21 January 2025 |

Article by Thuso Mhlambi | From the Desk of The CFO

In the aftermath of the Trump inauguration and the promises to action and immediate change during his speech, there are many factors that we could look at in trying to figure out why our country is struggling to grow and take advantage of the many opportunities that surround us.  In my opinion we need to become a results-based society where productivity is rewarded instead of the incumbent system where cronyism and nepotism abounds.

A patronage system in politics speaks to a political party coming into power and using their platform to give government jobs to friends (cronyism) and relatives (nepotism) as a reward for working towards the victory. In this type of environment, corruption, shady political compromises and backroom deals thrive.  Countries that have avoided or overcome episodes of mass-based patronage politics have established institutions that insulate public administrations from case-by-case political interference. They have achieved high levels of economic prosperity and equality.  Thirty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa’s economy is struggling, Gross domestic product per person is down, Unemployment and poverty are rampant, and there seems to be no answers from our government.  Rather than coordinating a credible response to this demise, the South African state is in crisis.  Public administration services are low, if present at all, and our politics is fundamentally corrupted.

In public administration, efficiency is achieved by systematically dividing tasks and acting by getting staff to follow procedures, rules and systems correctly. Elected political leaders are held accountable to how they exercise oversight over their department, and equity is attained by meting out uniformity in services, results are achieved by treating all similar cases in the same way. The guiding principle of the patronage system is loyalty, elected politicians owe their loyalty to the minister or president who put them in their position, they don’t show loyalty to the citizens they serve.

Is meritocracy the answer? Meritocracy grew in popularity in the 1960’s as the working class sought to replace the existing aristocracy of the time where your success depended on your lineage and family endowments. One could argue that the patronage system is slowly breeding a group of new aristocratic elites in South Africa, ones not born of wealth and position but those that snatched it from the hands of an apartheid government. I suppose there needs to be an acceptance that elites aren’t removed but instead they are replaced by a new group who inevitably will seek to imbed themselves and close rank to secure their newfound riches and status.

Perhaps the most formidable criticism of meritocracy is that the very nature of merit and how it can be assessed can be challenging to discern. The challenge here is that the theory of meritocracy presupposes the possibility of equality of opportunity. In a country as unequal as South Africa it could be argued that we don’t have the foundations needed to implement a system where rewards are allocated to those with abilities to perform. What further exacerbates the issue is our failing education system. Social mobility is a challenge for millions of people in our country due to the inability to access quality education. Skills and knowledge are the bedrock of meritocratic ambitions.  South Africa has deeply complex problems and deeply complex problems need highly intelligent people to address the issues, meritocracy seems like the default turnaround that we need. We need to see accountability in the state, we need competent and knowledgeable people running with the objective of the National development Plan.

Should our government move from a system of patronage to a meritocracy? I must admit, the answer is not apparent, at least not to me, but that doesn’t mean we must sit idly by as our country continues to experience an economic malaise that sees unemployment and inequality rise. In the medical profession, and indeed the bible, to fix something you first need to name the problem (diagnosis), and that is my aim with this short thesis. And its name is patronage.

Source: Linsen Nambi