11613 research outputs found
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Enhancing financial compliance through participatory budgeting: a case study of Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality
No full textCompliance within the areas of financial management legislation and division of
revenue for improved service delivery has to always speak to each other according to
the integrated Development Plan (IDP), the overall local government legislation and
the Constitution. There Is a relationship between the citizens, public revenue and
officials, as well as politicians that act as 'messengers,' who interface with both the
citizens and the municipalities. For the municipality to be functional, available
resources must be used optimally and for the benefit of the citizens at large. This is
arguably not the case in practice although there are policies, procedures and
legislation in place to ensure that such measures are implemented. There are always
loopholes and challenges that hinder effective implementation due to ignorance,
inadequate control measures and non-compliance in the management of public
resources.
Non-compliance has been prevalent in the public sector, and local government is no
exception, as some officials entrusted with compliance are able to manipulate the
systems in place and engage In corrupt practices. It follows then that inconsistency in
legislative compliance becomes not only a problem in municipal financial
management, but becomes expansive in other avenues and legislation. The study will
focus on local government financial management and finding a synergy between such
management and division of revenue.
The Inadequacy in compliance may be as a result of the varying challenges that are
faced at local government level, due to size, location and different categories of
municipalities; thus the different priorities of citizens they render services to. The size
and location of the municipality then tends to influence the nature of community needs.
The study wlll look at interventions sought to regulate and rationalise overall financial
management at local government level, as well as the appreciation of the varying
nature of municipalities in the current dispensation. The study takes three phases;
The fi rst phase covers the background of public sector prior to the democratic
dispensation, the reform period after the democratic elections. The phase then delves
on development of local government and restructuring and amalgamation of metropolitan municipalities. The history of the NMBMM from . 2000 when it was
amalgamated from three different municipalities to Port Elizabeth, Despatch and
Uitenhage is also looked at. The consequences as a result of the amalgamation
affecting both the community of the metro as well as the challenges within the
municipality that affect the employees also receive attention. The ruling of the ANC
for the past two decades since the democracy, until it was taken over by the current
coalition leadership will receive attention.
The study then looks at Initiatives by the municipality that benefit the community,
particularly a pro poor budget as well as community participation Initiatives. The
general undertaking of community participation is explored with all the legislation
pertaining to community participation being visited. Community participation is in no
way questioned as it is legislated to ensure that the community gets involved in the
affairs of its municipality. The point that becomes the issue is the extent to which such
participation is allowed and the varying interpretations of community participation as
they lie solely at the discretion of individual municipalities. This part of the study
unpacks a loophole that gives rise to lack of clarity in the extent of community
participation. Based on this, the study identifies a research methodology that initially
could take a mixed method approach due to the fact that interviews can be carried out
from as many community members and municipal officials as Is possible. Also the
study is derivable from all legislation pertaining to local government. However the
study does not intend to unpack the quantity measured to establish the concept of
community participation. The study aims at the quality of knowledge and experiences
from the community based on direct Interviews with the community as well as the
municipal officials in so far as their analysis and interpretation of community
pa rtici patio n.
Due to the nature of the study being mainly on analysing and enhancing legislation,
the bulk of the information is merely through desktop and internal policies that are
structured at the NMBMM. The study analyses these documents and their applicability
as well as effectiveness.
A third stage of the study is highlighting the gap unpacked through desktop Information
gathered and embarks on the possibility to first design a policy that details the extent
of community participation in general for the NMBMM. The policy must be concise
and give a full disclosure of such an extent. The public participation policy does exist
at the NMBMM, however the extent of such participation needs to be revisited. The
reason for this is because there seems to be a blur between public participation and
consultation at the NMBMM. The second policy that becomes quite essential and
shapes up this study, is the policy on participatory budgeting. The study then
completes the three areas of research by deducing the work from the general public
participation concept to the two issues, that of detailing the extent of participation such
that there are no ambiguous areas in terms of such participation. The second issue is
to offer proposals and recommendations for the NMBMM to embark on a comparative
study of participatory budgeting in order to design its own policy on participatory
budgeting. The study is carried out in a very unstable political environment and many
changes are implemented throughout the study
Understanding sustainable livelihood strategies of informal traders: a case of Mount Frere, Eastern Cape
No full textThis study sought to understand the livelihood strategies of informal traders in Mount Frere, Eastern Cape in South Africa. The study was conceived from the hypothesis that views informal economic participation as an alternative to formal employment, where the latter is scarce. The point of departure for the study was that informal trading of both goods and services is employed as a livelihood strategy in the battle against poverty. Placing the inquiry within the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework is a way of recognising that informal trading is in some cases the only survival strategy while in others it constitutes just one livelihood strategy closely linked to other diversified means of living. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach was used as a framework to guide the analysis aimed at understanding the sustainable livelihoods of informal traders in Mount Frere, Eastern Cape in terms of the vulnerability context they find themselves in, the assets they use, the organisations or institutions that affect their activities and the results they get out of their informal entrepreneurial efforts. The review of theories, concepts and prior empirical studies on both the informal economy and sustainable livelihood strategies helped in identifying the challenges that are faced by informal traders as well as the coping strategies they employ, in order to relate these to the situation of the traders in Mount Frere, leading to a determination of the kind of support that may be rendered to them. The study focused on informal businesses, being those that are either not registered as legal businesses, or registered as legal businesses but not registered for tax. Data was collected from a sample of 125 informal traders, consisting of 100 CBD traders who operated within the CBD and 25 mobile traders who operated in the residential and rural areas around Mount Frere. The study followed the explanatory sequential mixed methods case study design in which the questionnaire and the semi-structured interview were used for data collection. The results from the study show that the predominant challenges the traders faced were competition, crime, inadequate infrastructure, and financial constraints. The traders however, employed strategies such as relying on social capital networks to mitigate the effect of some of the challenges. The majority of the traders in Mount Frere have other sources of income and the majority indicated that they got enough income from their informal operations to cater for individual and household basics such as food. These findings imply that informal trading evolves as a sustainable livelihood strategy, which depends on external support for it to flourish
Greening the South African economy: scoping the issues, challenges and opportunities
No full textThe title of the book deals with a very relevant focus, namely greening the South African economy. Practitioners, developers and related role players such as decision makers are aware of the need to integrate the greening debate in planning and implementation activities. The title is thus addressing an important focus in transforming planning and development thinking and approaches.Publisher's versio
OTTO, H.J. Inventory of documents
No full textCOVERAGE 1853, 1904, 1914-1961; 9 Files; 0.33 metrePrivate papers of H.J. Otto, Manager of Die Volksblad [1917-1932], Chief Manager and a member of the Board of Directors of Nasionale Pers [1932-1940], President of the S.A. Press Union [1939-1940
JOOSTE, N.J.J. Inventory of documents
No full textCOVERAGE 1900-1972; 5 Files; 0,11 Metre.Private papers of N.J.J. Jooste, Private Secretary of Genl. Hertzog[1935], Ambassador in several countries [1946-1970]
Genetic variability of carotenoids and polypoid induction towards vitamin A biofortification in plantain (Musa spp.)
No full textVitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most prevalent nutrient deficiencies affecting the health of resource-poor populations in developing countries. Plantains (Musa spp. AAB) are a specific group of bananas, which serve as a staple for millions of people in the humid lowlands of West-Central Africa and high provitamin A carotenoid (pVAC) plantain varieties, could have significant impact on VAD in these regions. In this regard, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) based in Nigeria, is developing a breeding pipeline aiming to generate and deploy plantain hybrids combining high pVAC content with other consumer-preferred traits. The overall objective of this study was therefore to assess the variability of fruit pVAC content in banana cultivars and hybrids present in the collection of IITA, Nigeria, and investigate the potential of induced polyploidization as a breeding approach towards plantain biofortification.
A wide collection of 204 genotypes of bananas (AAB-plantains, M. acuminata cultivars and bred hybrids) was screened to determine variability in fruit pVAC content using high- performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and spectrophotometry. Mean total carotenoids (TC) measured by spectrophotometry ranged from 1.28 to 32.03 with a mean of 8.88 μg g-1 fresh weight (FW) indicating a high variability of carotenoids in bananas. There was a strong correlation between TC measured by spectrophotometry and that estimated from HPLC, confirming the potential of spectrophotometry as a useful, inexpensive method for rapid screening for pVACs in banana. Predominant carotenoids isolated were α-carotene (38.67%), trans β-carotene (22.08%), lutein (22.08%), 13-cis-β- carotene (14.45%) and 9-cis β-carotene (2.92%), demonstrating that about 78% of the carotenoids in bananas are pVACs. Provitamin A content estimated in terms of β-carotene equivalents (BCE) ranged from 0.24 to 21.06 μg g-1 FW with a mean value of 4.42 μg g-1 FW across all genotypes. Importantly, 10 plantain cultivars, three M. acuminata diploids and four hybrids with relatively high pVAC contents were selected for integration in banana biofortification efforts to tackle VAD.
To assess the effect of ripening on pVACs in plantain fruits, nine cultivars across the three main plantain types (French, False Horn and Horn) were screened at the unripe, ripe and overripe stage. Mean TC measured by spectrophotometry for plantain cultivars at the unripe, ripe and overripe stage was 16.94, 11.98 and 10.11 μg g-1 FW while mean BCE was 13.65, 6.95 and 5.05 μg g-1 FW, respectively. Notably over 80% of carotenoids in plantain cultivars were pVACs α-carotene and β-carotene across all ripening stages. French plantains had slightly higher BCE contents than False Horn and Horn types but this difference was only significant (P<0.05) at the unripe stage. Overall, ripening led to a decrease in pVACs content from the unripe to the ripe to the overripe stages accompanied by a corresponding increase in lutein content indicating that unripe fruits could yield more provitamin A than ripe and overripe fruits.
To explore the application of induced polyploidization as a breeding strategy for pVAC enhancement in plantains, 10 induced tetraploids derived from six diploid cultivars were evaluated for their agronomic attributes, carotenoid content and fertility. Tetraploids had distinct plant morphology but generally displayed inferior vegetative and yield traits from their corresponding diploids. Similarly, a 50% decrease in pVACs accompanied by a corresponding increase in lutein was recorded in induced tetraploids in comparison to their original diploids. Nevertheless, preliminary fertility assessments indicated over 70% pollen viability for induced tetraploids from four diploid cultivars. These findings demonstrated the use of induced polyploidization to generate useful genetic material that could be incorporated in hybridization programmes aiming to produce high pVAC triploids.International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)HarvestPlus Programm
VISSER, Isabella Gordon [Tibbie] Inventory of documents
No full textCOVERAGE 1875-1975; 135 Files; 3,22 Metres.
AUDIO CASSETTES IN ARCA COLLECTION = 4Private papers of I.G. Visser, daughter of President M.T. Steyn. In 1916 she married Rev. N.J. van der Merwe MP Winburg [1924-1940]. After his death she married Dr. C.F. Visser [in 1943] who was a founder member of the Voortrekkerbeweging. I.G. Visser was MPC [1954-1960], Senator [1960-1974]
JACOBS, J.J. Inventory of documents
No full textCOVERAGE: 1906-1927Minute book NP – transferred to PV 21, NP OFS collection, file II