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Searching for Democratic Developmentalism? Twenty-Five Years of South Africa’s Macro-governance and Administration Architecture

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Abstract

The paper examines South Africa’s contemporary history. It delineates four phases peculiar to the journey of governance in post-apartheid South African, namely pre-1994 when an apartheid, minority white governed a majority in a racially and spatially divided society; post-1994 when there was democratic transformation and institution building; the 1999–2004 phase which witnessed an integrated approach to strengthen governance; and the period between 2004 and 2008 which saw South Africa moving from a “transforming” state to a self-declared “developmental” state, and then towards a “capable” state. As part of this exercise, the paper examines the amalgamation of 800 to 284 local service municipalities and argues that the 18 years of post-apartheid administration in the state have been inward looking.

This chapter draws from an earlier work by the author, published in—SAAPAM: Journal of Public Administration, Volume 50, Number 3, September 2015.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For an understanding of what the RDP contains, see African National Congress, The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), Johannesburg, 1994.

  2. 2.

    For an idea of the White Paper as the “guiding framework” for civil service reform, see Director-General Mashwahle Diphofa, in Department of Public Service and Administration and the German Co-operation Institute, Looking Back—a Shaping Futures, Public Service Reform Programme, A Journey towards Good Governance and Organisational Efficiency, 2013, p. 6.

  3. 3.

    Department of Public Service and Administration and the German Co-operation Institute, Looking Back—a Shaping Futures, p. 4.

  4. 4.

    President Thabo Mbeki’s A Nation at Work for a Better Life, Opening of Parliament Address, Cape Town, 25 June 1999.

  5. 5.

    The Presidency, Co-ordinating Mechanisms for Integrated System of Governance, Presentation, Pretoria, 2008.

  6. 6.

    Same as Footnote 5.

  7. 7.

    The Presidency, Co-ordinating Mechanisms for Integrated System of Governance, Presentation, Pretoria, 2008.

  8. 8.

    For a perspective on the PCC, see Vusi Gumede, 2011. “Public Policy-making in South Africa”, in Albert Venter and Chris Landsberg, op. cit., p. 244.

  9. 9.

    Same as Footnote 3.

  10. 10.

    President Thabo Mbeki, State of The National Address, National Assembly, Cape Town, February 2004.

  11. 11.

    Same as 9.

  12. 12.

    Minister Trevor Manuel, Minister of Finance Budget Vote Speech, National Assembly, Cape Town, February 2004.

  13. 13.

    Same as Footnote 11.

  14. 14.

    For a perspective on what a developmental state is, and challenges faced by South Africa, see S.S. Sangweni, It does not matter what slant or take you have on a Developmental State, at the end of the day a Strong, Coherent and Astute Public Service is Critical, paper delivered at the Developmental State Seminar, Burgers Park Hotel, 19 October 2007.

  15. 15.

    For an elucidation of the concept “Polokwanisation”, see Chris Landsberg, “The Jacob Zuma government’s foreign policy: Association or Dissociation?”, in AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy and International Relations, Vol. 1, No. 1, Jan/Jun 2012, p. 75.

  16. 16.

    See Mail and Guardian, “ANC backlash against the left”, October 9–15, 2009.

  17. 17.

    See Ray Hartley, “Furious battle over economic policy—has Zuma stuffed it up?” 4 October 2009, posted on http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/hartley/2009/10/04/furious-battle-over-economic-policy-has-zu.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SARChi Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, School of Leadership, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Chris Landsberg

Authors
  1. Chris Landsberg
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Correspondence to Chris Landsberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, India

    Madhushree Sekher

  2. Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

    S. Parasuraman

  3. India Observatory, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom

    Ruth Kattumuri

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Landsberg, C. (2018). Searching for Democratic Developmentalism? Twenty-Five Years of South Africa’s Macro-governance and Administration Architecture. In: Sekher, M., Parasuraman, S., Kattumuri, R. (eds) Governance and Governed. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5963-6_4

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