South Africa negotiated a peaceful process of regime change from apartheid to a non-racial, non-sexist democracy. It has become a beacon to the world and Africa, attesting to the viability of negotiated settlements for complex socio-political conflicts. Despite the triumph of this political process, South Africa's transition to democracy has stumbled in important ways, slowing the development agenda. High-quality public service training and development is one important element of the necessary politico-administrative changes that must occur so that the country can make progress in an orderly fashion. This remains difficult in the current context. When the apartheid-distorted civil service was overhauled, political allegiance overruled technical competence, in the Weberian sense, in the deployment of cadres to public service positions. The corrupt procurement processes of the previous regime's collusion with the private sector