Thesis (MA (Public and Development Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Internal communication has the potential of improving the ability of local authorities to deliver effective and efficient basic services. Local authorities are the pillar upon which governments rely to champion the decentralisation process which has been widely hailed as enabling service delivery to the communities. The Lilongwe City Assembly recognises the need to address internal communication issues, but have neither carried out any meaningful analysis of its internal communication nor has it developed an internal communication plan or guidelines. The communication audit methodology is relatively unknown in the public sector in Malawi and it is hoped that this study brings to light the advantages of giving organisational communication its deserved role in activities of the public sector. It is hoped that this study would be replicated in the remaining 38 local assemblies with a view to improving service delivery. This study assessed the internal communication of the Assembly as part of a broader perspective of organisational communication. Specifically, it measured the effectiveness of internal communication at the Lilongwe City Assembly. The methodology involved measuring the perceived current and ideal amounts of information in eight fundamental areas of internal communication, namely receiving information from others, sending information to others, action on information sent, channels of communication, communication relationships, communication and work satisfaction, timeliness of information received from key sources and sources of information. Findings from a sample of 186 respondents of the Assembly indicated a great need to receive information and to interact with Assembly management more frequently than what is happening currently. The communication between subordinates and co-workers seems to be satisfactory. However, the majority of respondents expressed the need to engage with Assembly management on a number of key issues, including staff welfare, salaries and benefits. In addition, a concern about the inability of employees to master the English language was cited as reducing the capacity of the Assembly to fully implement its work activities. / cmc2010

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This research explores spaces for enchantment and the unknown, exploring our relationship to fairy-tales and alternative ways of dreaming that break from a modern worldview, using complexity thinking as lens. I conducted extra-mural group work with two groups of adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds. I considered the world young people receive at a metaphysical level; the world they dream of, connect to and enact. My thesis is based on the premise that we must act towards a ‘sustainable unknown development’ that goes beyond modern deadly homogenisation. The research objectives were as follows: Firstly, to explore the relationship between dreams (about the future) and a sustainable future. Secondly, to reflect, based on the group’s holding-space, on our relationship to dreams. Thirdly, to reflect on possible alternative ways of approaching the unknown and enacting enchantment to create change. Fourthly, to explore the importance of imagination and creativity with regards to the above. I review literature pertaining to the affects of the modern paradigm, specifically in its fairy tale blueprinting form, on our world. I argue that this paradigm is currently dangerous to the earth as a living system; causing the oppression and abandonment of nature, the feminine, children and our imagination. Alternative ways such as states of ‘interbeing’, polycentric thinking, and the experience of thresholds and heterotopian spaces where differences meet, are considered. The importance of personal experience and imagination in building resilience and meaning in the unknown are emphasised. My research uses a practical design of ‘enchantment methodology’. Methodologically it tries to tackle some ontological questions, considering different approaches in which negotiation is possible at a metaphysical level. My findings were that although alternative approaches do exist they cannot be generalised in a modern thinking way. Beyond the modern numbness and the tantrums of breaking away from its devastating divides, is the potential of inner wisdom found in our own hearts. Recommendations are that more holding spaces are created to promote an alternative relationship to the unknown to nurture a sense of enchantment.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Government needs to provide a robust framework to adapt to the ever-changing environment of those that they serve. Whether or not there are reform procedures involved, the intended benefits depend as much on how they are implemented as on the exact nature of the changes. The municipalities in the Overberg face various challenges, as a result of the continually changing environment within which local government operates. It is therefore important for government to constantly implement new ways to improve service delivery. Many of the municipalities in the Overberg, particularly those suffering under budget and staff capacity pressures, are motivated to adopt new and improved ways to enhance service delivery and to reduce costs. Municipalities in the Overberg have developed their own ideas on how to reduce costs, save time and improve service delivery. A practical way to address these challenges is to consider the option of shared services. This requires different ways of operating: new skills have to be acquired and many changes in management issues need to be addressed. The most common reason for some of the municipalities in the Overberg to be involved in a shared service initiative is to obtain relief from short-term budget pressures. Although this factor is an excellent motivator, one of the major related challenges is the time required to complete this initiative, which almost always takes more than one budget cycle. The ability to implement any form of shared services requires organisational change, which, in many organisations, is the most difficult challenge to confront. For Overberg Municipalities to implement a successful shared service venture it will be important to have a good plan that clearly describes the processes to be followed and the different steps of how to successfully implement and set up such a shared service centre. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die regering moet ‘n robuuste raamwerk daarstel om aan te pas by die ewigdurende veranderde omgewing van diegene wie hy bedien. Of daar veranderings prosedure is of nie, die beoogde voordele is eweveel afhanklik van hoe dit geïmplimenteer word as van die presiese omvang van die veranderinge. Verskeie uitdagings word deur munisipaliteite in die Overberg in die gesig gestaar as gevolg van die ewigdurende veranderde omgewing waarin plaaslike regering opereer. Dit is dus belangrik vir die regering om gedurig nuwe maniere te implementeer ten einde dienslewering te verbeter. Verskeie munisipaliteite in die Overberg, veral die wat gebuk gaan onder begroting en personeelkapasiteitsdruk, is gemotiveerd om nuwe verbeterde maniere aan te neem om dienslewering te verbeter en kostes te verminder. Munisipaliteite in die Overberg kom reeds ’n geruime tyd aan met hul eie idees om kostes te verminder, tyd te bespaar en dienslewering te verbeter. ’n Praktiese manier om hierdie uitdagings in munisipaliteite in die Overberg aan te spreek is om die opsie van gedeelde dienste te oorweeg. Dit vereis verskillende maniere van funksionaliteit met nuwe vaardighede wat bekom moet word en verskeie veranderingsbestuurskwessies wat bestuur en oorkom moet word. Die mees algemeenste rede vir sommige van die munisipaliteite in die Overberg om betrokke te raak by ’n gedeelde diens inisiatief is die verligting van kort termyn begrotingsdruk. Alhoewel dit ’n uitstekende motiveerder is, is een van die grootste uitdagings in baie gevalle, die tyd wat vereis word om hierdie inisiatief, wat in die meeste gevalle oor meer as een begrotingsiklus strek, te voltooi. Om enige vorm van gedeelde dienste te implementeer vereis organisatoriese veranderinge wat in baie munisipaliteite die moeilikste uitdaging is om te konfronteer. Vir Overberg munisipaliteite, om ’n suksesvolle gedeelde dienste onderneming te begin en te implementeer is dit belangrik om ‘n behoorlike plan op te stel wat die prosesse wat gevolg moet word en die verskillende stappe aandui.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / In a modern world of fragmentation and embedded dualisms, access to the imagination and creativity seems minimal, especially in science. Human beings and nature, science and the imagination (art), and spirit and matter (body) – these dualisms permeate our sciences and other disciplines, as well as the way we envision the future and educate children about the environment. Sustainability positions a key debate for the future and mediates intergenerational equity (it thus in a way captures the future). Sustainability further proposes an ecological approach wherein systems thinking, holism and the exploration of new (extended) forms of knowledge are subtly starting to reshape the future outlook of the planet. A personal reflection on my own alternative learning process with the Sustainability Institute (SI) resulted in a deep concern and intrigue about the symbolic base of sustainability learning. Imagination, art (stories) and symbols played an intrinsic role in how I integrated many of the empirical and non-empirical, as well as scientific and meta-physical, aspects of the learning. These intrigues led me to explore the nurturing education opportunities that might exist for children to engage with the imagination, art and alternative aspects of education as integrative aspects in learning. Waldorf education claims to use stories in this regard. Waldorf education – together with a review of the role of environmental education – is the case study of this research. This is an inherently transdisciplinary study and, although literature in the separate fields abounds, a comprehensive literature review conducted for this study revealed a gap in research related to the interface between areas of symbolism, sustainability and education (“symbolism-in-sustainability-in-education”). The study is underpinned by the following fields: • Sustainability (with a strong focus on environmental ethics) • Literature (traditional stories) • Psychology (psychoanalytical and environmental psychology) • Education (environmental, Waldorf and finally sustainability or ecological education) This study thus explores the role of the imagination and symbolism, both being ontologically recognised, as well as stories to integrate some of the dualisms prevalent in our modern world, dualisms that are contributing to the reigning ecological crisis. In addition, it focuses on the role of these functionalities to access and open up other forms of knowing in science (with particular application to the built environment/ and planning), which supports the claims of sustainability and sustainability science. I conclude by briefly highlighting a pattern that proposes a way of connecting the ideas in this study in support of ecological education (the future) – and thus sustainability – in an enduring and deep-seated way that is intrinsically human[nature].

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The new public management (NPM) paradigm features very highly in both contemporary public sector reform and public sector management literature. The NPM model has been implemented both in the developing and developed world at the local and central levels of government. Key to NPM is the introduction of market principles in the running of the public sector. The rationale is to replace the over rigid and bureaucratic traditional public administration with the fast moving form of public management so as to achieve high levels of efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the delivery of public goods and services. Despite its wide application, the doctrine of NPM has had diverse impacts in different countries.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / This aim of this research was to study and bring to the fore the way ELSEN schools are being governed in the Western Cape. The hope is for more research to be done in this area of public policy which could result in the improvement of school administration. The manner in which education is organised, governed and funded impacts directly on the process and outcomes of learning and teaching. However, good governance assumes that public service delivery is the implementation of public policies aimed at providing concrete services to the people. The underlying problem here is the fact that some schools seemed to be governed better than others, while the regulatory and funding policy is the same. The key questions that the researcher sought to answer in this research are the following: • Is the Section 21, South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996) being properly implemented and does it enhance the governance of ELSEN schools? • Why is the governance of ELSEN schools better in some schools than in others if they are based on the same governance provisions and administered by the same department? • What should therefore be done to ensure effective and efficient school governance in all the ELSEN schools in the Western Cape? The methodology used was a comparative analysis through a sampling case study between Jan Kriel School, a fully developed and well-resourced school for epileptics and specific learning disabilities in Kuils River, and Thembalethu special school for the physically disabled, a disadvantaged poor school from Gugulethu. The research investigated how the school governing bodies (SGB) of these schools are structured, how they function in terms of the regulations provided in the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996) as well as broadly the system of school governance of the ELSEN schools in the Western Cape. Appendix E shows a list of all the ELSEN schools in the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). The two cases of governance at the Jan Kriel and Thembalethu schools have therefore been studied as a microcosm of the ELSEN schools in the entire Western Cape. The researcher wanted to compare and analyze how the well-resourced and advantaged ELSEN schools and the disadvantaged poor schools implement the provisions of the South African Schools Act relevant to ELSEN school governance in order to achieve better governance and good management. The crucial issues pertaining to the effective governance of ELSEN schools as proposed during the preliminary study established in the research and confirmed in the findings as the key variables that determine the level of school governance are the following: • Financial resources; • Trained SGB officials; • Proper planning and good administration; • Effective involvement of parents in particular and all the other stakeholders; • Discipline and a code of ethics. In the final analysis, some solutions with a view to solving this problem have been suggested by the researcher in the form of recommendations. However, as indicated in the conclusion, the final responsibility to expand the scope of these findings and to oversee the implementation of these recommendations rests with the WCED.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The objective of this study is to test out the possibility of a synthesis between sustainable development, more specifically corporate citizenship, and customer value, a major focus of business strategy, which if correctly achieved nurtures customer loyalty. This synthesis as defined in this thesis is product stewardship. Product stewardship is the design and promotion of products and services that aim to positively impact the environment and society through the creation, consumption and disposal of such a product or service. In an increasingly competitive global environment, crafting business strategy that successfully nurtures customer loyalty is a vital component of long term business success. The delivery of products and services that customers trust and that fully satisfy customer expectations is a prerequisite for loyalty. Intense competition however squeezes profit margins and floods the market with homogeneous products and services. Competition now becomes price centred which drives both a decrease in product quality and a quest for operational efficiencies in an attempt to reduce overheads. Further, capturing a share of the consumer’s wallet becomes more difficult for corporations, forcing a heavy reliance on the brand and company image. In such circumstances, the delivery of customer value that fully satisfies expectations is hard to achieve and business strategy, concerned primarily with the delivery of exceptional customer value, becomes a major focus for most corporations. However, as all corporations strive for a similar end goal, competitive differentiation becomes harder to achieve. Simultaneously, in the context of greater environmental and social consciousness, including the progression of sustainability science, corporations have the added challenge or obligation to adopt these emerging themes. Scrabbling with these new ideas, few corporations are having a real profound effect in curbing the pending ecosystem crisis. Corporate social responsibility, corporate social investment and corporate citizenship have tended to focus on the company and how it is perceived; a kind of self-centredness that explodes into the gross exaggerations communicated by the brand. Product stewardship, as defined in this thesis, shifts the focus away from THE COMPANY and its BRAND, to the product being designed, produced, communicated, consumed and then wasted. The values of a better world articulated by sustainable development and the aspiration to find a better business strategy are fused into a focus on the product. The company and its brand, therefore is constructed not by a promotion of itself as ‘good’ but rather by the virtues and benefits of the product communicated relationally which, in turn, indirectly builds the reputation of the producer. Loyalty therefore is no longer loyalty to the brand, but to an experience of the product. A number of corporations, both local and international, in South Africa are displaying behaviour characteristic of a product stewardship approach. These behaviours or claims are recorded in case studies on four such corporations, namely; Toyota, Sasol, Woolworths, and the South African Breweries Limited. Each case demonstrates how the application of product stewardship can and does reduce negative impacts on both the environment and society while simultaneously nurturing exceptional customer loyalty. A number of critical questions about the design and promotion of short term domestic insurance products are raised to demonstrate how the application of a product stewardship approach could unlock the potential to nurture superior customer loyalty for corporations in the South African short term domestic insurance industry, a service industry plagued by a declining industry image, low customer loyalty and intense competition. The application of a product stewardship approach to a service orientated industry is significant as services are seldom analysed for their effects on the environment and society, as promoted by sustainable development theory. Instead, in an attempt to display the values of a better world, service industries expend huge resources engaging in activities peripheral to their core businesses, while adjustments as highlighted by a product stewardship approach, to their core offerings, their services, could deliver meaningful change for the environment, society, the corporation and ultimately the customer. Based on the real possibility of a synthesis between sustainable development and customer value as highlighted in this thesis, a further more in-depth study is proposed to determine the direct business effects, quantified, of improved customer loyalty nurtured through the application of product stewardship.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Soon after independence in 1964 the Malawi government made an attempt to decentralise some of its activities through the creation of district development committees. However, in practice local-level institutions were not fully operational as the one-party system of government (led by the Malawi Congress Party) tended to manipulate the autonomy and operations of these institutions. Accordingly, there was no manifestation of local participation and representation. The period of one-party rule in Malawi came to an end in 1994 with the introduction of multi-party democracy. The new government revitalised the idea of decentralised governance by passing the Local Government Act of 1998, which saw the establishment of local assemblies. Thus officially Malawi has a very supportive system in relation to citizen participation and representation through decentralised local institutions. However, in practice, there is no clear evidence that this is actually being realised. Consequently, this study was undertaken to examine the role of party politics on local participation and representation. The study was conducted in three district local assemblies of Malawi ...

Thesis (MA (Public and Development Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Sexual orientation (discrimination) as a part of diversity management in organisations is a controversial issue and people in management positions are not always comfortable to address issues relating to gay employees. This is evident from the lack of adequate policies and processes that exist within public organs. Ignorance and prejudice, heterosexism and homophobia, religious and moral beliefs and stigmatisation contribute to why employees discriminate against their co-workers based on sexual orientation. The following measures can be taken by the organisation in combating this phenomenon: • Writing anti-discriminatory statements. • Re-evaluating the current state of the organisational culture and whether it is supportive of gay employees disclosing their sexual orientation at work. • Developing an employee assistance programme. The success of these measures will largely depend on the capacity of the Human Resource department in making the organisation more inclusive. Therefore, the Integrated Development Plan of Stellenbosch Municipality as its organisational strategy plays a vital role in this entire process, as it cannot be separated from the Human Resource management strategy of this organisation. These initiatives will only be effective and efficient if there is commitment from top management as well as the employees to ensure a safe work environment for lesbian, gay and bisexual employees.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Cultural dynamics bring an added dimension to development projects. The Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) recognizes the need to engage with power relations at different levels between men and women, and that traditional beliefs and practices are important here. However, the most recent strategy of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) fails to address the impact of cultural dynamics on gender mainstreaming. This study was conducted to increase the understanding of how this might be dealt with. To yield personal information on how individuals are affected by traditional culture, narratology was used. Five women were engaged in three in-depth interviews of approximately two hours each. The purpose was to discuss their life stories and their involvement in the water projects, and then to integrate the life stories with the projects to highlight complexities around specific roles such as that of daughter, wife and development facilitator. The researcher therefore conducted the study from the point of view of the women, rather than from the traditional perspective of the development practitioner or government official. The empirical results were related to literature reviewed on topics such as complexity, feminism and sustainability. Thus, it was possible to highlight underlying complexities related to culture that might impact on gender mainstreaming in the following areas: (1) Women’s time and labour (2) Women’s power within African societies (3) The Butterfly effect in women’s lives (4) Fundamental human desires in women’s lives (5) Utilising social capital (6) The approach of funding and donor organizations (7) Society as a complex system (8) The effects of migration on women’s lives Some aspects highlighted by the study are the following. Development and funding organizations often use a one-size-fits-all individualistic approach whereas the societies they work in have a more collective mindset. Furthermore, women’s time and labour are exploited by the developmental organizations as rural women offer their services voluntarily. And in African society mothering boys is a source of power for women, which influences resource allocation. In terms of a recommended approach to addressing the impact of traditional culture on gender mainstreaming, it was found that a practitioner does not have to tackle traditional culture head-on by for instance proposing defiance against certain norms. Rather, the practitioner should obtain information about the wider system (the society, the prevailing culture and the project context) to provide insight into how women are affected and how the system might be manipulated to eventually bring about the desired changes for the specific context. The processes of change in culture and gender relations must be viewed as on-going and exact time-frames are usually not appropriate in measuring such. As the study emphasized the importance of both men and women working together on projects, a limitation of the current study is that it focused only on the stories of women. A follow-up study should include the views and stories of how gender mainstreaming and traditional culture impact on men.