Public Service
Doing business in a constitutional democracy
"Doing business" is not a universal pursuit, but it is an activity which is vital to the success of any modern economy. In any economy in which some 40% of the workforce is idle, alarm bells ring loudly.Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry - Job Summit (26th Sept 2011)
Clearly this summit comes at a time of crisis as our country continues to lurch from one strike season to another, when key public service and Business sectors at all levels of employment, from unskilled to highly dedicated professionals such as medical and educational people are under pressure to strike due to limited vision by employers in the context of labour management.Where to with the Animals of the Western Cape?
On 10 May 2011 a meeting was held at the Cape Town Civic Centre, chaired by Alderman James Vos. He, with the Health Department of the City, has been given a mandate to investigate the formulation of an "animal welfare" policy for the City in collaboration with the Western Cape Provincial Government's Department of Agriculture.Employment Equity constitutionally revisited
The Employment Equity Act of 1998 in its preamble reveals that it was enacted to: "ensure the implementation of employment equity to redress the effects of discrimination; achieve a diverse workforce broadly representative of our people; promote economic development and efficiency in the workforce;...".The fundamental difficulty with the scheme of the Act is that the foundations of the new order are built upon the notions of non-racism and non-sexism.
The Truth about Employment Equity
Using race as the core driver of workplace organizational change, is a high risk strategy and one that has yet to prove it can deliver sustainable benefits.Made in Dagenham; perfected in Newcastle? -
"Over-protective labour law dispensation"
The search for what Jeremy Cronin of the SACP calls "a paradigm shift" in the functioning of the South African economy has attracted much heat and dust in the public debate around the clutch of proposed amendments to our over-protective labour law dispensation and the unveiling of the New Growth Plan of government.Tuberculosis and poverty: what could (and should) be done?
Two groups of experts from different parts of the world agree that extreme poverty and all its accompaniments-malnutrition, overcrowding or homelessness, addiction, and lack of access to health care-is the major driving force underlying the presence and spread of tuberculosis, including the current increases in tuberculosis caused by multiple drug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains.- download >
Kader Asmal calls for the scrapping of the National Democratic Revolution
Professor Asmal, a former cabinet member under two Presidents, and an ANC stalwart, has used the opportunity presented by the conference on ethics in public life held in Cape Town in October 2010 to call for the scrapping of the ANC's national democratic revolutionary agenda.Grootboom to Hangberg - access to adequate housing
The South African constitution is brief and to the point when it comes to the right to housing. It guarantees everyone the right to have "access to adequate housing".One of the major means of promoting the achievement of equality is to provide adequate housing.
Striking interminably: there has to be a better way
Unfortunately in South Africa strikes are all too often accompanied by unlawful collateral activities. Strikes with these features should be capable of being declared unlawful, that is to say that unions unable to exercise discipline over their members should forfeit the benefits of a legally protected strike.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.The four weeks of "industrial action" (it should be called "inaction") in the transport sector cost the country hundreds of millions of rands.
Strikes in Essential Services
Strikes, all too often accompanied by violence, are common in essential services in South Africa.The purpose of this paper is to explore the legality of these strikes and to suggest what the law could do to better manage them.
The calling of professional public servants
On Sunday 22nd August the Reverend Professor Peter Storey, preaching at a service commemorating the life of his late brother-in-law the Reverend Paul Welsh, made some thoughtful remarks concerning the current public service strike that are deserving of a wider audience than the congregation of the Rosebank Methodist Church in Cape Town.This is an extract from his address:
What's it to be: constitutionalism or populist revolution?
At the very core of the national accord, which saw the sovereign parliament of the apartheid era replaced by our thoroughly and painstakingly negotiated constitutional democracy, is the idea that the Constitution is the supreme law.Let's Tackle the Scourge of Crime Properly.
The frank acknowledgement by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Johnny de Lange, that the criminal justice system is dysfunctional is a welcome development from the point of view of ordinary people who have to cope daily with the consequences of that dysfunction.The Dawning of the Age of Responsibility.
When Barack Obama took office as President of the United States he made a speech ushering in what he called a new "era of responsibility" - and not a moment too soon.Jimmy Manyi: an Intractable Conflict of Interest
The Director General of Labour, Jimmy Manyi must be put to the choice that has to be made: either he is a full time loyal public servant of the people of South Africa, as the law requires him to be while he is director general, or he is not.His actions of late, particularly his unwarranted criticism of the constitution, show that he has overstepped the bounds of propriety and legality.
Pledge by the members of the Public Administration of South Africa
A Freedom Day offering to the betterment of the public administration of South Africa.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.The Deployment of party cadres in the public administration
Gwede Mantashe's concerns about our "governance model" in which directors general serve "at the mercy of ministers" are timely.
President Zuma's subsequent highlighting of the need to revisit cadre deployment practices shows that Mantashe in not alone and that the need for transformation of outmoded deployment practices is being taken seriously.
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.
Currently the national parliament is overwhelmingly (65,8%) composed of members of the tripartite alliance. The "ANC government" is incorrectly perceived to be the source of state power in this misconceived view. The true source of state power is, of course, the Constitution.
Affirmative action: redressing or creating imbalances?
The ideal of "redressing the imbalances of the past" is often given as the rationale for measures which are aimed, however inaccurately, at protecting and advancing those disadvantaged by unfair discrimination. The question is whether the measures at present in place are creating new imbalances which may adversely affect our future as a nation rather than protecting and advancing all those disadvantaged by unfair discrimination.Qunta's blind spot
While I hold no brief for COPE, or the "white right", it is necessary to comment on Christine Qunta's piece on affirmative action (CT 15/1).The Constitution and Quotas
The sparks that have been flying as a result of the decision of the new Western Cape Premier to appoint an all male mainly "white" cabinet to help her run her province reasonably and accountably.
The foundational values of the Constitution include non-racism and non-sexism. This means that race and sex ought not to be used as a basis for discrimination.
The Scorpions, the Constitution and the Rule of Law
The controversial National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Act and the South African Police Services Amendment Act bring about respectively the demise of Directorate of Special Operation (DSO) or the Scorpions.
Cosatu versus Manuel: the rules of engagement
Cosatu concedes that it is involved in what it describes as "an argument" with Trevor Manuel, the Minister of Planning in the Presidency.
The cause of the trouble is the publication of a green paper aimed at creating new ways of implementing policy.
Doctors, Hippocrates and Hypocrisy
The cacophony surrounding the wage negotiations in the public health sector has generated more heat than light. Any strike in the essential services arena is illegal.
Municipal Parallel Universes
It is beyond dispute that the dysfunction in the municipal sphere of government is endemic.What ordinary people want and why they aren't getting it
The appointment of an ad hoc Committee of the National Assembly to inquire into progress with service delivery and to make recommendations and an implementable action plan to improve the situation in the country is an opportunity for reflection and action.The "Three Cs" impeding service delivery
Three recurring themes emerge: rampant corruption, inappropriate and illegal cadre deployment in the public administration and a lack of capacity to actually do what is required to be done to put delivery by competent and committed professional public servants in place.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.Civil Service Accountability
Sections 195 (1) (d) of the Constitution prescribes that: 'Services must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias'.Section 195 1 (f) deals with 'who' is accountable for service delivery.
With all these laws, rules, regulations, codes and practices in place, the question is: how has our service delivery been allowed to deteriorate to the levels experienced today?
