MERIT SHOULD DRIVE PUBLIC SERVICE

    ( My brief in vandag se BusinessDay)                                                                       

                                                                                               

The public service as an independent bureaucratic institution is severely threatened by the Zumafication of the African National Congress (ANC). Service delivery is seriously hampered by the erosion of expertise at all three levels of government and the politicising thereof with cadre deployment. Even the South African Revenue Service's ability to generate an income for the government has been weakened lately, as Zuma loyalists stop at nothing to protect his inner circle.  The separation between party and state is becoming blurred as the ANC fights for political survival.

In his book, Political Order and Political Decay,  US political scientist, Francis Fukuyama argues that a strong, effective, autonomous public service that is merit driven is a precondition for successful political development to assure a democracy that is regarded legitimate and is working for the benefit of citizens.

Even Germany, Prof Fukuyama demonstrates in his book, had a fairly independent bureaucratic governmental institution that withstood the Nazi experiment to lay the foundation for the strong Germany of today. Despite its autocratic rule today,  Prof Fukuyama writes than the Qin and subsequent dynasties in China relied heavily on autonomous, merit-driven bureaucracies. This explains to an extend why China is so powerful today.

The public service in Greece has been in trouble for many decades as the bureaucracy in this country suffered under party-political patronage and has been robbed of independence and merit.  This explains the unfortunate position Greece finds itself in today.

To avoid a Greek tragedy in SA , we need to reconsider the integrity of our public service. A public service must be autonomous, merit driven, corruption-free and effective to support a viable democracy.