50 Years of the Freedom Charter - the dpsa · Case Study Writer/Analyst Bongani Matomela Case Study Coordinator Send all your comments and editorial correspondence to: [email protected]

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. 1 2005

9 771681 782004

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

D e l i v e r y

50 Years of the Freedom CharterHow Far We Have Come

Managing Editor Thuli Radebe

Editor Fred Khumalo

PublisherSTE Publishers

on behalf of the Department of Public Service

and Administration

DesignMad Cow Studio

ISSN 1681-7826

Editorial team Khaya Ngema

Executive Manager, Service Delivery Improvement

Dudley MoloiCase Study Writer/Analyst

Bongani MatomelaCase Study Coordinator

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. 1 2005

Opinions expressed in this journal are not those of government but

reflect the views of individual writers

ContentsThe Leadership Role of Senior Civil Servants 10

Towards Participatory and Transparent Governance 13

Innovation and Governance 18

Tracking the Changing Face of Local Government 22

Hands-on Local Government 25

Service Delivery in the Information Age 28

How Do I Make My Business Case? The VACSO Framework 34

The E-Government Consultative Progress 37

How Strong Partnerships Can Take Development to New Heights 40

Unity is Strength: How Parastatal MergersWill Improve Delivery 47

Getting Value from Knowledge Management 50

Examining the State of the Public Service in 2004/2005 58

Turning the Tide on Corruption 62

ProfilesSpinning The Web 32

Setting the Records Straight 56

Case StudiesDeveloping School Infrastructure through Public-Private Partnerships 43

Senior Management Service Delivery Challenge: 53Project Khaedu in KwaZula Natal

Blueprint for the Contract Management Centre (CMC) 66

RegularsFrom the Editor’s Desk 2

Letter from Tshwane 4

News in Brief 6

Book Reviews 70

Odds & Ends 71

SDR Vol 4 No 1 2005.qxp 8/1/05 4:28 PM Page 1

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T hey came in their thousands, from all corners of the coun-try and converged on a patch of land in Kliptown,Soweto. They were black and white, they were from all

sectors of society – the rich and the poor; the uneducated andthe highly learned; women and men.

That was fifty years ago, and the occasion was the drafting ofthe Freedom Charter. The place where this document wasdrafted has become a historic venue spoken about in reverenttones.

The drafting, adoption and signing of the document was notan end in itself, but an event in thelong process towards the emancipa-tion of South Africans from thecombined yoke of colonialism andapartheid.

It also marked the laying of thefoundation of a democratic societythat we are today part of.

It is therefore worrisome thatsome sectors of this society, using thevery freedoms that the liberationmovement fought for, are now dis-missing the Freedom Charter as apartisan “pamphlet”.

Lionel “Rusty” Bernstein, aCongress of Democrats andCommunist Party member, whowas banned at the time, recalls in hisbook, Memory Against Forgettinghow the Charter was drafted and bywhom.

He says “a national ‘call’, explain-ing the concept of the Congress ofPeople and asking people every-where to collaborate in setting the terms of the FreedomCharter”, was produced.

The slogan coming out of this call was, “Let us speak of free-dom!” This became the keynote of the campaign. From thou-sands of meetings around the country, suggestions startedarriving, often just one liners, says Bernstein.

It was an all-inclusive process that gave birth to the Charter.Nelson Mandela, who was there in Kliptown during the

Charter meeting, has said of this document: “The charter was,in fact, a revolutionary document precisely because the changes

it envisioned could not be achieved without radically alteringthe economic and political structure of South Africa.

“It was not meant to be capitalist or socialist but a meldingtogether of the people’s demands to end the oppression. InSouth Africa, merely to achieve fairness, one had to destroyapartheid itself, for it was the very embodiment of injustice.”

What the detractors are failing to realise is that the veryConstitution of this country, which has been hailed as one ofthe most liberal and democratic in the world, was informedlargely by the tenets of the Freedom Charter. It is hypocritical

to make derisive comments aboutthe Charter while you are enjoyingthe fruits it has borne.

We have an independent judiciarytoday, thanks to the call for equalitybefore the law as espoused in theCharter.

The National Directorate ofPublic Prosecutions, and its inves-tigative agency generally known asthe Scorpions, has worked hard inuprooting corruption both withinand outside government.

There is a palpable sense that thissociety will not tolerate corruptionwherever it comes from, that the lawwill take its course, regardless ofwho the suspect could be.Corruption undermines democracybecause it creates an environmentwhere favours can be bought, whereinfluence can be purchased.Corruption corrodes the soul of asociety, as Hennie van Vuuren sug-

gests in his analysis of this cancer elsewhere in this journal.Far be it from us to suggest that we have reached nirvana,

that the society that we live in is now perfect. Many of theideals enshrined in the Charter still have to be achieved. We aresoldiering on towards achieving these ideals. That is the beau-ty of the Charter. It is inspirational, as it aims for the highestideals that any society can aspire to. It informs us that althoughwe have achieved a free, democratic society, the are goals,dreams, that we should be striving for in our struggle to reachsome form of perfection as a society.

Let us Speak of Freedom


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T his year we celebrate the 50th year of the FreedomCharter. The Charter sets the tone for our democratictransition. The opening statement says it all: “South

Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.” Includedin the idea of shared ownership is the idea of equality – nolonger the distinction between first- and second-class citizen-ship. No longer the idea that government distinguishesbetween race, ethnicity, religious, language or sexual orienta-tion. The Freedom Charter emphatically states that:

• all people shall be entitled to take part in the administrationof the country

• that there shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in thecourts and in the schools for all national groups and races

• that all bodies of minority rule shall be replaced by democrat-ic organs of self-governanceGiven our history, this meant far-reaching change for the

entire South African society. Our changes in terms of publicsector institutions had to reach our inner core, touching struc-

Inspired By

The Freedom Charter

Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi


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tures, the people and the processes. As the distinguishedNigerian author Ben Okri puts it: “You can’t remake the worldwithout remaking yourself.” If we wanted to remake SouthAfrica, we had to remake ourselves first and foremost.

For the past six years it has been my privilege to stand at thehelm of our public sector transformation. Bearing in mind thelongevity and enduring nature of public institutions, this hasbeen a short time. However, given how young our democracy is,this period is substantial. It is the responsibility of the PublicService and Administration portfolio – which includes theDepartment of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), theSouth African Management Development Institute (SAMDI),the State Information and Technology Agency (SITA) and theCentre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) - to drive the processof change. The Public Service Commission (PSC) with itsChapter 10 constitutional mandate serves as an oversight body toour activities and keeps parliament abreast of our progress.

Our responsibilities are four-fold. In the first place it is tokeep a vigilant eye on the macro-structure of the state and itsbroad governance relations to ensure this structure is optimalto support our political programme. The key question we haveto answer and re-visit periodically is whether or not this struc-ture achieves what we want it to.

For example, when we wrote the Constitution we made pro-vision for the relative independence of the three spheres of gov-ernment. At that stage did we foresee how difficult it wasgoing to be to co-ordinate across the governmental levels?When we started to extensively create and use public entitiesand partnerships did we foresee how our policy vision could bewatered down by the practical realities of running organisa-tions along business lines?

Secondly, our responsibilities include setting the macroframework for human resource management, ensuring thebuilding of the necessary human resource and organisationalcapacity. Can the people we employ in the public service dowhat we expect from them? Can we adequately monitor whatthey do to ensure that we effectively use the skills and knowl-edge we pay for?

Thirdly, our responsibility includes ensuring that we have astate machinery that optimally uses the latest available technol-ogy and operates in a modern and effective manner. We needto encourage ongoing innovation in work processes, testingnew ideas and ensuring the removal from our system of whathas become dysfunctional: for example, red tape and excessivebureaucracy. To ensure we run a machine fit for the 21st cen-tury that is in line with our citizens’ expectations, we have tostay abreast of the larger debates regarding changes in publicadministration and management.

Finally, we are entrusted with changing the culture prevail-ing in our state machinery from one that served the pathologi-cal ideals of the apartheid state to one that advances the princi-ples of a developmental democracy. We have to ensure that aspublic servants we embody Batho Pele. Experience has shownus that we cannot expect public servants to embrace these prin-

ciples in their interaction with the public, while inside the pub-lic service workplace our behaviour is in contradiction withthose principles. This is our brief.

The context against which the South African public serviceoperates, broadly speaking, are as follows: • We are operating in a country marked by huge inequality

between our people. We are still faced with strong dividesbetween urban and rural, male and female, rich and poor,white and black, literate and illiterate.

• We are faced with desperate levels of hardship of large sectionsof our population. One day passing without making progressto provide these citizens with a better life is too long. Whilespeeding up delivery we are expected to radically overhaul theentire machinery of state. Such changes are immensely com-plex and time-consuming. The size of the public service alonemakes change complex. Need I remind the house that the pub-lic service is the largest single employer in the country? ByDecember 2004 we employed 1 043 697 people.

• We function in a modern democracy, subscribing to the sepa-ration of powers and democratic accountability. We strive tokeep our democracy in line with the will of the people, givingdirect voice to the people and adjusting our administration ina manner where the relationship between citizen and officialis not one of the powerless to the all-powerful, or the ignorantto the know-all expert, but relationships of empowered citi-zens who are looking towards public officials to truly servetheir needs and holding them accountable to exactly that.

• We function in a public sector landscape that has changedsignificantly from where government departments were theonly institutions delivering public services. Now we are deal-ing with an organisational landscape crowded with arms-length executive agencies, partners from the community andbusiness sector, contractors, regulating bodies, and more – allof them playing a role in public service delivery.Notwithstanding the absence of clear lines of command incontrol in these networks, government still has the pivotalrole and responsibility in these relations.

• We function in a global setting, where we have to ensure thatAfrica takes up its rightful place amongst the regions of theworld. Notwithstanding the drawbacks that this continentsuffers as a consequence of our colonial histories, and theway in which our economies have been shaped, based on theextractive needs of world powers, and notwithstanding themanner in which our indigenous institutions have been cor-rupted, we have to overcome this and operate in a manner torelease Africa’s full potential.

What the country needs is the careful construction of our roadto development - brick by brick, stone by stone. The portfoliothat I have temporarily been entrusted with serves as the mostimportant stone masonry in the process and, with all the helpand support I get from the entire team, we will chip away at thestones, relentlessly and creatively, so that each fits tightly togeth-er, forming the road on which our people can walk to free-dom.•


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Ambassadors ForSustainableInnovation

Four “innovation ambassadors” havebeen appointed to champion the cause ofsustainable innovation across SouthAfrica’s public and private sectors. TheMinister for Public Service andAdministration, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, recently announced theappointments at the launch of the “callfor entries” for the Innovation andSustainability Awards 2005.

“Government encourages innovationin both the public and private sector,”Minister Fraser-Moleketi said. “As partof this process, we acknowledge fourindividuals who have made a significantcontribution to the cause of sustainableinnovation, and who can act as role-models and an inspiration to currentand future innovators.” The four inno-vation ambassadors are: • Ms Naumi Mashalane, who won the

Innovator of the Year Award in 2003for her pioneering work in developinga new approach to treating asthmapatients and now works at Chris HaniBaragwanath Hospital.

• Professor Erna Alant, who foundedthe Centre for Augmentative andAlternative Communication (CAAC)to help people who are largely ignoreddue to a lack of speech. The centrewon the award in 2004 for excellencein innovation and sustainability in thesocial category.

• Mr Pierre van der Hoven, founderand CEO of TBM, a digital mediacompany that has developed uniquetechnology that is a world-first inadvertising applications. TBM wasGrand Prix winner in 2003 for itsinnovation in the area of satellite-linked IP Multi Casting.

• Advocate Thoko Majokweni, whoheads the Sexual Offences andCommunity Affairs Unit of theNational Prosecuting Authority.Advocate Majokweni won an award

for the Efficient Management ofSexual Offences Project, which hasrevolutionised the way cases of sexualoffences are managed.

“We see the ambassadors acting as rolemodels and living examples of successfulinnovators – as people who will inspireothers not only to innovate but to entertheir own innovative ideas into theInnovation and Sustainability Awardsfor 2005,” Minister Fraser-Moleketisaid. “We expect the ambassadors toshare their learning, to incentivise oth-ers, and to help new innovators to nego-tiate through the often-complex land-scape of innovation.”

The Minister said Governmentencouraged innovation among its ownemployees – “especially those innova-tions that are people-centred and resultin improved service delivery, better gov-ernment, and a better life for all.”

“The same argument applies to pri-vate sector innovators. In the spirit ofpublic-private partnerships, we haveextended the awards to recognise bothpublic and private sector innovation,and encourage innovators across thecountry to submit their proposals forassessment.”

There are two elements to the awards: • A series of private sector awards, spon-

sored by T-Systems – an informationtechnology solutions company, whichcovers innovation forms such asprocess, organisational, management,commercial, marketing and serviceinnovation

• A series of public sector innovationawards, whose sponsors includeMicrosoft, TBM and MTN, whichrecognise successful and effectiveservice delivery improvement projectsand initiatives.

The awards are jointly co-ordinated bygovernment’s Centre for Public ServiceInnovation, Axius Publishing – publish-ers of Convergence magazine – and theDa Vinci Institute. For more informa-tion visit http://www.innovation-awards.co.za or phone (011) 579 4417. •

Vodacom CaresAbout RuralHealthcareProvision

A mobile healthcare clinic, which willserve the rural villages of Mbhashe andMnquma Local Municipalities, has beenlaunched in Nqadu in the Eastern Cape.This development has come as a resultof a partnership between His Majestythe King of AmaXhosa; XolilizweSigcawu, representing the community;the Eastern Cape Department ofHealth; as well as the VodacomFoundation.

The vehicle, a Mercedes BenzSprinter, which has been customised tooperate as a fully-equipped clinic, wasmade possible by an investment of R400000 from the Vodacom Foundation. Aspart of this partnership, the Departmentof Health has taken the responsibility ofmanaging the mobile clinic includingthe provision of a driver, a nurse andmedical supplies.

King Xolilizwe Sigcawu, in express-ing his gratitude, said, “The VodacomFoundation must be congratulated forits magnanimous gesture as many peo-ple in our communities, including theaged and disabled, have to travel longdistances to reach a clinic.” The mobileclinic will also assist in the localHIV/Aids campaigns that are champi-oned by Contralesa in partnership withthe National and Provincial Depart-ments of Health, said Prince XhantiSigcawu, spokesperson of the XhosaRoyal House and brother to the King.

Mr Mthobi Tyamzashe, ChiefCommunications Officer of Vodacom,said that health is one of the primaryfocus areas of the Vodacom Foundation.He added, “By joining hands with theEastern Cape Department of Healthand the Mbhashe/Mnquma Communi-ties, we are improving the quality of lifeof people by providing easy access tohealthcare.” •


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The MEC of Health, Dr MonwabisiGoqwana, said that the ProvincialGovernment in the Eastern Cape has inthe past few years been faced with anumber of challenges amongst whichwas the unification of three govern-ments: the Transkei, Ciskei and CapeProvince. With limited resources, thegovernment had to redress the shortageof healthcare facilities across the wholeprovince. “Between 1994 and 2004 wehave been able to establish 711 new clin-ics. In spite of this remarkable progresswe still have to contend with the WorldHealth Organisation’s standard of oneclinic for every group of 10 000 people.The contribution by Vodacom goes along way in ensuring that we deliver themuch-needed assistance to our commu-nities.” •

Ineffective SETASurged to provetheir worthBy Zibonele Ntuli, Bua News

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlanahas urged under-performing SectoralEducation Training Authorities (Setas)to prove their worth or face the prospectof possible closures or amalgamation.Addressing delegates attending aNational Skills Development Con-ference in Johannesburg, Mr Mdladlanasaid the time allocated was sufficient forthem to amalgamate into strong newSetas.

The exposed Setas are the Diplomacy,Intelligence, Defence and TradeAuthority (Dideta), Police, PrivateSecurity, Legal and CorrectionalServices Sector Education and TrainingAuthority (Poslec), Primary AgricultureEducation and Training Authority(Paeta) and Training Authority forSecondary Agriculture (Setasa).

The Minister said that within the nextthree months his department wouldprovide assistance to them to compileand finalise their new constitutions, con-

firm and finalise their new integratedscope of coverage, and establish theirnew boards of directors.

“Only once this process is completedwill I be in a position to consider theissuing of a certificate of establishmentfor new, amalgamated Setas to whichthe current assets, rights liabilities andobligations will then be transferred,” MrMdladlana explained. He added that hehad also extended the current certificatefor the establishment of the PublicServices Education and TrainingAuthority (Pseta). He said he hadinstructed his department to work close-ly with the Department of PublicService and Administration andNational Treasury to resolve governancematters relating to the authorities’ fund-ing mechanism and constitutions.

“I have also delayed the amalgama-tion of the Pseta with the LocalGovernment Seta until such time that[sic] I am satisfied that their fundingframework and other policy matters areresolved ... It was not easy to arrive atthis decision,” he remarked.

He explained that the adjusted Setalandscape would take the country to the2010 Soccer World Cup. “I took intoconsideration the plight of learners thatare already in the system, the grants thatemployers are expecting, the momen-tum that is already there and the won-derful work that is going on in comingto this conclusion,” he explained further.The minister also launched the newNational Skills Development Strategy,to be implemented in the next five years.He said with the previous strategy Setasdid not meet their equity targets of 85percent black learners, 54 percentwomen and four percent disabled learn-ers:

“I remain concerned on [sic] the levelsof unspent money, even though commit-ted towards projects and employergrants sitting in Seta coffers, provinciallabour department offices national skillsfund account,” he said.

In the next five years, Setas willreceive up to R29.9 billion from the skilldevelopment levy. •

DPSA LearningSession launched

The lack of synergy and commonapproach within and among govern-ment departments is antithetical to theunified public service project, Prof.Richard Levin, the Public ServiceDirector-General, recently told a gath-ering of DPSA staff members. “We’vebeen asked to do things differently,” theDG said about the drive towards a uni-fied public service, adding that the proj-ect was a “pretty hard deliverable [forgovernment] over the next twelvemonths”. He was addressing about 50DPSA staff members attending thelaunch of the first internal Rutanangseries of learning sessions on the 21st ofApril at Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria.

According to Levin, the implementa-tion of the unified public service conceptis “revolutionary” as nowhere in theworld are there attempts to integratemunicipalities into the public service.

He said the “pockets of dissatisfac-tion”, and in some cases explosions atlocal government level, were indicativeof the service delivery crisis in some ofthe country’s municipalities.

The views of the two respondents tothe DPSA DG’s presentation, theChairperson of the MunicipalDemarcation Board, Dr Vuyo Mlokoti,and Advocate Shami Kholong of theDepartment of Provincial and LocalGovernment (DPLG), echoed the DG’sinput. Kholong said that DPLG wasdeveloping an employment bill formunicipalities that was meant to ratio-nalise and standardise employmentpractises in the municipal sector. Thebill hoped to “create a public servicewithin local government”, Kholongexplained.

Although describing a unified publicservice as “unavoidable”, Mlokotiwarned against the potential tramplingover the autonomy of local government.Mlokoti also pointed out that the newmunicipal dispensation was technicallyonly about five years old. He wondered


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aloud if we were not expecting too muchtoo soon of the capacity of local councilsto deliver services.

A speaker from the floor also cau-tioned that the move towards a unifiedpublic service should guard againstunduly interfering with local politicaland legal processes. It was askedwhether a move towards a unified pub-lic service (and the attendant interven-tions) were meant to support best prac-tice or “to annex local government”.Two more Rutanang internal learningsessions are planned for during thecourse of the year, according to theDPSA’s Internal LKM leader, NomsaMtimkhulu. •

New TrainingModel For PublicSector By Tumelo Modisane, BuaNews

The South African ManagementDevelopment Institute (SAMDI) willestablish a new model for training anddevelopment in the public sector. PublicService and Administration MinisterGeraldine Fraser-Moleketi announcedthis during her department’s BudgetVote in Parliament. The move is in linewith President Thabo Mbeki’s emphasison developing the capacity of the state todeliver services.

“It becomes critical for SAMDI to for-mulate a response that is commensuratewith the enormity of the skills develop-ment challenges in the public sector,”said Minister Fraser-Moleketi. SAMDIwill also co-ordinate the establishmentof a network of accredited trainers,drawn within the ranks of successfulpublic servants with a demonstrablerecord of successful service delivery intheir area of work.

The new approach will be launchedwith a campaign under the followingslogan: “Rutanang ma Afrika”, whichmeans Africans teaching and learningfrom one another.

Another important area in servicedelivery was local government, the min-ister said. Therefore the Department ofProvincial and Local Government andSAMDI will formulate a proposedcapacity development strategy for localgovernment to form a sub-set of thePublic Sector Human ResourceDevelopment Strategy. The institutewill also focus on training for officials inareas such as management and leader-ship development, supply chain man-agement and project management.

SAMDI will also work with the localgovernment and provincial departmentto establish a Local GovernmentLearning Academy (LOGOLA) thatwill focus on the training of councillorsand senior officials. It will also developindividual learning strategies inresponse to the varying nature ofresponsibilities at a provincial level.This programme has been launched inthe Northern Cape, and the lessonslearned from the pilot project will beused to further strengthen and shape theprogramme for other provinces. •

Back to SchoolKZN Service Delivery

Improvement Learning Network

By Desmond Nobin, KZN Provincial

Learning Champion

The KwaZulu-Natal Service DeliveryImprovement Learning Workshop washosted from 12 to 13 April 2005 at theRiverside Hotel, Durban. Seventy offi-cials participated in this DPSA initiatedactivity, which had the full support ofthe Office of the Premier, KZN. In heropening remarks at the learning session,the former Integrated ProvincialSupport Programme (IPSP) coordinatorfor KZN, Cecilia. Khuzwayo, high-lighted the need for improved servicedelivery in the context of the Premier’spolicy pronouncements on service deliv-ery, the Provincial Growth andDevelopment Strategy and other initia-

tives taking place, such as the KZNCitizen’s Charter.

Khaya Ngema, of the DPSA, set thescene by outlining the KZN administra-tion review process (undertaken in part-nership with the Office of the Premier)and Batho Pele. Delegates were alsoexposed to a case study on the EasternCape’s initiatives in the transformationof social grants. While Professor E. A.Mantzaris shared the nature and scopeof the KZN Citizen’s Charter Survey onservice delivery. He highlighted thechallenges faced by his team during thisprocess and shared the findings of thesurvey with delegates. The issues raisedrevealed that there is a great deal ofwork to be done to meet the expecta-tions of the citizenry. It was howevernoted that the report on the survey wasstill pending discussions with MEXCOand the Provincial Executive Council.

The afternoon session of the first daydealt with a further case study on theprocess and lessons from the EasternCape Interim Management Team (IMT)intervention, presented by BonganiMatomela, DPSA. Marcel Wilson, whois also from the DPSA, concluded theday with a presentation on the findingsin the KZN Review Report on the stateand capacity of several departments todeliver services in the province. •

Leaders ofTomorrow TodayThe South African Youth MinistersProject began in 2002 as a project aimedat addressing the dearth of youth devel-opment projects that focused on gover-nance, democracy, leadership and citi-zenship development. Since the begin-ning of 1994, youth participation andinterest in South Africa’s democracy andgovernance has decreased. The experi-ences of youth who have grown up withdemocracy are very different fromyouth who grew up during the anti-apartheid struggle. The South AfricanYouth Ministers Project aims to pro-


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9mote youth participation in active citi-zenship for building the New SouthAfrica, strengthening democracy anddeveloping stronger leaders for tomor-row. Currently 225 learners in 15 schoolsin 4 provinces participate in the project.

Each participating school has 15Youth Ministers representing theirschools and communities. YouthMinisters are voted into office by theirpeers (aided by the Electoral Institute ofSouth Africa) and are elected to serve indifferent portfolios, from Arts andCulture to Trade and Industry andEducation. Youth Ministers are sworninto office for a period of one year andonce in office, Youth Ministers partici-pate in a series of life skill workshops aswell as school and community basedprojects. Youth Ministers are expected toconduct themselves properly and partic-ipate in the programmes when called

upon as well as to serve their schools, fel-low learners, community and country.

On a monthly basis, Youth Ministerscompile and submit reports on servicedelivery challenges in their schools andcommunities. These reports highlightissues that affect the youth and remindus that the youth, as clients of the publicsector should not be overlooked. In theirreports, Youth Ministers outline, notonly the service delivery challenges theyface, but also potential solutions to thesechallenges. In many cases, together withtheir fellow Ministers and learners attheir schools, they are working to imple-ment these solutions. For example,planting food gardens to help feed needyfamilies, going to speak to local council-lors and officials to seek local govern-ment assistance and organising commu-nity clean-up initiatives. At a time, whenthe public sector is realising the impor-

tance of community participation andassistance in service delivery, it is encour-aging to see these youngsters take up thechallenge. There is now a challenge tothe public sector to meet them halfway!

In the future, Youth Ministers will beparticipating in the Service DeliveryWatch iniative being launched by theDepartment for Public Service andAdministration as part of the Batho PeleRevitalisation Strategy. They will act as“mystery shoppers” going into servicedelivery institutions to evaluate thequality of service delivery against theBatho Pele Belief Set. Their inputs willprovide valuable feedback on the youthexperience of service delivery.•

For more information on the SouthAfrican Youth Minister’s Programme,please call Alan Williams on 012 6673305 or [email protected].


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10M ost commentators would

agree that leadership andleadership capability are cen-

tral to responsive governance. However,it is within the detail that perspectivesoften differ and where we find elementsof complexity and diversity. Whenreflecting on public service leadership inAfrica we are mindful of the fact thatwhilst we seek to understand Africanrealities, we need to do this without los-ing a sense of universal and widelyshared knowledge, experiences and his-tory. At the same time we also have to beat work at avoiding a perspective thatsuggests similarity and unanimity in val-ues and behaviours across the globe, andin particular within a very big continentwhich experiences many diverse influ-ences and that consequently developedits own systems on different tracts.

A critical assessment of leadershipdevelopment and changing leadershippractices in Africa will reveal the mark

left by various colonial processes andreliance, sometimes excessively so, onforeign models. Notwithstanding theimportance of public sector leadership inthe continent, we are faced with morequestions than answers and the empiri-cal base for substantive engagement onthe issues is fairly thin. Whilst we workat enhancing the empirical base to fur-ther understand the complexity of lead-ership within the public sector inAfrican countries, we remain mindfulthat we cannot raise the challenges andquestions without venturing in provid-ing some initial thoughts and perspec-tives on the questions raised.

Central to any perspective on leader-ship development and the changing roleof officials must be the question: Whatare the unique challenges that are facingsenior public sector officials in Africa?Hence, to understand the changingexpectations we have of our senior pub-lic servants, it is important to under-

The LeadershipRole of SeniorCivil Servants

In this speech, delivered at

the UNDESA WORKSHOP in

Seoul, Republic of Korea,

Minister for Public Service

and Administration,

Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi,

who is also Chairperson of

the 4th Pan-African

Conference of Ministers of

Public Service, unpacks the

unique challenges facing

senior public sector officials

in Africa as a result of the

colonial legacy, among

others, and highlights the

need for African political

leaders to take the destiny

of the continent into their

own hands.


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stand the challenges that face the politi-cal leadership and the manner in whichthey have responded. Drawing from anumber of sources1, the challenges con-fronted may be summarised as follows:• Responding to Poverty: The conse-

quences of uneven development areparticularly evident within Africa andthe leadership has been faced with thechallenge of responding in a contextof diminishing public sector resourcesand within a world that continues tobe dominated by neo-liberal perspec-tives on the role of the state.

• Responding to Globalisation: As glob-alisation has both positive possibilitiesand very evident negative conse-quences for African countries, theleadership challenge in our context ishow to harness the positive and limitthe negative.

• Resolving and Preventing Conflict:Whilst conflict is specific to particularcountries, the overall consequence toall is recognised, and it continues to bea central responsive challenge for thepolitical leadership.

• Reestablishing the Legitimacy of StateInstitutions: In many instances politi-cal leaders are faced with the chal-lenge of reestablishing the legitimacyof state institutions in contexts wherethere is very limited trust and reci-procity between the state and thebroader society.

• Operating within a Framework ofInterdependence: Rapid globalisationhas established for the leadership animperative to cooperate and buildpartnerships across sectors andnational boundaries to address theinterlinked social and economic chal-lenges of the 21st century.

• Driving Transformation: The realityof constant change, and the emer-gence and reemergence of contradic-tions, has established for the leader-ship an imperative to constantly drivechange and respond to ambiguity.

The package of challenges identifiedserved not only to establish theMillennium Development Goals(MDG) but also led to the establishment

of the New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD). In practice,NEPAD is the programmatic expres-sion of the African leadership’s responseto the challenges confronted. Seen fromthis perspective, the central challengefor senior African public servants atpresent resides in understanding and

responding to the vision and commit-ment that have been established by thepolitical leadership in the continentthrough the New Partnership forAfrica’s Development (NEPAD).

Whilst being mindful of our history ofcolonialism and the challenges thatemanate from an uneven global eco-nomic system, the leadership in the con-tinent has expressed and demonstratedthat we have to take responsibility forour future and work at defining ourown development agenda and path.Seen against this backdrop and the com-plex public sector realities we face, thechallenge is: how do we ensure that thevision and commitment permeates ourinstitutions and the practice of publicservice?

Although many of us have initiatedprogrammes that seek to enhance thewillingness of public servants to takeresponsibility and embody the visionand commitment of the political leader-ship, we continue to confront manyinstances where the commitment andthe provision of resources does nottranslate into adequate action on thepart of the public service. In buildingresponsive governance, the challengehas shifted from responsive governancetowards ensuring that we have a respon-sive senior leadership cadre in the publicservice.

A component of the challenge ofensuring a responsive senior public sec-tor leadership resides in attracting andretaining the right people. That is, peo-ple who have the required skills andwho are committed to service in a com-plex and changing environment. If weare to bridge the gap between vision anddelivery, the people we attract and retainmust be able to live the articulated visionand translate this vision into actual prac-tice. We cannot sustain a public servicecadre that is only able to restate thevision, but does not have the skills andleadership capabilities to translate thisvision into active institutional practiceand service delivery. In the spectrum ofleadership development, our emphasishas to be on establishing the capacityamongst senior civil servants to translate

Whilst we remainaware of the manyperspectives that

seek to establish adivide between the

political andadministrative

realms, our historiesand development

trajectories suggestthe need for a more

symbioticrelationship


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

12

the vision into active demonstrable prac-tice.

In reflecting on the disjuncturebetween a committed and visionarypolitical leadership and a ‘slow torespond’ administrative leadership, wecannot but conclude that some chal-lenges lodged in the political-adminis-trative interface in Africa may be uniqueto our history. Whilst we remain awareof the many perspectives that seek toestablish a divide between the politicaland administrative realms, our historiesand development trajectories suggest theneed for a more symbiotic relationship.

In building capable states, experiencesuggests that it is essential that we buildan ethos within the political-administra-tive interface that is rooted in recognis-ing that the challenges we confrontrequire a willingness by all to demon-strate responsive and responsible publicservice leadership. Such a symbiotic rela-tionship does not preclude recognisingthe realm of political control and theexpertise that are rooted in administra-tive leadership. However, within theframework of symbiotic relationships,the central change challenge for seniorpublic servants is recognising thatadministrative action is inherently polit-ical, and that constant political guidanceand mutual adjustment are key to thebuilding of effective developmentalstates and responsive governance prac-tices.

A further and more substantive ques-tion that confronts many of us is: Is therea uniquely African leadership style andcan such a style be amenable to the con-text of the modern state? Whilst manywould argue that traditional Africanpractices and ancient African philoso-phies would be inadequate for moderngovernance, there are some undeniableinfluences in the African value systemthat distinguishes it from that of a morewestern approach to public sector lead-ership. In research conducted in 19952, itwas concluded that the Afrocentricorganisation is based on the philosophi-cal orientation of harmony, spiritualityand humanistic/people-oriented princi-ples with basic administrative elements

that include support of all members,communal management styles and theprioritisation of people over profit.

Having focused attention to the dom-inance of inappropriate leadership mod-els within many of our institutions, Iwould like to focus some attention onthe leadership development challengeand on the unfolding African strategy torespond to the leadership developmentchallenge. Central to the change chal-lenge is our ability to influence andchange the curricula and approachesestablished by our ‘leadership develop-ment’ institutes. With our academic andcapacity-building community, we needto work at ensuring that we restoreAfrican influences in public administra-tion and also work at exporting ourinsights to the mainstream of currentpublic administration and governancethinking.

In reestablishing the value of localknowledge and practices, it does notmean that we should loose sight of pub-lic sector leadership models that haveemerged in other contexts. All that isrequired is a greater balance so that theopportunity to establish alternativeapproaches and practices are there. Inthe current conjuncture, much of whatpermeates leadership development ini-tiatives is based on research and knowl-edge generated in vastly different con-texts.

It must be appreciated that the politi-cal leadership in Africa, in expressing itscommitment to NEPAD objectives, hasestablished a base upon which leader-ship development on the continent canbe constructed. In responding to thecommitment of the political leadership,and in our efforts to change the historictide of public sector leadership practice,we have within the African region beenworking for the past few months onestablishing a programme for ‘PublicSector Leadership Development forGood Governance’. A central objectiveof this programme is to exchangeknowledge and experiences on publicsector leadership and its developmentwithin the region. This is done with aview that exchange would serve as an

essential vehicle for the examination ofappropriate methodologies, curriculumcontent and strategies for public serviceleadership development in Africancountries.

Without venturing further into thedetails of the programme, it is importantto mention that the programme we areenvisaging is rooted in regional support-ive interventions that would help usestablish innovative leadership develop-ment practices across all countries.Central to our strategy is the establish-ment of a ‘Network of Public ServiceManagement Development Institutionsin Africa’.

Having moved from the conceptual tothe practical, I would like to conclude byraising a fundamental challenge whenreflecting on the ‘changing role of seniorpublic servants’. At the political level,accountability, responsiveness and thewillingness to change is driven by thereality of poverty, community need andsocietal activism. My colleagues will tes-tify that this reality keeps us up at nightand instils a sense of urgency and energyin our activism. The fundamental chal-lenge for many of us is how we ensurethat this sense of urgency and energytranslates into visible action on the partof those senior public servants whoenjoy the comforts of ‘permanence’ andwho often find comfort within theboundaries of bureaucratic practice.

Having responded, in brief, to most ofthe public service leadership problemsand challenges I have posed, I know youwill forgive me for leaving you with thisone challenge. A challenge for which, Iknow, there are no easy answers. •

1 NEPAD at work: Summary of the NEPADAction Plan of July 2002John-Mary Kauzya 2003, “Leadership CapacityEnhancement Initiatives for theImplementation of NEPAD and OtherIntergovernmental Global and RegionalCommitments at National Level”, DPMNBulletin, Special Issue, Volume X, No 5,December 2003.

2 See Warfield-Coppock, N. 1995. “Towards atheory of Afrocentric organisations. Journal ofBlack Psychology”, Vol. 21, No 1: 30-48(February)


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

13T here is growing recognition that

governance systems can shapesocio-economic growth and devel-

opment trajectories. This goes to theheart of the reinventing governmentproject, which reaffirms the centrality ofthe state in the resolution of social andeconomic problems. The path of post-liberation development in South Africareflects a desire to both stabilise themacro-economic situation as well asaddress the needs of the poor by rein-venting government through the estab-lishment of a developmental state.

Prior to 1994, South Africa had a his-tory of oppression, characterised by anauthoritarian system of governance thatignored the rights and aspirations of themajority of its people. Under apartheid,the government denied the majority ofcitizens’ democratic rights and imple-mented a tyrannical system of rule in asecretive, top down manner.

Although a number of good policieshave been formulated since the incep-tion of the democratic government, theimplementation of policy and servicedelivery continues to challenge govern-ment at national, provincial and locallevel. All three spheres of government

play a role in service delivery at the locallevel.

Greater attention is being devoted inthe second decade of democracy to thedevelopment of tools and methods thatpromote the involvement of citizens inservice delivery. The Mbeki-govern-ment is now placing substantial empha-sis on programme implementation andservice delivery improvement to tacklethe problems of poverty. There is alsogrowing recognition of the value andimportance of consultation, and formalmechanisms have been developed tofacilitate this.

The Developmental State and theChallenge of People-centred,Integrated Governance

The strategic objective of the seconddecade of freedom is to build and con-solidate a developmental state in SouthAfrica. A developmental state excels inthe basics of governance and intervenesstrategically in the economy to promotesocial development.

South African economy and societycomprise a developed economy withsound macro economic management,

Towards Participatoryand Transparent

Governance

In this paper presented at

the 6th Global Forum on

Reinventing Government,

in Seoul, Republic of

Korea, DPSA director

general Prof. Richard Levin1

charts the path towards

putting the poor at the

centre of governance for

improved service delivery

in South Africa


surrounded by a second underdevelopedeconomy characterised by poverty andunemployment. The challenge for thedevelopmental state is to integrate thetwo economies while meeting both theirneeds.

In order to achieve integration, thedevelopmental state needs to be people-oriented and capable of addressing thesocio-economic needs of its entire popu-lation, especially the poor, marginalisedand historically oppressed. As noted, theSouth African state comprises threespheres of government. The quality ofinteraction between the three spheresdetermines the impact of the state’sdevelopment efforts and is related to theConstitutional principle of co-operativegovernance.

The key objective of integration is toimprove service delivery. Integratedservice delivery is a challenge for publicservices globally. The quest for integra-tion takes place at a number of levels. Itinvolves improving intergovernmentalrelations horizontally as well as vertical-ly. It also requires the integration of citi-zens into governance systems andprocesses in order to ensure that imple-mentation of policy meets the needs ofcitizens. This is achieved through par-ticipatory governance.

Participatory Governance

Participatory governance experiencesare found all over the world.Participatory governance is frequentlyassociated with decentralisation inwhich efforts are made to shift powerand resources away from a singlenational centre in order to improveresponsiveness and accountability.There are different types of decentrali-sation, including de-concentration(shifting decision-making personnelfrom a capital to dispersed locations),devolution (transfer of authority to sub-national government) and delegation(transfer of powers to public corpora-tions or special authorities). The NewPublic Management paradigm, whichinformed public service reform globallythrough the 1990s encouraged these var-

ious forms of decentralisation. Thesewere frequently linked to alternativeservice delivery mechanisms and institu-tions that challenged the traditional role

of the state.Decentralisation should not, however

be seen as a necessary condition for par-ticipatory governance. A strong centreof government can promote and beenhanced by the participation of citizensin policy formulation and implementa-tion as well as the monitoring and eval-uation of policy implementation. Weneed to acknowledge that participatorygovernance should be treated as a flexi-ble and elastic concept that is historical-ly contingent. It refers to contexts andsituations in which governments striveto be more relevant to the lives of peopleby increasing their role in service deliv-ery in order to improve the quality ofgovernment services.

Participatory governance experiencesare found all over the world. Theseexperiences show efforts to consistentlyinvolve people in governance issues, theimportance of communication and avision of social transformation anddevelopment. Central to the success ofparticipatory governance is strong lead-ership and a political will and commit-ment to bring about changes suggestedthrough the participatory governanceexperience.

Osmani has shown how decentralisa-tion and participation have been widelyused and somewhat abused as termsbecause politicians all over the worldhave sought, in many instances sincere-ly, to increase the impact of programmesand projects on the lives of the poor2.The two major stumbling blocks usual-ly found are unwillingness by the centreto relinquish or share power and aninability amongst the weaker sections ofthe community to participate in localgovernance structures, often leading todomination by local elites. Osmani fol-lowing Blair3 identifies the conditionsunder which genuine participation canoccur, arguing that two related condi-tions are required: participation must beextensive and accountability must beensured. These conditions are rarely sat-isfied and the result is that decisionmaking processes come to be dominatedby a combination of local elites and gov-ernment functionaries.

I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

14We need to

acknowledge thatparticipatory

governance should betreated as a flexibleand elastic conceptthat is historically

contingent. It refers tocontexts and situationsin which governments

strive to be morerelevant to the lives ofpeople by increasingtheir role in servicedelivery in order to

improve the quality ofgovernment services


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

15

Archon Fung and Erik Olin Wrighthave come up with useful pointers to thereinvention of government throughpopular participation by way of whatthey call “Empowered DeliberativeDemocracy”4. They define this as effortsto deepen the way in which ordinarypeople can effectively participate in andinfluence policies that directly affecttheir lives. Fung and Olin Wright pro-vide five case studies (some of which arealso used by others in this field). Two ofthe cases aim to remedy failures by stateagents through the use of participationand deliberation to enhance effective-ness (community policing in Chicagoand a collective training strategy inMilwaukee) while in another two, leftwing political parties have capturedpolitical power and seek to advance asocial justice agenda (urban budgetingin Brazil and participatory village gov-ernance in India). The fifth case involvesstakeholders making reforms to legisla-tion governing protected species.

They identify three principles ofEmpowered Deliberative Democracy:• A practical orientation (in that partici-

pation is geared to very concrete con-cerns);

• Bottom up participation; and• Deliberative solution generation (i.e.

iterative dialogue based decision mak-ing).

They go on to identify three designprinciples that need to be consideredwhen engaging with EmpoweredDeliberative Democratic style reforms.These design principles require:• Devolution (because Empowered

Deliberative Democracy requires afundamental reorganisation of thestate apparatus);

• Centralised supervision and co-ordi-nation (because accountabilityrequires local bodies to be connectedto superordinate structures); and

• Interventions should be state centredand not voluntaristic (because theyseek to transform the mechanisms andinstitutions of state power)5.

Another important feature of participa-tory governance is the important role it

plays in poverty reduction. It helps toensure that policies are based on betterinformation while building policy mak-ers’ commitment to agreements andmaking the implementation of policymore effective and efficient. Some seeparticipatory governance as the missinglink in poverty reduction, usuallyignored and under-utilised.

The importance of participatory gov-ernance for poverty reduction is impor-tant in the South African context wherepoverty remains one of the major chal-lenges for the developmental state.

Participatory Governance,poverty reduction and improvedservice delivery in South Africa

South Africa is in its second decade ofdemocracy. A stable macro economicframework has been created and deliv-ered reasonable growth based on solidfundamentals, while a progressive socialoutlook has created a harmonious, cre-ative and optimistic society.

Poverty and unemployment remainmajor challenges because economicgrowth has also been relatively jobless,based on modern technology andimprovements in productivity and per-formance. HIV and AIDS are alsomajor challenges, with South Africahaving a very high prevalence rate.

The ruling party, the AfricanNational Congress (ANC) enjoys veryhigh levels of popular support, andgained a 70 per cent majority in the 2004elections. Key to its popularity is the factthat its policies and principles continueto be drawn from a political manifestodesigned fifty years ago known as theFreedom Charter. The Charter is a pop-ular, community-based declarationdeveloped through participatory mecha-nisms describing a society in which “thepeople shall govern”. A progressive andsocially aware party, the ANC hasalways been deeply concerned with theplight of people and groups who havebeen disadvantaged and historicallyoppressed.

Harnessing the potential of empow-ered participation through deepening

democracy is pivotal in the search forimproved public service performance,poverty reduction and service deliveryexcellence. South Africa’s rich traditionof popular participation has been trans-lated into a number of laws, structures,mechanisms and practices beginningwith the Constitution itself. Section 195outlines principles governing the publicservice and states that “people’s needsmust be responded to and the publicmust be encouraged to participate inpolicy making.” The chapter dealingwith local government states that one ofthe objectives of local government mustbe to “encourage the involvement ofcommunities and community organisa-tions in the matters of local govern-ment” (Section 152).

The National Assembly and provin-cial legislatures have public participa-tion offices that have a sound record ofconsulting extensively with affected par-ties before legislation is passed.

The Imbizo is an adaptation of tradi-tional forums at which political leadersmeet with and consult communities onpressing matters and are increasinglyimportant consultative events in thepolitical calendar. They involve leader-ship of all spheres of government, andPresident Mbeki has placed greatemphasis on the importance of theImbizo as a consultative methodology tostrengthen implementation capacity,and he himself has an extensive Imbizoprogram.

This institution of popular participa-tion plays a critical role in providing aplatform for the voice of the people to beheard. It also promotes accountability byensuring broader involvement of electedrepresentatives. The Imbizo deepensdemocracy by ensuring that communitymeetings and report back sessionsinform the Imbizo process and broaderpolicy formulation. Communities arealso positive about the Imbizo, but post-Imbizo research shows that communi-ties need immediate feedback on theissues they have raised.

The following table shows the majorissues that are raised during thePresidential Imbizo sessions:


Table 1: Top ten issues raised atPresidential Imbizo

Table 2 illustrates how the Imbizo as aninstitution has grown to involve leader-ship at all levels and and thus been con-solidated over the last four to five years:

There are also open days and otherconsultative events at which citizens aregiven opportunities to engage with local,provincial and national politicians aswell as the attempt to nurture a cultureof volunteerism (Letsema) whereby citi-zens assist public servants at servicedelivery points on a voluntary basis.

Community participation is stronglypromoted at local government level.The Municipal Systems Act requires allmunicipalities to develop mechanisms toconsult and involve communities inactivities such as the development ofIntegrated Development Plans (IDP)and the implementation of performancemanagement systems. The IDP is thekey vehicle for participatory planningdesigned to ensure that the needs andaspirations of communities at a locallevel are integrated into ProvincialGrowth and Development Plans as wellas the National Spatial DevelopmentPerspective.

Ward Committees are another rela-tively recently introduced mechanismfor building local participation and com-prise around 10 members of a wardchaired by the local councillor.Sometimes called development forumsor residents associations, these are effec-

tively emerging out of the civic associa-tions and structures of people’s powerestablished during the struggle againstapartheid, and in the early years of liber-ation. They are therefore a new form ofparticipatory structure constructed onthe foundations of alternative sites ofpeople’s power.

Other structures that local authoritiescan use to promote participation includeAdvisory Committees, Focus Groupsand public hearings and meetings, all ofwhich are provided for by national legis-lation governing municipalities.

During 2002, South Africa’s PublicService Commission, responsible foroversight and monitoring the publicservice, implemented a pilot study joint-ly with the National parliamentaryPortfolio Committee on Public Serviceand Administration to test a participato-ry governance methodology known asCitizens’ Forums.

These Forums are a unique and dis-tinctly South African method of consult-ing citizens on their views with regardto service delivery and focus on a specif-ic service in a specific place. Theirstrength lies in their drawing on theSouth African tradition of communitybased decision-making through dia-logue and discussion.

Community Forums function asempowering, education interventionsthat build on a partnership basedapproach. The format followed toundertake the Forums varied from siteto site but usually involving a publichearing at which views and opinionscould be aired as well a problem solvingworkshop component at which sugges-tions for improvement could be made.

An important element of the processwas reaching agreement on issues anditems to be implemented by the relevantgovernment authority based on preced-

ing discussions on what would be doneto address particular concerns raised inthe public hearings.

There are of course a number of validconcerns, including issues such as repre-sentation within the forums, the abilityof attendees to report back to others whocould not attend Forum sessions, butnone of these undo the valuable contri-butions that simple but useful interven-tions such as these can make.

In terms of the criteria provided byFung and Olin Wright, Imbizos, WardCommittees and Citizens’ Forumslargely fall within the EmpoweredDeliberative Democracy framework:they have a practical orientation in thatthey are concerned with particular serv-ices and governance practices in a partic-ular place, they have bottom up partici-pation in that they are open and unre-stricted, and they entail deliberativesolution generation. They also raise theprofile of local decision-making andinput in the context of centralizedsupervision and coordination. Finally,they are state centered, not voluntaristic,and in terms of the intergovernmentalframework in South Africa provide theplatform for decentralized decision-making.

Conclusion: Looking Forward

This paper has argued that South Africahas decisively created the space for par-ticipatory governance. Clear legal, struc-tural and institutional frameworks arein place, although more work isrequired to consolidate, deepen andcoordinate these emergent practices ofparticipatory governance.

In building a developmental state, thisis an area in which requires greaterfocus on in future and one throughwhich all kinds of government pro-

I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

Nov 01 Apr 02 Oct 02 Apr 03 Oct 03 Sept 04No. of events 170 300 320 365 410 427Ministers 14 18 9 23 13 16Dep. Ministers 4 4 3 5 3 5Premiers 7 7 8 7 8 8

Issue % TotalEcon opportunity 19.1 326& DevelopmentEducation 12 205Services 9.9 169Housing 7.6 129Fighting Crime 6.9 117& CorruptionRoads, transport, 6.1 104taxisTraditional and 5.5 94local authoritiesSocial grants 5.1 87Health 4.8 81Land restitution 3.8 65

16

Table 2: Imbizo Focus Weeks


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

17grammes are ensured to achieve greaterimpact in the longer term. This wouldin particular include programmesdesigned to tackle the issues of povertyand unemployment in the second econo-my to facilitate and promote sustainedgrowth and development.

Currently, the single biggest tool toprovide a minimum threshold of sup-port is the social security system thatprovides mothers of young children andthe elderly, as well as special groups suchas war veterans and disabled people,with a small monthly grant to covertheir basic needs. This is a very success-ful important intervention but it is cur-rently characterized by relatively mini-mal participation. This would be a keyarea for consideration in broadening aparticipatory approach to governance, toensure that beneficiaries are drawn in tomaximize effectiveness of the program.

In South Africa there is a need to con-

tinue to find more and better ways tobuild a public service that is finelyattuned to the needs of its citizens andflexible enough to provide what theyrequire.

This must be done by creating innova-tive and appropriate public participationmechanisms and systems that providefor authentic consultation to take placeon an ongoing basis. It is critical thatconsultative mechanisms not only oper-ate effectively, but also provide clearerlinks to government’s strategic andoperational planning procedures and toits programme structures and budgetingsystems.

Government, through theDepartment of Provincial and LocalGovernment, is currently preparing pol-icy and guidelines on public participa-tion in policy making and programmeimplementation at the local level. Thisshould indicate precisely what levels of

participation are required in whichphases and will make suggestions onpractical and realistic strategies andtools that can be applied in diverse set-tings.•

1 Director General: Department of Public Serviceand Administration, South Africa; VisitingProfessor of Public Management andDevelopment, University of theWitwatersrand

2 S.R. Osmani, “Participatory Governance,People’s Empowerment and PovertyReduction,” SEPED Conference Paper Series,http://www.undp.org/seped/publications/conf/pub.htm (undated)

3 H. Blair (2000), “Participation andAccountability in Periphery: Democratic LocalGovernance in the Periphery,” WorldDevelopment 28 (1)

4 Archon Fung Erik Olin Wright (2001), “deep-ening Democracy: Innovations in EmpoweredParticipatory Governance,” Politics andSociety, 29 (1)

5 Ibid., 21-24


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

18“Globalisation pressures, including

economic integration, fiscal disci-pline and democratic governance,

have forced governance institutions toredefine their role of universal provideras one that encompasses the roles of cat-alyst, enabler, gate-keeper, consensus-builder, mediator and negotiator.” UN, 2000, ST/SG/AC.6/2000/L.6, quoted in

UNDP, 2001

The impact of globalisation has irrevo-cably changed the manner in which thestate is viewed and the roles that it isexpected to play. We need to reinventthe way in which we viewed the rein-vention of government and state.

The state should champion the rightsof the poor and marginalised, whilesimultaneously ensuring that growthand prosperity attract capital, which canbe fickle in its choice of allegiances. Thestate has to meet the needs of a diverseand multi-cultural citizenry, and in sodoing ensure redress for past imbal-ances. Finally, the state cannot remainfocused on its own domestic agenda atthe expense of regional and globalprocesses and accountability. This com-plexity requires a flexible, strategic state

that is unapologetically developmental,regionally sensitive, and increasinglysophisticated.

Are the traditional structures andprocesses of governance and publicmanagement equipped to produce thisdesired state? Practitioners and theoreti-cians alike have witnessed a period ofintense evolution and revolution inunderstanding what behaviour makesthe state and its practice of governancerelevant and necessary in the early 21stcentury. There appears to be broad con-sensus that what is required is not less,but more, governance, provided it isdriven by principles of equity, fairnessand accountability, locally and interna-tionally.

We have witnessed conflict in parts ofEastern and Central Europe, the GreatLakes region of Africa over the pastdecade or more, the Middle East, theongoing war in Iraq – its causes andeffects – and, ultimately, the unexpectedhorror of the natural disaster of thetsunami in Asia and East Africa, wit-nessed earlier this year, and the ongoinghuman tragedy related to poverty, HIVand Aids and other preventable diseases(like malaria and so on). Underlying all

Innovation and

GovernanceIn this speech, delivered at the

Sixth Global Forum on

Reinventing Government in

Seoul, Korea, Minister of Public

Service and Administration,

Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, says

the use of information and

communication technologies

play a key role in driving

innovation.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

19

of these human tragedies is the realitythat the trajectory of increased povertyand inequality between developed anddeveloping nations is not sustainable,and will undoubtedly impact on thelives of all, directly or indirectly.

The pressure on our states is thereforeto find more creative ways to addresssome of the seemingly intractable chal-lenges of governance, and to function inways that may have seemed unlikely inthe past, but which the immediate chal-lenges of our troubled present enforce onus. Emerging practices from across theglobe provide hope in this regard, andreflect that as politicians, public servants,community leaders, captains of industry,we are capable of providing the newmodels that are required to ensure aprosperous future. Hence the appropri-ate and well-chosen emphasis of thisSixth Global Forum on ‘Innovation inGovernment and Governance’. Beingprepared to open our minds to the possi-bility of doing things differently is mostcertainly the first step.

James Rosenau (1997: 145) definesgovernance to refer to “spheres ofauthority at all levels of human activitythat amount to systems of rule in whichgoals are pursued through the exerciseof control”.

This definition makes provision forthe reality that governance also mani-fests (and can go wrong) within the pri-vate domain, as well as the global,regional, national and local levels.Governance in all its manifestations -global, regional, national, local, public orprivate - is a social construct. In order toanalyse or comment on it is thereforenecessary to critically assess the powerstructures, the underlying interests ofthe dominant actors, and the beneficiar-ies of various governance mechanisms.

Role of the state in innovation

Government innovation in the contextof governance deals fundamentally withthe definition of the role of the state. It istherefore largely an ideological discus-sion of whether there should be more orless state, more or less government,

more or less regulation and interventionin terms of the market specifically, andsociety more generally speaking, inorder to ensure economic growth of acertain kind that also take on boardother considerations and values.

The governance debate for Africancountries, however, should be onwhether this is the approach that is nor-matively desirable at the point of post-conflict reconstruction. Is it not time toadmit that more government, ratherthan less government, is required to set-tle the ongoing conflicts that markAfrican societies? Is it not time to admitthat more regulation of the use of publicresources and assets – for example,forests, minerals, water, and labour –could be more in the interest of the pub-lic good, rather than highly elitist, smallgroups that benefit from global freemarket operations? Is it not time toadmit that the private sector, left to itsown devices, has no inclination to act inthe interest of the public good, and thatthe fundamental nature of organisedcivil society is focused on particularistinterests, rather than the public good.Following this logic, it could be arguedthat it is only the state that can in thefinal instance legitimately act in theinterest of the public as a whole, for cur-rent and future generations.

So, the role of innovation is to provide

new and alternative ways of addressingcommon and recurrent challenges. Inaddition to the very challenging andprovocative point that I raised earlier,there is a need to further state that with-in the governance paradigm, which isitself multi-faceted, innovative systemsand solutions do not appear in pre-dictable forms. Currently, innovation ismore commonly associated withresearch and development institutions,and business development units in theprivate sector, than it is with the publicsector. Its role in driving competitive-ness and hence economic growth hasreceived significant attention over thepast years, with industrialising countriesinvesting a proportion of GDP in R&Dprogrammes (Bartzakos & Teubal,2001).

National reconciliation andpeace building

The achievement of lasting peace andsecurity in many nations across theworld has been the result of long yearsof hardship and struggle, coupled with astrong capability to adapt and innovatein the presence of opposing and seem-ingly irreconcilable difference. WilliamZartman makes two fundamental obser-vations on the nexus between Africa andgovernance. He asserts: “Africa isknown as a continent of conflict” andthen he proceeds to define governance asconflict management. “Governing astate is not only the prevention of violentconflict from destroying the country; itis the continual effort to handle the ordi-nary conflicts among groups and theirdemands which arise as society plays itsrole in the conduct of normal politics. Asorganised interests or groups bring theirdemands to government, they necessari-ly conflict with others: either thedemands themselves meet oppositionfrom competing groups and demands,or, even if they do not, the measuresrequired to satisfy the demands conflictwith competing resource allocations orprogrammatic orientations. Managingthese conflicts is government’s job.”1

This view of governance coincides

The pressure on our states is

therefore to findmore creative

ways to addresssome of theseeminglyintractable

challenges ofgovernance


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

20

with the way the UN perceived thechanging role of governance institutionsto encompass the roles of “consensus-builder, mediator and negotiator” (UN,2000, ST/SG/AC6/20000/L.6, quoted inUNDP, 2001). It is particularly inrespect of conflict management, nation-al reconciliation and peace-building thatAfrica has been, in recent years,extremely active. South Africa’s remark-able case in the early 1990s of finding anegotiated settlement after protractedpolitical struggle and conflict, and deepsocietal divisions, is an example that isrespected internationally. Many coun-tries in Africa are currently attemptingtheir own reconciliation processes,drawing on, amongst others, the experi-ence of SA in this regard.

Policy innovation

New requirements for stakeholderengagement and conciliation, improvedaccountability, and attention to naturalresource depletion have resulted ininnovative policy development acrossthe world. The process through whichpolicy itself is developed has evolvedfrom a bureaucratic, academic drivenprocess, to one which is centred aroundcitizen and stakeholder consultation,negotiation and compromise. Generally,policies adopted by states today shouldbe more successful in implementation,because of the work undertaken todevelop them.

Clear cases of innovation exist:Western academics regard themselves tobe on the cutting edge when they gener-ate thinking and agendas for “discur-sive” democratic practice. For example,policy-making and the whole issue of‘community engagement’, which Africahas over centuries been practising, hasbeen referred to as so-called “palaverdemocracy”, in which talking and theexchange of thought is at the heart ofdemocrasy in Africa. In fact, Africa isreviving these traditional practices andadjusting such processes for moderndemocratic practice. These are seen asinstrumental in advancing inclusivedecision-making, strengthening the

interface between government and thepeople, and providing opportunity forthe demands of competing groups to becommunicated to the “rulers” or gov-ernment. An example of this in the SAcontext is the Izimbizo.

Service delivery systemsinnovation

In attempting to enable policy to beimplemented in a more effective man-ner, the machinery of government hasbecome increasingly creative in themanner in which it employs innovationin service delivery systems to ensure thatservices reach all citizens. This problemis most acute in large and populousdeveloping countries, but equally wehave seen our developed world counter-parts greatly improve service deliverythrough the use of creative systems.Single-window and one-stop servicedelivery facilities are good examples ofthe innovative overhaul of traditionalsystems in favour of citizen-focusedstreamlined systems. Last year, duringan official visit by a South African dele-gation to our IBSA counterparts in theIndian provinces of Andhra Pradeshand Kerala, we were greatly impressedby the work undertaken in improvingcitizen access to services, particularly forpoor people.

Resourcing and partnershipinnovation

Inherent in the notion of innovation arethe principles of partnership and sharedrisk. If government is to no longer dobusiness as it has in the past, then thisimplies that its commercial and socialpartners should behave differently too.Innovative partnerships, both in theform of large-scale multi-million dollarpublic private partnerships which areused to finance infrastructure develop-ment, and local level community part-nerships, reflect the state engaging in theprocess of governance and service deliv-ery through a different set of arrange-ments. Substantial resources can bereleased, not only those related to

finance, but also the use of physicalresources and intellectual capital,through allowing innovative partner-ships to play a central role in governanceprocesses.

Capacity development

One of the pervasive and ongoing chal-lenges faced by developing countries isthat of human capacity development. Atthe Fifth Global Forum in Mexico, Ispoke of the importance of human capi-tal to our social and economic growthand development (Fraser-Moleketi,2003). As the UNDP reminds us,“Fundamental to enlarging humanchoices is building human capabilities.”(UNDP, 2002: 13)

Human capital is ‘the notion thatknowledge and skills, derived from edu-cation, training and experience, repre-sent some of our most valuableresources’ (OECD, 2002). The applica-tion of the term ‘capital’ is indicative of adesire to better understand and quantifythe real, economic contribution thatindividuals make to growth and devel-opment, through the productive appli-cation of their knowledge, skills and val-ues. Talent and competence, resolve andcommitment become commodities thatcan be developed and traded in theinterest of improved performance,greater productivity and what theOECD cites as the ‘well-being ofnations’ (ibid). Innovation in the devel-opment of human capital has increas-ingly been used by countries around theworld to develop amongst their citizens:• An understanding of their rights and

responsibilities as citizens• An ability to produce value, either in

fixed or self-employment• A realisation of the growing competi-

tiveness of the global economy and theneed for individuals to improve theirskills and hence marketability

Countries have creatively employedtechnology, mixed modes of delivery oflearning materials, and alternativeapproaches to adult learning in anendeavour to build the intellectual capa-bility required for nations to compete.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

21Many of these innovative practiceshave evolved through experimentationand some by chance, rather than bydirect design and investment. Unlikeour contributions as states to innovationin the formal economy, we do not makecomparable direct investment in build-ing the capacity of our public sectors toactively innovate. If we value the contri-bution made by more creative and prob-lem-solving behaviour, then the chal-lenge remains to us as the leadership of aglobal public sector community to findways of nurturing and developing suchpractices.

In conclusion, we need to considerthat a number of contextual factors arelikely to bring about the worst of the dif-ferent governance arrangements interms of the effect of creating a just anddemocratic society. Government inno-vation should be aimed at neutralisingthe negative and developing the positive,creating balance in the process.Amongst these factors are:• Excessive informality as well as lack of

transparency opens up decisions and

the implementation thereof to be cap-tured by self-interested (often corrupt)elites

• Excessive formality results in the sti-fling of innovation and the over-bureaucratisation of processes that canbe relatively simple

• Unmediated demand formulation,where processes are too open andunstructured with competing inter-ests at play, results in conflict andinvariably the outcomes favour thepowerful and wealthy (minority) atthe expense of the interests of the poorand disempowered, and the publicgood in general

• The poorly institutionalised capabilityto regulate the market and monitoreconomic transactions allows a veneerof state/government involvement tobe presented as state endorsement andparticipation; in fact it might be well-placed individuals in the political andadministrative realm that strike dealsto benefit them either directly or indi-rectly

A general recognition is emerging that

we have under-estimated the govern-ment capacity required in regulation,oversight and performance manage-ment and contract management interms of the innovations introducedunder the label of service deliveryimprovement or alternative servicedelivery (outsourcing, agentisation,extensive use of 3rd sector and the mar-ket – either as partners or formal con-tractual relations).

One of the most important areas forinnovation in government (in Africaand elsewhere) that can impact on gov-ernance is the creation of a shared valueand normative basis. In African coun-tries where this did not take place, it wasa matter of time before conflict eruptedagain. Any processes of value setting ornorm-creation, including the setting ofstandards (good governance indicators),is a political process, although it is oftenpresented as, or misunderstood as, pure-ly technical. In terms of the governancediscussion on the African continent thisdemands much more debate and consid-eration. •


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22

C onvenient and appealing, theterm ‘governance’ has becomeinternational, even though it

eludes precise definition, and connotesvarious meanings in various govern-mental scenarios. In Japan, this catch-word has received considerable publicattention. A Tokyo publisher hasbrought out a very successful quarterlyjournal titled Gabanansu (governance),which carries articles relative to localgovernment. Part of its popularity seemsto lie in its eye-catching title: had themagazine been called Local Govern-ment Management, it probably would nothave generated as many subscribers.

As this example shows, people findthe term governance beguiling, possiblybecause it carries a sense of goingbeyond seemingly worn-out systems ofgovernment. They utilise it perhapswithout clearly understanding it. In this

respect, governance is akin to the termdemocracy. Both appear to have a com-mon global understanding, althoughneither offers a universal definition thattranscends cultural and historicalboundaries. Similarly, both words arenormative and value-laden, carryingemotional appeal: in fact, calls fordemocracy have touched off revolutionsand wars in the past. Similarly, gover-nance has recently become a buzzwordthat represents one of the most impor-tant social prerequisites for improve-ment in many developing countries. Atleast, this view is held by such interna-tional funding organisations as theInternational Monetary Fund and theWorld Bank.

Unlike democracy, the definition ofgovernance has not yet been testedthrough strenuous intellectual andempirical discourse. The word itself is

Tracking the Changing Face of

Local Government

In this edited version of a presentation to the 6th Global Forum on Reinventing

Government in May this year, Akira Nakamura, Dean of the Graduate School

at Meiji University, Tokyo, tries to unpack the role of local government in a

world that is reaching new levels of sophistication every day.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

23

relatively new in the area of public man-agement, and carries various connota-tions to both leaders and voters.Moreover, it is culturally and geograph-ically bound: when a European leaderspeaks of governance, for instance, itdoes not necessarily have the samemeaning in Asia and other regions.Domestically, it is socially bound as well:civic leaders and citizens do not alwaysshare the same implications found in theterm. In fact, the concept of governancehas frequently been mobilised by thoseout of power to discredit the incumbentgovernment.

Against these theoretical backdrops,this presentation tries to discuss the con-cept of governance from the view oflocal government. This writer believesthat, in many countries, regardless oftheir level of economic growth, socialschisms and discrepancies wouldincrease in the future. They will equallyface the following two nagging issues: • A shortage of financial and human

resources• A growth of public demands on gov-

ernmentIn many countries tax revenue wouldnot expand as in the past. If the currenttrend would hold true for the comingyears and beyond, the financial meanswould at best stay still or else decline invarious nations. The monetary resourceswould most probably become scarceeven among industrialised countries.The same phenomenon is applicable tothe state of human resources.Particularly in developing environ-ments, talented people would not chooseto work for government; instead, theywould look for work in the private sec-tor or such international organisations asthe United Nations and the WorldBank. In addition to being unable torecruit gifted persons, developingeconomies would likewise increasinglyfind it difficult to retain experiencedpersonnel. Many would decide to leavegovernment because of the low wagesand minimal incentives.

Although different resources in gov-ernment are limited, taxpayers, votersand residents alike would not care less

about the issues. Regardless of the lackof government resources, the publicwould continue making diverse requestson government. The public’s demandsof government would probably see nolimit. Some people ask for a better wel-fare programme, while others requestan improvement plan for the aged. Stillothers would like government to extendthe public transportation system. Alland all, many governments would beflooded with public demands for differ-ent services.

In this respect, Japan may be a case inpoint. In the coming decades, Japanexpects to undergo a fundamental alter-ation in the structure of the population.The birth rate has declined continuous-ly over the last several decades. In 2003,mainly due to the social advancement ofwomen, the average number of childrenborn to a woman was 1.4, far below the2.1 rate necessary to maintain the cur-rent population size by the year 2100.

While the birth rate has been drop-ping, the rate of the aging populationhas been rising. Owing to the improve-ment and sophistication of medicaltechnology, the average life expectancyin Japan has reached 76.6 years for malesand 83 years for females. Consequently,by the year 2010, the aged population(those over 65 years) is expected to com-prise 25.8% of the total population, sur-passing many other industrialisednations.

From the perspective of public man-agement, the growth of the aging popu-lation has generated several importantpolicy issues. Both central and local gov-

ernments have found it difficult to keeppace with the greying population.Nursing homes and day care centres forthe aged are in such high demand thatgovernments are failing to cope.

The Japanese example makes clearthat the gap between the availability ofgovernment resources and the growth ofpublic demands would progressivelyexpand. This discrepancy will mostprobably become universal. The chal-lenge, therefore, is that in these states,the governments must come up withnew modes of social management tonarrow the gap; otherwise social schismand unrest would certainly ensue.

One of the ways to alleviate the esca-lating problem is to change the basic for-mat of government. In essence, decen-tralisation would perhaps develop to bean effective means to resolve the dis-crepancy. In many countries, centralisa-tion has been the hallmark of socialmanagement. Under this arrangement,the central government controls legaland financial resources, while it alsocommands local governments to carryout various national mandates.However, the problems these govern-ments face appear too enormous tomaintain through the traditional patternof central-local configuration.

In the case of Japan, the national legis-lature enacted a law promoting decen-tralisation. Beginning in April 2000, thebasic political paradigm of the countryhas changed. Decentralisation hasbecome the hallmark of the country’sintergovernmental relationships. Underthe new circumstances, reconfiguringJapanese government power suggeststhe eventual growth of two differentmodes of decentralisation: vertical andhorizontal, both of which will eventual-ly contribute to the development offunctional integration and policy coordi-nation among different levels of govern-ment in Japan.

A vertical transfer of power will helpgenerate a partnership between centraland local governments. Decentralisationincreases the chances of local public enti-ties to become equal partners, both levelssharing various functions while work-

The public’sdemands ofgovernment

would probablysee no limit


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

24

ing together toward common objectives.This consolifdation is, in fact, the onlyway to mobilise meagre financialresources to alleviate the social issuesmany countries face in the comingdecades.

Decentralisation has another dimen-sion: a horizontal collaboration amonglocal governments. Devolution of powerwill enable local government to worktogether and to coordinate policy amongthemselves in different areas, and thusprovide freedom and independence forlocal units of government. They willmake their own policy choices irrespec-tive of the national government. Thisfreedom of policy decision naturally car-

ries with it increased accountability andfiscal obligation. For some localities,these liabilities will prove too immenseto carry out alone: they will increasinglyfind that policy coordination amongneighbouring local governments is nec-essary, and in fact imperative, for themto remain vital instruments in the publicsector management of different coun-tries.

These cases indicate that public man-agement has reached an importantcrossroad in various nations. In many ofthese scenarios central government,while maintaining immense power, hastended to remain insensitive to thechanging social environment.

Consequently, government programmesare often too slow in responding tochanging social needs and dynamics.The future of public management invarious countries calls for the decentral-isation of central power. With a decen-tralised form of government, publicmanagement will be able to meet the ris-ing challenges of new issues and prob-lems. Decentralisation will permit bothcentral and local units of government toshare functions and coordinate policiesand programmes. A decentralised formof government, then, is the only solutionfor both the effective and efficient man-agement of the public sector in the com-ing years. •


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

25Dudley Moloi: What are the underlyingcauses to the recent spate of unrest inurban areas?

Elroy Africa: We were not surprised [bythe unrest] because as government weundertook our own assessment andanalysis of service delivery challengesand backlogs in the country. The exer-cise was a national profiling of all 284municipalities that led us to the identifi-cation of 136 municipalities that neededspecific focus by government. All these136 have various challenges that are pri-marily related to service delivery andgovernance. We undertook a quickanalysis of the 12 municipalities wherethe protests have been most visible andfound that they all fall within the 136municipalities identified throughProject Consolidate. This reinforces ourown assessment of municipalities with

serious service delivery challenges thatgovernment is trying to respond tothrough Project Consolidate.

DM: Are there similarities betweenthese protests and those of the 1980s?

EA: What is different is that the protestsprior to 1994 were by and large legiti-mate protests. Those protests wereaimed at an illegitimate governmentthat was not responsive and not address-ing the needs of our people. That funda-mentally characterises the protests priorto 1994. On the other hand the post-1994protests that you’re referring to areclearly [taking place in the context ofthe] legitimate government in place.What that means is that we have a gov-ernment that by its very nature isresponsive and trying to address theproblems that people are facing on the

Hands-onLocal Government

Last year the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG)

undertook a comprehensive study on the capacity of local government to

deliver services, which was followed by the development of a rescue plan

called Project Consolidate (PC) for beleaguered municipalities. Dudley Moloi

spoke to PC project manager Elroy Africa in the context of the recent

explosions of unrest around local government service delivery challenges.


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

26

ground. What is also different is thatthis government has put in place mech-anisms for people to participate in mat-ters of government. [It is for this reason]that we find it very difficult to under-stand why people need to take to thestreets because we have put in place for-mal structures for people to channeltheir grievances, their concerns and towork with government in tackling serv-ice delivery, corruption and governancechallenges.

DM: The demographics of the protestsas reflected in media reports indicate anactive participation of young people. Isthis telling us something about the needsof the country’s youth?

EA: I think the one point that needs tobe made is that we do have unacceptable

levels of unemployment within theyouth category in the country. Manyanalysts and social commentators havetried to make comparisons with theyoung people prior to 1994 and the gen-eration post 1994. I am not an expert onthese matters, but clearly the generationprior to 1994 was a generation of youngpeople who were experiencing the bruntof various exclusions during theapartheid regime daily. They were, forexample, systematically denied access tojobs and educational institutions.Clearly, the youth were organised in dif-ferent formations, which meant thattheir energy and anger was expressedand mobilised in a very organised man-ner.

Post 1994 one does seem to get theimpression that there are sections of ouryoung people who are still very socially

conscious and concerned with socialdevelopment issues. There are verygood examples of these young peoplebeing organised in different kinds offormations, whether through politicalparties, community-based organisations,NGOs or Umsobomvu Trust projects.But at the same time one must also makea point that there are also other instanceswhere there are examples of some youthnot appreciating where we come from asa country. What this means is that theytake many of the opportunities thatcome with the new dispensation forgranted. They have a responsibility todefend, entrench [and] broaden theseopportunities.

DM: A much-publicised response to thespate of unrest had been to send intelli-gence officers to investigate the possible


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

27

existence of agitators. Do you thinkthere was a basis for this kind ofresponse?

EA: I am not the authority to respondon this but let me restate one or twothings. One, there are different arms ofgovernment with different responsibili-ties for defending our democratic stateand clearly the South African PoliceServices and security forces have theirown responsibilities. I don’t think therecan be any excuse - post 1994 - for peo-ple to burn down buildings and destroyinfrastructure[s] and engage in acts oflawlessness.

DM: Is there an early warning systemfor such incidents?

EA: We have tried to assemble veryimportant key baseline indicators thatwould indicate the health of the localgovernment system. What we are tryingto do as the national department, togeth-er with provinces, is that we are tryingon a regular basis to get reports frommunicipalities and provinces that wouldindicate progress against those indica-tors. Whether that constitutes an earlywarning system is something that wecan discuss. But we think that we arereaching a situation in which we are ableto anticipate where there would be aserious challenge with regard to servicedelivery or governance. Also, the factthat we have identified 136 municipali-ties is in itself a big early warning signalwhich says: “Let us very carefully look atthese 136 municipalities because if wedon’t then we will begin to see the kindsof problems that we are seeing”.

DM: How different is PC from theurban renewal programme?

EA: The Urban Renewal Programme[URP] and the Integrated SustainableRural Development Programme[ISRDP] were initiated by governmentin 2000 and 2002. Eight urban renewalnodes and 13 rural development nodeswere identified as part of the pro-gramme. What is common in all those

developmental nodes is that they arecharacterised by extreme levels of pover-ty and underdevelopment. So the pri-mary purpose of these two programmeswas to channel government resources tobegin to turn around and tackle thoseproblems. On the other hand, when weannounced Project Consolidate inOctober 2004, we said we are going to befocusing on these 136 municipalitiesacross the country, which constitute justunder 50% of the country’s municipali-ties. What is unique about ProjectConsolidate is that it cuts across urbanand rural South Africa. But the mostimportant defining feature aboutProject Consolidate, which makes itslightly different from those other twoprogrammes, is that Project Consolidateis an attempt by government in a verypractical, hands-on way to grapple anddeal with those problems. We havemobilised what we call service deliveryfacilitators –people who can go out thereand work practically in a municipality.We have just deployed the first group-ing of service delivery facilitators. Theyhave been to the field, done some assess-ments and have come back with very

important lessons about the implemen-tation of Project Consolidate and thisnew style of supporting and interactingwith local government.

DM: Is PC indicative of the diminishingrole of local government?

EA: Absolutely not. Project Consolidateis not a pronouncement on the impor-tance of one sphere of government inrelation to another sphere of govern-ment. Project Consolidate is about theability of the whole government –national and provincial – to tackle prob-lems at local government level. It is fun-damentally premised on the ability ofnational and provincial government towork together in addressing the chal-lenges faced by local government. It isabout building the functions of localgovernment. At the end of the dayProject Consolidate is a partnershipacross government [that aims] to tackleand resolve [the problems we have dis-cussed] at local government level.

DM: What are the time frames andwhat you hope to see at the end of theproject?

EA: We have put ourselves under pres-sure with Project Consolidate for verygood reasons. Project Consolidate is atwo-year support initiative. Withinthese next two years we hope to see a vis-ible and tangible change in the quality oflife in these 136 municipalities. ProjectConsolidate tries to tackle the mostpressing service delivery challenges bybuilding the capacity and the capabilitiesof our officials and politicians at localgovernment level in order for them todischarge their developmental obliga-tions. Project Consolidate is an extraor-dinary initiative of government [for re-enforcing the] partnership betweennational, provincial and local govern-ment. It also provides an opportunity forgovernment to work and reconnect withordinary people. It is an importantopportunity for people to participate inmatters of local government. •

I think the onepoint that needsto be made is

that we do haveunacceptable

levels of unemploymentwithin the youthcategory in the

country


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

28 T o some people here the confession Iam about to make – that prior toaccepting my current position as

CEO at the State InformationTechnology Agency [SITA] I knewabsolutely nothing about ICT – will besomething of a dampener. As a matter offact, when I went over to SA NationalParks in July 1997, my knowledge ofconservation was perhaps only margin-ally better than George W Bush’sknowledge of world affairs. I wasunflatteringly referred to as an ‘alienspecies’ – had they been kinder theymight have at least said ‘exotic species’.The kind IT people, for their part,affectionately referred to me as an out-sider. This non-ICT background can beboth a boon and a curse. A cursebecause, as one quickly finds out, peoplein this sector speak a peculiar languagethat sounds like English, to be sure, butone you must learn fast if you want to bepart of the action. On the other hand, itcan be good in that it affords one thedetached appreciation of the quintessen-tial value of ICT in modern life: in edu-cation, health, management, gover-nance, the economy – you name it – it is

so strategic that its understanding hasnecessarily to be transferred to owner-ship by every human who walks thestreets of our urban areas and indeed thefootpaths of the countryside.

Upon joining SITA I recall how somejournalists came to ask me about myplans for the transformation of theorganisation. They quickly turned toquestions they considered fundamentalto the lifeblood of the industry: What wasmy position on Open Source versusProprietary Software; my view on main-frame versus distributed systems; my atti-tude towards Voice over IP, and so forth- things that I could not make sense of. Inturn, I posed to the team questions that Iconsidered important regarding theindustry at large and how these wouldaffect my anticipated role at the agency: • Had government organisations

attained the Return on Investment(ROI) that the ICT service providersand gurus had promised?

• Could they demonstrate thatInformation and CommunicationTechnology was really core to radicalimprovement of government servicedelivery?

Service Delivery in the

Information Age

Mavuso Msimang, CEO of

the State Information

Technology Agency, explains

how information and

communication technology

can enhance the efficiency

of government service

delivery and thus improve

the quality of life of the

country’s citizens.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

29• Is “e-government” fundamentally dif-

ferent and better than government aswe know it?

• Can we definitively demonstrate togovernment decision-makers thatinvestment in ICT radically improvesorganisational efficiency and effec-tiveness?

• Can we demonstrate to these decision-makers that investment in ICT doesindeed improve citizen participationand engagement?

• Can we demonstrate that there exists apositive correlation between the coun-try’s investment in ICT and theimprovement in the standard of livingof its citizens?

I have no doubt that most of you havegrappled with these questions. But arethe answers that crystal clear?

Failure of e-government projects

The very aggressive industry operatives Imet upon my initiation told me aboutsuper-duper applications that couldovernight revolutionise government serv-ice delivery. I was told, among manyother things, that the cure to the ills of

government service delivery was “e-gov-ernment”. Whilst the experts informedme that e-government was the solutionevery department had to implementbecause it was changing governmentsworld-wide, I read with a degree ofapprehension a United Nations reporttitled: “E-government Readiness Assess-ment Survey 2003”. It stated that “whilethe benefits of e-government are in theo-ry numerous, global experience indicatedthat they remain elusive in reality. Indeed,the failure rate of e-government projectshas been estimated at somewherebetween 60%-80%”. Another report pub-lished in the same year by iGovernmentsaid, “Behind the hi-tech glamour of these[e-government] projects, though, lies ahard reality – the majority of projects arefailures”. It goes further to say that indeveloping countries: • 35% of the projects were total failures

– the initiatives were never imple-mented or were implemented butimmediately abandoned.

• 50% were partial failures – majorgoals for the initiatives were notattained and/or there were significantundesirable outcomes.

• 15% were successes – most stakehold-er groups attained their major goalsand did not experience significantundesirable outcomes.

The picture out there was after all notquite as rosy as I was being made tobelieve. What concerned me most wasnot the failure of e-government initia-tives per se, but the fact that while solu-tion providers were convinced that theyhad the solution for government, theresults on the ground indicated quite theopposite! You must be wondering – isthe CEO of an agency that is responsiblefor facilitating ICT in the South Africangovernment saying investments in ITare ill-informed and of questionablevalue? Well, not at all. I derived somecomfort from another UN document:World Public Sector Report 200 titled:“E-government at the Cross Roads”. Itconcludes, after analysing e-governmentfailures, that “with all the problemsidentified, it cannot be stressed stronglyenough that if a public administrationcrosses the digital divide, it opens end-less opportunities that are practicallyinaccessible by any other means. This istrue for all public administrations in theworld, regardless of the level of econom-ic development, the level of humandevelopment and the social and culturalcontext that prevails in the country orcommunity concerned.”

Why are most e-government initia-tives failing? Why is it that so few suc-ceed? From my observation, the successor failure of e-government projectsrelate to the following:• Wasteful: it engages resources but does

not result in optimising governmentoperations.

• Pointless: even if it optimises govern-ment operations, it does not have (orhas minimal) effect on the develop-ment objectives preferred by society.

• Meaningful: it optimises governmentoperations AND ALSO supportshuman development; it equips peoplefor genuine participation in the inclu-sive political process and supports val-ues considered as essential for humandevelopment in the 21st century.


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30

To be successful in government, the ICTsolution must not only address hardmeasures like financial returns and effi-ciencies, it must equally address softmeasures like political value, publicvalue and social inclusion. A key prob-lem with ICT solution providers is thatthey sometimes give the impression thatimplementing their proposed applica-tion will solve the government’s prob-lems – be it poor service delivery or root-ing out corruption. In most cases, imple-menting the solution is but a small partof solving the problem. The success ofthe project is highly dependent on busi-ness processes, organisational culture,competencies and the robustness of theICT infrastructure.

Given the above, what is the justifica-tion for the existence of the StateInformation Technology Agency? Letus go briefly into history.

A brief history of SITA

In the mid-1990s, a Presidential ReviewCommission (PRC) was established andone of its briefs was to undertake a crit-ical review of ICT and its application ingovernment. This was a necessary stepby the newly elected democratic govern-ment in setting its agenda for an effi-cient and relevant public service. Thegovernment accepted quite early in itstenure that service delivery can be bestenhanced through the efficient use ofICT. The challenges identified by thecommission and the government’s drivefor citizen access under the Batho Peleinitiative, and many others, in essencegave rise to the formation of the StateInformation Technology Agency(SITA) in 1999. We must remind our-selves that the objectives of the StateInformation and Technology Agencyare, amongst others, to integrate govern-ment’s ICT resources to improve servicedelivery, to remove or reduce duplica-tion and to recruit and retain skilledprofessionals in ICT.

The guiding principles for the SITAmandate are encapsulated in what hascome to be known as the IT House ofValues. The three tenets that form the

roof of the ‘house’ are: lowering of costs;increasing productivity; and enhancingcitizen access. The five pillars of the‘house’ are: leveraging economies ofscale; enhancing interoperability; ensur-ing systems security; elimination ofduplication; and black economicempowerment. The foundation of the‘house’ is a robust Government ITArchitecture (GITA).

The discussion of this criticallyimportant strategic question is oftenclouded by history, which is mostlypoorly analysed, if at all, by the critics.Poor performance, high senior staffturnovers, acrimony over mandates, andso forth, tend to dominate the discourse.It would serve no useful purpose to reit-erate those problems here. Suffice it tosay that the reasons have been many andcomplex: some are inherent in the veryconstitution of the organisation, othersemanate from fanciful managementconcepts and practices; and yet othersare external. Many people may not beaware of the fact that: • SITA hosts HR systems for most gov-

ernment employees and pays theirsalaries every month without fail.

• SITA hosts and runs some the mostsophisticated logistics systems in theworld, without fail.

• SITA hosts examination systems formatriculation examinations andensures that the results are released ontime every year without fail.

• In the past year SITA (together withNational Treasury) reduced the costof hosting the BAS government finan-cial application by over R80m.

• In the past year we reduced the cost ofInternet and WAN costs to govern-ment by over R15m.

• In the past year, together with theDepartment of Home Affairs, weconnected most of the maternity hos-pitals to the DHA system to enablethem to print birth certificates imme-diately after a child is born.

• This year, we played a pivotal role inthe uncovering of the social grantsscam that has seen millions of Randssiphoned off by unscrupulous civilservants.

Hosting Government ITInfrastructure

I would like to do a brief review of someof the technology that currently enablespublic sector service delivery.Historically, transversal applicationswere hosted on a mainframe environ-ment. Recognising the number of main-frames across government and the bene-fits of economies of scale that could begained from consolidating these, amainframe consolidation project wasundertaken. This resulted in SITA host-ing the largest IBM mainframe environ-ment in the country. Presently, serverconsolidation exercises are being carriedout in the provinces to establish serverfarms that will host all applications run-ning on a distributed client-server archi-tecture. Again, the economies of scalethat will be achieved through this exer-cise are enormous.

Prior to 1995 a proliferation of widearea networks (WANs) existed in gov-ernment – approximately 15 in 1998.This complicated the free and unre-stricted flow of information betweendepartments. The provision of securityas required across these disparate net-works was also a nightmare. Variousunsuccessful attempts were made toresolve this dilemma. During 2000SITA started a project known as the‘SITA Network Architecture Project’.This project was aimed at designing agovernment network that would pro-vide seamless access, support multi-media traffic and unified network man-

In most cases,implementing thesolution is but a

small part of solving the problem


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

31

agement. This project was successfullyconcluded and the government commoncore network (GCCN) architecturefinalised.

SITA then embarked upon the rolloutof the connectivity infrastructure, theGCCN, with a target date of mid-2002for the first phase. This multi-media,Virtual Private Network (VPN) enablednetwork was to add a new dimension togovernment networking with the cre-ation of new services for all governmentdepartments. The project was success-fully completed in December 2002. Thenext phase was to migrate all depart-ments to the GCCN and to start theprocess of creating virtual private net-works (VPNs) for each department.The prerequisite for deploying VPNswas, therefore, a clear definition of thedepartment’s requirements in terms ofthe said security, management andthrough-put policies. This was to ensurea customised solution for each depart-ment and to minimise disruption ofservices during migration. It wouldappear that due to the scale and com-plexity of the GCCN, the process ofdefining and rolling out VPNs fordepartments has been hamstrung by anumber of problems. Acceptance andgeneral understanding of the technologyhas been slow, even though the technol-ogy itself is STB a world-class. A solu-tion has to be found for this.

Electronic Government (e-government)

The e-government concept has a specialmeaning within the South African con-text. The SA government mandate,based on the People’s Contract, espousescertain dictates that have in turn led tothe Batho Pele Programme and variousothers. The e-government concept isthus the cornerstone of these pro-grammes within the South African con-text. The tenets of the Batho Pele philos-ophy are: • Citizen access to government from

anywhere, anytime• Enhancing productivity and efficiency

in service delivery

• Reduction of costs of service deliveryto ensure equal and equitable distri-bution of services and resources

These principles would all be in vainwithout a sound e-government plat-form. We also need clarity of purpose,for example, on how ICT will assist theimplementation of the Government’sIntegrated Development Programmefor Local Government. Are we aware ofthe fact that, by and large, citizen accessto government services will be at theLocal Government Level? The disparitybetween municipalities in terms of ICTenablement is cause for concern withinSITA. A strategy to develop a transver-sal application for municipalities mustbe placed firmly on the governmentICT agenda.

SITA’s Strategic Direction

Strategy means focus, and focus meansgetting good at a few things! This is theunderlying principle of SITA’s long-term strategy. After six years of opera-tion we have no option but to endeavourto build a world-class operation. Thedriver of this strategy will be the ITHouse of Values. Underpinning thisstrategy will be a strong partnershipmodel in which SITA has to get good atworking with industry partners. Thisstarts with the recognition and accept-ance that SITA cannot and should nottry to do it all. A few strategic partner-ships are in place already, chosen on thebasis of key competencies of the part-ners. The SITA/Telkom partnership is acase in point.

Telkom is the premier provider oftelecommunications infrastructure serv-ices in the country. In this regardTelkom has built a wealth of knowledgeand expertise in the field of telecommu-nications. The SITA/Telkom relation-ship was thus a logical consequence ofSITA’s quest to provide governmentwith the best telecommunications solu-tions at the best possible price. But morethan that, the relationship allows SITAto call on Telkom to assist in providingconnectivity solutions to departmentswhere SITA is constrained to do so, and

where Telkom has the capacity. Anexample is the recent agreementbetween the Department of Justice(DoJ), Telkom and SITA, wherebyTelkom is providing a VPN to DoJ.This was occasioned by DoJ’s uniqueneeds that could not be met by SITA inthe immediate term.

As the SITA Convergence Strategystarts to take shape, a unified partner-ship model will be presented to all stake-holders including industry to ensurethat government gets state-of-the-arttechnology solutions cost-effectively.

The few examples outlined in thisarticle show how ICT can actually beused to benefit not just government butalso the ordinary citizen. Key questionswould be: were these achievementsrealised cost-effectively, and what werethe benchmarks? Were they achievedefficiently and in a timely fashion? Ifthey were not, why was this? If theywere, what accounted for the successes?The truth is that no informed debate hastaken place as it must, given ICT sectordynamics.

A key paradigm shift worthy of con-sideration for successful e-governmentmay be to move away from centralisedcontrol to centralised co-ordination. Itwould be futile for SITA to endeavourto develop and retain skills that span thelength, breadth and depth of the ICTindustry. The focus must therefore beon selected key competencies relevant topublic sector ICT needs. SITA shouldhelp stimulate growth of the ICTindustry in South Africa and possiblyplay a facilitation role vis-à-vis the pro-vision of ICT services to government.The question of financing its operationsarises and must be adequatelyaddressed. Government ICT Agenciesin the world fall evenly on a continuumthat ranges from a pure agency role tothat of Service Provider. SITA present-ly leans more towards a service providerrole in this continuum. While I do notbelieve that we should be exclusivelyagency-oriented in our operations, theposition we currently occupy in thiscontinuum deserves critical re-exami-nation. •


P r o f i l e S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

32A swarm of people is buzzing

about, waiting to have a minuteor two of Vusumuzi Magagula’s

tight schedule. Magagula’s PersonalAssistant (PA) apologises profusely forthe fact that a large chunk of myappointment time with the ChiefInformation Officer (CIO) of the StateInformation Technology Agency(SITA) had been gobbled. People invari-ably go beyond their allocated quota ofMagagula’s time, explains the PA, whichmesses up the whole schedule. Takingthe PA’s hint, it meant that I had aboutthirty minutes, which I considered to bebetter than nothing. A week before thisparticular interview (which was set upfor me in absentia) I’d been forced toreschedule an appointment with theCIO.

The truth is I wasn’t prepared. I wasarriving from elsewhere the nightbefore our scheduled appointment at thealmost hermitic SITA location in

Erasmuskloof (know where that is?) –on the far eastern fringes of Pretoria.And naturally, there’s nothing as annoy-ing to busy people like Magagula as to beheld captive by a waffling ignoramus atthe crack of an 8:30am winter dawn.

Motivated by the fear of beingdrowned in techno-speak, or worse,wasting the CIO’s time and mine, I bur-rowed into the labyrinth of the digitalage. It’s a fascinating world of MOOs,MUDS, PALs, widespread poverty, dig-ital inequalities and e-service delivery.Having emerged from the world hiddenin the guts of the CDU – that’s a com-puter screen for you – was I now readyfor an intelligent chat with SITA’saward-winning CIO?

Separated by over four hundred kilo-metres from his native HammersdaleTownship, in the KwaZulu-Natalprovince, Magagula, in his office, imme-diately strikes one as smart, ambitiousand a business-all-the-way kind of per-

Spinning The Web

Thirty-year-old Vusumuzi Magagula recently won the coveted Chief

Information Officer of the Year Award. Dudley Moloi chats to him about the

intriguing world of Information Communications Technology (ICT) and how it

fits in the quest to ensure a better life for all.


P r o f i l eS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

33

son. It’s probably the combined effect ofthe luxurious office milieu and HugoBoss persona - young, well-heeled andprofessional. Almost like a dot.comtycoon.

From the preliminary, biographical orthe getting-to-know-the-person kindsof questions, the story of Magagula’s riseto his current stature in the ICT indus-try has a familiar ring. It’s aboutdeferred dreams, accidental careerchoices and making the best of availableopportunities.

The SITA CIO’s round aboutroad to the world of ICT beganat Tisand Technical HighSchool, KZN, where he studiedelectronics and electrical engi-neering among other matricula-tion subjects. The tight moneysituation resulted in the read-justment of career goals fromelectrical engineering to a three-year diploma in computer sci-ences. Since then, saysMagagula opaquely, “one thingled to another”. But behind theCIO’s regular use of “one thingled to another” phrase aredetails of his dogged zigzaggingto the point of being recognisedas Public Sector CIO of the Yearlast year.

The journey ranges fromstints in menial private sectorjobs, computer school lecture-ships and various public serviceinstitutions over the past eightyears. At this instant in the inter-view – when we get to talk aboutthe meaty stuff, that is, theMOOs, the MUDS, the PALs and beingdigital – it’s Magagula the teacher whoemerges. And it turns out that all mycramming of computer lingo went a bitover the top – hahaha! – as most of thestuff I quickly learnt in preparation forthe interview was not immediately help-ful.

Far from my fantastic constructs of aCIO as a kind of person who wearsthick prescription glasses, torn jeans andhas a reclusive personality that preferscommunion with the virtual than the

corporeal, a real CIO– Magagula forinstance – works in the all-too-realworld while having to find solutions tothe all-too-real challenges of public serv-ice delivery.

The basic tenets of the job, he says, arethe ability to provide a strategic vision,being business and customer-minded,and possessing adequate technical back-ground to be able to pinpoint technicalsolutions to service delivery challenges.

“The job is far from just being about

computers, it is about managing infor-mation and the people who generate orinterface with it,” he explains.

In fact the world behind the CDUs orinside the guts of the network is proba-bly much easier to deal with. It doesn’tanswer back and doesn’t fear change orthe unknown. In contrast the day-to-daywork of the Chief Information Officer(in the context of SITA as the custodianof government ICT infrastructure) islargely about dealing with behaviouralissues.

SITA employs 2 500 people, who inone way or another directly impact onthe work or the interests of over a mil-lion public servants, across 39 depart-ments, excluding dozens of public enti-ties, who in turn have the welfare of thecountry’s 45 million citizens to consider.Then there’s the regulatory environ-ment, which sometimes strangles thecapacity to deliver services or dampenthe spirit of innovation due to unneces-sary red tape.

CIOs walk a tightrope, saysMagagula, who describes gov-ernment processes as being“notorious” for their rigidity. Healso defends the necessity forcontrols and insists that thePublic Sector CIO of the YearAward is about recognisinginnovations not the wantonbreaking of rules.

“Let’s say public works hastwo trucks,” the SITA CIO tellsan illustrative anecdote, “andone of the trucks completelybreaks down save for the gear-box, while the second truckbreaks down only because of agearbox problems. Policy saysassets are not transferable. Inother words you can’t take thegearbox from the first truck sothat the department can contin-ue with its work. This sort ofpolicy doesn’t make sense,which is why a way around ithas to be found but without slid-ing into abuse.”

The anecdote captures thecomplexities of the SITA man-

date and the work of its CIO and thequest towards achieving a public servicewide ICT architecture that would allowgovernment entities to “talk to eachother”.

“A single public service network islike our roads system,” explainsMagagula the teacher. Like our physicalroads, the electronic road network of theinformation superhighway carries manybenefits that often coexist with potentialhazards that have to be continuallymanaged, concludes the SITA CIO. •

Vusumuzi Magagula


T o o l s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

34 W e all often have the challengeof persuading our colleaguesand superiors that our pro-

posals are good ones. In other words,we need to put forward convincingbusiness cases. In the course of its workthe Knowledge and InformationManage-ment (KIM) Work Group ofthe Government IT Officers Councildeveloped a framework for the KIMbusiness case. If you leave out the spe-cific detail, it becomes generic and canbe used for business cases in other disci-plines too, thus the idea to share theframework with Service DeliveryReview readers.

Since its first draft the framework hasevolved markedly, but can probably beimproved even further. What would beuseful now would be for readers to comeup with suggestions for furtherenhancements. Please feel free to submitsuch inputs to the author or the Editor.

The framework suggests that themain issues to be addressed in stating abusiness case are:

• What value will the proposed ventureyield?

• What action is required for develop-ment and implementation?

• What capacity is needed to carry outthe actions?

• Does the necessary support exist or canit be generated?

• What obstacles have to be removed toensure success of the venture?

Value

Types of valueDecision-makers will usually expect anew venture to make economic sense,but in the public service addressing cer-tain other needs can be equally if notmore important. Value could flow fromgains in the economic, social, political orenvironmental spheres. A useful check-list of the types of value that could flowfrom a venture is the list of ten E’s.• Escalation: The venture will enable

increased output in terms of qualityand/or quantity.

How Do I MakeMy Business Case?

The VACSO Framework

Arno Webb, CIO in the

Department of Arts and

Culture, explains a

framework for developing

a strategy for a new

venture that you may be

involved in.


T o o l sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

35• Effectiveness: Meeting the need, pro-ducing the required result.

• Efficiency: Producing the output withas little input as possible.

• Economy: Acquiring inputs at a goodprice.

• Equity: A fairer or more equal distri-bution of benefits

• Ethics: Improving integrity, adherenceto moral or legal requirements.

• Environment: Repairing damage orreducing harmful impact, e.g. byshifting to renewable resources orreducing pollution.

• Esteem: Building the prestige or statusof the performing entity or its stake-holders.

• Enquiry: Striving to increase knowl-edge and understanding.

• Ensuring safety: This could includeventures to protect against enemies,crime, disease or a range of possiblethreats,

Measuring valueOne’s case is stronger if one can indicate

up front how performance will be meas-ured. Aspects that should be consideredinclude measurement of:• inputs, processes and outputs• performance against targets, own past

performance or performance of others• satisfaction of clients, principals, own-

ers and participants in the processes

Action

Decision-makers need to be quite clearon what everybody will be expected todo. There needs to be a set of actionsteps laid out that answers the tradition-al “w” questions of what needs to bedone, who will be doing it, when must itbe done. If this description is not explic-it enough, add detail on why and how.Also make clear how and by whom itwill be decided that each action step hasbeen successfully completed,

Capacity

People often overlook some of the many

facets of capacity. Capacity that mustexist – or that it will be possible to create– should include the necessary fundingstream(s), able and willing humanresources, equipment, raw materials andother physical facilities, knowledge andinformation, organisation structures,regulatory frameworks, fully function-ing processes. The last item is often afactor that is sometimes neglected.Although capacity may exist on paper,one may find that, when actually tryingto utilise it, unforeseen problems cropup that prevent the process from actual-ly being carried out in practice. Capacitycannot be said to exist before it has actu-ally been shown to function in practice.

Support

ClientsOne needs support from several quar-ters to ensure success. Most importantmay be the clients. They often have free-dom of choice and may choose not tosupport the new venture. Sometimesthey may not have a choice, will beforced to “support the venture” but willdo so with little enthusiasm, blowing upout of proportion anything that may gowrong. Some indication of support mustbe obtained before the venture starts.

ManagementNo venture can thrive without manage-ment support. A quality business casecan secure the support of those man-agers who study it in depth and areinvolved in approving the venture. Thesupport of other key managers must alsobe ensured, for example managers ofsupport functions (like say supply chainmanagement) who can play a role inmaking or breaking the venture.

Staff allocated to the venturePrerequisites for the desired staff per-formance include: • buy-in into a shared vision • appropriate skills(• positive attitude• personal aspirations• incentives/ disincentives. The impor-

tance of a change management strate-


T o o l s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

36

gy for ensuring that these prerequi-sites are met cannot be overempha-sised.

Change managementChange management may be requiredto ensure that changes resulting fromthe new venture are accepted and dealtwith competently. Neglecting this canput a new venture at risk. Two modelsare useful to heed.

Drivers of behaviour. Ultimately eachindividual’s behaviour is the result of hisor her perception of reality. Each one ofus only observes part of reality. Based onthis partial observation we form certainperceptions of reality, which lead to ourbeliefs. From that we deduce a value sys-tem which in turn influences our atti-tudes towards various things in life. Thefirst driver of our behaviour is thereforethe structure of beliefs, values and atti-tudes that we have built up.

The second driver is the skillsacquired, which enables you to do somethings and prevents from doing others.For example, you may have a positiveattitude towards physical exercise,believing that it is good for your health,but you never learned to swim. So youdon’t swim.

The third driver is the informationavailable, which helps one to decide onappropriate behaviour. For example,you have a positive attitude towardsphysical exercise, you have learnt toswim, but you have information thatthere are crocodiles in the river. So youdon’t swim in the river.

A change management strategyshould ensure that those affected havesuitable perceptions, beliefs, values, atti-tudes, skills and information to playtheir part during and after the change.

ii) Phases of change.Change managers must be able to take

stakeholders through a series of phases,starting from total ignorance of what isto come, through understanding,acceptance and co-operation to totalinternalisation of the changed circum-stances and behaviour. Starting from acondition of ignorance, the first phase isto seek contact with the stakeholders.

Then follows the creation of awareness,understanding, converted to positiveattitude. Then comes the building ofcommitment by testing the new dispen-sation and then accepting it. A phase ofadjustment and customisation that leadsto full implementation may follow. Thelast phase sees the change being institu-tionalised and internalised, ending in asituation where it becomes part of sub-conscious behaviour.

Obstacles

No new venture will be without them.Before starting out with the venture, tryto identify them and decide how to dealwith them. Split them into categories:Those that have to be removed beforethe venture can start, those that can beremoved during the development stagesof the venture, and those that cannot beremoved. If an obstacle cannot beremoved one can either circumvent it bychanging the modus operandi, or one

may simply accept that it may delay thesuccess of the venture. In the lastinstance the venture could still go aheadif one can show that there will still besufficient positive results despite thenegative impact of the obstacles. Forexample, some food cannot be eatenraw, but has to be cooked. You knowthat some of the vitamins will bedestroyed by cooking it, yet you goahead anyway, knowing that somenutrients will survive, making theprocess worthwhile.

Having read this, you may want to trytwo things. Use this framework todevelop your strategy for a new venturethat you may be involved in. Otherwisethink back on past ventures. See if theframework helps you to understandwhy they were not totally successfulbecause some elements in the frame-work were not addressed. In the case ofsuccessful ventures, you may be able tounderstand a little better why they didin fact succeed. •


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

37T he Minister of Public Service andAdministration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, has the mandate for the

governance of information and commu-nication technologies (ICT) in govern-ment as outlined in the Public ServiceAct and subsequent regulations.

During the Minister’s tenure impor-tant milestones in the evolution of ICTin the Public Sector have been achieved.The State IT Agency (SITA) was estab-lished in 1999 with the Minister as soleshareholder and the GovernmentInformation Technology OfficersCouncil (GITOC), consisting of depart-mental and provincial CIOs has beenactive since 2001.

The Office of the Government ChiefInformation Officer (OGCIO) was alsoset up within DPSA to provide e-gov-ernment leadership and coordinationand to assist the Minister in fulfillingher mandate to ensure that governmenttechnology systems are effective, effi-cient, inter-operable and secure and thatthe Public Service Act and PublicService Regulations are adhered to.

Overlapping Mandates ofGovernment Departments

Government departments have overlap-ping mandates with regard to ICT, elec-tronic government (e-government) andinformation management within therespective legislative frameworks gov-erning each department.

The Minister of Public Service andAdministration’s specific mandate isICT within the civil service, which alsoencompasses e-government as the fur-ther automation of manual processesand the improvement of service deliverythrough the vertical and horizontal inte-gration of electronic systems. E-govern-ment provides a single view of govern-ment to the citizen and it enables publicservants to effectively adapt to the use ofICT as part of their daily work.

To this end, DPSA has introduced aphased implementation approach to e-government, which is taking place infive phases in line with internationalbest practice. The implementation ofthese phases will take into consideration

The E-GovernmentConsultative

Progress

In this article

Maria Farrelo, Manager of

Policy, Strategy and

Registration at OGCIO,

explains the responsibilities

of the various players in the

public service chain of

command vis-a-vis the

utilisation of information and

technology in the execution

of the government’s

public mandate.


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

38

all existing and ongoing initiatives with-in government.

E-Government Defined

There are many definitions for e-gov-ernment, but for the purposes of ourmandate at DPSA, we will describe e-government as “a programme of con-trolled adaptation to the advanced use oftechnology to improve efficiency andeffectiveness of government’s internalprocesses in order to render services tocitizens in the best possible manner”.This is done in alignment with the gov-ernment’s developmental agenda.

E-Government Phases brieflyoutlined

The first phase includes the “BathoPele” Gateway Portal that was launchedin August 2004. This informationalphase involves the clustering of servicesprovided by government into life eventsfrom cradle to grave and is accessible onthe Gateway portal (www.gov.za). Thisinformation includes: where one canobtain a service such as a birth certifi-cate; what documents are requiredwhen applying for a particular service;the procedure when applying for a serv-ice; the nearest office to the citizen; the

cost of the service, etc. This portal willalso carry the necessary forms that citi-zens are required to fill in before visitinga particular government office.

Hopefully this will assist in reducingqueues in government offices, as citizenswill carry the right information anddocuments before going to a govern-ment office for service. The Batho PeleGateway has a call centre linked to it aswell, available via the toll free number1020.

All e-government initiatives devel-oped in the South African context shouldbe underpinned by the principles ofensuring that citizens have access at theirconvenience. This includes accessinginformation in a language that will beunderstood by all, including those whocannot read. This will ensure that citi-zens can easily communicate with gov-ernment, thus improving government’sservice delivery offerings. To this end, allinformation on the Gateway Portal willbe available at the click of a button in all11 official languages. Preliminary testshave shown that people can save as muchas 50% of their time when accessing serv-ice information via the portal comparedto conventional means.

The second phase, currently undergo-ing planning, will extend Phase 1 andoffer current and new services electron-ically to citizens and businesses similarto the offerings of SARS – such as e-fil-ing and mytax.com. Citizens will beproperly identified and authenticatedand thus will be able to transact onlinein a secure manner.

This phase will have many parallelprojects, including those concerned withservice offerings as well as those projectsconcerned with ensuring that the “behindthe scene” business processes of govern-ment are being transformed or reengi-neered to ensure the seamless “look andfeel” interactions expected by citizens.

Phase three will probably involve theclustering of related services irrespectiveof which government department isoffering that particular service. By thisstage, clear data and informationrequirements of departments wouldhave been mapped out as a result of


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

39activities undergone in the precedingphase. This includes the management ofthe collection of citizen data.

Phase four will increasingly enable e-government to build relationshipsdirectly with citizens through a proac-tive and informative relationship byreminding them of important deadlinesor other information – for example,when a citizen has reached the age atwhich they can vote and have to register.In this way, the citizen will be servicedby a proactive and supportive govern-ment.

Phase five is envisaged as the mainte-nance phase of e-government. Thisphase will involve a continuous organi-sational transformation as the needs ofgovernment and citizens dictate. Thesewill also be controlled by the latest tech-nological innovations.

The above-mentioned phases will notnecessarily be happening in a serial orlinear manner but will in many casesoverlap or run concurrently over a peri-od of time.

The Consultative Process

The OGCIO has begun an extensivegovernment-wide consultative process,beginning with an internal workshopwith DPSA in May 2005. It will be fan-ning out, with the next consultationbeing with government departmentsthat are developing considerable e-gov-ernment transversal projects as well aswell as those with specific mandates forservice delivery. The National Treasury,Department of Provincial and LocalGovernment, Home Affairs, SocialDevelopment, Communications, Healthand GCIS, amongst others, will partnerwith DPSA, through the OGCIO, toensure the success of e-government.

This consultative process will bringtogether all stakeholders within govern-ment to establish the way forward. Thiswill ensure institutional support for theachievement of government’s policiesfor electronic government.

The process will be ongoing but willrequire consensus on issues at various

points. To this end, all stakeholders willhave to work together on an ICT gover-nance model that will guide e-govern-ment.

Conclusion

There is a tendency to proselytise e-gov-ernment as the solution to all businessprocess ills of government. E-govern-ment supports the work of governmentin tandem with all other governmentinitiatives that will improve the qualityof life of all citizens and ensure theaccountability of civil servants - such asthose of Batho Pele and the ServiceDelivery Improvement interventions byDPSA, which are in not dependent ontechnology.

E-government is simply helping toprepare government for the 21st centu-ry. It will help government to delivermore efficient and effective services toits citizens through technology-basedsolutions and improved businessprocesses. •


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

40 In post-war and conflict societies, thereis always a precedence of the stateassuming a central role in bringing

about development. It usually derives itsmandate through a democratic process,thus making it credible and legitimate.It would then use the massive resourcesand machinery to change the social andeconomic landscape of society. However,there exists no model of developmentwhere the state alone, using its machin-ery of government, has dealt with allproblems of society. Democratic govern-ments must work with a range of organ-isations and institutions in society toeffect societal change.

The case for a developmental-oriented state

The notion of a South African develop-mental state, at least practically, is notnew. It has its origins far back. At thedawn of our democracy, it was expressedthrough the Reconstruction andDevelopment Programme (RDP). In

essence, the goal was to bridge the socialand economic divide using theresources, influence and apparatus ofthe state. But the RDP itself identifiednot only government, but a whole rangeof other actors that would need to bemobilised to participate in the develop-ment process.

Throughout the world, the role of thestate in development has been widelyacknowledged. For the state to success-fully implement its development pro-grammes, it needs another ingredient - acorporatist state model. This model ispremised on the consensual approach toissues of public policy. The corporatiststate model is based on strong interven-tionist state, but of critical importance isthat it is a state that is characterised by areciprocal relationship between govern-ment, business, and organised interestgroups in society. The model is alsobased on the economic imperative ofguaranteed high levels of employment,investment, accumulation and citizenconsumption. This is the kind of

How StrongPartnerships Can Take

Development to New Heights

Bongani Matomela

advocates for firm

partnerships between

the public, private and

civil sectors in order to

bring to fruition

development and

enhanced service

delivery that will

improve the quality of

lives of the citizenry, thus

laying foundations for

socio-economic stability

in society.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

41

approach needed in this country.Through a whole range of practical ini-tiatives, this is happening, albeit withvarying levels of success, especially as itrelates to the extent to which as a coun-try we are able to reach the acceptablelevels of employment (let alone the‘guaranteed high levels’).

Scholar Robert Woolcock’s theory isthat there is sustained and dynamicinteraction between a competent,responsive state and its various con-stituents. We find prosperous and devel-opmental economies, of which the‘developmental states’ such as Japan,South Korea and Singapore are theprime examples. In this theory, a coher-ent development framework emerges asa result of a concrete set of social tieswhich bind the state to society, and thusprovide institutionalised channels forcontinual negotiation and renegotiationof goals and policies.

The challenges

The huge inherited development back-logs are well known. In essence, it is aneconomically and opportunity-skewedsociety, and even today that legacy is stillmanifest. The one visible aspect of this isthe social development one, whereincome opportunities are scarce, result-ing in social pressures, both to the stateand society at large, and leading to socialills, breakdown of social structures, andcrime, etc.

The second one is the labour marketphenomenon where the majority of peo-ple are under-skilled and cannot easilybe absorbed by the labour market. Thiscan be attributed to an inadequate fur-ther education system, and lack ofinvestment in science and technology,amongst many other things.

The third legacy is that of hugeunder-investment in small enterprisedevelopment – we have a thin slice oforganic entrepreneurs, and over the lastten years a plethora of institutions thathave been created have failed emergingsmall business people. Slightly related tothis is the fourth legacy – that of stateinstitutions that do not have the requi-

site capabilities - skills, modern infra-structure, and appropriate systems torespond to the diverse and increasinglysophisticated needs of the public.

How do we create a public servicecorps with organic skills and exposure inhard-core development facilitation andlinking communities with a range ofdevelopment opportunities and possibil-ities that exist in government and otherorganisations? How do we create a pub-lic service that is made of what MichaelLipsky, in his study of economic devel-opment efforts in Oakland in the US,calls the ‘street-level’ bureaucrats? Canand should public servants be involvedin small business development supportwhen they have had no exposure to busi-ness development and economic devel-opment issues themselves? What kindof advice and brokerage can they pro-vide?

If a developmental approach canattend to these challenges, then that willbe effective. They are key to develop-ment. But experience at home and inter-nationally tell us that the state alone can-not address these challenges. It needs toforge partnerships to leverage skills,resources, energy and other relatedcapacities. We have to move away fromthe proposition that the state alone cancentrally plan and then implementstrategies that will bring development.Development should be a partnership

between the state, the market and civilsociety. Such partnerships must harnessthe energies and creative abilities ofindividuals, communities, businessesand state organisations in a commoncause.

Towards a partnership approach:types and kinds

Business-government partnershipsThese are very fundamental to a countrythat is a developing economy like SouthAfrica (save for the middle-rankingaccorded by the IMF and World Bank).South Africa is a developing countrywhere there are still major gaps in tech-nical skills, labour market penetrationand absorption, where the social pres-sures require some decisive business andenterprise development interventions,and where there is a huge backlog inphysical and logistical infrastructurethat should get the economy movingand build beneficial inter-linkagesbetween social and economic develop-ment.

Fortunately these partnerships arehappening, and in some cases the statehas taken the lead, with the private sec-tor giving backing. One of the chal-lenges facing the state will be how tobuild incentives for business to do more,especially where the private sector sup-port can have a high-impact outcome.However, this should not be at theexpense of the social responsibilities ofthe state and also the economic impera-tives of the existence of business. It isindeed a difficult balance to strike, andeven developed countries are strugglingto fine-tune.

Major partnerships such the BusinessTrust, Business Against Crime,National Business Initiative, the R42 bil-lion partnerships between departmentof housing and banks, and partnershipsin research and development, to namejust a few, are very encouraging andhave yielded huge results and outcomes.However, stronger regionally-basedpartnerships rooted in the social andeconomic realities of specific communi-ties are very important, and this remains

The notion of aSouth African

developmentalstate, at least

practically, is notnew. It has its

origins far back.


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

42

a major area for improvement. Theother challenge in partnerships betweengovernment and business is to reducethe cost of partnerships themselves -lesscosts on marketing and publicity,administration and brokerage/consult-ing, meetings and workshops, and moreon hardcore development projects andtargeted schemes.

Social partnershipsPartnerships between the state and civilsociety (defined as communities in theirorganised fashion, interest groups, non-governmental organisations, etc) arefundamental. We need to tap into theskills, energy and commitment of thesociety and communities to make a dif-ference, what is referred to as social cap-ital.

In his study of social capital,American scholar, Robert Putnamobserved that “light touch government”works more efficiently in the presence ofsocial capital. There is a strong need forlocal community and civil networks tocollaborate with state and market sys-tems, and particularly building strongerrelationships between the state and civilsociety. Civil and community organisa-tions are usually organised around aparticular constituent need, so partner-ships with them can make the stateachieve a targeted and measurabledevelopment objective.

Social ills are by nature and form soci-etal, and as such cannot be dealt withthrough only organised and institution-alised forms. Effective social deliverycannot be resolved through organisa-tional tweaking and regulatory and pol-icy frameworks – these processes need tobe complemented by social processesthat require the mobilisation of the insti-tutions and organs of society, organisedand unorganised.

It is what public policy researcherSteven Friedman refers to as ‘voices andchoices’ – giving and opening space forpeople themselves to express their voicesand make choices. Some of these initia-tives are taking place in society.However, there is a dearth of structuredand trustful ways of organising these

partnerships – resulting in some of thepotentially strong partnerships collaps-ing. Again, the role of the state, as alegitimate and credible force, is critical,as an integrator, facilitator and brokerbetween the resources of governmentand the energy and capacity of civil soci-ety, and their ability to reach out.

Critical reflection: going ahead

Governments, development-oriented asthey may be, or strive to be, do not havethe capacity and resources to address alldevelopment challenges, hence the needto leverage other resources and forces insociety. There are obviously challengesin this regard – sometimes the statewould normally not want to let gobecause of its resistance and unwilling-ness to share power and responsibilitieswith other partners, and at times com-pounded by lack of generic and techni-cal capacity required in a particularpartnership project. Similarly, localorganisations and groups and privatesector organisations tend to be veryinward-looking to the point of finding ithard to resist becoming cooperative,because they have all along tended toconfine themselves to local and sectionalinterests.

Good partnerships are based on astrong, genuine commitment to let go,integrate, cooperate and work together.Fundamental to the success of any part-nership project is a shared developmentgoal. They need to be managed well andbased on commonality of purpose andgoal. More often than not, this is thecase, and the challenge is the extent towhich each partner is willing to gobeyond the narrow sectional confinesand interests and take a holistic view. AsPutman puts it: ‘where people know oneanother, interact with one another eachweek ... and trust one another to behavehonourably, they have a moral founda-tion upon to base further cooperativeenterprises.’ There should not be any‘trust deficit’.

Often partnerships fail because thereis lack of clarity in the mandate, scopeand coverage. Linked to this is the need

to have clearly designed and detailedimplementation processes, steps andparameters. Partnerships are desired toachieve a developmental goal, andtherefore good partnerships shouldidentify areas of leverage for each part-ner – knowledge, resources, capital,skills, experimentation and innovativecapabilities

Full and meaningful participation ofall partners at all the stages of the devel-opment process is profoundly critical aswell.

Good governance is about societyachieving a common end. It is also aboutsharing the risks – government takingthe political and social risk, the privatesector the financial risk, and civil societysharing the risk to experiment and test.Both in the pre-1994 era and postapartheid period there have been lots ofpartnerships, and the trajectory now iseven more rigorous and purposeful andstructured relations between govern-ment and private sector and civil society,with the former taking an even moreprominent role as the state grapples withissues of job creation, skills developmentand investment in infrastructure.

Conclusion

Partnerships are not the only panacea.Development players will continue toact according to their own interests, andwherever possible on their own terms.The challenge is how, within theinevitable confines of constituent andsectional interests, the partners canstrive for cohesion and commonality forthe common good, idealistic as that maybe. Advancing the case of a need for anincreased civic engagement to facilitatedevelopment, Putman maintains thatcivic engagement matters on both thedemand side and the supply side of gov-ernment. On the demand side, citizensexpect better government and (in partthrough their own efforts) they get it...on the supply side, the performance ofrepresentative government is facilitatedby the social infrastructure of civic com-munities and by the democratic valuesof both officials and citizens. •


C a s e s t u d yS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

43Over the past seven years, theidea of public-private partner-ships (PPPs) has become

accepted by the South African govern-ment as an important way of improvingthe delivery of public services. Already,seven large partnership agreements havebeen concluded (from May 2000 to June2003) between national and provincialgovernments on the one hand and pri-vate sector companies or consortia1 onthe other. Another 41 agreements,including agreements to build schoolsthrough PPPs, were in the process ofnegotiation as at June 20032. TheNational Treasury has established a spe-cial Unit to promote PPPs and assistother structures of government toimplement them (DOF, 2000a:12-13).The PPP Unit, according to an article inthe Financial Mail (9 May 2003, p 34) isstaffed by treasury officials and WorldBank advisers and uses mainly largeconsulting companies.

Concluded agreements are in the areaof fleet management, toll roads, infor-mation systems and hospitals3. Those

PPP projects still being negotiatedinclude new head offices for severalnational government departments inPretoria; fleet management and airportsin the Eastern Cape; schools and hospi-tals in the Free State; the GautrainRapid Rail project in Gauteng; the DubeTrade Port in KwaZulu-Natal; schoolsin Mpumalanga; the Mafikeng Airportin the North West and hospital projectsin the Western Cape4. In addition tothese, municipal PPPs have also beenconcluded and the Treasury continues toencourage them.

Apart from some opposition to specif-ic projects by the labour movement –particularly concerning water supplyand other municipally-based projects –the whole issue of PPPs has been ratheruncontroversial in South Africa. Indeedit has hardly been the subject of publicdebate at all. This is in stark contrast tothe situation in some other countries. Inthe UK, for example, a union-sponsoredmotion calling on the government toreview the Private Finance Initiative(PFI, the term used for PPPs to develop

Developing School Infrastructure Through

Public-Private Partnerships

John Pampallis , Director,

Centre for Education and

Policy Development,

explains how PPPs can

help improve

infrastructure in schools,

helping government to

meet its public sector

mandate, while ensuring

that private companies

take responsibility for the

projects at hand from

design to completion,

and subsequent

maintenance.


C a s e s t u d y S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

44

public infrastructure) was passed at lastyear’s Labour Party conference over theopposition of the Prime Minister and theChancellor of the Exchequer afterextensive debate in the mass media5.

PPPs for schools infrastructure

Although the South African govern-ment has adopted a favourable attitudetowards PPPs, it is only recently thatthere has been an attempt to apply PPPsto overcome the huge backlogs inschooling infrastructure. Over the pastyear, however, two provinces, the FreeState and Mpumalanga, have decided tolook at this possibility6. While there maybe benefits to going the PPP route inorder to tackle our dire shortage ofinfrastructure, there are also some possi-ble pitfalls that need to be taken intoaccount. This article argues that, whilePPPs may prove to be a useful weaponin the armoury of provincial educationdepartments tackling the enormousshortage of quality school buildings,they will not be unproblematic and cer-tain aspects need to examined very care-fully before embarking on a PPP.

How would a PPP to develop schoolsinfrastructure work? If, as is likely, aschools PPP were to follow a model sim-ilar to the British one, the relevant edu-cation authority (in the SA case, aprovincial education department) wouldcall for tenders from private businessesto construct (or substantially refurbish) anumber of schools. Private companieswhich want to bid would form consor-tia, each typically consisting of a bank, aconstruction company, a facilities man-agement company, and possibly aninformation technology company if thecontract required IT capacity to beinstalled in the school. The contractor(i.e. the private ‘partner’) would normal-ly be required to build a number ofschools or substantially refurbish exist-ing schools, to provide the schools withall the necessary furniture and equip-ment (e.g. computers, laboratory equip-ment, etc.), to manage and maintain allthe property and possibly provide addi-tional services for a period of 25 or 30

years. The exact terms of an agreementcould vary from project to project. Thecontractor would receive no money up-front and would be paid in instalmentsover the life of the project, starting whenthe school is ready for use7.

Some Benefits

There are a number of benefits that gov-ernment could derive from PPPs.Because the private contractors areresponsible for maintenance, they aremore likely to be careful in the designand building process than a traditionalcontractor who would hand over abuilding to the public sector and have nofurther responsibility for the quality ofits work. This is more likely to result inbetter quality buildings. If a governmentdepartment is not confident of its capac-ity to build or refurbish the schools rap-idly through normal, bureaucratic pro-curement procedures, the PPP couldconceivably be a way of getting the job

done faster. An additional advantage to an educa-

tion department is that no money wouldbe paid over to the contractor until theschool is functioning. The latter wouldprovide the funding which may not beavailable in the education budget at aparticular time. This however does notmean that government miraculouslygets resources free of charge. It must stillpay for the capital costs in much thesame way that it would repay a loan andalso pay for the ongoing maintenancecosts for a period of up to three decades– or possibly longer. Indeed one of themain differences between PPP financeand loan finance is that the formerwould have a built-in outsourcing ofmaintenance for the period of the agree-ment; the latter, however, would onlyinvolve the repayment of the loan whilemaintenance would be done by thedepartment – or outsourced in a sepa-rate deal if the department so wished.

If the British experience is anything to


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go by, another feature of PPPs thatnational and provincial finance officialsmay find attractive is that, unlike loans,they do not appear in the governmentaccounts as liabilities. This may makethem more likely to encourage educa-tion departments to use this type offinancing. This has prompted theEconomist in the UK to suggest that ‘theprincipal virtue (of the Private FinanceInitiative) to Tony Blair and GordonBrown, as to their Conservative prede-cessors, is that it hides the true cost ofpublic-sector spending programmes.’8

Risk transfer

The South African Treasury insists thatin all PPPs there should be significantrisk transferred to the private sector9.Although it depends on details of a par-ticular contract, in a schools PPP therewould probably be some risk transferredsuch as the possibility of building-designflaws or poor quality IT equipmentrequiring high maintenance costs. Latehandover of schools due to, say, badweather or other building delays, couldbe also transferred to the contractor whowould need to pay penalties for latedelivery. Once a school is built the riskof vandalism, a big problem for manySouth African schools, could also bepassed on to the contractor.

But these risks cannot really beregarded as considerable in the case ofbuilding and maintaining schools. NoelThompson, a former senior official inthe British Department for Educationand Employment, writes that, ‘Whilst itis easy to see a significant risk beingtransferred for the public to the privatesector in PFI schemes involving large,complex and innovative projects of civilengineering, there is precious little risktransfer in projects designed to injectcapital for routine building andimprovement projects for schools’(Thompson, 2000:54). In addition, thenormal commercial risks of the purchas-er not being able to pay for the servicesrendered by the contractor are minimalwith a government contract.

One of the most significant risks fac-

ing education departments that buildnew schools in South Africa is the possi-bility that demographic shifts will leadto schools not having enough learners tomake them viable10. Since the depart-ments and not the private contractorsare the ones that are likely to decide onthe location of schools, it seems unlikelythat this risk would be taken on by thecontractors. So if a school is forced toclose down as a result of a shortage oflearners, the government will most like-ly end up paying for an asset it is nolonger using, including the cost ofunneeded maintenance, unless the con-tract makes specific provision for thetermination of the agreement in suchcircumstances.

Risk transfer from the public to theprivate sectors in the case of a schoolsPPP may thus not be particularly great.

There is one way in which risk to gov-ernment is actually increased by PPPs.Once the contract is in place and thecontracting consortium has built thefacilities and is managing them, it is verydifficult to get a separate contractor todo the additional work required. Theneed for two competing contractors toshare information (e.g. about electricityand plumbing installations), the incon-venience of having two facilities man-agers in a single school and the possibil-ity of conflicts between them is likely tomake departments and schools veryreluctant to get a new contractor after aPPP project has begun, even if the pricesquoted by the initial contractor for addi-tional work are considered excessivelyhigh. The private contractor would thusbecome virtually a monopoly supplierfor a period of 25-30 years - with conse-quent cost implications for government.

PPPs and the work of the school

An argument in favour of PPPs which isoften made in the UK (and likely to bemade here) is that they allow profession-als like school principals, teachers anddepartment heads to focus their energieson their core tasks – i.e. overseeing theeducation process in their schools –rather than being concerned with issues

of maintenance, keeping the hardwareand software up to date, replacing bro-ken laboratory equipment, catering andso on11. Whether this is in fact the case isquestionable. A head teacher that Iinterviewed in England, when asked ifindeed she had been released by thePrivate Finance Initiative from manyroutine administrative tasks, repliedthat the main difference since the PFI isthat she had changed from one set oftasks to another. She now spent largeamounts of time in meetings with theLocal Education Authority and the con-tractor, many of them trying to sort outdisputes between the school and the con-tractor because the contract did notcover all contingencies. She did concede,though, that since the PFI at her schoolhad only been in place for two years,such tasks may decrease as time went onand some initial problems had been sort-ed out12.

PPPs and other stakeholders

Another potential problem is that pri-vate sector maintenance of schools couldresult in job losses or deterioratingwages and working conditions formaintenance staff, and thus lead to con-flict with the unions. If this is not han-dled sensitively by government in devel-oping and negotiating PPPs, it couldbecome disruptive, especially if teacherunions decide to support other workersfacing job losses. The practice (whichcurrently appears to be being followedin the Free State), of appointing privatesector advisors13 to do a feasibility studywithout involving the unions could turnout to be a pathway to strife.

The role and rights of school govern-ing bodies also needs to be considered.The South African Schools Act givesgoverning bodies the duty to ‘administerand control the school’s property, andbuildings and grounds occupied by theschool, including school hostels’ (Sect 20(1) (g)) and the right to rent out theschool’s facilities with the income accru-ing to the school (Sect 20 (2). So-calledSection 21 schools (i.e. schools whichhave been granted additional powers


C a s e s t u d y S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

46

under Section 21 of the Act) may havethe right to ‘maintain and improve theschool’s property, and buildings andgrounds occupied by the school, includ-ing school hostels’ (Section 21 (1)(a). Anycontract drawn up between a provincialdepartment of education and a private‘partner’ would thus have to be carefulnot to violate the rights of governingbodies. It is also unclear to what extentsuch a contract could bind the governingbody of a school built via a PPP.

The issue of capacity

It may be tempting for a department ofeducation which is suffering from seri-ous management weaknesses to look tothe promise of external ‘partners’ toenhance its capacity. Departments, how-ever, need to be aware that in order forthe PPPs to be successful from the pointof view of safeguarding public interests,they need to be prepared to developtheir capacity specifically to deal withPPPs. Far from allowing departments towash their hands of many problemsassociated with construction and main-tenance, in reality a PPP is only likely tochange the nature of their responsibili-ties, not eliminate them. Departmentswill need to develop their capacity invarious ways: to negotiate complex con-tracts in such a way that the interests ofschools are safeguarded and advanced;to monitor the contractors so as toensure that they fulfil their obligations;to deal with disputes arising from differ-ences in contract interpretation betweenthemselves and the contractors; and todeal with disputes between schools andcontractors.

Conclusion

Although the concept of public-privatepartnerships is still new in South Africa,it appears to have been accepted by thegovernment as a legitimate and evendesirable way of developing publicinfrastructure. While they may well beuseful in this regard, PPPs are not with-out their problems, as has been demon-strated above.

An important weakness of the policydevelopment process around infrastruc-ture PPPs in education is the almostcomplete absence of public debate andscrutiny by stakeholders. This is in starkcontrast to the practice with regard tomost key education policies (e.g. onschool governance, curriculum, values,the role of religion, and so on) that havebeen the subject of widespread debate.There has also been very little examina-tion of the experiences of other countrieswhich have used this form of financingfor school building purposes. Theabsence of debate could lead to impor-tant stakeholder perspectives beingignored and the lack of comparativestudies of PPPs could lead to valuablelessons being neglected, both with costlyconsequences.

Policy around infrastructure PPPsappears to have been driven by theNational Treasury with apparently littleattention from officials or stakeholdersin education – and possibly in other sec-tors as well. It would be useful for theMinistries of Education and Finance tojointly develop policies for public discus-sion before finalising any PPP arrange-ments. •

BibliographyDepartment of Education (DOE). 2002.Annual Report, 2001-2002. Pretoria:Department of Education.

Department of Finance (DOF). 2000a. AStrategic Framework for Delivering PublicServices through Public-PrivatePartnerships. Pretoria: Department ofFinance.

Department of Finance (DOF). 2000b.Guidelines for Public-Private Partnerships.

Glasgow City Council EducationServices. 2000. The Future for Education:Project 2002. Glasgow City CouncilEducation Services: Glasgow

Thompson, N. 2000. Investing in schools:the experience of the Private FinanceInitiative in Brent. In Lissauer, Rachael andRobinson. A Learning Process: PublicPrivate Partnerships in Education.Southampton: Institute for Public PolicyResearch.

1 http://www.treasury.gov.za (downloaded, 12June 2003)

2http://www.treasury.gov.za/organisation.ppp/projectprog/may03.pdf (downloaded, 12 June2003)

3 http://www.treasury.gov.za (downloaded, 12June 2003)

4http://www.treasury.gov.za/organisation.ppp/projectprog/may03.pdf (downloaded, 12 June2003)

5 See, for example, Gordon Brown. ‘We neednew investment, not excessive ideology’, TheTimes, 26 September 2002; Larry Elliot andPatrick Wintour. The Guardian, 30 September2000; Editorial. ‘The PFI needs a review’, TheGuardian, 1 October, 2002; Charlotte Denny,‘Privately financed revolution’, The Guardian,3 October 2002; Jill Sherman. ‘£25bn of publicprojects built with private cash’ The Times, 26September 2002, p 10; ‘A bloody nose’ TheEconomist, 5 October, 2002;

6 http://www.treasury.gov.za/organisation.ppp/projectprog/may03.pdf (downloaded, 12 June2003)

7 Thompson, 2000; Glasgow City CouncilEducation Services, 2000; Interview withFiona Wright, Head Teacher, PeacehavenCommunity School, 8 November 2002;Interview with Alex Sava, East Sussex LocalEducation Authority, Friday 15 November,2002; Interview with Kenneth Corsar, Directorof Education, Glasgow City Council, 18October 2000.

8 ‘A bloody nose’ The Economist, 5 October,2002, p 34

9 PPP Quarterly (No 8: September 2002).Downloaded on 12 June 2003 fromhttp://www.pppcentre.com/publications/pubDetail.asp?A=249

10 Interview with Thembi Cele, Deputy DirectorGeneral, Gauteng Department of Education,14th February 2003.

11 Lissauer and Robinson, 2000:52; Interviewwith Fiona Wright, Head Teacher, PeacehavenCommunity School, 8 November 2002;Interview with Alex Sava, East Sussex LocalEducation Authority, Friday 15 November,2002; Interview with Kenneth Corsar, Directorof Education, Glasgow City Council, 18October 2000.

12 Interview with Fiona Wright, Head Teacher,Peacehaven Community School, 8 November2002.

13 The advisers working with the provincial andnational Departments of Education and theTreasury on the Free State schools PPP are:management consultants, KPMG; a construc-tion and engineering consultancy, Africon;HLM-SV Architects; and legal consultants,Ashira Consulting. Reference - see print-out athome. ( http://www.treasury.gov.za/organisa-tion.ppp/projectprog/may03.pdf (downloaded,12th June 2003); DOE, 2002:62)


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

47In the wake of the 2004 general elec-tions, there has been a change in theway and manner in which personnel

in the public service have been doingand thinking about things. The empha-sis now is on the speedy delivery of serv-ices.

With the advent of change that thePremier announced in the first State andSecond State of the Province Addresses,the Department of EconomicDevelopment and Planning was com-pelled to reposition itself in order to beable to carry out the new mandate.

The restructuring of the Departmentmeant that there needed to be an align-ment of purpose and intent, and also aunity of vision with its sub-structures,including parastatals. The Departmentis engaged in an involved process ofmerging compatible parastatals. TheDepartment of Economic Developmentand Planning is small in comparison tosister departments that have regionaloffices such as Education, Health andPublic Works. This fact makes it unten-

able for such a small Department tosteer, co-ordinate and monitor theplethora of institutions under its wing.

The shortage of human resourcesmakes it difficult for a Department likeours to carry out its oversight function,especially when there are too manyparastatals. It is for this reason that theDepartment is involved in a reposition-ing and prioritisation of its sub-struc-tures to be in line with the new mandateas espoused by the Premier.

It is envisaged that after completion ofthe process of mergers service deliverywill be improved dramatically. Mydepartment cannot afford to be abystander when it comes to the mainfunctions of the parastatals.

One of the ways of improving thecapacity and capability of theDepartment to properly manage paras-tatals is by way of reducing the numbers,without losing essential functions thatmust be carried out.

The Premier has announced thatthere must be a merger between

Unity is Strength:How Parastatal Mergers

Will Improve Delivery

In this speech at the 2nd

Annual Batho Pele Learning

Network at eMnotweni arena

in Nelspruit recently,

Mpumalanga MEC for

Economic Development and

Planning, Mr William Lubisi

outlines the repositioning of

parastatals for effective

governance and

service delivery.


Mpumalanga Tourism Authority andthe Mpumalanga Parks Board on theone hand and between MpumalangaEconomic Empowerment Corporationand Mpumalanga Investment Initiative(MII) on the other.

This is the rationale behind the pair-ing of these institutions.

• The MTA-MPB merger makes sensein that it will promote and bring tofruition the concept of sustainabledevelopment. The Department ischarged with the responsibility ofdeveloping tourism products whichare marketed by MTA; on the otherhand, the Parks Board is there to safe-guard and protect the environmentfor future generations. Bringingtogether the seemingly contrastingfunctions under one roof improves thechecks and balances. It also eliminatessituations where one parastatal mightpursue projects and policies that areharmful to another’s plans.

In addition, the Parks Board, has in itspossession a number of State-ownedfacilities which could be turned intoproducts that could be allocated to Blackenterprises in order to level the groundand improve the equity levels

• The MEEC-MII merger is also influ-enced by a simple rationale based onthe economies of scale. The MII’s corefunction is to attract investment intoMpumalanga by facilitating a busi-ness-friendly environment, whileMEEC’s function is to generate Smalland Medium businesses and developlocal entrepreneurs.

However, in a sense, MEEC also plays arole in bringing investment to theProvince through the Industrial Parksthat they manage.

The MII and MEEC will focus oneconomic development whilst MTA andMPB will play a role in unlocking theeco-tourism and ensure the develop-ment of responsive tourism.

You will notice that by merging thetwo you will be eliminating two mutual-

ly-exclusive Board of Trustees, you willbe eliminating two CEO’s, you will beeliminating two CFOs and you will beeliminating two COOs. In a long andshort way the merger will eliminate a lotof duplication and wastage of resourcesthat we can ill-afford.

The MEEC alone, for example, hasstaff in excess of 100. It is almost equal tothe number of staff in the core-Department. The corporation has officesin many parts of the Province, whichmeans more office space, more telephonelines, more computers! The list is endless.

As separate entities, these Parastatalsare costing the public more than thepublic gets on their investment.Therefore, logically we are engaged onthis merger to save the public a lot ofmoney that would then be rechanneledand utilised to attract more investmentand create more businesses.

If we succeed – and I know we will –in attracting more investment and creat-ing more enterprises in the province, wewill directly reduce the rate of povertyand increase the creation of jobs, whichis why we exist as a department.

Parastatals are significant strategicpublic assets that must be included as anintegral component of our approach toservice delivery –Batho Pele. TheMpumalanga Provincial Government(MPG) must ensure that it retains thestrategic and regulatory control of theinfrastructure, instruments for services,such as trade promotion, small businessdevelopment and equitable access tofinance.

The main purpose of establishingpublic entities at provincial level, there-fore, is to enhance operating mecha-nisms of government in order to expe-dite service delivery on its mandate, leg-islative or otherwise.

The above stands to reason that therewill always be a need for responsibilitiesto be properly assigned within theresources available in the province andshould be structured in such a mannerthat all aspired goals of government areachieved. In this regard it becomes veryimportant to clearly distinguish betweenmatters of policy and those which

should be left to those who look at theoperational imperatives of the servicedelivery mechanism.

Government needs a strong arm toensure that its policies are observed by allin the province to realise the promises itmade to the voters. If these matters arenot enforced, entrenched in all systemsof governance and carefully monitored,this can easily result in failures whichmay cause discontent among the publicand even discredit some of the govern-ment departments and or agencies.

It becomes very important to note thatgovernment departments should at alltimes be seen to be facilitating processeswhich will bring about results linked tothe overall goals of government, therebyenhancing service delivery. In thisregard, government should throughrepresentation and oversight mecha-nisms ensure that its policies areobserved and implemented by all.

The Mpumalanga ProvincialGovernment and its social partnersrecently adopted the Provincial Growthand Development Strategy (PGDS).Since then, we have realised that theattainment of the PGDS objectivesneeds the realignment of government’sdelivery instruments. Similarly in orderto achieve the objectives of the PGDS,the Department is confronted with theimperative to re-organise or review theinstitutional configuration of theprovincial administration, includingparastatals, into coherent and competentinstruments for implementing govern-ment policies and meeting basic needs ofthe people in line with Batho Pele.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in line with thetopic of the day, namely: “Repositioningof Provincial Parastatals for EffectiveGovernance and Service Delivery.” Iwish to emphasise the need for institu-tional reform in order to enhance servicedelivery. At the helm of effective gover-nance and service delivery, the followingparastatals exist: • Mpumalanga Investment Initiative

(MII)• Mpumalanga Economic Empower-

ment Corporation (MEEC)• Mpumalanga Tourism Authority

I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

48


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

49

(MTA)• Mpumalanga Parks Board (MPB)• Mpumalanga Gaming Board (MGB)• Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust

(MRTT)• Mpumalanga Housing Finance

Corporation (MHFC)• Mpumalanga Manufacturing Centre

(Mpumac)• Mpumalanga Agricultural Develop-

ment Corporation (MADC)

Therefore, as illustrated above, themerger of some of these parastatals willeliminate duplication of services andunlock resources to be deployed inneedy areas. With regards to the MII-MEEC and MTA-MPB, the govern-

ment intends to enact legislation toensure that the newly-formed agencycomplies will bring about effective andefficient good governance within thescope of the law as exemplified by thePublic Finance Management Act(PFMA), Public Service ManagementFramework (PSMF), Intergovernmen-tal Relations Bill (IGRB). Likewise, theabove will ensure, inter alia;• Transparency• Accountability• Improved service standards• Integration• CoordinationThis review/ reform/ re-organisationwill ensure that MADC remains razor-sharp to implement the emerging

farmer support programmes whilstMRTT will continue focusing on skillsdevelopment with emphasis on relevantskills for growing our economy. Ourexemplary gambling management willbe enhanced by alignment with theNational Gaming Act. MPUMAC willfind a new home in the new SmallEnterprise Development Agency(SEDA) structures aimed at beefing upbusiness support programmes.

Our challenge will be drawing in, atBoard and Management levels, compe-tent individuals to drive our parastatals.We will pull out all stops to maximisethe capacity of these institutions to deliv-er to our communities and ensure maxi-mum adherence. •


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

50 Imust acknowledge that the learningnetwork of this nature in theProvince builds on the wonderful

work that is championed nationally bythe Learning and KnowledgeManagement Component at theDepartment of Public Service andAdministration. Most of you willremember that the first Batho PeleLearning Academy was launched inMpumalanga in 2002. This has sincebecome an annual national event thatoffers a national platform for sharingbest practice innovations and experi-ences in governance and the delivery ofgovernment programmes.

At a provincial level, we have decidedto hold a similar annual service deliveryconference to ensure sustainability andbroad-based participation in learningnetworks and knowledge managementinitiatives. To enhance service deliveryin the Province, this conference willassist us with sharing programme andproject implementation lessons and bestpractice innovations with colleagues

from national departments and our sis-ter provinces. It will also provide anopportunity for Mpumalanga provincialdepartments to share lessons and experi-ence amongst themselves, therebyenhancing levels of integration, coopera-tive governance and integrated servicedelivery. In this regard, it is appropriateto thank all the speakers that are goingto present at this conference. Thank youfor taking time out of your busy andtight schedules to be with us to shareyour expertise, experience and lessonslearned from your implementation envi-ronment.

During the first decade of democracy,the government invested a lot of moneyin various ways to build a body of insti-tutional knowledge capital that isintended to support the growth andcapabilities of a Developmental State, sothat the State is in a position to deliveron economic growth, job creation andaccelerated service delivery. One of theglaring weaknesses in the wholemachinery of government is the poor

Getting Value from

KnowledgeManagement

In his opening address to

the 2nd Annual Service

Delivery Learning Network

held in Mpumalanga

recently, the Director-General

of that province, Advocate

Stanley Soko, highlighted

poor management of

knowledge in the

government machinery as

a major problem.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

51management of knowledge that govern-ment itself generates through hugeinvestments over a period of time.Service delivery innovations and suc-cesses are not exploited fully for the ben-efit of government as a whole. There isstill the challenge of building a strongknowledge management system andculture that allows for a systematic iden-tification of successful service deliverymodels and ensures that these are wide-ly implemented in government as awhole.

One of the advantages for this wouldbe the ability to achieve short projectcycles as there will be a broad knowl-edge base to support decision-makingduring project implementation, anddocumented lessons to support imple-menters not to repeat the same mistakesthat were committed elsewhere in gov-ernment. Perhaps the service deliveryconference should start by asking simplehypothetical, but sometimes practical,questions:• Why would you have one province

spend R60 million on an AssetManagement System that is success-fully rolled out, and another provincegoing through the same process andspending R65 million two years later.No lessons and experience shared, thesame consultants provide the sameservice to government twice. Thismay sound hypothetical. But this doeshappen in government across a rangeof service delivery disciplines. Thishappens as a result of a poor culture ofknowledge-sharing and transferabili-ty of government knowledge capitalto be deployed for wider applicationin other environments.

• Why would you have the best gov-erned and best performing municipal-ity and the worst governed and worstperforming municipality in the sameprovince? What is required here is notto pass value judgments against any-one, but to ask a fundamental ques-tion about how best knowledge prac-tices, experience and lessons can beshared across municipal boundaries to

enhance good governance and deliv-ery capacity.

These basic questions underlie a needfor a concerted effort by governmentacross all service delivery disciplines tostrengthen communities of practice orlearning networks to support govern-ment-wide knowledge disseminationand sharing to improve service deliveryand avoid unnecessary duplication.

The translation of a DevelopmentalState vision into practical programmesthat will impact positively on the lives ofour people requires an efficient andeffective machinery of government thatis transparent, accountable and people-centred. One hopes that the conferencewill deliberate on the practical ways ofmoving from strategy and process analy-sis to effective programme implementa-tion, monitoring and impact evaluation.We hope that lessons learned here willbe useful in pursuing the Mpumalanga’sdelivery agenda. Currently we areworking on the implementation of theMonitoring and Evaluation system that


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

52

will ensure effective monitoring andevaluation of government programmesin the Province. We hope that lessonsand experience that will be shared byour colleagues from the national depart-ments and sister provinces will bebrought to bear in our own change man-agement processes during our imple-mentation of a monitoring and evalua-tion system.

From policy development and back-office support to coalface service deliv-ery points, it is important that there is nounnecessary red tape that impact nega-tively on service delivery. We were for-tunate that the KHAEDU project that ischampioned by DPSA was piloted inMpumalanga. In this programme, sen-ior managers are deployed in servicedelivery institutions to expose them topractical challenges at service deliverypoints. This will help sharpen seniormanagement’s understanding of theinterplay between policy development,implementation, monitoring and evalu-ation. The Province is poised to move tothe next stage of implementing the rec-ommendations emanating from theinnovative senior management deploy-ment programme. We hope that lessonsfrom the implementation of similarinterventions in other provinces will beshared in this conference. Perhaps theconference will also be able to touch onsome innovative models for a full-scalerollout within provincial governments,and how to deal with some of the logis-tical challenges that will go with thefull-scale implementation.

One believes that this learning confer-ence will provide a platform that pro-motes innovation in the way govern-ment does business. Government has toreview some of its processes which cre-ate unnecessary red tape. There is a needto effect improvements in:• Programme delivery through

improved project management capac-ities within government (e.g. acceler-ated implementation of the ExpandedPublic Works Programme andProject Consolidate)

• Supply chain management processes• Payment of grants to beneficiaries

• Services delivery at hospitals, policestations and clinics.

Another challenge that the provincialgovernment has to focus on is ensuringappropriate investments in the Infor-mation Technology and Communica-tion infrastructure to create an environ-ment for increased accessibility of gov-ernment services. This has to be coupledwith efficient and effective back-officeoperations so that the service deliveryvalue chain is strengthened. Infor-mation technology will enable e-govern-ment initiatives and facilitate onlinetransaction for some of the governmentservices. In a knowledge-based economythat must play a meaningful role in thecompetitive global environment, theSouth African public service needs toembrace new technology developmentsin order to position its institutions toadapt to emerging pressures of aDevelopmental State. We must createlearning organisation that has the capac-ity to deal with community demands forimproved government service. Theemerging consciousness in poor commu-nities to take to the streets due to poor

service delivery is sending a signal to allof us in the public service that we need tolearn quickly and find innovative waysto deal with emerging pressures. Thislearning network will hopefully teaseout some of the issues more critically andsuggest possible interventions.

There is an opportunity to deployinformation and communication tech-nologies in improving organisationalinternal controls to fight fraud and cor-ruption. There are initiatives underwayin the Province to fight all forms offraud and corruption. The Province iscommitted to ensuring that resourcesmeant for service delivery improvementare not misdirected through fraud andcorruption. You would agree with methat this is a major national challengethat may bring the government to itsknees. One hopes that deliberations inthis conference will share lessons thatwill stop the tide for this destructivephenomenon at all levels of government.There is going to be a close criticalengagement on some of the resolutionsemerging from the recent national Anti-Corruption Summit that took place aweek ago. •


C a s e S t u d yS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

53Background

To reinforce the principles of BathoPele, cabinet made a decision in Augustof 2004 which requires all SMS (SeniorManagement Service) members, in eachperformance cycle, to undertake a peri-od of deployment to the service delivery‘Coal Face’.

In response to this challenge theDPSA have developed a programmecalled Project Khaedu (Venda for “chal-lenge”) to assist all SMS members inmeeting the cabinet objective.

Project Khaedu is a unique and inno-vative combination of an active skillsdevelopment process using public sectorcase studies and practical exercises, fol-lowed by a ‘deployment’ to a servicedelivery point. It is a team-basedapproach to developing practical prob-lem solving skills in a real live environ-

ment, often referred to as ‘ActionLearning”.

The programme is divided into twomain elements:1. A 5-day intensive problem-solving

and communication skills course inwhich managers learn to analyse serv-ice delivery problems in terms of:• Process design weaknesses • Organisation barriers, particularly

lack of multi-skilling and teaming• People management and working

with organised labour• Budget and control problems

2. Using the skills acquired during thecore course, participants are deployedin syndicates to selected service deliv-ery points to analyse any problemsand develop recommendations.

Khaedu has been very successfully pilot-ed with 67 national and provincial man-

Project Khaedu inKwaZulu Natal

Senior ManagementService Delivery Challenge

Reshma Badal, Reggie

Cele, Khosi Gxagxisa,

Palesa Majozi, Themba

Masondo and Nomsa

Nkosi collaborated on

this the first in a series of

articles on Project

Khaedu, which was

piloted at Grey’s

Hospital, KwaZulu Natal


C a s e S t u d y S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

54

agers having taken part. Over the nextsix-months, it is the DPSA’s objective toscale-up Khaedu, working closely withselected provinces and national depart-ments. One of the first provinces to takepart in this roll-out is KZN.

Project Khaedu in KZN

Twenty-three SMS managers participat-ed in Project Khaedu in KwaZulu-Natal between March and May 2005.This first Project Khaedu interventionin the province has been viewed as very

successful with participants rating theprogramme very highly (average feed-back score of 4.6 out of 5). They praisedits practical emphasis and relevance tothe public sector. Managers wereexposed to real life service delivery prob-lems at the coal face, and used theirnewly acquired skills to attempt solvingsome of these.

Host sites found the deploymentreports relevant and useful.

On the final night of the skills devel-opment week, each group is expected towork on, and solve, the final ‘integrated

case-study’. Most participants only fin-ished working on this case-study aftermidnight! The following day’s presenta-tions on the case study were of a veryhigh quality, with an exceptional reportback from the two winning teams (whoshared the Best Report prize).

Service delivery to our citizenry –the problem of queues...

The 2nd phase of the programme – thedeployment to the ‘coal face’ – wasscheduled for May. This supervisedAction Learning deployment ensuresthat managers practise their problemsolving skills, and the solution buildingprocess is reinforced. Participants weresplit into four groups, each group beingsent to a separate service delivery site:1. Greys Hospital2. Addington Hospital3. Home Affairs eThekwini4. Home Affairs Scottburgh

The reports that were produced by theteams were of a consistently high quali-ty. All teams presented their findings tothe senior management team of the rel-evant site (hospital or home affairsoffice), before finalising their reports. Inaddition, the Home Affairs team alsopresented to the Provincial HomeAffairs Director the following week.

The hospital groups identified a num-ber of “best practices” at their sites, dis-covering that both Greys and Addingtonhospitals are very well run institutions.However, they also faced some chal-lenges. For example, Addington is strug-gling to overcome the problem of longqueues at the back end of their outpa-tient’s process. Patients wait a long timein the pharmacy queue to collect theirmedication.

The team, in the short time that theyhad available, analysed the pharmacyprocess and came up with some practicalideas to improve it, including revamp-ing the physical layout of the process,elimination of ‘batching’, synchronisa-tion of opening times and automaticprinting of medicine labels using theexisting MediTech system.

Facilitator assisting a Khaedu participant with an MS Excel exercise

Team 1 working on their final integrated case study



55The Greys Hospital team identified

some challenges with respect to integra-tion between Head Office and the hospi-tal, in terms of planning, funding anddecision making, as well as communica-tion between Management and labour.They developed ideas and initiatives totackle both problems.

The Home Affairs teams discoveredthat core existing operations are not sta-ble, evidenced by long queues, poorprocess flows and high error and returnrates. There are long and unpredictabletimes to receive critical documents, andstaffing is not matched to the highly vari-able demand pattern. Consequently, staffat critical times of the year and month areoverstretched, service levels fall and bothstaff and customers are unhappy.

In addition, some basic project man-agement skills appear to be lacking as,nearly 10 months after opening the newoffice in Scottburgh, there is still noproper signage, secure cashiers area andkey IT systems such as BAS have onlyjust been connected.

However, the team identified that,with a limited investment in temporary

staffing capacity to cover peak demandmonths (January, February and April),some basic process redesign and organi-sation alignment (particularly introduc-ing multi-skilling and a team basedstructure), this situation can be signifi-cantly improved and the TurnaroundStrategy reinvigorated. The provincialmanagement all supported these find-ings and encouraged the teams to pres-ent them to Home Affairs head office inPretoria.

Summary

Helping public service managersbecome more effective problem solversis a critical step in ensuring that govern-ment overcomes the service deliverychallenges that we face. Project Khaeduis an important element in the govern-ment’s overall skills development andBatho Pele revitalisation strategies. Thisalso go some ways in enhancing thecapacity of our SMS members to lead byexample in showing that in the PublicService WE CARE, WE SERVE andWE BELONG. •

This has been oneof the best coursesoverall and highlyrelevant to one’swork relationshipfrom start to finish.A good investment

This programmehas already givenus a managementtool that can easily

and readily beutilised with

positive results


P r o f i l e S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

56

Dr Mark Patrick, currently basedin Greys Hospital’s pediatricunit in Pietermaritzburg,

KwaZulu-Natal, has been associatedwith the public health system for nearly20 years. He began practicing as a med-ical doctor at Edendale Hospital, in thesame province, and later worked atFrontier Hospital in the Eastern Cape.In the past, the two hospitals, because ofapartheid social engineering and theattendant legislation, catered for thehealth needs of black people. By con-trast, Greys Hospital served whiteareas. With socio-political transforma-tion that has happened in the country,Greys now caters for a much wider areaas a tertiary health institution, includinghistorically disadvantaged communi-ties.

The challenges faced by the publichealth system in largely rural provincessuch as KwaZulu-Natal are well docu-

mented. They include the relationshipbetween poverty and wellness, highpopulation densities that are largelyconcentrated in the hinterland, and thefact that the burden of disease is heavi-est among women and children. Butwhat bothers Dr Patrick as much as thepoor health of people is the often chaot-ic state of patient record keeping inmany public hospitals, particularlythose located in previously disadvan-taged areas.

Dr Patrick says poor record keepingand the quality of the physical copies aresome of the most obvious (yet oftenunattended to) obstacles to quality hos-pital health care provision. The variousforms (about seven basic clinical recordforms and a couple of observationforms) patients, nurses and doctors rou-tinely fill out in hospitals often disap-pear due to mismanagement, or are ren-dered useless as third-hand copies are

Settingthe

RecordsStraight

Dudley Moloi meets a KZN

doctor who is developing

an innovative and cost

effective way of keeping

durable records.


photocopied to illegibility with inksmudges, blurry lines and bad hand-writing.

While many comparable institutionsin the private sector may have longmoved into the electronic or paperlesspatient management realm, many hos-pitals Dr Patrick and his colleagueswork within are barely managing theirpaperwork, which “leads to problemswith the quality of care and patient rela-tionships”, says Dr Patrick.

“The [patient record management]challenges are widespread, and evenhospitals such as Greys face similarproblems, although the situation is notthat bad,” explains the doctor.

Despite the move away from paper-based administrations at highly sophisti-cated public hospital such as the ChiefLuthuli Hospital in KZN, paper-inten-sive hospitals are likely to be a majorfeature of the public health system for

years to come. In any case, argues DrPatrick, “you can’t go electronic if thebasic stuff is not sorted out.”

It was out of the resolve to tackle therealities of being “stuck with paper” thatDr Patrick and some of his colleaguesembarked on what they “see as a BathoPele effort”, which is updating, and insome cases, redesigning a whole new setof hospital forms. After years ofpainstaking development (work doneduring spare time) the various formshave now been burned into CD-Romcopies that are easily available to hospitalstaff.

In addition to the obvious benefit ofimproved management in individualhospitals, specific or clinical forms willimprove the quality of baseline data ondisease profiles in the areas or geograph-ic regions in which the institutions with-in which the hospitals are located, andultimately the province and the country.

Although not yet entirely adopted bythe provincial health department, thenot so new paper regime has the backingof the relevant authorities.

“Everywhere that I work, report-keeping is based on old habits and notthought through along the lines of thenew health system,” Dr Patrickobserves.

The rollout of the new forms will be“piloted in small chunks”, beginning atthe twenty-two hospitals that are part ofthe outreach programme Dr Patrickheads from Greys Hospital.

Dr Patrick was invited as an observerat inaugural Red Tape Awards in 2004.His initiative is testimony to the fact thatinnovation and initiative in the publicservice need not necessarily involvespending millions on expensive consult-ants or exclusive bosberaads. It is aboutrelentless initiatives by people at thecoalface of service delivery. •

P r o f i l eS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

57


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

58 T he 2005 State of the Public ServiceReport was released in February bythe Public Service Commission

(PSC) under the theme Bracing thePublic Service for Sustained, EffectiveService Delivery Based on Batho Pele. Thereport is informed by various activitiesthat the PSC undertakes in the course offulfilling its oversight mandate. Theseinclude monitoring and evaluation,assessment of the performance of Headsof Deparment, compliance audits, inves-tigations into public administrationpractices, the promotion of professionalethics, and the handling of labour rela-tions grievances. In addition, the reportalso draws from appropriate researchfindings of other government and non-government institutions.

Organised according to the nine con-stitutional values and principles of pub-lic administration, the report acknowl-edges the commendable achievements ofthe Public Service since the advent ofdemocratic rule in South Africa. Theseinclude the good institutional base that

has been created, the progressive policyframework that has been developed,measures to promote anti-corruptionand improve service delivery, and therole that is increasingly being played inworld affairs.

However, the report also notes chal-lenges that the Public Service still has tograpple with. These include the need tocomplete, consolidate and monitor com-pliance with public management frame-works, and the need to address negativeworkplace cultures and the environ-ments that reinforce them. In terms ofthe specific Constitutional values andprinciples of public administration, keypoints made by the report include thefollowing:

Principle 1: A High Standard ofProfessional Ethics Must bePromoted and Maintained

Findings show that the Public Servicesometimes still takes too long to addresscases of professional misconduct, and

Examining the Stateof the Public Service

in 2004/2005

Mashwahle Diphofa, the Deputy

Director General: Monitoring

and Evaluation in the Office of

the Public Service Commission,

says the recently released report

on the State of the Public

Service acknowledges that the

public service is starting to

overcome difficulties in spending

its funds. However, other

departments still appear to

have a problem achieving some

of their strategic objectives.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

59this may be seen by some as a lack ofaction. A strong link needs to be createdbetween the National Anti-CorruptionStrategy and departmental strategies,accompanied by the creation of mini-mum anticorruption capacity at depart-mental level. There also needs to be aclear and coordinated roll-out of theCode of Conduct for Public Servants toimprove its implementation andenhance compliance

The report argues that a public servicethat supports a strong developmentalstate requires a sophisticated ethicsinfrastructure. There are no short cutsto achieving this goal. Instead, this canonly be achieved through consistent andsustained work which puts all the basicbuilding blocks in place.

Principle 2: Efficient, Economicand Effective Use of Resourcesmust be Promoted.

The report acknowledges that the pub-lic service is starting to overcome diffi-

culties in spending its funds. However,other departments still appear to have aproblem achieving some of their strate-gic objectives. In this regard, annualreports are not related to budgets andreporting on the achievement of objec-tives is less than satisfactory.

The public service should have useful,practical and accessible guidelines whichshow an alignment between govern-ment priorities, departmental strategicobjective, programme plans and indi-vidual job descriptions. These, togetherwith other processes such as perform-ance management, should seek to sup-port officials to ensure that they achieveefficiency, economy and effectiveness intheir work.

Principle 3: Public Administrationmust be Development Oriented.

In giving effect to this principle in thesecond decade of democracy, the PSC’sreport identifies sustained poverty erad-ication as a critical issue for the public

service. This, the report argues, wouldrequire the public service to ensure abalance between complex and oftencompeting priorities in order to narrowincome disparities in all its activities,ranging from strategic planning, budg-eting and implementation.

The PSC observes that there are posi-tive developments in this direction,including the advent of the NationalSpatial Development Perspective(NSDP), which provides guidelines thatshould inform development in the coun-try. Other commendable efforts includethe employment of CommunityDevelopment Workers (CDWs) tobridge the gap between governmentservice provision and communities thatuse the services, and the launch of theExpanded Public Works Programme(EPWP) to promote investment in infra-structure development whilst ensuringtargeted empowerment and job creation.These however, require complex andoften time consuming processes in orderto achieve the intended results.


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

60

The report notes that some of thedevelopment projects implemented bydepartments seem to employ the wrongstrategies as well as involve the wrongservice providers as partners. It isimportant that over time, poverty eradi-cation projects should evolve into sus-tainable initiatives that are not com-pletely reliant on government support.At the heart of this would be the notionof empowering service users guided by aclear national development strategy.

Principle 4: Services Must beProvided Impartially, Fairly,Equitably, and Without Bias.

The PSC’s examination of the state ofthe public service with regard to thisprinciple is guided by the need to realisejust service delivery balanced with con-siderations of redressing the legacy ofpast inequities. In this regard, embed-ding the ethos of Batho Pele (PeopleFirst) irrespective of such factors as fam-ily connections would be key.

Developments such as the Promotionof Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) of2000 are positive in that they put on theagenda of public service delivery thevery important notions of fair adminis-trative action. Although compliancewith the provisions of the PAJA maynot be viewed as the sole indicator offairness, impartiality and equity in pub-lic service delivery, the PSC does makevery important observations regardingthe implementation of the Act. Mostdepartments surveyed by the Com-mission show a limited understandingof how to work with Act, and few haveadvised the public on their rights in thisregard. What’s more, staff in civil socie-ty organisations also appear to have lim-ited awareness of the Act and its provi-sions.

The PSC notes that in the seconddecade of democracy, public servicedelivery would need to advance impar-tiality, fairness and equity by embracingnotions of transparency and accounta-bility as espoused by legislative frame-works such as the PAJA and thePromotion of Information Act of 2002.

Principle 5: People’s Needs mustbe Responded to and the Publicmust be Encouraged toParticipate in Policy Making

Key to fulfilling this constitutional valueand principle is the internalisation andembedding of a consultative and partic-ipatory culture to ensure a close align-ment between service delivery and theneeds of the people. The PSC reportnotes that although there are suchapproaches as Citizens’ Forums,

Izimbizo and Provincial ExecutiveCouncils’ Outreach Programmes, inmost departments mechanisms to pro-mote public participation tend to beinformal and ad hoc. Pockets of excel-lence appear to exist in some instances,but more attention still needs to be paidto regularising and formalising publicparticipation. In order the take this for-ward, there needs to be clear guidelines

on what constitutes minimum levels ofconsultation and participation.

Principle 6: Public Administrationmust be Accountable

The report emphasises the importanceof clarifying responsibilities across thevalue-chain at any stage of policy formu-lation, implementation and execution.This would, among other things, con-tribute towards the accountable use ofscarce resources. In this regard, anddrawing from a report by the AuditorsGeneral, the PSC observes that there hasbeen an increase in the number of mat-ters being emphasised, from less that 150matters in 2001/2 to more than 250 in2003/4. These commonly includeincome statements, asset managementand the functioning of audit commit-tees. (Emphasis of matter as an audit opin-ion seeks to bring certain matters to theattention of users, but is considered lesssevere compared to qualified opinion,adverse opinion, and disclaimer of opinion.The matters raised are nonetheless stillimportant and deserve serious attention.)There has also been a decrease in thenumber of unqualified audits, for exam-ple from 51% to 37% at provincial levelin the health, education and social devel-opment sectors.

The report further notes that for the2003/4 financial year the performance of17 national and 19 provincial Heads ofDepartment (HoDs) was formally eval-uated. A cause for concern here is thatalthough other HoDs could not be for-mally evaluated due to genuine reasons(for example, they had not been in thepost for a full financial year), in fact 26more should have been evaluated butthese did not comply with their require-ments for a proper formal evaluation. Interms of the PSC guidelines for the eval-uation of the performance of HoDs, thefollowing information is required:• A duly signed performance agreement

for the relevant financial year• The department’s strategic plan cover-

ing the relevant year• The budget and expenditure report

for the relevant financial year

It is important thatover time, poverty

eradication projects should

evolve intosustainable

initiatives that arenot completely

reliant ongovernment

support. At theheart of this wouldbe the notion of

empowering serviceusers guided by a

clear nationaldevelopment

strategy.


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

61

• The department’s annual report forthe relevant financial year; and

• A verification statement completed bythe Executing Authority and the HoDdetailing the achievement of keyresult areas and core management cri-teria provided for in the performanceagreement.

If the above information is not madeavailable, a proper formal evaluationcannot be conducted.

Overall, approximately of the 34% ofthe HoDs evaluated received an ‘out-standing performance’ rating, 55%received a ‘significantly above expecta-tions’ rating, and 11% received a ‘fullyeffective’ rating.

The PSC has identified the need tosupplement the HoDs evaluation systemwith a framework that evaluates institu-tional performance. In this way, therecan be an alignment between the per-formance of the HoD and that of theDepartment they are responsible for.

Principle 7: Transparency must beFostered by Providing the Publicwith Timely, Accessible andAccurate Information.

The sharing of credible informationwith the public is important in makingthe workings of government visible andunderstood. If properly done, this alsofosters a sense of ownership of govern-ment programmes and processes bycommunities.

The PSC report acknowledges that,overall, the quality of departmentalAnnual Reports has improved in recentyears. The reports have also becomemore reader-friendly and accessible.However, areas of weakness still exist. Anumber of departments do not system-atically report on the achievement oftheir strategic objectives. Neither dothey link performance information todepartmental plans and budgets. ThePSC points out that unless AnnualReports are beefed up to provide ade-quate detail on the results achieved bydepartments, they become public rela-tions documents rather than useful

sources of information. Proper monitor-ing and evaluation is key if departmentsare to generate credible information tobe reported to the public.

The report further points out thatother ways of reporting to the public,such as izimbizo, should be widely prac-ticed in order to contribute to a flourish-ing culture of transparency.

Principle 8: Good HumanResource Management andCareer Development Practices toMaximise Human Potential, mustbe Cultivated.

Given that the public service is the sin-gle largest employer in the country, it isimportant that it also becomes the epit-ome of sound human resource manage-ment practices. The public service is stillfaced with the challenge of hierarchicaland silo practices and needs to embracemore team-based work methods forproducing better results. The transfor-mation of the human resource manage-ment regime has provided for increaseddecentralisation and delegation ofauthority. However, there is a sense thatin some instances consideration shouldbe given to holding back on these dele-gations until appropriate capacity to usethem effectively has been developed.This could be in the form of an accred-itation system in which certain powersare delegated only once the institutionhas reached a certain capacity thresholdto use them effectively.

The report further notes that there arestill challenges relating to high vacancyrates, inadequate recruitment and selec-tion processes, and the alignment oftraining and development with thebroader HR management function.

The public service requires soundhuman resource planning capacity thatcould, among others, focus on realisticand rigorous analysis of current skillsand future needs, and link these to thestrategic plans of departments.

Principle 9: Public Administrationmust be Broadly Representativeof SA People, with Employment

and Personnel ManagementPractices Based on Ability,Objectivity, Fairness and theNeed to Redress the Imbalancesof the Past to Achieve BroadRepresentation

The public service has become morerepresentative in terms of race, but rep-resentivity for women at the level ofmanagement and generally for peoplewith disabilities still require attention.The setting of numeric targets alone isnot enough. Indeed, the report quotesresearch that found that some depart-ments had good Affirmative Actionplanning systems but implementedthem poorly, thus failing to realise theobjectives as envisaged in the WhitePaper on Affirmative Action in thePublic Service.

The report argues that there needs tobe a clear link between affirmativeaction and human resource planning.This would ensure that the country hasa public service that is not only properlyequipped to deliver, but one that is alsofully representative of the rich diversityof the people it serves. The monitoringand evaluation of progress would be keyin sending a strong signal of what is con-sidered important. In this regard,Parliament and other oversight bodieswould need to continue engaging withthis issue so that its importance is con-stantly reiterated.

Conclusion

The 2005 State of the Public ServiceReport raises a number of key issues thatneed consideration in order to brace thepublic service for sustained, effectiveservice delivery based on Batho Pele. Indoing this, the report does not suggestthat the public service is in a crisis andrequires a major rescue mission. Instead,it acknowledges that the public service isnow on a sound institutional footing,and has achieved much to be proud of.What it needs is further strengtheningto ensure sustained effective servicedelivery in the spirit of putting peoplefirst. •


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

62C orruption in the private and

public sector undermines servicedelivery, increases inequality

and drowns out the voice of the coun-tries majority in policy and decision-making and places a drag on economicgrowth and job creation. Although notthe biggest single issue facing SouthAfrica – corruption is by far one of themost important ‘cross-cutting issue’.This is backed up by one of the mostcomprehensive civil society assessmentsof corruption – and the effectiveness tocombat it to date. The extensive study,which complements the 2002 SAGovernment /United Nations Office ofDrugs and Crime ‘Country CorruptionAssessment’ Report by providing a criti-cal non-state perspective on ourNational Integrity System, was complet-ed over a period of 18 months.

Transparency International (TI) andTransparency South Africa commis-sioned the Institute for Security Studies(ISS) to author the National IntegritySystems (NIS) Country Study Report –South Africa 2005. Similar studies havebeen published in almost 60 countriesand the studies value lies in the fact thatit goes beyond measuring ‘perceptions’of corruption, which President Mbeki

railed against when opening the 2ndNational Anti-Corruption summit inThswane on 22 March this year. Insteadthe report, released on Human RightsDay, provides an in-depth assessment ofthe strength and weakness of the various‘pillars’ of the South African NIS – andhow these relate. To fight corruption acountry requires the requisite laws,institutions and political will. SA hasdone remarkably well on all three frontsin ten short years since the end of cor-rupt apartheid era rule. However, thetrick is now in closing legislative gapsand increasing the capacity of institu-tions – in line with their constitutionalobligations - in order to ensure that cor-rupt individuals no longer cream off bil-lions of rands in both the public and pri-vate sector annually. Consider some ofthe following:• At a national level, almost R2 billion

was lost in 2003 to corruption in SocialWelfare. Sustained corruption andfraud over the past decade resulted inthe much heralded efforts by theMinister Zola Skweyiya’s Departmentand Special Investigations Unit tonow consider prosecuting the almost40,000 public servants who werealmost literally stealing from the

Turning the Tide on Corruption?

A major Civil Society

Study finds promising

signs in the South African

fight against corruption

but the second decade

of democracy may hold

the true test, writes

Hennie van Vuuren,

Institute for Security

Studies


I s s u e sS D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

63

mouths of children to subsidise theirlifestyles.

• The Labour Ministry may have lost asmuch as R1 billion of the money allo-cated to skills development

• The Road Accident Fund, which haslong been susceptible to fraud andcorruption, may have lost R1 billion inthe past year as well.

• The private sector, a major source ofcorruption, may be losing as much asR50 billion a year to fraud and corrup-tion.

These figures, although largely indica-tive provide an understanding of therands and cents of corruption in only afew sectors. The knock-on effect of suchactivity are manifold including thepotential alienation of the electoratewho either become politically disaffect-ed when experiencing the impact of cor-ruption on service delivery or - take tothe streets. The latter form of protestthat has swept the country over the pastyear has underscored the need for effec-tive strategies to deal with the corrupt atall levels of the public and private sector.This begs the question:

How is our nation fairing in thefight against corruption?

A summary of key findings and recom-mendations from the National IntegrityStudy casts some light on this vexingquestion:

Executive: A fish rots from its headthe old saying goes – therefore we arefortunate that the National Executivehas remained relatively scandal free.Where serious allegations have surfaced,as is the case with former DeputyPresident Zuma, they are now beingtested in court. Of concern however isthe revolving door between governmentand business, which needs to beaddressed with adequate post-employ-ment restriction that serves to protectthe integrity of the public service whileprotecting the interests of those who arerequired to take a mandatory ‘cooling-off’ period. Equally the Executive

Members Ethics Act, which requiresdisclosure of assets and interests, mayneed to be revisited as it has no sanctionsmechanisms nor does it allow for suffi-cient public oversight. Another area ofconcern is the awarding of governmentcontracts to partners and relatives ofmembers of the Executive at a provin-cial level.

Legislature: The countries supremeoversight body has taken a bruising inthe wake of the arms deal and travelscam. Although it has played a key rolein designing laws to fight graft andimprove transparency – it must alsohold government departments toaccount and measure their effectivenessin regulating the private sector.Increased research capacity for commit-tees may help ensure that some MP’ssound less like imbongi’s – a concernraised by Deputy Speaker GwenMahlangu. The lack of direct accounta-bility between the people and electedrepresentatives is a cause for concern –and this may be solved by cabinet andparliament grappling with proposals foran electoral system that allows for a mixof direct and proportional representa-tion, thereby giving more direct powerto the people and less to the leadership ofparties. Rules governing disclosure pro-visions also need stiffer sanctions thanthe mild punishment meted out to date.

Political Parties: Full transparencyconcerning the sources of private fund-ing of political parties remains one thekey areas that need to be addressed byeffective legislation and enforcementthereof. At all levels of governance thislegal gap can be abused to benefit theinterest of organised criminals or certainprivate sector groups to the disadvan-tage of the poor majority.

IEC: If Pantsi Tlakula’s and BrigaliaBam’s team were corrupt our electionswould no longer be fair or free. The IEChas done an excellent job to date and itsintegrity is central to sustaining electoraldemocracy.

Auditor-General: The criticism thatthe office of the Auditor-General hasreceived in the wake of the arms dealmay be a measure of the value we place

in the constitution, which ensures theindependence of Shaukit Fakies office.The AG undertakes excellent work inreporting on how public monies arespent however, politically charged inves-tigations such as the arms deal remainthe ultimate test of this constitutionalindependence. The AG’s continuedeffectiveness will in no small measuredepend on the ability of parliament andSCOPA to probe reports from his office.

Judiciary: An independent judiciarythat is able to ensure access to justice iskey to combating corruption.Corruption within magistrate’s courtsmay be a problem as are the security ofthe countries judges and magistrates.Equally the issue of race and racism inthe judiciary should be dealt with toensure that the judiciary is both inde-pendent and representative.

Public Sector: The Public ServiceCommission has an oversight role overthe countries largest single employer theDepartment of Public Service andAdministration. However public offi-cials are still not submitting their finan-cial disclosure forms on time (more than50% in 2002/03) and the PSC has noeffective sanction mechanism to dealwith this. Equally calls by COSATUand others to regulate post-public sectoremployment must be heeded in order toplace a stopper in this gilded door.Cabinet agreed to a Public ServiceNational Anti-Corruption Strategy in2002 and although it has been carriedout in part, under the able auspices ofthe DPSA Anti-Corruption Unit, a newtimetable for implementation isrequired to allow for monitoring there-of. Requirements for minimum anti-corruption capacity within all depart-ments have also not been fulfilled andwill need further attention. The PSCnational anti-corruption hotline (0800701 701) should also be rolled out as thesingle national anti-corruption hotlineas part of a strategy to creating anenabling environment fort whistleblow-ers.

Police & Prosecutors: Both the SAPSand NPA are key role-players in com-bating corruption. However of growing


I s s u e s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

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concern in the public mind is corruptionwithin the ranks of the Police. It may betime to invest sufficient resources andcapacity in the Independent ComplaintsDirectorate (ICD) to ensure that anindependent body monitors corruptionsamongst the countries guardians.

Public Procurement: NationalTreasury has put a Supply ChainManagement Framework in place toreform the old State Tender BoardSystem. Given the +- R180 billion spenton procurement its success is imperativeas is the Register of Tender Defaulters(Corruption List) that Treasury has cre-ated in terms of the new Prevention andCombating of Corrupt Activities Act.Errant companies need to be named,shamed and excluded from govern-ments business, without fear or favour.The penalties that Treasury have pre-scribed are harsh – twenty-year exclu-sion from public contracts – and if vig-orously enforced this could become apowerful preventative tool to trip up thetwo parties who are locked in the infa-mous ‘tender tango’.

Public Protector: LaurenceMushwana’s independence is guaran-teed by the Constitution and plays a keyrole in investigating graft. However thePP’s case backlog and investigation ofhigh-profile cases has not been withoutits detractors. Increased capacity mayassist in beefing up the role of the PublicProtector

Investigative Agencies: Next to theSAPS, the country can be proud of itsinvestigative agencies including theScorpions, Special Investigations Unit(SIU), and Asset Forfeiture Unit.Collectively, though not always success-ful, they have managed to recoup mil-lions of rands and investigate and prose-cute high-profile individuals in both thepublic and private sector. Howeverthere is a need for improved co-ordina-tion amongst state anti-corruption agen-cies. In the medium term this should notbe at the cost of closing down agenciessuch as the Scorpions – and the deliber-ations by the Khampepe Commissionneed to be closely followed by all thoseinterested in tackling graft. However, n

the long term we may need to reopenthe debate around a single national anti-corruption agency

Media: There is a need for moreinvestment in investigative journalismby the countries media owners. ThePublic Broadcaster, home to the coun-tries largest news team is historicallyalso prone towards political influenceand it needs to be kept free of sectionalinterests. The media, much maligned bysome, also needs to keep its own housein order of which events around thearms deal are testament.

Civil Society: Civil society plays a keyrole in monitoring corruption andawareness raising. However sectors ofcivil society remain underfunded.Corruption within the sector also needsgreater attention.

Provincial and Local Government:The ‘site of service delivery’ (or a largepart thereof) needs to a key focal area forefforts to monitor corruption. The lackof sustained national media attentionmeans that these are often vulnerable toendemic corruption which then requiresnational intervention (as in the EasternCape) or results in direct action by com-munities (as in the Free State, Gauteng,Eastern and western Cape).

The law: The country has a strongnew piece of legislation in thePrevention and Combating of CorruptActivities Act however it remains large-ly untested – the key measure of itsvalue. The National Anti-CorruptionForum has prioritised the need to raiseawareness around the effective imple-mentation of anti-corruption legislationin 2005/06. Such joint government/busi-ness/civil society projects could have amajor impact on making the laws workas intended by our elected representa-tives when they passed the law inParliament. The Protected DisclosuresAct must also be beefed up to better pro-tect whistleblowers and the Promotionof Access to Information Act (another‘model’ law) remains an empty promiseas long as the media and civil societyhave to use the threat of legal action toaccess information that should be in thepublic domain.

The private sector: Were it not for anunhealthy doses of crony capitalismunder apartheid few of the countriesmega-rich would enjoy the position theyoccupy today. The private sector as asource of corruption has long been neg-lected and the business community mustdo more introspection to combat graft.This is also true of some empowermentdeals that may be abused for the enrich-ment of individuals with access to power– or white businesspeople that abusepreferential procurement by commit-ting fraud such as ‘fronting’.

The National Integrity Study alsoidentified the following areas for actionamongst its over twenty priorities andrecommendations for action that cutacross institutions:

Islands of integrity – 2010, jobs andanti-retroviral (ARV) rollout: It isalways useful to create initiatives thatexemplify how things should be done asopposed how they should not be done. Itmay therefore be worthwhile for thepublic sector to choose a few high-pro-file initiatives and announce that theywill become Presidential lead projectswith the specific aim of keeping themfree of corruption. These should be proj-ects from which the people benefitdirectly (not necessarily arms, for exam-ple). They could include the massiveinfrastructure investment in buildingsoccer stadiums in the run-up to the2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africaor the R15-20 billion which thePresident announced in February 2004would be spent by the state on a publicworks campaign to create employmentover the next 10 years. Similarly, theroll-out of anti-retroviral medication tocitizens with HIV/Aids could also betargeted: a scarce commodity is an easytarget for corrupt practice and in thisinstance, if the right people do not getthe medication it may mean the differ-ence between life and death. SuchPresidential lead projects could not onlysave the fiscus money but also becomeexamples of good practice.

The wealth gap and greed: Inequalityremains the hallmark of South Africa.The size of the divide means that two


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65

distinct groups are created, the majoritywho aspire to live a better life and thosein the top tier who aspire to climb evenhigher as they fear the thought of livinglike the majority. This sort of instinctleads to a form of short-termism thatencourages corruption and greed, par-ticularly among the elite. Much is spo-ken of moral regeneration, and electedleaders should be exemplary in thisregard and scornful of those who aspireto fabulous wealth. This may be thelargest structural problem that must betackled. It is, however, necessary tobreak the cycle of greed and corruptionwhich, though not uniquely SouthAfrican, is particularly pronounced inthis society.

Looking back while looking forward:After a decade of democracy the politi-cal situation may have settled sufficient-ly to now revisit grand corruptioninvolving both the state and the privatesector during apartheid. An initial stepmay be for a specialised agency such asthe NPA or SIU to undertake an initialscoping exercise of what crimes couldpotentially be prosecuted. Such a reportwould both spell out the linear nature ofcorruption in SA – and dispel the myththat it is only a problem of the post-dem-ocratic order. These are important les-sons if the country is to learn from thepast in tackling grand corruption in the

public and private sector. Parliamentshould assist in setting the parameters ofsuch an investigation to defuse politicaltensions that are likely to ensue of claimsthat a ‘hidden agenda’ is at play.Parliament should also ensure that civilsociety, the faith based community andbusiness are consulted when consideringto investigate such matters to achievebroad consensus in such an approachand take all sectors of society ‘along’ intackling this tricky issue. In recognisingthis issue the 2nd National Anti-Corruption Summit tasked Civil Societywith producing a report on apartheid-era grand corruption for it to consider atits October meeting.

In summarising these many and var-ied recommendations three factors needto receive particular attention by anti-corruption practitioners in the publicsector, business and civil society. Theseare:

Legislative reform and implementationWhere we have a good solution, energymust be invested in implementation.This is the collective responsibility ofevery individual. Where the law isimperfect efforts must be made to con-tinuously adapt and reform it. This willalways remain necessary given the factthat many measures have not been test-ed in the same contexts elsewhere and

given the changing nature of corruptionin South Africa in the future.

Organisational restructuringNo bureaucracy holds all the answers tocombating corruption. This study hasshown that the current model of co-ordination is possibly only successfulbecause a number of competent stateagencies exist to combat corruption. It isnot clear how co-ordination hasstrengthened the capacity and effective-ness of these agencies, if at all. Thedebate around the single anti-corruptionagency model needs to be revisited. Ifthe single agency model is not appropri-ate, then good reasons for this need tobe provided and co-ordination amongstagencies needs to be strengthened. Thecapacity of key oversight institutionsalso require continuous attention toensure that they continue to fulfil theirconstitutional mandate.

Personal integrity‘Greed is good’ must not be allowed tobecome the motto of a highly dividedsociety. This threatens any notion of long-term stability and social cohesion.Matched with this is the requirement forethical practice by individuals in business,government and civil society. Assets needto be disclosed and sweeteners rejectedwhere these may result in a conflict ofinterest. Leaders in all sectors of societyneed to recognise that where they fail inthis regard, or do not support whistle-blowers, or do not speak out against cor-ruption, they are failing the post-apartheid democratic order. Public edu-cation and awareness raising must be pri-oritised to promote the participation of allSouth Africans in combating corruption.

Corruption is not the national priori-ty. However, it remains one of the issuesthat can effectively undermine efforts todeal with all other national priorities. Ifnot kept in check it will stunt economicgrowth, hamper service delivery to thepoor and undermine efforts to tackleHIV/Aids and poverty. It remains a col-lective concern and one of the largestchallenges facing the country more thana decade after the dawn of democracy. •



66CMC, which shall be used

throughout this Blueprint, is anacronym for the Contract

Management Centre. The dictionarydefinition of a Blueprint (figurative) isthe “Detailed plan of work to be done”.

The Province of the Eastern Cape hasmore than 1000 000 beneficiaries whoare paid at over 2700 pay points. In 2000,the Province, in common with all otherprovinces in South Africa, took a deci-sion to outsource the payment of socialgrants. Accordingly, a full tenderprocess was embarked upon.

Through the joint efforts of thedepartment, an evaluation committeeand the State Tender Board, a splitaward was made to Cash PaymasterServices (CPS) and Allpay. The serviceproviders were tasked with renderingservices in the former Transkei and theremainder of the province respectively.

Both service providers are bound byservice level agreements (SLA’s) whichenvisage a monitoring process being

undertaken by the department. To thisend, the department established theCMC. The idea of the CMC was alsofortified by the Interim ManagementTeam (IMT), set up by the President ofthe Republic of South Africa.

The IMT identified a need for a Unitwhich would be dedicated to the man-agement of third party service providersof the department beyond the grantspaying companies. The establishment ofthe CMC is a loud and visible acknowl-edgement by the department of the factthat the ultimate constitutional responsi-bility for service delivery resides withthe government.

This is in keeping with the nationalstrategic goal of ensuring that imple-mentation of laws and policies benefitsthe poor and previously marginalisedpeople. In order to ensure that servicedelivery is a reality, a concentrated effortwas called for to determine and main-tain consistent levels of service.

Blueprint for theContract Management

Centre (CMC)

The Department of Social Development, Eastern Cape, explains what the

CMC is, and how it facilitates payments to pension beneficiaries



67

Vision

• It is envisioned that the payment ofgrants will occur in a manner whichaccords with the constitutional prom-ise of preserving the dignity of thosewho are vulnerable in our midst.

• It is hoped that the combined skills-base borne out of the public-privatepartnerships will give impetus to thedevelopmental goals of the depart-ment and the country.

Mission

• The CMC will ensure that the serviceproviders deliver on their contractualundertakings.

• Similarly, the CMC will provide thenecessary guidance to ensure that thedepartmental obligations in terms ofthe service level agreements are dis-charged, and

• The CMC will build excellence in itspractice and deepen the human rightsethos of the poor and vulnerable (ben-eficiaries).

Core Objectives

• Monitoring compliance by third partyservice providers to service levelagreements,

• Ensuring that the service level agree-ments facilitate service delivery,

• Provision of information to beneficiar-ies and social security stakeholders, and

• Ensuring efficient and honest admin-istration of social security funds.

Legislative Framework

The CMC’s activities and focus will beguided by a plethora of prescripts which,principally, include but are not limitedto the following: • Constitution Act 108 of 1996, • Service Level Agreements signedby

the department and third party serv-ice providers,

• Public Service Act of 1994,• Public Service Regulations of 2001,• Promotion of Administrative Justice

Act of 2000,



68

• Social Assistance Act 2004,• South African Social Agency Act 2004, • Promotion of Access to Information

Act of 2000,• Public Finance Management Act• Treasury Regulations

Scope of the CMC Mandate

The CMC OfficeThe offices are situated at (address),telephone number and fax. Its entirestaff except the Director is located atthese offices. The CMC has an annualbudget of R16 million and an approvedbusiness plan and organogram.Hereinunder are the CMC’s work-streams and their primary tasks.

Legal Unit—Audit, Review andStandardization of Service LevelAgreements (SLA’s)It has been established that the mainSLA’s, CPS’s and Allpays’, containclauses which are simply cumbersome.Accordingly, the CMC, with the assis-tance of legal unit, should lead a re-negotiation of the SLA’s. Given theadvent of the South African SocialSecurity Agency, the CMC will rely onthe guidance of the national depart-ment.

The CMC is tasked with auditingother service level agreements in thedepartment and standardizing them aspart of its contract administration. Tothis end, the CMC will work with thedepartment’s program managers foraccess to the various SLA’s.

Community Liaison – Provision ofcommunication platform between thedepartment, service providers andStakeholdersProper communication with beneficiar-ies and about problems concerning themis an essential component for an efficientgrant payment system. Area forummeetings, which take place on a month-ly basis, are used as a platform by thedepartment to communicate decisionsthat affect payment of grants and prob-lems incidental thereto.

Welfare forums are committees

responsible for ensuring stability andorderly payment process at all cash pay-points. Since these committees are non-statutory, a process of restructuring andlegitimizing them is underway. To thisregard a draft document has been sub-mit to the legal division for scrutinybefore it is submitted to the EasternLegislature for adoption.

Another communication touchstoneis the concept of Help Desks officers.Help Desks officers follow designatedpay teams to every pay-point and ensurepresence at pay-points during the entirepayment period. These officers use theBENEN system (beneficiary enquirysystem), which contains SOCPENinformation in an easily accessible for-mat.

The primary function is to takequeries from beneficiaries and eitherresolve immediately or take the fulldetails of the query for clearance at alater date. The additional tasks include:• commenting on the appropriateness of

the payment itinerary, with a view tocontributing towards paypoint ration-alization process,

• commenting upon the status ofbedridden beneficiaries and 9999 ben-eficiaries,

• providing feedback for submission toArea Forum meetings regardinginfrastructure upgrade needs at pay-points

• completing checklists for paypoint vis-its, and

• submitting fortnightly reports on pre-scribed format to the CMC ProjectManager

Pay-Point Support – Operationalisationof monitoring systemsMonitors are deployed on a sample basisto various paypoints. The CMC has con-tracted 12 monitors who will report to itbut communicate and consult districtco-ordinators with regard to their activ-ities in a particular region. Their mainrole is to monitor and report on theadherence to the SLA’s by both the serv-ice providers and the department.

Reporting is controlled by the use ofstandard forms which help to provide a

level of professionalism and consistencyin reporting. These standard formsinclude a paypoint checklist, an infra-structure database and a daily reportsheet. They are responsible for response,where possible, to crisis situations andwill document special reports on variousincidents such as robberies, deaths atpaypoints and special investigations.

Monitors have a planned itinerary forthe month that will be a combination ofexperience and statistical analysis.However, departures from the itineraryare foreseeable given the need for specialreports at appropriate periods. Theythemselves are monitored by the CMCadministrative staff, which audits thesubmitted control sheets (logbook andtimesheet) and refueling logs. These arematched by third party informationwhere available.

Data Analysis – Management of datathrough a dedicated system and moni-toring of payment of Service providers.An offline windows-based system hasbeen developed for information man-agement. All the information receivedfrom monitors and Helpdesks is central-ly captured and analyzed from this sys-tem. The management informationobtained is utilized for improved plan-ning, budgeting and effective coordina-tion of paypoint monitoring activities.

Alternative payment methodsGrants payments are currently not lim-ited to pay-point cash payments. Indeedbeneficiaries are paid through StandardBank and FNB. The main serviceproviders themselves have developedalternative payment methods, SekululaCard and Merchant Acquiry paymentsfrom Allpay and CPS respectively. TheCMC is duty-bound to manage theimplementation of these payment sys-tems.

Finance and Asset Management –Monitoring and verification of paymentof grantsThis function has been performed byNkonki and Nkonki and managed bythe department’s finance section. As the



69

function is reliant on information fromSOCPEN, which has security obliga-tions and which is under the authority ofCMC Director, it is for all intents andpurposes a CMC management function.This work-stream is also responsible tomaintain and manage the CMC’s Stores.

Payment itineraries, preparationof guidelines and stabilizing thepayment function

The following criteria are applied whendiscussing and agreeing the setting ofpayment itineraries with the serviceprovider:• Rural pay-points should be paid earli-

er in the pay-cycle and urban pay-points later in the pay-cycle. This willreduce migration and will enable ben-eficiaries who have missed their ruralpay-day to have the proverbial secondbite at the cherry. Fixed pay-pointsshould be set up for urban pay-points.

• Pay-points should be geographicallyclustered in order to make the processof traveling to pay-points as practicalas possible. It may however be neces-sary for the service provider to changethe order of the day for security rea-sons.

• Where pay-points are too large to be

paid on one payment day, they shouldbe spread over two or more days. Thenormal order of the type of grantsshould be used to distribute benefici-aries over more than one day, i.e., dis-ability, old age, war veterans and thenthe rest.

• There should be, as close as possible,an equal number of beneficiariesspread over each day of the paymentcycle. In this regard, SOCPEN will beupdated to reflect the number of ben-eficiaries actually paid at the pay-point.

• Pay-points are not moved to later inthe pay-cycle by more than 5 paymentdays in any one month. Where theultimate itinerary requires a pay-pointto be shifted out by more than 5 days,this should be done over two monthsor more if appropriate.

• Itinerary must be re-assessed for anyday where the pay-points for that dayare completed three months in a rowafter 4-30 p.m.

• The number of pay-points on a dayshould be six or less. Only in circum-stances where there are currentlymore than six pay-points on a day andthese are being completed within thespecified payment hours of 8a.m –4p.m, should there be any exception to

this rule. • Beneficiaries requesting transfers

between paypoints must be able to sat-isfy the department that they are resi-dent in the area of the paypoint.Ideally, transfer requests should bemade at the paypoint concerned at thehelpdesk provided by the department.Alternatively, it should be made at theservice or district offices.

Itineraries will be reviewed by the CMCand in instances of non-compliance willbe attended to and corrective actiontaken.

Inherent Risks/Challenges

The CMC will maintain continuous vig-ilance against the obvious logistical riskssuch as:• Exposure of Help Desk officers to

danger in case of robberies,• Misuse of equipment such as laptops,

digital cameras,• Abuse of enabling tools such as vehi-

cles and airtime,• Viability and security of the capturing

system,• System maintenance support,• Unverified capturing which may lead

to incorrect analysis,• Adaptation of operations with

Agency’s needs, and • Certifying of incorrect payments to

service providers.

Conclusion

The Centre is being piloted in order tocreate a permanent structure which willperform contract management, which isabout ensuring that the agreed qualitystandards are delivered. Given the pub-lic finance management regime, it iscrucially important to ensure that thereis value for public funds.

The Centre other equally importanttask is not only to manage the legal obli-gations, but also to sustain and managethe underlying relationship. This mutu-al trust will facilitate a longer terminvestment which will make for the easytransfer of skills. •

DirectorCMC

Monitoring &Verificationof Payments

PaypointMonitoring &

Support

Legal UnitSLA’s

DataAnalysis

CommunityLiaison

CMCProject

Champion

CMC Structure


B o o k R e v i e w s S D R V o l 4 N o 1 2 0 0 5

70

The book provides a practical guide tothe design and implementation of a

successful Monitoring and Evaluation(M&E) system. The authors propose tensteps towards the design and implemen-tation of a successful M&E system byproviding a detailed description of stepsand tasks required to complete eachstep. If followed, this model will help toanswer the “so what” question. Indeed,throughout the book the authorsemphasise a results-based approach tomonitoring and evaluation. The aim isto move away from the traditional focuson implementation to outcome andimpact assessment.

The proposed model can be seen as afeedback system, which helps to buildthe knowledge base. It helps to provideinformation on the nature of projects,critical success factors or failures, andthe reasons for the outcomes of every

project, programme or policy interven-tion. In this way, it promotes learningand information sharing.

Furthermore, the proposed M&E sys-tem can be successfully applied to a myr-iad of situations or milieu. Thus, fordeveloping countries, like South Africa,the model is particularly useful formeasuring the impact of services deliv-ered by governments on their communi-ties. Similarly, in countries where gov-ernments are not directly involved in theprovision of services, the model is stilluseful for evaluating the impact of poli-cies on advancing growth and develop-ment.

The authors argue that the proposedsystem can be seen as a tool for publicmanagement. Thus, it helps to promoteaccountability and transparency withingovernment or organisations.Stakeholders are afforded the opportu-

nity to monitor and evaluate govern-ment’s performance against set targets.Therefore, where targets have not beenmet governments can be called toaccount. On the other hand, if theresults are positive, the system will helpto garner more support from variousstakeholders, including donors.

The book is a must read for develop-ment practitioners, academics andresearchers alike. It is also useful forgovernment officials who wish to meas-ure the impact of developmental pro-grammes on communities.

Book DetailsAuthors: Jody Zall Kusek and

Ray C. RistPublication Year: 2004Publisher: World BankInquiries: www.worldbank.org

Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring andEvaluation SystemReviewed by Glenda Moss, Specialist Researcher, Learning and Knowledge Management, DPSA.


71Operator: “Thank you for calling PizzaHut . May I have your ...”Customer: “Halloo, can I order?”Operator: “Can I have your multi purposecard number first, Sir?”Customer: “It’s eh ..., hold on ... 698-45-54610 ...”Operator: “OK... you’re ... Mr Sfiso Majolaand you’re calling from 17 Retief Str. Yourhome number is 4094 2366, your office 76452302 and your mobile is 082 266 2566.Which number are you calling from nowSir?”Customer: “Home! How did you get all myphone numbers?”Operator: “We are connected to the systemSir.”Customer: “May I order your SeafoodPizza...”Operator: “That’s not a good idea Sir.”Customer: “How come?”Operator: “According to your medicalrecords, you have high blood pressure andeven higher cholesterol level Sir.”Customer: “What?... What do you

recommend then?”Operator: “Try our Low Fat Hokkien MeePizza.You'll like it”Customer: “How do you know for sure?”Operator: “You borrowed a book entitled‘Popular Hokkien Dishes’ from theNational Library last week Sir.”Customer: “OK I give up ... Give me threefamily sized ones then, how much will thatcost?”Operator: “That should be enough for yourfamily of 10, Sir. The total is R149.99”Customer: “Can I pay by credit card?”Operator: “I'm afraid you have to pay uscash, Sir. Your credit card is over the limitand you’re owing your bank R3720.55 sinceOctober last year. That’s not including thelate payment charges on your housing loan,Sir.”Customer: “I guess I have to run to theneighbourhood ATM and withdraw somecash before your guy arrives.”Operator: “You can't Sir. Based on therecords,you’ve reached your daily limit onmachine withdrawal today.”

Customer: “Never mind just send thepizzas, I'll have the cash ready. How long isit gonna take anyway?”Operator: “About 45 minutes Sir, but if youcan’t wait you can always come and collectit on your Green Double Cab ...”Customer: “What!”Operator: “According to the details insystem, you own a Nissan Double Cab, ...registration number NRB 1123 ...”Customer: “*'!^ *%^*%^I7*”Operator: “Better watch your language Sir.Remember on 15th July 1987 you wereconvicted of using abusive language on apoliceman...”Customer: [Speechless]Operator: “Is there anything else Sir?”Customer: “Nothing ... by the way ... aren’tyou giving me that 3 free bottles of cola asadvertised?”Operator: “We normally would Sir, butbased on your records you’re also diabetic...”Customer: “Please cancel the order, my wifewill have to cook ...”

OddsEnds&

The Future of Customer Service

Beggars can bechoosers...

A man walks past a beggar every dayand gives him R10 and that continuesfor a year. Then suddenly the dailydonation changes to R7,50. “Well,” thebeggar thinks, “it's still better thannothing.” A year passes in this wayuntil the man’s daily donationsuddenly becomes R5. “What’s goingon now?” the beggar asks his donor.“First you give me R10 every day, thenR7,50 and now only R5. What’s theproblem?” “Well,” the man says, “lastyear my eldest son went to university.It’s very expensive, so I had to cutcosts. This year my eldest daughteralso went to university, so I had to cutmy expenses even further.” “And howmany children do you have?” thebeggar asks. “Four,” the man replies.“Well,” says the beggar, “I hope youdon’t plan to educate them all at myexpense.”

A Senior Manager walks into a cafewith a shotgun in one hand and abucket of manure in the other. He saysto the waiter, “I want coffee.” Thewaiter says, “sure, coming’ right up.”He gets the manager a tall mug ofcoffee, who drinks it down in one gulpand then picks up the bucket ofmanure, throws in into the air, blasts itwith the shotgun, then just walks out.

The next morning the managerreturns. He has his shotgun in onehand and a bucket of manure in the

other. He walks up to the counter andsays to the waiter, “I want coffee.” Thewaiter says, “Whoa, sir! We’re stillcleaning up your mess from yesterday.What the heck was that all about,anyway?”

The manager smiles and proudlysays, “My training for seniormanagement dictates: come in, drinkcoffee, shoot some crap, leave a messfor others to clean up, disappear for therest of the day.”

Management training


72

“I trust that in reviewing my pocket money increase you will take into accountthe fact that I now have a BEE partner”

OddsEnds&


Documents

50 Years of the Freedom Charter - the dpsa · Case Study Writer/Analyst Bongani Matomela Case Study Coordinator Send all your comments and editorial correspondence to: [email protected]