Table Of ContentTHE INTERFACE BETWEEN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND
ALLIANCE POLITICS
THE ANC-SACP-COSATU DIALOGUE IN SOUTH AFRICA
By
JODY P. CEDRAS
A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Administration (D.Admin)
In Public Management
at the School of Public Management and Administration in the Faculty of
Economic and Management Sciences
University of Pretoria
Pretoria
South Africa
Supervisor: Professor Dr. Jerry O. Kuye
School of Public Management and Administration
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
PRETORIA
SOUTH AFRICA
©2013
©© UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff PPrreettoorriiaa
DEDICATION
To my wife, Lucinda, son, Joshua and daughter, Priyah. Your steadfast support
and patience have inspired me to achieve this.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere gratitude to the following souls who contributed in a special and
significant way to this work:
• My wife Lucinda, son Joshua and daughter Priyah for suffering patiently and
without complaints as I spent many hours and days buried in this research
project and; the extended family and friends for their encouragement and
support.
• Professor J. O. Kuye my supervisor, for his wise counsel, academic
coaching, persuasive coaxing and incisive insight.
• All the staff at the School of Public Management and Administration for
adopting me as one of their own and their firm words of encouragement and
support over the years.
• Cadres from the ANC, COSATU and the SACP who shared their
experiences in the hope and commitment for a better South Africa, I
commend.
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ABSTRACT
After three hundred and forty-two years of colonialism and apartheid, South
Africans of all walks of life experienced their first democratic elections in 1994.
Now, as the country is at the precipice of the 5th democratic elections, it has
known no government other than the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC
has had landslide victories at the ballot box and always managed to secure an
electoral vote of around 66%. These victories have not been by accident and
have been carefully managed through an Alliance Pact with the South African
Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU). The nature of the Alliance has infiltrated and influenced the
character of contemporary South African public administration.
This study postulates vigorously that an alliance is not a coalition, but rather a
partnership of ideological semblance and political decorum. This is most
significantly expressed through the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). The
study further elucidates the notion that the NDR remains the main political artery
of the ANC and is seminal in the policy debates and critical platforms for each of
the Alliance Partners.
The study affirms that irrespective of this convergence of ideology, there is
periodic divergence on the leadership role of the ANC viz a viz that of the
Alliance as the strategic centre for policy and governance issues. However, the
ANC has over the years successfully challenged this assertion and through
practice, led the Alliance in a politically driven manner that is predicated on
consultation, due diligence and functional purpose. However, any member of the
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SACP or COSATU who desires to be part of parliament or the executive is
required to be a member of the ANC. This, the study asserts, is the new
formation of a political partnership. The study adumbrates that the SACP (even
though it is registered as a political party with the Independent Electoral
Commission) and COSATU do not contest elections separately. As part of the
agreement, only the ANC contests elections and as such leads the Alliance.
While COSATU and the SACP provide advice through Alliance structures on the
deployment of cadres in the public service, the deployment committee is an ANC
structure and the final decisions in regard to deployment resides with the ANC.
This study has reinterpreted the dialogue within the Tripartite Alliance and how
this has moulded the political nomenclature of the ANC, and the solidified impact
on the way in which public administration is affected and effected in South Africa
and vice versa. The study presents with equanimity how the practice, for
example, of dual membership of two political organisations (ANC and SACP)
enriches the public service and the policy-making process in a developmental
state. It furthermore points to the imperative for a clear underlying ideology (as
provided for through the NDR) and certainty as to who leads in such an
arrangement.
This study finds that it is through the Alliance structures that individual leaders
within the Governing Party (ANC) are held to account for their actions – and after
a hundred years of existence, the ANC and Alliance structures have managed to
address the challenges of time, the pressures of political stress and the coalition
of a “broad-based political church”. The logic of maintaining this political marriage
and developmental triangulation, and also interpreting the essence of
consolidating party manifestos to its membership, and further to preserving
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democratic principles, while at the same time translating this into the action of
good governance in South Africa, is complex, yet manageable.
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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby state that this is my original work in both form and content, and that I
have duly acknowledged the work of other authors wherever I have referred to it.
Jody P. Cedras
(28448589)
Signed: ………………………………………………
Date: ……………………………………………….
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ACRONYMS
AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
ANC African National Congress
ANCVL African National Congress Veterans League
ANCWL African National Congress Womens League
ANCYL African National Congress Youth League
ARV Anti-retrovirals
ASGISA Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative – South Africa
BEE Black Economic Empowerment
CC Central Committee
CEC Central Executive Committee
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CEPPWAWU Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers
Union
CODESA Convention for a Democratic South Africa
COPE Congress of the People
COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions
CPSA Communist Party of South Africa
CST Colonialism of a Special Type
CWU Communications Workers Union
CWUSA Creative Workers Union of South Africa
DA Democratic Alliance
DENOSA Democratic Nurses Organisation of South Africa
DFI Development Funding Institution
FAWU Food and Allied Workers Union
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEAR Growth, Economic and Redistribution Programme
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GNU Government of National Unity
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
IANSA International Action Network on Small Arms
IDP Integrated Development Plan
IFP Inkatha Freedom Party
JIPSA Joint Implementation Programme for South Africa
LEC Local Executive Committee
MP Member of Parliament
MWP Mass Workers’ Party
MTV Medium Term Vision
NC National Conference
NDP National Development Plan
NDR National Democratic Revolution
NEC National Executive Committee
NEDLAC National Economic Development and Labour Council
NEHAWU National Education Health and Allied Workers Union
NGC National General Council
NGP New Growth Path
NHI National Health Insurance
NOB National Office Bearer
NP National Party
NPA National Prosecuting Authority
NPC National Planning Commission
NUM National Union of Mineworkers
NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa
NWC National Working Committee
PAC Pan Africanist Congress
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PAWUSA Public and Allied Workers Union of South Africa
PB Political Bureau
PC Provincial Congress
PEC Provincial Executive Committee
POSIB Protection of State Information Bill
POPCRU Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union
RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme
SACCAWU South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union
SACP South African Communist Party
SACTU South African Congress of Trade Unions
SACTWU South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union
SADNU South African Democratic Nurses’ Union
SADTU South African Democratic Teachers’ Workers Union
SADWU South African Domestic Workers Union
SAFPU South African Football Players’ Union
SAMA South African Medical Association
SAMWU South African Municipal Workers Union
SANCO South African National Civic Organisation
SANDU South African National Defence Union
SASAWU South African State and Allied Workers Union
SASBO South Africa Society of Bank Officials
SASFU South African Security Forces Union
SATAWU South Africa Transport and Allied Workers Union
SOE State-Owned Enterprise
SSC Shop Steward Council
TAC Treatment Action Campaign
UDF United Democratic Front
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