Introduction: Although often perceived as a subject pertaining to mere national governance, the role of government ministers when it comes to national political systems is delicately cradled within the intricate intersection of governance, employment law and human capital management. Yet, studies continue to either underestimate or entirely omit the importance of determining whether ministers are employees, based on the characteristics ascribed to an employee according to the pertinent legislation.
Purpose: This research aims to establish whether South African ministers are employees in terms of their power, accountability and the psychological contract in the national executive.
Method: This research will employ a qualitative exploratory approach using discourse and document analysis as well as semi-structured interviews. Content analysis will be employed to analyse documents such as the performance agreements, case law, labour legislation, etc., while thematic analysis will be employed to analyse the individual interviews, specifically using Braun and Clarke's six steps for conducting qualitative thematic analysis.
Results: the preliminary findings based on the discourse analysis suggest that ministers are not necessarily employees according to the definition of South African labour legislation, as well as their governing framework. However, the empirical component of this research will help establish the implications of ministers' employment or non-employment status and provide due recommendations for enhancing the accountability and performance of South African ministers, based on their perceived employment status.
Conclusions: From a governance and political science perspective, this research will help clarify frameworks relating to ministerial accountability; from a labour law perspective, the research will augment the currently limited existing debates on civic office deployment versus employment; and from an industrial psychology and human resource management perspective, the research will elaborate on the encapsulated definition of an 'employee' within the political context, while offering policy recommendations for sounder ministerial governance.