South Africa has been on a decades-long journey of reforming its public service. But serious problems persist.
In September 2026 the urgency for change was again underscored during the Madlanga Commission of inquiry into corruption in the police and security forces. In his testimony, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission, Somadoda Fikeni, lamented the state of governance and accountability. He said it sustained a culture of impunity in which officials directly benefited from the inconvenience suffered by members of the public. He called it the “political economy of inefficiency”.
