‘Twinning’ and the South Africa/Canada programme on governance: some reflections on Blunt,Jones and Askvik

In reflecting on recent articles about ‘twinning’ as a means of building institutional capacity, the experience of the South Africa/Canada Programme on Governance offers some useful insights. The Programme operated in South Africa from 1993 until early 2000. Among other activities, it sponsored seven twinning arrangements in which the paired institutions, mostly sub‐national governments, worked together from two to over five years. These arrangements provided access to the contributed skills of experienced, senior Canadian public servants and access to sites for study visits and placements in Canada. For Canadians the advantages were the means to contribute to South Africa, to employ their own skills in new ways, and to learn. The contributions of Canadian provincial and national governments more than doubled the professional time devoted to the Programme. The use of experienced public servants, careful programme design and management, selection of appropriate partnerships, a strategic focus and flexible use of resources were all important to making the Programme effective. While it is not feasible to prove institutional development in any ‘scientific’ fashion, it is certainly possible to identify successful contributions to South Africa's own public service transformation. Continued study of twinning arrangements should address and compare programme design and delivery including management approaches and the appropriate duration of the arrangements. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.