Restless Nation. William Gumede
they have more often than not become places of patronage for the elite of the ruling party. And because critical appointments are mostly dependent on the ruling party, and sometimes even the faction in control, a change at the top also means a turnover of management. Consequently, the public service in South Africa does not offer a buffer for misguided decisions from inept political leaders. On top of this, every changeover appears to bring in new policies. The implementation of policy is therefore constantly interrupted and in such a context it becomes near impossible to plan for the long term, which is crucial to ensure prosperity.
In South Africa’s case, pockets of excellence in the public service and state-owned companies operate side by side with less effective structures. Such pockets include the Treasury, the Reserve Bank, the Revenue Service, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). Some public service departments and state-owned companies may not be centres of excellence, but they function reasonably well – Eskom and Transnet, for instance. There are also centres of excellence among some of South Africa’s regulatory bodies, such as the Office of the Auditor-General. Others, such as the Commission for Gender Equality and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), are appallingly ineffective.
What counts in South Africa’s favour is that it has many pockets of excellence outside the governmental sphere – which is not the case in many developing countries. Even if the public sector is erratic, the private sector equivalents – providing health care and education, for example – can compete with the best in the world. Furthermore, South Africa has private sector companies, nongovernmental organisations and civil groups that are highly effective – the latter ranging from organisations like the Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA) to the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
One way for South Africa to ride out the current storm of political uncertainty, at least in the short term, is for the pockets of excellence in the public and private sectors to step into the breach. In the absence of coherent political leadership the centres of excellence in the public and private sectors, as well as in civil society, will have to provide leadership. For example, in May 2010 South Africa’s two largest business organisations, Business Leadership South Africa and Business Unity South Africa, pledged to come up with self-generated initiatives to help government increase electricity capacity. Or Business Leadership South Africa’s initiative to triple the size of South Africa’s economy within a generation. Or their initiative to get CEOs to commit to skills development and more responsible corporate behaviour.
Companies, of course, have to focus on maximising returns for shareholders. However, in our context companies must also be better corporate citizens. Rather than pursuing narrow black economic empowerment, to enrich a few black individuals in the right faction, adopt 100 of the poorest black schools – the benefits will be so much greater.
The investment arms of COSATU-affiliated trade unions have billions in their kitties. This money can, for example, be used to make more ethical and productive investments, rather than funding narrow BEE enterprises. Other COSATU affiliates must follow the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in organising winter schools and bursaries for the children of their members and skills training for workers who have been retrenched.
But what can individuals do?
Efforts such as the launch of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) by prominent South Africans are crucial to defending our democratic rights. Furthermore, it is crucial that individuals and nongovernmental organisations continue to express their outrage at the proposed media tribunal, which would allow the state to regulate the media, and the information bill, which would in practice hinder public awareness of official corruption and wrongdoing.
The instinctive reaction of many who care about their country is to turn inwards at a time such as this. However, what South Africa needs right now is for individuals to become more involved in their communities, whether it is sitting on school boards, attending the meetings of local municipalities (and challenging the councillors there) or supporting community organisations and charities. Ideally, we want government to actually do its job, but this kind of public mobilisation can fill the gap when government fails.
Furthermore, individuals who are members and supporters of political parties must hold their leaders to account. ANC members should do more to make their party more responsible; members of opposition parties must do more to make them more relevant.
Lastly, in the absence of responsible political leadership, corporate, civil and church leaders must fill the vacuum.
Beeld, 1 October 2010
ANC must spring-clean, nothing less
These are unsettling times. Among both black and white South Africans there is a paralysing feeling of anxiety, drift and imminent collapse. This in itself damages the economy because many, especially in the public sector, feel that their hard work will be cancelled out by those greedily eating away scarce public resources. There is a choking sense that the current generation in government may not have the ideas or political will to lead us out of this malaise.
Many supporters of the ANC also wonder whether we will be struck by that curse of African liberation movements – the failure to improve the lot of the widest number of people and to create a better and caring society. This is a cataclysmic shift in the political climate. Are there any solutions?
There are new task teams, calls for more debate on morality, new laws . . . But with no urgent amendment of the electoral law to allow citizens to elect their representatives directly, rather than for party leaders to choose them, these will be band-aid measures. This crisis has deep institutional, moral and leadership dimensions, and only a spring-clean of leadership, ideas and institutions will lift the gloom.
In most democratic societies the obvious way out of such stagnation is an electoral solution. This is not realistic in our case. The opposition parties are too limited and the ANC is too dominant.
The alternative is for the ANC itself to spring-clean. This will mean making itself more democratic, transparent and responsive. It will demand political courage, will and resolve from the ANC’s leadership, and a change of culture – as any ANC leader who championed a shake-up of the party in the current climate would be likely to have their career killed off.
The ANC desperately needs a better calibre of leadership at all levels. Amilcar Cabral, one of the great thinkers of African liberation ideology, said the success of liberation movements that become governments depends on the personal moral behaviour, decency and honesty of their leaders and members. Cabral argued that these qualities were more important when they were in government than an adherence to ideology and a mechanical dedication to the rules and policies of the party.
Inside the ANC, prospective leaders must be elected on a truly competitive basis. The ANC leadership must open all internal party elections. Candidates must apply openly for all vacancies, as one applies for a job in the private sector. Interviewing panels must be independent, staffed by neutral veterans, or even independent outsiders with status. Candidates must be judged on the basis of merit, moral character and commitment to public service. This will help to bring fresh blood into the party.
The policy of African leadership must be done away with, because it is being manipulated. If Trevor Manuel, for example, is the best candidate for the ANC presidency, he must be elected as the ANC president. In the public sector, appointments to senior government positions, state-owned enterprises and commissions must be opened up beyond the ANC membership pool, across colour and political affiliations.
Importantly, the system of merit must be applied across the party and the public service. The lack of such a system has not only made these areas less appealing to the talented, it has also allowed the mediocre, by bootlicking the local party strongman, to flourish. It has also meant that independent-mindedness, which is needed to hold elected officials accountable, has been discouraged, because advancement is based on sucking up to authority.
The ANC leadership must rid itself of the most corrupt senior party leaders first. Ministers and public servants who are underperforming, even if they are powerful in the party, must also be sacked.