On contradiction et al. : overcoming the crisis of government in South Africa

Abstract

This article describes five weaknesses in the organisation of government that taken together are responsible for what it calls the crisis of government. It then discusses a package of legislative and policy reforms that are underway, including the Public Service Amendment Bill (Republic of South Africa, 2023), the Public Administration Management Amendment Bill (Republic of South Africa, 2023), the Public Service Commission Amendment Act 10 (Republic of South Africa, 2019) and the Public Administration Laws General Amendment Bill (Republic of South Africa, 2021). Do they go some way to resolve the fundamental problems of public administration in South Africa? We argue that these problems also need to be considered through institutionalising public administrations by dealing with contradiction, confusion, capability, centralisation and corruption – the five Cs of the crisis in government.