Book Review

Repositioning public administration in Africa: A perennial challenge for academics

Book Title: South Africa’s Public Administration in Context

Author: Edwin Ijeoma

ISBN: 099220240X

Publisher: Verity Publishers, 2016, R241.88*

*Book price at time of review

Review Title: Repositioning public administration in Africa: A perennial challenge for academics

Reviewer:
Samuel B. Koma¹

Affiliation:
¹Milpark School of Government and Public Administration, South Africa

Corresponding author: Samuel Koma, samuel.koma@milpark.ac.za

How to cite this book review: Samuel, K., 2017, ‘Repositioning public administration in Africa: A perennial challenge for academics’, Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review 5(1), a128. https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v5i1.128

Copyright Notice: © 2017. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

South Africa’s Public Administration in Context is a result of the contribution by Professor Edwin Ijeoma, affiliated to the University of Fort Hare. Its publication is timely because the field of Public Administration and Management is going through challenging and interesting stages of reform, change and development, both epistemologically and contextually informed by the realities facing South Africa in the national, regional, continental and global marketplace of ideas.

Chapter 1 deals with the theories of public administration and outlines key issues shaping the study of public administration. The issues elaborated in this chapter are fundamentally intertwined with the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 introduces a significant topic entitled ‘Public Administration in a Global Context’. The chapter provides insights on issues related to the causes of globalisation, the consequences of globalisation and the implications of globalisation on public administration.

Chapter 3 touches on the fundamental provisions of the South African Constitution and situates Public Administration in the context of the basic values and principles enshrined in Chapter 10. The role of ward committees, community development workers and other non-state actors in promoting community participation and community service is further discussed. Chapter 4 addresses the topic of public human resource management and delves into the distinction between personnel administration and human resource management legislative framework underlying public human resource management and structures and institutions established to promote public human resource management. He further elaborates on contemporary trends and challenges for public sector human resource management.

Chapter 5 entitled ‘Public Finance Management’ elucidates the nature of modern financial management and important role players involved in public financial management. At the same time, he clearly discusses crucial public financial policies, systems, structures and values. This chapter gives an enriching and wider perspective on issues related to public financial management in South Africa. Chapter 6 provides an important contribution to the concept of public policy-making. The chapter inter alia reflects on traditional definitions of public policy, factors influencing policymaking and limitations of public policy. The aspects raised in this chapter further augment the current literature on public policymaking and policy implementation.

Chapter 7 broadly reflects on leadership management and discusses basic concepts dealing with management, leadership and managerial, visionary and strategic leadership. Given the continuing challenges facing most public sector organisations, leadership and management skills and competencies are central in unravelling some of the bottlenecks impeding delivery of public services.

Chapter 8 introduces and elaborates on public entrepreneurial management. Given the growing blurred lines between public and private sectors in as far as provisioning of public services and partnerships is concerned, this chapter clearly unpacks the concept and features of entrepreneurship, public relations and role of consultancy firms in the realm of training among others. Chapter 9 examines the structuring of government departments and institutions within the context of the Constitution. This chapter offers an overview of functions bestowed to various organs of state in accordance with the Constitution. Finally, Chapter 10 discusses local government and administration. It highlights the historical overview of local government and challenges facing this significant sphere of government.

Given its wide-ranging topics, this book is worth recommending to academics, researchers, students and practitioners involved in the field of Public Administration and Management. Indeed, it serves as a comprehensive and authoritative guide to all aspects of public administration in South Africa. One envisages that the author will publish a revised edition in future owing to the dynamism, complexities and trends shaping the practice of public administration.