South Africa

ANALYSIS

Restructuring the government — a president, nine ministers and a band of DGs are all that’s needed

Restructuring the government — a president, nine ministers and a band of DGs are all that’s needed
President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photos: Leila Dougan / Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg / Getty Images)

With crucial reforms to state-owned aviation and energy done and dusted, the next urgent must is action to realise that much-promised, but still elusive, efficient developmental state. Restructuring must break entrenched networks of state patronage, inefficiency and delivery failure.

One of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first pledges in office on 16 February 2018 was the reconfiguration of government so “the structure and size of the state is optimally suited to meet the needs of the people and ensure the most efficient allocation of public resources”. 

Over the past three years, that has been focused on shifting executive power into the Presidency — think Operation Vulindlela with the National Treasury, the Project Management Office, and the Infrastructure and Investment Office. 

This strategic move is bolstered as Ramaphosa chairs various coordinating structures, including the State-Owned Entities Council, the Presidential Coordinating Council with premiers and mayors, and the Infrastructure Coordination Council. Similar structures exist on climate change, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and investment, alongside a series of advisory working committees. 

All of this, alongside the increasing role of Operation Vulindlela, underlines two structural reforms and policy changes: the recent sale of 51% in national airliner SAA and the upping to 100MW of the embedded power licensing threshold. (Read more here and here.)

What must happen now is a total executive overhaul. Tinkering with the number of Cabinet posts and the size of the national executive would just be putting lipstick on a pig. 

Shedding 19 of the 28 Cabinet ministers and all of the 34 deputy ministerial posts is a step forward. Not to save money — a back of the napkin calculation indicates an annual salary saving of about R116-million — but to finally bring about the efficient spending of public finances in the public interest for the public good. 

Crucially, such a fundamental restructuring would help break up the networks of patronage and nepotism, which most recently have made possible the Covid-19 tender malfeasance. 

It would also help shed the fossilised BS government protocols — everyone defers to the most senior in the room, or the minister, and will not talk unless instructed — alongside the entrenched kicking for touch while citing collective decision-making and process. 

Put differently: fewer ministers, fewer diary clashes and better executive decision-making. And that should speed up governance decisions and implementation, which are almost down to the pace of a dead snail. 

By focusing on nine ministries, various departments can be combined into one fold for better coordination and to drop “working in silos”, as government jargon puts it. No reasons exist why ministers, the political bosses, would be unable to deal with several directors-general (DGs) reporting to them. Those directors-general must be appointed, and account, according to function. Who says it has to be one department, one DG? 

Some changes would be fairly straightforward. 

A Finance Ministry remains, still in charge of the National Treasury. A Defence Ministry stays, as does an International Relations Ministry. 

But the International Relations Ministry would also take charge of South Africa’s foreign intelligence services, whose boss would report to the minister alongside the international relations DG. 

Unbundling the State Security Agency into foreign and domestic services arises from the 2018 High-Level Review Panel Report, and is one of the key tenets to deal with malfeasance and excessive secrecy in intelligence circles. 

An argument could be made for the foreign intelligence service to report to the Presidency, but Ramaphosa is already in charge overall of national security and has been since March 2020 when he re-established the National Security Council. This council includes not only the ministers of defence, police and state security, but also international relations. So, putting foreign intelligence services into the Department of International Relations is not implausible. 

The biggest change would come on the home front, through a Home and Interior Affairs Ministry that would be in charge of people- and citizen-related services — from birth and identity to immigration and social development — as well as police and domestic intelligence. 

This ministry could be a bit of a beast, but effective senior officials would make it work. This would be the catalyst for the integrated population electronic database, never mind a holistic fingerprint system, which the government has battled to bring about for more than 25 years. 

Any doubting Thomases should get in touch with IFP President Emeritus Mangosuthu Buthelezi to chat about his years as home affairs minister in the Mandela presidency and the first Thabo Mbeki administration. 

Bringing together identity-related matters with social development allows cross-referencing on the national population register, and hopefully an easier and more dignified grant and other social development assistance for countless vulnerable and poor South Africans. The overnight or 4am queues and being water-cannoned by the police for not keeping sufficient physical distance at grant offices and pay points do not reflect care and respect for the constitutionally guaranteed dignity of people.  

Such a ministry would also ease applications for passports, IDs and smart IDs and permanent residency, while facilitating visa processes for those wanting to come to South Africa to invest, for critical skills jobs — or just for retirement. Such integration and streamlining have been the topic of countless conversations in the National Economic Development and Labour Council. 

The controversial Border Management Authority perhaps is more readily accommodated in the Home and Interior Affairs Ministry, which would also include domestic intelligence and policing. 

While both entities would report separately to the home and interior affairs minister, putting them under the same political boss may just trigger cooperation — and maybe even proactive responsiveness to communities in the interest of the safety and security the Constitution stipulates for everyone.

Domestic intelligence is supposed to inform the government of risks and threats and provide credible analysis of those. Most of such so-called threats arise at the local level — taxi conflicts, attacks on the vulnerable, or when gatvol communities protest over lack of service delivery. Then, there’s also cybercrime and organised crime such as trafficking in goods or people. 

Legislative and regulatory work would have to be done to finesse the inclusion of the police, but it’s not starting from scratch. 

Rather than the lackadaisical rearranging of the deckchairs in the current amendment of the SAPS Act, a transformative revision would allow the separation out of the uniformed branches, from visible policing to protection services and the specialised units like the National Intervention Unit and Special Task Force, to fall under this new ministry. 

It takes political will to restructure the government and governance beyond the tinkering of a Cabinet reshuffle. And in South Africa’s seemingly permanent election cycle, from municipal to national polls and internal political party contests in between, that political will may well be subservient to internal party political support considerations and the demands of the campaign trail. 

Detectives, forensics and the Hawks would move to the Department of Justice, where these specialised policing entities alongside the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and its tribunals, would help coordinate and boost the fight against corruption and crime. 

The justice department would continue to be responsible for prisons, thus overseeing what the government calls the “criminal justice value chain”. Given oversight, from arrests to courts and imprisonment — the NPA boss, alongside the top detective and Hawks head and SIU boss would all report directly to the minister — the justice department would be able to intervene effectively where and when needed. That’s a plus to help stem declining public trust in the courts, alongside the plummeting sentiments on police that emerge in various public opinion surveys. 

Health must remain a ministry for now because its problems are gargantuan. A DG for National Health Insurance (NHI) is crucial for this to ever get off the ground. Also needed is a director-general for maternal and child health — South Africa falls short on substantially lowering mortality rates — and a DG for specialised health programmes, be those TB and HIV programmes or even lifestyle and health education, to ensure those vital health interventions do not get lost. 

An Education and Research Ministry would ensure coordination from Grade R to PhD, with specific attention for research and innovation. Between them, the DGs for basic education, higher education and research and innovation would work together to, for example, stem the school dropout rate, which shows that about half of those who start Grade R drop out before reaching the final school year.

It’s not good enough to say that those children who dropped out — for whatever reason — are outside the school system and the departmental responsibility. Research like that of Statistics South Africa shows those without even a school-leaving certificate are hardest hit by unemployment. This pattern entrenches inequality across race, gender and age, and is a key structural impediment to South Africa’s social wellbeing and economic recovery. 

Talking economy, aside from the finance ministry, South Africa would need ministries of economic affairs and of development. 

The Economic Affairs Ministry would include small business development, trade and industry, communications, energy, mineral resources and agriculture. It may seem like an allsorts collection, but it will facilitate coordination across important sectors. 

For example, trade policy can make the best of minerals and agriculture exports, or ensure that small businesses receive the necessary support to, for example, realise the government’s township enterprise policy, while communications must work across public and private sectors. 

A Development Ministry leverages priorities from spatial development, service delivery and economic stimulus measures, as various streams are headed by DGs.  

It includes transport — roads and rail networks are central to economic activity — land and rural development to redress stubborn inequalities, and environmental affairs to take custodianship of natural resources for the benefit of everyone. Human settlements and water and sanitation are key to develop dignified living spaces, while public works maintains government public infrastructure from courts to offices. Labour would focus on opportunities for public works programmes and ensure fair labour practices in the private and public sectors. 

This restructuring is not impossible as already under way are changes in the public service and administration. For example, the Presidency DG was styled as the “DG of the Republic” by acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni in a media interaction after the Presidency budget vote

Also finally moving after more than a quarter-century are reforms for a single public service across all spheres of government from local, provincial to national. 

With the District Development Model — it aims to coordinate planning and service delivery in each of South Africa’s 52 districts, including the metros — these public service changes may also have an impact on the size, shape and role of provincial governments. 

Very simply put, provinces channel national purse allocations, particularly for health and education. Already, municipalities receive money via grants for housing, water and bulk infrastructure, public transport and more. With a single public service, nothing stops a province from being run by a premier’s office, provincial treasury and a provincial DG who heads the provincial administration. 

Cooperative governance, like monitoring and evaluation, may well be a valuable addition to the Presidency at the level of DGs. 

It takes political will to restructure the government and governance beyond the tinkering of a Cabinet reshuffle. And in South Africa’s seemingly permanent election cycle, from municipal to national polls and internal political party contests in between, that political will may well be subservient to internal party political support considerations and the demands of the campaign trail. 

But a fundamental restructuring of national government down to as little as nine ministries backed by a corps of professional directors-general is eminently doable.

And crucial. Maybe not for the political elites that benefit from the current omnishambles, but for everyone else in South Africa. DM

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Peter Bartlett says:

    Give this girl a BELLS! On second thoughts, make it a double!!

    • John Coombes says:

      Give the brilliance of her work i would suggest something a bit more posh. Say The Macallan 50 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, @ $115,588 (a bottle not a barrel!!). But maybe that’s Comrade Malema’s favourite tipple?

  • Nick Poree Poree says:

    How about hacking down the nine provinces a the same time

    • Gerhard Pretorius says:

      This should definitely be high on the agenda. Provincial governments was just a job creation activity in the beginning – and it still is.
      A good example is the Northern Cape with a little more than 1 million people. It is not even one quarter of Soweto. How can they justify a provincial structure?
      And if one looks at the type of discussion and the topics in provincial legislatures the public will quickly realise oir money is spent on trivial rubbish.

  • Coen Gous says:

    Marianne, I have so much respect for you, and IF you were the president of this country, no doubt this is what your cabinet would have looked like. But you are NOT the president (for now), and this article is thus pure speculation, worse, wishful thinking.
    What the president says, and what he does, are two completely different things. One can read anything in any of his speeches, or even actions. Yes, he possibly has some restructuring in mind. But to what degree nobody knows. The saying always is: “Politics is a dirty business”. And truth be told, it is. Ramaphosa can easily make changes to his cabinet, but his problem is not the “what”, it is the “whom”. And that is where the cookie crumbles. Yes, he can get rid of de Lille (she is from another party), and Barbara Creedy (she is White), but how many of the others can he get rid of before the NEC (the real rulers of the country) shouts: “Stop it, or you’re out!” The communists in his cabinet? Dlamini-Zuma? Pandor? Gordhan? Sisulu? Ceke? Lamola? Patel?…..and my favourite: Mantashe?
    And even if he has the guts to do it, to run a country by what is bound to be a bunch of compromise DG’s will be political suicide.
    NO, forget it. This president is far too conservative, far too careful. He did not even had the guts to fire Mkhize outright, despite overwhelming evidence. He does not have the guts to fire the commissioner of police (Sitole), or the DG of Correctional Services (Frazer).
    At best we can expect that he will release some of the Deputy Ministers, and maybe consolidate up to 5 portfolio’s in his Cabinet, but wholesome changes as you recommend? It will not happen!

  • Gerhard Pretorius says:

    Ramaphosa’s starting point statement is what should happen. As we all now, there is a massive crater between ‘ought’ and ‘is’.
    A happy medium between centralisation versus a flat strucure with a host of departments is something most governments worldwide battle and is not easily achievable.
    That does not mean there should not be a fierce debate about what the most efficient governmental structure should be.
    In the world of strategic planning the rule is that ‘structure should follow strategy’. In other words first figure out what it is one would like to achieve in broad terms before giving it a body.
    This specific topic is best addressed by true professionals – which are thinly spread in South Africa – with lots and lots of input from citizens. Start talking.

  • John Bophela says:

    Such a brilliant and elegant solution. It’s a sad shame that the politics of this country will prevent this from happening.

    FYI I’m going to save this article for future reference(it could come in handy one day)

  • sl0m0 za says:

    SAA reform was window dressing as it will still be state/cadre owned and run with PIC funds and shell corporations owned by state cadres.

  • Glyn Morgan says:

    This is something like the plan the DA has had for years. To streamline it in a practical way would be to strengthen the federal qualities of provincial government. That would reduce the number of useless bureaucrats and get the management closer to the people.

    • Coen Gous says:

      Glyn always respect your comments. But making a plan, and following up on that palm are two different things. And there can be little doubt that their plan is not working in all constituencies under their control. Except for the WC, their plan in other problems fails miserably. And even in the WC some municipalities, and especially districts and/or wards, it is nothing but a mess. And I have no doubt that, even the a bigger mess the ANC is in, the DA is going to loose many municipalities. Hopefully even they can “self-correct”before the next national and provincial elections in a few years time.

      • Glyn Morgan says:

        Hi Coen, thanks. The present “plan” is not working. So what choices do we have, where do we start and where do we want to get to? I do not think that the ANC is able to self-correct to any productive degree. So that means we, The People, need to change the ruling party. Which is the party with the best record of governance? It is the DA. I am not saying that the DA is perfect, it is not. But it has the best record in the Western Cape and Cape Town. A number of municipalities are not performing optimally, but if you take a look at them there is usually ANC obstructionism at play. When the ANC takes over from the DA that town goes DOWN. Check PE!

        So? Firstly, constant negativity about the DA will not help anybody except the ANC. The media needs to give credit where credit is deserved. Media nit-picking makes the ANC chuckle. The DA is not the only democratic party, but the others are too small to be any good at removing the ANC and removing the ANC will take time.

        As far as the DM is concerned, I would have expected a stronger democratic direction. We do not need another Yugoslav catastrophe!

        Your take, Coen? I would like a reply from the DM Editor on the need for democracy.

        • Paddy Ross says:

          Glyn, I admire hugely your persistence in pointing out the success of the DA in governance and I agree with you 100%. What I can not understand as an ex-pat who is ineligible to vote in SA is the number of South Africans who obsess about personalities in the DA but who, judged by their comments, have not bothered to read the policies of the DA which are accessed easily by ‘Googling’ the DA website. For Coen Gous’ benefit, a number of the poorly functioning municipalities in the Western Cape are not controlled politically by the DA – check and see if one doesn’t believe me.

          • Coen Gous says:

            Paddy, as an expat you might have a different opinion, which is your right. But let me just ask you one thing, since you appear to be extremely knowledgable. Which municipalities in the Western Cape are not controlled politically by the DA? And where do YOU check. The only check there is, is the official election results of 2017, by ward, by municipality, and by district. If a party won outright in a municipality, the have ultimate control of that municipality, even if the lost some “wards”. So where do I, or anyone else, check, if it is in deed different to what I say. Because I will tell you in no uncertain terms, I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU! So please. FOR MY BENEFIT, enlighten me!

          • Coen Gous says:

            Just on the side, policies on a piece of paper, whether it is available on a website, YouTube, a grocery store, a school newspaper or a teenagers dairy, is only as good as the paper it is written on if it is not practised. And sir, my I also add, personalities are indeed important, simply because that personality is the face of the party, like in any business, any organisation. You have the wrong “face” people will not trust you, and therefor not vote for you. Do you honestly believe that voters spend there time in reading policies of a party on their so-called website. Those policies needs to be marketed, explained, emphasized. Really, clearly you are….

          • Glyn Morgan says:

            Hi Paddy – The reason that nobody reads the DA policies is that South Africa has a Stockholm Syndrome epidemic! They say, as Coen said abov, that the DA is the best party, then they nit-pick about a tweet that they have not read. A year or two after the tweet was sent! Then they vote for somebody who is totally suspect or for Ramaphosa (NOT the ANC!!), as he is “a good guy”! Stockholm Syndrome par excellence!

        • Coen Gous says:

          Every single comment you make above is spot on. The DA is without doubt the most democratic party in South Africa, and certainly the most ethical. But a massive mistake was made post the 2019 general election. The DA did not loose voters because of a poor strategy or plan. They lost voters because many White, Coloured, and Indian DA supporters voted for Ramaphosa, not the ANC. because they were hoping the Ramaphosa can be a strong, credible President of the country, forget about also being the ANC president.Ramaphosa was far more trustworthy than Zuma for obvious reasons amongst these 3 racial groups. They also lost voters, especially Afrikaans voters, to the EFF for various reasons, but not necessarily because of a bad election strategy. Then of cause they lost voters, especially coloured voters, to Patricia de Ville’s Good party, due to the Saga between De Lille and the DA, primarily because of a fool called JP Smit, the caused the whole saga. If you study the results of 2019 compared to the 2017 municipal elections, the DA suffered the biggest loss in the WC.
          And then, the perceived racist Tony Leon (“the experiment that went wrong” guy) made the finding the Maimane was primarily responsible for the losses that occured. And then Zille made this dramatic comeback. She had her time, but her colonial tweets and other stupid comments made her an enemy of many voters, especially Black and Coloured voters. The result, Maimane resign, followed by the highly credible Mashaba and also Trollip. These are true leaders, and highly credible. And the DA will take a long time to recover from those losses. Whilst people vote for a party, there is a face behind that party. If democratic and informed voters do not have trust in the leaders, they will not vote for that party, as we saw with the 2017 municipal elections when the ANC lost hugh votes to the DA and EFF, because of Zuma whom by then has lost 75% of ANC voters trust.
          Yes, the DA is the most democratic, but the DA has lost their real leaders. Steenhuisen was a good chief whip, but the Leader of the party? Zille has lost her popularity, but she still rule from the grave. Steenhuisen is merely her “puppy”. And they are both white, as are many other leaders in the party. Perceived racism is stil very large in South Africa, and that does the DA no favour.
          I think the DA can self-correct, but then they need leadership that has credibily amongst all racia groups. Steenhuisen and Zille talk a lot, too much in fact, and basically saying nothing. People don’t trust them, neither do I. To me Steenhuisen is no leader, as Leon was no leader, for all races in any case. Politics are about perceptions. If you can fix perceptions, you are doomed. Despite the horrors at the ANC, Ramaphosa is trusted and believed, and the ANC will therefor gainvotes later this year compared to 2019. If Ramaphosa goes, the ANC will NOT make the 50% thresshold. He, and he alone, is their ticket to success. That is the reason that Malema is trying everything in his power to discredit Ramaphosa. And I believe he is failing, Ramaphosa supporters will NOT switch to the EFF.
          I am really hoping that actionSA and Mashaba can make an impact. They are on the face of it more democratic than the DA, and an alliance between these two parties can ultimately make a powerful combination, and can certainly become major “kingmakers” in times to come.Glyn, this is my opinion, but then, I always have been a bit of an idiot. Lets hope I am right where it really matters, and wrong where it does not.

          • Coen Gous says:

            My apologies for the grammatical errors. If the computer does not fix it, I’m doomed. The worse proof reader ever

          • Coen Gous says:

            I’m a marketing man by trade, studied marketing and business, and practised it my whole life, before I took early retirement both a small farm and farmed fwith sheep for 10 years, no internet, bad TV, and no cell phone. And truth be told, loved it, and became an animal activist in the process. My interest in politics only started after I sold the farm, and when Pravin Gordhan was fired

          • Glyn Morgan says:

            My condolences Coen – Your Stockholm Syndrome is getting bad.

        • Coen Gous says:

          There are indeed a number of municipalities not controlled by the DA in the Western Cape. But being the winner of a municipalty only really allows you to appoint a major, senior and vital positions, who has a say in that specific municipality. But then, there are also natoional and provincial elections, a many aspects of governance apply to the province as a whole, and the provincial government has immense power over municipalities, but they do not oversee basic service delivery in every municipality, like things you pay for on your municipal account…water, electricity, sewage, etc. That is the responsibility of each individual municipality.

          • Glyn Morgan says:

            WoW! I quote you – “Every single comment you make above is spot on. The DA is without doubt the most democratic party in South Africa, and certainly the most ethical.”

            That is why I will vote DA again. Not because of any individual politician. They come and go. I look at the long picture, the future for my kids and grandkids.

            You say – “They lost voters because many White, Coloured, and Indian DA supporters voted for Ramaphosa, not the ANC. because they were hoping the Ramaphosa can be a strong, credible President of the country, forget about also being the ANC president.” Right, so you got sold one by Peter Bruce and Ramaphosa got in and Mrs Zuma did not. Great! They put their cross next to the ANC!! Trouble is we now have an ANC + EFF with enough majority to change the Constitution. NOT GOOD AT ALL! So do not do that stunt again! Will not work out right.

            Mashaba? It takes a marketing man to get sold by another marketing man! Good luck to him, especially if he teams up with the DA to take Jo’burg.

          • Paddy Ross says:

            Coen, I am not clear what it is that I said that you don’t believe as you are now acknowledging that there are municipalities in the Western Cape that are not governed by the DA. Check for yourself what the Auditor general’s reports are on these municipalities.

          • Paddy Ross says:

            Coen, I am not clear what it is that I said that you don’t believe as you are now acknowledging that there are municipalities in the Western Cape that are not governed by the DA. Check for yourself what the Auditor general’s reports are on these municipalities.
            P.S. DM , you are not posting this because you say that I have said this already. I am merely responding to an implication that in my previous post I was lying.

  • Trevor Jones says:

    My wife and I are “swallows”, retired, with a lock up and go in Western Cape.
    We come twice a year for a couple of months either side of Christmas.
    We’ve been stuck here since travel restrictions were introduced in March last year, and have been trying to get visa extensions from the DHA for the last six months. Their website does not work, they don’t reply to emails, and after dozens of phone calls without result have decided to take it up with the SA Embassy back home, when eventually we get there.
    I was a civil servant for over thirty five years back at home, and have seen governments come and go, and understand the difficulties of trying to implement changing policy in several languages, but I have to give the prize to the South African DHA for the the most useless, incompetent, and uncaring government I have ever had to deal with. They are hopeless,and worst of all, just do not seem to care that they are hopeless.

    • Glyn Morgan says:

      I would like to see a reply to this most embarrassing comment from Mark Heywood.

    • Coen Gous says:

      Trevor, you are so right. These is no sense of accountability by 80% plus of civil service employees. They simply believe the country owes them, not the other way round. The problem starts from the top. Bad leaders, with bad leadership skill result in bad employees. It is a vicious cycle

  • Ritchie Morris says:

    A table summarising the proposed Ministeries would be nice.

  • peter barron says:

    A triple decent single malt to make it last.

    Evrybody I know agrees that a shake up of the public service is what is required.
    The DGs should all have to do crash courses in strategic management as well (after hours!)

  • Malcolm Mitchell says:

    I am in strong agreement with this suggestion. As a previous DDG for 9 years (equally spanning 1994) and actg. DG for about a year, and later a Ministerial advisor my impression is that we do not need Deputy Ministers, they just get in the way of activities, and the dept. generally has to find something to keep them occupied. The most important requirement for good governance is intelligent and good DGs and DDGs supported by competent officials. Also feel that provincial government is a waste of resources, work can be done through regional offices of central government depts. BUT vested political influences will not allow this. Pity is that independent provincial government seems to be DA policy – for obvious political reasons.

    • Glyn Morgan says:

      Said like a true bureaucrat!

      • Coen Gous says:

        You know Glyn, rather than insulting others, like the one above to Mally2, for not sharing your view, perhaps you should look at yourself. Earlier, and printed higher up, you’ve ask me for my opinion in something relating to the DA. Which I did…my opinion, which you have asked for (“Your take, Coen”). Then you insult me. Stockholm Syndrome? And then later on, things got worse. You spent an entire page insulting me, inter alia I was sold one by Peter Bruce. Been many years since I’ve read anything by him, primarily because I do not read the Sunday Times. Glyn I tried to be nice to you, but your obsession with the DA is becoming boring. It is exactly because of people like you, and a DA councillor in PE called Renaldo Gouws, whom runs a YouTube channel, why I will never vote for the DA, at least for the foreseeable future, apart from my opinions regarding the current crop of DA leaders

        • Coen Gous says:

          For you information, I did read the policies of the DA available on their website. Once of their key policies is: Non-racialism. So if that is the case, why have so many DA members resigned? Tony Leon, an ex-leader, is still an advisor to the DA. A comment in his recent published book, referring to Busi Maimane: “An experiment went wrong!” So Maimane’s election as the leader of the DA was an “Experiment”, like a test-tube baby. That insult is not just racist, but is ten times worse that the “k” word. And Zille….she is a racist through and throug, albeit a “colonial” one. In my entire life I have never, not once, been contacted by the DA. Either by email, whatapp, or “knock-on-door”. That despite been a voter for the basically my entire life. And you think I should vote for them again because of their policies. Stockholm Syndrome?

  • Sandra Goldberg says:

    All very well rationalizing government departments, downscaling them, getting rid of the deputy ministers and even some cabinet posts,the real question will always be the calibre of the people chosen to fill these positions- their honesty, competence , integrity and intelligence, Without quality appointments, nothing will improve. We should have learnt this by now

  • Carsten Rasch says:

    Couldnt help noticing you dropped arts & culture. Yea, what the hell, bunch of freebooting, freelancing freethinking creatives who can’t even keep office hours… hopefully they’ll emigrate.

  • Johan Buys says:

    Has anybody explained the roles of:
    National health minister
    Provincial health MEC
    Metropolitan health MEC
    Mayoral committee member for health.

    I was at a health clinic today. The Sister actually runs the show.

  • Themba Nkabinde says:

    Interesting proposal but what guarantees its effectiveness and success? Structural savings may be attractive but effectiveness depends on role clarity, deployment of requisite skills and appropriate devolution decision making power. All this has to be built on the proposal enjoying enthusiastic political support in the ruling party. Good luck 👍.

    • Carsten Rasch says:

      I agree. The fault Ms Mertin is making is thinking there are people in the ANC that not only CAN do the job, but WILL do it.

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