ANALYSIS: Joburg and SAPS may get new leaders, but substantive change is unlikely

The hearings at the Madlanga Commission and November’s local elections open the prospect for very real change in the South African Police Service (SAPS), the criminal justice system and to the services residents receive. But, while the leaders of important bodies, such as the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), and metros such as Johannesburg might change, hopes of real improvement might miss how deep the problems really are. And how difficult it will be to change the organisational culture of institutions and municipal entities.While winter still has much of the country in its grip, the prospect of real change is in the air.At the SAPS, it appears unlikely that suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola and so many others will be able to return to their posts. Andrea Johnson, who returned to work on Friday, 17 July, despite being rushed to hospital earlier in the week, might well have to leave the position of Idac head.So many people in leadership positions in the SAPS have been tainted by the evidence heard so publicly that many of their positions will need filling.In many councils, such as Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, there is a prospect of change too – particularly in Joburg where the ANC has yet to find a candidate to take on Helen Zille for the mayoral position.While the identities and personalities of those who occupy leadership positions is absolutely critical, it would be foolish to presume that just by changing the leaders the institutions will change.Entrenched cultureIn the SAPS, in particular, there appears to be an entrenched culture of using violence against suspects, criminality for gain and simple corruption.A perfect example of this is the Mpumalanga provincial police commissioner, Daphney Manamela. She has been suspended for nearly two years after demanding gifts (such as shoes and a Smeg kettle) from rural police stations she visited. It has become so common for suspects to die in a shoot-out with police in KwaZulu-Natal that some incidents receive very little attention. In many cases the provincial commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, publicly defends and regularly praises the officers.This culture has become so entrenched for so long in such a big organisation (the SAPS directly employs about 180,000 people; the only private sector entity that comes close is Shoprite at around 168,000) that it would require a generational effort to shift it.This would require not only a new national commissioner, but a large and dedicated group of senior police officers who are determined to make a change.Frankly, it is unlikely that a large group of such people exists. Those with policing experience are likely to have imbibed the current culture of the SAPS and those without it may not understand the institution well enough to make real change.Unfortunately, the same human resource shortage is probably true of our major cities.Can a single person ‘save’ a city?The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) mayoral candidate, Helen Zille, is promising to “fix” or “save” Joburg. While she has important political and personal leadership qualities, she is just one person. It is likely that she has plans to bring in a team of people with her, should the DA win the elections in that city.However the structure of Joburg will still make it very difficult to change the current culture of workers.Who, for example, would take on the post of CEO at City Power? The former CEO, Tshifularo Mashava, left as the Hawks said they wanted to institute corruption charges against her. Daily Maverick’s Anna Cox has reported regularly on the incredible number of power cuts and transmission faults across the city, and News24 has explained how contractors are ripping off the company. And on the ground Daily Maverick’s Diana Neille has reported how ordinary City Power workers now switch off power to certain homes and demand cash to restore it. Her stories also reveal how deep this problem runs; it is not just workers switching off power in the streets, Joburg officials also refuse to deal with any of the problems this causes.Just turning City Power around might well require an intense intervention, with managers and workers being forced to explain their conduct or leave the organisation. Repairing that one entity could easily occupy all of the resources of a new Joburg administration.The same is true of so many other entities, Johannesburg Water doesn’t have enough money, and other organisations are crippled for various reasons. PikItUp has found itself crippled in some areas by the actions of a small group of casual workers. For reasons that have not been publicly explained, this small group has been able to blockade a major depot, and the police have presumably not tried to move them.What is true in Joburg is surely true in many other places. Nelson Mandela Bay appears to have the same service delivery problems – under a string of hapless coalition administrations, workers have no incentive to be productive. In Ekurhuleni and Tshwane the same may also be the case.This underscores the sheer size of the task of improving services for people.The problems do not end there. It is not as simple as removing some people and replacing them with others, or even just replacing working practices. Any change is likely to affect the interests of thousands of people and networks that have sprung up around these entities.Contractors who previously received contracts in a corrupt manner may well try to go to court to prevent any change. Workers who currently extort money from Joburg residents will fight to continue this practice. Our current labour law will require proof of wrongdoing to take any action, which may be difficult to come by.Turnaround successesOf course, there are examples where big organisations have been turned around. Lesaka Technologies had a terrible reputation when, as Net1, it was embroiled in the social grants payments scandal. Under the leadership of Lincoln Mali, it has been completely reformed. He told The Money Show that culture has changed fundamentally, something at least one of his workers was moved to publicly agree with. Optimists will also point to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), an institution which has turned around remarkably quickly. While it does provide an important example of how a government institution can change its culture, it also benefited from a relatively long history as an effective institution.SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter was then able to restore this pre-existing culture.This option is not available to say the head of the NPA, the SAPS or even Joburg or Nelson Mandela Bay, because the memory of a better culture is much weaker, if it exists at all.The current processes around the Madlanga Commission and the upcoming local elections are fundamentally important. But while they may open the door to some improvements, an incredible amount of work needs to be done to really take advantage of it.And the scale of this makes it unlikely that there will be major changes, either in the SAPS or in many of our councils. DM