One of the tools for creating a professional South African public service, committed to the values, principles and ethics of government, is a compulsory, government-wide and generic induction programme. The Public Administration, Leadership and Management Academy (PALAMA) - now the National School of Government (NSG) - was tasked with the development and rollout of such a programme. Due to the size of the South African Public Service, geographic realities, the limitations of traditional induc ...

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2021-Jun-23 02:52:03

The new democratic government in 1994 inherited the apartheid public service, which combined the so-called former "independent" states, homelands and Bantustans, which all had distinct administrative cultures. Even though genuine attempts have been made since 1994 to transform the apartheid-inherited public service, by democratising it, making it developmental, effective and accountable - changing its culture - the results have at best been uneven. A key part of the post-1994 transf ...

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2021-Jun-23 02:49:27

A public service by, of and for the public - a utopia or a realisable ideal? This question undergirds the thematic essence of this article, which is penned from the optimism of a former senior public servant and a freedom fighter, who was a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe [Spear of the Nation] - the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). For contextual reasons the article starts by succinctly historicising the struggle against apartheid. This is important in order to establish a premi ...

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2021-Jun-23 02:46:35

South Africa a developmental state? South Africa has since the dawn of democracy in 1994, and the assumption of power of the African National-led government, struggled to come up with a unique and workable state-led development model that would help it to confront the legacies of apartheid. By 2004, one decade into the post-apartheid era, it began to play with the idea of transforming the Republic into a developmental state, and this debate drew much fascination and interest. Having learnt so ...

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2021-Jun-23 02:43:49

An attempt is made in this article to dissect the state of the South African state post-1994 as well as class dynamics that attach to the challenge of the liberation movement's ascendancy into formal organs of political power. In this regard, ideas presented in various fora are integrated. Few issues have been selected 21st to illustrate the strategic challenges that South Africa faces as it strives to build a state that can speed up social transformation. For purposes of ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:55:56

This article sketches the leadership skills and lifetime commitments to peacemaking of three individuals: Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. The choice of the personalities is based on the fact that they not only made a difference in the lives of communities and nations, but they also made contributions in the advancement of a field of academic study: conflict resolution and peacemaking. Based on the literature review we conducted, these three leaders appear to share Druc ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:45:53

The civil rights and anti-apartheid movements produced two iconic leaders, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. Both leaders confronted white supremacist regimes with no resources beyond the volunteers who participated in organised protests. They ultimately prevailed against tremendous odds. Segregation and apartheid shared a common purpose. They rigidly controlled each country's black population. Laws and practices determined where blacks could reside, where they could work and where t ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:41:29

This article seeks to make a contribution to the project of narrative development in the universe of Public Administration. As it were, this article is in agreement with the understanding that metaphysics, which is a branch of philosophy that studies reality, that is both physical and social reality, does in several ways have an influence on the narrative construction in social and political philosophy. This suggests that studies in natural reality, in more ways than one, informed the content ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:36:48

The article examines what some may regard as the intangible elements of public leadership in South Africa. The absolutely intangible elements of public leadership are difficult to pin down, yet their presence is felt when they are there as is the case when they are absent. One could argue that the simmering tensions arising out of popular discontent, sometimes finding expression in isolated incidents of public protest and sometimes in performances by opposition parties in parliament, attest t ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:30:04

The African continent has suffered a rather tormented history, following different historical epochs like shadows of colonialism, conquest, neo-colonialism, global capitalism and foisting upon the western organizational management/leadership practices. The indigenous systems of governance are so much neglected that they hardly receive the significant scholarly attention they deserve in most public administration write ups and curricula in African universities. This article sheds light on Afri ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:25:41

"If nature abhors a vacuum, historiography loves a void because it can be filled with any number of plausible accounts." These are Nicholas Howe's words, which we find apt to punctuate the article's reconsideration of the question: is Public Administration a science? This is an old question in the historiography of the discipline, which just doesn't go away. It emerged in the 20th century to seemingly frame the rejoinders to the contentions that Public Administration is ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:20:33

The Journal of Public Administration belongs to the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM) - the custodian of the fraternity. Its pride lies in its thought leadership, as demonstrated in the scholarship of its high-impact publication, as the bibliometric indicators show, and in its well-themed conferences hosted annually where, coupled with the rigour of the discourses, excellence is recognised. In the 14th Annual Conference of SAAPAM, theme ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:15:07

This September edition of the Journal of Public Administration is a collection of articles that reflect and close an era of the great public servants of our time. It challenges future generations to take the baton of humanitarianism and make it a reality for service delivery, human development, responsible leadership and ethical behaviour in the conduct of public affairs. For reasons of context, the edition starts with an article that asks an important question, which has always been a firmam ...

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2021-Jun-22 11:11:12