Will Ramaphosa’s public-private alliance work?

In his entire speech during the State of the Nation Address on Thursday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa sought to appeal to public participation in rebuilding the country.

The president pleaded for private-public collaboration in fighting the scourge of crime and corruption; the revival of
state-owned enterprises; stimulating economic growth and job creation; as well as protection of public infrastructure. He said Transnet had developed partnerships with the private sector to address cable theft and vandalism on the freight rail network through advanced technologies and additional security personnel.

Ramaphosa said this collaborative effort was already showing results in reduced disruptions to rail operations but the EFF has accused the president of outsourcing government responsibilities to the private.

“The president has given up, and there is nothing that he is doing. The country is on autopilot at the moment,” EFF leader Julius Malema said.

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Rasodi Manyaka, public administration lecturer at the University of Mpumalanga, said as Ramaphosa had rightfully pointed out, the cable theft and vandalism of the rail infrastructure network has been a concern over the years. He said government had not been able to nip this in the bud and that the problem had escalated as the results with serious deleterious consequences for the transportation of people and goods.

“It may be a good idea for government to partner with other stakeholders to secure the protection of this infrastructure, especially through the development and deployment of advanced technologies,” he said.

“However, one must also caution against always turning to the private sector or the markets whenever there are problems in the public sector.”

Manyaka said this was because the private sector always looked for opportunities to maximise profits while government, in the main, sought to promote the wellbeing of citizens. He added this was why it was important to build institutional capacity within state institutions, so there was no need to rely on the private sector for solutions.

“The privatisation of public services is not a sustainable solution,” he said.