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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Cabinet Report Card for 2006
In comparison to 2005, the DA’s 2006 Cabinet Report Card shows many changes to ministers’ scores, and only seven office bearers retained the scores they obtained in 2005 - the Ministers of Labour, Science and Technology, Public Service and Administration, Public Enterprises, Health (0 in both years) and Transport, and the President.
Most of the movement was, unfortunately, downwards – 15 ministers out of a Cabinet of 30 obtained lower scores this year than they did last year. Only four ministers improved on their 2005 scores – those responsible for Foreign Affairs, Provincial and Local Government, Sport and Recreation and the Presidency.
What remains of great concern is the fact that, overall, Cabinet has failed for the second year running – the Cabinet’s average score drops again, from five in 2004, to 4.5 in 2005, to 4.3 this year. South Africa can ill-afford a lack of leadership of this kind given the enormity of the challenges that confront us as a nation. It is clear that Cabinet performance will have to improve greatly over the next year if we are to have any chance of effectively dealing with the serious problems we currently face.
The need to display far greater leadership will made be even more acute by the fact that the succession crisis within the ANC will continue to intensify in the lead-up to the party’s congress at the end of 2007. Unless there is decisive leadership from the President downwards, there is every chance state capacity will be even more compromised than it as present.
The DA adopted a slightly different approach to the Report Card this year, by setting up a page on our website where the public could themselves rate ministers’ performance. A total of 29 337 votes were logged for the various ministers, and the close correlation between the off-the-cuff responses of the public and the DA’s painstaking assessments is remarkable.
Although the public’s scoring was specifically not used to influence the DA’s allocation of points, in the end there was only a difference of five points between the combined score given by the DA and that given by the public - 127.5 for the DA and 119 for the public. There was a difference of only 0.3 points between the DA’s average score per minister and that of the public – four for the public and 4.3 for the DA.
There are sometimes differences in scores for individuals – for example, the public was more forgiving of the Health Minister, giving her two in contrast to the DA’s 0, but was less appreciative of the efforts of the Deputy President, whom they gave a score of five in contrast to the DA’s score of 6.5. However, in most cases the correlation between scores for particular ministers is extremely close.
For the third year in a row, President Mbeki scored a middling five. Despite his successes in managing the economy and his international peacekeeping efforts, he has shown little of the strong, purposeful and resolute leadership required to head off many pressing problems. In particular, he has done nothing to push through the bold labour market reforms needed to make a dent in unemployment figures. Moreover, despite strong words and promises on corruption, he has failed to match this commitment with action.
The Deputy President, on the other hand, continues to do reasonably well, dropping only half a point from last year. Her biggest triumph was undoubtedly negotiating a turnabout on the government’s unforgivable foot-dragging on HIV/Aids. On the down side, for the third time in four years she attracted the attentions of the Public Protector, following a state-funded holiday in the United Arab Emirates last Christmas.
The two star performers continued to be the Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, and Azapo Leader Mosibudi Mangena, who manages the relatively obscure Ministry of Science and Technology. Both score seven: Manuel for his continuing stylish management of South Africa’s booming economy, and Mangena for his creativity and his assiduousness in seeking out opportunities to develop South Africa’s technological capacity
Like last year, the Cabinet under-achiever is the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Once again, nothing good could be found to say about her. She scores 0, and we can only hope that a more capable Minister is in her place in time for the DA’s 2007 report card - perhaps current Deputy Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge would be the best candidate.
In many cases, ministers lost points simply because they had done nothing to address problems we had previously raised alarm bells about.
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, for example, has fallen steadily in the DA’s rankings over the past three years because of her ongoing reluctance to take on Telkom, whose monopolistic practices make South Africa one of the most expensive places in the world to communicate.
Similarly, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula continues to lose points because of his persistent refusal to respond to the crime epidemic as if it were a real problem.
Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour has dropped the most places from last year – from seven to two. This was largely because of his game-playing around the public release of the Jali Commission findings into corruption and maladministration in the prison system, his failure to deal with endemic corruption in prisons, and his public support for convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni. It appears that moving him from Sport and Recreation has not had the desired effect.
Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula falls two points from last year as a consequence of her absolute helplessness in the face of the chaos in her department, including corruption, financial chaos, and farcical levels of inefficiency – to the point where at one stage passports could no longer be processed because the Department had run out of paper.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s score also drops by two, largely because of copious evidence that her glitzy housing delivery stage-show contains far more glitter than substance.
On the plus side, four ministers improved on their 2005 performance.
Despite Zimbabwe, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma climbs two points. Under her guidance, South Africa has punched above its weight in the international arena – illustrated, for example, by the launch this year of the India, Brazil and South Africa partnership and our seat on the United Nations Security Council. The worsening situation in Zimbabwe continues to hold her back from obtaining a higher score.
Essop Pahad, the Minister in the Presidency, also improved on his 2005 score, because of his quieter and less controversy-ridden approach in comparison to previous years.
Sydney Mufamadi, Minister of Provincial and Local Government, improves dramatically, from a score of two last year to five in 2006. This improvement is largely due to his role in stopping the attempted ANC take-over of the DA-led administration in Cape Town, during which he was involved in negotiating a face-saving solution for the ANC in the Western Cape. He has also been responsible for a number of measures aimed at improving the accountability and performance of local governments.
Finally, Sport and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile stayed away from controversy over quotas this year and adopted a more nuanced approach to the question of sporting development. He has also kept World Cup preparations on track, despite a number of hiccups, and as a result his score increases by two points.
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View the scorecard for 2005
View the scorecard for 2004
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