Synthesis Evaluation of State Capacity with a Special Focus on Directors-General and Heads of Department

The Presidency in collaboration with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) commissioned the Developmental, Capable, and Ethical State (DCES) division of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to conduct a study entitled “Synthesis evaluation of state capacity with a special focus on Directors-General and Heads of Department”. According to the Terms of Reference (ToRs), at the centre of state capacity is the top echelon of government officials, i.e., Accounting Officers (AOs), including Directors-General (DGs) and Heads of Department (HoDs) in the national and provincial spheres of government, respectively. They drive the implementation of priority programmes by providing strategic leadership, planning, monitoring, conducting oversight, and spearheading governance and accountability. However, several studies have highlighted gaps and challenges facing the state’s capacity and its ability to achieve effective and efficient programme implementation. This is true for all spheres of government, largely because AOs are at the political-administrative interface across the state, which is often not conducive to the effective achievement of outcomes. The resulting administrative instability includes systemic capacity vacuums, which contribute to ineffectiveness and inefficiencies in delivering government programmes and services. In South Africa, as in many other developing countries, the survival and functioning of governance systems depend on key state capacities, including the capacity to mobilise and effectively apply financial resources to pursue the implementation of programmes of national interest, and the capacity to guide national socioeconomic development. If the state is able to produce and deliver economic and social goods in accordance with its constitutional mandate, it may strengthen democratic legitimacy. However, if the state apparatus cannot adequately deliver on its constitutional mandate, it may undermine perceived democratic legitimacy. Thus, a developmental, capable and ethical state requires skilled managers, especially DGs and HoDs, with clear lines of authority and accountability to execute their duties in a way that achieves optimal outputs and agreed outcomes. This requires a political and administrative environment that is free from undue political interference, with effective systems, and with a consistent and fair application of rules.