Rhodes University’s department of Political and International Studies hosted Matodzi Amisi, Director of Evaluation in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation based in the office of the Presidency of South Africa.
Amisi marvelled at the opportunity to address Honours students in what she calls, ‘a critical arm of good governance’.
“It is always useful to have these sessions in a social sciences space because you are the people who will join the public service sector doing developmental work which links with what the state is trying to do. It is important to create and maintain these linkages between our office and these faculties within higher education,” she said.
Addressing the Public Policy: Design and Evaluation class, Amisi dealt specifically with Public policy evaluation and transformation in South Africa. She spoke of the growing need for public policy frameworks to be evaluated regularly in order to ensure that they serve their purpose.
“South Africa has a complex social system that is ever changing; therefore it requires adaptation. Government gets money from you as citizens, business and a range of other sources. The re-distribution of this money (budget) and resources through different programmes is important in order to make sure that it benefits everyone in society,” she explained.
She acknowledged the economic reality that not everyone will be able to acquire wealth by themselves, therefore, government needs to play a role in shaping the socio-economic position of its citizens.
She stressed the growing need for the current government to be transparent about where and what the big portion of people’s income that goes to the public purse in the form of tax, actually does. Does it reduce poverty? Is it dealing with crime and violence? Does it contribute towards human development, and most importantly does it help our economy grow.
“Constant and rigorous evaluation ensures that we pick up hindrances quicker before structures and programmes collapse. Quick and effective adjustments help to improve performance,” she said.
Amisi has over 10 years of experience in research and evaluation of housing/human settlements within the public service. For the past three years, she has been involved in developing the South African National Evaluation System and promoting the use of evaluations to support evidence-based policy and decision-making in government.
She has worked closely with both the Departments of Social Development and Human Settlements. She brings extensive experience in translating and brokering research/evaluation evidence to improve application in policy and management decisions within government.