The environments of public organisations have become characterised by complexity, speed and fragmentation. Although economic efficiency still serves as an important guiding principle, its twin brother, hierarchy, is no longer an organisational principle. In its place, public organisations now emphasise co-operative relationships in the context of politically-driven structures. The relevance of co-operation has acquired a new significance in changing contexts that place more emphasis on relationship vis-à-vis authority. A significant feature of co-operative relationships is the aspect of trust. It is contended that trust represents strength in all human relations. It is described as the social glue that holds together complex relational phenomena, leading to the belief that lack of trust between parties operating in network forms could lead to failure to attain set objectives, tensions between networking parties and general lac