All eyes are on President Thabo Mbeki as he steps up to the podium at the African Union heads of state summit in Addis Ababa this weekend: will he present a whitewashed peer review report or the warts and all assessment of the panel of leading Africans who have made their own assessment?
The panel of eminent persons was led by Nigerian economist Adebayo Adedeje and included the former Reserve Bank governor, Chris Stals, and Graça Machel.
The eminent persons report, leaked last December, said crime was a key challenge facing South Africa and it also dealt extensively with poverty and inequality, land reform, HIV/Aids and violence against women and children.
But government’s report to the AU is far more sanguine and limited in its assessment of the state. Commentators say Mbeki will choose this option.
The government has refused to comment on the eminent persons’ report until after the president’s presentation on Sunday, beyond saying that its peer review plan of action is not set in stone.
‘He [Mbeki] must not miss this opportunity to give leadership,†said Hassan Lorgat of the NGO coalition, Sangoco, which sat on the APRM’s governing council. ‘If he fails, he fails African institutions and he will fail the whole of civil society, much of which is already cynical.â€
The 300-page eminent persons’ report discusses a range of issues which were muted in the final report.
South Africa’s governing council, led by the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, was accused by civil society of whitewashing the country’s final report under the guise of ‘editing†the manuscript. It is unclear exactly who made the controversial changes.
Civil society organisations say the eminent persons’ report gives a more accurate summary of the national temperature taken through an extensive process of consultation in the course of 2005 and 2006.
Lorgat said Mbeki would set an example for other African countries embarking on the peer review process if he took the ‘bold step†of engaging the eminent persons’ report.
Civil society has also criticised the criterion used in the programme of action submitted to the peer review secretariat last year.
The document says that it will only address problems where ‘a discernible impact can be made through limited and specific improvement interventionsâ€.
In other words, South Africa wants a limited and achievable plan of action.
It adds: ‘Major national priorities such as crime are not addressed in the programme as a result of the application of this criterion. They are primarily caused by factors other than ineffective governance and would be best addressed by more appropriate interventions.â€
Critics argue that this drastically limits the scope of the programme of action.
The programme also says that the state’s internal process and performance must be ‘internally addressed and already appear in the government programmes of action or in departmental strategic plansâ€.
The document excludes these suggestions because they do not meet the ‘partnership requirement†— meaning that only proposals requiring action by more than one social partner are included. ‘Partners†is a vague term that includes the government, business, labour and NGOs.
Cosatu’s deputy general secretary, Bheki Ntshalintshali, said the government could do nothing on its own, as ‘everything needs to engage stakeholdersâ€.
Ineffective governance was not the only issue. However, Ntshalintshali emphasised that the government still had a responsibility to address matters such as crime ‘as the governmentâ€.
Cosatu was one of several civil society groups involved in the peer review which wrote to Fraser-Moleketi asking for more time to consider the eminent persons’ report late last year. It has not received a response.
Ntshalintshali said the government’s failure to engage civil society over the report undermined the core principles of participation and inclusion. ‘It is no longer the peer review process as we understood it to be,†he said. Its exclusion might discourage civil society in other countries from trying to be heard in peer reviews.
Fraser-Moleketi’s spokesperson, Clayson Monyela, said the eminent persons’ report would only become public after Mbeki’s address this weekend.
Fraser-Moleketi would then hold a press conference to discuss concerns relating to the report and the programme of action.
How it works
- The country establishes a ‘focal point†to oversee the review. SA’s is run by Public Service and Administration minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.
- A governing council comprised of civil society and government is established. It sets the parameters and plans for review.
- Hearings are held around the country and submissions are heard. Four organisations drafted technical reports. The governing council drafts a final country report.
- An eminent persons panel gets this report and it makes its own findings.
- The country which has been reviewed has to make a presentation to the AU heads of state. This is what Mbeki will do on Sunday.