The prolonged absence of a permanent head in the Northern Cape’s agriculture department has triggered frustration among farmers and organised agriculture, owing to sluggish programme implementation. Despite local media advertisements for the position since 2019, the department continues to operate under an interim head.
In February this year, the MEC for agriculture, environmental affairs, rural development and land reform, told Food For Mzansi that the provincial government was finalising the appointment process. However, six months down the line the department is without a permanent accounting officer.
Saamtrek Saamwerk Northern Cape leader Sehularo Sehularo said they shared the frustrations of farmers brought on by the department.
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Concerning state of affairs
“We are concerned that the sixth administration is almost coming to an end and we have not had a permanent head of the department since 2019. It is a concern that we are going to take up.
“The same applies to district managers, for example, Frances Baard district – the largest region in the province – does not have a district manager. Whether we like it or not, service delivery is being undermined by the government,” he said.
Sehularo said they will request a meeting with the MEC to understand how far the process is and iron out all the frustrations farmers have.
“We get queries every day on matters of governance, monitoring and evaluation, and support structures for farmers which we have no answers to.
“Our responsibility, as leaders, is to ask the government to sit around the table and discuss pressing issues concerning the sector. Agriculture is an economic industry, therefore it needs to be treated as such, with respect and issues addressed with urgency,” he said.
Acting head passes the buck
The acting head of the department, Lerato Wa Modise, has denied reports that he was told to sit at home following his inquiry on when will he be appointed full-time in the position.
“It is untrue that I have been told to sit at home. I have been on vacation leave and returned to work on the 19th of July 2023. I am unfortunately not in the office today because I’ve been admitted to hospital,” he explained.
Modise said he was still the acting head of the department, and he attended the recent meeting called by the premier.
“The premier is the competent authority that makes appointments of HOD and as such I am not privy to why the post has been vacant for so long.”
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“We continue to provide services to our farming community as that is not dependent on the permanent nature of the accounting officer’s appointment,” Wa Modise added.
The office of the MEC referred all the questions to the office of the premier as to why the process has taken so long to appoint a permanent head of the department.
Spokesperson to the premier, Bronwyn Thomas-Abrahams, said the filling of the vacant position for the head of the department of agriculture, rural development, land reform and nature conservation will unfold soon.
“Details pertaining to the appointment, once all processes have been completed, will be communicated,” she said.
A perfect recipe for instability
Expert on governance systems in the public sector from the University of Free State (UFS), Dr Harlan Cloete, said the failure of appointing personnel in the public sector is causing instability in government.
“If people act too long in positions it creates that type of not stability in government or a department. A post must be advertised and the people must apply for that post.
“In a lot of government departments, there is a lack of political will to appoint people for political reasons. If we are serious about development in this country, we will fill positions with the best-qualified people. We must have a pragmatic approach, having people act in positions for so long creates that instability,” he said.
Cloete explained that political oversight was the problem in decision-making on critical posts to be filled, at times because those who are acting might be “aligned” with political leaders and might not be qualified to fill that position.
Lack of legislation
He said there was no legislation as to how long can a person act in a position which leads to institutional instability, especially in the public sector.
“All this happens in the background of what we call a capable state; we say we want a capable state by 2030. If we say in this country we talk left but act right, there is poor institutional governance and that creates uncertainty.
“If your stakeholders say that this person is not implementing and there is dysfunctionality in the department, then there is a problem with the political oversight,” he said.
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