13 research outputs found
Community engagement and policy making matrix: insights from Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa
No full textExtant literature has addressed some components of community engagement with little or no connection with the dynamics of policymaking. Hence, the current paper explains the matrix of policy-making using the practice of community engagement with insights from Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. It discusses the theories of community engagement in policy formulation at the local level. An empirical nature of community engagement and policy formulation is subject to analysis with particular reference to the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. Secondary data were sourced from the existing literature. The paper relies on the data suitability of extant studies. It reveals the policy-making matrix within the community engagement sphere. It therefore concludes that the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality should view community engagement in public policy formulation as a tool to increase the legitimacy, transparency, accountability, support, and responsiveness of a particular policy
Political Patronage in South Africa Local Government: Is the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Act Helping Matters?
No full textJournal Article, Faculty of Humanities, Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs (AGoPA)-- Vanderbijlpark CampusOne of the lead precursors to unstable local governance in the contemporary South Africa pertains to the embedded culture of political patronage. It is believed that the provisions added to the newly amended version of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 3 of 2022, which among other things, limits the political rights of officials, will somehow counter the existing patronage patterns. While this Amendment Act is a step in the right direction in as far as professionalisation of the local government sector is concerned, the question that this article attempts to answer is: will this attempt to insulate officials from politics result in stable municipal administrations, ethical conduct, professionalism, service delivery and less political interference? In addition, what are the ramifications that political parties are likely to encounter as a result of the curtailed political rights of their members? One of the findings is that the inserted changes are going to destabilise, firstly, the intra-party arrangements at political level, and secondly, will uproot elements of favouritism, nepotism and to some extent frustrate the existing culture of patronage in municipalities. However, it must be acknowledged that this is not going to be easy, given the damage already done such as bloated organograms, and the practice of cadre deployment which is facilitated by ruling parties in councils. With local government being at the coalface of service delivery and development, professionalisation is crucial but there is also a need to cultivate and encourage a strong ethos and philosophy of praxis underpinned by Ubuntu, the African philosophy
The effectiveness of service provision in the South African local municipalities: A case of the selected Municipality in North West Province
No full textRecent trends on local government points to a growing public discontent concerning the performance and the capability of municipalities as the service delivery agents and contact points between citizens and government. Greater-Taung Municipality, which is contextual setting in the current study, is one municipality in the North West province that has a demonstrable record of service delivery failures. Despite record service provision falures, Greater-Taung Municipality has previously returned grants allocations, reasons to which remain unknown. To find out, this study employed qualitative methods to investigate the impediments to effective service provision, with the purpose being to suggest workable and practical solutions to improve service provision. Data collection was chieved through key informants purposively selected from the municipality and documentary analysis. Although the study confirmed some of the findings from literature, especially on skills shortages and political inference in administrative work, other key findings pointed to the constant misalignments between service delivery plans and budget allocations. This problem is affecting organisational performance and service provision. Meanwhile political interference ought to be discouraged, a strong performance management system is needed as this will give effect to service provision and improved accountability culture in the municipality. More recommendations are provided towards the end of the article
Examining Community Engagement Strategies in South African Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality
No full textJournal Article, Faculty of Humanities, Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs (AGoPA)-- Vanderbijlpark CampusThis study examines community engagement strategies with a view to exploring whether they have contributed to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction by the municipality residents in South Africa. The City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality was selected as a case study because of evidence-based examples of the community engagement strategies used during policy and decision-making processes for community needs. It draws a case study from six Cities of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The study adopts a qualitative research approach using focus group discussion as a data collection method and content analysis for data analysis using tabular presentation. The study finds that the purpose of community engagement strategies in public policy and decision-making is not about anticipated and unanticipated results but about the community members being engaged in the affairs affecting their lives. The study concludes that the community engagement process should be open and transparent within each South African community
Family Styles, Indigenous Knowledge, and Public Governance in Africa
No full textJournal Article. Department of Public Administration and Local Government School of Government Studies, Faculty of Humanities North West University, Mahikeng,Extant literature has shown that family is the first point of institutional contact for every individual to acquire knowledge on socio-political and economic reasoning. However, little or no discussion has been done on understanding how the acquired knowledge and experiences interplay with the broad reactions of individuals within the public governance space. This paper aims to fill the missing gap by providing transmutation influences of family styles and significant values of indigenous knowledge on public governance. In Africa, moral values and social rules are cardinal indices of indigenous knowledge, at first and mostly, acquired from family styles. These indices propel individuals through other societal faces, with the developed traits serving as an inherent guide. Hence, this paper attempts to investigate the congruence problem in Africa‘s public governance from the perspective of indigenous knowledge within the family context. It interrogates the proclaimed significance of indigenous knowledge against why most examples of bad governance, such as corruption, violent acts, and poor leadership traits, are evident in Africa
ICT Agenda for Municipal Governance Purposes in Post-Pandemic South Africa
No full textJournal Article.Department of Public Administration and Local Government School of Government Studies Faculty of Humanities, North West University, MahikengICT agenda has been a central theme in governance after the emergence of pandemic. Across the globe, the agenda have revealed the dynamism of development depending on ecological, socio-cultural and economic values. However, little or no attention has been paid to the framework for ICT agenda on governance at the municipal level in South Africa. This paper aimed at answering the basic questions: What are the reasons for integrating ICT agenda in municipal governance in South Africa? To whatextent could the incorporation of ICT be found efficient in the day-to-day running of municipal services? What are the concerted efforts by government in terms of policy intervention on the municipal ICT agenda? It adopts secondary sources of data for collection and uses content analysis as the data analytical method. It reviewed the extant literature with a view to showcasing government activities in terms of policies and actions towards incorporating ICT agenda in South African municipal governments. It also underlined the strengths and the weaknesses of ICT agenda on municipal governance in South Africa. This paper therefore found out that the population expansions and ever-increasing human activities constitute major reasons for the integrating ICT agenda in South African municipal
administration. This paper concluded that the ICT agenda on municipal governance have propensity to take its efficient recourse on the people and economy, if adequate attention is being paid to its advanced usability at municipal levels
Research as public management tool for improved municipal governance in South Africa
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to call for an intensified research practices and institutionalisation within municipal governments in South Africa, and the contextual focus includes typical municipalities in the Ngaka-Moridi Molema district of the North-West province. Research as a public management tool has been largely negated in municipal governance decision-making processes and this is linkable to the general deterioration of municipal governance systems in the local sphere. This paper found that the majority of municipalities in South Africa, including the ones in NMMD do not have a full appreciation of research in that very few to none have established research components to support municipal decision-making processes. Insights were further drawn from certain theories of governance to complement the suggestions made in the paper pertaining to ways in which municipalities can inculcate not only the spirit of research but its embedding with the governance [council] system
Assessing the Energy Crisis in South Africa: The Socio-Economic Implication and Challenges Ahead
No full textJournal Article, Faculty of Humanities, Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs (AGoPA)-- Vanderbijlpark CampusThis paper examined the socio-economic implications caused by the current energy crisis South Africa is facing. Although the crisis is not at its worst stage when compared to other countries in Africa, there are still challenges ahead if the crisis at this stage is not nipped in the bud. This paper aims at providing an overview of the energy crisis and reasons for its persistence in South Africa taking a departure from 2007. It thus examined the effect of the energy crisis on human livelihood, manufacturing businesses and the economic growth of South Africans. It discussed the concerted efforts made by the government in terms of policy intervention to solve the energy crisis, vis-à-vis policy successes and the challenges in South Africa. Using secondary data sources, this paper analysed the problems behind the energy crisis and its persistent nature in South Africa. It reviewed the extant literature intending to showcase government activities in terms of policies and actions toward subduing the energy crisis in South Africa. It also underlined the strengths and the weaknesses of government policies on the energy crisis in South Africa. This paper found that population expansions and ever-increasing human activities constitute major reasons for the persistent energy crisis in South Africa. This paper concluded that the energy crisis in South Africa may continue to take its negative recourse on the people and economy if adequate attention is not being paid to alternative energy sources at provincial and municipal levels. The attention should aim at complementing the existing energy infrastructure as well as accommodating the energy needs of the population and ever-increasing human activities. This study contributes to the existing debate on securing energy transition in the developing economy of South Africa
The Role of Community Participation in the Development of an Integrated Development Plan in the Greater Taung Local Municipality
No full textJournal Article, Faculty of Humanities, Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs (AGoPA)-- Vanderbijlpark CampusThis empirical study was conducted to assess community participation in the development of the IDP as a management planning tool for effectively improving service delivery in the Greater Taung Local Municipality. A qualitative research method and case study design were used in this study with the objective of obtaining the views and understanding of community members (ward committees) and municipal officials regarding their participation in the Integrated Development Planning of the Greater Taung Local Municipality. Non-probability sampling, such as purposive sampling, structured interviews, and focus group interviews, were utilised to get perceptions from community members (ward committees) as well as the municipal officials of the Greater Taung Local Municipality regarding community participation. A key finding is that people at the grassroots level have little understanding of how government structures work, making it difficult for them to participate in meaningful and effective ways. Due to a lack of consultation on important municipal activities such as the IDP draft that affect the daily lives of community members, this has resulted in too many service delivery protests in the Greater Taung Local Municipality. We recommend that a management planning tool such as the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) be adopted to improve service delivery in municipalities and conclude that the IDP must be a requirement for successful municipal governance and service delivery as expected
Total quality management and performance in process engineering design firms in South Africa
No full textM.Phil. (Engineering Management)Total Quality Management (TQM) as a management philosophy is driven by top management with employee participation. This encompasses all facets of an organisation, with the aim of producing products and services which meet the customer’s needs.TQM was adopted by project-based organisations in the 1990s in response to increasing global competition. Process engineering design firms are operating in a competitive, global business environment where outsourcing of process engineering design services from other countries is not an uncommon practice. It is argued that TQM is crucial for an organisation’s success and survival. Although various quality management techniques exist, TQM offers the holistic approach necessary to adequately manage design quality. The study investigates the effects of Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation on process engineering design firms. Secondly, the study investigates the extent of TQM adoption by South African process engineering design firms. Lastly, the study investigates the perceived importance of TQM principles. The research questions are: i. What is the effect of TQM on the performance of process engineering design firms? ii. To what extent has TQM been adopted by South African process engineering design firms? iii. What is the perceived importance of TQM principles in process engineering design? The first research question was answered by conducting a literature survey. The author was unable to find studies relating specifically to process engineering design firms. As a result, the literature study was done for engineering firms in general. The study indicates that TQM adoption has a favourable effect on engineering firms. The study reveals that TQM implementation improves employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and financial performance while providing a vision that channels the entire organisation towards improvements in product quality and customer-related performances. The second and third research questions were answered with the use of a questionnaire survey, which measured importance and adoption utilising a 5-point Likert scale. The study reveals that 70% of the firms which participated in the survey have formally adopted TQM while 30% have not. Eighty five per cent of the organisations that have adopted TQM are ISO9001 certified. An adoption rate of 70% indicates an above-average adoption of TQM by South African process engineering design firms. An ISO9001 certification of 85% indicates that South African process engineering design firms are conforming to international quality standards. The adoption of the TQM principles ranges from 66% to 80% (moderate to high). Customer Involvement and Management Commitment are the most highly adopted, while Supplier Quality Management and Continuous Improvement are the least adopted. The firms which have formally adopted TQM report 77% implementation rate, while the firms which have not formally adopted TQM report a 63% implementation rate. Although the firms which have not formally adopted TQM are implementing TQM principles, they have not been able to implement the principles as well as the firms which have formally adopted TQM. The perceived importance of the TQM principles ranges from 78% to 92% (“important” to “very important”). The most important principle is perceived to be Customer Involvement, while Continuous Improvement and Supplier Quality Management are perceived to be the least important. The firms which have formally adopted TQM rate the principles more highly in the importance scale (86%) compared to the firms which have not formally adopted TQM (80%). The results indicate that the firms which have formally adopted TQM find value in doing so. The mean score for the importance of TQM principles is 84%, while the mean score for the adoption of TQM principles is 73%. It is evident from the data that there is a gap between the perceived importance and adoption of the TQM principles. The data suggests that the policies and strategies of the organisation have not achieved full implementation of TQM and have room for improvement
