Enhancing Public Service Delivery in a VUCA Environment in South Africa: A Literature Review

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Introduction There is a lot of pressure being put on the South Africa government to come up with answers to the issues that have been plaguing the country’s public sector. According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the issues is mostly due to poor public administration, primarily caused by the poor capacity of public officials. Public officials are adept at devising plans, policies, and strategies to deliver good service. However, they are not effective implementers. The volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment in which these public officials must work in South Africa has considerably exacerbated their problem of providing exemplary service delivery [1-3]. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review to answer the following main research question: “How can the South African government improve service delivery in a VUCA environment?” The following six sub-questions were derived from the main research question and are addressed hereunder: (a) what is public sector service delivery, (b) what is the difference between private versus public sector service delivery, (c) why did public sector service delivery transformation happen in South Africa, (d) what service delivery strategies exist that can accelerate government’s equitable and citizen-focused agenda, (e) what is the condition of public sector service delivery in South Africa today, and (f) what public sector service delivery tools can be recommended to help governments work well in a VUCA environment? Public Sector Service Delivery Public sector service delivery is often defined as the supply of vital public needs and services, such as housing, water and sanitation, land, electricity, and infrastructure [4]. It considers every aspect of how, where, and when a client receives a service, as well as whether or not the service is priced fairly. In this article, public sector service delivery is defined as a government’s provision of a good or service to its people in fulfillment of a commitment [5-8]. Private Versus Public Sector Service Delivery According to Crous [5], service delivery may be classified as either being provided by the private or the public sector. A service is deemed to be provided by the public sector if it meets all of the following criteria: Cannot be supplied by the private sector because of its dependence on the public sector; Are essential to the accomplishment of a government’s aims and goals, but the private sector is unable to provide them for whatever reason(s); and When compared to individual effort, the output that may be achieved through group effort can be both more cost-effective and of higher quality. Public Sector Service Delivery Transformation in South Africa Before 1994, South Africa was run by the apartheid government, which actively tried to keep people of different races separate. After the general election in 1994, things started to go in a completely different direction [9]. Not long after the elections in 1994, the newly elected members of Parliament started writing the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which became the main piece of law in the country. President Nelson Mandela signed the Constitution on December 18, 1996 and it went into effect on February 4, 1997 [10]. The South African Constitution, 1996 sets the rules for how government works, and identifies its three levels of government: national, provincial, and local which are independent and not hierarchial [11]. When the new government of South Africa seized power in 1994, it was given a specific directive to make sure that people of all races in the country received the essential services they need in an equitable and equal manner. However, at that time, the obstacle that needed to be overcome was altering the paradigm of public administration so that public services were oriented on the needs of all citizens and not just a select few [12]. In order to do this successfully, it was necessary to address the human resources, the policy-making processes, the government machinery, as well as the structures that were in place for the administration of revenue and expenditures [12]. As a result, South Africans were guaranteed that they will receive service without prejudice, in a manner that respects the dignity of each individual, and in a manner that ensures the bulk of the population’s previously unmet needs will be met in an effective and satisfactory manner [13]. As a result, nine ideals were drafted and reflected in “Section 195 of Chapter 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.” These were the steps in the public sector’s transformation from a regulatory bureaucracy to a service that competes for the public’s attention and is focused on delivering meaningful service to its citizens [14]. A service delivery framework also known as the regulatory (legal) framework, emerged to assist the South African government’s transition from an old, hierarchical, rule-bound structure to a dynamic, results-driven service delivery organisation. The regulatory framework is a broad corpus of enabling laws developed by the South African government in 1994 and guided by the “South African Constitution of 1996”, which encompasses Acts, White Papers, Regulations, and bargaining council judgments, among others [13; 5; 15], namely: “The Public Service Commission Act, No 46 of 1997; • The Public Service Laws Amendment Acts, Nos 47 and 93 of 1997 And No 86 of 1998); • The Public Service Amendment Act, No 5 of 1999; • The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, No 3 of 2000; • The Public Service Regulations; • The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service, 1995; • The White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele), 1997; • The White Paper on Human Resource Management in the Public Service,1997; • The White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public Service, 1998; • The White Paper on Public Service Training and Education, 1998; • Collective Agreements and Management Guides; and • So forth”. The South African Constitution remains the principal legislation governing the country’s public sector and institutions [15]. As a result of the regulatory framework, four key service delivery initiatives surfaced to help the government fast-track its equitable citizen-focused agenda [15]. These are the Batho Pele initiative, Service Delivery Improvement Plans, Public Service Charter, and Service Standards [15]. Batho Pele Initiative The Batho Pele initiative was initiated by the Mandela administration on October 1, 1997, with the release of the “White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele), 1997”. Batho Pele is a strategy that was established to encourage public officials to become more service and citizen-centric, as well as to continue to strive for service delivery excellence and improvement. The Batho Pele Initiative is a straightforward and open platform that gives citizens the ability to hold their elected representatives responsible for the type of services provided [13]. Batho Pele means “People First” in Sotho-Tswana and refers to eight principles: “consultation, standards, redress, access, courtesy, information, openness and transparency, as well as value for money” [11]. To attain these values, every government department in South Africa must adhere to them [16]: • Consultation - When it comes to how much and what kind of public service they get, people should be allowed to choose from a number of options; • Standards - People must know how and what kinds of services they can expect; • Access - People should be able to get the services they are entitled to in a fair way; • Courtesy - People should be done with respect and courtes; • Information - People should know exactly what services they are entitled to from the government; • Openness and Transparency - people should know how national and provincial departments work, how much they cost, and who is in charge; • Redress - If the level of service promised isn’t met, people should be given an apology, a full explanation, and a quick, effective way to fix the problem; and • Value for Money - Public services should be run as cheaply and well as possible so that people get the most for their money. According to the Department of Public Service and Administration [13], Batho Pele is not a strategy in the same way that there are are strategic, organisational, implementation, and human resource plans. Instead, it is a point of view that will help change government [13]. So, Batho Pele is not a yearly compliance exercise. Instead, it is the government’s single most important transformation campaign that must be incorporated into all management processes and spread to the front lines of government delivery [13]. According to the Department of Public Service and Administration [13], the implementation of the Batho Pele initiative has been less than satisfactory, despite the fact that the initiative has since become a well-known brand name that is used to represent the objective of transforming the government. As a result, the Batho Pele Revitalization Strategy was formulated in the year 2001 and distributed to the various government ministries for the purpose of execution. The fundamental objective of the Batho Pele Revitalization Strategy, in contrast to the Batho Pele effort that came before it, is to instill a culture of Batho Pele among government employees while simultaneously enhancing the delivery of public services to the general public [13]. Service Delivery Improvement Plans As the regulatory framework was being entrenched in the public sector, the government of South Africa recognized that one of the most challenging tasks was moving public employees from a “knowing” to a “doing” mindset. This today is still one of the most difficult challenges [13; 17]. That is, public servants lacked the expertise necessary for implementation. As a result, the Service Delivery Improvement Plan was designed to assist with this and, as a subsequent result, to better meet the expectations of the general public [13]. Basically, the Service Delivery Improvement Plan aims to improve both the government’s service delivery standards and the way it delivers services [13]. Service Delivery Improvement Plans are not “add-ons” to a strategic planning process. Instead, they are a part of a more comprehensive planning process that aims to embed the values and goals set out in Batho Pele’s eight principles [13]. South Africa’s National and Provincial Government Departments are now required by the Public Service Regulations of 2001 to set up and carry out service delivery improvement planning [13]. Public Service Charter Public service charters have become a common tool in many countries’ Public Administration reform “toolkit” in recent years. Although the reasons for adopting public service charters differ by country, the central idea of all is nonetheless to improve the responsiveness and transparency of public services by defining the delivery requirements that users of the services may expect [18]. Public Service Charters are defined as a social contract and a commitment between the government, public employees, and the public. It’s a written and signed contract that’s based on a social partnership and spells out the duties and obligations of all parties involved in the process of improving the delivery of government services. It is a declaration of intent and a promise that allows service recipients to recognise what they should expect from the government and serves as the foundation for interaction between the government, people, and civil society [19]. South Africa’s Public Service Charter was created in South Africa in 2013 to promote and improve the delivery of public services i.e., to transform the South African government. Service standards are imposed by the charter, and public officials are expected to meet and surpass them. According to the Public Service Charter of South Africa [19], public officials must provide timely services to the public in an unbiased and impartial way, and they must not engage in any transaction that interferes with their official duties, among other things. It also urges public officials to show integrity, competency, excellence, honesty, and impartiality, and to act against bribery and corruption, nepotism, maladministration, and other actions that might damage or adversely affect the public interest [19]. Service Standards The introduction of service standards assists the South African government to evaluate how well they accomplish their transformation agenda [15]. A service standard is a type of indicator, a metric, signal, or benchmark that shows the present state or the level of accomplishment and tells us how far we’ve progressed [20]. Overall, without service standards, for the South African government to determine if its transformational efforts are successful and consistent would be difficult [15]. Today service standards are used to assess how well government departments provide services [20]. Hence, service standards are critical because they clarify what citizens should expect and remind the government of its responsibilities [15]. Current State Of Public Sector Service Delivery In South Africa Even though the above regulatory framework and the four key service delivery initiatives were made to help the government speed up its citizen-focused agenda, Moloto et al. [9] and Gossel and Koelbl [21], say service delivery in South Africa is not good because not everyone’s basic needs are being met. Here are a few examples that support this argument: • Water: At least 54% of residences in South Africa lacked access to clean water [22]. It is anticipated that by the year 2030, the demand for water in urban areas would be higher than the available supply, making this one of the most significant difficulties that South African cities will face in the coming decade [23]. But water is wasted carelessly because of leaks, people not keeping track of how much water they use, urbanization, bad infrastructure management, metering mistakes, bad repair and maintenance processes, lack of money, old infrastructure, and water theft. Everything is due to poor water management and governance [24]. Consequently, due to runoff, people who are in need of water are unable to access it; • Housing: Amnesty International [22] estimates that 14% of South Africa’s population resides in overcrowded informal settlements; • Electricity: The amount of power that has to be supplied has risen, but Eskom is now less able to deliver a steady supply of electricity that is sufficient to fulfill the requirements of both homes and businesses. As a direct consequence of this, energy and demand management measures, more commonly known as load shedding, were put into effect [25]. 2019 was the year when South Africa reported the highest number of load shedding occurrences ever seen in a single year [26]; • Education Infrastructure: Amnesty International [22] says that in 2018, the South African government did a survey of the country’s 23,471 public schools to find out how they were doing. The National Education Infrastructure Management System was then used to share the results. Out of the 23,471 public schools that were looked at, 19% were found to have illegal pit latrines, and 37 schools had no toilets at all. Also, 86% did not have a lab, 77% did not have a school library, 72% did not have internet, and 42% did not have sports facilities. Also, 239 schools don’t have electricity. Amnesty International (2021) stated that several problems go against the government’s international human rights obligations and its own «basic norms and standards» for educational institutions. Also, when it comes to the Covid-19 epidemic, the schools with the worst infrastructure are also the ones most likely to have had trouble keeping kids in poorer communities who did not have much or any access to the internet or computers in school. Only 22% of South African homes have a computer, and only 10% have a way to connect to the internet. Because of this, the majority of children have limited opportunities to acquire knowledge via the internet, and their parents or primary caregivers are rarely able to home school them [22]. Also, South Africa’s Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in his speech for the 2021 Budget that 59% of the country’s 278 municipalities are in serious financial trouble, 14% can not provide basic services, 37% made budgets they cannot pay back, and 57 of these municipalities can not even account for their spending in 2020 [21]. Even though it has the most advanced and developed economy in Africa, South Africa, a multiracial country with more than 60 million people, most of them black, has struggled for decades with poor development and a lot of social inequality. South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, based on Gini coefficients of consumption (or income) per capita. In the World Bank’s database on world poverty, they are ranked first out of 164 countries [27]. TThis implies that black people in South Africa are more likely to be impoverished, unemployed, and have less access to public services than white people [28]. As a result, service delivery riots and other physical and emotional outbursts are frequently the result of relative deprivation. This supports what Breakfast and Normarwayi [29] argue about how unmet expectations and service delivery protests are related. Cyril Ramaphosa is currently serving as South Africa’s President. When he became President on February 15, 2018, he inherited a government that was beset with charges of corruption and mismanagement. These claims originated throughout the tenure of office held by his predecessor, Jacob Zuma [28; 30]. The South African people were promised by President Cyril Ramaphosa that his administration would work tirelessly to address the triple challenge of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. This includes the issues, which will be discussed in further detail on corruption, state capture, political instability, and other issues that are preventing South Africa from becoming a unified and prosperous country [3]. President Ramaphosa stated that considerable financial support, particularly from international investors, i.e. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), is required for success [31; 32]. South Africa does not save much, hence FDI is critical. South Africa’s resources will never be sufficient. As a result, consistent supplies of foreign money are critical, and FDI will continue to be an essential aspect of South Africa’s economic policy [32; 33; 34]. President Cyril Ramaphosa set a lofty objective of $100 billion in new investments when he began his five-year tenure in 2018 [35], and has received around $55 billion in pledges since taking office [28]. The increasing trend, however, was short-lived in 2020, when FDI inflows into South Africa decreased by 15%, or about half of what they were in 2019. FDI inflows fell from $4.6 billion in 2019 to $2.5 billion in 2020 [36; 35]. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report [36], the considerable decline can be related to the Covid-19 epidemic. In 2021, there were about 2.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa, and over 70,000 people died from them. This made South Africa the country in Africa with the most coronavirus infections [2]. However, investor trust in South Africa was already poor due to the following governance flaws, and according to the study, Covid-19 was merely the frosting on the cake: • Corruption Allegations: Claims of bribery and corruption relating to President Jacob Zuma’s time in office, including, but not limited to, allegations of the improper awarding of contracts and tenders [28; 3]; • State Capture: When Nhlanhla Nene, South Africa’s Minister of Finance at the time, was fired on December 9, 2015, the issue of “state capture” became a highly debated topic in the country [30]; • Political instability: Since 1994, South African presidents have not been able to serve more than two terms. President Mandela, for example, served only one term, from 1994 to 1999. Presidents Mbeki and Zuma were summoned by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to quit after just one term, and President Motlanthe had to step in and take command as head of state from September 2008 to September 2009 [37]. Despite the fact that the transitions went off without a hitch, many people regard this as evidence that they no longer trust their elected officials. South Africa’s financial strength changed because of these changes [37]; • Energy crises: South Africa’s power company, ESKOM, is one of the biggest in the world. However, because of bad management, it can’t keep the lights on in the country [2]. For example, the number of homes and businesses that need electricity has grown, but Eskom has become less able to meet the demand. Because of this, “load shedding”, which is a way to control energy and demand, was put in place [25]. In 2019, South Africa had more power cuts than ever before[26]; • Service delivery unrest: South Africa is one of the places in the world where people protest in the streets the most. Because of this, countries all over the world think of South Africa as the “riotous protest capital of the world” [38; 39; 29; 34; 40]. South Africans are aware that the only way to get immediate action from the government is to stage demonstrations, which frequently become violent. According to Susan Booysen, who is quoted in Lodge and Mottiar [39], South Africans frequently turn to techniques of rioting in order to demand prompt responses from the government. She goes on to say that violent demonstrations are more likely in regions that have a very poor track record in the delivery of public sector services [29; 38; 39]. According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the majority of South Africa’s problems are caused by the incapacity of the government to offer good services. This inability is a direct outcome of poor public sector service delivery capabilities, which in turn is caused by weak governance. He stated that if this issue is fixed, not just the triple challenge, but also a major number of South Africa’s difficulties, would be solved [32; 2; 1]. This argument is supported by the South African Institute of International Affairs (2020), which contends that the government should first devote emphasis to improving its competence. This is especially crucial given that poor service delivery has a negative impact on international investors. Investors are closely watching how this country is run. Their litmus test is service delivery [28; 34; 3; 33]. Public Service Delivery Tools For A Vuca Environment One major challenge and risk the South African government face is to transform and reform itself in a VUCA environment. A VUCA environment is a fast-paced, constant, and unpredictable environment. The term VUCA was coined by the US army more than a decade after the Cold War and stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous [41]. According to Oxford Lexicon [42] and Adani [43], these terms mean: • Volatile - Something that has a high probability of undergoing fast and unpredictable change, particularly for the worse; • Uncertain - It is difficult to understand the present, and there is no way to predict the future; • Complex - Not easy to analyse or understand. Complicated or intricate; and • Ambiguous - The meaning can be interpreted in several ways. without a single clear interpretation. It is neither clear nor determined. A VUCA environment, according to Adani [43], has the following repercussions • People are agitated and destabilised; • Self-motivation is sapped; • Individuals stop advancing in their careers; • Constant retraining and reshaping are required; • Increases the likelihood of leaders making poor choices; • Decision-making processes are stymied; • Long-term programmes and projects are constantly at risk; • Employees are overworked; and • Internal organisational culture suffers. Conditions in South Africa are typically volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. These are significant hurdles South Africa can overcome [15]. Despite being immersed in a VUCA environment, the South African government’s challenges are also exacerbated by a dearth of competent labour [44; 45]. Especially, labour that can help the South African government achieve Section 195 of Chapter 10 of the South African Constitution, namely: a). A high standard of professional ethics must be promoted and maintained. b). Efficient, economic, and effective use of resources must be promoted. c). Public administration must be development-oriented. d). Services must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias. e). People’s needs must be responded to, and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy-making. f). Public administration must be accountable. g). Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible, and accurate information. h). Good human-resource management and career-development practices, to maximise human potential, must be cultivated. i). Public administration must be broadly representative of the South African people, with employment and personnel management practices based on ability, objectivity, fairness, and the need to redress past imbalances to achieve broad representation”. Despite several education reforms, like school and university curricula changes, the government still faces considerable skill shortages in this area [44]. This is a global risk. Not only is there a shortage of public officials with the necessary critical thinking and problem-solving skills required to implement service delivery programmes and projects [46], but according to the World Economic Forum [46] states by 2025, about 50% of all jobs would require reskilling as technology usage grows. The paper recommends that public officials acquire the following skill sets to be effective implementers in a VUCA environment: Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation, Strategic Planning, Programme and Project Management, and Change Management. Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation The term “results-based monitoring and evaluation” refers to a robust and coherent service delivery framework that has been widely used since the 1990s. This framework places an emphasis on obtaining results and goes beyond the traditional monitoring and evaluation of inputs and outputs [47]. Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation was developed when the New Public Management reform swept many “Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)” countries [47]. In 2013, Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation was still relatively new in developing nations, however, it had progressed in South Africa [48]. It enables decision-makers to focus on outcomes and impacts i.e., it is an approach that tracks results and performance. While public spending is very important, Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation enable the government to focus its efforts on monitoring performance rather than just spending. It also aids the government with analysing long-term outcomes, instead of just short-term outputs. According to Pazvakavambwa and Steyn [49], it is impossible to discern between success and failure if outcomes are not monitored and evaluated. Fig. 1 below is the Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Framework [50]. Fig. 1. Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Theoretical Framework Source: Modified by the author based on [50]. Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation cannot function independently of Strategic Planning, Programme and Project Management, and Change Management. As its core purpose is to: • Help design programmes and projects; • Improve learning and accountability; • Increase knowledge through lessons learned; • Integrates lessons learned into management decisions; • Report on the results achieved (performance); • Framework aimed at achieving important changes; • Defines realistic expected results; and • Monitors progress toward the achievement of expected results. Overall, Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation takes the focus away from activities and places them on results [51]. Strategic Planning Since the South African government drafted and approved its long-term strategic plan, the “National Development Plan (NDP) 2030” in 2012, being schooled in strategic planning is important. As a matter of interest, the goal of the NDP is to build a state that is capable of development and has the necessary ability to improve service delivery [52]. The South African government agreed in 2013 to introduce the NDP for three five-year Medium-Term Strategic Frameworks (MTSF). The NDP’s first five-year implementation period was MTSF 2014-19 [53]. The NDP 2030 is strategically aligned to the global strategic plan i.e., “United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).” According to Chandrashekhar [54], governments in developing countries face a common need to meet the UN 2030 Agenda for SDGs. This Agenda comprises 17 goals related to economic, environmental, and social development activities [54]. It is also known as the Global Goals and was adopted by all UN Member States, comprising 193 countries, including South Africa. The SDGs aim is to promote sustained economic growth, technological innovation, and improved service delivery [55]. Part of the South African government’s initiative to ensure good service delivery was the introduction of a Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP). A PSP is the Provincial Government’s strategic plan for its term of office. The strategic priorities of the PSP are sub-divided amongst its departments for implementation. The PSP must be strategically aligned with the NDP 2030 and the UN 2030 Agenda for SDGs [56]. If the provincial government departments cannot deliver on their PSP, the resultant impact will be that both the NDP 2030 and the UN 2030 Agenda for SDGs will be negatively affected. Fig. 2 below displays the strategic alignment between the UN, the South African Government and Provincial Government. Fig. 2. Strategic Alignment - UN, South Africa, Western Cape Source: by author With that said, according to Abazov [57], one of the conditions most conducive to positive results is good, effective strategic planning. Bryson and George [58] assert that, because strategy is ubiquitous in government, strategic planning must be included in the normal toolkit of public officials. If the strategy is excellent and coordinated throughout, the idea maintains that effective service delivery will result as result. Hence, according to Bryson and George [58], public officials must be able to: • Analyse the global mandate; • Define a mission that is aligned throughout; • Performing a SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, on both the internal and external surroundings of its organization; • Identify strategic issues to be addressed; and • Formulate a strategy to address issues, which is articulated in a vision for the future. An approach to achieve the above is to use the VMOSA strategic planning framework. Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans are the components that are represented by the acronym VMOSA. It is an all-in-one planning framework that can assist not just the South African government, but any organisation in planning by converting objectives into actions. That is, the South African government may use the VMOSA strategic planning framework to focus on short-term goals while keeping its long-term vision and mission in mind [59]. The VMOSA strategic planning framework components are summarised as follows [59]: • Vision is the dream of the organisation to be understood and shared by all. It is inspiring and easily understood by all; • Mission is the what and the why. It is like a vision statement, but it is more specific in expressing what will be done and why it will be done; • Objectives focus on achieving the mission. Everything hinges on how much of what will be accomplished by when. Objectives refer to specific measurable results and are reflected as outcome and output indicators and targets; • Strategies explain how the objectives will be achieved; and • Action plan details who do what, when, and at what cost and is documented in a Project Management Plan, which, if approved, becomes the Project Implementation Plan. Programme and Project Management A consistent and standard programme and project management methodology are necessary to ensure that all public officials have the same knowledge and use the same terminology. Its formalisation will result in a more structured and consistent approach to programme and project management in the framework of Result-Based Monitoring and Evaluation [60]. Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2), and Agile are the three most prevalent programme and project management methodologies in the global and local public sectors. This will be discussed below [60]: • PMBOK: The Project Management Institute (PMI) created the PMBOK in 1987. It is extensively used, internationally recognized, and the most popular project management certification in the United States of America (USA). Developed in the United States, it has subsequently been widely adopted in the international public sector realm, including Australia, Bahrain, South Africa, and Switzerland [60]. PMBOK is a predictive methodology that focuses on analysing and planning the future state in detail to define and cater for any known risks. Many other programme and project management methodologies are based on the PMBOK principles. PMBOK defines the project management lifecycle in five processes, namely initiating, planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closing out [60]; • PRINCE2: PRINCE2 was created in 1996 by the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom (UK) and is widely used in both the UK public and commercial sectors. Other countries where public sector institutions have adopted PRINCE2 include Australia, Slovakia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Bahrain, China, Denmark, and Germany. The methodology adopts a conceptual waterfall model of project management, which implies that the project management processes flow one after the other in sequential order. The PRINCE2 project management lifecycle is broken up into seven processes, namely starting up a project, initiating a project, directing a project, controlling a stage, managing product delivery, managing stage boundaries, and closing a project [60]; and • Agile: The Agile Manifesto, which established the phrase in 2001 and laid out the basic ideas of Agile development, was developed in the USA. As a result of its high levels of flexibility throughout the project lifecycle, Agile is immensely popular in the software development and IT implementation industries. Agile has been adopted in this sector in various countries, including Denmark, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, New Zealand, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Belgium, United Kingdom. Since software development requires continuous assessments to be perfect, Agile project management is a reactive methodology that employs a repeatable process in which deliverables are submitted in stages and revised throughout the project [60]. The South African government employs a range of programme and project management approaches and entities, namely PMBOK, PRINCE2, the Association for Project Management (APM), Project Management Methodology (Centre for e-Innovation - PRINCE2-based methodology), and the National Treasury’s Technical Assistant Unit (PMBOK-based methodology) [60]. While each of the aforementioned project management approaches has value and significance, their uneven application leads to silo-management of programmes and projects, which affects overall coherence. This is reflected in the enormous difficulties encountered to date in exerting consistent governance and control over programme and project implementation, as well as the difficulty in getting a ‘single version of the truth’ [60]. What the South African government need is for its public employees to be trained in a clear sense of programme and project management methodology, preferably one that is practised in both the international and local public sectors. Management Change Management Regarding ‘change’, this study highlighted the following: • Assuming that public sector service delivery must remain static as society changes is deceptive. As society evolves, so must the way in which services are provided [61]; • To remain relevant and competitive, the government has to make changes to keep up with the latest technology, follow constantly changing laws and rules, protect against fraud and corruption, and so on; • Public administration must change in tandem with the rest of the world [62]; • Traditional Public Administration was no longer viable and needed to change [63]; and • Despite various education reforms, such as changes to school and university curricula, the government continues to suffer significant skill shortages in this sector [44]. Overall, since change is unavoidable, it must be managed. Change Management, according to Hamdo [64], is a systematic technique that shifts organisations from one state to another by setting new goals, internal processes, and shared values. Another way to phrase it is that Change Management is a systematic technique that allows a company to foresee and react to a changing business environment to meet organisational goals quickly and effectively. Hamdo [64] further state that since Change Management has been identified as the secret behind the success of many organisations that have become market leaders in numerous industries and achieved long-term sustainable growth, the role of public officials in properly managing change is therefore very critical. According to Hamdo [64], the four well-known Change Management Models are: • ADKAR Model: In 2006, a prominent businessman and founder of the Prosci Learning Centre Jeffrey Hiatt presented the world with the ADKAR Change Management Model. Individual resistance to change, according to Hiatt, may be addressed in five stages: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement; • Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model: In 1947, social psychologist Kurt Lewin came up with his three-stage model of the change process: unfreeze, change, and refreeze i.e., change starts first in unfreezing the status quo; • Kotter’s 8 Steps Change Management Model: Harvard University Emeritus Professor John Kotter developed this model. It entails instilling a feeling of urgency, forming a strong steering coalition, developing a clear vision for change, communicating the vision, empowering actions, obtaining short-term victories, consolidating the change base, and making change sustainable; and • Mckinsey 7s Model: The Mckinsey 7s model was released in 1980 by Waterman, Peters, and Phillips. It examines businesses from seven perspectives: strategy, structure, system, skills, personnel, style, and shared values. The Mckinsey 7s model is a strong analysis tool that allows managers to measure the degree of consistency among an organisation’s primary dimensions and explain the modifications that are required. Summary This paper revealed that South Africa’s public sector service delivery has deteriorated over time, owing to poor public administration, which is largely caused by a lack of capacity on the side of public officials. According to the findings, public officials are very good at coming up with well-thought-out plans, policies, and strategies to ensure that services are provided in an efficient manner. But they aren’t good at putting these plans, policies, and strategies into action, and the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment has exacerbated the situation of improving service delivery. Consequently, this led to the main finding which is that the South African government can provide good service in a VUCA environment, when its employees become proficient in Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation, Strategic Planning, Programme and Project Management Methodology, and Change Management Methodology.

About the authors

Lance Barbier

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Author for correspondence.
Email: lance.barbier@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9275-4704

PhD Candidate at the Department Public Administration and Governance

Cape Town, South Africa 8000

Robertson K. Tengeh

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Email: TENGEHR@cput.ac.za
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2485-0205

PhD, Professor (Associate) Head of Department: Public Administration and Governance

Cape Town, South Africa 8000

References