After the seventh democratic national and provincial elections on May 29, South Africa finds itself in an unexpected power-sharing arrangement through a coalition or government of national unity (GNU).
The governing ANC, which prides itself on being Africa’s oldest liberation movement, has lost its three-decade-long electoral majority over the country after its voting support fell from 57.5% in 2019 to 40.2% in 2024.
To many, the short-lived post-apartheid GNU arrangement and related experiences have completely faded in memory, thus making it difficult to serve as a reference point. Instead, the complex and challenging local government coalitions produced by the last two elections serve as a benchmark for an unknown future.
As various political parties scramble for potential coalition partners or consider the ANC (the party with the most seats) in their quest to meet the 14-day constitutional deadline for the sitting of the National Assembly, after the announcement of the election results some public service mandarins have a sense of trepidation in this period of uncertainty and unfamiliar developments.
Section 197(1) of the constitution states: “Within public administration there is a public service for the Republic, which must function, and be structured, in terms of national legislation, and which must loyally execute the lawful policies of the government of the day.”
This section, in chapter 10 of the supreme law, is rarely cited in public discourse about the functioning of the state. Even in debates on public servants being accused of being partisan, the following provision in section 197(3) remains muted: “No employee of the public service may be favoured or prejudiced only because that person supports a particular political party or cause.” Section 195(1) of the constitution outlines the “basic values and principles governing public administration [government]”, which apply to all spheres of government, organs of state and public enterprises.
A further provision is that a public administration must be governed by democratic values and principles characterised by high standards of professional ethics, efficiency, economic and effective use of resources, impartiality, inclusivity, accountability and transparency. The basic proposition is that we have a firm legal foundation to manage current and unfolding realities.
The term “mandarins” is invoked because the state requires a cadre of executives with exceptional leadership and managerial skills to navigate political dynamics, deploy human and capital resources, interpret political mandates and diligently lead the execution of plans that improve society’s socioeconomic conditions. The responsibility of a patriotic mandarin is to faithfully execute the government’s policies of the day and ensure that service delivery is sustained, even in the face of political changes. The supreme structure that commands the bureaucracy is the cabinet, where the government’s programme of the day is adopted.
Adopting the National Framework Towards the Professionalisation of the Public Sector by the cabinet in October 2022 served to effect the constitutional obligation by providing better guidance on managing shocks such as current exceptional circumstances. The framework provides agency to the mandarins by emphasising the importance of maintaining higher standards of professionalism, regardless of personal affiliation with a political party or cause.
As with counterparts in other parts of the world who have been through coalitions, South African mandarins should continue to advance the national development agenda. As the country enters the black-swan era of significant changes in public positions, mandarins are understandably concerned, as coalitions have inherent problems. Some mandarins have expressed concern that because a coalition government includes additional layers of bureaucracy, different parties may claim control of specific institutions. Public servants receive contradictory directives from political principals from coalition parties, causing confusion, frustration and inefficiencies.
Now is the moment for public servants to embrace these GNU and coalition arrangements to broaden their horizons by learning and adapting policies and strategies to a changing political landscape
A unity arrangement and related coalition partners may exert more political pressure on public servants to align with their respective party agendas, possibly jeopardising the civil service’s neutrality and professionalism. Again, the mandarins should manage this at the departmental level by ensuring that reference is always made to the cabinet’s national development agenda.
Job insecurity is a genuine concern, particularly among senior public servants. Disagreements in allocating budgets to government departments and entities may compromise funding for long-term projects and consequently affect service delivery. Despite all these perceived and potentially genuine challenges, experiences from other countries have shown that GNUs and coalitions provide opportunities for constructive change and are a vital component of further professionalising the public sector. Coalition governments can promote public-policy innovation by bringing together different political parties’ perspectives and ideas. Such political joint ventures also intrinsically promote collaborative governance practices, with departments and ministries working together to develop and implement integrated policies.
To navigate this dynamic political landscape, public servants must be adaptable and resilient to their mandate of serving the public effectively and efficiently. Now is the moment for public servants to embrace these GNU and coalition arrangements to broaden their horizons by learning and adapting policies and strategies to a changing political landscape. A GNU or coalition agreement would reinforce the cabinet as the primary policy direction and decision-making source.
Coalition governments can have a multidimensional impact on professionalising the public service, influencing various aspects such as recruiting, training, performance management and overall efficiency. In Germany, for example, the grand coalition (2005-09 and 2013-21) aimed to modernise the public sector through training programmes that would increase and rapidly adapt to new policies. The GNU and coalition agreements frequently highlight the importance of a competent and neutral civil service, resulting in initiatives such as the Zukunftsdialog (Future Dialogue), which sought to professionalise public administration through standardisation and best practices.
In Belgium, coalition administrations have prioritised capacity-building within the public service to deal with the complexity of a multilingual and multicultural society. For example, their training initiatives aimed to ensure that public servants were fluent in Dutch and French, thereby boosting communication and service delivery. In India, coalition governments have recognised the importance of a professionalised public service in effectively implementing diverse policy objectives.
A practical further example is coalition arrangements in Italy, where the 2009 Brunetta Reform was adopted, which aimed to boost public sector efficiency and accountability by implementing performance-based compensation and rigorous performance evaluations for public servants. In the Netherlands, coalition governments have promoted professionalisation through collaborative training programmes that bring together public servants from different ministries. These programmes seek to build a cohesive and well-trained public service capable of working across political divides.
While GNU and coalition administrations can introduce complexity and obstacles, they also provide opportunities for professionalising the public service. GNU and coalition governments may contribute to building a more capable and professional public service better equipped to implement diverse and sometimes conflicting policy agendas by prioritising training, performance management and ethical standards. We must soothe the concerns of our officials by urging them to fully embrace the new opportunities and possibilities provided by the new concept of co-operative governance.
As dedicated mandarins, we owe it to South Africans to respond proactively to the growing realities of coalitions and work relentlessly to build a better, stable and prosperous South Africa. Now, more than ever, we must take the initiative to display the diligence and resilience demonstrated during significant events such as the 2010 Fifa World Cup and the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only have we navigated potentially disruptive changes caused by past cabinet reshuffles and other unprecedented events, such as the start of new administrations, but we have also helped stabilise and sustain public institutions’ successful operations to ensure business continuity.
Again, I must restate that the mandarins are expected to act as the “Talented Tenth”, not politicians, or ball boys and girls. We are expected to lead institutions of the state per the constitutional provisions, instead of rushing to carry handbags to endear ourselves with the new principals.
The ethic of development and work distinguishes this advanced detachment from the rest of the officials who are largely measured by showing up and completing the tasks for the day while being kind to the public and not stealing. We must earn the trust and respect through leadership and diligent execution. As we proudly proclaim !ke e: /xarra //ke (diverse people unite), we must all work towards the noble objective of eventually establishing a single public service which exists in countries of both the Global North and the Global South.
• Busani Ngcaweni is visiting professor at Fudan University. His regular job in South Africa is that of director-general of the National School of Government. Views expressed here are private.
