The New South Institute (NSI) presents a new working paper, “The Five Cs of the Contemporary Crisis of Government and How to Overcome Them”, authored by Ivor Chipkin and Rafael Leite. The paper is part of the NSI’s ongoing project on public service reform and responds to the observed decline in government’s technical and policy-making capacity.

Central to the discussion is the balance between managerial autonomy and political control in government operations. The paper argues for a renewed role for the Public Service Commission in human resource oversight and stresses the importance of implementing the Professionalisation Framework.

A significant section analyses the ‘five Cs’ that plague South African public administration, namely contradiction, confusion, competence, centralisation and corruption. These are assessed in the light of the legislative instruments tabled in Parliament in recent years.

The document emphasises that while legislation is crucial, comprehensive reforms are needed to address the root causes of the challenges identified in the public service sector.

For a more in-depth understanding of these issues and the proposed solutions, the NSI Working Paper is available for download.

Access the full NSI working paper here.