MZUKISI Qobo is right to argue that we are a long way from becoming a developmental state because of predatory elites and the plundering of public institutions (State’s role in development starts with good governance, March 22).
But the problem goes deeper than that. It stems from conceptual confusion, for there is ideological discord within the ruling party over what development means and what the state’s role is in driving it. That has resulted in policy paralysis.
On the one hand, the National Development Plan is underpinned by Amartya Sen’s notion of "development as freedom". Here, the role of the government is to build people’s "capabilities" through education and public services so that they can become active citizens and take advantage of opportunities.
On the other hand, a raft of African National Congress (ANC) policies, laws and regulations simply equate development with dirigisme. Beyond this, our state lacks the critical management capacity required to become developmental.
There are three main reasons for this. First, the ANC destroyed much of the state’s institutional memory and capacity in the mid-1990s, when it pensioned off tens of thousands of highly skilled officials. Second, as Competition Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele (pictured) has pointed out, the public service is losing technocratic expertise to the private sector, partly because "the ANC is not really interested in technocrats, except as a conveyor belt of the middle class before elections".
Third, the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment has politicised and deskilled the public service, fuelled corruption and stalled delivery.
According to Chalmers Johnson, the political scientist who coined the term, a developmental state can only succeed if it is first and foremost "a developmental state and only then a regulatory state, a welfare state … or whatever other kind of functional state a society may wish to adopt". In terms of its function, ours is a neo-patrimonial welfare state — a vehicle for redistribution and patronage, now captured by vested interests.
SA’s salvation does not lie with a developmental state. It is time for the government to take a step back and focus on getting the basics right. That means improving the quality of education and healthcare, fighting crime and helping to eradicate poverty by creating an environment conducive to job-creating economic growth.
Dr Michael Cardo MP
Democratic Alliance shadow economic development minister
Picture: GALLO IMAGES/LISA HNATOWICZ
MZUKISI Qobo is right to argue that we are a long way from becoming a developmental state because of predatory elites and the plundering of public institutions (State’s role in development starts with good governance, March 22).
But the problem goes deeper than that. It stems from conceptual confusion, for there is ideological discord within the ruling party over what development means and what the state’s role is in driving it. That has resulted in policy paralysis.
On the one hand, the National Development Plan is underpinned by Amartya Sen’s notion of "development as freedom". Here, the role of the government is to build people’s "capabilities" through education and public services so that they can become active citizens and take advantage of opportunities.
On the other hand, a raft of African National Congress (ANC) policies, laws and regulations simply equate development with dirigisme. Beyond this, our state lacks the critical management capacity required to become developmental.
There are three main reasons for this. First, the ANC destroyed much of the state’s institutional memory and capacity in the mid-1990s, when it pensioned off tens of thousands of highly skilled officials. Second, as Competition Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele (pictured) has pointed out, the public service is losing technocratic expertise to the private sector, partly because "the ANC is not really interested in technocrats, except as a conveyor belt of the middle class before elections".
Third, the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment has politicised and deskilled the public service, fuelled corruption and stalled delivery.
According to Chalmers Johnson, the political scientist who coined the term, a developmental state can only succeed if it is first and foremost "a developmental state and only then a regulatory state, a welfare state … or whatever other kind of functional state a society may wish to adopt". In terms of its function, ours is a neo-patrimonial welfare state — a vehicle for redistribution and patronage, now captured by vested interests.
SA’s salvation does not lie with a developmental state. It is time for the government to take a step back and focus on getting the basics right. That means improving the quality of education and healthcare, fighting crime and helping to eradicate poverty by creating an environment conducive to job-creating economic growth.
Dr Michael Cardo MP
Democratic Alliance shadow economic development minister
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