At the time of finalising this edition of the Journal of Public Administration, the euphoria of the 2016 August local government elections was at its peak, with political parties parading their manifestos, all in competition for a stake in the local sphere of government. Fraught with nothing more than platitudes based on data less empiricism, the razzmatazz was deafening. It blurred a vexing question: what does it mean to be a government in the 21st century? A reincarnation of the same question in South Africa is,what does governing in the post-apartheid state, twenty-two (22) years into democracy, mean? These questions are inevitably becoming increasingly a preponderance of our historical consciousness. They are write large in the level of discontent, which often assumes a form of civil disobedience. In the words used in The Economist of 1 March 2014 (p.46), does this show "a growing cynicism towards politics?" In various