I often had a sore throat when I visited Muna. He’d insist it was because I was struggling to find my voice, to speak up - that I was conflicted - working too closely with(in) the system to speak truth to it. We’d drink whiskey neat, smoke cigarettes, eat his famous home made curry and I’d leave with clarity about how to act with integrity, principle, and still somehow keep my interests in a delicate balance.
There are many of us who are working in or close to public service delivery who cannot claim to be innocent in our knowledge of what is not working. We know where the power imbalances lie. We know who the bullies are. We know where there is corruption - where it is in the public eye, and where it is not.
In discussing what it would take to reform a particular public service, someone commented that the “R1m-plus salaries are a major discipline/silencing feature”. In other words, while we are not innocent in our knowledge, our personal interests override the principle that we should act on that knowledge.
I know, however, that you all want to speak:
* I am aware of course that some people won’t consider working with me as my profile is too “activisty”. That's fine - we’re just not a fit.
I also know that it's not just salaries holding you back. When you move to drive change (and you do, in big and small ways every day), you’re more easily made the fall guy. Accountability (to impact, not just the budget) is all but dead, while shaming, control and fear are embedded management tools.
A case for change
The case for change in all of our cities is clear: unemployment and inequality, informal housing, various forms of unrest and criminality, corruption, climate vulnerability.
The people of KZN are still very much in crisis mode. It is too soon to speculate on recovery - which will require not only technical rebuild, but community collaboration and for goodness sake cleaning up of the procurement process.
Already, there are “hot-takes”. Town planners either didn’t do their jobs, or town planners weren’t listened to. No town planning could have been good enough - its climate change. Where are the engineers? Only NGOs are capable of disaster response these days. The ANC ate the money. The ANC will eat the money.
Ashamed of our collective failures, we are shaming each other - lines are being drawn, and driving us back into our silos, our sectors, and our politics.
Within these hot-takes there are truths - signals of frustrated, disempowered people with “sore throats”.
Dr Dacher Keltner talks about the “cost of powerlessness” - when there is economic inequality, and when individuals in institutions succumb to power imbalances, it has an impact on our brains. We become more sensitive to threats (specifically, the stress hormone cortisol is hyperactivated) and this affects our ability to reason, and to feel hopeful.
Redefining failure, and success
It's easy to talk about big failing systems, and overwhelmingly hard to fix them. Breaking them down into their parts and understanding the roots of problems, the accountability for those roots, and how to fix those makes it easier to mobilize people to act. We can identify specific actors, specific metrics, and innovative ways to work from the issue up.
In many ways, this is what Integrated Development Plans do - take the complex systems of municipalities and breaks them down into 5 year cycles, with clear programmes and metrics.
Public safety metrics from the draft Cape Town IDP
I know that the people I work with are most motivated when their work is making a difference. When your knowledge of the systems is put to its best possible use, and when the measurements are inspirational, tangible and have no perverse incentive. When you aren’t tricking anyone on impact, and are able to ask about another way.
When Muna passed away I was in Paris. I shared some of his last words with my colleagues there, they were these:
Words by Muna Lakhani
I had bought Muna mixed teas from India, which I never had a chance to deliver to and enjoy with him. This weekend I’ll drink some tea, with Muna in my mind and in my heart, to clear my throat.
I’ll then be sitting down to comment on IDPs. Many municipalities' 5 year plans are out for comment at the moment, or will be soon. If you have something to say, now is a good time to say it. Even if you work within or close to the public sector: the Bill of Rights recognises your right to participate first and foremost. Whichever your faith, I wish you all a good long weekend of reflection and renewal - and a sip of something soothing with someone like Muna to clear your throats...
Links to Major Metros IDPs that are open to comment currently:
Tshwane
If you live in a smaller municipality, visit their website or contact your ward councilor or librarian for assistance.
Tips when Commenting on the IDPs:
Don’t only focus on the high level programme, look at the detailed metrics and definitions, as these are the targets that officials will be held accountable to
It’s a good idea to also sit with the budget - words in an IDP mean one thing, the budget signals the real priorities
Don’t only look at what is there, but ask what is missing? What used to be done that has been taken away? What does pressures, trends, disruptors and growth is a future city facing, and what do we need to do now to prepare?
^Why don’t I respond to every request to agitate on every issue? Mostly, because I do not have clarity on what the power dynamics are, and do not have the time to research all of the technical knowledge and facts. I work on specific issues, and I focus on what I know about. I am not a mouthpiece, nor the media.
I’ll chat as a peer and friend, and remind you all that we are all agents of change, not just administrators. What these encounters reveal is that some officials feel disempowered to drive change internally and look for external voices to support the case for change. Additionally, some officials lack the ability to proactively partner with organised civil society who are focused on specific issues, to drive change agendas in strategic and collaborative ways (maybe there is even weakened civil society in certain areas, and civil society that has also become too comfortable to be a trusted, but critical voice). And I am not talking about some sort of illegitimate collusion - working together across sectors is embedded in our Constitution and Municipal Systems Act; while driving change agendas from inside and outside of the system is well documented as necessary to social and public sector reform and innovation by leading academics such as Jorrit de Jong, Sanderijn Cels and others.