Fresh analysis of status in SA

WHY is there so much disenchantment among so many South Africans in the new dispensation?

Why are there protests in the poorest townships where electricity, clean water and sanitation are in short supply? Why the seemingly complete collapse of moral and ethical leadership at the highest levels of government?

This book tries to supply some answers to kindred problems and puzzles. This work is an excellent collection of public policy by leading scholars, intellectuals, policymakers, planners and practitioners in South Africa. Together, under the skilled editorial hand of Professor Daniel Plaatjies, the essays offer a rich account of government capacity, and the lack thereof, as explanatory framework for the crises of credibility and delivery.

This work traces the genesis of the "new dispensation". It looks back on the time South Africa cast off the shackles of apartheid with millions dreaming of a country united in its ambition to restore justice and hope to the people. But alas, in recent times, there has been an enormous amount of change and disillusionment.

Yet there are some shining points to relish, as this book explains. One is the state's delivery of housing for the poor which has provided shelter for millions of people and indelibly altered the landscape.

South Africa has also been twice rugby world champions. Gold medals have been won at the Olympic Games and of course there was the successful hosting of the biggest sports event on earth, the Fifa 2010 World Cup last year.

The fact, however, remains that for millions of South Africans, their lives have only marginally improved - if they have improved at all. This book provides a fresh and compelling analysis to inform current debates on the role of government in national development - and indeed to inform the strategies advocated to meet the imperatives for a just society.

This work, containing contributions by leading academics, and respected analysts with first-hand experience of government, uses powerful case studies to provide astute insights into the paradoxes and dilemmas of the present, and consider arguments for the future.

Most importantly, the book puts incisive critical pressure on the elusive ambition for a coordinated and integrated state aimed at advancing the social and economic purpose of our democracy.

What are the conditions accounting for the current failure to achieve much trumpeted goals, and what can be done to realise it in the future?

This book provides a nuanced and complex set of perspectives streamlining a most comprehensive treatment of vital issues.

Here we are given keen insights by key policy practitioners and thinkers into state capacity development, shaping policy, models and systems development and implementation.

Improving state capacity and accountability are issues shaping the current socio-economic and political milieu in South Africa. Critical issues of accountability and state effectiveness are conditions for the developmental state.

This work shines a new and different series of spotlight on one of the key engines of the country's future prosperity. But there is still room for hope and optimism; hope that the effectiveness of vital state-owned enterprises, particularly in the areas of transport, energy, physical and communications infrastructure will enable private individuals and business to ride a rising tide of positive economic activity.

The book has 20 contributors. They include Frank Chikane, Joel Netshitenzhe, Anthony Butler and Helen Zille. The preface was written by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. It is hoped that this illuminating work will become something of a standard reference for students of government, politics and administration for a long time to come.