Mr Dominic Raab, the United Kingdom Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice resigned recently. The reasons for his resignation highlight the at times fraught relationship between an elected politician and appointed public (civil) servants. Mr Raab was alleged to have bullied and humiliated officials in various ministries. Bullying was defined for the purpose of this inquiry as follows: (1) Offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour; or (2) Abuse or misuse of power in ways that undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient . The inquiry, conducted by a senior British advocate, Adam Tolley KC, tested the allegations against the 2019 version of what in the United Kingdom…
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Politics, policy and implementation … there is a vast difference!
President Ramaphosa speaking at the 5th South African Investment Conference on 13th April 2023 made the following statements; “We are now confronted with the consequences of years of under-investment, mismanagement and corruption in our electricity, rail and logistics sector.” and that, “We are on a long journey to rebuild our country and recover ground we have lost. Our recovery is a mission and will take time to accomplish”. He continued that, “The lack of reliability in electricity supply weakens business and consumer confidence, taints international perceptions about our country and affects investment sentiment and decisions” concluding that, “If the focus of our struggle for liberation to end apartheid and achieve political freedom, the focus of our efforts must be to address inequality…
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When is enough, enough?
As a health professional and health manager, it is understandable that most of what I write about is health related. But I am also a citizen of this country and live some of the realities that South Africans experience, albeit not fully experiencing what my less fortunate fellow South Africans experience. For this reason I reflect here, accepting that I am a privileged citizen of this country, on the general state in which South Africans find themselves. Whilst the abolition of apartheid removed discrimination on the basis of race, we are still a country divided along racial lines between those who have and those who have not. South Africans are…
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Healthcare … how should the priorities be determined?
I read with interest a recent report of the proceedings from a recent conference held in Cape Town. The conference, it was reported, brought together healthcare workers, researchers and community activists from 11 African countries. The focus of the conference was the unequal provision of surgical procedures to those living in rural areas and those without a medical aid or medical insurance. At the conference it was stated that before the COVID-19 pandemic the lack of access to surgical procedures was a challenge for public health services but that this had been exacerbated by restrictions on surgical procedures during the pandemic with an estimated 175 000 people now waiting for…
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Is a fixed retirement age a sensible option?
Much has been written about the age at which employees should retire and whether with increasing longevity, the retirement age should increase commensurately. In countries with ageing populations resulting in many living over two decades after retirement, an increasing burden on pension funds has increased the urgency of this debate. A survey from the United States indicated that while there are many factors supporting an increase in the age at which citizens become eligible for Social Security payments that a proposal of this nature is unpopular with voters. It must be stressed however that retirement is a luxury reserved for those with permanent employment and employment is a luxury which…
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Decision Making in Government … the good and the bad!
I have just finished reading the book written by John Bolton, “The Room Where It Happened”. Bolton was the National Security Advisor of the United States and worked closely in this position with President Trump. It is a startling analysis of how decisions were made or not made at the highest level of the United States Government during his relatively short term of just over a year as the National Security Advisor. While a number of books have been written reflecting the experience of working with President Trump, this book is unique in that it reflects the experience of a political insider, a person who previously had held senior positions…
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The time is now for change!
I trust also that the reader will agree that given my background, which I will elaborate on elsewhere on this website, I have no desire to make political capital out of any comments in this regard. So what is my assessment of the position South Africa finds itself after 100 plus days of varying degrees of “lockdown”? As I write Gauteng has for the first time the greatest number of positive COVID-19 coronavirus tests in any province as well as having the largest number of active case of any province. This is a trajectory that is closely followed by the Eastern Cape. The Western Cape long designated as the “epicentre” of the…
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Winter of discontent …
I live in Cape Town where the last few days have been cold and windswept … bleak or bucolic could be other adjectives to describe the weather but also the psyche of the nation. We have lived through over 100 days of varying restrictions euphemistically termed “Alert levels” determined by a Command Council of politicians, we are again subject to power outages euphemistically terms “Load shedding” rather than power failures defined according to various “levels” of severity, today it is level 2 and finally here in the Western Cape while the rains pours down there are water restrictions at “level 3”. It seems to me we are a country of…