Conflicts between Directors-General and Ministers in South Africa 1994–2004: A ‘Postulative’ Approach

Abstract

Conflicts between directors-general and their ministers in South Africa are often brought into the public domain by the media. This ‘chronic’ phenomenon is an important subject in political administrative interface discourse that necessitates scholarly engagements because of its potential to thwart public service delivery. In this article the issue of conflicts between the directors-general and their ministers during the first decade of democracy in South Africa is examined from a ‘postulative’ perspective, which is a hypotheses-setting approach. In the context of three major trends in the transformation of the public service in South Africa since the inception of the democratic regime in 1994, various hypotheses about the causes of conflicts at the political administrative interface are made. Scholars in the field of politics and governance are challenged to engage ‘postulative’ statements or hypotheses propagated in this article by subjecting them to analytical scrutiny to either validate or disprove them.

Notes

1. Reference to media articles and reports in this article should not be misconstrued as an over-reliance on newspapers. It is an attempt to point out a certain treatment of the issue of conflicts between directors-general and ministers, which I find is too journalistic, often fixated on sensationalism, and largely unscholarly.

2. This refers to the South African regime before the inception of the democratic dispensation in 1994.

3. TBVC states refers to Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei.

4. Self-governing territories refers to Lebowa, Gazankulu, KaNgwane, Qwaqwa, Kwazulu and Kwa-Ndebele.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mashupye Herbet Maserumule

* Tshwane University of Technology, Soshanguve Campus, Private Bag x 07, Pretoria North 0116. Email: [email protected]. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the South African Association of Public Administration and Management-Gauteng Chapter (SAAPAM-G) mini-conference held on 23 July 2004, University of South Africa, Pretoria Sunnyside Campus