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General Observations About the Free State Provincial Government

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General Observations About the Free State Provincial Government A Better Life for All? Fifteen Year Review of the Free State Provincial Government Prepared for the Free State Provincial Government by the Democracy and Governance Programme (D&G) of the Human Sciences Research Council. Ivor Chipkin Joseph M Kivilu Peliwe Mnguni Geoffrey Modisha Vino Naidoo Mcebisi Ndletyana Susan Sedumedi Table of Contents General Observations about the Free State Provincial Government........................................4 Methodological Approach..........................................................................................................9 Research Limitations..........................................................................................................10 Generic Methodological Observations...............................................................................10 Understanding of the Mandate...........................................................................................10 Social attitudes survey............................................................................................................12 Sampling............................................................................................................................12 Development of Questionnaire...........................................................................................12 Data collection....................................................................................................................12 Description of the realised sample.....................................................................................12 Theme 1: Governance Overview of Institutional Governance in the Free State Provincial Government....................39 Overview of key governance themes to be examined.......................................................39 Historical setting for examining governance(1994-1999)...................................................39 More recent developments in Institutional Governance in the Free State ........................44 Conclusions on Institutional Governance in the Free State...............................................65 Bibliography........................................................................................................................67 Theme 2: Economy Economic Growth and Development......................................................................................71 Introduction.........................................................................................................................71 Free State Economic Development in the post-apartheid era............................................71 The evolution of the province’s economic thrust after 1994...............................................74 The role of the provincial government in economic development ......................................77 Implementation of economic growth and development projects after 1994.......................79 Economic transformation....................................................................................................85 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................87 Bibliography........................................................................................................................89 Theme 3: Social Development Social Development in the Free State....................................................................................92 Methodological Approach...................................................................................................92 Setting the Scene: A National and Historical Perspective.................................................92 Delivering on the mandate - successes and challenges....................................................94 Successes, Challenges and Setbacks - A View from the Ground Up...............................97 A View from Far Afield – The Case of Hostels...................................................................98 The Department of Health................................................................................................100 The Department of Social Development..........................................................................102 Areas for Improvement.....................................................................................................103 Bibliography......................................................................................................................106 Theme 4: Social Cohesion Social Cohesion in the Free State........................................................................................108 Methodological Approach.................................................................................................108 Background......................................................................................................................108 Crime................................................................................................................................110 The State of Social Cohesion in the Free State...............................................................123 Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................127 Bibliography............................................................................................................129 Appendix 1: Questionnaire........................................................................................................................132 Appendix 2: Survey Tables.......................................................................................................................169 1. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE FREE STATE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT The effectiveness of the Free State Provincial Government in realising its mandate of providing a ‘better life’ for the residents of the Free State must be considered in relationship to the limits of the State. What can and what cannot be realistically expected from a provincial government? There are two major observations in this regard: • The first concerns the Free State Provincial Government as an institution. How does it govern? How well does it govern? • The second concerns the ability of the Free State Provincial Government to have a positive impact on the lives of the residents in the Province. In the South African context both these issues need to be answered in the context of the transition from apartheid rule to democratic government. 1. In the first decade of democracy in the Free State, as in the country at large, much of the work of government was aimed at government itself: integrating heterogeneous apartheid administrations, including absorbing homeland governments; building a more representative public service; expanding how and where the provincial government operated; and expanding infrastructure and service delivery. As discussed in the Governance section of this report, the challenge of amalgamating fragmentary former homeland administrations with the Orange Free State Provincial Administration to produce a new, unitary provincial government was less onerous in the Free State than it was in other provinces – if only because the homeland areas were much smaller. The process of amalgamation was not, however, immune from the difficulties that accompanied regional transitions, including instances of departments supporting ‘ghost workers’ and the inheritance of ‘…divergent staff with different attitudes…’ (DPSA 1997). There have, however, been major challenges in the establishment of a provincial government as opposed simply to a provincial administration. Since 1994, provinces have been fully-fledged governments accountable to their citizens. In contrast to an administration that receives its mandate from another, higher tier of government – such that its functions are essentially technocratic – an elected tier of government must not simply establish the requisite instruments and procedures to get things done. It must develop priorities and it must plan in a way that respects the law and spirit of the constitution and that takes cognisance of the will of the citizens. Since 1994 this has meant the Free State creating ways of aligning the legislative and regulatory role of the Province with its administrative functions. There are two aspects of governance that emerged during our interviews that are worth noting. In the first place, the Free State Provincial Government, especially under Premier Winkie Direko, innovated in the field of governance. The province was the first to introduce the cluster system – to provide for coordination and dialogue between and across government departments. In principle, it creates opportunities for departments to work cooperatively and to overcome their inherent tendency to operate in isolation. The 4 success of the system in the Free State is uneven (see the section on Governance as well as the section on the Economy). It largely depends on the ability of MEC’s, heads of department and their staff to work together. Our interviews suggest that political competition between MEC’s and/or HOD’s sometimes mitigated against successful cooperation. On the other hand, when departments do work together all sorts of synergies are created. The second major issue that emerged during interviews was the uneasy relationship between the provincial government and the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in the Free State. Despite the separation of party and state as a key
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