This study explored the role of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in public schools in the Gert Sibande district of the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It focused on executive members of the SGB of three institutions and their school principals, who play a key role in school governance. The study was conducted using three case studies with the pseudo names as: Lepogo, Nkwe and Tau schools. The executive members of the SGBs comprised the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Treasurer. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of their roles on the implementation of educational policies, including the South African Schools Act of 1996. The study used qualitative methodology in the form of conducting focus group interviews (see Annexure A), doing document analysis (see section 3.7.3) and making observations (see Annexure B) during the meetings with SGBs. The findings indicated that the SGB members who were interviewed had minimal knowledge of how their roles impacted on the schools that they governed. It was also clear from the interviews that the training they received on an ad hoc basis was insufficient. Furthermore, this training was also conducted by individuals who seemed to be unsure about how to interpret the school policies in SASA policy documents. With regard to sub-committees, such as the recently introduced Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) comprising all stakeholders in education; it was disappointing to find, based on the three schools which participated in the study, that this was ineffective, and no meetings were held after its formation. The study revealed that the school policies embodied in SASA documents and the Constitution of South Africa were not used effectively, in order to give proper guidance on how SGBs should execute their roles. Moreover, the study revealed that retired officials were given the task of training the trainers, who were then expected to train the members of the SGB, and this was ineffective. Finally, the study revealed that the principals were expected to represent their schools and simultaneously represent the Department of Education in an ex officio position. This was not working, since no person can serve two masters at the same time. Therefore, the study emphasised the need to appoint neutral people to deal with school governance and report directly to the HoD (see Figure 5.1). All stakeholders are important, but they need to respect boundaries. In conclusion, the recommendations and the proposed model were deliberately designed and structured to offer practical solutions to the problems discussed in the research findings. It is also important that the training should be accompanied by some kind of assessment, in order to determine whether or not the SGB members have understood what they were taught. Furthermore, there should be follow-ups to ascertain to what extent the SGB members have implemented what they were taught in their schools, which is not happening at present. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The dawn of democracy in South Africa also led to the democratization of schools which added the role of ex-officio member of the School Governing Body (SGB) to that of principal as school manager. Many previous studies have left a gap in understanding how school principals manage their roles as managers and ex-officio members of SGBs. Hence, this qualitative study which sought to explore how principals perceive their roles as managers and ex-officio members of SGBs within their schools and their experiences of performing their roles in school management and governance; to identify the challenges experienced by principals in performing their dual roles; and to establish how school principals manage the identified challenges. Semi-structured interviews with, and documents received from, six participant principals were used for the purpose of collecting data for this study. The participants were selected from one circuit in a rural area of Limpopo Province. The six schools, used in this study, were three secondary schools and three primary schools. All the schools are „no fee paying schools.‟ Most of the parents are illiterate and unemployed. The selected primary schools are among the schools which obtained high scores in the Annual National Assessment (ANA). For the secondary schools, the performance of learners in their Matriculation examination was used as the selection criteria. The selected schools were, therefore, those with good academic performance in the ANA and the Matriculation examination and demonstrated good governance. The findings of this study show that the principals who participated in the study seem to struggle in coping with their teaching, management and governance roles. Most of the principals admitted that there is a need to balance their roles, which is not easy, due to other factors, such as teaching, social responsibilities and a lack of time – amongst others. Working with illiterate SGB members is an extra burden for principals as ex-officio members as they have to train them and, at times, perform duties that are often the responsibility of other members of the SGBs. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The fundamental objective of this research is to design and propose an appropriate community benefit model that can be implemented by a forestry company in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. De Beer, Rutsch and Eliffe (1998) describe community benefits as a collection of social and economic opportunities through which people are able to improve the quality of their lives or the lives of others. This study proposes a model that can be implemented in a manner that is mutually beneficial to the forestry company concerned and its community stakeholders.

Municipalities play an important role in accelerating service delivery to all communities. This study is an assessment of skills development programmes for selected employees at the Amathole District Municipality (ADM). The ADM is known as a predominantly rural district. The study revealed that the municipality is faced with a lack of proper skills to accelerate service delivery. This has resulted in the institution neglecting to invest in the development of those competencies needed to function in a constantly changing educational, training and development environment. The success of any organisation depends on its human resources, who are the most important asset. Therefore effective and efficient human resources management and training and development management play a critical role in the well-being of employees. Human resources training and development policies, practices and activities guide the institution with implementation of services and should take on a more strategic role to achieve their objectives. The researcher employed the quantitative research methodology for purposes of the empirical survey and also reviewed official documents and reports. A suitably constructed questionnaire was developed and distributed to the selected sample group from the ADM. The researcher also consulted legislation, official documents, articles, journals, policy documents, reports and books in an effort to obtain as much relevant information as possible. Based on the information gathered from the respondents and literature review the researcher proposes certain recommendations in the final chapter of the treatise.

Employees joining any institution for the first time are not always performing duties/tasks to the level and standard set by the management of particular organisation. Some candidates perform to their fullest potential after they are inducted. The purpose of skills development act is to assists employers to participate in leadership and development programmes as to enhance the potential of individuals and organizations. Also to encourage employees to use the workplace as an active learning site and provide opportunities to acquire new skills. Human Resource Practitioners play a critical role in the ensuring that employees are capacitated. This study undertook to evaluate selected skills development programmes in the Amathole District Municipality. ADM is challenged in coordinating various skills development programmes due to various reasons such as budget. From the literature study and information gathered from the respondents in this research it became evident that training of employees is key to the improvement of performance. In this regard it is critical that ADM creates means that will mitigate the identified findings in order to improve the performance of personnel. Emailed questionnaires were used as a method of collecting data from the respondents. In this study a qualitative method was used to analyse the data collected from the respondents. Based on the information gathered from the respondents the researcher made findings and formulated recommendations.

This study investigates whether municipal demarcation addressed the challenge of financial non-viability in the Thulamela and Makhado local municipalities and the Vhembe District Municipality. The study also seeks to establish the main causes of demarcation disputes and whether the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) consulted the villagers in the Vuwani and Malamulele areas. The study examines whether financial viability is the sole or core factor in determining municipal boundaries. The study opted for a mixed-methods research approach using positivism and interpretivism research philosophies, including key informant interviews with municipal officials of Thulamela and Makhado local municipalities and the Vhembe District Municipality and a survey of households in the Vuwani area (previously under Makhado Local Municipality) and the Malamulele area (previously under Thulamela Local Municipality). The data were complemented by documentary analysis, including annual reports, financial statements, literature review, and legislation pertaining to financial management and local government. The study provides empirical insights into the relationship between municipal boundary demarcation and financial viability. It suggests that municipal boundary demarcation did not address the challenge of financial non-viability in the Vhembe District. The study also provides that the MDB did consult the villagers of the Vuwani area and that the main causes of demarcation disputes were the location of the newly established Collins Chabane Local Municipality. The study recommends that the South African government and the MDB should consider other factors provided for in the Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act when demarcation decisions are made and that financial viability cannot be used to trump other factors in the restructuring of local government. The implications of this is that the government must address service delivery challenges in the Malamulele and Vuwani areas and that municipal demarcation cannot be used as a solution for financial challenges, especially in rural municipalities. The study includes implications that the MDB can explore other methods to foster stakeholder engagement and public participation. The study contributes to the body of knowledge within the sub-area of financial viability and public participation in the discipline of Public Administration and Management. / Public Administration and Management / D. Phil. (Public Administration and Management)

The aim of this study was to investigate reasons for non–payment by residents for services rendered by the Vhembe District Municipality. The municipalities are responsible for delivering such services as water supply, electricity, road maintenance, refuse collection and sanitation. Multistage sampling techniques were employed. The subjects in the study were grouped into clusters and a sample was taken from each cluster. In this case the municipalities that took part in the study were selected first, followed by wards, villages and households. Households in the selected villages were selected randomly to participate in the study. The results showed that although the municipalities were making an effort to raise and send bills to the residents, the residents were not forthcoming with payments. The reasons advanced for the unwillingness to pay services by residents include ignorance, poverty and simple unwillingness to pay. / Public Administration & Management / M.P.A. (Master of Public Administration and Management)

This study was done in the rural areas of uThukela District in KwaZulu-Natal. The objectives were to determine pig production and management practices used by farmers in rearing pigs in rural areas; to establish the role of pigs in social and economic lives of the people; and to characterize and determine constrains and opportunities of pig farming in rural areas. A farming systems approach was used in conjunction with a cross-sectional survey method using a structured questionnaire in face-to-face interviews with farmers for the collection of data. The study involved 4 local rural municipalities with a population of 4205 people who owned 2555 pigs. The sample size was 533 pig farmers/respondents. The data included the demographic characteristics of pig farmers, pig production and management practices, the role of pigs in both the social and economic lives of people and the constraints and opportunities of pig farming. The data were analyzed to determine simple means and frequencies. The results showed that 20% of pigs were reared in intensive systems and 80% in extensive systems in the district. Each village owned an average of 5 pigs. There were more female respondents (60%) than males, and also female respondents owned more (65%) pigs than males. Most of respondents (99%) were Zulu speaking people and only 1% was from other cultural groups. Majority of the respondents (74%) were unemployed, 16% were pensioners and only 10% were employed. Those who were employed kept more pigs than the other groups. Over one third of the respondents had primary (34.5%) and secondary (35.3%) education; and 2.7% had college education, while 27.5% had no formal education at all. Sixty-two percent of the older respondents between the age of 46 and 65 years kept more pigs than younger farmers. The collective incomes of the communities from salaries, pensions, and sales of livestock and crops per annum were substantial. The average land size per household ranged from 0.01 ha to 56 ha. Male respondents owned more land (1.68 ha) than female respondents (0.96 ha). Similarly, employed people owned more land (2.49 ha) than pensioners (1.26 ha) and the unemployed people (1.04 ha). Respondents kept other livestock species such as cattle, sheep, goats and chickens. Ninety percent of households kept chickens in addition to cattle (53%) and goats (49.3%). They also grew crops such as maize, potatoes, vegetables (cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, beetroots and onions) and fruits (peaches, apples and grapes). They kept pigs for home consumption (63%), source of income (33%), source of manure (3%) and for other reasons (1%). More employed people (68%) sold pigs for extra income, while 91% pensioners and 81% unemployed people used pigs for home consumption. Marketing channels included pension pay points, abattoirs, butcheries and neighbourhoods. Abattoir sales accounted for 10% and the most common venues were Amblecyte (40%) and Cato Ridge (27%). Selling of pigs occurred throughout the year, with the peak in winter (May/July). Majority of farmers (59%) used their own transport to deliver pigs to the selling points or they used contractors (41%). Pigs were sold at the age of 5 to 18 months old. Farmers sold live pigs and pork to the communities. Some farmers sold live pigs only, while others sold pork only or both pork and live pigs. Religion and culture had little influence on pig farming. Most farmers (88%) had no religious or cultural influences, while 7% were influenced by religion and 1% was influenced by culture. The most preferred meat among the communities was chicken meat, followed by beef, pork, mutton and chevon. Half of the respondents had >6 years of experience in pig farming, 34.9% had 2 – 5 years of experience and 14.8% were beginners. The breeds of pigs kept in the district included indigenous breeds, Large White, Landrace, Duroc and crosses of indigenous breeds with Large White and Landrace. Farmers bought breeding stock within their communities or they selected breeding stock from their own herds. Very few farmers have ever received any type of training in pig farming. The training was provided by the KZN Provincial Government, Zakhe Agricultural College and private farms. The training took 2-3 days of workshops, 2-3 weeks of short courses or 3-6 months of hands-on training on private farms. The training improved the performance of sows within the communities. Only 41% of farmers practised controlled stock breeding, which improved the farrowing rate and litter size. About one third (32%) of farmers bred their gilts at 6 – 8 months, while 21.2% bred them at 8-12 months, and 29% bred them after 12 months. The farrowing rate of indigenous sows was one litter per annum compared with the majority of Landrace and Duroc sows that farrowed twice a year. Some farmers (28%) reported that they routinely observed farrowing, while 72% of them said they never knew when the sows farrowed until they saw sows and new litters coming back to their pens after grazing in the veld. The litter sizes varied from ≤ 7 to ≥ 10. Half of the indigenous sows farrowed ≤ 7 piglets per litter, while 41% had 8-10 piglets; compared with 49% Large White and 44% Duroc that farrowed 8-10 and ≥ 10 per litter, respectively. Majority of farmers (66.1%) did not wean their piglets at all, which was associated with low farrowing rate. However, farmers who sold weaners for income weaned their piglets between 3 weeks and 3 months. This was associated with higher farrowing rate of sows. Piglet mortality was mainly due to worm infestation (26%), loss of hair (13%), lice and mange infestation (16.4%) and diarrhoea (5.6%). Despite that only 10% of farmers consulted the local Department of Veterinary Services. Some farmers (44.2%) said that they did not know that they could make use of Veterinary services, and 28% of them said it was a waste of time. Majority of farmers (80%) used home kitchen swill and brewer’s grains to feed their pigs. Only 16% of farmers bought commercial feeds and 2% fed them on maize grains and vegetables. Commercial feeds were bought from Farm Save (48%), Afgri (19%) and Epol (7%). Some farmers (65.4%) weighed feed before feeding, while 35% did not weigh feed at all. Water was provided at feeding time, ad libitum or several times a day. Farmers disposed of carcasses by eating them, feeding to their dogs, or throwing them away. Over half of the farmers (52%) did not take carcasses for post mortem, while 26% did not know that they could send carcasses for post mortem and 20% said they could not afford the cost. The study concluded that pigs have a vital social and economic role in the lives of the rural people of KZN for income generation and household consumption. The main constraints are wide spread poverty and lack of management skills in pig production, nutrition, health,housing and management. Government intervention is necessary to help farmers to improve pig production and management as a means of poverty alleviation and household food security. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M.Sc. (Agriculture)

South Africa as a developing country experienced high levels of poverty and unemployment. These levels emanate from skills gap and low literacy rate in the townships populated by low income households. To an extent some households lacked access to participate in the economic sector, resulting from fragmented policies and apartheid regime. The lack of participation among the households placed pressure on government. These problems forced the state to provide social protection (grants). Such allowances are expensive especially where there are fewer opportunities for employment activities. The promotion of entrepreneurship and small business remains an important priority of the government of South Africa. The South African government is acknowledged for its commitments to ensure that small businesses progressively contribute to growth and performance of the South African economy. Globally, numerous policy legislative frameworks have been developed to support the SMMEs. This study aimed to discover the support given to the SMMEs by the South African government. In particular, the study is situated within the SMMEs in the SDM. The hypothesis for this study is premised on the fact that SMME`s can contribute immensely to job creation. The outcomes of this argument relies on the provisions based on a conducive environment which can enable the SMME`s to thrive. This statement was validated by means of literature review, interviews and site visits. This study found that the SMMEs are indeed the cornerstone of job creation and for sustainable livelihoods. LED programmes can create more jobs through the SMME sector. Literature worldwide confirms that the SMMEs are vital in creating employment opportunities. This research also confirmed that this is possible only if the environment in which SMMEs operate in is favourable for the SMMEs to prosper. In this regard many policy documents were developed to emphasize the stance of government to develop, grow and capacitate SMMEs in South Africa. It is indeed true that the LED can be used to grow and capacitate SMMEs in South Africa. Despite the progress being made on the development of the SMMEs, few issues need to be taken care off. The municipality indicated that there are no monitoring procedures in place which make it difficult to measure the infectiveness of their interventions and they further pointed out that they are working on the matter. The measurement of these milestones is not properly recorded to inform future generations. It is suggested that more research should be emphasised on the SMME sector, especially being the mandate of the municipality. / Thesis (M. Development and Management (Public Management and Government))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

The purpose of the study was to investigate knowledge practices in Nkangala District Municipality (NDM), situated in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The objective of the study was to discover NDM managers’ level of understanding participation and establish any challenges of knowledge sharing in NDM. This study employed qualitative research method. An interview guide was designed to collect data through in-depth interviews. To determine the number of participants for the interview, stratified and purposive sampling methods were used. The study established that there is little knowledge and understanding of the knowledge sharing concept by NDM managers, hence, it is not formally recognised by the institution. However, managers acknowledged that knowledge sharing could play a huge role in improving service delivery. The study recommends that NDM should consider introducing the knowledge sharing concept, through the establishment of a knowledge sharing section. A culture of knowledge sharing could be developed through the development of knowledge sharing policies, which should be aligned to the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process of NDM. In addition, the study recommends an upgrade on the existing ICT infrastructure and internet connection, especially in rural municipalities. This will ensure that ICT fully supports knowledge sharing activities. The study suggested that an additional study is conducted to establish knowledge sharing practices among the lower level staff members of NDM. / Information Science / M.A.(Information Science)