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Internal audit’s evolving performance role: lessons from the South African public sector
Get PDFPurpose – The formal adoption of internal auditing within the South African public sector was made compulsory by the Public Finance Management Act, No. 1 of 1999. Despite internal auditing’s primary role of adding value and assisting organisations to accomplish pre-defined strategic objectives, the increasing frequency of service delivery protests in South Africa, suggests that mandatory internal auditing may not have contributed to improving public sector performance and enhancing service delivery, as envisaged. This
paper aims to identify the factors preventing internal audits from effectively contributing to improved public sector performance and service delivery.
Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a sequential mixed-methods research approach. Firstly, a survey instrument was used to collect empirical data from survey respondents at South African national government departments. Secondly, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were held with a purposively selected sample of participants to explore the observations from the first phase. The observations from the first two phases were validated through an analysis of pertinent documents and
records.
Findings – Despite all departments adopting internal auditing, management’s expectations of internal auditing and the services provided by the internal audit function diverged. The results suggest that the emergence of a compliance approach to organisational governance together with poor performance management skills has impaired internal auditing’s ability to effectively contribute to strategic and performancemanagement.
Research limitations/implications – Despite its South African orientation, as internal auditing is a global association and given that service delivery protests continue to occur in several countries around the world, increases the study’s international relevance. Moreover, the mandate of internal auditing requires it to add value to an organisation irrespective of its geographical location.
Originality/value – The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on internal auditing, particularly its adoption and implementation in the South African public sector. In addition to identifying the factors inhibiting effective internal auditing, the study advances a suggested framework for the future of internal auditing.AuditingN/
Use of human resource information systems in the measurement of non-financial organisational success factors
No full textOrientation: Organisations make use of human resource information systems (HRISs) to store data
and assist with the processing of employee and other related information. This data can be a great
source of information on what is happening within the organisation, but it does not appear to be
utilised by industrial and organisational psychologists and organisational development practitioners
when designing interventions to assist organisations. According to Schultz and Schultz (2014), the
relationship between industrial psychology and systems, specifically the relationship between
human factors and technological design factors, is an important area of research for industrial and
organisational psychologists. No existing questionnaire or model in South Africa, however, could be
found on the use of HRIS data in providing an indication of organisational success.
Research purpose: The general aim of the research was to develop a scientific model of
organisational success factors that could be derived from HRISs and then used in organisational
development Initiatives.
Research methodology: A questionnaire was developed on the basis of the recommended processes
in the literature. This included (1) a review of the literature to determine possible organisational
success factors and their possible measures, (2) developing an initial questionnaire based on the
literature review, (3) conducting a pilot study for the questionnaire with willing participants to
enhance its readability and ease of completion, (4) enhancing the questionnaire based on the pilot
study and additional inputs received, (5) administering the questionnaire to the target population,
and (6) conducting statistical analysis. The HRIS model was developed by utilising the results of the
first phase of the statistical analysis and the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS SEM). The questionnaire was developed on the basis of a sample of 118 employees in the Human
Capital and Operational Excellence Departments within the organisation that has several companies
and operates in the automotive and industrial sectors in which the research was conducted.
Main findings: The study resulted in the development of a psychometrically sound questionnaire
and a model of organisational success. The following 11 empirically validated constructs were identified: (1) organisational commitment and job satisfaction, (2) organisational learning and
knowledge management, (3) human resource information systems, (4) mature business processes,
(5) transformational leadership, (6) authentic leadership, (7) ethical leadership, (8) overall leadership
influence, (9) organisational culture, (10) employee engagement, and (11) change capability.
Additionally, the model that was developed should provide practitioners with a blueprint on how to
utilise HRISs and the data they house more effectively in informing and designing interventions to
enhance organisational performance.
Contribution/value-add: The main contribution of this study was the development of a valid and
reliable questionnaire on the use of HRIS data to provide an indication of organisational success, as
well as the development of a model for this purpose. Specific driver constructs, namely human
resource information systems, organisational commitment and job satisfaction, and organisational
learning and knowledge management were identified that could, to a certain extent, provide an
indication of other constructs in the model. This could contribute to the use of HRIS data by
industrial and organisational psychologists and organisational development practitioners in the
design of more targeted interventions to assist organisations.D. Phil. (Psychology)Industrial and Organisational Psycholog
Development of greener sample preparation methods for extraction and spectrometric determination of metals in selected fuel samples
No full textCrude oil is an unrefined petroleum which forms because of dead organisms buried under mud over a long period of time (million years). The mud is then converted to sedimentary rocks, which create intense heat and pressure, resulting in the formation of crude oil reservoir. However, crude oil contains trace elements which cannot be controlled as they occur naturally during crude oil formation. Some of these elements are unfavourable. For example, Cr, Fe and Ni can cause severe corrosion on refinery equipment. Additionally, Cd, Hg, Pb and As are associated with air pollution, while Ni, V, Pb, Pt and As are known to be catalyst poisoners during refinery process. The crude oil is then refined to form crude oil derivatives like gasoline, diesel, kerosene, just to name the few. Therefore, the challenges associated with metal ions in crude oil and crude oil derivatives have ignited an interest for many researchers to conduct investigations on the development of analytical methods for quantitative determination of metal ions in various fuel oils. However, most of the literature reported methods showed several limitations which include the use of toxic and costly reagents, long extraction time, high temperatures, etc.
Therefore, this study aimed at developing greener and cost-effective sample preparation methods, followed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for the determination of metals and metalloids in crude oil and crude oil derivatives (gasoline, diesel and kerosene). The developed sample preparation methods were; a) microwave assisted-hydrogen peroxide digestion (MA-HPD), b) ionic liquid assisted-extraction induced by emulsion breaking (ILA-EIEB) and magnetic-solid phase extraction (m-SPE). For all the above mentioned sample preparation methods, multivariate optimization was used for the determination of the most influential parameters. During multivariate optimisation of MA-HPD it was observed that 245 ℃ microwave temperature, 25 minutes digestion time, 0.1 g sample mass and 5 M H2O2 were the optimum digestion conditions with accepted accuracy (104.8-117.7%) and precision (≤ 4.1%). The proposed MA-HPD method resulted in MDL of 0.046, 0.030, 0.408 and 0.057 μg/g for Ba, Na, Ni and V, respectively. The concentration levels of the selected metals (Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mg, Na, Ni, Pb, Sb, Ti and V) ranged between 1.21-58.86 μg/g, 0.55-36.37 μg/g, 0.56-47.0 μg/g and 0.6-35.1 μg/g for crude-oil, diesel, kerosene and gasoline, respectively. The sensitivity, accuracy and precision of the MA-HPD method made it qualify to be an alternative digestion method for mineralization of fuel oils. Additionally, ILA-EIEB and the m-SPE were evaluated for the preconcentration of the selected elements (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ti, V, Pb, Sb, Sn, Tb, Te and Zn) that were in trace levels. The optimum conditions for ILA-EIEB were found to be 0.035 % for 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl), 18% for nitric acid, 15% for Triton X-100 and 0.1 g for sample mass. The emulsions were broken by heating at a controlled water bath at 80 ±2 °C for 30 ±4 minutes and a further centrifugation step was performed for 15 minutes at 3 500 rpm. The optimum conditions were able to give good accuracy (80.1-101%) and precision (1.9-4.7 %). This method was also able to report very low MDL for Ba, Na, Ni and V which were 0.107, 0.013, 3.494 and 0.560 μg/g, respectively. The concentrations of As (0.084- 0.46 μg/g) reported in this study ware in line with other literature reports. Alternatively, m-SPE was also used for the preconcentration of selected metals in fuel oils. The Fe3O4@Al2O3 nanoparticles were used as adsorbents and their formation was confirmed by various characterization techniques (FT-IR, SEM-EDX, TEM, XRD and UV-Vis). The two level fractional factorial design (FrFD) and the central composite design (CCD) resulted in optimum conditions of 40 mg adsorbent mass, 35 minutes sonication time, 6.5 pH, 20 μg/L spike concentration and 1M of HNO3 eluent concentration. The optimised m-SPE was able to give good accuracy (74-96%), precision (0.9-4.8%) and MDL (0.114-0.62 μg/g). The optimised and validated m-SPE method was then applied in real fuel oil samples. All the investigated metal ions below 10 μg/g.
The ILA-EIEB was compare with m-SPE, in terms of their sensitivity, accuracy and precision. The ILA-EIEB was more sensitive (0.013-3.494 μg/g), accurate (80.1-101.1%) and precise (1.9-4.7%) than m-SPE (0.114-0.62 μg/g, 74-96% and 0.9-4.8%, respectively). Therefore it can be concluded that the three sample preparation methods (MA-HPD, ILA-EIEB and m-SPE) were greener. This is because, dilute H2O2 coverts to water during MA-HPD, ionic liquids are environmentally friendly as compared to organic solvent when performing EIEB and Fe3O4@Al2O3 used as adsorbent in m-SPE is also environmental friendly and accelerates the separation process by the use of an external magnet.M. Sc. (Chemistry)Chemistr
A public law approach to health research in South Africa
Get PDFEnglish and Tsonga abstractsThe resolution of health research problems has over the years generally been guided by private law approaches, mainly under the laws of contract and delict. The dominance of private law approaches has mainly been evident in the context of health research litigation. This study is therefore about the plausibility or otherwise of a public law approach (PLA) to the resolution of health research problems. The study argues that the PLA is more plausible, and in particular better enhances the protection of health research participants.
In doing so the study, after examining the historical evolution of the thinking and frameworks relevant to bioethics, examines the existing legal and ethical theories, and their adequacy in the resolution of health research problems. The theories, on the whole, have been found not to be adequate in this regard, more particularly when used in isolation. The study further examines existing SA law, including some ethical instruments. The possible adequacy of this framework in the resolution of health research problems, as well as its consistency with a PLA, is also examined. The study further examines the comparability of the SA law with the UK and US laws, as well as the consistency of the three jurisdictions’ frameworks with the PLA. The study has however found that though there is some, though incoherent, presence of some public law elements in the three jurisdictions, these have not yet found application in the context of health research litigation in these jurisdictions. The study further had to examine the international legal position (including the African, European and Inter-American regional frameworks) and its consistency with the PLA. Despite that, on the whole, the international legal framework does tend towards the PLA, the framework has yet to be used in the context of health research litigation. A paradigm shift is therefore required, both theoretically and pragmatically. A ‘Public Law Approach’ is therefore proposed. Such a proposed framework shall therefore ensure that public law approaches are also used alongside, as a supplement to or, where applicable, as an alternative to, private law approaches, further enhancing protection for research participants.Malembe yo tala lama hundzeke ku ahluriwa ka swiphiko swa ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo wu ve ngopfu ehansi ka milawu ya ta (vuxaka bya) vanhu ntsena (private law), ngopfu-ngopfu milawu ya tikontiraka na ya dilikti. Tirhelo ra swa milawu ya ta vanhu ntsena ri tikombisile ngopfu eka swa milandzu ya swa ndzavisiso ya swa rihanyo. Hikokwalaho ka sweswo ndzavisiso lowu wu langutanaka na ku amukeleka ka matirhelo ya swa milawu ya ta vanhu na mfumo (Public law approach) (PLA) eku ololoxeni ka swiphiko swa ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo. Ndzavisiso lowu wu koxa leswaku tirhelo ra PLA ra amukeleka swinene, no tlhela ri antswisa ku sirheleriwa ka vanhu lava va nghenelaka eka ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo (health research participants).
Ku fikelela sweswo ndzavisiso lowu, endzaku ka loko wu xopaxopile matimu ya maendlelo yo karhi lama fambisanaka na bayo-ethiki, wu tlhela wu lavisisa tithiyori leti ti nga kona ta xinawu na xiethiki, leti ti fambelanaka na ku ahluriwa ka swiphiko swa ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo. Ku eneteleka ka matirhelo lama ku thlela ku langutisisiwa. Tithiyori leti ti kumekile, hi ku angarhela, leswaku a ti enelanga, ngopfu ngopfu loko ti tirhisiwa ti ri toxe ku ololoxa swiphiko swa ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo. Ndzavisiso wu tlhlela wu langutisisa nawu wa Afrika-Dzonga, ku katsa na tiethiki ta rona. Ku enetelaka ka tirhelo leri eku ololoxeni ka swiphiko swa ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo na ku fambisana ka rona na PLA na swona swa langutisisiwa. Ndzavisiso lowu wu tlhela wu fananisa tirhelo ra nawu wa Afrika-Dzonga na tirhelo ra milawu ya UK na US, no tlhlela wu langutisisa ku fambelana ka matirhelo lama (ya matiko manarhu) na PLA. Ndzavisiso lowu wu tlhela wu kuma leswaku hambiloko ku ri na vukona byo karhi bya PLA, hambi byi tsekatseka, eka milawu ya matiko lamanharhu, PLA a yi se tirhisiwa eka matiko lama, etikhoto, hi mayelana na swa ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyu. Ndzavisiso a wu fanele ku tlhela wu langutisisa tirhelo ra milawu ya matiko ya misava (international law), ku katsa na matirhelo ya tikontinente ta Afrika; Yuropa na Americas, na ku fambisana ka matirhelo lama na tirhelo ra PLA. Hambileswi nawu wa matiko ya misava wu voyamelaka ngopfu eka tirhelo ra PLA, tirhelo leri a ri se tirhisiwa etikhoto, hi mayelana na ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo. Ku cinca ka matirhelo, hi mavonelo na hi ku tirhisiwa ka wona, swa laveka. Hikokwalaho, tirhelo ra PLA ra laveka. Tirhelo rero ri ta vona leswaku matirhelo lama ya voyamelaka eka nawu wa ta vanhu na mfumo (public law approaches) ya tirhisiwa swin’we, kumbe ku tlhandlekela eka, kumbe ku tirhisiwa handle ka, matirhelo ya nawu wa ta vanhu ntsena (private law approaches). Leswi swi ta antsiwa ku sirheleriwa ka lava va nghenelaka eka swa ndzavisiso wa swa rihanyo.LL. D.Public, Constitutional, and International La
Effect of market‑driven strategies on the competitive growth of SMEs in Lesotho
Get PDFThis paper established some market-driven strategies that influence the competitive
growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Lesotho. The paper identified the
following factors; market orientation, competitive intensity, and technological dynamics
as variables that influence SMEs’ competitive growth. The investigation shows that
these critical factors of market-driven strategies are significant market facets in the
enterprise that could capacitate SME entrepreneurs and managers to attain competitive
growth. The results indicated that the factors used to measure market-driven
strategies influence SMEs competitive growth. More specifically, the independent
variables of market orientation, competitive intensity and technological dynamics are
seen as key tenets of market-driven strategies that influence small and medium-sized
enterprises’ competitive growth. From the analyses, this paper recommended that
market-driven strategic constructs of market orientation, competitive intensity and
technological dynamics are inimitable and tangible significant resources if harnessed in
the enterprises, could serve as critical operational factors that influence SMEs competitive
growth in Lesotho.Finance, Risk Management and Bankin
Factors influencing rural foundation phase learners’ underperformance in reading and mathematics in primary schools in South Africa: Teacher perspectives. Curriculum and Teaching.
No full textFoundation phase (grade R to 3) learners’ underperformance against the curriculum is a growing concern in primary school. In South Africa, reports reveal a large number of learners underperforming in Reading and Mathematics. To understand this phenomenon, focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with 17 foundation phase teachers to probe their perspectives for qualitative data collection. Thematic results revealed many factors that could influence learners’ underperformance. Social constructivism and development theories highlighted the importance of scaffolding learning. Education authorities should consider these factors in curriculum design and implementation to mitigate learners’ underperformance in reading and Mathematics in primary schools.College of Educatio
The challenges experienced by youths leaving kinship foster care in South Africa
No full textNo keywords availableYoung people who leave foster care in South Africa typically encounter greater difficulties transitioning into young adulthood when compared to their peers who grow up with their biological parents. The aim of the study is to explore the challenges experienced by youths leaving kinship foster care in South Africa. The used research approach was a qualitative and exploratory, descriptive and contextual research designs. The participants were selected using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews, using questions the interview guide contained questions that were used to collect data. The researcher utilised semi-structured interviews as an in depth data collection technique.
The verification of data was conducted using Guba’s model. The four aspects of trustworthiness are honesty, reliability, dependability, and credibility were applied, namely; credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability. Ethical considerations were observed as follows; informed consent, no harm to the participants, confidentiality, privacy and anonymity, debriefing of participants and management of research data. It is expected that the study will add to existing knowledge, as well as to make recommendations for social work intervention and future research. The researcher concluded that life after kinship foster care was characterised with hardships, namely; poverty, homelessness, unemployment. etc.M.A. (Social Work)Social Wor
Perception of learners with special needs on implementation of inclusive education
No full textIt was the aim of this study to gain infom1iltion concerning the perception of learners
with special needs on the implementation of inclusive education.
Due to misconceptions about the implementation of inclusive education the researcher
thought it necessary to conduct a research on what the views of learners with special
needs are about inclusive education. To reach the aim mentioned above learners with
special needs were randomly selected from two schools (which implement special
needs) from the Bloemfontein and Mangaung area in the Free State. The participants
in the research conducted were from grade 8 and grade 9.
A quantitative approach was applied by means of distributing questionnaires to the
learners. To support or reject the findings a qualitative approach was applied by
means of interviews.
The findings from the interviews supported the findings of the questionnaires, which
implies that few participants were clear on the meaning and implementation of
inclusive education, others were ignorant on the topic and showed signs of fear and
insecurity. Most of the participants however were very positive about the
implementation of inclusive education.
From the findings mentioned it became apparent that orientation amongst all learners
is to be done in order to understand inclusive education and those barriers, which are a
hindrance in the implementation of inclusive education, should be removed.
The researcher is of the opinion that the implementation of inclusive education could
therefore acknowledge and suppo1t individuals and ensure quality education for all
learners i1Tespective of their differences; race, gender, age, class and ability.M. Ed. (Postgraduate Education)Psychology of Educatio
Climate change effects on maize productivity in southwestern Nigeria
No full textThis study examined the effects of climate change on maize productivity in Southwestern Nigeria. A multistage sampling was utilized to select 540 respondents for the study. Both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, trend and growth rate function analysis, auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) (1979 – 2020), multinomial logistic regression (MNL), Double-hurdle model and two stage least square regression (2SLS) model. The descriptive results revealed that majority (36.8%) of the sampled respondents were between the ages of 46 and 55 and most (81.2%) of the sampled respondents were male. Similarly, 88.6% were married while their major occupation was farming.
The findings further revealed that 86.8% of the respondents had formal education while most of the maize farmers had between 11 – 15 years farming experience with farming as their major occupation. Results also revealed that farmers cultivated on rented farmland (45.0%) with farm size average of 2 hectares indicating that maize farmers were smallholders. Furthermore, it was revealed that most (94.2%) of the maize farmers were aware of climate change in the study area; only 78.6% stated that there was information on climate change. According to the farmers, the effects of climate change on crop production included (1) reduced crop production levels and (2) no production, which have been negatively affecting their livelihood in a variety of ways, including an increase in socioeconomic issues, a decrease in income, and an increase in unemployment.
In addition, the exponential growth rate results showed significant growth rates in all the variables (maize, output, temperature, amount of rainfall and humidity) except for Ondo and Oyo states where growth rates of temperature and relative humidity were negatively insignificant over the period. The time series cointegration test using ARDL model indicated a long run cointegration relationship among the variables. The result of the short-run dynamic coefficients associated with the long-run cointegration relationships indicated that Error Correction Model (ECM) was statistically significant at 1% and had values (-0.133 and -0.079635) respectively. The result showed that time had a significant impact on maize productivity and climate while climatic variables greatly influenced maize productivity both at short run and long run in the study area.
The main adaptation strategies employed by maize farmers were planting different varieties, practicing crop diversification, mixed cropping, soil conservation, use of agrochemicals and move to different site. The multinomial logistic regression model's (MNL) findings indicated that factors such as age, gender, marital status, education level, household size, major occupation, farming experience, and knowledge of climate change were statistically significant and had an impact on climate change adaptation in the study area.
The adoption intensity of climate change adaptation was studied using a double hurdle model. Most of the criteria were shown to be insignificant in determining the adoption intensity following the decision-making phase of adapting to climate change in the research area. Age, marital status, educational level, household size, land tenure, farm ownership, farm size, information on climate change, and farming experience were found to be determinants of climate change adaptation in the study area, whereas educational level, household size, major occupation, major source of income, information on climate change, climate change awareness, and farming experience were found to be determinants of climate change adaptation intensity.
The two-stage least square result revealed revenue to be endogenous and therefore was instrumented in the empirical analysis and significant exogenous variables that affect maize farmers’ productivity include revenue, climate change adaptation adoption rate, age, gender, educational level, household size, farm ownership, farm size and farming experience.
Conclusively, the study shows that climatic variables and time had a significant impact on maize productivity in the study area. It was therefore recommended that government should develop productivity-enhancing measures that include formal agricultural education, simple access to agricultural inputs, credits, and extension services. Furthermore, there should be improvement of farmers’ knowledge about the different adaptation strategies that were mentioned by the farmers in the study area.Ph. D. (Agriculture)Agriculture and Animal Healt
