Almost 30 years into democracy, South Africa still hasn’t ensured the jobs of senior public servants are not tied to the tenure of government ministers.
A protest in Johannesburg against the lack of service delivery or basic necessities such as access to water and electricity.
Photo by Marco Longari / AFP via Getty images
The country is still a very different political space. It’s a noisy democracy with a free media, lots of dissenting voices, and insulting the government doesn’t carry any overt sanction.
Growing poverty and unemployment have seen shacklands mushroom in post-apartheid South Africa.
Frédéric Soltan/Corbis via Getty Images
Professionalism has to start with ministers for it to stand any chance of being embedded throughout the public service.
African National Congress top six leaders. The governing party’s wishes are sometimes out of kilter with the dictates of statecraft.
AFP-GettyImages/Mujahid Safodien
Both the state of the nation address and budget speech didn’t leave a sense that there has been much reflection on the depth of the economic malaise gripping South Africa.
New ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa moments before winning.
EPA-EFE/Cornell Tukiri
Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to emphasise stability - in government and the ANC. Given his history he is likely to want to stabilise the economy rather than pursue radical interventions.
South Africa has one last hurdle to cross before it implements a sugar tax to prevent a wide-range of obesity related non-communicable diseases.
South Africa’s Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa and former finance minister Trevor Manuel were instrumental to the making of the country’s National Development Plan.
GCIS
South Africa’s governing ANC has always seen economic growth as the driving force for change. This was wishful thinking as the damage done by apartheid will take far more to undo.
Land reform remains a divisive subject 23 years after democracy in South Africa.
Filckr
After South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, the previously oppressed and dispossessed black majority hoped for constitutional restitution of their land. This has largely failed.
South Africa’s economy was built on strong mining activity which has declined in recent years.
REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
The economic transformation discussion document released by South Africa’s governing party, the ANC, fails to be radical.
A defiant student sits in the middle of a road after a crowd was dispersed during a protest over fees to parliament on the occasion of finance minister Pravin Gordhan presenting his medium-term budget.
Nic Bothma/EPA
South Africa must examine how science funding is allocated to universities. It also needs to acknowledge that not all universities should be focusing on research and development.
South Africa’s land reform has been captured by elites and its strategic thrust remains unclear.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Through developing their technological skills, South Africa’s local municipalities can increase their capacity to compete with markets in neighbouring countries.
Professor and Programme Director, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand
Chair of the Board of Trustees and Head of African Futures & Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies. Extraordinary Professor in the Centre of Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Senior Researcher, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, PRICELESS SA, Faculty of Health Sciences, Wits School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand