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The African National Congress (ANC) and the Cadre Deployment Policy in the Postapartheid South Africa: A Product of Democratic Centralisation or a Recipe for a Constitutional Crisis?
Abstract
The cadre deployment policy has been implemented by the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners in pursuit of its avowed intention to have loyal party hands on all the levers of power in government. The present paper finds out that although the policy is justified by the ANC, it has attracted criticism from those who believe that its implementation has been exposed to abuse by some ANC officials. While certain deployed cadres in public administration are able to function at an acceptable level, it is argued that in some instances far too many are there to do the bidding of the cadre deployment committee that appointed them to national, provincial or local-level positions. However, it is worth noting that historians and political scientists alike contend that this undermines the accountability structures in the public service. Further, this paper avers that deployed cadres who succeed do so despite their deployment, not because of it.There are a number of arguments stating that the implementation of a cadre deployment policy by the ANC is an attempt to centralise democratic powers within the ruling party. In conclusion, the paper attempts to provide a historical analysis of this policy in the 20-year rule of the ANC in South Africa.
... This has led to concerns over appointments being made based on political affiliation and loyalty over merit hence the rise of cadre deployment which prioritizes unqualified individuals in administrative positions of power. Cadre deployment refers to the practice of appointing individuals to public service positions based on their political affiliation to a particular party rather than on their qualifications or skills (Twala, 2014). ...
... Pretorius (2017) In truth, the political-administrative interface in South Africa is shaped by the high degree of centralized control exerted by the ANC as the ruling party at both national and local levels. The influence of the party often extends into aspects such as the appointment of key administrative positions within municipalities limiting the scope for independent decision-making and local autonomy (Twala, 2014). Secondly, there is a lack of strong local political parties and the tendency for councillors to function as representatives of provincial and national governments as opposed to being representatives of wards and municipalities, this has weakened the connection between councillors and their constituents resulting in diminished accountability and the current poor quality and state of service delivery (Ntshangase, 2023). ...
... Apart from that, the political-administrative interface in the context of South Africa is not only marked by excessive party control but also several other mechanisms that contribute to its dysfunctionality. Excessive party control enables the ANC to exert its influence on key decisions which weaken service delivery systems and enable an environment where political patronage takes precedence in decision-making and staff appointments (Twala, 2014). Often the appointments made through political patronage prioritise appointees with limited technical expertise and administrative competence which hinders their ability to effectively manage municipal affairs and services in addition this manifests politically motivated decision-making rather than on technical expertise or the interests of citizens (Pretorius, 2017). ...
Section 195 (i) of the South African constitution advocates for a clear separation of powers between political office bearers and administrative officials in government institutions such as municipalities. The purpose of this separation is to ensure administrative officials can perform their duties without undue influence from political actors. The separation of powers is a crucial component of democratic governance and effective service delivery, however, in South African municipalities the political-administrative dichotomy has been a contentious issue with concerns raised over the appointments of senior officials. This study explored the impact of the political-administrative dichotomy on service delivery and development in the local government through an analysis of government reports, academic literature, and policy reviews. The findings reveal that the political-administrative dichotomy has negatively impacted service delivery and development through cadre deployment which has weakened institutional capacity resulting in inefficiencies, corruption, and inadequate service delivery that fails to meet the basic needs of citizens. The study recommends the strengthening of the separation of powers with an emphasis on accountability and transparency.
... The results further confirm Gumede's (2015) argument that politically deployed cadres are more loyal to the political party that appointed them than government entities in which they are deployed. In addition, the results further corroborate the finding that cadres regard themselves accountable to the ANC committees that deploy them and not the public (Twala, 2014). ...
... Closely related to unfair recruitment and promotion practices is the issue of incompetence, which as the research participants pointed out, is a direct consequence of cadre deployment. The participants' views in this regard corroborate the argument expressed in Twala (2014) as well as in Shava and & Chamisa (2018) that cadre deployment leads to appointment of incompetent individuals who are unable to perform their functions effectively. These results reflect a departure from the original values of the ANC, which according to Twala (2014) had resolved in its Kwabe conference in 1985, that implementation of cadre deployment should at all times guard against favouritism. ...
... The participants' views in this regard corroborate the argument expressed in Twala (2014) as well as in Shava and & Chamisa (2018) that cadre deployment leads to appointment of incompetent individuals who are unable to perform their functions effectively. These results reflect a departure from the original values of the ANC, which according to Twala (2014) had resolved in its Kwabe conference in 1985, that implementation of cadre deployment should at all times guard against favouritism. ...
This paper is a product of a Doctoral study that applied grounded theory to derive a performance improvement model for a particular Municipality in South Africa. Drawing from this study, this paper argues that democratic centralism, which manifests in politicised bureaucracy and implemented through the ANC policy of cadre deployment, is the root cause of poor performance across South African municipalities. In advancing this argument, the paper interrogates public management literature to conceptualise poor municipal performance and justify the relevance of the politics-administration dichotomy as a framework for positioning democratic centralism as the root cause of poor performance in South African municipalities. In addition, interrogating public management literature allowed the author to identify methodological limitations of past studies and select grounded theory as the most appropriate research design to address these limitations. In applying grounded theory, the author used purposive sampling to identify research participants who were subsequently interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. In preparation for data analysis, the author recorded and transcribed the information obtained from the interviews. Thereafter, the author used open coding with particular emphasis on constant comparative analysis and theoretical sampling. The use of these techniques allowed the author to move the level of abstraction from open codes through to empirical categories leading to generation of empirical explanations that link democratic centralism to poor performance in South African municipalities. To this end, the paper empirically linked poor municipal performance, often displayed through violent protests, to democratic centralism, a phenomenon entrenched into the South African public service through the ANC policy of cadre deployment.
... Amin (2010) (2014) is essential, especially in combating corruption and poor service delivery; the best amongst the party ranks should be deployed. These mechanisms should speak to the party's visions and aspirations, therefore requiring individuals properly capacitated to execute this task (Twala, 2014). ...
... , in his article The Benefits and Costs of Joining a Political Party, stated that society is motivated by the phrase "Vote, Impress and Get a job". His phrasing of this phenomenon correctly encapsulates the attitudes of young people within the PYA.Twala (2014) explains the economic benefit of cadre development and how it is often afforded to individuals, companies or agencies without merit; they enjoy these benefits due to the proximity of party leaders deployed to government. Undoubtedly, Twala (2014) highlights a critical point; the correlations between cadre deployment and nepotism or corruption in extension.Twala (2014) contends that cadre employment under the policies of cadre deployment is a deliberate programme aimed at rewarding loyalists of political parties by issuing tenders or contracts with the government. ...
... the economic benefit of cadre development and how it is often afforded to individuals, companies or agencies without merit; they enjoy these benefits due to the proximity of party leaders deployed to government. Undoubtedly, Twala (2014) highlights a critical point; the correlations between cadre deployment and nepotism or corruption in extension.Twala (2014) contends that cadre employment under the policies of cadre deployment is a deliberate programme aimed at rewarding loyalists of political parties by issuing tenders or contracts with the government. However, he concedes that this policy is consistent with BEE programmes. As such, it is a vital tool in addressing the injustices of the pa ...
... So, 28 years into the new democracy, nothing has improved or changed, and communities still suffer the same deprivation, worsened by the ruling party's deployment policy. Twala (2014) notes that the cadre deployment policy has been implemented by the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners in pursuit of its avowed intention to have loyal party hands on all the levers of power in government. While acknowledging that deployed cadres in public administration can function at an acceptable level, Twala (2014) argues that in some instances far too many are there to do the bidding of the cadre deployment committee that appointed them to national, provincial, or local-level positions. ...
... Twala (2014) notes that the cadre deployment policy has been implemented by the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners in pursuit of its avowed intention to have loyal party hands on all the levers of power in government. While acknowledging that deployed cadres in public administration can function at an acceptable level, Twala (2014) argues that in some instances far too many are there to do the bidding of the cadre deployment committee that appointed them to national, provincial, or local-level positions. This, however, is detrimental to service delivery and community participation. ...
The notion of development, particularly rural development, brings forth government responsibilities, more precisely, local government. The national government established the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision: 2030 to improve service delivery and development for its constituencies. The study emphasises the importance of communication in developing rural communities and its role in fostering a conducive relationship and environment for effective and efficient community development. A multisector approach as a communication strategy can generate an environment for sharing information between the provincial government, community, and private sectors, thus creating requirements for public participation. The paper addresses these issues, identified as problem areas within the North West Province; The North West provincial government needs to communicate more efficiently and effectively with its constituencies about development-related issues. The generic objective of the study is to analyse the North West Provincial communications systems in addressing and implementing rural development programmes, with the main focus being on the efficiency and effectiveness of communication by giving access to communities. The district municipalities serve this access through the mechanism used for coordination and collaboration, community engagement, and stakeholder relationship and management. The researcher used qualitative methods to gather and analyse the data to ascertain how the system performs to its optimum capacity. Convenience sampling was employed by utilising a questionnaire with community members. As is the case with convenience or opportunity sampling, a sample is drawn from units of analysis that are conveniently available. The issues identified as challenging coordination and collaboration are the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of the district and local communicator's forums in assisting the progress towards rural development. It is recommended that a Multisectoral Planning Forum (Comprising of SALGA, Departmental Communication Heads, GCIS & SOEs) is established, a forum which will be able to create the policies to help enhance the synergy between different kinds of objectives through the interdependence, screening, ranking, and programming of intervention.
... Alignment of the two important strategies for the improvement of service delivery for local citizens should be irrespective of the DA's opposition to the governing ANC's policies and strategies pertaining to governance in South Africa. The study is significant due to its critical analysis that the South African government is very effective in designing policy trajectory but poor on the implementation of agreed policies at the three spheres of national, provincial and local governments where there is a plethora of poor service delivery and protests across the country (Public Service Commission, 2018;Touchston & Wampler, 2014;Twala, 2014;Alexander et al., 2022). One mechanism to streamline performance efficiency and efficacy during the fourth administration in 2014 was to establish a specialized Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation housed in the Presidency at an executive authority level to guide governance and institutional planning, as well as monitor and evaluate government's programmes and projects across all spheres of government (Department of Monitoring and Evaluation, 2015;National Planning Commission, 2012). ...
... Moreover, a lack of an integrated and aligned approach across departments and institutional units results in poor and ineffective information systems to track, monitor and evaluate performance as per set NDP and local government targets (Ntshangase & Msosa, 2022). Twala (2014) and Touchton and Wampler (2014) postulate about the lack of synergies to guide integrated planning at inter-departmental and inter-governmental levels in South Africa, which undermine abilities to meet the strategic objectives of the National Development Plan for improved services provision, job creation and building an effective and capable state. This is due to the fact that local and national governments and their institutions operate in silos and do not liaise with each other, which makes it more challenging to align service delivery provisions and the improvement of local economic development opportunities in the City of Tshwane with identified strategic national priorities such as the provision of water and sanitation; building economic zones for job-creation; and allocating land infrastructure and bulk services for housing development (Ramokgopa, 2018;Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, 2018). ...
... One twist to political involvement in South Africa amongst its youths is the politics of cadre deployment. Twala (2014) explains that economic benefaction is dispensed to individuals, companies and agencies, by the government, which sometimes may not be on merit but the basis, of their connection to some political party as well as their connection to the governing party. In the parlance of South Africa's political system, the terminology is known as Cadre Employment. ...
... Observably, one can argue that with the new Black Economic Empowerment programme in South Africa, cadre policy can be used to address the injustices of the former apartheid system. Twala (2014) suggests that for the cadre deployment policy to be productive and not to be viewed as another form of job reservation, members of the political party and society at large should demand that it should ensure that in deploying cadres there must be a systematic, balanced and lucid way in which these cadres are deployed. Such mechanisms must include the strategic deployment of individuals who will ensure that the democratically determined vision of the party is attained. ...
With the rise of unemployment in South Africa, the youth has been looking for a way out, building up a stereotype that being part of a political movement would secure them an automatic employment. This research examines if this phenomenon proves valid, whilst assessing factors that have recently played a role in the increment of unemployment in South Africa, and more or less how the stereotype of political employment can be discredited; through both quantitative and qualitative research conducted in a small township of Esikhawini in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) of South Africa, the study looks at how political and non-political participants see belonging to a political organisation vis-à-vis unemployment amongst South African youths, concluding that South African government needs to create an enabling environment where the creation of employment opportunities will thrive.
... The transformation of institutions at local and national levels was an immense task, which had to be hastened to have a discernible effect on the democratisation of South African society (Etheridge 2013;Twala 2014). Hartley (2011) opines that the ANC felt that intervention through cadre deployment would safeguard the new government from any possible sabotage by the opposition parties. ...
... Some state department members' behaviour, however, served to compromise the legitimacy of the cadre deployment policy as envisaged by the ANC (Twala 2014). Union representatives had hijacked the redeployment process and turned it into an instrument for placing their own comrades in promotional posts as soon as they became vacant. ...
In South Africa, the transition from a politically-sanctioned, racially segregated society to a democratically-based administration was, on all levels, an overwhelming task. The positive policies that were designed to improve the country's economy were accompanied with a policy of cadre deployment that advocated for ANC party loyalists to occupy prominent positions in the public sector. This political patronage-implemented via state jobs-led to poor performances in government institutions and in the nation as a whole. This paper assesses the effects of the cadre deployment policy on performance management in the public sector by focusing on significant elements of economic growth and expansion. It presents a proposed framework, based on control theories that illustrate how aspects of cadre deployment and performance management contribute to present knowledge of the African academic and administrative environment. An extensive literature review incorporated various sources providing information on cadre deployment and other relevant documents such as various reports on political structures and performances. The results of this study confirm that cadre deployment exacerbated problems related to corruption, poor procurement systems, wasteful expenditure and the deteriorating state of local government. The article promotes calls for the review and an overhaul of the authoritative structure that governs local municipalities, with the goal to supplement Section 152 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The article further recommends the ANC-led government to 2 revise its cadre deployment policy to combat the challenges of skills shortages and poor service deliveries in various municipalities, which have resulted from ingrained nepotism, overt politicisation and the appointment of unqualified personnel.
... The transformation of institutions at local and national levels was an immense task, which had to be hastened to have a discernible effect on the democratisation of South African society (Etheridge 2013;Twala 2014). Hartley (2011) opines that the ANC felt that intervention through cadre deployment would safeguard the new government from any possible sabotage by the opposition parties. ...
... Some state department members' behaviour, however, served to compromise the legitimacy of the cadre deployment policy as envisaged by the ANC (Twala 2014). Union representatives had hijacked the redeployment process and turned it into an instrument for placing their own comrades in promotional posts as soon as they became vacant. ...
In South Africa, the transition from a politically-sanctioned, racially segregated society to a democratically-based administration was, on all levels, an overwhelming task. The positive policies that were designed to improve the country’s economy were accompanied with a policy of cadre deployment that advocated for ANC party loyalists to occupy prominent positions in the public sector. This political patronage – implemented via state jobs – led to poor performances in government institutions and in the nation as a whole.
This paper assesses the effects of the cadre deployment policy on performance management in the public sector by focusing on significant elements of economic growth and expansion. It presents a proposed framework, based on control theories that illustrate how aspects of cadre deployment and performance management contribute to present knowledge of the African academic and administrative environment. An extensive literature review incorporated various sources providing information on cadre deployment and other relevant documents such as various reports on political structures and performances.
The results of this study confirm that cadre deployment exacerbated problems related to corruption, poor procurement systems, wasteful expenditure and the deteriorating state of local government. The article promotes calls for the review and an overhaul of the authoritative structure that governs local municipalities, with the goal to supplement Section 152 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The article further recommends the ANC-led government torevise its cadre deployment policy to combat the challenges of skills shortages and poor service deliveries in various municipalities, which have resulted from ingrained nepotism, overt politicisation and the appointment of unqualified personnel.
... The ANC maintains that in a merit civil service system, political appointees in leadership positions are necessary for ensuring responsiveness to policy objectives and expediting service delivery (Booysen, 2015;Habib, 2013). Critics, however, view cadre deployment as harmful and illegitimate (Cameron, 2010;Twala, 2014). According to them, appointment of unqualified and inexperienced individuals to key positions on the basis of their political, ethnic, or family ties undermines the principle of merit and weakens the capacity of the public service. ...
... The practice also encourages appointees to place their loyalty to politicians and the party above all else, or, even worse, to enrich themselves. Politicization of the bureaucracy appears to have intensified since President Zuma's election, with perceived loyalty and obedience to the president and his faction becoming overriding factors in appointment of cadres (Booysen, 2015;Twala, 2014), trumping other considerations like managerial skills and experience, which seem to be in decline among cadres (Van Onselen, 2014). ...
Representative bureaucracy is a critical element of modern public administration and governance. Since the advent of nonracial democracy, the South African government has transformed the apartheid bureaucracy into a new public service that closely mirrors the country's diverse population. Questions remain, however, about how this demographic transformation has impacted the public service. Grounded in the theory of representative bureaucracy, we use a mixed methods approach to examine the relationship between representation of historically disadvantaged groups and performance of national departments in South Africa. Analyses of panel data indicate that as national departments become more representative by employing a greater percentage of Blacks, they become more effective at achieving their goals. Interviews with officials in national departments corroborate this and reveal a range of underlying pathways linking representation of historically disadvantaged groups to performance.
... According to Twala (2014), the African National Congress (ANC) cadre deployment policy had caused serious damage to the integrity of public administration through the appointments of loyal staff with less meritbased requirements and qualifications. Post-1994 democratic South Africa, the World Bank Development Report on Good Governance (1998) recommended that South Africa should adopt the report and operate on merit-based appointments to ensure career stability for public officials in order to maintain the integrity and efficiency of public administration (World Bank, 1998). ...
The post-modern public administration is expected to ensure the delivery of quality services to the public without compromising its values and principles. The values and principles of public administration as enshrined in Section 195 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) aim to give priority to the efficiency, honesty, fairness, and integrity of the public sector and also to ensure the robustness and adaptability of a good governance system. With the aid of an in-depth literature review and content analysis of secondary data, this study reveals that there is an unprecedented attack on the integrity of public administration due to the level of corrupt activities committed within government. Although numerous cases are being reported and some public officials are held accountable and punished through imprisonment, this study further reveals a deplorable case whereby the National Register for Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities was found empty, even though countless suppliers have been found guilty of criminal offences from conducting business with the state.
... As a result, they are unable to perform their strategic functions and provide leadership where necessary.' This response confirms the findings of previous studies showing that cadre deployment results in the appointment of incompetent individuals who are unable to perform their functions effectively (Shava & Chamisa, 2018;Twala, 2014). ...
The dawn of democracy in 1994 was preceded by widespread political violence in black communities across South Africa. Thirty years into the democracy, communities continue to use violent protests albeit not for political reasons but as an expression of anger and frustration over poor service delivery. To address this problem, the democratic government introduced performance management reforms. Literature shows that the success of these reforms depends on the ability of public institutions to adopt and sustain a performance-oriented culture. Therefore, the increasing wave of service delivery protests in South African Municipalities is a response to the failure of the democratic government in this regard. The debate on the causes and consequences of poor service delivery in South Africa has been raging for long. Even though there is little space to contribute on this topic, the author observed inadequate use of grounded theory as a strategy to develop empirical solutions to poor municipal performance. Therefore, this paper uses constant comparative analysis and theoretical sampling to derive empirical an empirical solution to the performance challenges engulfing the South African municipal landscape.
... 80 The African and black professionals who have continued to vote the ANC since 1994 feel marginalised by the cadre deployment policy of the ruling party when it comes to employment in the government where they are mostly needed to effect and implement the policies, i.e. language in education policy, for national transformation. 81 It is about time -in fact overdue -to return to valuing and appreciating the professionals who have the practical working expertise, experiences, skills, capacity and training in the fields that the South African Government and its Public Service -across the national, provincial and local government departmentswant to see transformed. Probably this is the most important policy recommendation and policy strategy that Government must prioritise. ...
Contents The Shifting Landscape of Development Cooperation: Repercussions for African Higher Education Damtew Teferra ................................................1 Universities and Regional Development: Lessons from the OECD Regional Assessment of the Free State, South Africa Samuel Fongwa, Lochner Marais & Doreen Atkinson.........................29 African Languages Policy in Education of South Africa: 20 Years of Freedom or Subjugation? Neo Lekgotla laga Ramoupi.........................53 Revitalising Higher Education for Africa’s Future Ebrima Sall & Ibrahim Oanda.......................95 Neoliberalism and the Changing Role of Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Research and Development Daniel N. Sifuna .................................109 Quality Assurance in Ethiopian Higher Education: Boon or Bandwagon in Light of Quality Improvement? Tefera Tadesse ............................131
... These efforts to deploy these officials are known as cadre deployment, and a framework has been developed within the party since around 1985, and since 1997 the deployment committee has been established within the party to promote more systematic and organised cadre deployment (Booysen 2011, 373-84;Fredericks et al. 2021;Roux 2013, 177-78). Posts in the civil service have also been subject to cadre deployment, and it is reported that crony recruitment of ANC supporters has become the norm in the recruitment of general staff (Mukwedeya 2015;Olver 2018;Phadi, Pearson, and Lesaffre 2018;Twala 2014). ...
... In 1997 the ANC embarked on a policy of cadre deployment that advocated ANC party loyalists occupy prominent positions in the public sector. Chitja Twala (2014) notes that a good number of social scientists came to view cadre deployment as undermining the accountability structures in the public service. For example, a study on its impact on performance management in the public sector, found that the practice 'exacerbated problems related to corruption, poor procurement systems, wasteful expenditure and the deteriorating state of local government' (Chava & Shamisa, 2018, p. 38). ...
... In 1997 the ANC embarked on a policy of cadre deployment that advocated ANC party loyalists occupy prominent positions in the public sector. Chitja Twala (2014) notes that a good number of social scientists came to view cadre deployment as undermining the accountability structures in the public service. For example, a study on its impact on performance management in the public sector, found that the practice 'exacerbated problems related to corruption, poor procurement systems, wasteful expenditure and the deteriorating state of local government' (Chava & Shamisa, 2018, p. 38). ...
... Email: mlambo1@ymail.com Apart from rectifying the imbalances of the erstwhile apartheid regime, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) also introduced its cadre deployment policy that advocated for party loyalists to not only get employment but occupy senior government positions in the public sector (see Twala, 2014). From a global perspective, particularly in Africa, cadre deployment is a dominant phenomenon administered by various ruling political parties. ...
The much-anticipated shift from apartheid to democratic rule in 1994 brought much jubilation in Africa and globally. South Africa had entered a terrain where a democratically elected party governed it in the African National Congress (ANC). Looking to alter the apartheid policies of the erstwhile National Party (NP), the ANC came into power with no formal experience of governing a state. However, since Nelson Mandela to the current Ramaphosa administration has made some strides in development and economic growth blueprints in South Africa's relatively young 28-year democratic history. As a form of government closer to the people, municipalities are seen as a fundamental area of government besides others, including poverty alleviation, employment creation, and service delivery. However, in the past two decades, the ANC has taken center stage in its cadre deployment policy, resulting in an upsurge in corruption, lack of service delivery, poor performance, and a relative decline in its hegemonic political power. This article examines the link between cadre deployment, municipal stability, corruption, and service delivery. The article shows that cadre deployment has not benefited individuals at the grass-root level because of incompetent individuals, lack of qualifications, corruption, tender greed, comrade beneficiary, and lack of managerial vision at the local government level.
... The blurred lines between the administrative and political wings because of cadre deployment in the municipalities is a hindrance to intrapreneurial practices in the O.R. Tambo District municipalities. Observation made by participant Richard, 'Especially in our municipalities within this district, the integration between politicians and officials is overwhelming, that makes it a bit confusing and that affects people', confirms that cadre deployment makes it difficult to separate administration from politics as cadres serve the best interest of the ruling party and not necessarily the service delivery imperatives (Madumo 2015;Theletsane 2020;Twala 2014): ...
Background: This article examines intrapreneurship principles that can contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of service delivery in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality.
Aim: The aim of this research was to investigate whether municipalities practise intrapreneurship and how intrapreneurship drivers may be incorporated into the municipal environment to improve service delivery to surrounding communities.
Setting: This study is based in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality, and the target population is middle- and top-level managers from all the municipalities in the district.
Methods: The research is situated within the interpretivist paradigm and employed the qualitative method of semi-structured interviews, which were purposively conducted with 12 middle- and top-level managers. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Municipal documents were also used for triangulation purposes.
Results: The empirical findings revealed that policies, laws and regulatory aspects are a hindrance to the development of intrapreneurial practices. The bureaucratic environment that exists is not flexible enough to encourage intrapreneurial conduct among employees. The blurred lines between the administrative and political wings in the municipalities lead to a constricting environment that hinders intrapreneurial practices in the municipalities.
Conclusion: A framework for the integration of intrapreneurship drivers to improve service delivery was developed. The article recommends that employees and the community should play a larger role in the planning process so that they can assist to identify best practices and alternate approaches to certain identified issues. The implementation of projects should be left to the administrative managers and staff, and contingency platforms should be introduced to manage transition periods with new replacements.
... Under this subsection, accountability is invisible (Brooks 2004: 11). Twala (2014) says, 'The cadre deployment policy has been implemented by the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners in pursuit of its avowed intention to have loyal party hands on all the levers of power in government. ' Accountability is proportionally inclined in a democracy to have an inclusive aspect of constituents, not only at a state level but also in the international system. ...
The purpose of this study is to examine the transition of liberation movements into political parties and whether that guarantees good governance or not. Since the end of the Second World War and the Cold War, the number of democratic states has increased on all continents. African states began to explore democratic governance from independence and the end of apartheid. Furthermore, the liberation struggle fought by many African movements led to independence and ‘decolonisation’. The emergence of these liberation movements was to emancipate and liberate their respective states so that the rule of oppressive imperialists such as the British could come to an end. The transition of the former colonial states ensured that the movements which fought the liberation struggle turned into political parties. The study uses the cases of the Zimbabwe African National-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) in Zimbabwe and the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa to interrogate the transition into political parties and examine if good governance has been achieved because of that. The study has found that the implications of former liberation movements turning into political parties have not had the foreseen intentions. With the neopatrimonial theory, the study substantially examines whether ZANU-PF and the ANC have been in accordance with or against the dynamics of good governance informed by liberalism values.
... Such democratic elections provide an opportunity for ordinary citizens to participate in the work of consolidating democracy by electing into political authority those political parties that reflect their hopes and aspirations (Lodge & Sheidegger 2006;Pottie 2001;Randall & Svasand 2002). In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) has enjoyed such political power since the first democratic elections in 1994 following the repeal of apartheid law on 17 June 1991 (Lodge, 2004;Letsholo, 2005;Southall, 2014;Twala, 2014). As the ruling political party, for years the ANC has understood that it exist within the public consciousness and it continually seeks to align itself with the public good. ...
The broader practice of politics in the world, while detached from the religion, cannot be excluded from the mission of the Missio Dei. In fact, the question of mission and politics has prompted Professor Johannes Reimer to propose missio politica as a missiological framework that puts the mandate of mission and politics in one basket. Following this solid foundation, this paper will propose the use of missio politica as an important missiological framework to analyse the instrumentally useful politics in line with the ultimate goal of Missio Dei. In accordance with the tenets of both missio politica in the name of missio Dei, this paper will then consider the South African ANC's step-aside rule from a biblical perspective, arguing that the accounts of Samuel's leadership in 1 Samuel 8 and the story of Ananias with his wife in Acts 5:1-11 represent a somewhat biblical understanding of the step-aside rule. The ANC's step-aside rule only serves to relativize the need for a missio politica. This paper promises a
better understanding of the relationship between mission and politics, such an understanding is a key to uncovering new ways to ensure a meaningful participation of all other sectors of society in achieving the goal of Missio Dei. Missio politica represent what has been missing in the missiological discourse. Therefore, this framework needs to be further explored in order to emphasize the mandate of politics in accordance with the Missio Dei.
... The purpose of this approach was to broaden the understanding of the concept of cadre deployment, its influence on good governance and accountability. Furthermore, there have been studies (Twala, 2014;Tshishonga, 2014;Kok, 2017) undertaken to understand the increasing emphasis being put on the need for the ANC to do away with cadre deployment, citing the adverse implication it has on good governance and accountability. Therefore, the vast availability of literature and the employed research approach will allow the paper to draw a meaningful conclusion. ...
The former Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Zweli Mkhize, painted a bleak picture about the state of local government. The minister stated that 87 municipalities – about a third of South Africa’s total of 257 – remain dysfunctional or distressed. Underpinning this dysfunctionality was mismanagement due to political instability or interference, corruption and incompetence. This then results in poor service delivery, thus prolonging the periods of underdevelopment and poor access to basic services. This paper argues that cadre deployment has hindered the effective service delivery in local municipalities, thus the domino effect has been riots, protests and wasteful expenditure at the local government level. This results in participatory exclusion when it comes to collective development. By strictly analysing relevant literature related to corruption, and cadre deployment within the local government domain in South Africa, it became evident that the quest for socio-economic development in rural areas is deeply dependent on local governance having competent and skilled personnel who would prioritise service delivery rather than political loyalty at the expense of development. Nonetheless, the main question going forward is to what extent will loyalty ahead of competence be at the core of municipal governance and what implications will this have for future developmental prospects, good governance and service delivery?
... The purpose of this approach was to broaden the understanding of the concept of cadre deployment, its influence on good governance and accountability. Furthermore, there have been studies (Twala, 2014;Tshishonga, 2014;Kok, 2017) undertaken to understand the increasing emphasis being put on the need for the ANC to do away with cadre deployment, citing the adverse implication it has on good governance and accountability. Therefore, the vast availability of literature and the employed research approach will allow the paper to draw a meaningful conclusion. ...
This paper examines whether cadre deployment which is an ANC policy has an effect on governance/service delivery in South Africa. The former Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, painted a bleak picture about the state of local government. The minister stated that 87 municipalities-about a third of South Africa's total of 257-remain dysfunctional or distressed. Underpinning this dysfunctionality was mismanagement due to political instability or interference, corruption, and incompetence, often resulting in poor service delivery, thus prolonging the periods of underdevelopment and poor access to basic services. This paper argues that cadre deployment in part contributes to the dysfunctionality of public institutions which are mandated to deliver services to the people, thus the domino effect has been riots, protests, and wasteful expenditure, especially at a local government level. This results in participatory exclusion when it comes to collective development. To answer the guiding questions of this paper, a qualitative research approach was adopted where the review of the literature was undertaken to gather the data needed. Findings revealed that the quest for effective governance and consistent service delivery in South Africa's public sector is dependent on the availability of competent staff that possesses the required skills. It was revealed that cadre deployment promotes a culture of impunity and the lack of accountability, thus undermining the functioning of the public sector, thus contributing to a breakdown of governance and service delivery and this will have widespread implications for inclusive development and poverty eradication in the country.
... The ANC's cadre deployment of party members to top jobs within the huge state-owned enterprises that constitute 39% of the national economy has inextricably entwined the ruling party, state and criminality and competing patronage networks (Ardé 2020; see also Twala 2014;De Haas 2016). Complacency in the hollowed out criminal justice system compounds the problem as does police inaction, or indeed, assassination (both by reputation and the murder of) honest detectives getting close to the heart of institutional corruption. ...
This retrospective examines Tom O’Regan’s influence on South African cultural policy studies in light of the post-apartheid political transition, corruption and fallism. Implications for policy studies are discussed with regard to a recently liberated state that first, adopted Australian cultural policy precepts, and then closed them out 23 years later in response to the Rhodes Must Fall movement. Explanation is found not just in corruption and fallism, but in an inability to be outward-looking. The dialectical implications for policy studies are discussed.
... A discourse, also referred to earlier, draws from the Foucauldian meaning of the word, in that it is a means of constituting knowledge, together with the social practices, forms of subjectivity and power relations which inhere in such knowledges and relations between them (Foucault, 1980). A discourse of nepotism, or favouring individuals with similar political or social affiliations, can also be construed as corruption, for example, in SA, cadre deployment of District Subject Advisers, by certain unions (the deployment of union members in key positions in order for that union to attain power within the system), has had a negative impact; not only on negative perceptions of appointment processes, but also equally on teacher skills and credibility of advisers more generally (Franks, 2014;Twala, 2014). Some deployments of this type are offered to people who lack the requisite skills to perform their role and end up advising teachers who effectively know more than they do. ...
... A discourse, also referred to earlier, draws from the Foucauldian meaning of the word, in that it is a means of constituting knowledge, together with the social practices, forms of subjectivity and power relations which inhere in such knowledges and relations between them (Foucault, 1980). A discourse of nepotism, or favouring individuals with similar political or social affiliations, can also be construed as corruption, for example, in SA, cadre deployment of District Subject Advisers, by certain unions (the deployment of union members in key positions in order for that union to attain power within the system), has had a negative impact; not only on negative perceptions of appointment processes, but also equally on teacher skills and credibility of advisers more generally (Franks, 2014;Twala, 2014). Some deployments of this type are offered to people who lack the requisite skills to perform their role and end up advising teachers who effectively know more than they do. ...
... However, many of the needed capacities are lacking, or have dwindled. Evidence of this assertion is found in the poor institutional performance of South Africa's local government and state-owned entities (SOEs) due to the poor calibre of people leading these institutions (Twala 2014). Moreover, there has been a shortcoming in the recruitment processes. ...
This article analyses key policies and documents, which form the basis of democratic South Africa’s desire to becoming a developmental state. In order to understand the notion of a developmental state, I provide a discussion on the theoretical foundations of the concept by drawing on examples from other countries (such as the Asian Tigers) that have embarked on a journey to become developmental states. Through a comparative analysis, and by probing the National Development Plan (NDP), as well as the work of the National Planning Commission (NPC) broadly, I examine South Africa’s prospects of becoming a developmental state. To this effect, I argue that although the foundation that was laid for South Africa to become a democratic developmental state (DDS) was relatively solid, South Africa has veered far away from becoming a developmental state any time soon. But, given the existing institutional architecture, as well as an assessment of developmental outcomes, it would seem that South Africa can still become a viable developmental state—although South Africa has lost many of the salient attributes of developmental states. It is also worth highlighting that it was always going to be difficult for South Africa to become a developmental state because of the political and economic history of the country. The article makes suggestions with regard to what could be done to ensure that South Africa becomes a viable, fully-fledged, democratic developmental state.
... Cadre deployment is the: … appointment of government party loyalist to an institution, as a means of circumventing public accountability and bringing the institution under the control of the party, as opposed to the state. This means that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs cannot address the skills deficit without considering the impact of cadre deployment on municipal governance (Twala 2014). Unlike other spheres of government and state-owned enterprises, at local government level, the executive mayor, through Section 56 of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act (RSA 1998), is empowered to implement the political mandate doing away with the need for cadre deployment within the administration. ...
This article acknowledges the lack of skills and poor financial governance within South African municipalities but argues that these factors are an insufficient explanation of their increasing fiscal distress, which was found at over 90% by 2016. It employs the concept of financial condition to construct an econometric function for South African local government. This financial condition function confirms that the fiscal framework of South African local government is distressed. The article further concludes that as service delivery improves, so does the fiscal distress. This applies even to municipalities that receive audit outcomes without material findings. As an illustration, the article uses the collective debt incurred by municipalities to Eskom – the energy utility company. The article argues that it is mathematically impossible to settle this debt within the current local government fiscal framework. The conclusion confirms the importance of constructing the financial condition function as an enabler for improved local government financial health.
... Equally, that escalation is not fully accounted for as a response to 'cadre deployment' carried out by the dominant party, for it has always been ANC policy to ensure that important public positions are occupied by party members. 66 In other words, cadre deployment was a feature of the rainbow years too -though its implementation no doubt became more extreme under Zuma. ...
This article identifies three senses of the term ‘lawfare’ in the South African context. In the first and most standard sense of the term, law was abused by the state during the pre-democratic era in order to construct a racist state. In the second sense, litigation was used in the period 1910–1993 as a weapon of the weak by those excluded from the franchise, in order to resist oppression and rule by law. The third sense of lawfare overlaps with the second but is associated with the judicialisation of politics in the era of constitutional democracy. It refers to the use of litigation to resolve contentious political disputes in spite of the existence of many non-curial constitutional safeguards. Using examples, the article shows that lawfare in this third sense was a feature of the presidency of Jacob Zuma and that it was triggered by the rise of nepotism, corruption and state capture well as the abdication of governance responsibilities to the judiciary. It argues that because the courts have been drawn into the public arena and thrust into a relationship of constant tension with the political branches, the judiciary has become the primary casualty of this barrage of lawfare.
... 80 The African and black professionals who have continued to vote the ANC since 1994 feel marginalised by the cadre deployment policy of the ruling party when it comes to employment in the government where they are mostly needed to effect and implement the policies, i.e. language in education policy, for national transformation. 81 It is about time -in fact overdue -to return to valuing and appreciating the professionals who have the practical working expertise, experiences, skills, capacity and training in the fields that the South African Government and its Public Service -across the national, provincial and local government departmentswant to see transformed. Probably this is the most important policy recommendation and policy strategy that Government must prioritise. ...
This paper focuses on the indigenous African languages policy in educa- tion debates in post-apartheid South Africa, and provides a policy review of language in education in the past 20 years of liberation in the South Africa. The research problem is that the post-1994 governments of South Africa stated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) that indigenous official African languages must be in the curricula of the education system. But the findings reflect that this constitutional mandate has not been accomplished in the twenty years of South Africa’s liberation. Conclusions drawn are that the former two official languages used in the education policies of the apartheid South Africa, i.e. English and Afrikaans, have continued to be used in pretended implementation of indigenous of- ficial African languages in the curricula of education of a free South Africa.
The conception of development, principally rural development, conveys into view government responsibilities, more precisely, local government. The South African government founded the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030 to improve service delivery and development for its constituencies. This article thus sought to emphasise the position of communication in developing rural societies and the condition of nurturing a favourable association and atmosphere for effective and efficient communal expansion. A multisector method as an interaction approach can generate conditions for distributing information linking the provincial government, community, and private sectors, generating requirements for public participation. Development communication as a theory was used to provide a theoretical background for the article, emphasising the responsiveness of developmental initiatives towards the community’s needs and that communication and community participation can only foster social change and economic development. The article employed qualitative approaches to garner and evaluate the data to determine how the system performs optimally. Convenience sampling was used by employing a questionnaire with the 182 community members. As with convenience or opportunity sampling, a sample is extracted from elements of analysis that are opportunely obtainable. The matters recognised as challenging regarding harmonisation and association within the district and local communicator’s forums in assisting the progress towards rural development. It is recommended that a Multisectoral Planning Forum (Encompassing SALGA, HoDs, SOEs, GCIS) is established, a forum which will be able to create the policies to help increase the interaction between diverse kinds of purposes through the interdependence, airing, position, and encoding of involvement. The study will contribute to participatory governance, using a multisector approach to development. Keywords: Multisector Approach, Participatory, Rural Development, Governance, Collaboration, Collaboration, Public Participation and Coordination
The paper historically analyses the African National Congress (ANC), its struggle against colonialism and apartheid, and the negotiations that led to the democratic breakthrough in South Africa. This is done to understand post-apartheid South Africa. The transition from apartheid to democracy was filled with promises and expectations of equality and a better life for the victims of colonialism and Apartheid. However, since coming to power in 1994 the ANC government has governed over a society divided along racial lines. Unemployment and poverty are more prevalent in African- and African-female-headed households. Despite attaining freedom in 1994 and supposedly equal right for all racial groups, race remains a key driver of high inequality because of income disparities and unequal education. To understand this phenomenon and the status quo, the qualitative research method and an explanatory-analytical approach were adopted, which entailed studying secondary sources such as research reports, academic literature, biographies, legislations, and audio-visual material for data collection. The article uses the Fanonian lens to illustrate that the ANC leadership wanted to be part of the system from inception, hence its collaborative politics during the struggle and the compromise at the negotiations that perpetuated neoliberalism in the post-apartheid epoch. This explains its failure to transform the economy and address the land question since coming to power.
Countries undergoing or recovering from conflict and authoritarianism often face profound rule of law challenges. The law on the statute books may be repressive, judicial independence may be compromised, and criminal justice agencies may be captured by powerful interests. How do lawyers working within such settings imagine the law? How do they understand their ethical obligations towards their clients and the rule of law? What factors motivate them to use their legal practice and social capital to challenge repressive power? What challenges and risks can they face if they do so? And when do lawyers facilitate or acquiesce to illegality and injustice? Drawing on over 130 interviews from Cambodia, Chile, Israel, Palestine, South Africa, and Tunisia, this book explores the extent to which theoretical understandings within law and society research on the motivations, strategies, tactics, and experiences of lawyers within democratic states apply to these more challenging environments.
The African Peer Review Mechanism’s (APRM) merits and significance in the governance debate have emerged as a pivotal point in the evolution of institutional and state governance, providing enormous prospects for public accountability, socio-economic progress, and development of African countries. Through decentralisation, which many African countries have embraced, local government provides scope for such opportunities to come to fruition. As a result, following South Africa’s admission to the African Peer Review Mechanism in 2003, the realm of local government is important to the achievement of the country’s Programme of Action. The White Paper on Local Government (WPLG), which serves as the Chapter’s starting point, provides a policy framework for local government in South Africa that is congruent with the APRM’s theme areas of democracy, political governance, and socio-economic development. Local government in South Africa, however, is not a homogeneous institution, and there are differences in their capacity to provide for their citizens. The WPLG provides a policy framework for both rural and urban towns, but the two environments are significantly different, providing substantial issues for rural communities. Previous APRM self-assessment reports were silent on the subject, preferring to focus on national victories rather than disaggregating rural–urban achievements and concerns.KeywordsPublic servicesLocal governmentRural municipalitiesRural–urban divide
The overall aim of democracy is to stimulate a society characterized by the adequate provision of public goods. Thus, governance infrastructures in a democratic state are expected to harness the necessary potential to ensure adequate production and distribution of goods and services. Good governance is fundamental to the sustainability of a democratic state. In South Africa, the promise of democratic governance heralded the advent of the postapartheid administrations. Public participation through periodic elections in a multiparty political system offered the hope of a new nation committed to the promotion of the ideals of democracy. With formidable democratic institutions and structures, South Africa has an opportunity to explore the various democratic tenets to promote an inclusive society characterized by peace and stability. However, the deepening crisis of governance has exposed the depth of corruption and mismanagement of public resources. Rivalry among the political leadership, especially the governing party, has remained a distraction to governance, thereby impeding the advancement of democratic governance. The chapter submits that loyalty to the state rather than the political organization is critical to the promotion of democratic governance in South Africa.
South Africa has one of the best legislative frameworks for the promotion and protection of the rights of citizens. Chapter two of the Constitution profiles the Bill of Rights with an extensive commitment to ensure that citizens have access to their fundamental rights. Given its apartheid regime noted for its disdain for human rights, the post-apartheid administration factor respect for human rights as the cornerstone of its constitutional democracy. However, adherence to these laws in compliance with the intendments of the drafters of the constitution left much to desire. This chapter discusses the issue of human rights from the perspective of a functional government committed to the principles of public administration. Compliance with these rights requires the institutionalisation of good governance. The chapter noted that the violation of governance principles in the management of the affairs of the South African state impedes the promotion and protection of the rights of citizens. Thus, adherence to the implementation of public policies with prudence in the exercise of power would stimulate a regime of accountability required for the protection of the rights of citizens.
Given the various indications of leadership failure in the government of South Africa, it is evident that accountability is still lacking despite all the constitutional and institutional mechanisms. Dominant party phenomenon in the country has eroded loyalty to the state and its governance apparatuses. Hence, the bourgeoning crisis of governance. This chapter, therefore, reviews the need for accountable leadership in the South African political system and calls for a strengthened institutional mechanism to instill and enforce responsible leadership in the conduct of state affairs. There are requisite legislative frameworks capable of ensuring effective accountability in government. Nevertheless, the level of compliance is weak, and the attitudinal disposition of the political leaders to power depict the prevalence of personalised politics whereby the desires for pecuniary gains dominate the administration of public policies. The chapter submits that effective legislative oversight for accountable leadership requires a re-oriented political outlook and institutional reforms.
South Africa is not an exception to Africa’s several policies and legislative frameworks that seek to promote and protect children, and young people, respectively. While on the one hand, the majority of children and young people are protected by these policies and legislation, the reality on the other hand is that many live-in debilitating situations in various parts of the continent including South Africa. Regrettably, there is a lasting uncertainty surrounding some of these pieces of legislation and policies set out explicitly to promote and protect children’s and young people’s rights at the global and national levels, despite several laudable policies and legislations. Thus, the study reflected on these policies and practices with special reference to South Africa. Using a qualitative analysis approach, this chapter has examined some of the national policies and other legislative instruments as to how they have promoted, protected, or truncated the rights of children and young people in the country. The study as a matter of urgency calls for an all-inclusive strategy that factors income generation, access to education, etc., as a way forward. Thereafter, some recommendations as to curbing this malady such as the establishment of a national commission on the rights of children and young people with a legislative mandate to constantly monitor and evaluate children and young people’s rights violations and handle complaints, among others are advanced.
Protecting and promoting the rights of vulnerable groups is an internationally recognised standard for good governance and inclusive development. This is underscored by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as essential to strengthening democracy and political governance in Africa. This chapter reviews the progress made by the Republic of South Africa since 2019 on the rights of vulnerable groups. It argues that practices and affirmative actions towards combatting prejudice or eliminating conditions that perpetuate discrimination against vulnerable and marginalised groups at both national and sub-national levels in South Africa have produced mixed results. These include challenges of designing and implementing policies and programmes of social inclusion that address the vulnerabilities of immigrant populations—asylum seekers, refugees, undocumented migrants and gender non-conforming people. Similarly, public and service delivery systems have not prioritised protective measures to secure their lives, properties and livelihoods against violence. Therefore, cooperative governance, socio-economic inclusion and support for vulnerable groups should be incorporated into the national development priorities of South Africa. Starting with the review of national intervention programmes, an overhaul of public participation mechanisms and processes to enhance efficiency in service delivery is critical to sustainably address these challenges.
The political atmosphere in the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), is characterised by a culture of political intolerance. This persisting culture disregards the internal morality espoused in internal democratic grounds. The notion that the ANC is a "leader of the society" is diminishing in its capacity to inspire public confidence and is worsening in this era of renewal and unity, bridled as it is by the deepened culture of factionalism. In this regard, any political party that emerges out of the struggle may seem to be engulfed by deeper challenges from decades of not realising its objectives. For the ANC, the fundamental enquiry is whether the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) that was sold to South Africans is still on course or is an abandoned struggle. This study intends to introspect the ANC's trajectory with regard to the current project renewal and unity implications in the run-up to the 55 th national conference. The fundamental themes are whether there is a rescue from corruption that seems to be sticky, and whether unity can co-exist with renewal and what kind of ANC character will emerge in the developmental state. Reflective, chaos and developmental theories are used to explain the theatrics in the ANC ahead of the 55 th national conference amid renewal and unity repulsion. The study is a qualitative literature review to explain the existing culture of the ANC and developmental state. The conclusion is expected to answer a pertinent question on whether renewal and unity are conceptually Pp 67-87 The Renewal and Unity Implications … 68 diagonal opposites given the turbulence that has engulfed the ANC and the government ahead of the 55 th national conference and beyond.
The adoption of poor corporate governance measures has to date given rise to many problems of corruption, embezzlement of public funds and maladministration in several municipalities in South Africa, including the Mahikeng local municipality. The Mahikeng local municipality has had a bad reputation of corruption, embezzlement of public funds and maladministration challenges in the recent years. These challenges are reportedly perpetrated by the municipal manager who is responsible for the management of the municipal budget and related funds. Moreover, irregular expenditure, wasteful and irregular expenditure, non-compliance with the relevant laws, poor management, political interference, lack of political will and lack of accountability are further challenges that have crippled the proper and effective management of the Mahikeng local municipality. In light of this, this article investigates the adequacy and enforcement of the relevant laws to promote good corporate governance in Mahikeng local municipality. This is done to recommend the adoption and utilisation of good corporate governance principles and related measures to, inter alia, promote accountability and consequent management of the Mahikeng local municipality.
Drawing on both legal and political sources, this article scrutinises the policy of cadre deployment that the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, has implemented, and continues to apply. The analysis begins by recalling and commenting on the only reported judgment in South African jurisprudence that dealt with the political influencing of municipalities' exercise of their public power to make appointments, namely, Mlokoti v Amathole District Municipality & another 2009 (6) SA 354 (ECD). What the Mlokoti case has confirmed is that the legal foundation for the exercise of public power is found in the Constitution and its enabling legislation, and not in party political policy, such as the ongoing practice of cadre deployment. In an investigation of cadre deployment, the article then demonstrates that this ANC policy, particularly judging by its stated purpose, is incompatible with the constitutional State and, instead, enables the rise of the shadow State. Unsurprisingly, therefore, political commentators increasingly observe that, apart from the revelations at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, State capture in South Africa in fact commenced when the ANC assumed political power in pursuit of the National Democratic Revolution. It is argued that the pursuit of a National Democratic Revolution in South Africa is directly at odds with the vision and goals of the 1994 constitutional pact. Convening a bipartisan national convention on philosophical and other approaches to the fight against corruption may offer a solution. Here, a starting point would be to reconsider the country's anti-corruption strategies to pay proper attention to the ethical causes of this scourge.
Despite constitutional aspirations for good (impartial) governance since 1996, partisan governance nearly brought South Africa to the brink of economic, social, and political implosion. For the duration of his tenure (2009–2018), President Zuma spent public funds for private ends with impunity and enabled the creation of a shadow state, which effectively siphoned millions out of the public purse into private hands and hollowed out the country's state-owned enterprises. The question posed here is: How did the Zuma administration manage to ‘capture the state' in a context where the 1996 Constitution enshrines impartial governance? Using the analytical framework of good governance, this article aims to understand the governance approach of the African National Congress (ANC) in terms of its overarching national plan, the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) and its strategy of cadre deployment. Using document and conceptual content analysis of ANC policy documents it is noted that the ANC’s governance approach is inherently partisan, with historical roots. In line with the Marxist tradition, governance based on partisanship was established together with the blurring of lines between party, government and state. This framework of partisanship, justified with the language of transformation, allowed for repurposing the state for private ends.
Countries undergoing or recovering from conflict and authoritarianism often face profound rule of law challenges. This book is about how lawyers as ‘real people’ navigate these challenges. How do they exercise resistant agency and at the same time maintain a sense of professional legitimacy? How do lawyers working within such settings imagine the law? How do they understand their ethical obligations towards their clients and the rule of law? What factors motivate them to use their legal practice and social capital to challenge repressive power? What challenges and risks do they face? Are there particularly gendered consequences for ‘taking on’ legal resistance in such contexts? And when do lawyers facilitate or acquiesce with injustice, thus becoming part of the problem? Drawing on over 130 interviews conducted during field research in Cambodia, Chile, Israel, Palestine, South Africa, and Tunisia, McEvoy, Mallinder and Bryson seek to extend existing theoretical understandings of law and society and cause lawyering in particular by exploring their application (or not) in these more challenging environments.
This article explores perceptions of the legitimacy of income inequality in South Africa, looking at the ‘just income gap’: salaries considered to be fair for occupations at opposite ends of the status continuum. Data from the 2009 and 2016 waves of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) were analysed. Findings on perceived actual and ethical wages for five occupations indicated that, although South Africans feel that those on the low end of the wage continuum deserve a substantial increase in income, fairly high, occupationally specific levels of wage inequality were deemed legitimate. The ‘just gap’ was heavily influenced by perceptions of particular occupations and the ‘ethical calibre’ of people assumed to work in those sectors, with high public sector salaries perceived as illegitimate based on perceptions of corruption. South Africans accepted fairly high levels of inequality but favoured higher incomes for the poor and limits on corporate sector salaries.
The Land Expropriation Without Compensation (LEWC) was introduced following the ineffectiveness of the willing buyer, willing seller principle. There are a lot of agreements and disagreements about how the approach (LEWC) can be implemented. This article argues that there are questions of conflict and corruption that need to be taken into consideration before executing the proposed LEWC approach. This article relied extensively on secondary sources as a means of collecting relevant data. It employs strict textual analysis of the available literature relevant to the LEWC concept. The findings show that some political parties, traditional leaders, and white farmers oppose the LEWC approach. Most South African state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are in debt, showing that the state cannot manage, control and maintain government properties. Hence, the nationalization of land through the LEWC may not be sustainable. For this reason, this article recommends transparency and accountability to avoid conflict that might be caused by the approach. Lastly, a corrupt-free government is needed to ensure that everyone (black and white) benefits from the approach
South Africa’s contemporary political relations with China shows a resemblance in political thinking and beliefs that forms the basis for solidarity and draws the two countries closer on ideological grounds. The literature points out that when states shares similar characteristics, certain hypotheses exists that can provide an analytical explanation of alignment formation. The ideological push by China aims to promote the political like-mindedness of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and African National Congress (ANC) and manifests in the launching of party training programs. Socialism with Chinese characteristics forms the core of the training programs, which is used to strengthen party structures, advance solidarity and maintain official party-to-party contact. Communication with an ANC party official provide a first-hand account of the beliefs of the current South African president and also what the stance of the South African Communist party (SACP) is. A major difference is that the ANC leader regards the Chinese way of governance as important, while the SACP focus on solidifying party structures. In light of this, the impact party training programs can have in testing the alignment hypotheses is examined in the paper. The findings reflect on the similar traits both parties share and the significance of the alignment to strengthen the political ideological relationship.
The ANC views the bureaucracy as an indispensable tool for transforming society and redressing the harm caused by apartheid. This chapter begins by discussing major administrative reforms undertaken in South Africa since 1994 to create an integrated, capable, effective, representative, and accountable public service that responds to the needs and interests of all South Africans. The discussion then turns to ongoing administrative deficiencies and challenges facing the public service, many of which represent striking continuities from the apartheid era. The chapter ends with a discussion of the limits of administrative reform.
Whenever the subject on service delivery is discussed, the discourse is always associated with the negativities and inequalities that are associated with it. However, this chapter is a departure from this negative tone. It takes a positive course by celebrating the milestones that have been covered in a bid to enable everyone to have access to decent life. It discards the notion of a “mourning nation” but instead; embraces and celebrates post-apartheid achievements that manifest themselves physically and socially. Hence it tells “a better story” about service delivery in the midst of the search for a lasting solution. The reality is that post-apartheid South Africa is no longer a polarised state where access to public services is only enjoyed by the privileged few in the community. However, this does not neutralise the complexity and diversity of the subject as far as the nature of services vis-à-vis inequality are concerned.
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