School of Management, IT and Governance

South Africa is faced with service delivery challenges relating not only to its historical legacies but also to its current challenge of functioning in a rapidly changing local and global environment. It is not only a developmental state but also a state that strives to become globally relevant and competitive. Responding to these twin challenges requires a public service that is in mindful of South Africa’s past, present and future service delivery challenges, alive to the present opportunities and conversant of developments in strategic service delivery processes. There is a critical need to develop public managers that are able to think strategically and act with empathy and in line with Batho Pele principles and the Constitutional values of Public Administration.

• The theory and practice of the discipline Public Administration has been given Constitutional status by the South African Constitution of 1996. A wide range of core and elective modules are offered in order to empower students with knowledge, skills and competencies in Public Administration to pursue management level careers in the public sector, not only in the South African context but also within the SADC region and internationally.
• The programme is fundamental in meeting the skills deficit and professional ethos of the Public Service.
• The programme prepares students for career advancement in the public and non-governmental sectors and broader areas of government and civil society.
• The programme empowers students through detailed knowledge of the discipline concerned and by creating an awareness of the variety of institutional contexts in which it is applied.
• The programme gives students the opportunity to become acquainted with the practical application of the principles, theories and modules of the discipline in the work environment.