Freedom Day: public trust tested

Public trust is in the spotlight as South Africans commemorate Freedom Day on 27 April. It comes as the nation marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, which was adopted on 10 December 1996.

Ethical leadership and public accountability expert from the University of Cape Town's (UCT) Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, Dr Marianne Camerer, told UCT News that she is interested in nurturing the critical thinking skills that public leaders need to inform decision-making that is ethical and comfortable with complexity. Government has noted that in South Africa, Freedom Day can be directly linked to public trust. It acts as both a celebration of democratic achievements and a benchmark for assessing the government's progress in fulfilling its promises and ability to deliver on basic services.

Widespread corruption undermines public trust. "I am interested in understanding the dynamics of particular cases of corruption - what enables them to occur; what harm do they cause; who are the real victims … And in understanding this, interrogating what it would take to fix the system and restore public trust in South Africa's social contract - and in the criminal justice system in particular. The Madlanga Commission (the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System) has starkly highlighted the critical leadership and integrity challenges in this sector, but the mistrust is everywhere," Dr Camerer explained.

Importance of trust

Trust is an indicator of social cohesion and remains a critical foundation for state legitimacy. All over the world, the trust of citizens in their government is deteriorating, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. Editor of The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust, Eric Uslaner, emphasises that trust matters because it can help us to bridge partisan and ideological divisions, and connect us to people who are different from us. "We should care about trust, as political trust makes it easier to enact controversial legislation … and leads to other 'positive' outcomes, such as voting participation, willingness to pay taxes, and more support for an activist role in world affairs. Social trust leads to a greater sense of well-being and better governance."

"Technical competence is necessary, but insufficient."

"According to the Afrobarometer, only 13% of South Africans believe that Members of Parliament (MPs) represent their interests, with 24% trusting MPs (down from 56% in 2011), and 63% believing that most or all MPs are involved in corruption," she noted.

"During the state capture era (2009-2018), there was a systemic institutional failure where Parliament often abdicated its duty to hold the executive accountable. A recent student whose long paper I supervised analysed the intersection of parliamentary accountability and the role of non-state actors in monitoring the implementation of the Zondo Commission's recommendations. Civil society research, oversight and advocacy have a critical role to play in holding public officials accountable."

Democratic freedom

Camerer continued: "We need to safeguard our political freedom by eternal vigilance and a robust accountability ecosystem of multiple stakeholders. A priority includes strengthening the independence and integrity of the criminal justice system - the police, prosecuting authority and judiciary - to be insulated from political interference so that they can uphold the rule of law without fear or favour."

There are three core pillars of trust with respect to public governance: firstly, competence (the ability to govern); second, acting in the public interest; and third, leading honestly, transparently and with integrity.

Camerer expanded on this: "Technical competence is necessary, but insufficient. In South Africa, the trust that has been squandered will need to be built painstakingly on lawful processes, internal accountability systems, and effective external oversight. This has been sorely lacking; hence the low levels of trust in public governance."

She explained further: "There is a real fear of retaliation with a recent Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) survey finding that approximately 62% of citizens believe that speaking out against corruption risks negative consequences such as job loss, social ostracism or physical violence. This has led to the normalisation of a 'code of silence'. Widespread cynicism regarding elite impunity exists, where high-ranking officials are not held accountable for their actions, although this is slowly changing."

The theme for Freedom Day is "Freedom and the Rule of Law: Thirty Years of Democratic Citizenship". Said Camerer: "The theme for the 30th anniversary of our democracy highlights a critical juncture. The period of state capture, as the 2017 report by academics entitled "Betrayal of the Promise" noted, was a betrayal of our democratic freedom. It is more important than ever that the state transition from a culture of patronage to a truly professionalised public service that delivers, and in this way restores public trust in governance."