectively with the com-munities it serves. In this context, itwould appear that skills such as facilita-tion, negotiation and mediation play animportant role. As one project managerputs it “... we need a holistic approach ...to understand the human and socialdimensions of our ... interventions”.

Government also appears to relyexcessively on external providersbecause of the shortage of skills in thepublic sector, especially the paucity ofproject management skills.

Recruitment: Various explanationsare often advanced for the apparent fail-ure of government to attract scarce skillsinto the public service. In the main, itwould appear that the wide discrepan-cies between the public and private sec-tor salaries are responsible for govern-ment’s failure to recruit scarce skills.The private sector pays extremely highsalaries for scarce skills, such as engi-neering, while it trails behind withlower salary scales. As one observer putsit “senior engineering posts are adver-tised at Assistant Director’s salary scale... this is far below what the private sec-tor offers to engineers ... but the sameengineers are then contracted at high

costs”. In this regard, questions can beasked about whether there is any thor-ough evaluation of jobs performed bygovernment officials in various capaci-ties.

Employment Conditions: It wouldseem that salary discrepancies are notlimited to the public and private sectors.Indeed, there are salary discrepancieseven within government itself. It hasbeen reported that local authorities paycompetitive remuneration packages, asopposed to other spheres of government.Similarly, salary differences also existbetween government and parastatals.Consequently, there is an outflow ofskills from the central and provinciallevels of government. Thus, it becomesdifficult to transfer staff across differentspheres and organs of government.Clearly, there is a need to harmonise theconditions of employment between dif-ferent spheres and organs of govern-ment.

Staff Retention: Government oftencommits vast resources in terms of time,money and effort trying to develop itshuman resources, in order to improveservice delivery. However, the high staffturnover in the government sector fliesin the face of such efforts. For instance,the vacancy rates in the Western Cape’sDirectorate for Housing Settlement wasestimated at 21 percent as at June 2005.The situation is not limited to thisdepartment only.

Evidently, staff retention is a seriouschallenge to the capacity of governmentto deliver. The problem is further exac-erbated by the lack of flexibility in theadministration of government’s remu-neration policies. Line managers revealthat it is difficult to retain “star” per-formers because they do not have pow-ers to exercise their discretion to increasesalaries and thereby curb the outflow ofskills from the public sector.

Financial resources

Municipalities face specific problemswith regards to the funding of integrat-ed programmes. In particular, pro-grammes such as the EPWP are often

devolved to municipalities without pro-viding the necessary funding. As a resultof such unfunded mandates, it becomesdifficult if not impossible to further theaims and objectives of these pro-grammes. For instance, it has been sug-gested that when housing was devolvedto some municipalities, there was nofunding provided for this function. Butthe municipalities were expected todeliver. Therefore, municipalities havesought to finance the shortfall by bor-rowing from other sources, includingthe private banking sector. This hasreportedly plunged some municipalitiesinto a debt cycle.

As an illustration, the City of CapeTown is required to implement at leastone new project of the same magnitudeas the N2 Gateway each year. Currentlythe cost of this project is estimated atapproximately R2 billion per annum. Inlight of the annual national housingbudget of R4,5 billion, and mediumterm trends, it is clear that the nationaldepartment allocates insufficient fundsfor this project. Thus, the City of CapeTown will be required to source addi-tional funding, most probably throughloans.

Cordination

Vertical IntegrationIt is interesting to note that there are dif-ferences of opinion between national,provincial and local government offi-cials regarding the feasibility of achiev-ing some policy targets. Generally,national government officials are opti-mistic that the targets set in policies suchas the BNG and EPWP are achievable.

Nevertheless, there is acknowledge-ment that policies are often complicatedand difficult to implement. Thus,national officials believe that interpret-ing policies is a challenge, particularlyfor provincial and local governmentofficials. Indeed, provincial and localgovernment officials argue that theyoccasionally overlook policies in order toaccelerate service delivery.

Local government officials contendthat conditions on the ground dictate



47that some policy prescripts are notachievable. For instance, with referenceto the eradication of informal settle-ments by 2014, local government offi-cials believe that there is an increasingtrend by the communities to erect infor-mal housing structures in their back-yards. This occurs despite efforts bygovernment through the BNG to buildsustainable human settlements. Thistrend can be ascribed to the disjuncturebetween the needs of the communitiesand what government can “realistically”afford to provide.

Intergovernmental structures: Anumber of intergovernmental structureshave been established to facilitate inte-gration between different levels andorgans of government. Participation insuch structures usually differs accordingto the ranks of government officials. Forinstance, there are high-level structures

that cater for political heads and seniormanagement. Other similar structureshave been set up to cater for operationallevels. However, most of these structuresare ineffective. As a result, integrationoccurs mainly at the highest levels, whileat lower levels people work in “silos”.

Devolution of functions: There is ageneral consensus that there are seriousservice delivery blockages at the munic-ipalities. As services are devolved, newfunctions are created for municipalities.Yet municipalities report difficulties inaccommodating responsibilities createdin this way within their existing struc-tures. Consequently, functions that havebeen delegated from other spheres ofgovernment are often perceived as “bythe way”. Not surprisingly, there is usu-ally insufficient or no staff dedicated towork on functions that have beendevolved from higher spheres of gov-

ernment. It should be pointed out, however,

that municipalities are willing to take-on additional functions. Moreover, thiswill help to accelerate service delivery.Nevertheless, it is important to ensurethat budgetary allocations increase intandem with additional responsibilitiesassigned to municipalities. In this way,municipalities will be empowered toeffectively deliver services.

Horizontal integration

Interdepartmental Structures: There area number of structures that facilitatecoordination between the activities ofthe different departments. The levels ofcoordination ranges from clusters con-sisting of heads of departments throughto ad hoc structures created by officialsat operational levels.



48

Despite the existence of the interde-partmental fora, coordination betweenthe activities or functions of variousdepartments is almost non-existent.This could be accounted for by, amongstothers, the absence of joint planningbetween the various departments. Thus,the priorities of one department are usu-ally not the priorities of another depart-ment which means that implementationof joint projects becomes the responsibil-ity of the lead departments, with mini-mal support from other departments.Yet, if joint programmes are to succeed,it is important to ensure that there is col-lective ownership of such programmesby all departments. Importantly, thestrategic plans of all departmentsinvolved in the implementation of inte-grated programmes should be aligned.This could perhaps be achieved with theassistance of cluster committees.

Budget Alignment: The absence ofalignment between the budgets of thedepartments that participate in thedelivery of integrated programmes hin-ders effective implementation. Becausethe budgets of the departments responsi-ble for implementing joint programmesare not aligned, it becomes difficult toprovide integrated services to the com-munities. Consequently, there is a lot offragmentation and duplication ofresources, with limited impact on theground. Perhaps cluster committeesshould intervene and ensure joint plan-ning and budgeting of integrated pro-grammes. Such intervention will max-imise the participation and commitmentof all the implementing agents.

Conflicting mandates

There are competing mandates betweenvarious programmes. As an example,there are inconsistencies between theEPWP and the BNG. On the one hand,the BNG seeks to eradicate informal set-tlements by 2014. The EPWP, on theother hand, advocates the use of labourintensive methods in the construction ofhouses.

The use of labour intensive methodsin the construction of houses is certainly

not conducive to achieving the deadlinesfor the eradication of informal settle-ments. Differently put, the achievementof sustainable housing by 2014 requiresthe use of machinery in order to fast-track housing delivery. Evidently, thiscontradicts the principles of the EPWP,which seeks to promote the participa-tion of communities in the constructionsector.

The same goes for small businessdevelopment. There is a tensionbetween the need to empower smallbusinesses and the need to meet thedeadlines set for the eradication of infor-mal settlement. Small businesses arelabour intensive by their nature, andtherefore, have a potential to create jobsas required by the EPWP principles.However, engaging small businesses inthe construction of houses suggests thatjob creation will be achieved at theexpense of accelerated delivery.

In this context, there is a need to berealistic about the scope and extent ofthese policies. For example, withregards to the EPWP, there is a generalconsensus that sectors such as health,education and social development havea potential to create sustainable employ-ment. Hence, more focus should be ondeveloping the capacity of these sectorsto create massive employment opportu-nities, while dealing with the fact thatother sectors such as construction are notlabour intensive.

Recommendations

It should be stated that currently thecapacity to deliver through integratedprogrammes lies outside government.This is confirmed by the high and sus-tained employment of external consult-ants. However, there is a view that thismodel is not sustainable, and thereforethere is a need to develop internal capac-ity. This is backed by the observationthat government lacks the capacity tomonitor the activities of externalproviders. The result has been poorservice delivery to the communities.

In addition, it appears that there is aneed to revamp government’s human

resources policies. In particular, there isa need to re-evaluate the policies gov-erning the remuneration of “scarce”skills. The ultimate objective is to createan environment for attracting such skillsinto the public sector.

Equally important is the need toensure alignment between various pro-grammes. In this regard, the clustercommittees could play a useful role interms of compelling different role play-ers to join-up and coordinate their activ-ities.

The DPSA has implemented initia-tives such the framework for managingjoint programmes, the unified publicservice, outsourcing and for the supportservice delivery improvements.

Furthermore, the following addition-al interventions are recommended:• There are conflicting mandates

between various programmes. Inorder to reach set targets, work isbeing outsourced to large contractors,while community participation isminimised. Lead departments shouldresolve this tension;

• Additional dedicated capacity build-ing programmes are needed wherejob-requirements and skills develop-ment, including further and highereducation and training, are alignedwith the needs of the developmentalstate. In addition, it is important forSAMDI to investigate and developresponsive training modules in linewith identified skills shortages in thepublic sector;

• Improved recruitment and retentionstrategies for scarce skills should beinvestigated, extending the currentframework to include special dispen-sation for strategic and critical posi-tions. This could, amongst others, dis-courage the high turnover in selectedcritical positions, while encouraginglonger tenures in specific positions,and moving away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to job-grading; and

• Better alignment of community needsand implementation plans is neededthrough improved participation andcommunication strategies. •


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

49T he business of government is to

make choices and to strategicallymanage resources towards achiev-

ing the intended goals. The ultimatechoices are political. However, Heymansis of the opinion that in the making ofchoices and the marshalling of availableresources to realise the intended goals, anelaborate process has to be followed.This process has to be understood andwell-managed. Heymans further assertsthat if the policy process is not properlymanaged, policies could either never beformulated or could become little morethan novel statements of intent whichare never implemented. Developingcountries like South Africa are confront-ed with a mammoth challenge of havingto adopt suitable and appropriateapproaches to the management of policyprocesses to ensure the optimal utilisa-tion of the limited resources at their dis-posal, for the attainment of greater socialimpact of all governmental programmes.

The policymaking processexplained

Studies of policy process are concernedwith how policies are actually made in

terms of actions taken by various actorsat each stage. However, the policyprocess is a complex set of events thatdetermine what actions governmentswill take, and what effects those actionswill have on social conditions. A viablesystem of policy management shouldinclude a series of interlinked activitiesconstituting the functions of policy for-mulation, implementation and evalua-tion, which are performed through anelaborate institutional and organisation-al framework. The stageism approach tothe analysis of the policymaking processis supported by writers like:• Nsibambi who states that a public pol-

icy passes through, at least, eightstages: problem identification, draft-ing a policy manifesto, setting of a pol-icy agenda, moderation of policydebate, actual policy formulation, pol-icy implementation, policy outcomesand policy evaluation;

• Meiring who views the policy processas constituted of three broad stages:policymaking, policy implementation,and policy analysis and evaluation.Each of these broad stages is com-prised of a number of steps. Forinstance, policy making, in Meiring’s

MakingGovernment

Stronger

S. Mbanga of the

Strategic Planning and

Policy Research Division,

Eastern Cape Department

of Public Works, argues

that South Africa should

adopt a more flexible

policy making model,

which takes into account

the need for popular

participation in shaping

the content and processes

of its public policies.


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

50

opinion, can be disaggregated into ini-tiation, formulation and approval of apolicy;

• Dubrick & Romzek who define thepolicy process in terms of ten stages:problem identification, problem artic-ulation, agenda setting, policy formu-lation, policy legitimization, pro-gramme design and development,programme implementation, pro-gramme evaluation, policy re-assess-ment and policy change; and

• Dunn who views the policyprocess in terms of five phases:agenda setting, policy formula-tion, policy adoption, policyimplementation and policyassessment.

It has to be mentioned at thisstage that, a processual approachto the study of policymaking hasbeen accepted, in general, as ameans of simplifying and build-ing consensus on how scientists,analysts and practitioners of pub-lic policy should deal with gov-ernmental operations in a system-atic manner. However, cautionshould be exercised in saying this,because there is no universally-accepted policymaking processframework. Some authors, forinstance, advocate for a dichoto-my between policymaking andpolicy implementation. Otherspresent elaborate steps that detailthe kind of actions undertaken inthe major process phases of policyformulation, implementation andevaluation, and for a variety ofreasons putting greater emphasis on oneprocess phase than the other.

Important to note also is that authorslike Wissink tend to escape from thetrap of a ‘discrete stageism’ approach inthe study of policymaking. Wissink, forinstance, views the policymakingprocess as extremely complex and disor-derly to which there is no apparentbeginning and an end, and which existsbetween boundaries that are mostuncertain. In this regard, policymakinghas to be understood as a complex, ever-changing and continuous process. In

practice, there is no public policy thatprogresses through the stages of policy-making in a sequential manner.

Public policies move back and forthbetween adopted conceptual stages. TheEastern Cape Provincial Growth andDevelopment Plan (PGDP) Vision 2014,for instance, has been subjected to a briefevaluation of its implementation on thevery first year of its implementation,that is during 2004. The study was

aimed at assessing the capacity of imple-menting agencies in the implementationof the PGDP flagship projects withrespect to resource mobilization, coordi-nation and inter-sectoral cooperation.As would be expected, this study wasaimed at making improvements in iden-tified areas of weakness. A discreetstageism approach to the study of policy-making would regard the evaluation ofthe PGDP on its first year of implemen-tation as out of line if not premature.However, theoretically, programmeevaluations are conducted for a variety

of reasons, and it is for the reason thathas necessitated the evaluation thatdetermines the suitable timing for anevaluation study.

It can, from the above exposition, bededuced that policymaking process stepsshould be understood for the noble pur-pose they exist for, that of clarifying theunderstanding of policy analysts, politi-cal scientists and practitioners of variousaspects of public policy they are dealing

with in a particular phase, andhence, the type and level of skills,techniques and resourcesrequired for the success of eachpolicy action.

Having said that, it is equallyimportant to note that the varyingpoints of emphases within thevarious phases of policymaking,and the methods and techniquesapplicable at each phase has land-ed the policymaking process to beconsidered as either formal orinformal. Some of the characteris-tics of a formal and informal poli-cymaking processes are brieflytreated hereunder.

Power and policy making

Policymaking is, essentially, aboutpower. The forces in society thataccumulate greater power deter-mine the direction of the policyagenda. This power could be eco-nomic, communication muscle,force or sheer patronage. Thedemise of the Apartheid regimein South Africa in the early 90’s

attests to power play in policymaking. Subsequent to the introduction of the

transformatory policy framework,resources had to be redistributed fromareas of low need to those of highestneed. In actual fact, the legislation piecesthat were put in place both prescribedand enabled this new policy direction byway of policy content.

It can be deduced from the foregoingexposition that formal policymakingprocesses are characterized by explicitrules that influence actions, discretesteps prescribed for each action and


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51

clearly-identifiable participants in eachstep of the policy process. Informal poli-cymaking processes are not rigid, interms of what should be done, in whichspecific manner, by whom, with whatand when. There is greater flexibility forpolicymakers to work within a frame-work of societal needs that should beaddressed through a proper mobiliza-tion of resources, and a political ideal ofcommunity development and empower-ment that must be realised throughappropriate policymaking processes.

It has been observed, though, thatdeveloped or so-called First World coun-tries are more inclined towards highlyformalized policymaking processes thanis the case with developing or the so-called Third World countries. However,on closer scrutiny, public policy processesin developing countries are found to rep-resent a variable mix of formal andinformal characteristics of policymaking.It seems though that in some areas thereis more political will to mimic formalisedpolicymaking approaches applied else-where, under the guise of benchmarkingagainst best international practices.

Harrismith uprisings

However, while the significance ofbenchmarking in policy management isnot disputed, socio-economic, culturaland political conditions, back home, donot always permit for the importing offormal policymaking process approachesand practices into developing countries.When this happens, chaos emerges as, onthe one hand, there will be advocates forformal policymaking approaches, whileon the other hand, there are those whoseconcern is mainly the need to channel theavailable resources to the poor and desti-tute. The community uprisings in theHarrismith municipality and surround-ings in the Free State province during2004 bear testimony to this fact. Certaincommunities in this municipality havethought it prudent to organise them-selves into a Concerned group that ledprotests marches against the municipali-ty which was perceived to be corrupt andinconsiderate of the basic needs of com-

munities in the area. This case drew theattention of the national media to anextent that the country’s President, MrThabo Mbeki, relevant national minis-ters, Provincial Premier and Member ofthe Executive Council, and high-rank-ing ANC leaders had to intervene andbring about order in a municipality thatwas moving the direction of anarchy.

Interesting in this case is that, whenthe Mayor and Councilors of theHarrismith municipality were inter-viewed in the national television theyacknowledged as genuine, a number ofconcerns raised by the Concerned Groupregarding the municipal services. Theyproceeded to report that they always hada ‘Grand Plan’ on how to deal with theseservice delivery backlogs in a systematicmanner within finance and capacity con-straints confronting this municipality.The important question this raises ishow it happens that communities are notaware of the municipality Grand Planwhen they should have been part ofpreparing that plan in terms of theConstitution of the R.S.A, Act 108 of1996 and the Local GovernmentMunicipal Systems Act, 1998.

The main point that the above argu-ment raises is that the municipal plan-ning processes that generate the legally-prescribed Integrated DevelopmentPlans (IDP) represent an elaborate,highly-involved and technical policyprocess. However, circumstances of amunicipality do not always permit thatall the IDP steps be followed to the lat-ter. While communities are expected toparticipate in the IDP process, whichinvolves determination of policy priori-ties, some municipalities conduct IDPprocesses as a desktop exercise that is, byand large, outsourced to consultants.

One of the reasons for this is thatmany municipalities are seriously lack-ing in skills and resources to developIDPs as prescribed by relevant pieces oflegislation, and directed by the GoodPractices Notes released by the Ministryof Local Government and Consti-tutional Affairs. In some cases WardCommittees, which are prescribed bythe Municipal Structures Act, 2000, to

be used as mechanisms for communityparticipation in municipal policymakingprocesses, are non-existing. The level offunctionality and capacity of WardCommittees to meaningfully and suffi-ciently deal with public policy issueswithin municipalities is something stillto be witnessed even in the so-called his-torically-advantaged municipal areas.The latter point questions the extent ofrationality of the purported formal poli-cymaking processes especially in thecontext of developing countries.

A learning culture

There has been an ongoing debate with-in political science on whether policy-making is a rational, linear process or amore chaotic procedure dominated bypolitical and socio-cultural forces.Chaos, in this instance, is about the pos-itive appreciation of uncertainty inorganisation and management, whichadvocates for self-organisation andadoption of a learning culture in publicinstitutions.

It has been alluded to elsewhere in thisarticle that the differentiation between aformal and informal policymakingprocess relates to the weight valuesgiven to the broadly accepted conceptu-al phases of policymaking, and rules,techniques and skills applied in eachphase of the policy process. The formalpolicymaking process is, in this respect,viewed as more rational and compre-hensive while the informal process israther more chaotic. Chaos in the infor-mal policymaking process is mainly trig-gered by the stiff tension for allocationof inadequate resources either forstrengthening the organisational sys-tems and managerial processes or toimpact directly on immediate societalneeds.

This tension is better expressed in thePolicy Statement made by the EasternCape Province Premier NosimoBalindlela when she entered the officeduring the 2004 national elections.Premier Balindlela advocated for thereorientation of government’s expendi-ture from focusing it in strengthening


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the administrative capacity of govern-ment to meeting the needs of the citizenswith particular bias to the poor. Thismove is not about a complete disregardof the necessity for strengthening theadministrative capacity of governmentinstitutions for effective policy imple-mentation, but rather points to a needfor strategic choices that must be madein the allocation of resources, betweencreation of world-class operational sys-tems (which seems to have captured theattention of government planners) andthe immediate delivery of massive serv-ices (which may not necessarily be ofhighest quality standard).

Concealed in the Premier Balindlela’spolicy statement is the fact that theemphasis put on massive community-oriented projects and services may, inmany instances, be done in a mannerthat puts to abeyance the formal policy-making processes. In fact, it promotes amodel that gives government a responsi-bility for making policy decisions, basedon a ‘broad mandate’ (elite/mass model),that flow downward to the population atlarge, and executed by the bureaucracy.As has been the case in the EasternCape, government then focuses on mon-itoring of the implementation of thedesigned programmes (thought to beaddressing ‘urgent’ community needs).The adopted approach is borne out ofsheer frustration on the delayed imple-mentation of government polices, basedon a general notion that policy failure inSouth Africa does not lie in policiesthemselves, but rather, something iswrong with the implementation phaseof policymaking.

While the Eastern Cape province hastaken this direction, South Africa, likeany other developing country, stillupholds an ideal of a formal policymak-ing process. However, a formal processhas advantages and limitations as arepresented below.

Advantages of a formalpolicymaking process

• Dynamism: The opportunity exists ina formal policymaking process that

feedback can be seen at many pointsin the process. Information gatheredduring implementation stage resultsin the problem being re-defined.Monitoring of existing programmesleads to the modification of previouslystated objectives;

• A better understanding of social inter-actions: A broad-based participationduring the various stages of the policyprocess leads to a better understand-ing of stakeholders regarding theirneeds, interests, aspirations, likes, dis-likes, weaknesses, strengths and howthey relate to each other and thebroader economic environment; and

• Systematisation of knowledge:Existing knowledge is better organ-ized with future insights being easilyintegrated.

Disadvantages of a formalpolicymaking process

• Inappropriate policy process blue-prints: The conceptualisation of gov-ernment’s policymaking process with-in the confines of a single policymodel, which is common in develop-ing countries, lends governments intoa risk of not advancing their develop-ment goals through the considerationof strengths of other policy modelsand or approaches. Policy blueprintsare as bad and counter-productive asnot adopting a policy model or gener-ic approach for a government.

• Unintended justification of past acts:The adoption of a clearly-definedsequence of policymaking stages lendsitself in a situation wherein acts thatled to the construction of a particularmodel are justified in present times,and accorded the same policy agendastatus as they existed in the past. Thisstatement relates to a point mentionedearlier on in this paper that the extentto which one policy process stage iscognitively emphasised over others isinfluenced by socio-economic, socio-political and socio-cultural factors at aparticular place and time. It is for thisparticular reason that some modelswould fail in one area and succeed in

another area, at different times, andvice versa. Similarly, a commonsensi-cal view that policy analysts shouldalways attempt to provide ThirdWorld solutions to Third Worldproblems does hold water in thisinstance.

This immediately leads us to formulat-ing a policy process approach that iscompatible with the needs of a modern-day South Africa.

Recommended approach forSouth Africa

If an approach is commonly understoodas a manner of doing things, it then fol-lows that a policy approach is about amanner in which the policymakingprocess is managed in a particular coun-try or region. Any attempt that seeks torecommend a particular policy approachfor a country, like South Africa, presup-poses that a variety of policy approacheseither exist or may be found.

A policy approach that is recommend-ed for South Africa is the one that is notonly place bound but also time bound. Itis an approach that takes into considera-tion socio-economic, political and cul-tural factors that that constitute the pol-icymaking milieu in a modern-daySouth Africa. It is an approach which isarchitectured within a framework ofeconomic growth and developmentgoals of the country. It is an approachthat is mindful of the efforts undertakenby government to bridge the gaps exist-ing in a country with a dual-type ofeconomy, wherein one section of thepopulation, and a minority, is very richwhile the other, happening to be amajority, lives in abject poverty and des-titution.

A more holistic approach or modelsimilar to that developed by Walt &Gilson (1994:354) which considers theinteraction of four key elements: actors,process, content and context, juxtaposedover four strategic levers: change man-agement, operations planning and man-agement, institutional design and powerrelations and political mapping that aresuggested by Mokgoro (2003:3), is rec-


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

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ommended. This model is depicted dia-grammatically in Figure 1.

The above suggested IntegrativePolicy Management Model: 4X4 Optionintegrates the following four interrelat-ed variables:• Content of the policy: Involves the

vision, goals, critical success factors,strategies for implementation andmonitoring and evaluation mecha-nisms;

• Context in which the policy operates:Policies do not exist in isolation butare deeply interconnected with factorsof a demographic, socio-political andeconomic nature;

• Processes applied: Processes refer tothe steps or actions followed in thedevelopment, implementation, moni-toring and evaluation of policies. Theoutcome of a policy is determined bythe processes followed to implementit; and

• Actors in the policy process: Thesecould be elected politicians, appointedofficials, consultants, communities,stakeholders, clients, customers ofpublic services who participate in thevarious stages of policymaking.

The Integrative Policy ManagementModel further integrates four macro-variables: change management, opera-tions planning and management, power

relations and political mapping andinstitutional design issues. Cue is takenfrom the wisdom of Mokgoro (2003:3)who views successful policy implemen-tation from a perspective of four inter-dependent macro-approaches: structur-al, political, behavioural and manageri-al-procedural. The structural approachis mainly concerned with the synergybetween public policy and organisation-al design. The political approach relatesto the analysis of patterns of poweracross public sector organisations andintergovernmental relations. Thebehavioural approach is concerned withharmony, power positions, humanbehaviour and attitudes, in so far as theyenable or disable policy developmentand implementation. Management andprocedural approaches focus on opera-tions management, planning, resourcemobilization and scheduling, systemsanalysis, project management and lead-ership.

The suggested IPMM: 4X4 Optionintegrates the above elements and offersflexibility of emphasis for various publicinstitutions and governmental spheresin South Africa. Like any other model itrepresents and oversimplifies a morecomplex reality in order to describe andexplain the relationships between keyvariables at play. However, by implica-

tion it also prescribes a best order ofthings in order to create a generic con-ceptual framework for political scien-tists, policy analysts, government plan-ners and practitioners in the country.

Based on the preceding analysis it isapparent that the policymaking processis not necessarily linear and rational astheoretically perceived to be. In practice,policymaking is chaotic and complexwith public policies moving back andforth within theoretical and discreet pol-icy process phases. There is also no uni-versally-accepted policymaking model.Various authors continue to emphasisecertain policy process steps over others,for a variety of reasons. It does seemthough that authors are, in so doing,influenced by socio-economic, culturaland political factors in different placesand times.

Having said that, developed countriestend to follow more formalised policy-making processes than is the case withdeveloping countries. Formalised poli-cymaking processes provide explicitrules applying in the various phases ofthe policy process. Developing countrieslack resources and technical skills to fol-low formalised policymaking processes.In addition to this, developing countriesare under extreme pressure to addressthe overwhelming social needs with thelimited resources at their disposal.However, these countries still aspire toattain highly formalised policymakingprocesses.

South Africa, as a developing country,should adopt a more flexible policymak-ing model which integrates considera-tions of the contextual factors, a need forpopular participation and empower-ment in shaping the content andprocesses of its public policies. However,policymaking in South Africa shouldtake due cognizance of the structural,behavioural, political and managementimplications for successful policy devel-opment and implementation.

The views expressed here do not nec-essarily represent policy positions of theEastern Cape Department of PublicWorks. •

InstitutionalDesign

ChangeManagement

Content

Context ProcessPower Relations

and PoliticalMapping

OperationsPlanning andManagement

Actors

Figure 1: Integrative Policy Management Model: 4x4 Option


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“Cape of Storms” is CapeTown’s well-known histori-cal epithet. But there are also

hundreds of other epithets that describethe city’s modern-day moods, dependingon one’s vantage point — whether fromthe colonial grandeur of Constantia, themodern opulence of the WaterfrontShopping Mall or from the crude tinexpanse that is Khayelitsha or Mitchell’sPlain.

Cape Town could also be called “Capeof contradictions”, because sometimes itseems one could compare grapes withsnoek, and all those comparisons with-out end. Writer-poet, Sandile Dikeni,often referred to the “grape curtain”, inhis description of the seemingly impene-trable social, political and economic con-struct that defines parameters of thecity’s (and greater peninsula’s) manycontrasts and contradictions - from richor poor, tourist or local, white or black,coloured or African, and to anything in-between.

People who could be described as liv-ing an “in-between” existence inhabit“Sun City” or “Rastakamp InformalSettlement”, which is situated aroundSir Lowry’s Pass.

Originally a settlement founded byfarm workers, “Sun City” or“Rastakamp Informal Settlement”, isabout 40 km east of Cape Town.Although largely coloured, the commu-nity has one of the Western Cape’s atyp-ical features of being “integrated”,

which means “Africans” and“coloureds” co-exist in this communityof about 10 000 people. Added to thearea’s demographic mix is the communeof Rastafarians.

Judging by activities a stone’s throwfrom the settlement, the Sun City orRastakamp Informal Settlement willsoon be joined by a new breed of neigh-bours. A luxury residential area withproperties billed from R800 000upwards is under construction.

Sun City or Rastakamp InformalSettlement is a confluence of manydiverse under-currents that could poten-tially turn into raging storms if not wellmediated. It is also a potential model ofsocial reconstruction and peaceful co-existence in the complex province.

This is the subterranean-like worldthat Community Development Worker(CDW), Claudia Erasmus, treads daily.It is the world that typifies the much-talked about two economies, or, simplyput, the haves and the have-nots, andthose in-between.

Erasmus begins the day at dawn witha prayer. She then joins her “Love andCare Soup Kitchen” colleagues to miti-gate against the combined onslaught ofrising unemployment, the neglect of theaged and young, school dropouts,teenage pregnancies, alcohol and drugabuse in the community.

As a community development workerErasmus deals with whatever the day’schallenges may throw at her. But the

soup kitchen in Sun City Hall is thebackbone of her activities. It is a livingCDW office populated by eager volun-teers and beneficiaries, especially thelocal aged whose programme includesboth spiritual and physical nourishment,bible reading and soup. There is also atouch of the worldly, which comes in theform of regular manicure and pedicuresessions for the local senior citizens.

Erasmus explains her personal ethosas: “If you can’t make other peoplehappy then you can’t be a happy personyourself.”

Love and Care Soup Kitchen feeds asmany as 150 people daily, with benefici-aries ranging from the unemployed, thesick, the elderly, the disabled and chil-dren. The project’s basic objective is toensure that “those who visit the facilityhave one proper meal per day,” saysErasmus.

What keeps the soup kitchen going?Apart from the energies and dedicationof the CDW and local volunteers, thesoup kitchen relies on a patronage net-work made up of government depart-ments, individuals and local businessessuch as the Survival Fruit Stall, which isrun by local Rastas, and RoelcorButchery, which is based in SomersetWest.

The work of the CDW is not withoutchallenges. The much spoken about lap-tops with wireless access to governmentservice delivery portals are yet to reachthis CDW working in a semi-rural set-

A CDW at WorkThe concept of Community Development Workers (CDWs),

introduced in 2003 by President Thabo Mbeki in his State

of the Nation Address, is finally taking root, writes Dudley

Moloi. He describes the experiences of a community

development worker after spending a day with one on

the outskirts of Cape Town.


P r o f i l eS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

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tlement. Instead, Erasmus has to boardtwo taxis, which costs R22 per trip, tomake a call from the Helderberg sub-council offices in Strand, which isapproximately 20 kilometres away.Erasmus, who reports to the Helderbergsub-council manager, receives a month-ly stipend of R888, or “triple eight”, as it is commonly referred to amongCDWs.

Two incidents of stolen fences fromthe planned Love and Care FoodGarden, which is meant to support thesoup kitchen, are amongst some of theuncomfortable ironies of working inunder-resourced and poor communitiessuch as Sun City or Rastakamp InformalSettlement. Communal assets meant toease the plight of those on the margins of

society are often vandalised or “priva-tised”.

According to Erasmus, the biggestchallenge in terms of the work of a com-munity development worker, particu-larly a person with strong local develop-ment and political credentials, is to stayclear of politics. She is quick to admitthat this is often not easy, but adds thatthe challenge could be overcomethrough “networking with everyoneelse”.

About 357 people have gone thoughthe CDWs Programme in the WesternCape province, of which 138 areemployed as a new layer of civil servantsin various capacities, with particular biastowards municipal areas that have beenidentified under Project Consolidate or

are poverty hot spots, says Lynn Phillips,the regional CDWs Programme coordi-nator for the Cape Town Metro and sur-rounds.

While the visibility and some of thequick-wins of CDWs amongst the com-munities they work within have led togradual acceptance and understandingof the role of this new layer of public ser-vants, it is often not easy to gain thesame sort of acceptance and supportamong their mainstream public servicecolleagues.

“People in some departments are stillnot fully aware of the role of CDWs andas a result they see them as competition,instead of a resource that could makelife easier to meet the objectives of theirdepartments,” concludes Lynn. •

How CommunityWorkers Fit Into theBigger PictureBy Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi

The Community DevelopmentWorkers (CDWs) programme is one ofgovernment’s initiatives whose objec-tive is to ensure that government serv-ices reach their intended targets.

Community Development Workersplay an important role in the improvedco-ordination between the threespheres of government and with all thecommunity development stakeholdersand organs of civil society.

One of the critical linkages at locallevel through which service deliveryneeds to be improved are the wardcommittees. During the initial stages ofthe implementation of the CDW pro-gramme, there were tensions as a resultof a misunderstanding of roles andrelationships. These tensions wereresolved through workshops thatinvolved CDWs and ward committees.Provincial units are also rolling outworkshops to introduce the CDWs intheir communities, their fellow public

servants in other government depart-ments as well to the municipalities inwhich they are deployed.

CDWs are multi-skilled as theirtraining involved practical projectmanagement as well as exposure todirect work experiences. A number ofthem were equipped with laptops torun a pilot e-gateway in Gauteng dur-ing 2004/5, although this project hasexperienced some difficulties. In 2006the pilot project will be extended toKwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

KwaZulu-Natal has installed aninformation management system,while Gauteng and the Western Capeprovinces are in the process ofinstalling theirs. Nationally, discussionswith SITA are underway to provide anational information management sys-tem. Access by CDWs to computerswill be through MPCCs, LocalMunicipalities, Post Offices and otherlocally based government offices.

Nationally, 3000 CommunityDevelopment Workers have completedtheir learnerships. Four provinces,Eastern Cape, Northern Cape,Gauteng and the Western Cape havealready integrated these CDWs intothe public service (690 in total).

Building on the achievements madethus far, this year will be a year of con-solidation. It is out belief that the fun-damental institutional framework is inplace, in order to achieve the followingbroad objectives for this year:• CDWs are integrated within the

broad government initiatives ofbuilding a better life for all;

• CDS are fully integrated within thebroad public participation pro-grammes by improving co-ordina-tion between their programmes andthose of ward committees;

• They play a role in achieving theobjectives of project consolidate;

• CDWS play a critical role in initiat-ing projects that will work towardsthe realisation of the Local EconomicDevelopment objectives at municipallevel; and

• There is integration of the CDWProgramme with the improvementof frontline staff development withthe objective of achieving the BathoPele Principles.

Excerpt from public service andadministration minister’s Feb 2006Governance and AdministrationCluster Media Briefing •


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

56T o fully address the topic I must first

do a lot of motivated amnesiabecause I was a Resident Advisor

to the Provincial Government ofKwaZulu-Natal; for three years I washead of the Department of PublicEnterprise at the National level ofGovernment; I became the Economicand Development Policy Advisor to theKwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr. BenNgubane, among other public duties. Itis for this reason that my total memoryincluded the “Ins and Outs” of workingfor the Government. To deal with thetopic requires me to undertake a memo-ry surgery, in other words, separate andcreate a division within what are in factholistic and mixed experiences.

The government and non-govern-ment environment is essentially a con-tinuum and definable through, as itwere, crossing the threshold. Being out-side government would mean being out-side the hierarchy while not being fullyon the market (hierarchy versus marketconsideration). The consequences of anerror are borne by those who are in thehierarchy. When things go right as aconsequence of ones interventions, oneneeds to be remembered by accolades

and recognitions; when things go sour,one reminds every one else that it is notyour responsibility that things have gonewrong. The relationship between the“outsider” and the manager in the hier-archy is, among other issues, influencedby the sharing of the responsibilities forfailure and success.

Notwithstanding, the field that I wasin also operated within certain rules,standards, expectations and the respon-sibility for experimentation, risk takingand innovation was more available. Thedownside risk for error was less ghastlyto contemplate.

The whole of government interestwas more of a norm as opposed to sec-toral or departmental interest.Government in its totality was its pointof reference. Of course I worked withparticular departments. But this did notremove the broader scope of attention.

I was also more susceptible to listen tothe demands and the pronouncementsof needs, expectations and aspirations ofthe public. Working in a matrix-likeposition, I had to be dually focused andinfluenced. I was part of the civil society(the public) as I was part of the govern-ment. I could not therefore, be too gov-

Through the

Revolving Door

Professor Sipho R. Shabalala

outlines the advantages to

government of senior civil

servants working in and

outside of government.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

57ernment- centric or civil society- centricin my outlook, perspectives and concep-tualization of issues.

Lacking positional power, I had torely on expert power. This had a positivecontribution to my knowledge develop-ment. I was aware of the fact that it wasmy superior know-how of issues at handthat made senior government managersto listen to me and eventually work withme. Value-adding was, therefore, a keyconsideration. I had to know my stuff.

Inside

I have already alluded to the fact thatbeing in or out of government is a diffi-cult epistemological and ontologicalproblem. This, of course, would be con-sidered both in static and dynamicterms. Joining government after havingbeen “outside” is inundated withsparkling enthusiasm — an opportunityto show them how this and that wouldbe done. The context within whichissues are conceived and transformedinto programmes in government is usu-ally naively understood by outsiders. Butit must also be upheld that the naive per-son is less constrained to try nothing dif-

ferently: to dudula may be what is need-ed to break through the impasse.

Latent memories of working from“outside” government remained withme for a while and this was good forgovernment with its emphasis on therelationship between government andnon-government actors.

Having been “outside” governmenthad its advantages even under condi-tions full of the dust of action inside gov-ernment. It is my view that the outsider-insider position is a potential force ofdynamism, experimentation and cre-ativity within the hierarchies.

Government is an elephant and we areall blind persons trying to experience thephenomenon, to be an elephant. A personfrom outside is more likely to have moreor less seen or experienced the total bodyconfiguration of the elephant. Throughimaginations supported by memories, asone who was once operating from out-side, but with interest in what was hap-pening inside government, I was morelikely for a while (subject to memory ero-sion through time) to perceive the ele-phant (read government) in its totality.

Having worked from outside govern-ment, I was well known by all senior

managers within the KZN provincialand administration. It was, therefore,much easier to establish effective net-works and relationships which are criti-cal for performing government work.

In conclusion I wish to suggest moreof the critical chapter that must be incor-porated in the Legacy Book. These areas follows:1. Procurement systems to support

speedy programme and project man-agement emphasizing flexibility andclose interactions between projectmanagers and procurement stuff;

2. Support services to its DirectorGenerals, Heads of Departments, thePremier, the Cabinet and FOSAD;

3. Support for innovation, risk takingand experimentation within govern-ment as part of learning;

4. Design and maintenance of integra-tion, alignment and coordinationmechanisms across spheres of gov-ernment and using IPSP lessons inthe alignment of NSDP and IDPS;

5. Management of change within discur-sive consideration and the politicaleconomy of institutional change; and

6. Government, emphasizing itsembedded capacity of government. •



58

DM: What was the prevailing ethoswhen you were inaugurated into thepublic service?

KN: I first joined the public service in1995, in the office of the premier. At thetime the administrative infrastructurewas still TPA, or the TransvaalProvincial Administration. So you basi-cally had the Jo’burg component, whichwas new, and the Pretoria component,which was generally the old guard. Youhad parallel values within what wassupposed to be a single administration,with activist oriented people in Jo’burg,who tended to look at their Pretoriacounter-parts with a bit of contempt.Although clued up with matters of poli-cy and strategic vision for the newadministration, the Jo’burg people werevery weak in terms of understanding the

rules, procedural and process issues.Their PTA counterparts had turnedrules and procedures into a bureaucraticart form.

DM: We are currently pushing towardstwelve years of the construction of thecountry’s public service - what is yourassessment of the failings as well as thesuccesses of the administration duringthis period?

KN: There is recognition of the fact thatwe tend to spend a lot of time constant-ly formulating and reviewing policiesand strategies. South Africa’s policy andlegislative environment across all sectorsis substantially different to the situationin 1994 - the public service is a complete-ly different organization. But at the timewe did not focus as much attention on

PublicServant

Dudley Moloi (DM) caught up with

Khaya Ngema (KN) to sound off

some of the issues in the public

service. Ngema is former Deputy-

Director General in the Department

of Public Service and Administration

(DPSA) and is currently at the helm

of the Mpumalanga provincial

administration as the Director-

General.


P r o f i l eS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

59

administration itself, for examplechanging the very processes and prac-tices in such a way that we could changethe way the system works in a radicalway. This is particularly important atthe point of interface between the citi-zens and administration. The approachat the time was to tackle the transforma-tion project from the “commandingheights”. In other words, if you deployenough people at the commandingheights of the ship then there are betterchances of steering it. The problem withthis approach is that it does not recog-nize that there are actually many pointsand moments of decision-making inpublic administration across the valuechain of service delivery. If you do notdeploy people across the value chain,you will soon find out that certainaspects of the value chain can frustrate

even the so-called commanding heightfrom achieving their objectives.

We also tended not to appreciate thestrategic value of administrative andprocedural processes and as a result wetended not to bother with componentssuch as corporate services, in differentforms, and not understanding the strate-gic value and the power of these compo-nents in translating our policy intentionsinto service delivery programmes.

The Ten-Year Review identified thefact that each time we got stuck, wetended to address challenges by restruc-turing head office or dealing with thethings we understand - even when theproblem is not at head office but under-standing what the value chain is makinginterventions across the value chain. Wenever understood that you cannotresolve a service delivery problem by

merely restructuring head office. In the main, those were some of the

issues. However we learnt over time thatthe process of translating policy intoprogrammes is complex. Sometimes weactually discover that there is a huge gapbetween policy pronouncements andour ability to implement these.

Lastly, I am not sure if we understoodthe structural issues or the extent towhich structure, both in terms of“macro” and “micro”, that is, the macro-organisation of the state and the micro-organisation within departments. I donot think we fully understand the extentto which these shape the management ofstrategies within an organization, theallocation of resources and the lines ofauthority. We have not fully understoodthat when you talk about coordinationand integration, that the current system



60

of administration is structured in such away that it severely punishes people toget outside the box. We often complainthat public servants do not think outsidethe box without recognizing the factthat there are major consequences forpeople who think outside the box. Werun a system that is defined by the boxyou are in and as long as you remain inthat box you are safe.

The more we are able to understandthese dynamics, we will be better posi-tioned to strike the balance between therigours of procedure, the need for pre-dictability and the need to be innovative.If you focus too much in one directionthat has the potential of causing the sys-tem to collapse.

You have been associated with theDPSA for a while – how do things lookfrom the provincial vantage point?

My view is that I started in the province,and joining the province brings a senseof dejavu. Some of the issues that havealways been tentative at the time wouldprobably crop up from time to time.Secondly, I think I have also made manymovements within and around differentparts of the public service, Pretoria,through the DEAT and the DPSA, aswell as the Inter-Provincial SupportProgramme (which I nationally coordi-nated until recently) and a whole rangeof international projects in countries likethe DRC.

What I have observed as well is that alot of time we get lost in trying to closethe gaps or encourage an interfacebetween structures, for example throughmeetings or conflict resolutions or evene-mails. The lesson as far as I am con-cerned, is that when you deal with anorganization as large as the state, youhave to understand the way in whichstructure drives strategy, which in turndrives organizational culture.

Speaking of the need to understandstructures, what are your views on thenotion of a single or unified public serv-ice?

I think it depends on what you under-stand the problem to be and what youwant to solve. If you see a single publicservice as a structural issue then onewould formulate a structural solution, forexample, by creating a single employeracross the three spheres of government. Itis about a clear understanding of what wewant a single public service to achieve,which, in my view, is to reintegrate thevalue chain across the three spheres. Ithink we should only integrate the valuechain and not try to integrate everything.The principle of integrating the process ofpublic service administration is correct,depending on whether what needs to beintegrated is clearly defined.

Questions are being asked as to whetherthe country should have provinces –what is your take on this debate?

As is the case with discussions on a sin-gle public service, the debate on thefuture of provinces should be framed bywhat is it that we are trying to solve andwhether scrapping them could in factsolve the problems that are associatedwith the provinces. We should be care-ful not to usher in immense changeswithout the guarantee that our interven-tion would certainly resolve the targetedchallenges.

People are increasingly becomingassertive and in some instances militantin demanding their service rights – isthis a good thing in terms of spurring onthe administration to do its work?

It is obviously a good thing when peopleassert their rights. The more people getto know what their rights are and themore they assert those right the betterfor all. In many cases it is always the

poorest people who get the worst servic-es because they tend to be the leastempowered and the least assertive.

Coupled with the push for servicedelivery is the need to make service deliv-ery value chain processes more efficientby sharpening our understanding of theoperational aspects. A good strategy doesnot automatically translate into efficientoperational processes. In a nutshell, myfeeling is that we have not given suffi-cient attention to the hard operationsmanagement side of the public service.

What’s your prognosis of the publicservice in the next decade?

It can actually get better or worse.Amongst the reasons why it could getworse is the tendency to randomly insti-tute changes; the tendency for personnelto change too frequently and the tenden-cy not to maintain institutional memory— losing the lessons of the previous eraand being in a random and perpetualstate of experimentation, with the goodideas dying together with the bad onesbecause there is no capacity to evaluatein the absence of benchmarks.

Also when one considers the chal-lenges at local government sphere, youcan see that it is not a given that there willbe an upward trajectory. But I think itcan and should move upwards if wefocus on getting the basics right - likeappointing the right people to positionsin which they are suitably qualified. Weneed an administration that is peopled bypersonnel who are “Read and Expert”. Apublic servant who is “read” is commit-ted, progressive and aligned to the valuesenshrined in the Constitution. The“expert” part means the ability of a pub-lic servant to translate policy pronounce-ments into processes and programmesthat impact on the lives of people. This iscritical because ultimately incompetenceis as dangerous as resistance or hostility tothe objects of any state. •


S M S C o n f e r e n c eS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

61

In this abridged version of his

presentation at the fourth

Senior Management Service

(SMS) Conference hosted by the

Department of Public Service

and Administration (DPSA), Prof

Richard Levin, the Director-

General of DPSA, says senior

managers are the cream of our

public service and also

discusses their role as leaders,

pace setters and role models

A bout five years ago it becameclear that the public service wasexperiencing distinct problems

in attracting effective leaders and wasnot making optimal use of its seniormanagers. High turnover rates and seri-ous problems in service delivery weresome of the signs of trouble, along witha general sense of stagnation.

The DPSA undertook a detailedstudy that identified a range of diversebut interrelated problems such as diffi-culties in recruiting and keeping seniormanagers. Other difficulties includedproblems with managing the perform-ance of senior managers and rewardinggood performers as well as in providingsupport to under-performing managers.The recommendations from that studycentred around the proposal that we cre-ate a distinct senior management serviceincorporating heads of departments andaround 3000 of the most senior public

servants, excluding Police andDefence Force managers.

Although most human resource man-agement matters had already beendevolved to individual departments, itwas agreed that the SMS should be con-stituted as a separate corps, supported bythe centre of government, with its mem-bers able to be deployed where mostneeded. A number of other recommen-dations were also made such as tighten-ing up recruitment and selection proce-dures and the revision of equity targets.Since then we have made significantprogress in implementing most of therecommendations. The SMS has beenformally created with its own labourrelations dispensation and is emergingas a distinct, prestigious group withinthe public service, helped in part, Ishould add, by the SMS conferences.

A flexible remuneration system hasbeen adopted for the SMS and standard-ised remuneration and conditions ofservice have been adopted. A technicallysound competency framework has beendeveloped, and competency assessments

SMSA Shorthand for Improved

Service Delivery


S M S C o n f e r e n c e S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

62

are becoming more widely used. Afinancial disclosure system has beenadopted and a performance manage-ment and development system devel-oped. Consistent with internationalefforts to build learning organisations,the SMS has also helped create anappetite for new ideas, practices andapproaches.

Most of these initiatives are still inprogress but we are nevertheless pleasedthat we can show solid progress even ifwe still have a long way to go in someareas.

Mobilising managers

The creation of the SMS is an element ofa human resource management strategyto mobilise managers around the imple-mentation of government’s programmeof action. Senior managers need to bealigned with that programme at all lev-els and in every way. The SMS mustlead the building of improved humanand organisational capacity for a devel-opmental state. The annual conferencesheld by the SMS also need to be alignedin such a way that they also lead directlyto improvements in government capaci-ty to deliver on its objectives.Conference participants should achievecertain outcomes such as the building of

professional networks and improve-ments in morale and energy levels.

The SMS conferences must build pro-fessionalism and develop a sense of com-munity amongst leaders in the publicservice. The conferences should serve asa valuable opportunity to build anunderstanding within the leadershipgroup of current challenges and dynam-ics and to muster support for the strate-gic approach being implemented.

Previous SMS conferences haveaddressed the major issues of the day. In2002, the first SMS conferenceaddressed the shift from policy toimplementation while in 2003 the con-ference considered the need to movebeyond discrete service delivery silosand build an integrated public service.The 2004 conference addressed the needto build a developmental state that willbe able to bridge the gap between thetwo economies.

Implementation capacity

The 2005 SMS conference grappleddirectly with the need to build imple-mentation capacity and started by con-sidering the capacity requirements forsustainable growth and development. Iwant to clarify what I mean when I talkabout capacity. There are various kinds

of capacity including ideological statecapacity (which is active commitment togovernment programmes); politicalcapacity (the ability of political heads tolead and drive performance); technicalcapacity (the intellectual and practicalability to produce practical policies) andthe one we are concerned with, imple-mentation capacity - the skills and otherresources needed to implement policiessuccessfully.

There is a growing recognition thatimplementation capacity in the publicservice is underdeveloped and as a resultthis area has become a major concern togovernment. There are many reasonsfor our weak implementation capacitybut they relate mainly to long-standingproblems in accessing skilled humanresources. Financial and computer skillsare most needed, while literacy; projectmanagement, human resource and com-munication skills are all required.

Skills gaps include transversal skillsand specific skills associated with partic-ular jobs. Government efforts to buildskills have been constrained by a rangeof factors including institutional weak-nesses, a poor capacity for humanresource management, planning anddevelopment, widespread gaps in quali-ty and relevance of training and institu-tions, poor linkages and partnershipsbetween government and trainingproviders and an inadequate focus onnorms, values, attitudes and orientationof public officials.

Another problem is the lack of credi-ble data and a limited capacity for basicanalysis and planning along with a con-sistent failure to monitor the cost effec-tiveness of training. Building effectiveimplementation capacity requires anappropriate and sensitive public sectorHuman Resource Development (HRD)strategy. This should refine and acceler-ate implementation of Government’scomprehensive, credible and outcomes-focused programme for capacity devel-opment. It should also improve thecoherence, co-ordination and efficacy ofall Government’s policies, institutionsand mechanisms involved in trainingand capacity development of the public



63

sector. Another challenge to the publicservice HRD strategy is to ensure inte-gration between strategic planning,budgeting, HR planning and develop-ment, institutional systems and struc-tures and monitoring and evaluation.

Complex and contradictory

Human resource management in thepublic service is a complex and contra-dictory area. It is often simplified andcharacterised as being either about per-sonnel administration or about strategy.It encompasses both. Building HRcapacity in the public service needs totake a balanced approach in which theadministrative and strategic elementsare both appreciated and developed,since without the one the other is ren-dered ineffective.

One of our original public servicereforms involved the decentralization ofthe HR framework. This was seen as aprogressive step away from the central-ized control of the apartheid state andwas intended to empower managers totake the critical decisions that wouldlead to efficiency and effectiveness byunlocking the rule-bound bureaucraticculture we inherited.

However, in hindsight, we have cometo realise that there was not always thenecessary competence and capacity todevelop or implement HR policies andmany national policy frameworks areconsequently not implemented. Thereare no real enforcement tools or punitivemeasures for non-compliance and mon-itoring of compliance is only now start-ing to take place.

Decentralization without the ade-quate capacity has led to a number ofproblems. For example, decentralizedjob grading promotes inconsistency inthe grading of similar jobs and promotesjob-hopping and internal competitionamongst staff performing the samefunctions. Decentralization in deter-mining sectoral remuneration results ininconsistencies and unnecessary internalcompetition as well as inconsistencies insalary determinations for similar jobs sothat the principle of equal pay for equal

work cannot be realised.Despite these problems recentralisa-

tion of all HR practices is not a realisticoption although some key strategic areascould possibly be partially recentralised.For example, heads of departments andthe SMS could be managed more cen-trally, particularly if people wereappointed to the service rather than thepost.

Other areas for consideration couldinclude greater centralized control oversectoral salary scale determination, cen-tralized guidelines on specific recruit-ment practices such as head-hunting,compulsory application of competencyassessments for the SMS and a centraldatabase of competencies in SMS.However, we must be careful not torepeat the mistake by recentralizingfunctions without building the necessarycapacity first!

Another problem is that humanresource planning is often done poorlyand gets separated from other kinds ofplanning like operational and financialplanning. HR planning must be practi-cally and sensibly aligned with all otherplanning so that the right people are inplace and can use the resources and sys-tems provided to them.

Challenges

There are many HR related issues thatmust still be addressed if implementa-tion capacity is to improve. I will list justsome of them and you will realise theenormity of the HR challenge. Theremuneration and conditions of serviceframework needs further improvementand gaps such as the career pathing ofprofessionals and other specialists needto be filled. Employment practices, par-ticularly performance managementneed to be improved. Internal commu-nications must improve and workplaceorganisation, currently hierarchical andfragmented, needs to be more integrat-ed.

Innovative initiatives such as BathoPele, E-gateway, Community Develop-ment Workers and Multi-purposeCommunity Centres must be main-

streamed and scaled up. Current train-ing resources must be reconfigured toprovide skills needed for the develop-mental state as internal training unitsare not adequate and do not enjoy anappropriate status. Informal approachesto skills development such as mentoringmust be recognized.

Links between human resource man-agement and development mustimprove while the links between skillsdevelopment and performance manage-ment systems also need strengthening.Departments must be encouraged tobring human resource management anddevelopment functions into closer coop-eration so that recruitment, promotionand career development activities arelinked to skills development planning.A public sector-wide database system isneeded for storing and analysing train-ing information as well as for modellingand forecasting.

We must also create a managementand professional corps that will provideskilled professional and technical staffwith attractive long-term career pathsthat keep them in the public service. Itshould be clear to you by now that thereare many issues that need to beaddressed if we are to succeed inimproving our implementation capacity.

We have travelled so far and done sowell in changing the repressiveapartheid state into a developmental,service oriented one, but we still havesome way to go. One of our majorachievements is the emergence of astrong government programme ofaction that is clearly defined andplanned.

To achieve our objectives we need toalign ourselves around this programmeand focus on achieving tangible results.Our people are our greatest asset andour senior managers must rise to thechallenge of using them effectively andwisely.

By aligning the skills and HR plans oftheir institutions and units aroundGovernment’s overarching programme,senior sanagers will be making a majorcontribution to the important task ofbuilding implementation capacity. •



64 T he foundations of the state we havetoday were laid in the heroic resist-ance against land dispossession, in

the struggles for the most basic forms ofeconomic protection, the right to union-ize, minimum-wage laws, laws that givebusiness opportunities to all, and incomesupport programs such as unemploy-ment insurance. All those whose liveswere characterized by insecurity anddiscomfort, look to the state for sourcesof security and comfort.

Today we can look at our collectiverecord of achievement, with some meas-ure of pride. For all of us our society hasbeen made a bit more humane: thoseparts of our country that had been madescenes of internecine conflicts have beentransformed into zones of peace; theoverall economic outlook of the countryhas never been more optimistic, and wehave ensured that the success of buildingan inclusive society is not confined to thepolitical arena; we took steps either tointroduce or buttress income supportprograms whose aim is to offer protec-tion to the elderly, the young and thevery poor. We have extended basic serv-

ices to many who previously weredenied access to such services.

These factors alone represent an enor-mous human achievement that must beconsolidated, deepened and extended.

The Constitution of the Republic ofSouth Africa as well as government pol-icy designate the terrain in which thepublic service carries out its task.

A reflection on the macro-organiza-tion of the state must therefore also seekto understand the role and place of pub-lic servants relative to the challenges fac-ing the country, the goals we have as acountry, and the institutional frame-work we have established to achievethose goals. While each one of the threespheres of government has its own man-date and scope of operation, they havethe joint responsibility for delivery ofpublic goods. In other words, the dis-tinctive functions of each sphere mustfuse with the functions of the other twospheres to provide integrated and coher-ent governance for the country as awhole. Inadequate inter-sphere coordi-nation and integration have tended toenfeeble growth and development.

Re-organisingthe State

Building implementation

capacity for sustainable

growth and development

should enhance interaction

among the different arms of

government, argues

Provincial and Local

Government Minister,

Sydney Mufamadi



65A rule of thumb for the division of

labour between spheres is that whereasnational government’s primary role is tomake policy and regulate to ensure equi-table service provision throughout thecountry, and to support provincial andlocal government in the endeavour togive practical effect to those policies,provinces and municipalities are thespheres that actually deliver services tothe people - the spheres that carry themain weight of expenditure budgetsspent on providing education, socialgrants, public health services, and trans-port infrastructure, access to basic levelsof water, sanitation and electricity.

Robust skills base

Several aspects of the institutionalarrangement have a bearing on themacro-organization of the state. Thefirst of these aspects is that institutionsof government are not worth the paperdesigns they are written on unless theyrest on the skills base that is robustenough to produce effective outcomes.Without appropriately skilled person-

nel in all three spheres, particularly inprovinces and municipalities wherebudgets are allocated towards servicedelivery, projects will not be initiated,money will not be spent, and develop-ment will consequently not take place.

Current spend levels on municipalinfrastructure, housing delivery andvarious other programmes, suggest apaucity of skills that are critical to aneffectively functioning public service.The recent study by the South AfricanInstitute of Civil Engineers (SAICE)illustrates the point. It found that thereis both a shortage of civil engineers andtechnicians in municipalities. This hap-pens in a country with a “labour marketoverhang” of graduates with technicalskills. The following statistics providesome insight into the extent and natureof the problem:• 45 out of 231 local municipalities and

4 out of 47 district municipalities werefound to have only one civil techni-cian;

• 74 out of 231 local municipalities and4 out of 47 districts were found tohave no civil engineers or technicians

on their staff;• Only 45 local and 25 district munici-

palities had any civil engineers ontheir staff; and

• 50% of municipalities have sub opti-mal technical capacity.

Ensuring that capacity is available formunicipalities to perform their func-tions in the short-term must drive ourimmediate focus. For this reason, gov-ernment introduced a hands-on pro-gramme of support — ProjectConsolidate. This is a national initiativewhich seeks to mobilize technical skillsthat municipalities require in order todeliver services to the communities. It iscritically important for all our nationaland provincial service delivery depart-ments to take advantage of the spacecreated by Project Consolidate.

On the ground

Secondly, the high levels of interdepend-ence between the three spheres of gov-ernment means they must work inmutually supportive ways towards com-mon goals. This requires all of us to



66

develop a particular aptitude for under-standing the pressures facing the spheresthat are in close proximity to the peopleand the conditions in which they live. Inother words, national governmentdepartments must reposition themselvesto be able to contribute to the process ofoptimizing the impact of policy on thelocal spaces where there is greatest need.

The municipal Presidential Imbizoprogramme gives us the best possibleopportunity to reappraise the make upof our departments and, possibly, to shedthose aspects of our organization thatconstitute rigidities that stand in the wayof enhanced performance.

If policy is not based on a comprehen-sive understanding of the conditions inwhich implementation has to take place,then there is no guarantee that what wevisualize will see the light of day. Forinstance, the latest Municipal Demar-cation Board Capacity Assessment for2004/5 shows that 61% of municipalitiesperform 50% or less of their constitu-tionally mandated functions. This begsthe question as to whether we as nation-al policy-makers and policy imple-menters are not delegating and assign-ing responsibilities to other spheres bas-ing such delegations and assignmentssometimes on unexamined assump-tions?

In order to work effectively, our sys-tem of government requires intergov-ernmental coordination processes. It isthese processes which will bring aboutstability, predictability and efficiency tothe system. Greater predictabilityrequires “ joint planning” around com-mon development targets and balancingnational policy direction with localaccountability. It requires national gov-ernment and provinces to share moreand better quality information withmunicipalities, to refrain from ad hocinterventions, and to clarify expenditureand revenue assignments as precisely aspossible.

Several current initiatives to improveintergovernmental coordination andplanning must serve as touch-points fordeveloping the administration’s capacityto utilize optimally the resources for

public investment in economic andsocial upliftment of communities:• The joint planning format adopted by

the July 2005 Lekgotla which sawprovinces participate in the extendedCabinet for the first time.

• The Medium Term Strategic Frame-work (MTSF), which was adopted inorder to guide departmental planningand budgeting, as well as an updatedplanning cycle.

• The recently promulgated Inter-governmental Relations FrameworkAct which provides an overall frame-work for coordination between thethree spheres of government and

• The harmonization of the NationalSpatial Development Perspective, theProvincial Growth and DevelopmentStrategies and Municipal IntegrationDevelopment Plans. This harmoniza-tion aims to create a common frame-work for spatial and economic devel-opment choices.

Trust Among Spheres

The long-term structural changes thatare taking place within South Africansociety must shape the organizational

designs of individual departments acrossthe three spheres of government.Defects in the organizational designs,even if you have people with the rightskills, can undermine efforts to produceeffective outcomes at a macro-level.Given the contemporary situation andthe challenges it poses for the state, orga-nizational innovations have becomeurgently necessary. We need anapproach and internal mechanisms, thatgive us the possibility to forge improve-ments in internal communications aswell as in communication with externalstakeholders.

In addition, departments and spheresof government must cultivate relationsof trust, information-sharing and mutu-al assistance. When departments com-pete rather than co-operate, they pro-duce results that are often mutually-enfeebling.

For instance, departments need towork towards establishing, under theleadership of the department of PublicService and Administration, a coherenthuman resource development pro-gramme that will strengthen the overallcapacity of the state. At the momentdepartments have tended to seek toameliorate their individual plightthrough mutual poaching of skilled per-sonnel. In the result, the high levels ofstaff turnover and the inter-departmen-tal transfers of personnel account for thegeneral lack of stability in critical eche-lons of the public service.

As I said earlier, the recent CabinetLekgotla decisions form an importantbackdrop against which to have anotherlook at the organization and capacity ofthe state. We are not necessarily beingasked to reinvent the wheel. Ourachievements in the first decade of free-dom are indeed mixed: on one hand wehave inherited elements in the adminis-tration which confer a quality of medi-ocrity on the system; on the other hand,we have also scored successes that havecome to define best practice bench-marks. This makes us an organizationwith an obligation to learn and innovateat the same time. •

Without appropriatelyskilled personnel in all

three spheres,particularly in provinces

and municipalitieswhere budgets areallocated towardsservice delivery,

projects will not beinitiated, money will not

be spent, anddevelopment will

consequently not takeplace



67It is important to set a framework

within which South Africa works,particularly around the spheres of eco-

nomic activity. A number of us havereferred to the need for public privatepartnerships and we generally knowwhat informs the public sector. I think itis equally important for us also to under-stand what informs the private sector.

What we need to understand is thefact that, in the global scheme of things,South Africa is a small open economy.For instance, the United States ofAmerica accounts for 25 percent of glob-al economic activity. Economists aresuggesting that India will take overfrom Germany to become the thirdbiggest economy and that the People’sRepublic of China will be the biggesteconomy in 50 years time.

Globalisation means that South Africais part and parcel of a community of eco-nomic actors. There isn’t a wall that pro-tects us from the outside world. In otherwords, South Africa is not just in a labo-ratory where everything happensthrough our own actions. Sometimes alot of things happen outside this labora-tory that has an impact on what we do.

A case in point is an incident that took

place in mid-1990s in the financial mar-kets that affected Asian, and otheremerging markets, that led to manyproblems within South Africa. The hikein interest rate around this time hadnothing to do with the country’s macro-economic management but everythingto do with the fact that we are part andparcel of what happens around the globeand that we are perceived in a particularlight by a range of actors across theglobe.

What also needs to be considered interms of globalisation is what is referredto as the “China syndrome”. China has agrowth rate of 9 percent and, as alreadystated, is poised to become the largesteconomy in fifty years time. What arethe implications of this to South Africa?

There are advantages — China is ahuge market and consumes anythingthat we produce, from South Africancoke to steel. But one of the many chal-lenges is the fact that local industry, par-ticularly textiles, are beginning to feelthe pressure of China’s productive activ-ities. Even a huge economy such as theUS is not exempt from this pressure. Forexample, Walmart supermarkets, whichare South African versions of Pick and

South AfricaThe Good News

Mr Jabu Moleketi, the

Deputy Minister of

Finance, outlines the

challenges and prospects

of economic development

and investment in a

changing global

economic environment.



68Pay, are buying cheap products fromChina that are consumed by Americans.Europeans are facing similar challengesand are devising ways of setting up poli-cies to protect their domestic goods.Although there is an argument that con-sumers are benefiting from these cheapgoods, those very consumers also arguethat jobs are only created in Chinabecause these goods come from China.

These are some of the dilemmas ofglobalisation - benefit on the one handand disadvantage on the other — whichplaces challenges in terms of SouthAfrica’s trade and macro economic poli-cies that are designed to both benefit andshield us from the impact of globalisa-tion.

What is the paradigm that SouthAfrican business operates within? Weall know that, to a large extent, businessexists to make profit. It operates fromthe paradigm that assumes that it is theshareholders who determine businesspolicies and strategies in the context ofshareholder capitalism, which is basedon the logic that shareholders carry thefinancial risk.

Beyond market orthodoxy

The question that arises is whether thisprofit maximising thesis could form apartnership with government and otherstakeholders to resolve the socio-eco-nomic challenges that confront thecountry? As an optimist, I would say theanswer is yes, especially in the context ofa developmental state that is under-pinned by an assumption that the mar-ket is not in a position to resolve all thesocio-economic challenges facing SouthAfrica. The issue of market orthodoxydoes not apply, because the market orbusiness always pursues areas or pointswhere profits could be made as opposedto areas where there is need for infra-structure that could possibly make itpossible for people to have a better life.It is for this reason that we have anagency of the developmental state todeal with the socio-economic deficit.

The other issue that needs to be high-lighted is that the concept of a develop-mental state is not uniquely SouthAfrican. The Japanese government, forinstance, emerging from the devastation

of the Second World War, set up institu-tions that drove development. The so-called Asian Tigers adopted a similarapproach. The key thing is that thesegovernments did not leave anything tochance - and you are not talking aboutCuba or the Soviet Union of the past,but capitalist countries.

Another model is that of theEuropean Union (EU) infrastructureprogramme that, to a large extent,ensures that member countries accessgrants and soft loans to improve oninfrastructure — not just roads andbridges but also the capacity of financialinstitutions. It is this model that hasbeen successful throughout the globe. Itis a model that does not lend itself tomarket fundamentalism, but state inter-vention.

Good story

Now that the background has been suf-ficiently covered, it will be much easierto appreciate the story of South Africa’seconomic turnaround. It is a good story.The economic growth rate between1984 and 1993 was around 1 percent andthe average growth between 1994 and2004 was 3 percent. South Africa alsohad a double-digit inflation that hasbeen brought down to below 6 percent.Some people question the efficacy ofinflation targeting because of a beliefthat inflation targeting is something thatis practiced by developed countries. Thefact of the matter is that inflation target-ing is meant to ensure that people gettheir money’s worth at the supermarket.If what one buys for R100 is getting lessand less, that becomes a problem, partic-ularly for the poor. Inflation targeting ismeant to make it possible for people toincrease the volume of goods in theirshopping basket.

Then there is the issue of the deficit.Simply put, managing our deficit meansputting our finances in order. In otherwords, our balance sheet must enable usto attract investors and borrow at betterrates. Some people argue that SouthAfrica can afford an 8 percent deficit,which may well be the case. However,



69

because we all borrow from the samefinancial market, the reality is that ifgovernment borrows as though it is theonly player in the market, interests ratesare going to shoot up, and a whole rangeof players will be affected, includingsmall businesses and consumers.

What’s important is that South Africahas gained valuable experience andscored some achievements. We havegained confidence to undertake themajor challenges that confront us. It isconfidence born out of ten years of man-aging the South African economy andour ability to provide basic social servic-es to our people. This means that we canrebuff those who tell us that we have notachieved anything during this period.Of course there are still challenges - butthese should not be confused with aninability to achieve something.

Black middle class

Also forming part of the economic pic-ture is the increase in the middle strata,particularly by Africans, as a result ofgrowth in terms of income over the pastten years. This has been spurredthrough employment in the public sec-tor and BEE, among other factors. Thephenomenal growth of the middle classwithin a very short space of time isremarkable. What makes the growth ofthe middle class significant in terms ofeconomic growth is its consumptivenature — from furniture to cars. This isnot only an indication of the perform-ance of the economy, it is also an indica-tion of the fact that a lot of people “havearrived”.

But as we all know, averages hide astory because poverty is still a seriouschallenge. It is a moral dilemma for thisdemocratic government. What has hap-pened is that the income gaps areincreasing and these income gaps are nolonger defined in racial terms only butare also beginning to have an impactwithin the Africans.

There may be differences in putting afigure to poverty, for example using theGini-coefficient, which is a measure ofincome disparities. This can vary

between 0.4 percent to 0.7 percentdepending on where you stand in thedebate. However, there is agreementthat the bottom part of our society istrapped in poverty and these are large-ly marginalised people with less educa-tion and thus fewer possibilities ofescaping poverty. This is one of theissues that the public sector must beginto attend to.

Business and consumer confidencehave grown because of low interest ratesand as a result some of us have moremoney in our pockets. Although manyare in a jolly mode, we must alwaysremember that we are part of the globaleconomy and susceptible to externalshocks such as the price of oil. Thismeans that we have to look at our debtoverload because things can changeovernight and make life very difficult.Household consumption has increased,creating a whole range of demand forgoods and services.

But this poses a number of challengesas it is not sustainable to grow an econo-my on the basis of consumer spend only.As a result of consuming a lot ofimports, a gap is emerging betweenwhat we produce and what we con-sume, which affects our current accountdeficit. And once you have a currentaccount that is not sustainable, some-thing has to give, which is why infra-structure investment and sustainablegrowth are essential.

Public sector investment

South Africa has set itself a growth tar-get of 6 percent from an earlier 4 percenttarget. The change of targets isinformed by the fact that if we continueto grow at only 4 percent, averageincome in households will only doubleafter 25 years, unemployment will stayat 20 percent plus and we will be unableto half poverty by 2014. A 6 percentgrowth rate is likely to resolve thesechallenges, namely, doubling the aver-age household income in 15 years,reducing unemployment considerablyand halving poverty by 2014. We haveno option but to reach the 6 percent

growth rate not only to meet domestictargets but also international obligationssuch as the Millennium DevelopmentGoals.

Achieving the required 6 percentgrowth target, in a sustainable way andnot just a flash in the pan, means awhole range of actions need to be taken.But for now, let’s look at the issue ofinvestment, which is lagging behind. Aquestion that rises is the role of publicsector investment. In other words, whatinvestment activity is governmentengaged in to stimulate growth?

Many people stand on public plat-forms accusing the private sector ofbeing on an investment strike, but thefact of the matter is that the public sectoris glaringly lagging behind while theprivate sector has been upping its invest-ment. For South Africa to achieve 6 per-cent growth we need investment injec-tions of more than 23 percent of GDP,which is why the activities of the publicsector are important to achieving thistarget.

More importantly, rapid economicgrowth will stall over time in theabsence of public service deliveryimprovements. The InfrastructureDevelopment Programme, or IDP, isaimed at addressing some of the prob-lems that stand in the way of achievingthe 6 percent growth target by lookingparticularly at the need for technicalassistance. This is to address the issue ofthe skills deficit and thus open up deliv-ery bottlenecks. Although the publicsector can boast of the quality, qualifica-tions and commitment of its senior man-agers, the challenges remain becausethere is a lack project management andplanning skills, which explains whythere have been many rollovers and whysome projects have not taking off. Theprogramme has already placedTechnical Assistants (TAs) in all nineprovincial education departments, twoin health and two in roads/transportdepartments.

What can we, as government, do toeliminate bottlenecks and spur furthergrowth and development?•



70G overnment has made great

strides in communicating withthe public — in particular

around government’s programme ofaction — but it has become clear thatthere’s a need to complement publiccommunication with a major effort ofinternal communication to inform andmobilise public servants in all spheres toplay their part fully in implementation.The need is highlighted by the currentfocus on the organisation and capacity ofthe state, but equally by communicationexperience around some of the majorcurrent interventions to expand socioe-conomic opportunities, end social exclu-sion and eradicate poverty. That experi-ence emphasises that mobilisation forimplementation requires communica-tion of government’s vision and pro-gramme both to the public and to thepublic service so that all can play theirpart in the People’s Contract.

So, what are some of the key questions

around communicating with public ser-vants?

The focus of communication in anyperiod derives from what is needed toachieve our objectives in the prevailingenvironment. Two factors are critical indefining the prevailing environment,over and above issues shaping the imme-diate environment that evolves fromyear to year, month to month and day today.

The first is that the start of this periodwas marked by both the beginning ofthe term of a government elected with anew mandate and the beginning of theSecond Decade of Freedom. This hasgiven decisive weight to the imperativeof aligning communication with the pol-icy process.

Exciting possibilities

Secondly we are experiencing “anunprecedented confluence of encourag-

Communicatingwith Civil Servants

Tony Trew Government

Communication and

Information System (GCIS)

Deputy CEO: Strategy &

Content Development, says

the relationship between

“communicating

government’s vision” and

“mobilising the public

service” poses a particular

challenge for government

communication.



71ing possibilities”. Public mood is as pos-itive as it was in the euphoria of the tran-sition in 1994. Polls on the sense ofwhether the country is going in the rightdirection as well as the various econom-ic confidence indicators reflect this. Thisis in part an effect of the Ten Year cele-brations — and elections — as peoplereflected on the country’s progress.Sustained positive economic trends haveplayed a major part.

The Ten Year Review itself drew con-clusions with critical relevance for com-munication. The first concerns partner-ship and derives from limitations in thecapacity of the state. Progress was great-est in the first ten years in areas directlyunder the control of the state — chang-ing laws, providing social services, trans-forming state institutions.

Where there was reliance on partner-ship with others, or on their leadership,progress was more limited — such asinvestment, job-creation, and empower-

ment. So, building partnership, a peo-ple’s contract, is a priority for thisdecade. For communications this putsemphasis on articulating a vision thatcan harness all of society in united actionaround common development objec-tives. It implies also the importance ofbuilding communication partnershipsthat can promote such a vision, consoli-date pride in our country and a positiveimage of our country abroad.

A further conclusion of the ten yearreview was the need to improve stateperformance. This applies naturally tobetter performance of the governmentcommunication system. A third conclu-sion relates to the key role of economicprogrammes in the coming period,informed in part by recognition of thepersistence of two economies in onecountry, with emphasis on measures topromote the integration of all of societyinto a growing economy that benefits all.This places particular weight on com-

munication to promote the success of“Second Economy” interventions.

To these communication prioritiesemanating from the Ten Year Reviewshould be added those arising from thepositioning of the new government asone committed to faster implementationof a detailed programme to fulfil a man-date emphasising job-creating growthand reducing poverty. In particular thisrequires popularising the programme ofaction with emphasis on implementa-tion.

Reviewing progress

What follows is not an exhaustive state-ment of priorities, but a look at the mostrecent major initiatives that havebrought significant advances in theform, content and impact of communi-cation.

Popularising the programme of actionwith emphasis on implementation: This



72

core activity has steadily intensified withincreasing attention to expanding reachand using languages, styles and plat-forms with which most people are com-fortable.

The annual campaign to disseminatethe programme of action following thePresident’s State of the Nation Addresshas grown in scale and in the range ofmulti-media products.

There has been greater use of broad-cast media and at the same time innova-tion into more popular print formats -such as a photo story version of theProgramme of Action, for the first timelast year, serialised over five weeks innewspapers with the greatest reachamongst the poor. Dissemination of thisinformation has become integral to theImbizo Focus Weeks held each year.

An important innovation introducedlast year is the publication on the gov-ernment web site of the detailed deci-sions and timeframes that define theProgramme of Action and the regularupdate of its record of progress. Thiselement of government’s move towardsa government-wide monitoring andevaluation system has had a significantimpact on media coverage — and there-fore on what the public knows — aboutgovernment activities. It provides aframe of reference for media reportingand analysis that is available to all, aframework defined by what govern-ment has committed itself to doing.

Broadly, public awareness of the con-tent of Programme of Action hasincreased compared with several yearsback. On the other hand it has notchanged much over the past two orthree years. We need some way of fur-ther extending that awareness, if SouthAfrica is indeed to be a nation of citizensactively engaged in improving their ownlives and the well-being of the nation.

Promoting partnership around com-mon development objectives: If oneenduring theme has defined democraticgovernment’s message, expressed in dif-ferent words at different times, it hasbeen that of unity in action for change,the partnership which remains a priori-ty of the current period. This includes

cooperation both between governmentand sectors of society and within gov-ernment.

Imbizo brings public and government— in all spheres — into interactionaround implementation of the pro-gramme of action. It has proved a verypopular and steadily growing platformfor social mobilisation and buildingpartnership for development.

Informed by the experience of the firstyears of imbizo, it has now become moreintegrated with municipal processes, inparticular by alignment of theMunicipal Imbizo Programme withProject Consolidate. Cabinet has justagreed on a detailed programme inwhich all Ministers and DeputyMinisters will be engaging with localmunicipalities identified by ProjectConsolidate, complementing and feed-ing into the work being done by thePresident and Deputy President inDistrict Municipal Izimbizo. This newphase reflects the evolution of imbizofrom interchange of concerns and pro-grammes to social mobilisation andadministrative engagement for imple-mentation and solution of problems.

Seminal events like the Tenth Anni-versary of Freedom provide moments ofgreat potential for advancing nationalunity around common goals. Theydemand special efforts of government toprovide a compelling communicationframework for the expression of ashared vision. The hosting of the 2010world cup brings similar opportunities.

The development of communicationpartnerships has relevance also to partic-ular departments and policy initiatives.Those sectors of society, experts andstakeholders who have an interest inpolicies are often very effective in com-municating the issues.

Of special importance, and impactingespecially on the work of departmentsconcerned with international economicmarketing, is the work of theInternational Marketing Council estab-lished as a partnership of governmentand private sector to bring coordinationinto those efforts.

Strengthening liaison amongst such

departments and the IMC is currentlyreceiving attention, intensifying com-munication around economic and otheropportunities. Unless those who couldbenefit from programmes expandingeconomic opportunities are aware of theopportunities, the policies will fail.

In the case of our Second Economyinterventions, the challenge is height-ened by the fact that those who are mar-ginalized from the main-stream econo-my have least access to information.Add the complexity of many pro-grammes and their sometimes frag-mented nature, the need for a singlecommunication campaign to present allsuch opportunities in a single vehicleand popular form becomes compelling.

Such a campaign on economic oppor-tunities was initiated in 2004 by theFOSAD Economic Cluster — possiblythe first cluster funded programme. Thepublication is being revised and turnedinto a TV serial to be broadcast by theSABC. The response indicated both theneed for such campaigns and a need toextend it to all areas of socio-opportuni-ty, not just economic. The governmentmagazine to be launched shortly willsimilarly have a focus on practical infor-mation people can use to improve theirlives. This area of work can be consid-ered a successful innovation — but it hasalso been one that has emphasised someof the challenges of mobilising publicservants for implementation.

Critical to the dissemination of thiskind of information is an infrastructureof platforms and intermediaries able toreach people who need the information.In particular that would includeMPCCs, CDWs and others in provincialand municipal government, all drawingon the back-office resources of the BathoPele Gateway and relevant structures innational departments. They need towork with one another, in alignmentwith local integrated development plansand provincial growth and developmentstrategies, as well as the organisationsrelevant to implementation of Growthand Development Summit commit-ments.

Such structures therefore define a ter-



73

rain of strategic importance for commu-nication to mobilise for implementation.

So what have the improvements beenin government’s communication sys-tem?

Before GCIS was established therewas a debate whether it should be a serv-ice — doing the communication ofdepartments, for departments — or asystem — bringing coordination , inte-gration and coherence to the communi-cation of departments by departments.Those who said “S” is for “System” wonthe day. The communication approachthat resulted is informed by a few basicprinciples. There is considerable pro-gress in applying them, but with someunevenness creating a constant need tostrengthen and maintain the system:• Each department/ministry should

have one integrated communicationcomponent, headed by a senior official— preferably a chief director — withaccess to the senior managementdeliberations of the department —responsible to the political principalbut managed by the accounting offi-cer.

• Communication processes should bealigned with policy processes andcycles of governance. Thus we havean annual strategizing cycle alignedwith the Lekgotla and State of theNation Address (and then State of theProvince Addresses). Out of thesecome national, cluster and depart-mental communication programmesfor the year, informed by (and deriv-ing from) the national framework, aswell as strategies and programmes forparticular campaigns or policy pro-cesses; Cabinet’s two-monthly moni-toring and evaluation of the Pro-gramme of Action; monthly FOSADcluster meetings; and fortnightly cabi-net meetings defined further commu-nication cycles.

Within departments, it is strongly rec-ommended that departments’ commu-nication components meet weekly tomonitor implementation of strategy andidentify action to be taken, in the contextof the department’s current imperativesand the communication environment.

• A major current initiative is the exten-sion to the municipal sphere of thiscommunication methodology —building the communication systemstarted in 1998 at national level thenextended to provinces. Its extension tothe local sphere brings in sight thecompletion of the task of creating anational communication system.

From this brief review it is clear thatthere is a wide repertoire of communica-tion with the public, still evolving andnot without problems, but makingprogress. It is common cause that we do

require an intense campaign of internalcommunication to mobilise the publicservice for implementation.

The Batho Pele revitalisation is part ofthe response. Government does alsocommunicate with its public service inthe same ways that it communicateswith the rest of society. Public servantsare members of the public; they readnewspapers, listen to radio and watchTV. Publishing the Programme ofAction is also communication thatmobilises for implementation, as any ofus could testify who have had the expe-rience of an approaching public dead-line!

And there are of course many circu-lars and many workshops. The questionis whether this is sufficient to mobilisefor implementation? When we plan theimplementation of programmes, andattend to supporting communication, dowe give to “internal” communicationthe same systematic attention that wegive to communication with the public?Do we draw on the same rich repertoireof products, media and platforms?

The experience of the EconomicOpportunities campaign suggested thatwe need to supplement communicationon the ethics of public service with morecommunication that builds understand-ing of the content of our programmes inthe implementing structures.

An illustration of how we sometimesassume there is no need to communicatewith civil servants (and a somewhatembarrassing one) was the recognitionthat our information products, such asthose on the programme of action, havegenerally been distributed entirely out-side of government leaving no copies forthose who work in government.

What are the communication require-ments for mobilising the public serviceto meet those challenges? What would ittake, by way of products, platforms andmedia, to meet these requirements? Ifthese questions become routinely part ofwhat we ask whenever we are approach-ing implementation, it would indeedbuild our capacity for implementationand strengthen the People’s Contract forGrowth and Development. •

In the case ofour SecondEconomy

interventions,the challengeis heightened

by the factthat thosewho are

marginalizedfrom the

main-streameconomyhave leastaccess to

information


SMS Conference In te rnat iona l Case S tudy S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

74 T he key role of the public service iseffective implementation and deliv-ery. Without implementation

capacity, policies are but good intentions.I would like to offer my own perspec-

tive about some of the challenges facingthe public service in Singapore. Myproposition is that in seeking to buildservice-wide capacity, the key challengeand role of central government today isto align public agencies to deliver onnational outcomes.

Many governments face commonchallenges today: globalisation is drivingup public expectations, intensifying statecompetition for talent and investmentsand compounding pressures on socialcohesion. At the same time, the volatili-ty, the interconnected and complexnature of many issues make the businessof government more demanding thanever.

The pressure on government to bemore responsive to citizens and theexpertise required to deal with complexissues has driven many governmentstowards greater decentralization. In

Singapore, over the past 20 years, thenumber of Statutory Boards has grownfrom 27 in 1985 to 68 today. (Statutoryboards are autonomous agencies createdby an Act of Parliament to fulfill specif-ic operational functions.) In many ways,this has been an adaptive, evolutionaryresponse to a changing policy environ-ment. Policy implementation has beendecentralized to give agencies more flex-ibility and autonomy so that they canbetter respond to the customers and citi-zens they serve.

At the same time, since the mid-1990s’authority over many human resourcepolicies and decisions on the allocationof financial resources have been progres-sively devolved from the centre to giveMinistries and Statutory Boards thefreedom to manage their own resources.For example, we moved from line itemto block budgeting to give agencies theflexibility to allocate resources to newprogrammes and areas of priority —without having to seek approval fromthe Ministry of Finance.

In such a decentralized structure,

Towards aCommon Ethos

Ms Yeoh Chan Yan, the

Dean of the Civil Service

College and deputy

secretary for development,

Public Service Division in the

Prime Minister’s office,

explains how Singapore is

dealing with the challenge

of creating a decentralized

government but at the

same time ensuring that all

government departments

and agencies work towards

a common goal.


SMS Conference In te rnat iona l Case S tudyS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

75

every Permanent Secretary and chiefexecutive officer (CEO) of a publicagency has both the accountability andthe autonomy to set directions, buildorganizational capacity and manageresources so as to deliver on agency out-comes.

This autonomy also makes room for adiversity of approaches, viewpoints andsubcultures across the service. InSingapore, we believe that the flexibilityand diversity of a decentralized govern-ment structure is adaptive, enhancesresilience and our ability to respondquickly to the flux and complexity of aglobalised world.

However, decentralization poses itsown challenges. Firstly, in a decentral-ized structure, the level of organization-al development and implementationcapacity tends to be uneven across thepublic service. While some agencies areknown for their organizational excel-lence, others pay scant attention todeveloping capacity for sustainableresults.

Secondly, many of the national chal-lenges, such as demographics or socialcohesion, are cross cutting issues, requireinter-agency coordination and a coher-ent whole-of-government response.Decentralization compounds this chal-lenge. One question we are grapplingwith in Singapore is how we can bestbalance the diversity and robustness of adecentralised structure with the need forcoherence and coordination.

Service-wide capacity

Let me first address the question of howwe have sought to drive the building ofpublic sector-wide capacity in a decen-tralized environment.

In 1995, the Singapore Public Serviceinitiated a public sector reform move-ment called Public Service for the 21stCentury or PS21. There are currentlythree areas of focus. Firstly, we seek todevelop strong public sector leadershipat every level and to engage our peoplein the spirit of teamwork, innovation,continuous learning and improvement.Secondly, we seek to manage our sys-

tems better for greater effectiveness bycutting the beaurocracy, promotingorganizational excellence and drivingefficiency. Thirdly, we want theSingapore public service to focus on cus-tomers and citizens — to delight cus-tomers and engage the citizens we serve.

I will not go into all the details of thePS21 movement here, but allow me tohighlight one initiative, which has beento encourage the adoption of modernmanagement tools across the service.We encourage all public sector organi-

zations to put in place organizationalexcellence frameworks, and attainnationally recognized certification suchas the Singapore Quality Award (whichis the Singapore equivalent of theEuropean Quality Award), ISO 9001,and the People Developer Standard. Ifwell implemented, these standards canbuild organizational capacity for consis-tently better performance.

The Singapore Quality Award allowsour agencies to be compared with thebest organizations in both the public and

private sectors, as it is the national busi-ness excellence benchmark. It encour-ages agencies to take a structuredapproach to aligning an organisation’sleadership, strategic planning, cus-tomers, key information, core processes,and people development in order toobtain sustainable results.

Today, 70% of all public sector agen-cies in Singapore have obtained theSingapore Quality Class, so the currentPS21 focus is on organizational peerlearning, to encourage progressive agen-cies to blaze the trail and for the rest ofthe service to level up.

We see the public sector reform move-ment as the collective responsibility ofthe entire public sector leadership tobuild service-wide capacity. This is not aprogramme that can be delegated orpushed by a single office. Thus, allPermanent Secretaries and CEOs par-ticipate in various committees to set thepriorities for the PS21 movement, devel-op initiatives, oversee their implementa-tion and report to the Committee ofPermanent Secretaries.

Networked government

A key strategic challenge that we see ishow to align public sector agencies toenhance implementation of whole-of-government outcomes. In Singapore,government is still organized primarilyalong vertical lines of accountabilitywith limited formal incentives for inter-agency cooperation. We need to watchout for duplication of efforts, agenciesworking at cross-purposes, or worse,failing to envision, drive and optimizeoutcomes at the national level.

Again, our approach seeks to balancethe flexibilities, expertise and respon-siveness we want in a decentralizedstructure with the vision, coordinationand coherence required to serve nation-al interests and outcomes.

Many governments have swung backand forth over the years between decen-tralization and centralization of powers.In recent years, many Commonwealthcountries have moved to strengthen therole of the Cabinet Office, Treasury or

We seek tomanage our

systems betterfor greater

effectivenessby cutting thebeaurocracy,promoting

organizationalexcellence and

drivingefficiency



76

the Prime Minister’s Office to improvehorizontal management and delivery ongovernment priorities.

In Singapore, the role of the centrecontinues to be debated, and while ourapproach is still evolving, we have as yetresisted growing the centre or makingsignificant structural changes to increasecentral command and control. Instead,we recognize the need for a small butactive centre, which pro-actively buildsthe organizational software required toget people from different agencies towork towards common purposes. Ourapproach is more about aligning keyorganisational elements — vision, lead-ership, mindsets, perspectives, ideas,relationships, values, structures, strategicplanning processes, funding and humanresource levers, — than it is about formalstructures and central directives.

Leadership and accountability

The key to alignment lies in leadership.Ultimately, in a democratic parliamen-tary system, the elected political leader-ship provides the national vision anddirection to inspire and unite state andnon-state players. The Cabinet remainsthe key working forum to set long termstrategic priorities, coordinate anddecide on strategic trade-offs.

Accountability structures at the politi-cal level are also needed to drive andclear roadblocks for strategic nationalissues which involve several agencies ormay not even be “owned” by any oneagency. In Singapore, these issues havebeen taken up by inter-ministerial com-mittees. One such committee is current-ly looking at the issue of the wideningincome gap. Other committees look atdemographic issues such as the low birthrate and the challenges of an ageingpopulation. Another cross-agency prob-lem, terrorism, saw the pooling togetherof expertise and efforts under a NationalSecurity Coordination Secretariat. Thiscomes under the Prime Minister’sOffice, headed by a CoordinatingDeputy Prime Minister.

Structures and processes

At the level of the public service, wehave traditionally had the Committee ofPermanent Secretaries which meets reg-ularly and serves as a platform for align-ment among the public sector leader-ship. We are also evolving new struc-tures and processes aimed at aligningstrategic planning with resources andimplementation capacity.

Firstly, we have developed strategicissues groups which are coordinated bythe strategic policy office in the PrimeMinister’s Office. These are inter-min-istry teams sponsored by PermanentSecretaries that study strategic cross-agency issues and make policy recom-mendations. They are a vehicle for thegovernment to think ahead and drivepolicy development on emerging cross-cutting issues. Permanent Secretaries ofeconomic and social ministries andagencies also chair the Economic Forumand Social Forum respectively. TheseForums serve to resolve cross-agencyissues and clear obstacles to implementa-tion.

Secondly, we have developed a strate-gic planning process at the whole-of-government level. Facilitated by theStrategic Policy Office, the national sce-narios-to-strategy process sees seniorofficials come together to brainstormchallenges, opportunities and scenariosfor the future. This process reviews longterm national strategy in the light oftrends and possible discontinuities anddevelops strategic plans aligned towhole-of-government outcomes.

Thirdly, we are aligning this scenarioplanning process with the budget plan-ning process, so that funds (resources)can be channeled to strategies and pro-grammes which serve whole-of-govern-ment outcomes. The budget planningprocess ensures that Ministries aligntheir own strategic plans to whole-of-government national outcomes. In themedium term, it also provides theMinistry of Finance with a strategicbasis to allocate resources between pro-grammes and determine the size ofblock budget for each ministry. Whilewe have moved from line-item to block

budgets, we use what we call theReinvestment Fund to drive new cross-agency programmes aligned to whole-of-government outcomes.

Fourthly, we recognize that knowl-edge management — leveraging on thehorizontal flow of information, knowl-edge and best practices — is another keyto building the capacity of a networkedgovernment.

We see ICT as a strategic enabler forrealizing our vision of being “manyagencies, one government”. While e-services seek to deliver integrated publicservices from a customer perspective; e-governance is about harnessing knowl-edge in policymaking and implementa-tion, as well as engaging citizens andother stakeholders.

Fifthly, a strong focus on customersand citizens helps to anchor our perspec-tive in policy development and thedelivery of public services. We recognizethat effective public consultation andcommunication is a critical part of goodgovernance and successful policy imple-mentation. Apart from training pro-grammes, we have developed a portalfor public agencies to share good prac-tices in the area of public engagement.Every Cabinet Memorandum alsorequires agencies to state whether thepublic was consulted in the policy devel-opment process. Agencies must alsostate their plans for public consultationand communication.

Leadership

Finally, Singapore has always held thebelief that leadership is the key to doingthe right things and doing them right.

We believe that the public sector musthave its fair share of top talent. We haveensured this through competitive remu-neration and a strong talent manage-ment system. We award governmentscholarships, identify the most promis-ing public servants and other candidatesfrom the private sector for absorptioninto the premier Administrative Serviceand develop them systematicallythrough a series of postings across agen-cies and key milestone training pro-



77grammes.Apart from developing leadership

and management competencies, ourleadership development programmeshave several objectives. Firstly, to fostera common ethos we focus on building acommon understanding of the princi-ples of governance which underpin eco-nomic, social and security policies inSingapore and strengthening commit-ment to our core Public Service Valuesof integrity, service and excellence.Secondly, through postings to differentMinistries, and various policy forums,we seek to develop among public serviceleaders, a shared perspective of nationalinterests, rather than take a narrow,agency-centric view. Thirdly, by bring-ing people from different agenciestogether, we cultivate the informal rela-tional networks which enable them towork effectively across boundaries.

While we have a strategic focus ondeveloping the Administrative Serviceand public sector leaders, we recognizethat training and developing all publicofficers is an important part of capacity

building. Under the public sectorreform movement, all public officers,from the counter clerk to the permanentsecretary, are entitled to 100 traininghours a year. While it is the responsibili-ty of each agency to equip their officerswith the functional competenciesrequired to perform their jobs effective-ly, we now recognize that building theimplementation capacity for networkedgovernment demands that we take abroader view of talent management anddevelop competent leaders. We are thusextending milestone programmes tomanagers at all levels across the service,where we bring supervisors from differ-ent agencies together to give them asense that they belong to the wider pub-lic service.

To sum up, state institutions mustadapt and change the way they areorganized to deal with the more unpre-dictable and complex world. Except incertain contexts such as emergencies,traditional hierarchical structures whichrely on central directives alone will notbe adaptive. Instead a decentralized,

horizontal network of partners andstakeholders which provide diverse per-spectives, resources and expertise will berequired to deal with complex nationalchallenges. However, it remains the roleof the central agencies and the collectiveresponsibility of the public sector leader-ship to drive service-wide capacitybuilding and to align the many agenciesand stakeholders behind a commonvision and coherent strategies.

In Singapore, our approach to devel-oping implementation capacity has beento align key organizational systems andto pay attention to soft issues like organi-zational and people development inorder to obtain sustainable results. Wehave evolved new structures to deal withcross-cutting issues and sought to alignour strategic planning and budgetprocesses towards whole-of-governmentoutcomes. But we see that developingcompetent public sector leaders, whoshare a common ethos and have sharedperspectives as well as strong relationalnetworks, are what give life to a net-worked government. •



78

E. Magosi, Public Service

Reforms Co-ordinator in

Botswana, looks at how the

country is tackling the gap

between sound policies and

good delivery.

W e are a nation that tries a lotof things. We learn fromother people. If something

seems to be working, we stick with it fora while until it causes problems and thenwe change.

Botswana has gone through majortransformation ever since it becameindependent in 1966. The majorachievement for the country has beenthe development of the National Vision2016, which sets out in detail strategiesthat we will enable us to realize ournational aspirations.

In addition, we have national devel-opment plans, which are embarked onevery six years when priorities are setand refined. We also have public servicereforms that are critical because we usethem to enhance service delivery.

Research conducted in Botswana sug-gests that we are good at developingpolicies and plans, but more often thannot, implementation and delivery eludethe entire government system. So thereforms are trying to drive us towardsimproving service delivery.

I will dwell on the performance of thedelivery system which is one of themany public service reforms we are

engaged in. We consider this one to be akey reform initiative in the sense that ittries to focus the entire government sys-tem.

The performance government systemwas brought in because there were seri-ous problems in the delivery of govern-ment services to Botswana citizens.There are four primary problem areas:• Firstly, we had the plans and

resources, but we could not deliver onthe promises that the governmentmade to the constituency;

• Secondly, the public service hadbecome so insensitive that civil ser-vants were the masters instead of theservants. The Director-Generals,Directors and Supervisor’s officeswere no-go areas to the public. Thepublic did not know where to go andwho to contact when they had prob-lems. Citizens did not think they weregetting their money’s worth;

• Thirdly, we needed to align planningwith the budgeting process; and

• Lastly, we had to ensure that there iseffective performance in delivery bythe whole organization and individu-als.

As a result, for the first time in the his-

Botswana Developsa Strategy for

Better Delivery



79

tory of public service and development,there is a public service vision that linkswhat we want to do with how we haveto behave as a public service. Every gov-ernment department has strategic plansthat chart the direction that has to betaken for the next five or six years. Wehave also brought annual performanceplans which are commitments by everyministry or department on what it doesfor the next twelve months. It is out ofthese that we monitor the implementa-tion of policies, programs and projects.Also attached to the annual perform-ance is the budget. Parliament, whichgives us resources in terms of funding,relies on the annual performance plan.

Managed performance

We also have performance agreements.Every director, head of department upto the head of the civil service signs per-formance agreements every year. Theagreement states the things that an offi-cial will do in his or her specified year.Performance is reviewed every threemonths.

For performance agreements frombelow the level of the director to thecleaner, we use performance develop-ment plans, which are also more or lessperformance agreements. We also haveperformance reviews. We believe that toeffectively monitor performance andimplementation you must have the toolsin place so that when you start trackingperformance you know the agreementsand the tools that are going to help youto grade and interpret performance.

An Annual Performance Plan (APP)basically states and defines your objec-tives and shows targets that are sup-posed to be reached. For example, in theMinistry of Labour and Home Affairs, itused to take three months to producethe national identity card. Last year theyset a goal of reducing the process tothree weeks. They went beyond thatand now they are reducing it to morethan half a week. So they went beyondtheir target.

The budget in the public service ofBotswana is informed by the annual

plans that are developed by departmentsand ministries. The plans are the onesthat are used to get requests from parlia-ment. The committee of supply in par-liament will approve the budget on thebasis of an annual performance planpresented to it.

Internal corporate management

Every director and above, in Botswana,manages his or her human resources. Ofcourse they work with the HR depart-ment, but it is the director’s responsibili-ty to make sure that he or she has theright people in his or her departmentand ministry.

Clearly defined outputs and measure-ments are important especially whendelivery is reviewed. That is why targetsand measures that are to be taken tomeet the targets have to be agreed onfrom the onset. When performance isreviewed, the discussion is about what Ihave done. Here, there is a need to elim-inate “stories” and focus on the actualwork done.

Lastly, there are quarterly reviewsthat can be done as frequently as possibledepending on the type of work and theamount that is produced from it. Thehead of the civil service should knowwhat should be achieved at specificquarters of the year. If a senior managerhas not met the targets, he or she shouldstate what she is going to do in order tomake sure that the targets are met.

Senior executives are directly involvedwith issues of internal corporate man-agement. They are managing sub-war-ranties of budgets, people, and dealingwith information on a regular basis andmanaging resources. If senior managersdo not understand these processes, theyhave not understood their business orwhat they are doing to make sure thatthey improve their performance andenhance delivery.

What happens during a performancereview? During these reviews we focuson agreed outputs. The conversation isnot on the target. Rather, we look atwhat is supposed to be done and assessthe progress. We ask, “are we on track

or not?” The review tracks perform-ance. Secondly, there is a form that isused at the highest level that we call theAssessment Form for directors andabove. This is when you recall decisions,observations and what you, as the ownerof the performance agreement, aregoing to do as well as what your superi-ors are going to do to make sure that youperform better. There might be a needto enhance certain skills. It is not onlymy responsibility to ensure that I getthose skills, it is also the responsibilityand prerogative of my supervisor tomake sure that for me to deliver, I musthave those skills. If I do not perform mysupervisor does not perform. This ishow performance management systemworks in Botswana.

A week or two before I meet with thehead of the civil service, I must havesubmitted a report on what I have doneduring the review period. He or shemust have read it by the time we meet.This saves time because when we meetwe do not waste time discussing thingsthat are going well. It is mostly the redand yellow areas that are discussed -areas where there are problems. If I amexperiencing problems, I must go to thereview with solutions on how I amgoing to deal with those problems. Themeeting is not the forum to start strate-gising about how things will be done. Ihave to have thought about what I amgoing to do and the head of the civilservice must either approve or turndown my proposals. By doing perform-ance reviews this way, we have cut thetime for these meetings from 30 minutesto between 5 and 10 minutes.

Emphasis on measurement

When we started this process, even thelawyers, the Attorney General, did notbelieve that performance can be meas-ured. Now when we talk about effectiveprosecution of cases, we are talkingnumbers. To the common person on thestreet, it is not justice if am arrested andonly brought before the court 24 or 36months later. The emphasis on measur-ing is the only way that you can track



80

performance.There are five areas that we focus on

during the review. The first involvesprograms, policies, projects and imple-mentation. The focus is on how far isone in terms of implementing policiesand programs. The second is strategicleadership. Because we are goingthrough transformation, we felt it neces-sary to include this in the review process.Here we look at how you manage teams,performance, and how you delegate.The third focus area of the review isfinancial management. Ever since I wasa student at the University of Botswana,I have not seen the Public AccountsCommittee Reports and the Auditor-General Reports that spoke about thepublic service and the accounting offi-cers. The key question is whether theofficial whose performance is beingreviewed has followed the necessaryprocesses and whether the functions areworking effectively. So we are holdingsenior officers accountable for the man-agement of resources.

The official being reviewed shouldalso inform the head of civil service ofthe efficacy of knowledge retainingstrategies, whether they work or not.We are also keen on how people aremanaged to enhance their collectiveenergies for the benefit of service deliv-ery.

Customer focus

As a result of the performance manage-ment system, even the grand parents inthe villages can go to the post office anddemand a service. It is the public thatcan make the public service work.Batswana people are known to be veryhumble. But if you do not give them aservice they have learned to demand it.The key thing about the customer is theway we behave. You may not providethe service that the member of the pub-lic wants, but the manner in which youtreat that individual can make them feelhappy even if they did not get what theywanted. This is what we are trying toachieve, even though we have notachieved it yet — we aspire to it.

We have projects as ministries, partic-ularly development projects which costthe government a lot of money. They arebuilding houses, offices and so forth. Asthey build these, the manner in whichthey supervise those projects has alwaysbeen a problem. A 15 million Pula isusually double the original cost by thetime it is completed. This is what used tohappen in Botswana. It is still happeningto some extent, but they are putting sys-tems in place to start managing that as aresult performance management sys-tem.

Challenges and solutions

The permanent secretary to thePresident reviews all the director-Generals on the quarterly basis. At thebeginning, it was not a pretty sight, butit has improved. People are beginning tounderstand why they have to go throughsuch processes. The permanent secretaryprovides reports half-yearly to Cabineton the performance of the public service.The Cabinet discusses these reports andcan identify institutions that need assis-tance. The same reports go to the vice-president whose role it is to manage thepublic service and government. Thevice-president reviews the performanceof ministries and meets cabinet minis-ters on a quarterly basis to find out how

are they doing and what are the majorchallenges. The focus here is mainly ondevelopment projects — those that aredelivering services to primary schools,hospitals, and so forth. The ministries,the Director-Generals, the permanentsecretary of the President and the Vice-President all produce their reports. Alsothe Deputy Director-Generals, heads ofdepartments produce reports.

We link these reports to the NationalDevelopment Plan. So we reconcilewhat the minister has done in terms ofreporting to the National DevelopmentPlan so that we can begin to tell whetherthe government is on track in terms ofdelivery or not. We also have a DistrictDevelopment Plan. The same process isdone with the District DevelopmentPlan.

What works?

For you to monitor implementation andperformance you have to have systemsthat will enable you to track it. It is evenbetter to develop a system that makessense to you as an individual, as adepartment, or as a section. You have totell us how long it used to take you todeliver a service and how you will cutshort that delivery process.

Also important is the issue of timedintervention. Performance managementhas enabled us to identify departmentsthat need assistance and provide themwith necessary support.

What seems not to be working? Thepriorities of the cabinet have to be thepriorities of government and the publicservice. More often than not the cabinetcomes in the middle of the year and sayswe are going to do this and they put adirective out that these are the things todo without looking at the availability ofresources. They add this to the other pri-orities that they have given you. There isnever a conversation that says “we havegiven you these priorities and how arewe juggling them” which is moreimportant. Last year we had the firstCabinet retreat with a focus on publicservice to ensure that government worksas a unit. •

You may notprovide the servicethat the member ofthe public wants,but the manner inwhich you treat

that individual canmake them feel

happy even if theydid not get what

they wanted



81Iwant to explain what the Departmentof Education (DoE), Department ofLabour (DoL) and the Department of

Science and Technology (DST) aredoing to build a solid skills base for sus-tainable development. In my experience,many Senior Management staff as wellas other public servants tend to talkeither about being glad that their chil-dren are going to escape the new cur-riculum or, that they are going to sendtheir children to private schools. This ishorrifying. Here, I intend to make surethat you have a deeper understanding ofwhat we are doing in education to buildthe solid skills base and to make youadvocates of what it is that the govern-ment is trying to do.

Current public discourse suggests thatskills development is something that youcan do very quickly and that it will thenbe able to lead quickly to the acceleratedgrowth of the economy. When peopletalk about the skills base, they tend tofocus on vocational skills. The way thatthe DoE with DoL and DST approachthis, is that we need to start by laying thefoundations for skills development.

The Deputy President indicated thisin her introduction to the AcceleratedGrowth Strategy when she said she sawskills development in three levels, name-ly the basic foundation level, the inter-mediate level and the higher educationlevel.

I want to concentrate on the area oflaying the foundations and the interme-diary skills. I will start by looking at thegoals that government hopes to achieveand the interventions that we will intro-duce over the next 5-10 years. It is to thecredit of the South African governmentthat we have managed to reach the tar-gets for primary school and universityenrollments well ahead of the 2015deadline set out in the millennium goalsfor developing counties. In fact, in 2006it looks as though we will have a millionchildren, aged 16, in Grade 10.

The other two foundations, the inte-grated and child development strategyand enrolling all five year olds at GradeR, are not so much about quality but arequestions of access. We have a long wayto go. I want to disaggregate thembecause I think it is important to say that

Building Skills forSustainable Growth

Ms Penny Vinjevold, a

Deputy-Director General in

the Department of

Education, highlights the key

initiatives of the department

in the areas of innovations,

further education and

training, and curriculum

development.



82the ECD strategy is an integrated strate-gy with the Departments of Health andSocial Development. This is targeted atchildren of up to 4 years of age. This isnot a strategy that aims to institutional-ize children. It is much more abouthealth, safety and cognitive develop-ment than putting all children into achildhood centre.

Nonetheless, we do have to expandaccess of the 0 to 4 year olds to child-hood centers. Perhaps more important-ly, those that are involved in lookingafter children need to know that theirrole is not just about looking after thebaby. This is especially in working classfamilies. It is important here that cogni-tive development takes place. One ofour strategies is to ensure the correctstimulations happen in the 0 to 4 agegroup. That is what happens in manymiddle class families and childhoodcenters.

The second strategy is enrolling all 5year olds in Grade R. Unfortunately, thedata is not good. It seems to us that thereare 3 000 children in Grade A out of 1million, but at the same time there aremany independent childhood centersand many independent Grade R centers.

Little centers of 5 to 10 children alsofocus on the same function. So you can-not talk about specific data here, weneed to get more.

Like the ECD strategy, this is aboutgetting all learners into an extra year ofschooling. It is a time when they are veryamenable and able to absorb. It is impor-tant for us to know that 5 year olds getan extra year of schooling which pro-vides the pre-literacy, the pre-communi-cation skills that gives children a goodstart when they get to school. The goalwe have set for ourselves in Education isto have all 5 year olds enrolled in GradeR classrooms by 2010.

Improving the quality of primaryschools provision

The results have not been good in manyof the international studies that SouthAfrica has participated in. Many peopleare concerned about the reading andcalculation levels of our Grade threeand Grade 6 learners. I think that con-cern is well founded and that we have todo something about it. There are stud-ies that say that the reading and calcu-lating capacities are not determined by

the environment. You will find kidswho are taught in poorly equippedrooms being able to read, write and cal-culate like the most privileged children.The point that we need to make is thatwe cannot allow our teachers and ourchildren to be in overcrowded classes, inschools where there is no water, electric-ity, toilets, not enough desks, chairs.

So the capitilisation of our poorestschools which started this year seeks tomake sure that every young person from6 to 9 years has the basic facilities tolearn to read and write. The mostimportant thing we want to do is tomake sure that every child has a hun-dred reading books in their own lan-guage and classroom. This hope canchange the love of reading and the abil-ity to read. Of course this is not the totalsolution, it begins with what the teacherdoes, but at the same time it is a neces-sary condition for improving readingand writing capacity. No-fee schools area controversial decision, but aimed atmaking sure that our poorest people areable to access quality education. Thesethree interventions provide basic re-sources for our schools.

There is a strong emphasis on read-ing, writing and calculating and testingthem to see whether there is improve-ment, both against our curriculum andinternationally. It is important to see ifwe have laid the foundations.

Intermediary skills

What is important in the intermediaryskills is to improve the throughput ofGrade 9 to 12 and to increase the enroll-ment and throughput to vocational pro-grammes in FET colleges. As I indicat-ed earlier, next year we will have a mil-lion children in Grade 10, but I think itis almost guaranteed that by 2008 wewill have 500,000 people who will writethe national senior certificate. This hasbeen a trend for the last 8 to 9 years.Currently we have 600,000 Grade 10swhich drops dramatically to 550,000Grade 11s. Clearly there is a drop-outtrend and we are certain that thoseyoung people are not going out to FET



83

colleges. They often cannot afford toaccess FET colleges.

Interventions for development

We have to do three things. Firstly, wehave to ensure the basics — reading,writing and numeracy skills have beenput in place in the first 9 years. Many ofthose who drop out have just notattained the necessary skills for learning.The second thing is that many youngpeople do not have access to career guid-ance, to choosing the correct subjects.We will go through a campaign (usingthe Sunday Times newspaper) with theGrade 9s to make sure that they choosethe right subjects, that they know aboutFET colleges and that they know thatthe decisions they take in Grade 9 canaffect their lives. So the second thingthat we need to put into place other thenthe basic skills, is to make sure that thereis good career guidance for all ouryoung people in Grade 9.

For the children who are unemployedand out of school, we would also like toestablish a student support unit at everyFET college. While there are only 50FET colleges, they have multiple sites.So there are 210 sites available to us. Webelieve that the student support unit canprovide career guidance, not only to thelearners who are there at the colleges,but also to unemployed youth. Wewould like to have a big centre at each ofthe sites so that the unemployed youthcan also come in to get some IT skills,develop curriculum vitae’s and find outwhat courses are on offer. They can alsofind out what labour market opportuni-ties are available to them.

The third thing in improving thethroughput of Grades 9 to 12 is to intro-duce a new curriculum. What we havecurrently is out of date. It has a verysmall focus on Africa and South Africa.The idea is that young people who leavethe system in 2008 have much higherskills and knowledge levels.

Interventions

Improving throughput to professional

programs in FET colleges will requirethe same care. FET college lecturers saythat the young people who are accessingthe FET colleges do not have mathe-matics and languages to participatemeaningfully in the vocational courses.There is a misconception that the FETcourses are vocational and low level.This is not true. Mathematics and highlanguage skills are important require-ments for participating in vocationalprograms.

The second big thing that we want todo is double the numbers of learners inhigher grade mathematics by 2008. In2004, 24,000 young people registered todo higher grade mathematics and sci-ence. They were largely white learners.We want to double the number by 2008and change this profile. We have discov-ered an exciting thing — that there were430 schools in 2004 who had more than30 African learners doing standardgrade who achieved more than an E. Ifyou get more than an E (40%), it meansthat you have the potential (with lots ofhard work and a good higher gradeteacher) to move those learners fromstandard grade to higher grade. In otherwords, to give them access to highereducation. So we have chosen the 430schools very carefully. There are a rangeof schools, but the minimum criterion isthat they have a history of good per-formance in standard grade. We willthen provide these schools withresources.

FET re-capitalisation

The development of FET colleges hasbeen given huge impetus by the recapi-talization of colleges. The DoE, in col-laboration with the DoL, has been givenR50 million to plan for the spending ofR1.5 billion, which is the recapitaliza-tion budget. Many people, includingNational Treasury, sometimes thoughtthat by recapitalization we meant con-structing buildings and buying equip-ment. The recapitalization that we aretalking about will be in line with qualityprograms.

So when the 50 colleges put in their

proposals to access this money, the firstthing we are going to look at is whatprograms they intend to offer; what isthe current enrollment on those pro-grams; and what the local labour marketsurvey shows the possibilities of uptakein those areas is. It could be that someprograms will require more recapital-ization, including recruitment, supportfor poor young learners and support forlecturers. In other cases, such as nicheareas, engineering, we will spend a lot ofmoney in providing workshops.

Planning here is very important.There is a need to do research in orderto have useful data. We will use some ofthe R50 million to do this so that wehave reliable data, to defend the deci-sions that we make.

There are five aspects to the planningand these have to run at the same time tomake sure that the presentation toTreasury takes account of all the thingsthat we need to go through in the recap-italization. The first three are theresearch aspects, the labour market sur-vey and to make sure that what we do isnot just narrow skills development thatwill disappear in two or three years timeas the South African economy and thelabour market changes. We must pro-vide long-term skills for sustainabledevelopment.

The fourth aspect of the planningprocess involves a detailed audit of the210 FET college sites and the infrastruc-ture and ICT that they have. We havedoubled the number of young peoplefrom 200,000 to 400,000 in FET collegesin the last four years. We want to reach1 million young people in 2010.

We have also provided intellectualand financial support to 50 colleges. Allof them have submitted their draftplans. We are working with theprovinces to make sure that these plansaddress the skills need.

If we are going to take all the obstaclesout of skills development, we have tomake sure that we re-look at the FETefforts (now in its fifth draft) to be takento parliament in 2006. There is a lot ofwork to be done to make sure that skillsdevelopment takes place. •



84Our current head of state, when

he was the deputy president ofSouth Africa, spoke about

African renewal and the AfricanRenaissance. He began to ask questionsas to why it is that the African continentis marginalized in global processes? Heasked why it is that Africans are killingeach other? Why is it that we arerepressing each other? He asked manyother questions relating to problems ofAfrica, including diseases, poverty,malaria, HIV/Aids and cholera. He thenbegan the process known as the AfricanRenaissance. It was in the context ofaddressing the conditions that wouldlead Africa to sustainable development.

In 1999 the chairperson of the non-aligned movement in the extraordinarysummit of the Organisation of AfricanUnity (OAU), together with presidentOlusegun Obasanjo as the chairpersonof the group of 77, were mandated toengage Africa’s developmental partnerson the African debt crisis. At the very

same time, Mbeki was working on whatwas then called the Millennium AfricaRecovery Plan together with Obasanjo.

In 2000 it became quite clear that theMillennium African Recovery Plan hadto give economic content to Africa’srenewal. Then proposals were made tothe OAU Summit. It was agreed thatthese plans should be met. A process ofmerging the two plans began. Thosewho understand the political considera-tion and the diplomatic geometry of thecontinent understand the difficulties indoing so.

Finally, in 2001, after marathon ses-sions in various capital cities of the con-tinent, a plan was adopted during theseventh session of the OAU in Lusaka inJuly 2001 called the African Initiative.When the document was negotiatedamong various stakeholders comingfrom diverse backgrounds — it was sortof a convoluted document. However,the OAU had mandated the five initiat-ing African states to supervise the

The role of the SeniorManagement Service in

Advancing NEPAD

Dr C. Ngcukana, the Deputy

Director General in the

Presidency who has been

seconded to the Nepad

Secretariat says SMS needs

the ability to identify

opportunities and give

guidance in choices that

should be made versus

micro management. They

also need to maintain a

balance between efficiency

and efficacy.



85implementation of the African Initiativeand ensure its functioning. The firstmeeting of the Heads of State andGovernment Implementation Com-mittee met in Abuja in October 2001.The document was reworked andbecame known as the New Partnershipfor Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

Objectives and principles ofNEPAD

NEPAD seeks to accelerate the eradica-tion of poverty in Africa and address theinequality between Africa and thedeveloped world. It also seeks to placeAfrican countries, both individually andcollectively, on a path of sustainablegrowth and development. Lastly,NEPAD intends to halt the marginal-ization of Africa in the globalizationprocess.

The Principles that underlie NEPADare:• African ownership and leadership of

the development programme. • Anchoring the development of the

continent on the resources andresourcefulness of the African people.

• Accelerating and deepening ofregional and continental economicintegration.

• A new partnership among Africansand between Africans and the inter-national community.

• Comprehensive, holistic and integrat-ed development programme forAfrica adopted by the AU.

NEPAD as a strategic framework

NEPAD as a strategic framework isanchored on three principles. The firstprinciple is creating conditions for sus-tainable development. Central here ispeace and security; integration;strengthening capacity of conflict reso-lution; democracy and human rights;political, economic and corporate goodgovernance; and accelerating regional

economic integration.The second principle is accelerating

policy reforms and investment in highpriority sectors. Here, infrastructure,agriculture and nutritional food securi-ty, health, education, environment,tourism, Information CommunicationTechnology (ICT), science and technol-ogy, and diversification of productionand exports and so forth.

The third principle is mobilizingresources and altering the relationshipwith developed countries and multilat-eral institutions in overseas developmentassistance, foreign direct investment,debt relief, and market access.

Progress to date

NEPAD has strengthened political lead-ership in conflict resolution and is cham-pioned socio-economic transformationin Africa. When NEPAD was born itenergized the establishment of protocolsof peace and security in the AU. The



86

South African President has played aleading role in this. Nepad developedpolicy frameworks and detailed plansfor transformation of key sectors such asagriculture, health, infrastructure, ICT,science and technology, political, eco-nomic and corporate governance, andcapacity building in the public sector.Nepad has also completed preparationsfor the African Peer Review process toaddress issues of democracy, politicaleconomy, and governance.

The capabilities of the RegionalEconomic Communities (REC) to leadeffectively in the implementation of theNEPAD programme have beenstrengthened. REC members hold quar-terly meetings. NEPAD has alsoengaged the multilateral developmentfinance institutions and developmentpartners on the nature and scale ofdevelopment support. The biggest ofthese institutions is the World Bank andthe G8. The engagement of the G8 wasan initiative of NEPAD’s Heads of Stateand Government ImplementationCommittee. Now it has become anannual engagement and there is struc-tured engagement through the AfricanPartnership Forum. Lastly, NEPAD hasalso mobilized the private sector andcivil society.

Challenges

NEPAD was born at a particular histor-ical context in the continent, when theOrganisation of African Unity (OAU)was being transformed into to theAfrican Union. The OAU was movingfrom political organization to union,from non-interference to interference. Itwas also moving from separation interms of work, to integration.

The other challenges facing NEPADinclude broadening the ownership ofNEPAD and strengthening Africanpolitical leadership. Furthermore, theDevelopment Bank of Southern Africais leading a process of establishing a net-work of development finance institu-tions and building capacity for thedevelopment of financial institutions onthe African continent.

Strengthening the NEPADSecretariat is another major challenge.NEPAD also faces the challenge ofstrengthening and enhancing interna-tional partnerships with a view of main-taining focus on Africa ownership byAfricans. Increasing resource flows suchas overseas development assistance, for-eign direct investment and engagingmultilateral development institutions.South Africa is the number one investoron the African continent. It even out-strips the United Kingdom and theUnited States combined.

I conclude by outlining three criticalissues that are facing the SeniorManagement Service (SMS). The firstissue facing the SMS is concretizing the

link between policies and activities. Thiswill require strategic alignment betweenplanning processes across governmentspheres (national, provincial and local)and actual delivery activities. In otherwords, we must ensure alignmentbetween NEPAD commitments andobjectives, South African foreign policyframework and departmental mandate(sector specific) with actual activities.Critical in this is having a clear andcommon understanding of the policyimperative — that is South Africa’sagenda for the African continent. Weneed to have a vigorous and criticalengagement with issues. In addition,

there is also a need to strengthen the co-ordination and relevance of activitiesbetween departments.

The second issue entails strengthen-ing our abilities to make strategic choic-es and leveraging our internationalengagements. The focus should be onactual activities within the context ofbilateral processes, memoranda ofunderstanding and other internationalengagements such as exchange visits.Within our respective sector and depart-ments we should ask: to what extent areour collaborations and co-operations rel-evant, feasible and adding value toSouth Africa’s Africa agenda? Are sen-ior managers going around the Africancontinent as tourists or are they having acritical and strategic agenda that theycommunicate throughout their travels?SMS should also ask if it is equippedwith the requisite skills to negotiate andengage on substantive and strategicissues, especially when engaging ininternational forums? Are we clearabout what we should come home withwhen engaging in these forums? SMSshould also make a major contributionin building confidence in African insti-tutions. This can include encouragingtheir use and support in terms ofstrengthening their capabilities. Herethere is a need to establish the balancebetween our use of African versus non-African institutions when we engage incapacity development.

The last critical issue facing the SMSis understanding their role as seniormanagers in relation to South Africa’sAfrican Agenda. Here, SMS need abili-ties to identify opportunities and giveguidance in choices that should be madeversus micro management. They alsoneed to maintain a balance between effi-ciency and efficacy. Are we doing thecorrect things in the most effective man-ner? Linked to this, is the need to createclear linkages between individual per-formance measures and institutionalpriorities. SMS should also engage inactivities that add concrete value to theoverall departmental mandate. Lastly,providing thought leadership should becentral to SMS. •

Are seniormanagers going

around the Africancontinent as

tourists or are theyhaving a critical

and strategicagenda that they

communicatethroughout their

travels?



87T he theme of the fourth Senior

Management Service (SMS) con-ference, “Building Implementation

Capacity for Sustainable Growth andDevelopment: Implications for thePublic Service”, sought to deal withwhat Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi referred to as “the single mostimportant question that the Executivehas been grappling with at the begin-ning of our second decade in govern-ment”, namely: Do we really have thecapacity to implement our developmen-tal programmes?

Professor Richard Levin, DirectorGeneral of the Department of PublicService and Administration, remindedthe conference that there are differentkinds of capacity. These include ideo-logical state capacity, political capacity,technical capacity and implementationcapacity. He indicated that implementa-tion capacity, the focus of the confer-ence, refers to “...the skills and otherresources needed to successfully imple-ment policy and achieve their intendedobjectives”.

In a similar vain Minister Fraser-Moleketi pointed out that capacity ismulti-dimensional and dynamic. It is

therefore necessary to acknowledge bothits internal and external dimensions.Internal dimensions of capacity includefinancial and other resource support,structures, systems, processes, culture,leadership, coordination mechanisms,etc. The external dimension is primarilyabout the capacity to manage participa-tory processes between the public serviceand external actors and stakeholders.Such participatory processes helpimprove the quality of policy and pro-gramme decisions.

It is thus important to acknowledgethe multi-dimensional nature of capaci-ty, or as the President put in his 2005State of the Nation Address, the notionof “all-round capacity”. This is animportant departure from previous dis-cussions on capacity which were largelydominated by issues of skills develop-ment. Although skills are an importantdimension, they alone will not beenough to address the capacity chal-lenges that the public service faces.

In the absence of implementationcapacity, even transformation instru-ments such as decentralization areunlikely to yield their intended out-comes. For example, the public service

A Guided Tour of the

SMS

Mashwahle Diphofa,

Deputy Director General in

the Office of the Public

Service Commission,

summarizes the key issues

emanating from the fourth

Senior Management

Service (SMS) conference.



88

human resource framework was decen-tralized as part of the initial set of publicservice reforms in democratic SouthAfrica. Although this was done with thegood intention of empowering man-agers to make critical decisions, depart-ments have not always had the requisitecapacity to implement, thus leading to,among other things, inconsistencies inthe application of the policy.

Such inconsistencies are evident evenin the way different departments do jobgrading, where similar jobs are some-times graded differently depending onthe department/province. Thereforedecentralizing without considering andattending to capacity issues is undesir-able. Against this background, MinisterMufamadi emphasised that the nationaland provincial spheres of governmentshould ensure that they do not decen-tralize to local government based onuntested assumptions of what exists onthe ground.

How do all these debates on capacityrelate to sustainable growth and devel-opment? The theme of the conferencewas quite clear that the challenges ofimplementation capacity would not bediscussed in a vacuum, but rather with-in the context of implementing govern-ment’s developmental programmes.

Accordingly, speakers reminded theconference of the developmental orien-tation of the South African state. DeputyMinister of Finance, Jabu Moleketipointed out that the concept of a devel-opmental state is not new but that itapplies differently to different contexts.The South African approach, he argued,recognizes that market fundamentalismhas serious weaknesses in terms of pro-moting socio-economic development

Although South Africa has experi-enced economic growth (relative to pre1994), there are still many people whoare trapped in poverty. Income gapscontinue to increase, but this time thegaps are no longer along racial lines.This, Deputy Minister Moleketi pointedout, is the moral dilemma of the demo-cratic government. The country’s focuscannot therefore just be on economicgrowth. It has to include conscious

efforts of ensuring a better life for all ina manner that is sustainable.

Currently, the country is enjoying thebenefits of its economic turn around,reflected in, among other things, anaverage economic growth rate of 3%,increased investment spending, reduceddeficit, and improved credit ratings.There is a serious increase in consumerspending, but this is unfortunately notsustainable, especially in an environ-ment where there isn’t an accompanyingincrease in production to meet consumerdemand. It is therefore necessary toincrease investment spending, an area inwhich government has been laggingbehind relative to the private sector. Anumber of presentations unpacked thischallenge further and highlighted cur-rent initiatives that seek to improve thesituation.

For example, the Transnet Case Studyshowed how their ageing infrastructureresults in huge transport costs for theSouth African economy and raises risksof loosing important economic opportu-nities. The parastatal’s turn-around planthus includes, among other things, asizeable investment in infrastructure.Similarly, in outlining efforts to unblockthe implementation of the Growth andDevelopment Summit priorities agreedto two years ago, Herbert Mkhize fromNEDLAC reminded the conferencethat addressing the investment chal-lenge was one of the key themes aroundwhich agreements of the summit wereclustered.

However, this is where the capacityissue rears its ugly face again. As JabuMoleketi pointed out, there are seriouscapacity problems in terms of meaning-fully planning for and managing theimplementation of infrastructure proj-ects. It is against this background thatgovernment has introduced initiativessuch as the Infrastructure DeliveryImprovement Programme (IDIP), pri-marily to address these kinds of capacityproblems.

Key issues

The following are some of the key issues

that seemed to stand out during confer-ence deliberations:• The advent of globalization means

that South Africa is part of a commu-nity of global actors. It is thus affectedby external factors.

• Discussions on building implementa-tion capacity should not be divorcedfrom the broader processes of recon-structing and developing Africa.

• Capacity problems in the public serv-ice are often aggravated by a lack ofintegration of key processes such asstrategic planning, budgeting, humanresource planning, human resourcedevelopment, human resource man-agement, organizational structures,and monitoring and evaluation. Thecase studies from Botswana andSingapore shed some light on how,among other things, the two countriesdeal with some of the integrationchallenges. In Botswana, there is aprocess of ensuring clear linkagesbetween the country’s National Vision2016, the 6 year National Develop-ment Plans and the Annual Perform-ance Plans of departments. InSingapore, the guiding vision is calledthe Public Service for the 21st Century(or PS 21). The country actively seeksto create a balance between flexibilityand responsiveness (done throughdecentralization), and vision, co-ordi-nation and cohesion (to meet nationalcross-cutting objectives)

• Building solid human resource capac-ity requires a sound human resourcedevelopment strategy for the publicsector. The education sector has a pro-found role to play to ensure that theright foundations are laid and thatappropriate intermediary skills aredeveloped at the level of schools andFET colleges.

• There are high levels of interdepend-ence between the spheres of govern-ment. They are therefore required towork together if they are to achievegovernment’s objectives. For this tohappen, there is a need to move awayfrom a narrow understanding of anddebates on mandates.

• Implementation capacity is also affect-



89

ed by the dynamics of the interfacebetween administrators and theExecutive. The administrator,Minister Fraser-Moleketi argued, hasan important role in providing suffi-cient information to the Executive,outlining all policy options and theirfull implications, and makinginformed recommendations.Unfortunately, some administratorsdo not fulfill this role. Instead, theyembark on what may be referred to as‘bureaucratic sabotage’. Hidingbehind the veil of ‘professionalism’and ‘managerial autonomy’, suchmanagers opt to distort informationcommunicated to the Executive aswell as engage in other rent-seekingand self serving tendencies.

The conference acknowledged that a lotis already being done to build imple-mentation capacity. Existing initiativesinclude Project Consolidate, instru-ments for strengthening intergovern-mental relations (such as the IGR Act,the Medium Term Strategic Frame-work), the Expanded Public WorksProgramme, etc. In addition, the follow-ing were some of the key areas thatseemed to need attention• Strengthening the Human Resource

Development Strategy of the PublicSector

• Reviewing conditions of service andensuring creative staffing solutions.These could include appointing seniormanagers to the service and not to apost, promoting increased applicationof competency assessments as a selec-tion tool, ensuring the retention ofprofessionals, leveraging resourcesfrom outside the public service(including retired professionals), andrevisiting the ‘non-return’ clause forpublic servants who had earlier optedfor the Voluntary Severance Package(VSP) scheme.

• Enhanced training and development,including the creation of betterinternship opportunities for younggraduates, ensuring better alignmentbetween university programmes andthe country’s skills requirements, pro-moting the notion of training/devel-

opment that produces job-makers andnot job-seekers, and embracing talentmanagement strategies (drawingfrom the experiences of Singapore andTransnet)

• Promoting a mindset shift amongpublic servants, including embracingthe attributes of a ‘Delta Type’ civilservant. These attributes includesuper-professionalism and a strongsense of mission

• Improving coherence in the macro-organisation of the state. This wouldinvolve adopting innovativeapproaches to structure, and optimiz-ing resource utilization throughimproved departmental/cluster col-laboration

• Improving communication. A keyquestion that needs to be asked iswhether the government’s communi-cation plan pays enough attention topublic servants. Government commu-nication should not only be directed atthe public but at public servants aswell. Indeed, by doing this govern-ment would actually be mobilizinginternal capacity. It was pointed out,for example, that because of not beingsufficiently informed about develop-

ments elsewhere in the Continent, alot of officials show reluctance whenthey are expected to support govern-ment’s programme of consolidatingthe African agenda, including post-conflict reconstruction efforts.

• Promoting innovation. Given thecapacity challenges, the public servicehas an obligation to innovate andlearn simultaneously.

• Strengthening monitoring and evalu-ation. This would not only ensureimproved accountability for policyoutcomes, but would also supportinformed decision-making and pro-mote learning.

A strong message that emerged was thatpublic service managers dare not foldtheir arms and expect the Departmentof Public Service and Administration tofollow up on these issues and ‘reportback’ at the next SMS conference. AsMinister Fraser-Moleketi reminded del-egates: “You are, after all, the SMS”, andfor those who may still have wonderedwhat that meant, the SMS should takethis work forward because, in the wordsof Professor Levin, senior managers“are leaders, pace setters and role mod-els”. •



90

In the first decade of democratic gover-nance, we democratized all institu-tions of government. We made major

departures from Apartheid bureaucracyand ensured that resources of the coun-try would benefit all citizens, withoutregard to colour, creed, race or gender.

To ensure that all spheres of the pub-lic service were adhering to the samestandards and credo, we developed andintroduced the Senior ManagementService (SMS) Framework in 2001. Ayear later we held the first conferencecalled “Moving the Public Service fromPolicy to Implementation”. These con-ferences have been taking place annual-ly ever since and each year, the themehas been different.

In view of our goals for a market-ori-entated economy, government has theobligation to see to it that our marketsfunction efficiently and that the playingfield is level for all participants in oureconomy. The success of government’srole in market regulation is dependanton operating rules that do not discrimi-nate between economies, individual par-ticipants or interest groups.

Given the role of government as theeconomic development manager ofSouth Africa, the public service, morespecifically, you, senior managers andleaders as delegated economic develop-ment managers therefore, share govern-ment’s unequivocal responsibility and

accountabilities. Government’s policychoices have been made and, the bestprovincial growth and developmentstrategies developed. Now responsibili-ties need to be followed. It is my hopethat this conference will further yourrecognition of the importance of leader-ship and management.

Good governance is demanded tomake sure that implementation is effec-tive and consistent. The term ‘GoodGovernance’ will be used quiet often. Itmeans different things to different peo-ple. It is then perhaps useful, therefore,to clarify the sense in which I under-stand its meaning. I am sure you willagree with me that from the viewpointof government’s policy it means: “Themanner in which power of leadership isexercised in the administration andmanagement of government’s economicand social resources for development”.

On this meaning, the concept of gov-ernance is concerned directly with yourmanagement of our policies. It encom-passes the functioning and capability ofthe public service, the rules the conductof both public and private business,including accountability for economicand financial performance, and regula-tory frameworks relating to companies,corporations and partnerships.

The capacity of management andleadership is important for our econom-ic and development because it helps

Towards aGlobal City

Mbhazima Shilowa, the

Premier of Gauteng, says that

if Gauteng is to be

competitive among its global

peers, the province must

accept that an increasingly

global economy places extra

responsibility on governance

and leadership to deal with

high development costs,

inefficient urban environments,

and barriers to growth.



91

determine the impact achieved by theeconomic policies adopted by the gov-ernment.

Not alone

We have in our recent discussions anddeliberations in the Gauteng Provincialgovernment compared ourselves todeveloping countries with whom wehave both good international relations,but who are potential economic com-petitors or perhaps, collaborators on alimited scale.

These countries, among them India,the People’s Republic of China andBrazil, face large-scale development chal-lenges in relation to unemployment andpoverty and have even larger “SecondEconomies” and “First Economies” thanours.

Nevertheless, they have made greatstrides in the past many decades, partic-ularly in the past decade with consistentsizeable increases in GDP, for instance,India 8.1 percent, China 9.5 percent andBrazil 5.2 percent. These are 2004 fig-ures.

They have done so using a variety ofstrategies. The Chinese government hadmade ‘low cost’ money available toentrepreneurs in state owned businessesto buy up firms in the West. One com-mon choice for all these economies isthat they have defined themselves as“knowledge economies”. The intensityof knowledge vested in products and inservices including public services, hasbecome so significant that this ‘newknowledge’ is having very positive spin-offs for their respective economies.

India and China are noted for theirfocus on innovation in computer soft-ware and automotive manufacturing.But these countries are not only intro-ducing innovations in the economy.They are determinedly introducinginnovations in their public services,using technology in health, educationand support for small business to ensureefficient and high quality services totheir citizens.

Although policy aspects are importantfor development, my concept of good

governance focuses essentially on theingredients for effective management.In other words, irrespective of the pre-cise set of economic policies that govern-ment and provinces have set, good gov-ernance — your leadership and man-agement is required to ensure that thosepolicies have their desired effect. Inessence, it concerns norms of behaviourthat could help ensure that governmentsactually deliver to their citizens whatthey say they will.

Developing a competitive edge

How can we in South Africa utilize ourpublic servants and their knowledge toensure that we change the current reali-ty of poverty and inequality? Especiallyfor the 44 percent of households wholive on incomes under R10 000 per year?

In order to answer this question, wehave developed an interest in the conceptof the Globally Competitive City Regionbecause the City Region perspective is anew way in which we look at economicand social development. It requires anunderstanding of the significance of thecity-region as an economic motor of thecountry and the African continent, andits ranking among global cities.

If Gauteng is to be competitive amongits global peers, we must accept that anincreasingly global economy places extraresponsibility on governance and leader-ship to deal with high developmentcosts, inefficient urban environments,barriers to growth, underused or mis-placed urban assets and infrastructure,as well a low social capital and humandevelopment. We have defined ‘compet-itive’ as more than just being economi-cally efficient, but as reflecting the needto balance both social and economicprogress.

The development of the Gauteng CityRegion is complex by its very nature,and a long-range project. Amongstother things, we need to establish a cityregion observatory that will strengthenour emerging partnership with highereducation institutions within theprovince. This will act as a channel toharness urban social and economic

development research to inform policy,strategy and programme developmentof the city region.

Learning from our peers

In our study tour of how other interna-tional city regions functioned, we visitedTokyo, Randstad in the Nether-landsand London. Some of the issues that wefocused on included:• Practical examples of how cities coop-

erate and compete at the same time • Good practice at a city-regional level

in public transport, regional brandingand membership-based developmentassociations

• Practicalities of alignment of develop-ment strategies within multi-jurisdic-tional city-regions

• Leadership and governance issues inlarge city-regions

Gauteng will be adopting a “knowledgefor development” focus. This will see usinvest in building capacity of in our peo-ple, knowledge institutions, and in inno-vative financing models to benefit theclose to 9 million inhabitants of ourprovince.

The many and varied innovations inpublic service/sector activity that wehave introduced in the past several yearssuch as, Folateng in the health sector,GautengOnLine, the Gauteng SharedService Centre, innovative Blue IQ pro-jects, the Gauteng Automotive Cluster,the Gautrain as well as the excitingdevelopments at the Cradle of Human-kind, where we have renamed Mohale’sGate to an indigenous name ‘Maropeng’.

We are learning that capacity in thepublic service can be built through inno-vation. Had we not initiated the projectsthat we did in the past few years, wewould have had less capacity and poorerquality of provincial government insti-tutions than we have today. These canbecome the subject of discussion andlearning at future meetings of the SeniorManagement Service.

This is an edited version of PremierShilowa’s opening speech at the fourthSenior Management Conference (SMS)held in September 2005. •


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

92Infrastructure carries a huge potential

for individual, societal and nationaldevelopment. It does so through the

creation of economic linkages, reductionof business transaction costs, job cre-ation, the boosting of economic demand,the creation of wealth and so forth.Infrastructure delivery also enables theprovision of basic needs while stimulat-ing economic activism. It also has a greatpotential for directing and influencingbusiness investment decisions due to thecomparative advantages it provides fordifferent countries.

There is also a growing consensusamong economists that infrastructure isan integral part of growth and develop-ment. It is being viewed as part of a pro-gramme for eradicating poverty, reduc-ing income inequality and enablingemployment creation. This approach toinfrastructure prioritises the under-standing of social, economic and humandevelopment linkages in infrastructuredelivery.

Prior to undertaking an assessment ofthe extent to which infrastructure deliv-ery enables or disables development theterm ‘infrastructure’ requires some clar-ification. There are two types of infra-

structure, economic and social, whichare explained below.

Economic infrastructure

The economic infrastructure is that partof the economy’s capital stock that pro-duces services to facilitate economic pro-duction or serve as inputs to production(e.g. electricity, roads, ports) or are con-sumed by households (e.g. electricity,water, sanitation). Economic infrastruc-ture can be divided into three categories:public utilities (electricity, gas, water,telecommunications, sanitation, sewer-age, solid-waste disposal); public works(water catchments in dams, irrigation,roads); and transport (roads, railways,airports).

Social infrastructure

The social infrastructure is concernedwith the delivery of services to citizensespecially the poor. These servicesinclude health, education, sport andrecreation, and have both a direct andindirect impact in the quality of life. AsKhosa puts it, directly, social infrastruc-ture supports the production of trade.

Infrastructureand the

Quality of Life

S. Mbanga of the strategic

and policy research division

at the Department of Public

Works in the Eastern Cape

argues that it is not the

number of infrastructure units

or infrastructure delivery

outputs that is an exact

measure of development,

but the extent to which

infrastructure delivery

contributes to the

sustainable improvement

of the quality of life

of the citizenry.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

93Indirectly, social infrastructure stream-lines activities and outcomes such aseducation, health and safety.

Basic infrastructure

A third type of infrastructure categorythat has emerged, at least in the contextof South Africa and other developingcountries, is that of ‘basic infrastructure’,which includes electricity, water, sanita-tion, housing, roads, transport, telecom-munication, health, and education.

All people have certain basic needswithout which life would be impossible.These life-sustaining human needsshould always be present for a conditionof absolute underdevelopment not toexist. As Todaro contends, humanbeings are born with certain potentialcapabilities. The purpose of develop-ment is to create an environment inwhich all people can expand their capa-bilities, and opportunities can beenlarged for both present and futuregenerations. However, human potentialcan only be tapped and unlocked foreconomic progress and developmentwhen people’s basic needs are met. Thebasic infrastructure facilitates the pro-

gression of the people from a conditionof poverty and helplessness towards amore humane life and freedom ofchoice.

While the three types of infrastructureare interconnected and intricately linked,they seem to serve different purposesregarding societal and national develop-ment. This requires immediate rethinkon the conceptualisation of developmentin a modern-day South Africa.

Rethinking development

The focus of development is on peopleand their needs. The provision of infra-structure to facilitate developmentshould, therefore, locate people andtheir needs at the centre of infrastruc-ture delivery programmes, rather thanrelegate them to the periphery, regard-ing people as mere long-term beneficiar-ies of infrastructure outcomes. Thisemerging approach in the measurementof infrastructure provision focuses onthe evaluation of government pro-grammes on the understanding of theirwider impacts on society (quality meas-ure) rather than on simple figures(quantity measure).

The potential of infrastructure tostimulate economic growth and facili-tate development is generally acceptedby scientists and practitioners globally.A number of studies have pointed to thefollowing benefits of infrastructuredelivery.• Lowering of transaction costs:

Infrastructure lowers transaction costsby facilitating easy flow of informa-tion and goods, and interactionbetween markets.

• Creation of economic linkages:Infrastructure investment creates thepotential for economic linkages. Inparticular, the ability to move goodsfrom one point to another makesinvestment viable.

• Concentration of economic activity:The provision of infrastructure con-centrates economic activity spatially,thus supporting backward and for-ward linkages.

• Improvement of productive capacities:Access to infrastructure services canimprove the capacities for producinggoods and services in communities.

• Creation of wealth: Irrigation sys-tems, transport routes and other infra-structure outcomes hold the potentialfor creating viable assets and markets

• Creation of jobs: Infrastructureexpansion creates jobs during the con-struction phase and for continuingmaintenance.

• Boosting of demand: Infrastructureprovision boosts demand in the econo-my, thus supporting forward linkages.

• Responsiveness to change: Dependingon the quality of infrastructure deliv-ered, economies undergoing restruc-turing are able to respond to shocksand competitive pressures.

Over and above the points made above,infrastructure delivery also has a redis-tributive effect on the economy. Forinstance, Black Economic Empower-ment and Affirmative Action PolicyFrameworks are aimed at integratingthe historically-disadvantaged individu-als into the economic mainstreamthrough accessing economic opportuni-ties in infrastructure delivery and assetownership. The above points further


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

94

support the RDP contention that infra-structure delivery provides both basicneeds and economic multipliers.

The development of policies in SouthAfrica reflects both senses of the basicneeds approach. On the one hand, somepolicies seek to link infrastructure deliv-ery to improving capabilities and oppor-tunities (e.g. White Paper on Housing).On the other, certain policies prioritise aneed to meet the basic needs and com-mit government to meet basic servicelevels within a stipulated timeframe (e.g.Municipal Infrastructure InvestmentFramework). These two points of policyemphasis require of us to re-look theinfrastructure mandates for SouthAfrica, and their effects on the improve-ment of the quality of life to the citizens.

While much progress has been madesince the 1994 democratic elections, theimpact of infrastructure development onsocial and economic wellbeing of thesociety requires an assessment. However,some caution has to be exercised in thetreatment of social and economic devel-opment as dichotomous entities. Thedistinction that is drawn between thetwo outcomes is made for purposes ofanalysis. This notion of ‘no-real distinc-tion’ is supported by Amartya Sen(1983), who argues that:

“Ultimately, the process of economicdevelopment has to be concerned withwhat people can and cannot do e.g.whether they can live long, escapeavoidable morbidity, be well-nourished,be able to read and write and communi-cate, take part in the literacy and cultur-al pursuits and so forth. It has to do, inMarx’s word, with replacing the domi-nation of circumstances and chancesover individuals by the domination ofindividuals over chance and circum-stance.”

The assessment of infrastructure con-tribution to the ability of individuals todominate over chance and circumstanceis considered below through a dry-runof the infrastructure categories asapplied in various economic sectors.

RoadsTransport plays an important dual role

in the economy, both as a direct providerof services and as a catalyst for econom-ic integration, redistribution and devel-opment. Roads promote an effectivetransportation system; rural develop-ment through ensuring social cohesion;access to economic opportunities;encouraging growth potential in miner-als and their beneficiation; agriculture;agri-business; and tourism.

Public transportThe legacy of Apartheid is still reflectedin the transport sector. The location ofAfricans, Coloureds and Asians furtheraway from their work-places thanWhite people resulted in longer travel-ing distances for the disadvantaged.People in rural areas have been the mostdisadvantaged in terms of access toroads and transportation due to the spa-tial distances resulting from Apartheidplanning. The working poor spend alarge amount of their meager wages ontransportation. Much time that couldhave been used productively elsewhereis spent traveling.

Electricity and energyFor many South Africans, electricity is aprimary service requirement. Improvedaccess to electricity enhances the qualityof life which often has positive econom-ic spin-offs.

HousingAs the majority of citizens in SouthAfrica attempted to escape rural povertyby moving to the urban areas, moreinformal settlements grew up. Housinghas since become a human right inSouth Africa, the provision of whichmust involve and empower communi-ties and promote gender equality. Landfor housing must promote access to eco-nomic opportunities and social ameni-ties, as such the spatial location of thehousing infrastructure lies at the centreof sustainable development thinking.

Water and sanitationThe absence of portable water and sani-tation services makes people vulnerableto poor health. In this way, the costs to the

state are the increased pressure for com-munity health and social welfare services,and the loss of the productive capacity ofthe members of society. The time spentby women in rural areas collecting waterrepresents a significant opportunity costas well as physical burden.

TelecommunicationsTelecommunications is an informationinfrastructure and plays a crucial role inSouth Africa’s health, education, agri-culture, policing, safety and businessdevelopment. An effective telecommu-nications infrastructure which includesuniversal access is essential to enable thedelivery of basic services and facilitatesocial and economic development.

Tools of tradePublic infrastructure needs also includehealth, education, agriculture and wel-fare facilities, referred herein as ‘Tools oftrade.’ They are the means to the produc-tion of ends — the trades, which lie at thecentre of the social and economic devel-opment of a nation. Communities shouldparticipate in the delivery of the schools,clinics, hospitals, dipping tanks etc. TheGrowth Employment and Redistribution(GEAR) macro-economic policy frame-work (1996) envisages the use of infra-structure delivery as one of methods ofcreating jobs and income generationthrough the promotion of small, mediumand micro-enterprises (SMMEs).

Conclusion

Consensus has emerged among econom-ics and development scholars and aca-demics that infrastructure is an integralpart of economic growth and develop-ment. However, a proper comprehen-sion of the impact of infrastructure onsocial and economic developmentrequires a prior disregard of a notionthat infrastructure delivery is about amere meeting of service delivery needsand targets. We should promote theschool of thought that prioritises theunderstanding of social, economic andhuman development linkages in infra-structure delivery. •


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95During 2004 the Commonwealth

Secretariat committed them-selves to support the Department

for the Public Service and Administra-tion on various projects. Two of theseprojects approved were on the SeniorManagement Service and on Learningand Knowledge Management.

After consideration of the priorityareas in the Governance andAdministration (G&A) cluster, it wasproposed that the delegation and thescope of the study tour be expanded toinclude the areas on Monitoring andEvaluation and Macro-organisation ofthe state.

As both the CommonwealthSecretariat and Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA) wereunable to arrange the study tour due tocapacity constraints, the Public ServiceCommission of Canada and the SouthAfrican High Commission in Canadacompiled and finalized the programmefor the study tour.

The aim of the study tour was there-fore to gain insight in terms of best prac-tices from the Canadian federal govern-ment system, in order to relate theirexperiences to current issues faced by

the South African government. Issuesfor consideration included the macro-organisation of the state (MOS); central-ization versus decentralization of HRissues; the senior management service(SMS); monitoring and evaluation(M&E) and service delivery innovation(SDI).

Canadian governance

Intergovernmental relations are asmuch a challenge for Canada as it is inthe South African context. TheCanadian Constitution sets up a systemof government with a separation ofpowers between two levels of govern-ment; the federal and the provincial.Municipal institutions come under thejurisdiction of the provinces and havethe powers that the legislatures assign tothem.

There are more than 500 intergovern-mental meetings a year involving feder-al and provincial councils of ministersand committees of officials. Almost allof the meetings are “departmental” andfocus on issues that specifically relate tothe co-ordination of policy positions orprogram delivery mechanisms. These

Eight managers* from the

DPSA undertook a study-

tour of the Canadian public

service and the following is

a summarised report back

on lessons learnt.

Lessons From

Canada


inter-governmental meetings deal withas diverse a range of subjects as lawenforcement, tourism and budgetarypolicy.

Service delivery

The Government of Canada is commit-ted to serving Canadians better andbuilding a citizen-centred government.Services Canada was recently launchedto help Canadians access the full rangeof government services and benefits theywant and need.

The overall goal is to provideCanadians with one-stop shop, easy to-

access, personalized service. ServicesCanada brings Government of Canadaservices and benefits together in a singleservice delivery network. Services can beaccessed by phone, Internet, mail or inperson. Thus, commonly accessed serv-ices are put into a virtual environmentthat allows for a single point of contact.

Services Canada has over 20,000 staffdedicated to serving Canadians. Thereare 320 centres in communities through-out the country; a national 1 800 O-Canada call centre; a range of onlineservices offered through www.services-canada.gc.ca and outreach or mobileservices. Services Canada also works in

collaboration with other federal depart-ments and other levels of government toexplore innovative and efficient ways toserve Canadians better.

Services include: Canada StudentLoans Program; Child Tax Benefit;Customs; Disability Benefits; EducationSavings Grants; Employment Insurance;Health Information; Immigration;Indian & Northern Affairs Canada;Passports; Pensions; Savings Bonds;Social Insurance Number SurvivorBenefits; Taxation; Travel Assistance forCanadians Abroad; Veterans AffairsCanada; Youth Employment Strategy.Over time depending on citizen’s needs,

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these services will be expanded.This is a new initiative where services

to citizens will be delivered by a centralagency which will eventually have 45 000 employees. This initiative wasstarted without a legislative mandateand is an incremental model.

Implications for South Africa: Despiteimpressive improvements in the provi-sion of access to government servicesthrough a range of platforms such asMulti-Purpose Community Centres(MPCCs), Gateway, Call Centres,Mobile Services (limited), there remainsa need to address access to services in anintegrated and holistic manner. This isto ensure integration of efforts that ulti-mately leads to improved service deliv-ery. The goal of ‘seamless service deliv-ery’ is still to be achieved. Whilst the useof IT as an enabler to deliver services ispart of the Gateway and eGovernmentstrategy, more needs to be done to trans-late that strategy into an implementa-tion plan. The Canadian experience hasclearly showed that an incrementalprocess that reaches perfection over timeis key to achieving this goal.

Modernisation

Significant changes have, over the pasttwo to three years been made in terms ofissues of governance in Canada. Theseinclude the country’s commitment toworking with the provinces, and its citi-zens in particular, to ensure that theCanadian federation is modernised tomeet the needs of the 21st centurythrough partnership and dialogue withthe provinces, while respecting diversity.Putting impetus on the need for realign-ing of relations between spheres of gov-ernment are ongoing concerns over pub-lic perceptions of wasteful overlap andduplication service delivery effortsbetween federal and provincial and localgovernments.

Just to illustrate the extent of the com-plexity of the relationships betweenthese various spheres, there are, forexample, close to 5 000 municipal struc-tures which provide a range of services,from roads to airports.

How do Canadians navigate andnegotiate through this maze of complexrelationships?

Service delivery contracts

A mechanism option for enhancingintergovernmental collaboration andcoordination is the conclusion of agree-ments within specific sectors. An exam-ple of such an agreement is TheVancouver Agreement, which is a five-year agreement, signed in 2000. It com-mits the three orders of government to“work together, within their jurisdic-tions and mandates, and with communi-

ties in Vancouver to develop and imple-ment a coordinated strategy to promoteand support sustainable economic, socialand community development.”

Another example is the WinnipegHousing and Homelessness Initiative(WHHI), which is a three-year, multi-million dollar tripartite partnershipestablished by the governments ofCanada, Manitoba and the City ofWinnipeg to address homelessness anddeclining housing stock in designatedinner-city neighbourhoods in Winnipeg.

A joint single-window office was estab-lished in 1999 to coordinate and deliverprograms that support inner city revital-ization. The City’s funding assistance isdelivered through this office.

Implications for South Africa: TheSouth African government is doingmuch to ensure better inter-governmen-tal relations across the three spheres ofgovernment. In accordance with therequirements of the Constitution, a legalframework has been created that puts inplace mechanisms to allow for improvedintergovernmental relations as well asprocesses and procedures in the event ofdisputes. The Canadian approach is toformalise collaboration and coordina-tion arrangements through agreements.South Africa’s IntergovernmentalRelations Framework Act makes provi-sion for such an approach.

Managing human resources

There is a need to study human resourcemanagement and development systemsin order to strengthen HR in general inthe public service. It was envisaged thatthe Canadian HR model would assistwith this process. The focus was there-fore on HR-related matters includingamongst others, performance manage-ment and development systems applica-ble to all levels of employees. An SMSreview is currently underway, thereforethe study was meant to assist with, andinform the development of recommen-dations and the way forward in terms ofthe existing SMS dispensation.

The Canadians believe in the HRMreforms that are streamlined and flexi-ble and that support replenishment,development and management of exec-utives as they regard them as both cor-porate and departmental assets.

Their major challenge was to deter-mine the competency gaps and the will-ingness of feeder groups to assume exec-utive and higher level responsibilities,which was unknown; their systematicgathering of corporate intelligence andfeeder groups was also limited. Theyidentified an array of corporate pro-grammes (not single) source to identify

Significant

changes have,

over the past

two to three

years been

made in terms

of issues of

governance in

Canada


and develop future leaders. They gave this responsibility to

Central Agencies and to DeputyMinister (a DG equivalent in SouthAfrica) to aggressively spot, assess talentand train and develop feeder group forleadership. Out of this process anAccelerated Executive DevelopmentProgram (AEXDP) was created. Theprogramme commenced in 1997 and itsobjectives were to identify a representa-tive group of executives at EX-1 to EX-3 (Director to Deputy Directors-GeneralSouth African equivalent), who demon-strate strong leadership potential andmay become Assistant Deputy Ministersand to invest in their development andprogression. The programme focuses on14 leadership competencies.

Lessons Learned: At completion ofthe programme, an evaluation of theprogramme is done. The following is asummary of the lessons learned:• Not all strong performers benefit

from a developmental programme,but those who are willing to challengethemselves for developmental purpos-es and those who have the ability toacquire what is needed for future situ-ations benefit more from the pro-gramme.

• Not all competencies are equallyamenable to training therefore a rig-orous framework is required to assesscompetencies.

• Demonstrated senior level commit-ment is a key leverage.

• Principles that ensure success are:developing skills in real time and realaction; individual and collective com-mitments; promote a continuousaction-reflection cycle; balance indi-vidual and collective needs; promote acontinuous action-reflection cycle;balance individual and collectiveneeds; promote a continuous learningculture; maximize learning partner-ships.

Monitoring and evaluation

The Canadian Government is widelyacknowledged as a leader in the area ofgovernment monitoring and evaluation.

The Centre of Excellence for Evaluation,Treasury Board Secretariat of Canadahave developed and implemented aManagement of Accountability Frame-work, which will assist greatly in thedevelopment of the government wideM&E system. The Faculty of PublicAffairs and Management at the CarletonUniversity in collaboration with theWorld Bank’s Operations EvaluationDepartment (OED) through theInternational Programme for Develop-mental Evaluation Training have builtup extensive knowledge on developmentevaluation.

Learning and knowledgemanagement

The department has established theLearning and Knowledge Management(LKM) Programme that is being appre-ciated across the country. There was aneed for the LKM Component, respon-sible for driving the programme, toexpand it, have it institutionalized,ensure sustainability and establish path-ways for monitoring and evaluation.The department is recognised as aleader in this area of learning andknowledge management and govern-ment departments rely on this depart-ment for guidance on various relatedissues. It was essential to bring the LKMComponent up to speed in terms ofinternational best practices and theCanadian model is one of the best fromwhich to learn when it comes to settingup systems and processes to supportknowledge management.

Recommendations: Generally, theDPSA led KM process in the SA publicservice is on the right track. In somerespects, the Canadian federal govern-ment departments and agencies are stillbehind and are still very much involvedwith the development of appropriatesystems and frameworks, and IT capa-bilities. In short, they are still in thedevelopment stages, unlike us wherecertain small initiatives are being imple-mented, albeit in the absence of anyframework.

In terms of lessons learnt and recom-

mendations, Canadians have put a lot ofeffort in developing clear KM frame-works and strategies in each organisa-tion. They have developed a map ofwhat needs to be done and how, and fordetermining capability needs (whether itis IT, management support, research,dealing with cultural diversity), andhow to show the link between KM andthe business or operations in the organi-sations and how the former support thelatter. These are some of the issues thatare worth incorporating in developingthe KM framework for the public serv-ice and some issues will form part of ouradvisory and support services to depart-ments on how to pursue KM in theirorganisations.

Conclusion

The study tour to the Canadian federalgovernment departments and agencieswas very valuable. Although Canada isin many respects advanced than SouthAfrica and has a federal system of gov-ernment, it experienced similar chal-lenges to us and their system of govern-ment has evolved almost in a similarway as ours.

The observations made, lessonslearned, and recommendations made inthe respective areas studied, will beemulated and applied with care, cautionand in a gradual and step-by-step way.However, some areas which can easilybe replicated need to be prioritized,namely, formally establishing the SMSassociation benchmarked against theAPEX, benchmarking some elements ofour Batho Pele gateway portal againstthe Services-Canada model, invitingsome officials from the IKMF to comeand share with the SA governmentdepartments practices in KM processesand systems. Others will require a fun-damental policy review process, consul-tation, and so forth, and that will bemuch prolonged. •

* Richard Levin, Sipho Ntombela, BerylRankin, Lynette Sing, Dipsy Mereetlhe,Bomgani Matomela, A Swanepoel andHenk Serfontein.

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Subsequent to the third democraticelections in 2004, and the change inthe political leadership in the

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province,Premier Ndebele approached theMinister of Public Service andAdministration (MPSA) for assistancewith the assessment and review of theservice delivery readiness of all provin-cial departments. The exercise was com-pleted and a report was submitted to thePremier in October 2004. The reportmade a number of recommendationsthat can be categorised into four themes:• Leadership and Management• Work ethics and Professionalism• Planning and Implementation • Human Resources ManagementIn April 2005, after the MPSA grantedapproval for the assistance, a team madeup of DPSA and Office of the PublicService Commissioner (OPSC) officialswas deployed in KZN. Seven depart-ments were identified: Agriculture andEnvironmental Affairs; Education;Health; Housing; Local Governmentand Traditional Affairs; Social Welfareand Population Development; andWorks. This article on the provincialdepartment of health is the first of a seriesof case studies from the KZN SupportProgramme.

State of provincial health

The KZN Department of Health is the

biggest provincial health department inthe country. With 51 000 employees anda budget of R10.5 billion per annum, itsupports a network of 3 tertiary hospi-tals, 14 regional hospitals, 49 districthospitals, 450 fixed clinics, 14 communi-ty health centres and 123 mobile teams.Its services are critical because themajority of the population cannot affordprivate health care and are thereforetotally dependent on the Department.Given the challenges that the province isfacing in fighting the twin challenges ofpoverty and unemployment, theDepartment of Health has a key role toplay in providing a better life to allthrough its health promotion and cura-tive services. HIV and Aids and relateddiseases are threatening to reverse thegains that have been made in the first 11years of democracy, hence the need tobuild a coherent and integrated healthsystem that makes best use of availableresources both within the public andprivate health care sectors.

Elements of support

The DPSA and OPSC support pro-gramme was developed after an intensiveprocess of consultation that culminatedin an agreement with the Head ofDepartment, Prof Ronnie Green-Thompson and Member of the ExecutiveCouncil, Ms. Neliswa Nkonyeni, on thefollowing focal areas:

This article on the provincial

Department of Health is the

first of a series of case

studies from the DPSA KZN

Support Programme.

Lending aHand


• Review of the Department’s organisa-tional structure

• Finalise the Department’s humanresource plan

• Strengthen performance managementThe department’s organisational struc-ture had been the subject of severalreviews in the past, that have not suc-ceeded in comprehensively assessing andfully re-aligning the department’s strate-gic priorities and service deliveryrequirements. Developing appropriatelines of accountability and reporting, aswell as establishing effective manage-ment forums, were some of the issuesthat required the urgent attention of theproject team. What also needs to be notedis that the review and the subsequentsupport programme came about in the

context of the President’s concerns overthe ability of government to implementthe mandate of the People’s Contract.

Management model

The project team found that there waswide agreement that the existing man-agement layers in the department shouldbe retained, namely, Head Office, AreaManagement, District Management, andInstitutional Management. Intervieweeswere equally clear that the roles of thefirst three layers required clarification.Their suggestions on the complementaryroles that these three layers should playwere incorporated into the report andsubsequently informed the functionalanalysis and institutional capacity

review.The Organisational Review report

proposed a considerable reconfigurationof the Head Office structure. As far asthe department’s core functions are con-cerned, the key recommendation was tointroduce two health clusters - the onefocusing on health systems developmentand the other on health service delivery.

The latter is to be headed by a ChiefOperating Officer who will oversee allhealth institutions and the integratedimplementation of all health pro-grammes. Because of the critical impor-tance of clinical support, infrastructuredevelopment and facility managementfor the effective running of health insti-tutions, and due to their operationalnature, it was suggested that these func-

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101

tions should also be located within thiscluster.

The Health Systems Developmentcluster will be an enabling groupingresponsible for integrated planning, pol-icy development, protocols, standardsand monitoring arrangements. Theywill also be responsible for informationmanagement and system developmentas well as legal services. This arrange-ment was proposed because of theimportance of getting the requiredhealth plans, policies, processes and sys-tems in place.

The report furthermore suggestedthat Head Office financial and humanresource functions should be purified tofoster strategic resource management asopposed to the many operational func-tions that are still performed at HeadOffice.

Although the team conceded that thehuman resource function lends itselfmore to decentralisation than the finan-cial function, there are certain supportfunctions, even in the financial domain,that continue to be performed at HeadOffice without sufficient justification.Since capacity has been created at insti-tutional level for the execution of thesefunctions these should be devolvedwhile building the required capacity.Head Office support units should con-centrate on planning, policy develop-ment, monitoring, and providing therequired technical support to institu-tions. In line with this thinking a HeadOffice Corporate Support ServiceCentre was proposed that would servethe same function one would find at ahospital.

Provision has also been made for adedicated unit that will provideStrategic Co-ordination, Inter-govern-mental and Inter-sectoral Collaborationservices. This is to be headed by aGeneral Manager who will be answer-able to both the MEC and HOD, giventhe responsibilities that both have interms of developing strategic and per-formance plans and tabling regularoversight reports. The unit will alsoassist with the stakeholder liaison func-tion of both the MEC and HOD.

Another key feature is the upgradingof the Communication function giventhe need to promote healthy lifestylesand proactively communicate with thedepartment’s many stakeholders. TheHead of Communications will have adirect link to the MEC, in keeping withnational guidelines.

All Counter-corruption, Security andInvestigative functions will be clusteredtogether to eliminate the duplicationand lack of focus that characterised theprevious organisational arrangements

Implementation process andstaffing strategy

To implement the macro structure itwas agreed that priority attention wouldbe given to the development of the jobdescriptions and job evaluation of keymanagement positions (GeneralManager and higher). New senior man-agement posts were subsequently adver-tised. The absorption and appointmentprocess will now unfold with the objec-tive of having the top management teamin place early next year.

A selection committee that will takeinto account the results of competencyprofiling of both serving managers willoversee the filling of posts and absorp-tion process and short-listed candidatesfor advertised posts. It was decided up-front that only a limited number of newposts will be advertised — all the othersare reserved for filling by serving man-agers.

The sub-structures will be developedin consultation with serving & newlyappointed managers. This will focus onall levels of the organization and shouldbe completed by end March 2006.

Other projects

At the time of the writing of this article,the HR planning and performancemanagement projects were under way.

An integrated strategy to recruit,retain and develop the department’shuman resources is yet to emerge. Whilea final draft of the Integrated HumanResource Plan is in place, it has never

been concluded because of concerns thatit does not adequately forecast theDepartment’s staffing requirements. Italso became clear to the project team intheir brief interaction with health andHR managers that more work is neededin:• Synchronising human resource and

financial planning processes and link-ing these with the Health cluster’slong term planning to achieve equityin resourcing the health districts;

• Sequencing infrastructure & HR plan-ning processes; and

• Curbing the high attrition rate of bur-sary holders, particularly medicalinterns.

All provincial health departments arefaced with similar challenges, hence thepriority at national level to develop anintegrated human resources strategyand plan of action. This was recentlyreleased. The document makes it clearthat each provincial department isrequired to develop its own humanresource plan. The provincial planswould need to complement and link tothe national strategies. The develop-ment of a provincial health humanresource plan is in any event a legalrequirement in terms of both publicservice and national health legislation,not to mention the more detailed plansthat are required in terms of the coun-try’s skills development and employ-ment equity legislation.

The devolution of human resourceplanning even extends to health districtlevel given the need to address “push”and “pull” factors that are very specificto the health facilities in these geograph-ical areas.

The Performance Management proj-ect will focus on getting the basics inplace. Priority will be given to refiningthe performance management arrange-ments for the Senior ManagementService (SMS). Consideration is beinggiven to introducing the Balanced ScoreCard in the province. The challenge,however, is to customise the scorecardsfor each department; to translate theminto individual performance agreementsand to refine the assessment procedure. •


Critical mandate

The Department of Home Affairs isabsolutely critical to government’s pro-gramme to create a better life for all. It isat the centre of government’s ability todeliver on key programmes as it pro-vides all the documents that entitle peo-ple to access housing, education, health-care, social grants, pensions, jobs, finan-cial services and to exercise their right tovote.

The department also facilitates theentry of scarce skills, investment andtourists into our country to build theeconomy; ensures that people who wishto visit, sojourn and work in our countrydo so legally and that criminals, terror-ists, drug-peddlers and human traffick-ers are prevented from subverting ourdemocracy .

Perceptions of government are oftenlinked to the performance of HomeAffairs service delivery as the depart-

ment is the window through which ourpeople and our guests often see govern-ment and our country. Since all SouthAfricans and all foreign visitors are ourclients, their frustrations of standing inlong queues, being exposed to oftendilapidated and badly equipped officesand receiving poor service is for themthe only way in which they interact withand see our government. Against thisbackground, it was realised that withoutdramatic service delivery improvement,the objectives of Batho Pele cannot besubstantially realized, hence the need fora turnaround strategy.

Turning around

After thorough introspection, it wasrealised that the Department of HomeAffairs is terminally under-resourced.Substantial additional resources had tobe secured and the department had toembark on a serious programme of serv-


102

The Changing Heart of

Home Affairs

In many cases a series of

small steps can help turn

around a department and

improve service delivery. In

this case study, Rika Anker,

illustrates how the

introduction of flexible

working hours, name

badges and mobile services

is helping to change the

face of the Department of

Home Affairs.



103ice delivery improvement. Consensusexists that there are three areas of criticalcapacity that have to be addressed toeffect our decisive intervention in turn-ing Home Affairs around, namely: peo-ple, infrastructure and technology.

The department embarked on a com-prehensive turnaround programme tocreate decisive interventions in all areasof work in the department: to addressthe shortage of personnel; the inade-quate reach and poor condition ofoffices; the deficiencies of IT systems;the corruption in the department andthe poor service delivery that limits thedepartment’s ability to achieve ourvision of a world class service.

A total of 64 Departmental projectswere identified from the turnaroundstrategy. These projects related to serv-ice delivery improvement, infrastruc-ture, information systems and focusedon issues related to service standards andcorporate image, extended working

hours, signage, name badges and mobileservices. These initiatives also dovetailwith the following 27 July CabinetDecisions:• Departments with high level of public

interface, such as Departments HomeAffairs, Labour and of Justice andConstitutional Development shouldextend office hours until 17h00 duringthe week and be open on Saturdays.

• All Public Service Departments, insti-tutions, service centres have propersignage booths outside and insidetheir buildings”.

• All Public Service staff interfacingdirectly with the public should alwayswear nametags when on duty.

An analysis of current service deliverycomplaints centre around the longqueues with poor process flows; signageand form design; high error and returnrates; long and unpredictable times toreceive critical documents; accessibilityand staffing not matched to the high

demand for DHA services and a highlevel of corruption. The introduction offlexible working hours, signage, namebadges and mobile services forms part ofbroader initiatives with the aim to trans-form the Department of Home Affairsinto an effective 21st Century providerof services to our citizens and visitors. Progress thus far

Flexible working hours: TheDepartment has started to implement aflexi-hour system that made it possiblefor our offices to open on weekends andextend our office hours during theweek. The majority of DHA officesextended their office hours during theweek (between 16h00 and 17h00) andare rendering services on Saturdaysfrom 8h00 until 13h00. It should benoted that there are differences in theimplementation of extended workinghours are due to the severe lack of staffat some offices.


Signage: An infrastructure audit wasconducted of the location, condition andequipment of each office and a nationalbasic standard for all offices in relationto client-management, workflow andsignage has been developed. The worstoffices were identified and an emer-gency plan to attend to these offices hasbeen developed. This included theNational Volunteer Campaign to bringoffices to a reasonable condition whilewe work on longer-term interventions.The National Volunteer Campaign wasutilised to launch work towards a newCorporate Image, which included theimplementation of standard signage thatwill form part of the Department’s cor-porate identity. As part of the final stage,16 offices will be painted in corporatecolours. As specified in the Cabinet deci-sion of 27 July 2004, departments shouldhave proper signage both outside andinside their buildings. The standard sig-nage was refined and rolled out at thenew Head Office building. Signage(interior and exterior) will be rolled outto all Home Affairs offices.

Name Badges: To ensure that theimage of the Public service portrays thecaliber of people who are caring andresponsive to the needs for the Country’scitizenry, the Cabinet decision of 27 July2004 requires that all Public Service staffinterfacing directly with the publicshould always wear nametags when onduty”. In line with this decision, officialsin the Provinces immediately imple-mented “makeshift” name badges.Name badges reflecting the coat ofarms, the official’s name, the details ofthe Department and the official’s photo,were designed to ensure uniformity.

Mobile Services: In an attempt toaddress some of the infrastructure prob-lems, the Department unveiled 10 of the67 state of the art mobile units at theofficial launch on 13 May 2005 in KingWilliams Town. The mobile units areequipped with computers and satelliteconnectivity. They operate with the nec-essary client interface, filing and storagefacilities, office furniture and equip-ment. Their link to the mainframeenables officials to record all applica-

tions on the system immediately andissue the necessary documents on thespot. The mobile units can access alltypes of terrain (including remote areas),and will operate during normal officehours, as well as outside these hours forspecific projects and campaigns. Theyare deployed to provide Home AffairsServices to clients in remote areas and inareas insufficiently covered by existingfixed Home Affairs offices.

Challenges and solutions

Flexible working hours: Resourcesremain a serious problem within theDepartment. A new organisationalstructure and establishment has recentlybeen approved but most of the vacanciesare not yet filled due to the lack of funds.As a result, initiatives like the introduc-tion of flexible working hours threatento further over-stretch limited resources.Current staffing models also fail to takeinto account significant variation inwork volumes. A model has been devel-oped to assist managers with the deter-mination of the additional workinghours. This model highlights the mini-mum number of staff members requiredto be able to introduce flexible workinghours at an office. It also provides aguideline of the additional staff require-ments in the Provinces as a result of thisinitiative and the prioritization of thefilling of critical vacancies. For the inter-im, flexible office hours (especially at thesmaller offices) are also determinedaround the customer requirements thatprovides for some flexibility and varia-tion between the different offices.Factors like the availability of transportand peak hours are also utilised as aguideline to consider the working hours.

Signage: As standard signage formspart of the Department’s corporate iden-tity, it should be rolled out quickly toensure that it contributes to a positiveimage with the public. The signageshould include interior and exterior sig-nage as well as directions to HomeAffairs offices. The key challenges arefunding and standardization. A corpo-rate identity manual has been developed

to ensure that the signage is standardand uniform. In spite of the manualthere were still differences, whichresulted in a decision to produce the sig-nage centrally and distribute it to theprovinces

Name Badges: The challenge is toensure that, in spite of a high staffturnover, pro-active measures are inplace to issue new staff members withname badges on acceptance of duty andthat name badges are retracted oncestaff members resign. As it relates to theappointment and resignation of staffmembers, the solution to this problem isto manage this as part of the HumanResources processes.

Mobile Services: Due to the high costfactor involved with mobile services, themain challenge is to ensure integrated,detailed planning by all role players.These role-players should include offi-cials from the various support functionsas well as the line functions to address allissues like the tender specifications, riskmanagement, dispute resolution mecha-nisms with the service provider, the pro-vision of support services (e.g. theappointment of staff, training, security),logistical arrangements (e.g. transport ofstaff if the number exceeds two that canbe transported in the cab, petrol cards,ablution facilities and the disposal ofwaste, overnight facilities for staff andsecure parking for the vehicles, etc) anda sound implementation strategy(deployment plan). These issues can beaddressed by means of a cross-function-al project team to ensure that all issueshave been addressed. Another challengeis the provision of immediate assistanceand maintenance on high tech mobileservices, especially if assistance is neededin very remote locations. A national net-work of service centres must be availableif the vehicles are to be properly main-tained. As with the issue of flexibleworking hours, initiatives threaten tofurther over-stretch limited resources.Dedicated posts should be created in linewith the operational requirements of themobile services and these posts shouldbe filled before the deployment of themobile services. Before the staff mem-


104



105

bers commence with their duties, specialdevelopment and training needs shouldbe addressed through a training pro-gramme to include technical trainingand trouble-shooting.

Visible impact

Although all of these projects have notyet been fully rolled out, the impact isalready clearly felt by the departmentand its clients. It also highlights the needfor expediting the rollout of these initia-tives and future projects to make a realdifference in the lives of ordinary citi-zens.

The four initiatives already benefitthe clients of the Department and othershort, medium and long term benefitsare envisaged, including the following:• Adherence to service standards: The

turn-around time of applications aredecreasing, especially rural communi-ties. Some documents can already beissued on the spot due to the commu-nication and satellite connectivity inthe mobile units. The Department isalso in the process of integrating all ITsystems. The medium to long-termeffect is that applications will beprocessed in real time to ensure thatmore documents can be issued withina very short timeframe.

• Accessibility: The benefit with thehighest socio-economic impact is theaccessibility of Home Affairs servicesto the public. With the introduction offlexi-hours and the mobile services,communities in especially remoterural areas can access improved HomeAffairs services. On Saturdays, largenumbers also visit Home Affairs forservices, which means more conven-ience.

• Counter corruption: The Departmenthas to contend with two kinds of cor-ruption — syndicated corruption,where the Department is the target ofcriminal syndicates because we pro-vide them with an essential service,and convenience corruption, whereclients get a better service out ofHome Affairs officials by bribingthem. The identification of officials by

means of name tags plays and impor-tant role in the fight against corrup-tion.

• Improvement of service delivery:Although these initiatives will have amore profound effect in the mediumand long term due to extended HomeAffairs services, some of the benefitscan already be felt. This will entail therendering of improved services (lowerreturn rates, predictable timeframesto receive critical documents, shorterturn-around times), the provision ofclear directions to access HomeAffairs services, a clear indication ofthe tariffs in respect of services andthe type of services rendered. Theidentification of the officials willmake it easier for the public to makeenquiries and to lodge complaints incases of poor service delivery.

• Staff morale: Another benefit fromthese initiatives is the positive impacton staff morale. By bringing theworking conditions at the offices to anacceptable level and through the iden-tification of officials by means of namebadges it contributes to a positive atti-tude towards clients. A culture of pro-fessional behavior can be incorporatedin the value system of the Departmentand service excellence can be recog-nized and rewarded.

Experiences and lessons learnt

Flexible working hours: With the intro-duction of the flexible working hours, itwas observed that at some offices, veryfew people visited the office after hours.This was due to several factors like theunavailability of public transport after acertain time, safety concerns from theclients and the public not being awarethat office hours have been extended.This highlighted the need for theDepartment to have a proper customerprofile available at the different officesto align planning accordingly. It wasalso found out that some staff memberswere reluctant to work shifts and onSaturdays. It is essential that implemen-tation be properly managed in line withrelevant acts and policies to minimise

labour tensions. While implementing anew flexi-hour regime, it was also expe-rienced that, at especially the largeroffices, officials are more specialised inperforming certain functions. To be ableto utilise staff members more effectively,all staff should be multi-skilled, and,ideally, comprehensive training pro-grammes should be rolled out before theimplementation.

Signage: When the Department start-ed with the national volunteer campaign,problems were experienced with espe-cially the corporate colours. In spite ofdetailed specifications, the different serv-ice providers could not provide exactlythe same colour paint. Even with themanufacturing of the signage, there wereslight differences. This highlights theneed for specifications to be very clear. Interms of signage, the production was cen-tralised and it is currently distributedfrom Head Office to the provinces. Adecision was taken that installationshould be done by professionals to mini-mize damage and fruitless expense.

Name Badges: The name badgesreflect the photo and personal details ofthe officials. As the photo is very smallin size when the name badges are man-ufactured, it is essential that the photosbe of a very high quality to ensure that itremains clear on the name badge.

Mobile Services: With the launch ofthe first 10 Mobil Units, certain prob-lems were experienced, for example, thenoise levels cause by the generator, thestability of the vehicles when there are anumber of clients inside the vehicle andconnectivity problems due to the sizeand weight of the satellite dishes.Although these problems wereaddressed with the service provider, itshould be considered that the first proto-type must be thoroughly tested in nor-mal working conditions to identify allthe related problems.

In addition, ablution facilities remaina problem when mobile services are ren-dered. These facilities are currently pro-vided by means of a rental contract witha service provider. These facilitiesshould form part of the deployment planfor mobile services. •


In writing this book, Sarah Babb and TerryMeyer set out to explore some of thesuccesses that they have observed at alllevels of the skills continuum and to distilout some of the key aspects learnt fromthese.

From the contributions to this book, theelements of an effective learnership systemcan be identified. These include thefollowing:• The overall purpose, aims and objectives

of the system;• The governance of the system;• The learning outcomes expressed as a

qualification, as well as broadindividual and corporate objectives;

• The selection of the learners;• The quality of learning provision;• The quality of on-the-job learning and

work placement;• The provision of mentoring and coaching

support;• The culture of the organisation;• The assessment process;• The process for ongoing evaluation; and• The administration of the system. The case studies presented in this book setout the success stories of the followingleading employers in industry and of certainprofessional bodies:• Amalgamated Beverage Industries –

Bankseta;• Consol Glass – Eskom; • FASSET – Nedcor; • South African Breweries – Telkom; and• SAICA.

Contributors: Sarah Babb, Sunette Botha,Stella Jory, Christine Fritz and SandraDunn, Steven Kalicharan, Jane Margalit,Terry Meyer, Wendy Newton, NawaalPatel and Elize van Zyl, Len Turner,Natalie Zimmelman

Youth unemployment looms large in SouthAfrica. Meanwhile, the South Africaneconomy faces a critical shortage of skills. Theeconomy’s growth and development hinge onthe availability of skills in both the public andprivate sectors. The generation, retention andexpansion of skills in a modern economyrequire a complex human resourcedevelopment (HRD) system. Learnershipsplay a critical role in a systemic approach toHRD. Success in a learnership programme inturn requires an effective, multistakeholder,collaborative framework. Yet there is littleoperational knowledge available in thisregard. It is not thus surprising that SouthAfrica’s learnership initiative has left much tobe desired since its inception in 2003.Perspectives in Learnerships offers invaluableinsights and managerial measures that areessential for making a success of ourlearnership programme in South Africa.

Dr Iraj Abedian (PhD) Chief Executive, Pan-African Investment & Research Services (Pty) Ltd

Stafing is the new speed limit as far as growthis concerned. It is not access to capital ortechnology that will constrain the growth ofenterprises or the South African economy, butrather the lack of adequate skills to supportorganisational growth plans. The traditionalchannels of education and training are nolonger providing skills in sufcient numbers,nor are they necessarily aligned toorganisational needs. Organisations mustparticipate in the development of relevantskills if they are to survive. This book onlearnerships is an invaluable guide forexecutives and HR and training practitionerson how to succeed in growing skills for thenational economy and for their ownorganisations. Perspectives in Learnerships ispractical, informative, insightful ... and longoverdue!

Italia Boninelli Group HR Director – NetworkHealthcare Holdings Ltd (Netcare)

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Perspectives in Learnerships:South African Case StudiesAuthor: Sarah Babb and Terry MeyerPrice: R259.00ISBN: 1869221281Series Name: Knowres PublishingDate published: November 2005


B o o k R e v i e w sS D R V o l 4 N o 3 2 0 0 6

107

Performance appraisals are used in theoverwhelming majority of workplaces. Yet,ninety percent of organizations that useappraisal and a similar percentage of giversand receivers of appraisal are dissatisfiedwith the process. Many are beginning todeeply question whether appraisal isnecessary and consistent with the workculture espoused by progressiveorganizations. Abolishing PerformanceAppraisals provides an insightful, welldocumented look at the flaws of appraisalincluding its destructive, unintended effectsand offers practical guidance toorganizations that want to move on to moreprogressive approaches to coaching,feedback, development, and compensation.While many books prescribe cures forappraisal, this is the first to focus exclusivelyon eliminating appraisal altogether andcreating alternative, non-appraisalapproaches based upon progressive andhealthier assumptions about people. Theauthors expose and dispel the widelyaccepted myths and false assumptions thatunderlie common management strategiessurrounding the five key functions ofappraisal coaching, feedback, development,compensation, and legal documentation.They then offer step-by-step practicalguidance on implementing alternative non-appraisal strategies that deliver theobjectives of each function. And theysuggest ways to give supervisors andmanagers the freedom to choose forthemselves the most effective ways ofworking with people.

Filled with real-life examples, resources,tools, and detailed practical advice,Abolishing Performance Appraisals is anentirely fresh and radically different view ofperformance appraisal and its functionsthat will help people start over and discovernew and more effective approaches.

About the AuthorsTom Coens, a labor and employment lawattorney and organizational trainer, hasthirty years of experience in humanresources, quality management, and laborlaw issues. He has done training withhundreds of organizations, includingChem-Trend International, Detroit Edison,and Mead.

Mary Jenkins is founder of EmergentSystems, a consulting firm that assists indeveloping progressive human resourcessystems. Her clients include Saturn, ShellOil, Kodak, Compaq, Coca-Cola,Oldsmobile, and the U.S. GeneralAccounting Office. Jenkins was previouslyDirector of Human Resources at GeneralMotors GM-Powertrain Division

Abolishing Performance AppraisalsWhy They Backfire and What To Do Instead

Author: Coens, T., & Jenkins, M.Price: R392.00ISBN: 1576750760Series Name:Date published: 2000


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OddsEnds&HOW TO STAY YOUNG ANDHEALTHY!

1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age,weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. Thatis why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. Thegrouches pull you down. (keepthis in mind if you are one ofthose grouches!)

3. Keep learning: Learn more aboutthe computer, crafts, gardening,whatever. Never let the brain getidle. “An idle mind is the devil’sworkshop.” And the devil’s nameis Alzheimer’s!

4. Enjoy the simple things. 5. Laugh often, long and loud.

Laugh until you gasp for breath.And if you have a friend whomakes you laugh, spend lots andLots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen: Endure,grieve, and move on. The onlyperson who is with us our entirelife, is our self. LIVE while youare alive.

7. Surround yourself with what youlove: Whether it’s family, pets,keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies,whatever. Your home is yourrefuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good,preserve it. If it is unstable,improve it. If it is beyond whatyou can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a tripto the mall, even to the nextcounty, to a foreign country, butNOT to where the guilt is.

10.Tell the people you love that youlove them, at every opportunity.


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