Drew Forrest Even Sipho Pityanas detractors in the Department of Foreign Affairs concede he is a superb administrator whose departure almost certainly to the private sector will be a loss to the department and the government. One of the longest-serving new-order mandarins he has been a director general since 1995 Pityana refuses to discuss reports that he is to cut short his contract and will be out by March. It has been suggested that differences with Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Zuma contributed to the expected parting of ways. Abdul Minty, Deputy Director General for multilateral affairs, and Thuthukile Skweyiya, South Africas ambassador in Paris and wife of Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya, are among those tipped as possible successors.
If the reports are true, the 42-year-old director general of foreign affairs is the second major casualty of Zumas notoriously abrasive personal style. The director general in her previous portfolio of health, Olive Shisana, also quit after the much-publicised spat over Sarafina 2. A former exile who studied politics at the universities of Essex and London, Pityana began his rise into the post-apartheid ruling elite as special adviser to Fort Hares former vice-chancellor, Sibusiso Bengu. He then carved out a reputation for himself as a demanding and organised director general of labour, where he piloted through Tito Mbowenis “six-pack” of new labour laws.
Insiders say his lack of foreign affairs expertise was a liability when he moved to the foreign affairs department as director general at Zumas request. They say he tries to reduce everything to the measurable and predictable an approach ill-suited to the shifting sands of world events but concede he is “very adept at administration and management”. Pityana claims as one of his key achievements the reorganisation of foreign affairs to make it less “reactive”. Much of last year was spent devising a strategic plan to guide the department until 2005. The plans affirmative action thrust was primarily a response to a mounting African National Congress clamour over a perceived excess of senior whites, particularly in foreign missions. In the year to October 1, the black component of head office staff has grown from 39% to 53%, and of foreign mission staff from 30% to 45%. The growth in the female complement has been even more striking: from 19% to 51%. “No one can point a finger at us now,” Pityana says. However, he concedes that the policy had bred “uncertainty” and prompted the departure of some experienced white officers. Pityana insists transformation has gone beyond race. Instead of policy reflecting “the fancy of ambassadors”, each of South Africas 92 missions abroad now had a country profile and a set of objectives shaped by the strategic plan. Missions have been evaluated four times this year. To ensure value for money, each had a business plan and ambassadors were tied to performance agreements.
The Mail & Guardian last week reported a volley of complaints llthat political lappointees ldrafted in from outside llthe service llllon short llllcontract ll were being subjected to disciplinary action by overzealous low-level administrators in foreign affairs. Pityana insists claims of a disciplinary clampdown on ambassadors and of widespread departmental disgruntlement are false. Action was pending against only one head of mission, while two other cases were on appeal. He goes further, arguing that he has deliberately blurred the distinction between political and career diplomats, all of whom are now subject to the same performance requirements and the same public service code of conduct. The idea that political appointees are a privileged breed is in part a legacy of South Africas first post-1994 foreign affairs director general, Rusty Evans. ANC appointees did not fully recognise his authority as an old-order official, and Evans trod carefully in his dealings with them. He is also said to have run foreign missions through their administrative heads.
Pityana said heads of mission are now designated accounting officers in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, and had to carry the can for all embassy programmes. “I interact with them on everything political, administrative and financial.” Asked what he considered “unfinished business”, Pityana says further attention is needed to the balance of political and career diplomats in South Africa. “We cannot create the impression that the top posts are for outsiders it saps motivation and, when the political appointees go, leads to loss of expertise.” He argues that the current practice of installing officials from other departments in foreign llmissions notably home affairs and trade and industry makes for policy fragmentation and must change. He adds, suggestively: “We have built up good policy-llmaking ca-llpacity. This could be put to llllfar greater use than it is.”