South African Bureaucracy:

Between Developmental State and State Capture

Abstract

'Developmental State' aims for rapid economic development through states' interventive policies. These states have two characteristics; they have effective and efficient bureaucracies; they have so-called 'pilot agency' with 'embedded autonomy', coordinating between stakeholders and making policies. South African government aims to establish a developmental state in its policy paper, National Development Plan, published in 2013. This article asks the following question: What is the South African obstacle to establishing a Developmental State? Existing literature points out that South Africa lacks a pilot agency. However, they do not analyse the country's bureaucratic capacity. This paper traces the process of civil service reform in South Africa after Apartheid and evaluates the outcomes. It contributes to fulfilling the vacuum of existing literature. The government has permitted political appointments to redress the inter-race relations after Apartheid. However, it would have possibly weakened the bureaucratic capacity. Simultaneously, the government has also introduced audits and monitoring systems to calm the harmful effects of political appointment. As a result, the institutional capacity of the country has gradually developed. The 'State Capture' scandal under the Zuma administration, however, paralysed these systems. The Ramaphosa administration tries to unveil the 'State Capture' and rehabilitate the state apparatus's capacity. Now, the political appointment of bureaucrats in South Africa faces a critical juncture.