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The quintessential public service mandarin

LUGISA FUZILE's exit from the state’s employ has significant markers for all public servants, writes Busani Ngcaweni.

‘Exit Lungisa Fuzile...” I am sure the reader is wondering what words will follow this cliffhanger. Perhaps you thought I should have used the much-abused cliché: “when [Fuzile] goes...” Much of a muchness really.

For his part, Malusi Gigaba, the minister under whose captaincy the long-serving National Treasury senior official leaves, had this to say: “Director-general Fuzile is a model public servant who has devoted 19 years to the service of our country... He leaves a legacy of a strong National Treasury that has a formidable team and a strong institutional framework that will carry forward the mandate of the department.”

No doubt these words of affirmation will occupy prime pages in Fuzile’s biography, neither being the first nor the last, especially as he leaves government without a cloud.

Fuzile’s exit from the public service has significant markers for all public servants to observe. Let us reflect on a few attendant risks of being misunderstood notwithstanding.

First, in recent times, very few directors-general (DGs) have left the state without a cloud, either real or manufactured. The body bags of heads of departments, owing to the so-called incompatibility, malpractice and other spurious corruption allegations, are countless.

In fact, many senior managers in the civil service quip that becoming a head of department is like signing an early retirement pact. The joke is once you sign a contract, contact Frank (some insurance company) immediately and sign up for that income protector they advertise on Morning Live.

The worst thing about this situation is that once you leave under a cloud, nobody touches you. Those lucky enough to get offers after leaving government under a cloud end up in NGOs or managing “government relations” in private sector firms – basically responsible for chasing appointments with politicians and sending VIP invites to the Cape Town Jazz Festival and the Durban Vodacom July. Their performance becomes measured by their ability to secure state of the nation address tickets and lobbying.

Fuzile leaves with the comfort that no one will replace him on speed dial – many former DGs complain that no one answers their calls once they exit the state’s employ.

Second, as Minister Gigaba stated last week, Fuzile leaves a department intact, an institution that will outlive him as it did Maria Ramos and Lesetja Kganyago. That is significant because stories abound of successors who have to pick up the pieces and rebuild departments once heads of departments are gone.

National Treasury is a respected department (feared by some) because its officials have proven themselves over time with their technical expertise, excellence and ability to manage and adjust to transitions and policy realignments. One recent controversial project comes to mind.

When we were delegated to explore reduced e-toll tariffs following the recommendations of the Gauteng panel on e-tolls, the Treasury team was at pains to see to it that the outcomes would not totally collapse the user-pay principle which anchors government’s infrastructure programme.

With a combination of scientific rigour, skilful negotiations, political consciousness and occasional outbursts, we emerged with a R220 unlimited trips monthly cap; down from R2 000+ monthly bills that frequent users were facing. We also recommended amnesty and other measures to reduce the cost burden to users of Gauteng freeways.

For Fuzile this meant looking elsewhere for funds to help the South African National Roads Agency Limited meet its Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project debt obligations. Through his leadership, the “new e-tolls dispensation”, as it would later be dubbed, was fortunately accepted by the political principals and implemented.

Third, Fuzile is acknowledged for having committed 19 years to public service in democratic South Africa moving through the ranks to the pinnacle of National Treasury. This tells us a story of commitment, persistence and selflessness. For skilled bureaucrats who can easily join the private sector and triple their salaries, it says a lot if they remain within state service whatever the circumstances.

READ: Inside Treasury boss’s mind: ratings, nuclear, radical transformation

Few qualified and experienced executives stay in government when they see their peers and varsity mates in the private sector and state-owned enterprises earn obscene salaries and bonuses – sometimes even as income statements and balance sheets head south. I need not mention names.

His moving through the ranks also suggests continuity and change within Treasury. Any organisation that effectively manages its talent endeavours to create career paths and succession plans. When one engages with senior and middle managers at Treasury, one is left with an impression that the ruling party has done well to train future mandarins who are well on their way to leading the bureaucracy in the future. Many are highly educated, assertive and politically aware.

I admit that some mistake this assertiveness with rudeness, not that they are always wrong. Boundaries were crossed many times with Fuzile readily disclaiming or admitting it remorsefully.

Fourth, Fuzile commanded respect from and among his peers and counterparts inside and outside the state. That is a mark of leadership and humility – although many would disagree with the latter as we have stated above. Perhaps it was his wit that reduced the number of enemies, as he drew on it from time to time when defusing tense situations. Within the forum of DGs, everyone knew that you wouldn’t take chances with him given his knowledge of his work and what needed to be done.

Fifth, we see an exit of a public sector mandarin that was politically aware and appreciated the political mandate of the ruling party. Bureaucracy is a political institution, not a social movement or a stokvel. It draws its mandate, tenor and tempo from political processes including manifestos and other policy-setting mechanisms.

In fact, it is well established in literature that the ideals of a professional public service do not run counter to the calls for depoliticising the bureaucracy. Political consciousness does not equal political activism or meddling.

In this connection, one can risk opining that although he remained until his last day at the office, Fuzile’s biography would have been better decorated by an economy that grew faster. In his own words, a 3%+ growth rate would have put him at ease.

READ: Fuzile: Discipline is right thing to do

“This would have put us in a stronger fiscal position. And yes, we need more businesses to form and the existing ones to be more profitable and to create jobs for our youth. I wish I was leaving at a time when the education and training sector was functioning well; equipping South Africans for the future economy: the fourth industrial revolution … it would have been heart-warming to leave at a time when inequality was falling.” These statements are evidently political, a marker of consciousness on his part.

Well Fuzile is not dead. This is not an encomium. He has exited the state to start a new life elsewhere. These lines are meant for those who remain in the bureaucracy, to prick our conscience, reminding us of the road ahead, the long and winding walk toward mastering state craft which is a necessary feature of a democratic developmental state that must steer South Africa into a national democratic society.

Few public servants will have such opinions penned in their names, not for lack of contribution to society. But Fuzile is larger than life – a true public service mandarin – which I define as an advanced detachment employed by the state to manage public resources and implement the electoral mandate.

As we navigate daily moral temptations and ethical dilemmas, we should remember not to destroy the legacy built by Fuzile and many other public servants who have left the public service.

Ngcaweni is a public servant writing in his personal capacity.

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