MAY | 2023
TRANSFORMING EDUCATION Vineet Ladia, Co-Founder and Director of Edukite Learning
THE CONSTITUTION’S KEEPER Chief Justice Raymond Zondo
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP Honourable Thembi Nkadimeng, Cogta Minister
SOLVING THE ELECTRICITY CRISIS The role of renewables
Contents
MAY 2023 | ISSUE 27
Editorial
41 | South African Revenue Services
18 | The Constitution’s Keeper
44 | Human Resources
Exclusive interview with Chief Justice Raymond Zondo
Powering economic recovery through increased tax revenue collection
Five ways technology is transforming HR practices
32 | Central Energy Fund
Securing energy resources amid changing economic conditions
34 | African Continental Free Trade Area
18
Four sectors with the potential to transform economic growth
38 | Water Boards
Increasing access to water
Features
10 | Addressing The Nation
New investments to propel our digital economy forward
12 | Cover Story
An app is born: Edukite is transforming education
28 | Trailblazer
Hon. Maropene Ramokgopa: Strengthening and streamlining our collective processes
50 | Regional Focus
Connecting Gauteng and Limpopo through rail
52 | Legal Matters Quitting on the spot
54 | Financial Fitness
Wills and wishes: Estate Planning in 2023
56 | Upcoming Events
May is about culture and diversity
30 | Women in Leadership
Hon. Thembi Nkadimeng: Writing a good story
48 | In Other News
Innovation on the continent: Fintechs are dominating the tech sector
4 | Public Sector Leaders | May 2023
52
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6 | Public Sector Leaders | May 2023
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EDITOR’S LETTER BY FIONA WAKELIN
Letter from the
Editor
I
Welcome to the May edition of Public Sector Leaders (PSL) events. The Trailblazer this month is Honourable Maropene Ramokgopa who was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and our Woman in Leadership is Honourable Thembi Nkadimeng, who was announced as the new Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) as part of President Ramaphosa’s cabinet reshuffle. Our Regional Focus is Gauteng and In Other News we look at Tech in Africa.
n his letter to the nation on 8 May, His Excellency, Cyril Ramaphosa focused on the topic of the correlation between a thriving democracy and freedom of the media. He referenced the latest World Press Freedom Index, in which South Africa significantly improved its ranking, moving up ten places from 35th in the world in 2022 to 25th this year. “Media freedom is a pillar of our democratic order. Our journalists continue to be the standardbearers for accountability and the empowerment of citizens. Media investigations have shone a spotlight on corruption, the abuse of vulnerable people, the targeting of whistle-blowers, and all manner of wrongdoing within the state, the private sector, academia and other sectors,” – President Ramaphosa It is a busy month for public sector leaders with President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Grand Patron and the Chancellor of the National Orders, congratulating the recipients of the 2023 National Orders; His Excellency welcomed President Sauli Niinistö of the Republic of Finland to the Union Buildings on the occasion of his State Visit to South Africa and Deputy President Paul Mashatile delivered the closing remarks at the South African Mental Health Conference held at Emperors Palace, Ekurhuleni. During the month of May we celebrate Africa and energy – both extremely topical - with 25 May
being Africa Day. Our cover icon this month is Vineet Ladia, Co-Founder and Director of Edukite Learning. While studying at business school, two engineers, Vineet Ladia and Aravind Venkataraman, noticed that education lacked innovation, and were searching for opportunities to create innovative products that could fill gaps in mathematics and science. “We felt that we could make a tangible difference in this field with our passion to ‘go out there and change the world,’” - Vineet Ladia. In our lead article Vineet explains how the solution they came up with, an app, makes learning easier and how this can impact education on the continent. In this bumper edition of Public Sector Leaders, we include regulars such as Addressing the Nation Letter from the Presidency - and a Calendar of Commemorative
This month we are privileged to feature our Constitution’s Keeper, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in conversation with Koketso Mamabolo and we celebrate the continent in our article which looks at opportunities and the African Continental Free Trade Area. As this is Energy Month we focus on this hot topic in our piece on securing energy resources amid changing economic conditions. Whether you are in the public sector, the private sector, supply chain or an interested individual, PSL has something for you. We hope you enjoy the read.
FIONA WAKELIN | GROUP EDITOR
May 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 9
“W
e, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.” — Preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 I. “I think my journey towards choosing to study law started in my history class at secondary school,” says Chief Justice Zondo, speaking to Public Sector Leaders. “... and during those years, one studied about the French Revolution. One studied about the struggles of various people in different parts of the world. And I found that, very often, the prominent leaders in various struggles - where people struggled for freedom were lawyers.” Victoria Mxenge. Nelson Mandela. Priscilla Jana. Joe Slovo. Oliver Tambo. Felicia Kentridge. George Bizos. The list goes on. Before law, he had thoughts of becoming a teacher or a priest, and had attended a Roman Catholic boarding school, St Mary’s Seminary. “But once I had settled my mind on law, I never looked back.” The Chief Justice was raised in Ixopo. One of nine children, his mother lost her job just a couple of years before he matriculated. When the opportunity came for him to go to university, he was faced with the challenge of his family being left to struggle without him. Suleman “Solly” Bux, a local entrepreneur, was kind enough to provide him with a loan and allow the Chief Justice’s mother to come into his store once a month, for the duration of his studies, in order to choose groceries. Initially it had been a loan, but once he had completed his undergraduate studies, Suleman Bux asked for nothing in return, other than to pay it forward to those in need. The two would be reunited years later, for the Zondo and Bux Educational Trust, to do exactly that. Chief Justice Zondo went on to complete multiple degrees: B. luris; LLB; LLM in labour law; LLM in commercial law and an LLM in patent law.
II. Derechos humanos. That is the Spanish term Bartolomé de las Casas gave to what we know as ‘human rights’. On April the 27th, 1994, South Africa realised this conception of what was owed to us all. This was almost four hundred years after the Dominican friar and priest had become what one may call the first advocate of human rights. On that day, South Africans gave life to the idea that we can build a world that we both want and need. Already in the early 1900s, the efforts to codify human rights was being explored in South Africa. The Freedom Charter of 1955 took this even further and through the negotiating process of the early 90s, a compromise was reached which has given us the Constitutional Court, the keepers of the world-renowned Constitution which the creators hoped would heal the past and ensure that it is never repeated. The people who played a role in drafting the Constitution were working in the spirit that Bartolomé de las Casas embodied when he said, “All the peoples of the world are humans, and there is only one definition of all humans and of each one, that is that they are rational.” This assertion of everyone’s humanity, and the need to protect that, inspired a court that stands as a standard-bearer for stellar public institutions. Its home, Constitution Hill, in Braamfontein, carries a piece of Johannesburg which the Constitutional Court judges specifically chose in order to face history head on - to not forget - and heal the wounds of the past. Built in 1893, the Old Fort – formerly the Johannesburg Jail – is just seven years older than the city itself; the prison was later fortified to protect against invasion, a result of the struggle to control mineral reserves.
“Hundreds of thousands of people were jailed there - including figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Luthuli. Nelson Mandela paid the Fort a visit first as a young lawyer, then as a prisoner and finally as the president of South Africa,” reads the Constitutional Court’s website. South Africa’s stature as one of Africa’s leading economies is tied closely to the story of gold and labour. At the head of the court, which sits atop all the history Constitution Hill holds, is Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, democratic South Africa’s 6th head of the judiciary. Chief Justice Zondo has had profound influence on labour law in South Africa, and was inspired by lawyers such as Nelson Mandela, who had fought for human rights. III. The Chief Justice began cutting his legal teeth at the Legal Resource Centre in eMpangeni, which is perhaps the story of where his contribution to South African labour law, and South African history, begins. In 1979, Felicia Kentridge and Arthur Chaskalson - who later became the second Chief Justice post1994 - founded the Legal Resource Centre, which former Constitutional Court judge Justice Cameron described as “a pioneering firm of public interest lawyers, which gained and has sustained enduring international admiration for its work.” Along with John Dugard’s Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at Wits University - which gave anti-apartheid lawyers a sharper, academic edge - lawyers such as a young Justice Cameron contributed to a labour-related legal battle which gave rise to a new form of resistance, exemplifying what Chief Justice
Zondo so admired about lawyers: They advocated for the rights of other humans. “The apartheid government thought that by drawing workers into the labour relations structures it created, it could contain them. It was wrong,” writes Justice Cameron, in his book Justice: A Personal Account. “It had let the genie of mass activism out of the bottle. By working within the new system of labour protections, the unions did far more than only secure legal rights. Strengthened by repeated court victories under the new law, they became joint leaders of the mass internal activist alliance that swept the country from the mid-1980s. They and other activist organisations were at the forefront of insisting on equal rights for all in a democratic South Africa.” Chief Justice Chaskalson, and the lawyers at the LRC, chipped away at apartheid’s legal basis. After his short time at the LRC in what was then known simply as Natal, the Chief Justice joined Victoria Mxenge’s law firm as a candidate attorney. The firm did not have a labour department and the Chief Justice’s experience in the field allowed Mrs Mxenge to trust that he was capable of creating one for them. “She showed a lot of confidence in me by simply saying, ‘We don’t know this field of law, you take charge and just make sure everything’s done right.’” Once he was admitted as an attorney, he practised for a number of years as a partner in a law firm, Mathe and Zondo Incorporated. He also worked part-time as a mediator and arbitrator. The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture was not the first high profile commission he was involved in. In the early 90s, he sat on two committees of the Commission of
Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation, which was popularly known as the Goldstone Commission (after the Chair, Richard Goldstone, who was also a Constitutional Court judge in the new South Africa), much like the State Capture Commission is known as the Zondo Commission. The Chief Justice’s work in labour law continued when he was appointed to the Ministerial Task Team which crafted the Draft Labour Relations Bill in 1994, which was chaired by labour organiser Halton Cheadle, who had worked with Justice Cameron in the 1980s. The Chief Justice’s appointment as the first Chairperson of the CCMA’s governing body was short-lived, and he resigned when he was appointed Acting Judge of the Labour Court in 1997. He was appointed to the court permanently later that year by President Nelson Mandela. In early 1999, he became a judge of what was then known as the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court in Pretoria. He was then appointed Acting Judge President of the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court, and Judge President in 2000, where he would serve for around a decade. An example of why he received an award from the KZN Legal Forum, for his human rights efforts, can be found in his first judgment, Afrox Limited v SA Chemical Workers Union and Others, which he cited in his Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interview for the position of Chief Justice: “Talking about that first one, Afrox,” he said during his interview, “... it was handed down in ‘97. I was an acting judge of the labour court. As I said it was my first judgment, but
a few years later it was upheld by the labour appeal court. Many of the judgments that I have written have stood the test of time.” Speaking to Public Sector Leaders, the Chief Justice cites Engen Petroleum Limited v Commissioner for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration and Others, when he was Judge President of the Labour Appeal Court, as one of his key judgments. Another significant judgment which the Chief Justice wrote is Ndima and Others, Sithukuza and Others v Waverley Blankets Limited which, he said during his JSC interview, “is a case where, which I also wrote as a judge of the labour court which had a very meaningful impact on the lives of workers in this country [sic].” His contribution to jurisprudence has been widely acknowledged. Speaking at the Chief Justice’s JSC interview, Acting Judge President of the Supreme Court of Appeal Xola Petse, who chaired the interviews, said, “... the point I just want to make that, having read them [the Chief Justice’s judgments], they all bear the hallmarks of industry, scholarship, intellectual rigour and clarity of thought.” Judges Matter shared a similar sentiment: “As a jurist, DCJ Zondo is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of South African labour law.” His journey at the Constitutional Court began in 2012, when he was appointed as one of the Constitutional Court judges. In 2017, he was appointed Deputy Chief Justice and went on to fill-in for the retired Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, as Acting Chief Justice. After making the list of candidates that President Ramaphosa submitted to the JSC, he commenced his term as Chief Justice on the 1st of April, 2022.
IV. During the Chief Justice’s JSC interview, Deputy President Petse gave him an opportunity to explain, “how you see the role of the chief justice in a constitutional democracy...” He responded: “I believe that a Chief Justice must be somebody who is humble, it must be somebody who appreciates that he’s not Chief Justice because he’s necessarily the most brilliant of the judges. But it must be somebody who appreciates everyone’s contributions and tries to work with everybody.” He tells Public Sector Leaders that being appointed head of the judiciary is a “special honour and privilege.” “I don’t take it for granted, and I know it gives me an opportunity to make a serious contribution in the functioning of the courts, which I am determined to make. And I think that what I can point out is that there is very strong cooperation from my colleagues who are heads of courts.” This support is especially important given the challenges the judiciary is facing, which the Chief Justice intends on addressing in the time he has left at the Constitutional Court. He takes Public Sector Leaders through five focus areas: The JSC, infrastructure, vacant positions, institutional independence and gender transformation. Regarding the JSC, he says, “I think a lot of us are concerned that there is a perception out there that some candidates are not always treated fairly and so on. But my own sense is that all of us in the commission want to make sure that we deal with that without compromising. We need to remain firm and interrogate issues properly. We want to strike the balance.
And my sense is that all commissioners want the commission to work well, and they want to make sure that no candidate feels that they are treated unfairly.”
gender transformation in the legal system, particularly at the level of heads of court, who are predominantly male. “We need to change that situation,” says the Chief Justice.
In April the JSC held a special session to discuss the criteria and guidelines they use when considering candidates. The JSC decided to review and update the guidelines, and presented its understanding of the selection criteria.
Not long after the Chief Justice spoke to Public Sector Leaders, the JSC recommended Justice Mahube Molemela for the position of Judge President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, and Deputy Judge President Segopotje Mphahlele for Judge President of the Mpumalanga High Court.
“The interviewing process is to be governed by an overarching and all-embracing principle of fairness and respect for a candidate’s dignity,” said the JSC, in a release summarising and explaining the criteria and guidelines, which emphasised the need for questions to be relevant to the criteria and provided guidelines on how allegations made against candidates should be addressed. The courts are also faced with the problem of unfilled vacancies, and the need for more posts to be created for judges, in the Labour Court, for example, which will go a long way to reducing backlogs. “We have enough personal independence for judges to be able to make decisions as they see fit, in accordance with the Constitution and the law. But we need to ensure that we have institutional independence because we are not where we are supposed to be,” he explains, in-line with the statements he made regarding institutional independence during his JSC interviews - a journey first started by Chief Justice Ngcobo. The executive is key to making institutional independence a reality. Another key area the Chief Justice wants to focus on is
This commitment to bringing more women into the judiciary shows the extent to which the Chief Justice is advocating for the rights of others and how aware he is of the influence he can have on not just the legal system but South Africa as a whole. A great example of his servantleadership approach was his role as Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. “I knew that somebody had to do this. This was very important for the country,” he explains. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng asked the then Deputy Chief Justice to assist him in identifying judges who could chair the Commission and to discuss the matter with the candidates. “So we were not finding any joy with getting people here. And at a certain stage, I suggested that we approach a certain retired judge, [Chief Justice Mogoeng] decided to call that retired judge himself.” Sitting in the same room as his predecessor, Chief Justice Zondo could pick up that the response from the retired judge was not a positive one, and had the sense that after the call Chief Justice Mogoeng would ask him to take up the challenge. “I decided I would do it. I wasn’t going to have to think about it,” he says. “So he asked me at the
end of the conversation, and I agreed. And, of course, the rest is history.” “I’m very grateful to the public because the commission enjoyed a lot of support from ordinary citizens and from various organisations. In the mall, I would find that there would be a lot of people who would come to me and just express their appreciation for the work of the commission and, you know, those gestures kept us going as a commission because there were various times when it was quite difficult.” The Chief Justice highlights how a legal profession offers people the opportunity to give back using their “legal knowledge to help communities where you live or other communities who are faced with certain challenges. But they need legal backing, they need legal advice. “I would say to young lawyers today that they need to try and focus on those branches of law that continue to be dominated by white male lawyers,” he says, calling on women in the legal profession to go in and “make a difference.” The Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa) he received from Rhodes University highlights how widely respected he is in the legal profession. In 2022, he won the Sydney and Felicia Kentridge Award from the General Bar Council of South Africa. In the same year, he was honoured with the Ahmed Kathrada Excellence in Leadership Award from the Congress of Business and Economics. The Chief Justice has truly made a difference in South Africa, and if the example of his predecessors is anything to go by, his contribution will continue well beyond the end of his tenure at the Constitutional Court. n
INTERVIEW C-BRTA
Cross-Border Road Transport Agency Interview with CEO Lwazi Mboyi
O
verseeing the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) which has received seven consecutive clean audit outcomes, Lwazi Mboyi finds himself at the helm of an organisation which is key to economic activity and the flow of people and goods across our borders. This year the C-BRTA is celebrating its 25th anniversary, having been formed through the CBRT act of 1998. Last year the C-BRTA launched its Cross Easy system, which has digitised the permit issuing process, with the roll-out of more online tools planned for this year. Here Chief Executive Officer Lwazi Mboyi takes us through the work they do, the role of technology in their work and also reflects on C-BRTA’s successes. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE? Our mandate is to facilitate the seamless movement of passengers and goods across the borders. We execute this mandate through the four core functions, namely; facilitation, regulation, advisory and law enforcement. My key responsibilities include implementing the vision for our organisation and leading the executive team as well as the entire organisation towards attaining the set vision. The crossborder road transport industry is a very complex terrain to navigate due to the fact that it has many stakeholders who have clashing and competing interests, so part of my responsibilities is to lead the C-BRTA’s strategic stakeholder
management initiative as part of our bigger agenda of forging partnerships with stakeholders who have a role to play in taking the industry forward. My main responsibility is to lead as well as provide strategic direction and allow the executive team and management to execute. PLEASE SHARE SOME OF YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS AS CEO Proud moments as the CEO of the C-BRTA would include us signing off on an annual report after receiving a clean bill of health from the Auditor General South Africa. Our Agency has received seven clean audit outcomes for seven consecutive years. This shows our commitment to clean governance and I’m proud to be leading an organisation that is determined to do things the right way. More importantly, it was when we launched our Cross-Easy system in 2022 which migrated our permit issuance processes from a manual system to an online system through which operators could apply for their permits online from anywhere in the country and beyond. This contributed to one of our key objectives of ensuring reducing operational constraints for the cross-border road transport industry. WHAT MAKES 2023 A SPECIAL YEAR FOR YOUR ORGANISATION? This is a special year for the C-BRTA because it marks the Agency’s 25th year anniversary. The Agency was established on the 1st of April 1998 so this year marks 25 years of its existence. This milestone, on the one hand, provides an opportunity
for us as the Agency to look back to take stock of the challenges we encountered and the successes we registered throughout the years. On the other hand, it provides us an opportunity to look at the future with the intention of reshaping the C-BRTA into a leading regulator on the continent and a force to be reckoned with in the cross-border road transport space. In 2023, we will also be launching additional online tools for the benefit of the operators. These include the C-BRTA permit application and administration APP which will provide more capabilities for the operators to access our services. HOW HAVE THE ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY IMPACTED ON C-BRTA? Technological advancements are important for businesses because they bring about the necessary and essential innovations which are required to ensure efficiencies. To this effect, the C-BRTA has adopted a modern and innovative approach to its Information Technology (IT) strategy. The Agency plans to leverage its IT business assets to generate as much value as possible for internal and external stakeholders, customers and users. The potential of Information Technology to transform how we work and how we deliver services has never been greater and this has been further emphasised by the global pandemic. Only through cross-border collaboration can the C-BRTA achieve truly impactful regional and global innovation and modernisation. When it comes to cross-border collaboration, there is a need to think about initiatives
May 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 25
INTERVIEW C-BRTA
on regional, continental, and global level. This helps governments to identify how various solutions can protect against challenges such as the socio-economic risks caused by the instability of deteriorating natural environments, pandemics, and extreme weather events. Importantly, it is vital for African governments to drive the evolution of public sector innovation across the continent and globally. The most impactful innovations are highly targeted and identifying specific sectors for collaboration will maximise the impact of innovations by ensuring that the optimal stakeholders, talents, and skills are engaged, and adequate resources are drawn upon. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE ORGANISATION’S MAJOR SUCCESSES OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS? Over the past 25 years, we have worked consistently to profile the role of the cross-border road transport industry. This work included working with various stakeholders in South Africa and across the continent to demonstrate the critical role that transportation, specifically crossborder operations, play in enabling trade and ultimately driving economic development. For us as an Agency, we come from an era in which we were issuing permits to the transport operators manually, which was taxing and cumbersome. In recent times we moved from this and introduced an electronic permit administration platform called the Cross-Easy Permit Application System. With this system, we have saved our operators time and money by affording them the
region, we have enabled trade in the region. With this work, we are confidently assuring South Africans and Africans in general that we will continue to strive for efficiencies in the cross-border road transport sector to ensure that Africans, in their countries of origin, enjoy products and services from other countries.
Lwazi Mboyi - CEO, C-BRTA
convenience of applying for permits from the comfort of their offices anytime. This is one of the great innovations which we are proud of as an Agency. We have also deployed smart law enforcement tools along the corridors which help us to conduct law enforcement efficiently. We have strengthened relations with various authorities on the continent with the objective of ensuring harmonisation in the region. Furthermore, we have successfully lobbied for the commercialisation of the Kosi Bay border post with effect from 1 April 2022 and a 24-hour operating regime at the Lebombo border post. DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE OF INSPIRATION FOR OUR READERS? As the C-BRTA, we take pride in rendering services to the crossborder road transport operators and the industry at large. This service goes a long way because it licences the operators to ply their trade, which is to transport passengers and goods across the borders. This is not an easy space to navigate but working hand-in-hand with the operators and other member states in the
26 | Public Sector Leaders | May 2023
This is what trade is about, and the cross-border road transport industry carries the hopes of millions of Africans in as far as trade is concerned. In general, our work inspires Africans to look forward to enjoying goods and services from other countries and we will, working jointly with our stakeholders, improve the levels of trade on the continent. With these few words, we would like to encourage the SMMEs to join the sector as well as call for businesses which are well established to embrace transformation and work with previously disadvantaged individuals. This way, we will all become a collective force behind a better movement of people, goods and services across the borders.
CONTACT INFORMATION Tel: +27 (0)12 471 2000 Email: permits@cbrta.co.za ethics@cbrta.co.za customercare@cbrta.co.za Website: www.cbrta.co.za Physical address: 350 Witch-Hazel Ave, Eco Point Office Park, Block A, Eco Park, Centurion, Pretoria
DIGITISED PERMIT APPLICATION SYSTEM CROSS-BORDER ROAD TRANSPORT
Cross-Easy, an accurate, convenient and secure way to apply and track your cross-border permits online.
Available 24/7/365
For more information visit www.cbrta.co.za
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