During the tenure of the second democratically elected president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, the Government of South Africa had vigorously and systematically implemented a system for co-ordinating government activities through what was known as the cluster system. This was also the period when the government was concurrently pursuing the concept of ‘joined-up’ government in order to blur the boundaries between different government departments to guarantee seamless service delivery to the citizenry, among others. Arguably, the government’s performance at the time was exceptional. This paper contends that the pockets of good performance by the government that South Africa is experiencing today could be attributed to the cluster system – during the reign of Mbeki and after. It is important to note that clusters are groupings of government departments with cross-cutting programmes. They are meant to engender an integrated approach to governance with the intention to improve government planning, decision-making and service delivery. Clusters seek to ensure proper co-ordination of all government programmes at national and provincial levels and endeavour to align government-wide priorities, while facilitating and monitoring the implementation of priority programmes. Also, they can be seen as a consultative platform based on cross-cutting priorities which should be funnelled through to Cabinet to make informed decisions.

This paper argues that clusters are a good example of what works in government in South Africa. It is informed by a qualitative methodological thrust that is underpinned by an exploratory research approach. It uses information that is gleaned from a desk research and secondary literature. In addition, it is based on theoretical perspectives on joined up and/or the co-ordination role of government in general, and the cluster system in South Africa, in particular, as well as the author’s experience as a public servant. The author had worked for the Government of South Africa in the capacity of Chief Director and Social Policy Specialist, in the National Department of Social Development (NDSD) from 2007 to 2014. Among other duties, the author was charged with the responsibility of institutionalising evidence-based policy-making and policy decision-making in the NDSD and across the social cluster departments of: Basic Education, Higher Education, Health, Human Settlement, Social Development and Water and Sanitation, through a training programme which was funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by the NDSD, in conjunction with the then Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford.