The state and civil society in building a capable developmental state : a case of the National Department of Social Development and the Non Profit Organisations sector in South Africa

The challenges in the relationship between the Department of Social Development (DSD) and Non Profit Organisations (NPOs) in South Africa pose a risk to their ability to partner successfully in order to deliver government’s Constitutional obligations in meeting citizens’ developmental social welfare needs. Some contemporary theories of the state (such as pluralism and corporatism) as well as approaches to Public Administration and Management (such as co-production) support a collaborative approach between governments and civil society in order to address development challenges. Peter Evans’ (cf. 1995, 1997, 1998, 2008; 2014) expansive scholarship on embedded autonomy and building capable developmental states, suggests that a state that is sufficiently embedded in an intimate partnership with nonstate actors is more likely to achieve its development goals. However, these relations must also be autonomous and unfettered by private or sectional interests to circumvent the risk of neopatrimonialism and state capture. In view of growing critiques of economic growth as the primary marker of a developmental state, which prioritises the state’s relationship with private capital, Evans (ibid.) also argued for a more expanded definition of embedded autonomy. Building on Evan’s perspective, this study examines the relationship between the DSD and the NPO sector in South Africa to address the gap in the literature on how other forms of embedded autonomy (beyond the state-private sector nexus) may function in a developmental state. Its purpose is to make an original contribution to knowledge by examining how the achievement of South Africa’s Developmental Social Welfare (DSW) outcomes and the building of a capable developmental state may be affected by weaknesses in embeddedness, autonomy and state capacity. It argues that a relationship of trust and solidarity between the state and civil society that prioritises the well-being of people as the primary indicator of development, is a necessary feature of the capable developmental state. The study therefore provides insights into the interventions required to ensure collaborative and integrated service delivery between the state and civil society in South Africa. This is forged from an examination of the deeply held conflicting beliefs and expectations around the execution of the DSW mandate, the current tensions in the relationship, its intersections with the history of the non-profit sector in the apartheid welfare state and the challenges of transformation since 1994. In this respect, it fills a further gap in the literature by focusing on expanded, non-traditional state-society ties imagined by Evans’ conceptual framework of embedded autonomy and the developmental state. Furthermore, the study makes an elemental contribution to knowledge around co-production, which remains poorly formulated despite increasing interest and research in this area of Public Administration and Management (Gawlowski, 2018:72; Osborne, Radnor & Strokosch, 2016:644). This study used a qualitative design to derive meaning from indepth interviews with twentythree (23) knowledgeable experts representing the DSD (current and ex-staff members), NPOs, members of the Ministerial Committee for the 2013-2016 Review of the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997), NPO umbrella bodies and social justice activists. These were supplemented by a Focus Group Discussion comprising of nine (9) activists based at a grassroots NPO. Employing both an interpretive and constructivist approach, the design facilitated an in-depth examination of participants’ perceptions of the state’s constitutional obligation towards social justice through delivering DSW services in collaboration with the NPO Sector. The researcher used thematic content analysis to explore how weaknesses in the inter-play between embeddedness and autonomy in the DSW sector may explain the tensions between the DSD and NPOs. An analysis of the literature also helped in drawing linkages between weaknesses in embedded autonomy, building a capable developmental state and achieving the country’s DSW outcomes. The study found that the adversarial relationship between the DSD and NPOs has a negative effect on the rendering of DSW services to citizens, which places South Africa’s pursuit of a capable developmental state at risk. Applying a strategic-relational conceptualisation of the state, it argued how South Africa’s commitment to a participatory and people-centred approach to public policy and the protection of the socio-economic rights of citizens requires a fully engaged civil society, balanced by autonomy. Invoking a Gramscian lens, the study also provided an analysis of the potential for civil society to act as a counter-hegemonic force against the domination of global capital and the marketization of the state in order to protect the rights of the subaltern.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Governmental and Social Sciences, 202