Prof Armand Bam is the Head of Social Impact and PGDip NPO Leadership Development at Stellenbosch Business School.
Professor Armand Bam
There is a strange kind of magic in municipal language. Public land is not sold; it is “released”. A community asset is not lost; its value is “unlocked”. The land disappears, the money appears, and we are asked to admire the money. But what, precisely, has been unlocked, and for whom?
Cape Town Mayor and Democratic Alliance leader Geordin Hill-Lewis recently argued that the real choice in public services is not between public and private, but between what is “working” and what is “broken”. Where a capable private provider can deliver better, faster or more reliably, he says government should be willing to use it while retaining policy control and public accountability.
There is an important truth here. Public ownership is not inherently virtuous. An empty building or neglected library does not serve citizens merely because the title deed sits in a government office. Citizens are entitled to competence and results.
