I was reminded recently of my connections with Princeton and indirectly The Institute for Advanced Study when watching the 2023 film Oppenheimer, a cinematographic biography of J Robert Oppenheimer. I was born in October 1948, by chance in the United States when my parents were living in Princeton New Jersey and where my father, a mathematician, was a fellow for two years at The Institute for Advanced Study. J Robert Oppenheimer was the theoretical physicist who headed the Los Alamos Laboratory of the Manhattan Project that culminated in the detonation of the first atom bomb in 1945 in New Mexico and subsequently the atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima…
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Elected politicians and appointed public servants … at times a fraught relationship!
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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Is the state of South African public health a budgetary or a delivery problem?
I was struck recently when according to a news report the National Minister of Health had appealed to his cabinet colleague the Minister of Finance to “stop cutting health budgets” and in doing do “alleviate the pressure on frontline health services”. He indicated that he had requested that there be no budget cuts in the coming year as had been indicated previously, so there would be no further reduction in frontline services. As an illustration the Minister reported a large number of vacant posts in the Free State Health Department of which the province had indicated nearly 900 were termed as “critical frontline posts” which he attributed to a lack…
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Management decisions right or wrong must have consequences.
Recent experience with almost month-long power cuts in South Africa due to inadequate generation capacity have highlighted a State-owned entity has been unable to ensure a reliable source of electricity to the country for over a decade. When this first occurred in 2008, I was heading the Western Cape Department of Health and as management we had urgent meetings with officials from the power utility to decide how to manage what was envisaged then to be a short-term problem. At that time many health facilities had inadequate or no back-up generators and a decision was taken and actioned urgently to acquire and install generators at as many facilities as fast…
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A personal reflection …
I have not posted anything since July 2022. This is not because there has been nothing worthy of comment in the health sector but rather that I have felt a deep sense of despair with what has transpired in the preceding months and years. Since my retirement in 2015 I have been involved in various initiatives to address challenges in the South African public health service as a member of nationally appointed task teams and most recently as a consultant requested to address financial management in a South African provincial health service. Whilst I accept that as an outsider and consultant not directly responsible for the management of health services,…
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Endless meetings and Life … Reflections on a poem
The poem translated from the original Portuguese is attributed to a Brazilian poet, Mario de Andrade, although there is some doubt if he was the author as there is indeed regarding the title of the poem, “My Soul has a Hat” “I counted my years and realized that I have less time to live by than I have lived so far. I feel like a child who won a pack of candies. At first, he ate them with pleasure, but when he realized that there was little left, he began to taste them intensely. I have no time for endless meetings where the statutes, rules, procedures, and internal regulations are…
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Leadership or management … the challenge of making decisions
I have been reflecting on the challenges President Ramaphosa faces in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and his struggle to match the need to consult widely and the need to take decisive decisions that have and will affect the lives of so many. Leadership, irrespective of position, requires the ability to motivate people and take an organisation in a given direction possibly different from that which it had previously taken. Management on the other hand involves systems and processes that allows an organisation to function efficiently and achieve its goals and objectives. Both expect those involved to act in an ethical and honest manner. This lead me to think about…