The Calling Of Professional Public Servants

An extract from the address of the Reverend Professor Peter Storey on Sunday 22nd August, preaching at a service commemorating the life of his late brother-in-law the Reverend Paul Welsh: "Frederich Beuchner says, 'The vocation for you is the one in which your deepest...

Striking Efficiently

Only two weeks before the kick-off of the world soccer spectacular, a deal was struck that ended almost four weeks of national disruption, untold economic damage and widespread anger attributable to strikes in the transport sector. Since then the nation has seen...

Striking Interminably: There Has To Be A Better Way

The Transnet strike by SATAWU seems to have taken forever; 18 days is certainly unduly long. UTATA cleverly settled its parallel strike on the basis that if the strike by SATAWU led to a better deal than the one that brought its similar strike to a swift end, its...

Jimmy Manyi: An Intractable Conflict Of Interest

The Director General of Labour, Jimmy Manyi is an ebullient, energetic and assertive senior public servant whose urbane skills would be an asset to any government department anywhere in the world. His Minister is satisfied that he was the best candidate available for...

The Future Of The National Prosecuting Authority

Two conflicting takes on the future of the National Prosecuting Authority have been placed before the Justice select committee of Parliament in recent weeks. The one envisages business as usual, the other some radical departures from the status quo. This ought to be...

Let’s Tackle The Scourge Of Crime Properly

It is time for the nation to roll up its sleeves and act pro-actively to deal with crime. It is after all everyone's problem that crimes, especially violent types of crime and corruption, have reached the unacceptable levels which the, admittedly dysfunctional,...

Municipal Parallel Universes

At a media briefing in Cape Town on 3 March 2010 the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka complained about ratepayers' associations, over 280 of them, which have created what he called "a parallel government" in municipalities...

The “Three Cs” Impeding Service Delivery

The work of the National Assembly Committee investigating progress with service delivery has commenced. Various governmental departments and a few fortunate NGOs made representations concerning the topic in the Old Assembly Chamber last week. Most members attended,...

Speeding Up Effective Service Delivery

The theme chosen by the ANC for the year 2010 is an extension of its tried and trusted "better life for all" formula. This theme concentrates on speeding up effective service delivery as the means by which that elusive better life can be found. The words "a better...

Civil Service Accountability

The Cape Times must be applauded for opening the debate on 'uncivil servants', and the ANC congratulated for suggesting that its practice of deployment in the public service needs to change. When public servants are employed the motivation ought to be to appoint...

The Difference Between Party And State

Gwede Mantashe's concerns about our "governance model" in which directors general serve "at the mercy of ministers" are timely and open a necessary debate. As Chair of the SACP and Secretary General of the ANC, he is well placed to ensure that the "recipe for...

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