Page 38 - Service Delivery Review

Profile of Public Service

Her selfless disposition in serving humanity sets a is replaced by the market, the public good is com-
referential template. It teaches the importance of te- modified, and the state-citizen relationship becomes
nacity in getting things done. But why is the emu- a transactional interaction where the citizens are re-
lation of good examples not forthcoming abundantly duced to mere customers and labelled as such. These
in shaping the entirety of the public service system? neo-liberal trappings blur the ethical impulse of pub-
Perhaps this is because those who embody these ex- lic administration and the moral vision of democracy.
amples are not theorised. Instead, much about them They belie the social effectiveness of the public good.
is largely the subject of biographies and autobiogra- In the angst of particularly the youth and the poor, the
phies, which, by the way, are important too, but can- question about whose democracy it is anyway neces-
not be all that is there. This is because who they are sitates that things change rather urgently, especially
is not simply a narrative of their lives. It gives public as they relate to enhancing the capacity of the state
affairs theoretical and philosophical outlooks beyond to deliver the public good with the utmost ethical dis-
a minimalist state where running government like a position. To use Alfred Marshall’s words, “the state
business is punted as a panacea for efficiency. Edu- is the most precious of human possessions; and no
cationalist Diane Dalenberg debunked this falsehood
in their sense of public service as a platitude and a care can be too great to be spent on enabling it to do
“fundamental pedagogy of big lies” in a paper pub- its work in the best way”.
lished on wordpress.com.
The way to go about this is to institutionalise the pow-
“Government should be run like a democracy” er of example so that public administration can emu-
In her exemplary disposition, Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka late those whose greatness is the alchemy of humility,
teaches that “government should be run like a de- intellect, and character, which shapes their sense of
mocracy”, where the preoccupation should be the public service. And their rarity is often because of a
public good (The New Public Service: Serving rather lack of discernment, not that their abundance in so-
than steering. Public Administration Review, 2000). ciety is not sizeable. Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka is one of
In other words, the government should not be run those who SAAPAM has recognised as representing
like a business, where the sovereignty of the people the good of society.

38 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 15. No. 3 of 2023