Political Impartiality - Key to Service Delivery in South Africa
blurb:isstoday:211108servicersa
21 November 2008: Political Impartiality – Key to Service Delivery in South Africa
With a stroke of a pen state bureaucrats had intended to change the lives of the residents of Khutsong – a township on the West Rand, just outside Johannesburg - forever. With borderlines redrawn, they would henceforth live in the North-West Province, the economically depressed neighbour of Gauteng - the real locus of money and power in the entire subregion. Geographically little would change, but this would mean that they would have to rely on a new political centre that they believe is unable to effectively deliver basic public services. Following almost three years of struggle, often in direct confrontation with police, the community has now won the right to remain part of the Gauteng province. The decision was announced by the Guateng government last month.
This struggle over Khutsong has been mirrored in countless service delivery protests across the country over the past few years. The endless wait for homes and access to medicines; corruption; favouritism and mismanagement are some of the often-repeated concerns.
While this is an important victory for the people of Khutsong, there is little to suggest that this will translate into improved service delivery across the country. Rather, one can argue that we have witnessed a long drawn out fight in a metaphorical bread queue. While one of the most vocal groups may have fought to get their original spot back in the front of a growing line of hungry people, there is little to suggest fundamental change. The victory of one group therefore does not mean that we have either addressed the reasons for the queue or why the State consistently fails to help those in the back of the line.
The answers are manifold; they have to do with the privatization of the bread industry as much as they do with the need for an adequate infrastructure that produces bread. However, a fundamental challenge lies in the day to day running of the bread factory. With a board of directors (the electorate) who make an apparent fleeting appearance every five years, the management (government) gives the impression that it is more interested in controlling the workers (the million strong civil servants) than it is in increasing the production of bread which should benefit the majority. While not systemic, could it be that we risk sacrificing the needs of the poor while the public service becomes a vehicle to distribute opportunity amongst a politically connected middle class?
Over the past decade much has been done to cultivate a culture of political allegiance amongst civil servants who should first and foremost be ready to serve the people and not political parties. Those who decry this practice – and today lead the new Congress of the People (COPE) – soon forget that it was they and former President Thabo Mbeki who tacitly sanctioned the silencing of critics through a culture of (re)deployment of civil servants which was largely directed by the ruling party.
ANC President Jacob Zuma has done little to suggest a change in policy should he become President. A few months ago he found himself atop a stage at a meeting in Parys where former Free State ANC provincial chairman Ace Magashule reportedly had party leaders, civil servants and businesspeople line up and pledge $140,000 (R1,4 million) support for the personal cause of Jacob Zuma and his latest court case. The message was crass – your opportunities are directly linked to the future of Jacob Zuma. Magashule handed Zuma a black conference bag with +- $5,000 (R52,000) at the end of the event reportedly suggesting that he can do anything with it “even wash his car”- an apparent direct reference to fact that his corrupt former financial advisor Shabir Shaik had once bankrolled his carwash. Fortune has since smiled on Magashule who have gone on to be appointed Premier of the Free State Province.
Sadly President Kgalema Motlanthe has also as yet not signaled a clear change in direction. Since the appointment of his cabinet, neither he nor his Minister of Public Service and Administration Richard Baloyi have come out to remind public servants that there responsibility is to serve the people of South Africa, before any party or factional loyalty. A recently released Public Service Commission report suggests that changes in political leadership create uncertainty amongst public servants. It seems that Mothlanthe’s cabinet has done little to correct this perception.
The question of party loyalty and patronage networks within the civil service now clearly deserves real attention by political leaders and public service trade unions more than ever before. The prospect of the ANC losing some of its dominance in the next election means that this is in the interest of its ‘deployees’ within the civil service. It is also in the interest of any opposition party should voters decide on a change of political leadership in one or more provinces. They will need civil servants who seek not to undermine them, but are willing to implement the policies of a new administration. Equally this might mean that civil servants are reminded that while the Constitution protects their political affiliation, it also requires them to give impartial effect to service delivery priorities.
If this does not happen it is almost certain that the line in front of the bread factory will grow in number, with an increase in protest and agitation. While the political class may seek to accommodate this by shifting people back and forth in the queue, their patience is unlikely to be eternal. The result could be devastating for those who rely on patronage and not popular support for power.
Hennie van Vuuren, Head: Corruption and Governance Programme, ISS Cape Town
