DEVELOPING A CULTURE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

In this report the Commission has tried to re-think fundamentally the role and functions of the public service, and to set out a framework for transformation in which the cornerstones of social need, capacity and cost have been at the centre of our thinking. These are rigorous constraints in a country where resources are sorely stretched, social need is infinite and capacity severely constrained. It is with services in mind that we have approached the four central themes of this report: transforming the structures and functions of government; revitalising human resources management and development; stressing the central significance of Information Technology; and building effective systems for financial planning and budgeting. The latter in particular is essential for the full realisation of our priorities, if the democratic transformation of the public service and the equitable provision of services for all South Africans is to be achieved. Collectively the four themes create the parameters for change and the prerequisites for the development of a culture of good governance.

The task of transforming the public service from an institution of regulation and control to one that is people-centred, efficient, coherent and transparent is a daunting one for any government, least of all one without a democratic heritage. The desire to succeed in this respect, to surmount the over-arching impediments to change, both human and financial, and to subject the new democratic Government, so early in its life, to the independent and rigorous scrutiny of this Commission is a measure of the Government's determination to transform the country's institutions at the core "and to get it right" from the Office of the President down to every organ and agency of government at national, provincial and local levels. The challenge of our task and the immensity of our responsibilities were offset by our awareness of, and faith in, the commitment and capacity of the appointed and elected officials of the South African Government to give effect to our recommendations.

Source: Polity

Land and Spirituality in Africa

The colonizers acquired land in an insensitive manner, driven by greed, and the process was intended to vanquish and dehumanize the original owners. This was achieved through military subjugation. The Zulu-Anglo War of I879 and the Anglo-Boer War of the early I9th Century can be traced back to the struggles for land. A number of massacres of Black South Africans were nothing other than an insensitive, greedy and cruel method for dispossessing Blacks of the land. Land was acquired with total disregard of traditional beliefs and cultures underpining our spirituality as Black Africans. Indigenous communities were stripped of their dignity, many lost their identity, languages, cultures and spiritualities. In this sense, land was acquired and used as a political tool.

After acquiring land, the colonizers commercialized it and later inflated its price. That left us with no land we could call our own. We soon found ourselves in exile in our own country. It is painful to note that churches, especially those that own land, were involved in the process which left Africans with nothing except �ubuntu�, a confused culture and a hope that God and their ancestors were still with them in their pain and happiness.

Source: World Council of Churches