Date: 18/04/2007

Source: Department of Social Development

Title: Skweyiya: Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) Seminar

Keynote address by Dr Zola Skweyiya, Minister for Social Development, at the 2007 Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) Seminar, Somerset West, Western Cape

The President of CAPAM, Minister Fraser-Moleketi
Fellow government ministers
Members of the Diplomatic Corp
Members of the Board of CAPAM
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

The fact that it is common cause among students and practitioners of public administration in our country, that the interaction between academics and practitioners has not yet sufficiently taken root 13 years into our new democracy makes imperative a reflexive meditation on the deployment of expertise and political judgment in the domain of public administration. I take it as a given that both academics who study public administration and practitioners who make and implement public policy, are all involved in the deployment of expertise and political judgment.

It is possible that the conclusion "that the interaction between academics and practitioners has not sufficiently taken root" is partly based upon the fact of a relatively slow pace of social transformation, because a strong case can be made that far reaching public service transformation has occurred over the past 15 years. Alternatively, it is possible that this conclusion is being reached because of the counterproductive logics that the disjuncture between research, policy and practice make possible.

Whatever the assumptions or assertions, they have to be tested against the backdrop of the lived experience of all the pertinent public policy actors in South Africa and against the backdrop of the programmatic interventions generated by CAPAM's trajectory more generally.

Chairperson, allow me to start this address with general reflects on the issues of expertise and political judgment in public administration. The Rapporteur's summary report on the 2006 Biennial CAPAM conference mentions seven fields in which these issues of expertise and political judgment manifest and play themselves out:

1. The primacy given to particular values and the associated regime of fundamental rights
2. The question of whether marginal or fundamental structural reforms are being undertaken
3. The calibre of leadership over time
4. The extent of the service delivery deficits and requisite capabilities
5. The existence of an enabling platform of partnerships and cross-government collaborations
6. The efficacy of indigenous solutions
7. The distribution of benefits in the interim and final outcomes.

The common features and peculiarities of public administration in the South African context have to be specified at least in terms of these seven fields. In each of these seven fields different kinds of expertise are brought to bear and different kinds of political judgments are being made on a continuous basis. The background papers prepared for this seminar detail how both academics and practitioners have all been involved in making assessments and decisions about the exercise of expertise and political judgment in public administration in our country. It is of credit to our country that over the past 13 years only a few academics or practitioners have adopted an aloof stance to these matters.

Most of us have been engaged and active participants who have gotten our hands dirty. We have variously adopted open or closed systems approaches depending upon our tolerance for ambiguity and dissonance. We have speculated about the dynamics of particular situations with varying degrees of insight; we have or have not had the luxury of being able to assess available information with due diligence and we have variously chosen optimal or sub-optimal paths. The question is thus not whether academics are foxes and practitioners hedgehogs. The question is who, when required, has had the ability to change back and forth between these two frames of mind?

I recommend the insightful and thought provoking text 'Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?' by Philip Tetlock for anyone interested in further exploring the ramifications of the different frames of minds of foxes and hedgehogs. The book has, for instance, interesting chapters on radical scepticism, on whether "foxes are more willing than hedgehogs to entertain self-subversive scenarios," and on the limits of objectivity and accountability.

Given South Africa's history and the complexity and magnitude of the processes of public service transformation that we have initiated, it is highly probable that we have made some mistakes and missed some opportunities. We have to be able to openly assess and make judgment calls about these matters if we want to improve the interface between academics and practitioners. My reading of the two background papers prepared for this seminar is that they start to tip toe as soon they approach making these judgment calls.

They do, however, canvass all the pertinent issues and interrogate various efforts made to enhance the interface between academics and practitioners. They have therefore set the stage for critical, robust and constructive engagement. Instances of 'friendly fire' are an occupational hazard but this should not deter us from debating the bold measures that are necessary in our second decade of democracy.

Our discussion of the interface between academics and practitioners must bear in mind that the transformation of the public service was informed by a clear and decisive political mandate and implemented in a transparent manner. Despite this mandate, the transformation of our public service was also a product of a negotiated political transition.

It was informed by the imperative to be inclusive and harness all available resources. This year's 8 January Statement by the African National Congress (ANC) reaffirms this imperative and calls for forging a strong, coherent and united front across all strata and classes within society to defeat racism, sexism, poverty, unemployment and inequality.

In this regard, the pertinent watch words in the 8 January 2007 statement are "not to be timid about acknowledging and celebrating the important strides we have made, nor shy away from critically examining our record."

The first big question that we therefore have to deal with is the following: How, with which tools and on the basis of which criteria should we calibrate the expert performance and political judgment of academics and practitioners as they interact in the domain of public administration in the South African context?

This leads to a second fundamental question: How relevant are the competencies of the various professionals in academia and the public service and what needs to be done to substantially enhance these competencies? The answer to part of this question was provided by my colleague the Minister for Public Service and Administration in her briefing to the media in February this year on behalf of the Governance and Administration Cluster.

She highlighted the fact that the Cabinet had recently approved the reconstitution of the South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) as a Public Service Academy with a brief to revamp the content of the training provided to public servants. Government's Programme of Action for 2007, underlines the fact that the organisation and capacity of the State is going to be a priority concern in the years leading up to 2009.

The Public Service Academy is one side of the coin and has to be seen in the context of the gradual re-alignment of the university sector towards the social and economic needs of the country. It is common because that education and skills are a binding constraint to accelerate and share economic growth and the state of affairs in key professions in the country is a matter of serious concern. The 2006 Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA) Annual Report notes, for instance, that the town and regional planning profession is in a state of disarray.

The Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) is accordingly attending to the issue of the role and status of town and regional planners; the competencies required in this profession; the registration of these professionals and the role and functioning of institutions like the Planning Council. With respect to architects, engineers and artisans the issue is not so much one of professional organisation as it is insufficient local supply to meet local demand.

With respect to the human and social science disciplines and the public management professions in our country, there are a number of common concerns:

1. Are these disciplines and professions being funded adequately given the magnitude of the task of social transformation confronting our country?
2. Are we making sufficient investment in creating and retaining the next generation of African researchers?
3. Is the research that is being conducted relevant and applicable? In other words, does this research inform policy making and does this research get translated into improvements in the service delivery practices of the public service?

I know that formulating the latter question in this manner suggests an instrumental relationship between the use of policy research findings and decision making processes. Beyond these instrumental relationships, often times it is the conceptual relationships between research, policy, and practice that are more important. It is easy to underestimate the extent to which social science research influences the knowledge, understandings and attitudes of policy makers and practitioners. In addition, the commissioning and conducting of research is sometimes done solely for tactical purposes to defer the taking of action or as a way of ensuring the involvement of stakeholders.

Examining the relationship between academics and practitioners only in terms of knowledge generation and information sharing is only a small part of the story. The relationships also have to be examined in terms of the values, identities, ideologies and institutions that frame and channel the actions of the various actors. In the South African context, this perspective was used in preparing the publication 'A Nation in the Making: A Discussion Document on Macro-Social Trends in South Africa.' The discussion document covers a wide range of topics all of which are underpinned by a concern about engendering social integration and cohesion.

Interestingly, the discussion document notes with concern "the tendency to devalue both in terms of social status and social rewards some of the professions that deal with the moulding of social values, particularly pedagogy and the teaching profession from primary to tertiary level; writing; research in the social sciences and other such pursuits." This section of the discussion document concludes by noting that: "Much work still needs to be done for the nation to use its own prism to define itself."

The Macro-Social Report also examines the issue of the extent and vibrancy of the social networks in our country. The report notes that "participation in civil society activities is relatively high and in broad terms, South African society manifests a high level of socio-political consciousness." The social value of these levels of active participation in civil society activities and the associated levels of socio-political consciousness is diminished if they are confined to our geographic borders.

In this context it is heartening to see that the elections that will breathe life into Article 22 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union will commence in June this year. Article 22 establishes the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union as an advisory organ composed of different social and professional groups of the Member States of the Union. These election processes, which will run from June to December this year, will result in the election of 130 representatives of civil society organisations from across our continent to the ECOSOCC General Assembly.

We need to always bear in mind that the aim of the Constitutive Act of the AU is to create a people-driven and community-based partnership between governments and all segments of civil society, particularly women, youth and the private sector in order to strengthen cohesion and solidarity among African people. The academic community and their professional associations in our country must play their rightful role in ensuring that this goal is reached. A representative and vibrant ECOSOCC General Assembly is an important first milestone in attaining this goal.

Chairperson, I can see that some people in the audience are beginning to shift uncomfortably in their seats. I take it that this is because I have so far discussed public administration from a positivist and empirical perspective. I will not prolong their discomfort.

It is important that I highlight the point that drawing on discursive analysis and participatory deliberative practices, the empiricist approach to policy analysis is increasingly being challenge. There are many areas of public administration including the social construction of policy problems, the role of interpretation and narrative analysis in policy enquiry, and the dialectics of policy argumentation; that benefit from a consideration of vital issues like ideas, language, discourse, advocacy coalitions, social meanings and multiple realities.

For the participants in this seminar who appreciate the value of examining the academic practitioner interface in public administration from this perspective, I recommend the use of the text 'Reframing Public Policy: Discursive Politics and Deliberative Practices,' by Frank Fischer as the platform for your discussions.

All things considered, I am convinced that this seminar on the academic practitioner interface in public administration is an important contribution at two programmatic levels. It speaks to the vital issue of the organisation and capacity of the State in the South African context; and it speaks to the issue of the vibrancy of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union at another level.

Any one of these reasons by itself would have made it an honour to be invited to participate in this seminar.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Social Development
18 April 2007