Publication Cover
Politikon
South African Journal of Political Studies
Volume 34, 2007 - Issue 2
831
Views
6
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

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

Pages 147-164 | Published online: 17 Dec 2007
 

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 Citation1994, 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 Citation1994.

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

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 387.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.