Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the
Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Faculty of
Commerce, Law and Management
March 2016 / The critical observation for public administration and governance in South
Africa has been the relationship between senior managers and political
officials since the establishment of the democratic government in the
country. The first documented observation in the United States of America
by Woodrow Wilson marked the launch of public administration as an
independent faculty, breaking away from the political sciences. The
dominant theory that characterised public administration was that there
must be a clear distinction between politics and public administration. This
theory suggested that politics had nothing to do with public administration
and, therefore, politicians should not intrude into matters of public
administration.
For contemporary academia, it is crucial to ask questions about the
relevance of Wilson’s perspective with regard to the relationship between
senior managers and political officials. Nevertheless, contemporary
scholars are challenged by the emergent need to study the dual nature of
public administration, suggesting that public administration should not be
separated from politics, since public administration is merely the
expression of the political ideology. Hence, politics and public
administration should be inseparable. To refute or reaffirm these notions,
this thesis explores this study by reviewing the relationship between senior
public managers and political officials through analysing the politics–
administration interface in South Africa between 1999 and 2009.
In congruence with the main research questions of this study, the
researcher utilises four pre-claims to examine the politics–administration
interface and the factors that lead to strained relationships around the
interface. The first pre-claim in this study examines the notion suggesting
that it is the nature of the political bureau to dominate public
administration. The second pre-claim examines the notion suggesting that
there could be conflicting leadership styles between a political official and
a senior public service official. The third pre-claim is that political officials
may have a different political ideology as compared with the political
ideology upheld by a senior public service official. The fourth pre-claim is
that political officials or public service officials or both parties may have
some disregard for documented duties and responsibilities. Consequently,
this study examines the politics–administration interface in South Africa
within the scope of the pre-claims as presented in the introduction to the
study.
The study found that the colonial legacy in the Commonwealth Nations
with features of the Westminster system of governance perpetuates
political bureau dominance over public administration. The study further
found that it is conventionally accepted that the political bureau should
provide guidance to the public administration bureau and dominate public
administration which is only the expression of the prevailing political will.
The researcher has examined the pre-claim of conflicting leadership styles
between the elected officials and senior public servants. The study found
that between 1999 and 2009 there was a transition from the collective
leadership of the ruling political bureau to a closed conventional leadership
system where political power was centralized in the presidency, resulting
in leadership through fear and mistrust.
Regarding the pre-claim on different ideologies, this study argues that
public administration is the implementation of political ideologies, and
public service managers are at the apex of implementing policies for the
benefit of the social classes on behalf of the political bureau, which drives
the ideologies of a ruling political party. Therefore, different political
ideologies between the political bureau and the administration bureau may
be one of the factors of a strained politics–administration interface. The
study found that in cases (Buthelezi and Masetlha as well as Zille and
Mgoqi) where officials from different political parties attempted to work, the
arrangement resulted in a power struggle in the politics–administration
interface.
With regard to the pre-claim on disregard for documented rules and
responsibilities, the study found that the problem in the interface is not
always the neglect of documented rules and responsibilities, but rather
that in some cases the documented rules and responsibilities are not
always clear, resulting in grey or nondescript areas in the
politics−administration interface that are ultimately claimed by the political
bureau.
This study has further proposed a public service governance structure with
an added governance responsibility for the Public Service Commission to
oversee the administration in order to distance the political bureau from
public administration operations and direct engagement with senior public
servants, such as the directors-general. / MT 2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23775 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Shazi, Xolisani Raymond |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (x, 251 leaves), application/pdf |
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