South Africa: capital accumulation and violence

This article analyses the conditions of capital accumulation in South Africa, and seeks to explain the authoritarian and racially discriminatory features of the South African social structure in terms of (a) the specific historical processes of change (mercantile colonial conquest, primitive accumulation in mining and farming) and (b) the specific features of contemporary capitalism, notably the capital-intensive structure of industry. The authoritarianism embodied, for example, in the extra-economic coercion of black labour is seen as reflecting the circumstances of the struggle between capital and labour under conditions where capital-labour contradictions exist alongside the contradiction between South African capitalism and the ‘dependent’ societies it has preserved/recreated. The implications of this situation for strategies of socialist change are briefly evaluated.     

The Will to Transform: Nation-building and the Strategic State in South Africa

This paper proposes the neologism ‘the will to transform’ to explore the political rationalities of a state-sponsored national reconciliation project—specifically the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRC). In this instance, the will to transform refers to the strategic impulse for nation-building that emerges from multiple agencies in society but is codified and directed by ‘the state’. The will to transform not only implies action, it opens up critical questions concerning strategic intentionality and the agency of ‘the state’. As the case explored in this paper shows, the will to transform is not a given but rather an emergent device. In opening up a terrain of analysis centred around the will to transform, the objective of this paper is to disturb the secure conceptual vantage point offered by Foucauldian theorisations of the state by placing state-led projects of nation-building at the heart of the arena of strategic intentionality.     

Knowing and doing: an integrated approach to education and training in South Africa

The Postgraduate Diploma in Management at the Graduate School of Public & Development Management (P&DM), University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, arises from our enthusiasm for a paradigm shift in the education of entry level public sector managers in South Africa; this is an approach that has developed out of moves towards a new public service that is development friendly and customer-oriented. The move away from traditional lecture-based classroom activities to interactive learning methods has given rise to much reflection on teaching, learning and appropriate assessment at P&DM. This has resulted in an appreciation for continuous learning as we pursue our quest to improve our facilitation in line with the needs of a student group that will graduate to face the immense challenges of making institutions work in a newly democratic polity. Our graduates are tasked with transformation in a rapidly moving environment. For them, a commitment to life-long learning is the most important attitude they can develop and for us it is the most important outlook we can nurture. This article focuses on three integrated areas: the Administrative Skills Course, which aims at establishing underlying skills on which students should build throughout the year; the Case Study Programme, which provides a simulation of real problems and issues faced by managers in the public sector; and the Internship Programme, which provides the opportunity for the integration of classroom learning and workplace practice. We focus primarily on the teaching methods and the integrative nature of these courses and programmes, highlighting aspects that have worked well and those that have not. The ongoing development of these programmes has been informed by relatively informal evaluations. We feel that the time has come for more rigorous investigation into the effectiveness of our teaching and both have research in progress. The design and findings of research in progress will be published at a later date.     

Institution-building issues in South Africa

This article discusses structural and labour-market factors associated with institution building in South Africa. It pays particular attention to the role of management development in institution building in the public sector. Two case studies that address the question of organizational restructuring following moves towards commercialization of some public sector organizations are discussed.     

Fiscal Federalism in South Africa

The constitutional change in South Africa in the 1990s broughtabout the decentralization of substantial budgetary responsibilityto newly created provincial governments. This study capturesthe new assignment of functions and resources to the differentspheres of government in South Africa and provides an assessmenton the basis of a framework derived from fiscal federalism principles.It concludes that there is a substantial congruence betweenwhat can be viewed as theoretically desirable and what is outlinedin the South African Constitution of 1996, but observes significantdivergences between the Constitution and actual practice.     

Decentralization in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

Decentralization in South Africa was entrenched in the new democratic constitution of 1996 and charged local government with bringing basic and other services to the population. Our in-depth empirical study of 38 municipalities across South Africa indicates that the experiment with decentralization has largely failed to achieve its main aims—democratizing local government and delivering adequate basic services to all communities. In order to provide some answers to the question as to why this failure occurred, we focus attention on the legislative over-burdening of local government and its concurrent lack of institutional capacity to actually turn legal obligation and decentralization principles into practice as two of the main and related causes for this failure. While the South African constitution gave clear mandates to local government, the issue of adequate institutional capacity for municipal government was largely overlooked or ignored altogether.     

COVID-19 in Nigeria and South Africa

COVID-19 is likely to affect Nigeria’s and South Africa’s economies adversely, amplifying preexisting macroeconomic weaknesses. Support for necessary public health measures remains flimsy in light of their harsh socio-economic impact, and will likely erode further should reported case numbers remain relatively low.     

Multi-Sphere Governance in South Africa: An Interim Assessment

After considerable debate about whether a democratic South Africashould be constituted on federal lines, the 1996 Constitutionadopted three "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated"spheres of government. "Co-operative government" followed theGerman model, emphasizing concurrency, provincial delivery ofnational policies, and provincial representation at the center.Implementing this model, with new institutions, actors, andprocesses, has proved difficult because the governing partystrongly favors a relatively centralized polity, and becauseprovinces and local governments have weak political, administrative,and fiscal capacities. The analysis concludes that while thenew system has become fairly well established in a short time,its long-term success in promoting the values of democratization,effective governance, and conflict management remains uncertain.     

Conveners as champions of collaboration in the public sector: a case from South Africa

This article analyses the role of conveners in facilitating interorganisational collaboration. Consistent with previous research, the article shows that conveners help overcome the obstacles frequent in interorganisational collaboration processes. It also illustrates further how their effectiveness depends on their credibility among the partners, their familiarity with the collaborative project and their being perceived as unbiased intermediaries. Most interestingly, the article advances our knowledge on conveners by suggesting that their behaviour is consistent with that common among ‘champions’ of innovation. They are likely to assume a leadership role and use influence politics, such as salesmanship, personal appeal and persuasion. These findings build on a case study of successful collaboration between two government agencies in South Africa. We believe, however, that the findings are likely to apply to other types of organisation, private and voluntary, and to other country contexts. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Governance Under Surveillance in South Africa

Good governance and legitimacy are becoming more and more important in South African society. Increasingly there are tendencies and trends of corruption, poor service delivery, crime, violence, and xenophobia in South Africa. The lack of accountability, responsiveness, and transparency reflects negatively on governance principles. It is becoming more evident that governance in South Africa must be investigated. Government is finding it difficult to tend to public participation, maintain law and order, provide for the basic needs of citizens, and combat unemployment and strikes. There is a direct link between governance and legitimacy because good governance is one of the essential elements and a prerequisite for legitimacy. Legitimacy depends on the government＇s performance and the support of citizens for the ruling party.