HRMA 615

CURRENT REALITY AND FUTURES

PERSPECTIVES

Mej/Ms Roslyn Lodewyk

Tel: 018 285 2318
Email: Roslyn. Lodewyk@[Link]
Available: Wednesday, Thursday & Fridays Per appointment
 Learning Outcomes
• Discuss the international trends that are evident using 1994 as
baseline;
• Distinguish between, and discuss, the international indices identified;
• Explain and practically apply the perspectives on the current South
African reality by polity;
• Identify the current concerning trends in South African Governance;
• Determine the cross cutting issues that impact on South Africa’s long
term development as identified by the ND
South African Governance: International
perspectives
• Ibrahim Index of African Governance:
Governance and delivery of public goods and services measured in all African
countries
Safety and rule of law
Participation and human rights
Sustainable economic opportunity
Human development
SA’s position.
South African Governance: International
perspectives
• UNDP Human Development Index (HDI):
Three dimensions of human development:
 A long and healthy life
 Access to knowledge
 A decent standard of living
HDI Report 2013 – SA scored 0,629 and placed 121 out of 187 countries
SA performed worst than BRICS average of 0,655
Life expectancy at birth declined from 56,9 (1980) to 53,4 (2012).
South African Governance: International
perspectives
• Transparency International:
Stop corruption, promote transparency, accountability and integrity
A world free of corruption
TI Index (TII)
South Africa = 42/10072 out of 177 countries (2013)
Global Corruption Barometer
47% of South Africans paid a bribe to get an essential service (2013)
South African governance performing below par, low decreasing scores in
area of corruption.
South African Governance: International
perspectives
• Global Competitiveness Index of the WEF:
South Africa = 53 out of 148 countries, score of 44
Downward trend since 2007 – South Africa in 35th place
Problematic factors identified in index:
 An inadequately educated workforce
 Restrictive labour regulation
 Inefficient government bureaucracy
 Corruption
 Poor ethic in national workforce
 Inadequate supply of infrastructure
 Crime and theft.
South African Governance: International
perspectives
• Gini coefficient:
Measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption
expenditure among individuals or households within an economy deviates
from a perfectly equal distribution
0 = perfect equality, 100 = perfect inequality
South Africa (2009) = 0,63
Most income-unequal society together with Brazil and Namibia
Bad governance contributes to societal instability
Good governance can improve efficient service delivery and reduce poverty.
South African Governance: International
perspectives
• Other international ratings (2013):
S&P Rating: BBB Negative
Moody’s Rating: Baa1 Negative
Fitch Rating: BBB Stable
SE Rating: 57.44 Negative
• Ease of doing business:
Doing Business 2013 (World Bank and IFC) – SA = 39 out of 185 countries
• Economic freedom:
Heritage Foundation report – SA = 74 out of 174 countries
• Press freedom:
Reporters without Borders Index – SA = 52 out of 179 countries
South African Governance: Perspectives
from the polity
• Government:
Annual State of the Nation Address
Governance challenges
NDP
• Opposition:
Acknowledges governance challenges
DA argues that lack of effective governance has impact on declining public
trust
Some reasons, e.g. political interference, lack of accountability, corruption
and maladministration, lack of capacity.
South African Governance: Business sector
perspectives
• SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI):
Business confidence fluctuation, but generally going down
• Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA):
Major corporate businesses and multi-national investors are members
Supports a professional bureaucracy, independent and merit-based
Offers assistance to deal with governance and management problems
Problems with the politicisation of the public service.
South African Governance: Civil society
perspectives
• Faith-based organisations:
Church and religion are important social dimensions in SA
79,8% Christian faith (2001 census)
SA Council of Churches
Church Leaders Consultation
Serious concern about various governance issues, e.g.:
 Corruption
 State of education
 Unfinished story of reconciliation
 Quality of leadership
 Increasing economic inequality.
South African Governance: Civil society
perspectives
• Corruption Watch:
Civil society coalition concerned about corruption
Fight against corruption
• Institute for Security Studies (ISS):
Independent institution – aims to enhance human security in Africa
Governance, crime and justice
Conflict prevention and risk analysis
Conflict management and peacebuilding
South African Governance: Civil society
perspectives
• Institute for Security Studies (ISS):
2011 Report on effectiveness of SA Police Service (SAPS)
Very high levels of distrust in the SAPS due to:
 Experiences of poor or unprofessional service
 Experiences of police crime or corruption
 Experiences of police sexual harassment
 Perceptions of police as corrupt
• Evidence from civil society organisations confirming lack of trust in
capacity of government to deliver
• Concerns about state of democracy.
South African Governance: Media
perspectives
• Freedom of expression, incl. freedom of the press (s.16 of the
Constitution
• Access to information (s.32 of the Constitution)
• Protection of State Information Bill, 2010
• Wits Journalism
• SANEF:
Perception that press freedom is being threatened by government action
• Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI)
Press freedom, role of the media in governance is under pressure.
South African Governance: Perspectives
from the NDP
• National Development Plan (NDP)
• National Planning Commission (NPC):
“The mandate of the commission is to take a broad, cross-cutting,
independent and critical view of South Africa, to help define the South Africa we
seek to achieve in 20 years’ time and to map out a path to achieve those
objectives.”
• 25 part-time commissioners, diverse skills and expertise
• Diagnostic Overview (2011) focuses on current governance realities
• Strategic objective for SA – elimination of poverty, reduction of inequality.
South African Governance: Perspectives
from the NDP
• Diagnostic overview identified nine critical problems:
1. Too few South Africans are employed.
2. The quality of education for poor black South Africans is substandard.
3. Poorly located and inadequate infrastructure limits social inclusion and
faster economic growth.
4. South Africa’s growth path is highly resource-intensive and hence
unsustainable.
5. Spatial challenges continue to marginalise the poor.
6. The ailing public-health system confronts a massive disease burden.
7. The performance of the public service is uneven.
8. Corruption undermines state legitimacy and service delivery.
9. South Africa remains a divided society.
South African Governance: Perspectives
from the NDP
• Three core challenges:
Ailing public health system confronts massive disease burden:
“The rise in total deaths, low life expectancy and high infant mortality are all evidence of a
health system in distress.” (NPC diagnostic overview)
 Collapsing health system
 Unsatisfactory human resources management
 Policy problems
 Lack of sufficient skilled staff
 Unsatisfactory quality of primary health care.
South African Governance: Perspectives
from the NDP
Performance of the public service is uneven:
“The uneven performance of the public service results from the interplay between a
complex set of factors, including tensions in the political/administrative interface, instability
of the administrative leadership, skills deficits, the erosion of accountability and authority
structures, poor organisational design, inappropriate staffing and low staff morale.” (NPC
diagnostic overview)
 Organisational instability and the political-administrative interface
 Undue political interference in the appointment of staff, operational matters
 Uneven capacity leads to uneven performance
 Erosion of accountability
 Need for professional public service loyal to the values of the Constitution.
South African Governance: Perspectives
from the NDP
Corruption undermines state legitimacy and service delivery:
 High levels of corruption
 Significant wastage in state expenditure due to corruption and overpayment
 Weakens ability to provide effective and efficient service delivery
 Institutional and moral issue.

• NPC – current state of governance

No effective delivery of essential services such as health and education
Underperforming public service due to political interference
Insufficient governance capacity
Corruption erodes the state.
South African Governance: Current reality
• Multiple perspective trends analysis:
Underperforming governance in SA
Continuous decline in respect of ethical and effective governance
Less trust and confidence in the governance system
Inadequate and inappropriate short-term responses
South African governance system at a crossroads
NPC – “Planning for Thandi’s future”.
[Link]/watch?v=pIiRsFYsRcg
THANK YOU