Six Capacity Challenges

Status of the Overwhelmingly Dominant Party Affects the Management of the State In a South African context the ANC, as the dominant party with no strong opposition, is the glue that holds everything together. However, the ANC currently seems divided – something the party itself acknowledges – e.g. Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe: Some comrades work for chaos because chaos and anarchy are good forests for mischief. Kingmakers and bookmakers can only survive when NEC is divided. Politics of blackmail get stronger when factions are growing stronger than the organisational structure. This reality compounds the six state capacities essential for effective national socio-economic management. At risk is SAs relatively advanced mixed economy made up of private sector and state corporations, together with a fairly extensive national infrastructure.

What are the six vital state capacities for socio- economic management? 1. Visioning 2. Strategy- setting 3. Human capacity 4. Financial capacity 5. Execution6. Oversight

South African Case 1. Visioning (a) Planning Commission still a work in progress; (b) Has gone only as far as diagnosing SAs challenges; (c) Visioning therefore still in early stages.

South African Case 2. Strategy-setting (a) Since visioning exercise is not sufficiently advanced, achievement strategies remain rudimentary; (b) There is also tension within the government setup between: (i) Planning Commission, (ii) Economic Planning, (iii) Finance, and (vi) DTI.

South African Case 3. Human capacity Leadership, managerial and technical cadres in (a) national, (b) provincial and (c) local government constitute a serious challenge – and the problem is worse in areas where service delivery is most critical. Compounding this is cadre deployment. Also not enough professionals entering the market. This human factor constitutes a threat to the management of the state and its institutions.

South African Case 4. Financial Capacity Unlike the rest of the continent, SA has a large tax base. We do not need development aid, but to grow the economy. This requires greater collaboration between the private sector, labour and government. Are institutions such as NEDLAC, which enhance private-public sector partnerships, healthy at present?

South African Case 5. Execution Policy execution in SA is weak because of 1,2,3,4.

South African Case 6. Oversight Oversight institutions such as parliament and portfolio committees are too close to the executive (ANC government), and unable to challenge it.