Government leaders have launched a new public-sector project management forum aimed at strengthening the delivery of infrastructure and other major programmes, arguing that South Africa's challenge lies not in developing policy but in executing projects effectively.
Speaking at the launch of the Public Sector Project Management Community of Practice on Thursday, SARS head of the Enterprise Project Management Office William Mpye said government would increasingly be judged by its ability to turn policy into tangible outcomes.
"The success of government will increasingly be determined not by the quality of the plans we develop, but by our ability to execute those plans consistently, predictably and successfully."
Mpye said project management should be recognised as a strategic capability rather than an administrative function focused on budgets and reporting. Every government priority – from roads, schools and water infrastructure to digital public services and economic development – ultimately depended on successful project delivery.
Government departments often faced the same obstacles, including cost overruns, procurement complexities, skills shortages, resource constraints and stakeholder management challenges, he said. The new Community of Practice would allow departments to share experience, develop common standards and strengthen delivery capability across the public sector.
"People of South Africa do not experience government through policies or strategy plans. They experience government through outcomes," Mpye said, noting that successful projects translated into functioning roads, schools, water infrastructure, healthcare facilities and digital government services.
From a SARS perspective, he said disciplined project execution had been central to the revenue authority's modernisation programme, including improvements to customs processes, data analytics and digital services.
Mpye said SARS' long-term vision was to further integrate its systems so that more tax processes could take place automatically. He said future interoperability with overseas systems would support the automated processing of taxes linked to cross-border transactions.
He also called on public sector organisations to place greater emphasis on results rather than process.
"Let us move beyond measuring activities and focus on measuring outcomes. Let us move beyond compliance and embrace value creation," he said.
The Public Sector Project Management Community of Practice was established by the Project Management Institute, the University of South Africa Graduate School of Business Leadership, SARS, the Presidency's Project Management Office and other public sector partners. The initiative aims to improve collaboration, strengthen project governance and build project delivery capability across government.
