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CHAPTER 3 AN ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN RELATION TO LAND REFORM
Introduction
This chapter focuses on the Public Administration literature in terms of its origin and development. The discussion is in relation to the applicability of Public Administration to land reform and sustainable development. Public Administration, as defined earlier in Chapter One, is the art and science of management, as applied to the public affairs of the State. As an art, Public Administration is composed of intangibles, such as leadership and judgment, whereas as a science it generates and evaluates knowledge through scientific methods. The role of government in land reform is that of providing leadership through the development policies and programmes – and ensuring that the redistribution of land is achieved. This chapter will discuss aspects of policy formulation in relation to land reform and sustainable development.
Background
The development of the Land Reform Policy was a product of the 1994 democratic elections. Policy formulation is one of the six generic functions of Public Administration. As mentioned in section 1.7.3 of Chapter One, the policy process is regarded as a set or series of stages whereby policy is established and implemented (LeMay, 2006: 24). The post-1994 period in South Africa was followed by a series of policies formulated to address the pre-1994 government activities. These policies aimed at empowering the historically disadvantaged groups in terms of, amongst others, access to land. Policies that were aimed at reversing skewed service delivery patterns were preceded by the development of the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service, (hereafter referred to as WPTPS, 1995) that was published in December 1995 (Levin, 2009: 949).
According to Levin (2009: 949), the WPTPS (1995) identified eight pillars of public service transformation. These were: the restructuring and rationalisation of the public service; institution building and management; representivity and affirmative action; transforming service delivery; enhancing accountability; human resource development and training; employment conditions and labour relations; and the creation of a professional service ethos.
The above mandates were followed by various policy papers which were directed, in terms of their intentions, to achieving transformation in service delivery. Policies formulated included the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery, also known as the Batho Pele White Paper (1997), the White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service (1997), the White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public Service (1997), the White Paper on Public Service Training and Education (1998), and the White Paper on the South African Land Policy (1997) (Levin, 2009:949).
The policies formed the basis for improved development support towards enhancing accessibility to resources in South Africa. It becomes clear from the above policies that there had been obvious delays and backlog for HDIs’ need for services. The WPSALP (1997) had, as its main goal, equity concepts – as contained within the White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public Service, which will henceforth be referred to as WPAAPS (1995) in this study.
The WPAAPS (1995) is aimed at empowering the HDIs through improved access to resources. In this chapter, a brief discussion on how policy formulation – through the WPSALP (1997), which targets women’s access to land — came into being, and its relevance to public administration. The focus is on empowering women for sustainable development. The WPSALP (1997:40), as discussed in Chapter One, is a policy that intends to deliver on the government mandate to distribute land in an equitable manner.
According to the WPSALP (1997:40), it is critical that gender equity be ensured in the land redistribution – to allow for women a fair and equitable benefit.
To this effect, the WPSALP (1997:40) proposed the following:
- The removal of all legal restrictions on the participation of women in land reform. Issues such as reform of marriage, customary law – which is biased towards men– and contains obstacles to women receiving rights to land, and lastly inheritance rights.
- Clear planning and selection of beneficiaries and project appraisal to ensure equitable access from the land reform programme for women and men. The policy made proposals on ensuring that officials assist women. Furthermore, they are categorically prioritised and assisted to tackle any obstacles that might hinder them from accessing land.
- Specific provision for women to enable them to access financial support and other support services. Special mechanisms needed to be developed to ensure that women were exposed to opportunities in land use, and that they were registered as direct beneficiaries.
- Monitoring and evaluation systems are developed to ensure the continued participation of women in land reform.
It is clear from the above Land Reform Policy statements that women are at the centre of the mandate for land access. Priority in land access has been given to women because they were the tillers of land – even on tribal land – and they now form the majority of the South African population, as shown in Table 1.1 of Chapter One. The figures as portrayed in Table 1.1 are such that on tribal villages, where most of the land is available under the chiefs, a total number of 8 079 765 women (as opposed 6 696 978 men) were registered. The difference of more than a million (1 382 787) in favour of women, is reason enough to prioritise women’s access to resources, including land.
An analysis of Public Administration in relation to land reform is the theme for this chapter. There is, therefore, a need to discuss Public Administration in depth – in terms of its origin, what it is and its relation to other disciplines. The development of the White Papers referred to above served as instruments to realise service delivery.
Public Administration as defined earlier applies to and is of importance to the public affairs of the state which aim to bring services to the communities. The prioritisation of land reform in this context becomes one of the critical service delivery areas for the state, hence the development of legislation that intended to strengthen government efforts. The section that follows discusses the stated aspects of Public Administration.
The origin and development of Public Administration
Public Administration is a subject studied for purposes of dealing with public administrative activities. As discussed above policy development and implementation as part of public administration becomes critical. According to Botes et al. (1992: 257), public is similar to civil, thus the officials that undertake the exercise are called public servants. It is further confirmed that public administration is a human activity that constitutes an activity done for people by people. This leads to Public Administration being classified as a human science (Botes et al., 1992: 257).
Gladden (1961:12) describes public administration as being concerned with the administrative activities of government. Administration is a long and respected, sometimes misinterpreted word, but it has a simple meaning: it means to care for, or to look after people, to manage people’s affairs: the administrator is a servant and not a master (Gladden, 1961:12).
According to Hanekom et al. (1987:62), the generic functions (initially advanced as processes by Cloete, 1967, and later renamed functions by Thornhill and Hanekom, 1979) are regarded as generic in nature. This denotes their universal applicability, as well as their strength. Public administration functions occur in all people’s co-ordinated activities – for the purposes of achieving an agreed-upon goal.
Public Administration does not occur in a vacuum; it occurs where people undertake an activity to achieve a common goal (Van Dijk, 2003: 33). Van Dijk (2003: 33) further attests to the fact that administration is found in all spheres of human activity where joint action is required to achieve a goal. The observation is that the generic functions are inclusive of one another, and they collectively constitute a process which enables the efficient and effective execution of specialised functional activities (Hanekom et al. 1987: 62), as is the case with Land Reform.
This confirms the importance of locating Public Administration as a discipline, a necessity for all government and non-government institutions. Literature on Public Administration indicates that several efforts to improve public administration functioning have occurred in the world, as far back as the 19th century. In most industrialised countries the efforts to improve public administration were driven through internal processes based on available resources, as opposed to the less-developed countries, where such improvement efforts were imposed by external aid (Peters, 1996: 2).
This is evidenced by exponents of Public Administration, including, amongst others, Woodrow Wilson (1887), Lorenz von Stein (1855), and other later public administration supporters, such as Waldo (1955), Etzioni (1986), Lindblom (1959), Simon (1938) and Kettl (1990, in Rosenbloom et al., 1994). According to Von Stein (1855), as quoted by Wikipedia (2010), issues of concern were that:
- Public Administration is found to be an integrating science which relies on many pre-established disciplines, such as Sociology, Political Science, Administrative Law and Public Finance. Further on, as described by Waldo (1955) in Rosenbloom et al. (1994: 4), in Chapter Two of this document, Public Administration is regarded as a science, due to its eclectic nature as, it borrows substance from other disciplines. Public Administration can be regarded as a sealing element amongst other disciplines; each of these disciplines consists of parts or all the elements of Public Administration.
- Public administrators need to be concerned with both theory and practice. Practical considerations are at the forefront of the field, but theory is the basis of best practices. Hence, some students and administrators are convinced and impressed with the achievements of the natural and physical sciences, and they insist that Public Administration can be seen as a science (Waldo, 1955 in Rosenbloom et al., 1994: 4).
The impression that Public Administration further creates – due, to its emphasis on intangibles, such as judgment and leadership – places it more as an art rather than a science (Waldo 1955, in Rosenbloom et al., 1994: 4)).
Von Stein (1855, as quoted by Wikipedia 2010) further attests to the fact that Public Administration is a science, since knowledge is generated and evaluated according to the scientific method. According to Wilson (1887, in Wikipedia 2010, and Chandler & Plano, 1988: 42), Public Administration can be broadly described as the development, implementation and study of branches of government policy. Consequently, it remains true that in government the study, development and implementation of policies for improved service delivery are crucial, as indispensable parts of public administration.
Wilson (1887) is said to have been more influential to the science of Public Administration than Von Stein. This was basically due to his views on separating politics from administration; his critical analysis of political and private organisations; improving efficiency on daily operations through pro-business approaches and attitudes; and improved public service through the training and management of public servants (Wikipedia, 2010).
The issue of separating public administration from politics is still a controversial matter in South Africa. Wilson (1887) argued that Public Administration could be made scientific only if administrators were able to concentrate on the execution of policy after the legislative system had defined it. Efficient processes of policy execution include aspects of management, as this forms an integral part of Public Administration. Roux et al. (1997: 10) define management as being part of a human capability to perform administration effectively. Judgment, decision-making, guidance, integration and motivation are social processes of management that are involved in administration.
This makes management part of administration (Roux et al. 1997: 10). An illustration of the above is shown schematically in Diagram 3.1.
Adapted from Botes, P.S; Brynard, P.A; Fourie, D.J & Roux, N.L. 1997. Critical Issues in Public Management and Administration in South Africa. Pretoria: Kagiso Press. p10.
The diagram above illustrates the relationship between the fields in which a working official becomes involved on a daily basis. As administrators, working officials must ensure that the management functions (as in 1) are undertaken and activities to realise these management functions are performed as in the functional domain (3) and that these processes all require administration (2) to ensure that they are carried out as planned.
Ostrom and Ostrom (1971, as indicated in Rosenbloom et al., 1994: 22) confirm that Wilson’s essay in the “The study of Administration” called for a new Science of Administration, based on a radical distinction between politics and administration. Wilson (1887) argued that governments may differ on political principles, but principles of good administration should be the same in any system of government (Ostrom and Ostrom (1971, in Rosenbloom et al. 1994: 22).
It is however difficult to realise Wilson’s proposition to date, especially in developing countries, such as South Africa. The establishment of post-1994 legislation seeks to hasten service delivery, and both the executive and legislative systems are equally engaged in attaining such a goal. Nengwekhulu (2009: 350) confirms the above; failure to fulfil unplanned and unbudgeted expectations of the public is normally beyond the realm of public service performance. Such service delivery failures are blamed on those in government — on both the political and the administrative leadership.
Public servants cannot, by law, deliver or attempt to deliver public services that are not budgeted for by Parliament (Nengwekhulu, 2009: 350). Nengwekhulu (2009: 350) further attests to the fact that demands, needs and expectations placed on government to deliver public services may be unlimited, but government resources to meet these issues are limited. The policy on redistributing land to the poor, especially the HDIs, specifically women, are clear in regard to the target. However, the fact that not as many women have accessed land may be attributed to a variety of causes. This matter will be further detailed in the following chapter.
Public Administration has developed as an academic field – through a succession of five phases (Henry, 2004: 29). Each phase has been characterised by whether it has a locus or a focus; a locus is the institutional location of the field (Henry, 2004: 29). A recurring locus of public administration is the government bureaucracy, but again this has not always been the case, and often this traditional locus has been blurred (Henry, 2004: 29). On the other hand, the focus is the specialised content of what is studied, its body of knowledge and expertise (Henry, 2004: 29). The main focus has been the study of specific public administration principles, even though the focus of the discipline has been altered with improving stages of the field (Henry, 2004: 29).
This is true when looking at the development of public administration dating as far back as the 19th century, and it is still being discussed to date.
Goodnow (1900) is quoted by Golembewieski (1968: 10) as stating that public administration has been described as having both the locus and focus in its nature. Goodnow (1900 – 1926) is further cited by Henry (2004: 30) as a scholar of the first paradigm. This was characterised by the politics and administration dichotomy (1900 –1926). Goodnow (1900) contended that there were two distinct functions of government: Politics has to do with policies or expression of the State’s will, while administration has to do with the execution of these policies (Henry, 2004:30).
This first paradigm puts the emphasis on the locus, which is where public administration should be. As indicated earlier, public administration should be located within the different branches of government. The development of the WPSALP (1997) and its target on women is a clear expression of the State’s will; and this is the government’s intention: to have such a policy executed in the form of Land Reform Programmes – for the process to be complete (WPSALP, 1997:40).
The above puts further clarity on the demand for good administration, as it implies the execution of the State’s will (Goodnow, 1900 – 1926, in Henry, 2004: 30). Policy implementers need to be vigilant, because if policies are budgeted for, but are not implemented as expected, this is an indication of poor service delivery.
The second paradigm was that of knowing and applying the principles of public administration (during 1927 – 1937), and how administrators using such principles apply them in their work (Henry, 2004: 32). Gulick and Urwick (1937) promoted seven principles of administration. They used the acronym POSDCORB (which stands for planning, organising, staffing, directing, co-ordinating, reporting and budgeting). Public Administration, as a discipline, is located amongst other scientific disciplines, and its focus is on the activities or functions of public administration, of which, amongst others policy-making is a function. The later developments of administration were in contrast with the politics existing at that time.
The third paradigm was that of Public Administration – as being part of Political Science during the 1950s – 1970s. This era saw a renewed definition of the locus, the government branches and an equivalent loss of the focus (Henry, 2004: 37). The challenge, according to Henry (2004: 37), was that around 1962, Public Administration was not included as a sub-field of Political Science in the report of the Committee on Political Science as a discipline to the American Political Science Association.
The diminishing status of Public Administration was saved by the growing use of case studies as an epistemological device, and the rise of comparative and developmental administration as sub-fields of Public Administration (Henry, 2004: 39). The use of case studies as methods of investigating knowledge is still applicable in most disciplines to date. As described in section 2.5.1 of Chapter Two, the beginning of a scenario starts with phenomena, and cases provide opportunities to study such phenomena further (Denzin & Lincoln, 2008: 129).
Case studies are used in this study as one of the qualitative research methods because of their ability to extract knowledge and information from participants, even when the researcher is not an active party to the participants.
The fourth phase of Public Administration (1956 – 1970) came about as a result of misplacing Public Administration within Political Science departments (Henry, 2004: 41). As an alternative, Public Administration geared itself towards management; however, management provides a focus, but not a locus.
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND AND OUTLINE TO THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The basis for land allocation
1.3 Motivation for the study
1.4 Current Land Reform Programmes in South Africa
1.4.1 Land Restitution Programme
1.4.2 Land Redistribution Programme
1.4.2.1 Settlement for Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG)
1.4.2.2 Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development
1.4.2.3 Pro-Active Land Acquisition Strategy
1.4.3 Land Tenure Reform Programme
1.5 Problem Statement
1.6 Objectives of the research
1.7 Definition of key concepts
1.8 Framework for the study
1.9 Conclusion
CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Public administration research
2.3 Qualitative research and its applicability to the study
2.4 Qualitative research types
2.5 Ethical considerations in Public Administration research
2.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER 3 AN ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN RELATION TO LAND REFORM
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Background
3.3 The origin and development of Public Administration
3.4 The discipline of contemporary Public Administration
3.5 The sustainable development perspective in Public Administration
3.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER 4 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IMPACTING ON WOMEN’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
4.1 Introduction
4.2 South African land policy framework
4.3 International policy framework supporting women’s sustainable development
4.4 Women’s sustainable development and the economic environment
4.5 Women’s sustainable development and the cultural environment
4.6 Women’s sustainable development and the social environment
4.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5 SELECTED CASES ON WOMEN’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LAND REFORM
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Criteria used in the identification of cases
5.3 Criteria pertinent to the demographics of each case
5.4 An analysis of the cases
5.5 Common characteristics observed on women within the cases
5.6 Women’s inputs towards sustainable production on farms
5.7 The role of government in sustaining women
5.8 International Land Reform experiences
5.9 International trends in women’s access to land for sustainable development
5.10 Conclusion
CHAPTER 6 A SYSTEMS MODEL FOR WOMEN’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LAND REFORM
6.1 Introduction
6.2 The systems approach defined
6.3 The open systems model
6.4 The proposed systems model for women’s sustainable development through land reform
6.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Specific conclusions regarding land reform for women’s sustainable development
7.3 Recommendations regarding policy
7.4 Recommendations for the factors that influence productivity
7.5 Specific recommendations
7.6 Recommendations for the future and further studies
7.7 Conclusion
References
Annexure A
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