HRMA 615

Study Unit 4: SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNANCE:

AN APPLICATION
4.1 South African Competent Governance: The
Context: From policy to implementation
4.2 South African Governance: A Summary

Mej/Ms Roslyn Lodewyk

Tel: 018 285 2318
Email: Roslyn. Lodewyk@nwu.ac.za
 Learning Outcomes
• Understand the context’ and apply the concepts of policy making;
• Discuss and apply policy process approaches;
• Explain and apply the policy making and implementation process in SA;
• Develop scenarios using scenario planning;
• Discuss and understand monitoring and evaluation;
• Understand the context’ and concepts of good governance;
• Discuss the National Development Plan;
• Explain the global governance challenges;
• Discuss the South African governance challenges
From policy to implementation
Concepts and context:
• “A plan of action adopted by an individual or institution such as a group, business or
government” (Heywood, 2007)
• “Public policy is a proposed course of action of a person, group or government
within a given environment providing obstacles and opportunities which the
policy was proposed to utilise and overcome in an effort to reach a goal or
realise an objective or a purpose.” (Anderson, 1979)
• Four categories to understand public policy:
 Policy demands for action
 Policy statements as formal articulation of public policy
 Policy outcomes as tangible manifestations of public policy
 Policy outcomes as intended and unintended consequences for society, resulting from government policy
action.
From policy to implementation
Concepts and context:
• Policies are designed and implemented in a specific context
• Contextual dimensions that inform and impact on policy-making:
Information
Interest
Ideologies
Institutions (Sutcliffe and Court (2005))
• Contextual dimensions of policy-making further defined:
Macro-political context: Issues of democracy and governance
Specific context of policy formulation: The nature of specific policy processes
Institutional context within bureaucracies
Decisive moments in the policy process
The way policy-makers think and influence research.
From policy to implementation
Process approaches:
• Heywood’s four-stage policy process:
Policy initiation
Policy formulation
Policy implementation
Policy evaluation
• Policy initiation:
Can originate in any part in the political system, e.g. political leaders, interest
groups, academics or societal events
Too few and too many policy options can influence the policy process.
From policy to implementation
• Policy formulation:
Who will be involved?
Properly defining and researching the issues
Analysing and reviewing various policy options
Deciding on preferred option(s)
• Policy implementation:
Crucial phase in policy process
Effective and ethical governance and service delivery are not served by a
division between policy, implementation, and administration
Policies must be implementable, and are implemented effectively and efficiently
• Policy evaluation:
All phases of process are evaluated and reviewed
Connecting the findings of the process to a process of learning.
From policy to implementation
• Jann and Wegrich’s policy process:
Agenda setting
Policy formulation
Decision-making
Policy implementation
Policy evaluation.
Policy analysis for policy-making and
implementation
• Dunn’s explanation of policy analysis
• Analysis through five types of questions:
Policy problems
Expected policy outcomes
Preferred policies
Observed policy outcomes
Policy performance
• Policy analytic methods or procedures:
Problem structuring
Forecasting
Prescription
Monitoring
Evaluation.
From policy to implementation
Three useful techniques that span the policy process:
• PESTLE analysis
• Delphi technique:
Used to gather expert opinions on complex policy problems
A systematic, intuitive forecasting procedure used to obtain, exchange, and develop
informed opinion on a particular topic
It incorporates education and consensus-building in multi-stage process
• Scenario planning:
Development of alternative scenarios for the future
Relates to strategy, the adoption of courses of action and allocation of resources for
implementation
Strategy development in a turbulent environment characterised by many uncertainties.
From policy to implementation
• Scenario planning process:
1. Formulate a scenario research question:
 Define problems and questions clearly
2. Develop probable and possible future possibilities related to the research question:
 Creative approach, e.g. create newspaper headlines
3. Group the possibilities and probabilities into themes:
 Newspaper headlines, PESTLE analysis can help
4. Prioritisation and selection of themes:
 Two themes selected, both being simultaneously important and uncertain
5. Develop four scenarios:
 Use catchy titles to help visualise scenarios
6. Develop options:
 Choices available in a scenario.
Policy-making and implementation in SA
• South African context:
Complex context for policy-making and implementation
Poverty, inequality, inequity and issues flowing from these characteristics
NDP Diagnostic Report defined nine challenges
SA as a constitutional, developmental and challenged state
Supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law creates overarching context
Developmental state:
 Aim to create rapid and sustainable transformation
 Lessons to be learned from East Asia
 Close connections between public servants and wider society
 Requires skilful implementers.
Policy-making and implementation in SA
• South African context:
NPC Diagnostic Report – developmental state model?
 What forms of state capacity are needed to formulate and implement policy?
 How does the nature of state–society relations affect policy formulation and
implementation?
High-level governance and administration professional competencies and
institutional capacity are needed in SA
Challenged state – simultaneous aspirations to be a constitutional and a
developmental state are not easy to meet
Policy-making and implementation context in SA requires a competent and
capacitated state.
Policy-making and implementation process
in SA
• Policy – describes goals of a government ministry and the methods
and principles it will use to achieve it
• Policies Laws
• Different actors play a role in policy-making and implementation
processes:
Executive,
Parliamentary structures,
Administration in different spheres
• Various stages of policy- and law-making in SA (ETU, 2014).
Policy-making and implementation in SA
• Education and Training Unit for Democracy and Development (ETU)
policy process overview
• Stage 1:
Ruling party conference discusses policy proposals and accept as party policy
Other political dynamics could also give impetus to a policy process, e.g. civic
action, a public-participation process
• Stage 2:
Executive plays a key role in formulating specific policy papers based on party
political policy statement.
Policy-making and implementation in SA
• ETA policy process overview
• Stage 2 (continued):
Executive initiates and develops policies and laws
Technical advisers and expert input contribute to drafting
Policy papers – Green Paper and White Paper
Legislative branch (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces) debates and
approves laws
Prescribed public participation process
Various stakeholders contribute to law-making process
• Stage 3
Department finalises policy after receiving input, debates
White Paper – final statement of intent and detailed policy plan
Form the basis of legislation (when a law is required).
Policy-making and implementation in SA
• Stage 4:
Draft bill is prepared and discussed in cabinet committee
Committee approves draft bill, publish for public comment
Department and ministry consider public input, revise draft bill, submit to cabinet for approval
Legal approval by state legal advisors
Draft bill is tabled in parliament by relevant minister
Legislative process is followed in parliament
Bill is approved and must be sent to president to sign it into law
• Stage 5:
Implementation of law or policy by respective spheres of government
Development of subordinate legislation in terms of a law:
 Proclamations, regulations
 Municipal by-laws.
Policy monitoring and evaluation in SA
• Measuring impact of policies and legislation
• Monitoring and evaluation function in Presidency
• National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF)
• Six types of evaluation:
Diagnosis
Design evaluation
Implementation evaluation
Impact evaluation
Economic evaluation
Evaluation synthesis.
Policy monitoring and evaluation in SA
• NEPF key elements:
Large or strategic programs, or those of significant public interest – evaluated
at least every 5 years
Rolling three-year and annual national and provincial evaluation plans
All evaluation results to be available in public domain, published on
departmental and DPME websites
Improvement plans must be developed by departments and provinces and
their implementation be monitored
Departments are responsible for carrying out evaluations
Appropriate training courses provided by PALAMA, universities and private
sector
DPME will produce guidelines and practice notes.
Policy monitoring and evaluation in SA
• Monitoring-and-evaluation process:
A learning approach to governance and policy-making
Based on action research and learning and an evidence base
• Four leadership-learning-for-performance questions:
What happened?
Why did this happen?
What can I/we learn from it?
How can the learning be used and built back into the system?
Institutional capacity and individual
competencies
• Effective, efficient and ethical policy implementation requires good institutional capacity
and individual competencies
• Institutional capacity:
Capacity to explore, use relevant evidence in policy-making process
Understanding and management of political and other contexts
Capacity to plan from beginning how policies will be implemented
Coordination and integration capacity
• Individual professional competencies:
Deep understanding of social processes
Understanding of institutions and their dynamics
Familiarity with main policy areas
Knowledge of decision-making realities
Value philosophy and ethical reasoning
Ability to build bridges between abstract knowledge and concrete issues.
Thank You