State capture is often cited as the the reason for the department’s ongoing failures, but its problems run far deeper
The journey to full-blown austerity is marked by changes to an economy presided over by a government adrift
The initial commitment, informed by the constitutional dream of the struggle, has been trundled underfoot by ministers and presidents
The department has tried to turn the health system around but it’s plagued by inefficiency, staff shortages, dismal leadership and governance failures
South Africa has had a mixed bag of environmental ministers over the past 30 years and, bar a few, most have taken the environmental agenda forward
There have been seven police ministers over the past three decades and not one has cracked a decent crime busting grade
They have on the whole served satisfactorily, but the department has
also been marred by decades of maladministration and corruption
Bold strides have been made in unravelling apartheid’s systems of education but there is still a lot to be done to achieve equality