South Africa’s civil society groups are demanding a bigger role in the national self-assessment to be conducted under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
APRM is the brainchild of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), an initiative that seeks to attract more foreign investment to the continent by improving the management of African states.
The African Union inaugurated the mechanism in Durban in July 2002, during its annual summit. The hope is that this voluntary exercise will enable African countries to assess their standards of governance and levels of development, setting the stage for better political and economic leadership.
To date, only Ghana and Rwanda have been reviewed — although 22 other countries have signed up to the APRM.
Civil society groups and business representatives in South Africa say the composition of the body which will manage the country’s review process –the ”governing council” — places too much emphasis on government. Six of the ten places on the council have been allocated to Cabinet members.
”It’s unfair that six ministers should be sitting on the governing council — one should be enough. The presence of six ministers will inhibit the process, as people will be reluctant to speak out,” said Samuel Katz, a businessman.
He was speaking at a conference held on Thursday at the University of the Witwatersrand, located in Johannesburg, to discus the role of civil society in peer review.
”There needs to be a plurality of views reflected in the process,” Adam Habib of the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) told Thursday’s gathering. ”The governing council should be 12 with one third from government and two thirds non-government.”
Zanele Twala, executive director of the South African non-governmental organisation Coalition, also voiced concern about the extent to which civic representatives included the process would be truly independent in their views.
”The government seems to choose who in civil society; [it] seeks friendly voices and nodding heads,” Twala told the gathering.
Ghana has received accolades for allowing its non-governmental sector to take the lead in that country’s peer review.
”In Ghana, we were very satisfied with the contribution of civil society,” Chris Stals, a member of the APRM panel of eminent persons, told the gathering. ”We went to rural areas and met chiefs who knew something about peer review.” The seven-member panel assessed Ghana’s review process.
Rwanda was less amenable to giving civic groups control of its review, perhaps a reflection of the fact that many African governments still view civil society as a type of opposition — not a potential partner. But after some arm-twisting, officials in Kigali included more non-governmental representatives in the process.
”We asked them again and again to have more civil societies,” said Stals, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa.
A similar reluctance was visible in Kenya, currently grappling with its own peer review. ”It took Kenya four months to bring in civil society in the review process,” Ross Herbert of the South African Institute of International Affairs — part of the
University of the Witwatersrand –told the gathering.
Stals emphasised that South Africa’s review should encompass all constituencies.
”We need a critical, open and frank self-assessment. If, for example, the civil society is not happy with a certain aspect of [South Africa’s] Constitution, it should say so,” he noted, adding ”If civil societies are unhappy about the process they should contact Adedeji and raise their concerns.”
Adebayo Adedeji, an APRM eminent person from Nigeria, will chair the panel when it assesses South Africa’s review.
Government insists it has no intention of excluding civic groups from the process.
”There is scope for civil society to have its own caucus and start discussing the APRM process like any other group,” Unathi Bangco of the Department of Public Service and Administration told the meeting.
However, Eddie Makue of the South African Council of Churches nonetheless offered authorities the following advice.
”If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk with a friend,” he said, in reference to the need for officials to join hands with civil society concerning the APRM.
South African Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi will coordinate the review, which kicks off in Johannesburg next week at a national conference to be opened by President Thabo Mbeki.
Representatives of political parties, business, civil society and government will also attend the meeting.
The Johannesburg gathering will be followed by provincial conferences in early November, where the process of evaluating the administration (and private sector) will continue.
The findings of the provincial deliberations are to be presented at a second national meeting, also scheduled for November — which will result in a report on South Africa. – Sapa-IPS