It has become easy to criticise government officials and politicians largely because of their own fault of frequent self-sabotage. Civil servants at the level of politicians as executive authorities and administrators across spheres have over the years lost credibility with the public they ought to serve.
But it is obviously wrong to paint all politicians and all civil servants with the same brush, even though this may be tempting, given the overwhelming service delivery failures and incompetence that is the subject of numerous independent public reports.
Despite these failures, it behoves us to give credit where it is due. This will help us redefine what we expect from our public representatives, so that those who do well can teach others how to serve the people of this country with distinction.
Panyaza Lesufi is an outstanding example of how an effective servant and leader should conduct himself. Before we take a look at his charismatic stint as premier of the richest province, let’s take a look at his stint in education. He always led from the front and stood up to multiple crises that befell education in Gauteng.
He is probably the only politician in the new South Africa who was returned to his job by popular demand when he was reshuffled from education to finance. Such was the public outcry, that the premier had to reverse his decision within days. He is by no means perfect — he is yet to fully explain why Covid-19 money was wasted under his watch — but the public quickly moved on because of the overwhelmingly good work he was doing in education, introducing innovation in creating access to education, digitising the classroom and enforcing discipline across the school system.
If even a quarter of politicians embarked on initiatives similar to that of Lesufi on a consistent basis, the population will have better hope and better prospects.
From being the spokesperson to the minister in education, his rise to the helm of an education department that performed above average through all indicators, can only be described as meteoric. No-one can claim to have done him a “cadre deployment favour” hence public calls for him to take over as minister of education were not misplaced. We must give credit where it is due.
All this did not mean he was popular across society. He picked a big fight with the likes of AfriForum on issues of language and racism in schools after the courage of his convictions. When he finally moved from education these interest groups breathed a sighed of relief.
That is why the dramatic developments he came with as premier did not come as a surprise. While he had a big share of the public voice in the provincial government, his publicity was generally rooted in action and not fluff.
The Nasi iSpani programme took a leaf from his experience as a consummate communicator, given his recognition of the gap that often exists between public sector delivery and the ability to communicate successes. He could have simply asked people to email their CVs, but he gathered them to deal with the naysayers, who he claims are always ready to dismiss government initiatives to deal with poverty as insignificant and not impactful. Even handing out the appointment letters was an event showcasing what government wants to achieve.
Those who critique him say he behaved like a politician handing out food parcels. The same people would have been quick to say that the jobs created are a drop in the ocean.
Let’s face it, the numbers are staggering. While 8,000 posts were advertised, out of 13,000 vacant posts, some 1.4-million people applied, showing you what a time bomb unemployment is in the province. If even a quarter of politicians embarked on initiatives similar to that of Lesufi on a consistent basis, the population will have better hope and better prospects.
It’s clear that even with the best will in the world the unemployment crisis cannot be solved by one magic wand, but will rely on government and private sector support and individual effort from citizens. In the same way that a full stadium may not result in a victory at the polls, a stadium full of unemployed people filling out forms will not necessarily result in jobs for all. But imagine if the private sector were to match Lesufi rand for rand in absorbing those who can’t be accommodated.
That is what we should encourage — less poking holes in what the government is doing and more joining hands in tackling this time bomb together. With the sort of resources that this country has, it’s unacceptable that so many people with skills should be without even the most basic of jobs.
The jury is still out on whether this is an electioneering ploy by Lesufi. Time will tell us as these initiatives must by their nature outlive the elections. It is true that a pending election does not suspend government, and there can be no cogent argument for the suspension of service delivery because of an imminent election. There are also allegations that beneficiaries of these programmes are ANC cadres. This seems far-fetched as it will require a conspiracy among too many people. I will be extremely disappointed if such a thing were to be proven true and would be the first one to call for Panyaza’s head.
For now, I suspend any such suspicions and give credit where it is due. The reason is simple. It is worth examining someone’s track record before passing judgment. Is it feasible to argue that Panyaza has been in election mode for almost 10 years of his stint in the provincial cabinet? Is it therefore too much to give him the benefit of the doubt as someone who is doing his best to serve?
We need more politicians and public servants like Panyaza.
• Dr JJ Tabane is the editor of Leadership Magazine and anchor at eNCA
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