The meaning of the concept public administration as contemplated in section 195(1) (C) of the Constitution, 1996 is simple to understand. However, an addition of the qualification that public administration must be "development-orientated" complicates such conceptual simplicity. For development is a contested concept, nebulous and value-laden. The constitutional value and principle that public administration must be development-orientated are therefore predisposed to conceptual inexactness in terms of what it really mean in the business of government in South Africa. This constitutional value and principle are considered in this article with the intention to rigorously engage with it and make a contribution to the contemporary discourse about its meaning.