Africa-Press – South-Africa. New laws that aim to dramatically change how South Africa’s public service operates are now sitting on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s desk, waiting for his signature.
These amendments to the Public Service Act and the Public Administration Management Act have been approved by both houses of Parliament and are being described as some of the most important governance reforms since the Constitution was adopted.
The changes are designed to create a more professional, less politically manipulated public service.
One key provision bans accounting officers and senior public servants from doing business with the state.
Others limit how political leaders can issue instructions to departments, requiring that directives be put in writing and sent only through accounting officers.
The laws also push for appointments to be based on merit rather than political loyalty and introduce a more structured induction process for new public servants.
Dr Ivor Chipkin, co-founder and director of the New South Institute (NSI), said these reforms could fundamentally change how government works.
He called the moment “historic” and said the legislation represents one of the most important things that has happened to South Africa since 1996.
He explained in an interview with 702 that the biggest shift is that the laws finally draw a clear line between political roles and administrative roles.
“It establishes in law for the first time the difference between political office and administrative office. It will prevent, in law anyway, our politicians from having administrative powers,” he said.
Right now, ministers, MECs and even the president can get involved in operational and staffing decisions within departments.
Chipkin argued that this has allowed political office-bearers to interfere in day-to-day administration.
“Our politicians have powers over administrative decisions, the appointment of public servants, even discretion over how the department should be run,” he said.
New era of governance in South Africa
Dr Ivor Chipkin, co-founder and director of the New South Institute
These new amendments take those powers away. To explain the change, he uses a simple analogy: government is like a car. Politicians are supposed to drive—choosing direction, speed and priorities.
Public servants are the engine, providing the technical expertise to make the system work. “Usually, the drivers are not involved in building or maintaining the engine,” Chipkin said.
However, in South Africa, politicians have been both driving and trying to build and fix the engine at the same time. “It’s extraordinary not just for South Africa, but by international standards,” he said.
He pointed to a well-known example in policing, where a minister dissolved an investigative unit—something that was legally allowed under the current Public Service Act.
Under the new laws, he said, the minister simply would not have had the discretion to order the dissolution of that unit.
The amendments also strike at the heart of cadre deployment. Chipkin said the practice has been possible because ministers have had the legal authority to make appointments.
“If ministers no longer have that power, they can’t deploy people suggested to them by the party,” he said.
Departments will instead have to select people based on merit, their experience, skills, and knowledge. He believes this could lead to a more capable and stable public administration.
Not everyone is enthusiastic, however. Some opposition parties are wary that the reforms could leave them stuck with officials appointed under ANC ministers if they enter government.
“Some of these parties… are worried about having to inherit an administration largely appointed and controlled by ANC ministers,” Chipkin said.
However, he argued that resisting depoliticisation would simply continue the cycle. “Repoliticising the public administration is only going to reproduce the problem,” he warned.
Chipkin sees these laws as the start of a new phase in South Africa’s governance. It shifts toward a more professional, independent public service.
He linked the changes in the bills to earlier turning points, such as the establishment of democracy in 1994 and the adoption of the Constitution in 1996.
“And I think 2025 is the year when we start to transition towards a professional public administration,” he said.
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