BY THEMBA ZWANE
EZULWINI– African countries must urgently reimagine their public service institutions to make them more responsive, ethical, professional and development-oriented, South African Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairperson Professor Somadoda Fikeni has said.
Fikeni made the call during the 3rd Conference and Annual General Meeting of the SADC Public Service Commissions Forum, held in Eswatini from August 28 to 31, 2026.
Speaking on the theme “A Date with Destiny: Reimagining African Public Service in the Era of Great Distress and Amidst Global Turbulences,” Fikeni said the continent was facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty that required public service institutions to rethink how they operate and serve citizens.
He said the SADC PSC Forum itself demonstrated the importance of countries working together, recalling that three years ago representatives from across the region met in Cape Town as strangers to establish the forum, but had since developed into a close regional family united by a common mission.
“What brought us together and bind us is a common mission and vision of combining our various institutions and wisdom to curate a new few and re-imagine a new public service that will make real difference in the lives of ordinary people,” Fikeni said.
He invoked the African proverb that “if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far, go together,” saying the forum existed to multiply the power of collaboration, shared learning and mutual support for the benefit of citizens.
PUBLIC SERVICE FACING ‘POLYCRISIS’
Fikeni said the region was operating in what social scientists describe as a “polycrisis” and a VUCA environment – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.
Among the major challenges he identified were geopolitical tensions and conflicts, climate change and natural disasters, the rapid development of artificial intelligence and technology, migration and immigration pressures, growing inequality, youth unemployment and inter-generational poverty.
He also highlighted what he described as a growing legitimacy crisis facing public institutions, driven by perceptions or realities that public administration was failing to fulfil its promise of serving the public.
Fikeni warned that the gap between official self-assessments of government performance and the lived experiences of ordinary citizens could no longer be ignored.
He criticised a culture where annual reports, compliance measures and institutional assessments could create an appearance of success while citizens continued experiencing poor services.
‘AFRICA RICH, AFRICANS POOR’
Fikeni also questioned the persistence of poverty on a continent endowed with significant resources.
He described Africa as facing a paradox of being a rich continent with poor Africans, linking the continent’s current challenges to its historical experiences of slavery, colonialism, the Cold War and the post-Cold War period.
He questioned whether the sacrifices made by African liberation heroes and heroines had produced the future they envisioned.
Fikeni said the continued suffering of citizens demanded a fundamental rethink of how public institutions operate and deliver development.
He warned against public service systems where loyalty was valued above competence, contrasting these with professional and meritocratic public services that have enabled developmental states to achieve their national objectives.
FROM COMPLIANCE TO PEOPLE-CENTRED SERVICE
The South African PSC Chairperson said public institutions needed to move away from a narrow compliance and conformance culture towards a people-centred and values-based approach.
He identified corruption, poor service delivery, fragmentation, lack of innovation, rent-seeking behaviour, poor transparency and accountability, wasteful management of public resources, lack of urgency and non-responsiveness among the negative characteristics associated with public service.
Fikeni called for a new ethos and moral code of public service with an African flavour, drawing inspiration from African philosophies of humanism and community.
He specifically advocated for the humanisation of public service through African values such as Ubuntu/Botho, arguing that government services must have a caring human face.
FOCUS ON PROFESSIONALISATION AND AI
Among the areas requiring intervention, Fikeni identified institutional arrangements and governance, resource mobilisation, public sector reforms and the professionalisation of public service.
He also called for digital transformation and the integration of artificial intelligence to strengthen public administration.
The SADC PSC Forum, he said, should further integrate itself into the SADC and African Union ecosystem to contribute towards regional and continental development goals.
He proposed the compilation of a book bringing together the various legislated and constitutional mandates of public service commissions, alongside stronger branding, marketing and communication strategies to ensure that citizens understand the work and plans of the institutions.
Fikeni stressed that successful transformation would require clarity of diagnosis and vision, urgency with clear timelines, agency through clearly defined roles, and collective action supported by monitoring and impact assessment.
‘LET ESWATINI BE A TURNING POINT’
As the SADC PSC Forum continues to develop, Fikeni called for the Eswatini gathering to become a defining moment in the transformation of public service across the region.
“Let our meeting in the Kingdom of Eswatini be a tipping point and a turning point,” he said.
He urged delegates to become pathfinders and trailblazers in shaping public services that serve people, support development and respond to the challenges of the modern era.
Fikeni concluded by invoking the spirit of resilience and determination associated with Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr., urging delegates to keep the dream of better public institutions alive despite the challenges confronting the continent.
He said the SADC region should leave the AGM determined to reimagine public service as an impactful, responsive, people-centred and development-oriented institution.
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(Courtesy Pic)
