Useless managers hobble country

There’s no denying there has been a vast expansion in government services since April 1994 – many more people are getting water, electricity, housing and education than in the years of apartheid.

It follows, therefore, that many more government employees – one hesitates to call them civil servants, because most are not civil and don’t believe they should serve anyone except themselves – have been required
to keep the country running.

However, it is also obvious that the ANC, since it took power in 1994, has used the civil service in much the same way as the National Party did before it … as a form of sheltered employment for party loyalists.

However, the ANC has taken this to absurd lengths through its policy of “cadre deployment”. This policy is supposedly so that politically aware party members can implement the changes necessary to transform society.

In practice, many jobs (at lucrative pay scales) are rewards for loyalty and opportunities for the incumbent and his or her friends to feast at the trough of taxpayer money. As the years have rolled by, civil service bloat has increased to the point where it sucks up a significant chunk of the country’s gross domestic product.

Shockingly, it emerged this week that nearly 35% of senior managers employed by national and provincial
government departments do not have the required qualifications and credentials for the positions they occupy.

The information was revealed by Minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu in a written
response to a parliamentary question posed by the DA.

These unqualified – and often incompetent – managers are the reason that virtually everything the ANC government has turned its hand to has been a failure or, at the very least, a deep disappointment.

Get rid of these useless people. Stop hobbling the progress of an entire country.