The South African newspapers are full of stories of government ministries and government-affiliated monopolies whose efficiencies and capabilities have slid downhill since the apartheid years. According to journalists, reasonably well qualified civil servants and managers are being replaced with cronies of the president and ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. The lack of qualifications of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is a particular concern this week.
Why should the ANC-lead government continue to attempt the same range of programs that the apartheid government operated? It might take decades for the ANC government, formed in 1994, to reach the standard of efficiency (perhaps not very high) set by the apartheid government. In the meantime, why not pare back the government to the essentials and privatize as much as possible? The government could, for example, deregulate the telecom sector and put the resources formerly deployed there into reducing crime, which is currently at a level that most Americans would find unimaginable.
One can argue the merits of reducing the role of government in the U.S., where the government usually does a mediocre job at a high price to taxpayers. Reducing the role of government becomes much more critical in a country where the government isn’t able to handle its core responsibility of ensuring public safety.