Pourquoi le MAEP n’a pas fait l’objet d’une telle attention ?

The author argues that the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in South Africa missed a critical opportunity for public engagement because the government, specifically through the office of Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, centralized and dominated the process. This centralization marginalized civil society and the media, leading to a lack of transparency and public interest. The paper highlights the tension between the Sunday Times, which attempted critical coverage of the process, and the government, which reacted defensively to reports on national failures such as crime and child safety. It concludes that for the APRM to be an effective policy tool, governments must adopt a less defensive posture, ensure genuine transparency, and actively engage the media to translate complex reports into public-interest news.

• The APRM process in South Africa was centrally managed by the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, which ensured the National Self-Assessment Report (NSAR) was heavily influenced by government perspectives.
• The APRM's official guidelines and protocols failed to explicitly require the involvement of the media or include media freedom in the national evaluation questionnaires, creating a gap in the assessment of good governance.
• The South African government reacted with hostility toward independent media coverage, specifically accusing the Sunday Times of spreading 'shameless lies' and 'reactionary propaganda' after the paper published findings on crime and child safety from the Panel of Eminent Persons.
• The Continental Secretariat of the APRM, based in Midrand, provided very limited support and failed to facilitate information flows or contact with the Panel of Eminent Persons for the media.
• Transparency was undermined by the fact that National Governance Council (NGC) meetings were held behind closed doors and not announced publicly, contradicting the APRM's own guidelines on participatory and transparent processes.

APA

Boyle, B. (2008). Pourquoi le MAEP n’a pas fait l’objet d’une telle attention ? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Occasional-Paper-12-FR.pdf

Chicago

Boyle, Brendan. Pourquoi le MAEP n’a pas fait l’objet d’une telle attention ? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2008. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Occasional-Paper-12-FR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Boyle |first1=Brendan |title=Pourquoi le MAEP n’a pas fait l’objet d’une telle attention ? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=September 2008 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Occasional-Paper-12-FR.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{boyle2008pourquoi, author = {Boyle, Brendan}, title = {{Pourquoi le MAEP n’a pas fait l’objet d’une telle attention ?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2008}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Occasional-Paper-12-FR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }