Mathebula called on South Africa to return to the basics of governance — TimesLIVE
In South Africa, public policy analyst Lucky Mathebula called for a return to the basic principles of public administration: merit-based recruitment, clear procedures, standards, constitutional discipline, institutional memory and public service. In an article for TimesLIVE, he linked the country’s governance crisis not only to politics, ethics or leadership, but also to the state of public administration.
The political economy of inefficiency
Mathebula referred to the testimony of Professor Somadoda Fikeni before the Madlanga Commission. Fikeni described the situation as a political economy of inefficiency, while Mathebula linked it to the weakening of standard procedures, rules, institutional memory and constitutional discipline needed for an effective state to function.
The author noted that a state based on norms presupposes the primacy of rules over individuals. In his view, a system in which decisions depend on proximity to power and the personal discretion of officials is vulnerable to the influence of political parties and internal factions.
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The problem of policy implementation
According to Mathebula, the country does not lack programmes, strategies and plans, but it often lacks an administrative mechanism capable of turning them into real action. He believes that after the dismantling of the apartheid system, the democratic state did not always create a sufficiently strong normative foundation for the systems meant to replace it.
Mathebula called the events that prompted the work of the Madlanga Commission, including public statements by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, a symptom of a deeper administrative disorder. He stressed that combating corruption must include not only cleaning up politics, but also restoring a professional, merit- and rules-based public service.
