William Vivian, head of Regenesys Public School, said the impact of the resignations would have been much greater if both the ministers and the directors-general had resigned. Many of the ministers have said that they would be available to assist the new cabinet.
“They will not just walk out; there will be a process of handover. There is no serious crisis,” he said.
He added that new projects, especially those involving big financial decisions, could be affected in departments where the minister had not delegated to the head of department. That’s because managers will be cautious about giving the go-ahead.
“If the functions have not been delegated to the HODs, the new ministers may say that they won’t sign something they don’t understand. But the programmes and projects that are in place now have been in place since the beginning of this financial year and should not be affected.”
Vivian said most government processes will simply continue as planned, though some new ministers may want to reconsider how things are done. “They may say ‘Let’s review’, but this is unlikely. They are more likely to allow things to continue. I doubt that any incoming ministers will want to halt any programmes and projects.”
He said there have not been resignations from education, health and housing — the departments most directly involved in service delivery, which means delivery should not be affected.
