The crisis of management there for all to see in South Africa

A SIMPLE Google search of the definition of management shows that management is the art of getting things done. It is the administration of organisations, whether they are a business, a non-profit organisation or a government body.

It is the co-ordination and effective use of limited resources for production or to achieve a goal.

Leadership on the other hand, is the act of guiding other individuals, teams or an entire organisation. The ability to inspire others to act in a particular way or to follow a specific direction.

Looking at the state of our nation, the frustration stemming from challenges with the delivery of basic services such as maintenance of infrastructure, health care, safety and security and job creation; one always hears the lamentation and statements such as “we have a leadership crisis in this country”, “we have great policies, but implementation is a problem”.

The idea of management failure does not feature much in our psyche as a nation.

This is because we put too much emphasis on position power, which we mistake for leadership and less emphasis on the art of getting things done, which is management.

What if the government was a business? Who would be the leader and who would be the managers?

Positionally, the president or premier at provincial level would be the CEO and leader of the business, cabinet ministers or members of the executive council would be the executive managers of the business, director general and head of departments would be the senior managers of the business.

The staff members below would make up middle managers, supervisors and so forth. All these individuals, from the president to the lowest level staff member are expected to manage their area of responsibility.

The CEO is responsible for the performance of the entire organisation, executive managers are responsible for the performance of their portfolio or departments; senior managers are responsible for their area of expertise and so forth.

What is common about all these individuals at different levels is that they must co-ordinate and use limited resources to get things done and achieve productivity in their area of influence.

In the case of government, they must co-ordinate limited resources to deliver services to the people.

How then do we attribute the great economic challenges, service delivery breakdown and the electricity shortage crisis we find ourselves in as a country?

Somewhere at the top management to the bottom management someone has failed to master the art of getting things done.

The art of management or governance to effectively produce results. The often-cited reasons for the failed management are the mismanagement of resources, corruption, skills challenges, and lack of planning amongst others.

There is an ongoing culture of a lack of accountability, impunity, and tolerance for transgressions, while there are high incidents of irregular expenditure at most failing institutions.

Organisations that are seen to be doing well are being run by efficient managers, managers who also play a role of leadership by influencing the group of members towards goal setting and goal attainment.

The seminal HiBgh Court judgment handed down on the 18th of May 2023 in the case of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency board against the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) responsible for the Department of Economic Development, paints an added picture of possible poor understanding or confusion of the boundaries that exists between executive authority and the accounting authority in the management of government entities.

The MEC was ordered to reinstate the board that she had dissolved unlawfully after a dispute about the process of appointing a CEO. The role of the MEC versus that of the board in the appointment process and what it means to be a successor in title was not well understood.

This confusion led to unnecessary conflict that saw the collapse of governance at the agency as the organisation was functioning without a CEO and a board after the dissolution of the board by the MEC, thus impacting negatively on service delivery.

It is crucial that managers at all levels have the required knowledge of their role, required skills to manage and they understand their boundaries or span of control.

The business community needs to assist to place sharp emphasis on developing managerial skills across sectors of society at all levels of management for the effective management of the country’s resources towards the provision of services for all.

The country needs more ethical and effective managers to be matched by selfless individuals of influence to overcome the desperate economic situation we find ourselves in, in order to drive socio-economic transformation.

This is the reason why nearly 50 years later, the mandate of the Black Management Forum of managerial leadership development is ever so relevant and critical.