Higher Education Training of Public Managers for Civil Service Reforms in South Africa: The Responsiveness of Universities of Technology

Higher Education (HE) is expected to fulfill South Africa's developmental agenda by producing graduates, who are sufficiently-competent to contribute toward satisfying the socio-economic needs of the country. Most crucial is the need for a highly-skilled labour force, able to employ new technologies to add value to existing goods and services. The extent of HE responsiveness to the demands of the knowledge economy is driven by a number of factors, which include, among others: globalization; the need for economic reconstruction; social transformation; and, demographic and information technology. These factors ushered in a paradigm shift in the transformation and restructuring of HE, and have been vigorously suggested as having some significant influence at the present, and in the coming decade. They are shaping the training of the new generation of Public Administrators in South Africa. Higher Education responsiveness applies to all its declared purposes: teaching and learning; research and community engagement; and, the web of interactions between universities and policy-makers, industry and commerce, local communities and the wider society. This study examines and discusses the responsiveness of HE to Public Sector Reforms, with particular reference to the training of public administrators by universities of technology in South Afiica. Helping to build a competent and efficient public service is an important contribution to the developmental state of present-day South Africa. The scale of transformation and economic development that determine graduate competencies and skills, knowledge, research relevant to socio-economic priorities, are critical enablers of the new generation of public administrators. However, more efforts are imperative to satisfy diverse stakeholders' needs in the profession. Institutions of higher learning are vulnerable to internal and external environmental factors, in their quest to adapt their institutional programmes and operations to Higher Education Policy directives and governmental expectations. This paper seeks to make a contribution toward greater improvements in the training provision for, and organization of, Public Administration, and the management of human resources for national public service reform and good governance.