ANC has betrayed its vision to construct a developmental state

SOUTH Africa is paying a heavy price for the failure of the governing ANC to build a meritocratic, competent, professional and corruption-free public service.

The public anger sparked by revelations of large-scale tender irregularities involving Covid-19 relief funds has served as another reminder of the widespread mismanagement, dysfunction and corruption that have hobbled state institutions in South Africa. This culture of wanton criminality and impunity will have dire consequences for future generations.

What is clear is that the ANC has betrayed the vision it set out in 1994 to dismantle the apartheid legacy and construct a developmental state that is responsive to the social and economic needs of all South Africans.

When the ANC came to power in 1994, it outlined a series of principles to form the basis for the birth of a democratic state and the implementation of public sector reforms.

Among these reforms were those aimed at establishing a high standard of professional ethics in the public service. This was crucial to tackling corruption. A number of new institutions were set up to achieve this, including the Auditor-General, the Public Protector and the Public Service Commission.

The launch of these institutions was complemented by the creation of an ethical framework and ethics infrastructure to guide public sector conduct.

The establishment of an ethics infrastructure was exemplified by the introduction of the Public Finance Management Act of 1999, which outlined stringent financial management practices for individual government departments and entities; the establishment of hotlines for reporting instances of corruption; the adoption and promotion of a code of conduct for the public service; the introduction of “whistle-blowing” legislation designed to protect individuals who expose corruption in government; and the creation of an asset register to record information on the financial interests of all managers.

An emphasis was placed on the need to promote the efficient and effective use of public resources. For this reason, the government introduced a modern strategic planning and budgeting approach, including the medium-term expenditure framework.

To rectify the lack of focus on development during the apartheid era, it was determined that public administration ought to be development-oriented. This was to include the prioritisation of social development, which was expected to be one of the main expenditure items in the national Budget.

As a way of ensuring justice in public service provision, the government stressed the importance of dispensing public services impartially, fairly and equitably.

Furthermore, it was agreed that the public sector must be accountable, both in terms of being open to public scrutiny and in being able to account for the use of public resources and the achievement of intended outcomes.

To undo the pervasive secrecy that shrouded public-sector activities under the apartheid regime, the promotion of transparency through the timely provision of accurate information to the public was prioritised.

The national and provincial legislatures were given key roles in advancing transparency, with specialist portfolio committees assigned the task of scrutinising departmental budgets and plans.

Likewise, the Government Communication and Information System was created to aid communication.

A great focus was placed on the implementation of good human resource management principles and career development practices.

This involved the rationalisation of various apartheid-era administrations, the adoption of a single pay scale for the public service, and the introduction in 1997 of the Skills Development Act, which required that skills audits and needs analyses be undertaken in government departments.

Also, it was expected that public administration would be governed by the principle of broad representivity of all South Africans, supported by employment and personnel management practices based on ability, objectivity, fairness and the need to redress the imbalances of the past.