Justice Kollapen cited one argument from Rafael Leite and Ivor Chipkin’s 2024 paper Beyond Political Discretion in a dissenting opinion on political rights, patronage and municipal administration.

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A 2024 New South Institute (NSI) paper by Rafael Leite and Ivor Chipkin, Beyond Political Discretion: Reforming South Africa’s Senior Civil Service, was cited in a dissenting opinion of the Constitutional Court in South African Municipal Workers’ Union v Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Another [2025] ZACC 4.

The case concerned section 71B of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, which prohibits municipal staff members from holding office in political parties. The majority of the Court confirmed the Labour Court’s declaration that the provision was unconstitutional to the extent that it applied to all municipal staff, rather than only municipal managers and managers directly accountable to them.

Justice Kollapen, with Theron J concurring, dissented. His judgment would have upheld the broader prohibition. In doing so, it cited Leite and Chipkin’s analysis of political discretion, patronage and the way political authority may shape the careers of public officials across the government hierarchy.

The citation drew on one element of the paper’s broader argument. Beyond Political Discretion is principally concerned with the reform of South Africa’s senior civil service. It examines how senior civil service reform could contribute to wider public service professionalisation, while recognising the country’s specific historical and political context. The paper argues for an evolutionary approach to reform, one that balances political discretion with managerial competence and relies on practical experimentation, policy learning and the development of both formal and informal institutions.

The reference in the dissent illustrates how NSI research is entering legal and policy debates on the relationship between politics and administration in South Africa. It also shows the relevance of senior civil service reform to wider constitutional questions about political rights, administrative autonomy, patronage and the professionalisation of the state.

The paper forms part of NSI’s ongoing work on public administration, state capacity and institutional reform. Read Beyond Political Discretion: Reforming South Africa’s Senior Civil Service here.