FREE TO READ | Making the state work - TimesLIVE

South Africa has no shortage of plans, policies and ambition. What we continue to struggle with is turning those ambitions into outcomes. What does it actually take to make the state work?

Can the government deliver reliable services with ageing infrastructure, constrained budgets and critical skills shortages? Can it attract and retain the engineers, managers and technical specialists needed to build institutional capability, and then give them the stability to do their jobs?

Are we investing wisely, or are we too focused on building new while failing to maintain what we already have? Can every rand of public money work harder, delivering greater value without compromising the services citizens depend on? And, can the government overcome the silos, political administrative tensions and fragmented accountability that make complex problems even harder to solve?

These are not simply questions of efficiency. They are questions of state capability, public trust and the social contract between government and citizens.

The challenge is not necessarily to reinvent the government. It may be to make the institutions we already have work better, with the right people, clearer accountability, stronger professional expertise and a relentless focus on outcomes.

The question this issue asks is simple but uncomfortable: does South Africa have the capability to make the state work, and if not, what needs to change?