Thesis (M.B.A.: Business Studies Unit)-Durban University of Technology, 2008. xi, 96 leaves / The amalgamation of municipalities came into effect as a legislative requirement brought about a number of challenges for the local government. One such major challenge relates to the impact that these amalgamations will have on human resource practices of the various municipalities. Literature study reveals that during any merger or amalgamation, less attention is paid to the human element of a merger until the merger is almost complete. This lack of attention impacts negatively on the merger results. Like other municipalities, Ethekwini Municipality is a product of this legislative requirement. It was formed as a result of the amalgamation of different municipal entities that had different human resource practices. The problem facing eThekwini Municipality is the misalignment of human resources policies and their effect on the working environment. This study looks at the impact of this amalgamation on the human resources practices of the eThekwini Municipality. The sub-objectives of the study are: to ascertain employees’ perceptions of amalgamation; to determine whether employees believe that the human resources’ matters are handled in a manner that will bring about stability and equity in the workplace; and to establish whether different perceptions exist between employees of the former Durban Metro Central and those of the erstwhile entities.

This thesis describes the casualisation of teachers' work (in Greater Durban) during the period of the democratic transition in South Africa. It provides evidence that contract teaching exists among men and women teachers employed in primary and secondary schools. These teachers are relegated to the secondary labour market with low income, poorer working conditions and lack of job security. It begins by adopting an electic theoretical approach, combining labour process and interactionist theories, to understand teachers' work. From this eclectic theoretical perspective, it is argued that contract teachers control and influence over their work is considerably eroded by the casualisation of the teaching labour process. However, unlike existing international studies, it is argued that casualisation of teaching in the Durban area serves not only as a deskilling process for most contract teachers but also as a re-skilling process for a few. Furthermore, this study shows that contract teaching has a gendered dimension. Not only because women teachers are mostly affected by casualisation of teaching but that it tends to relegate women to the primary school system where they teach young children. It is therefore argued that the casualisation of teaching extends women's mothering role into the classroom. The historical basis for casualisation of teaching, in South Africa, especially its gender dimension is a result of the 'Marriage Bar 'of 1912, the legacy of the Bantu Education system and the non-standardisation of teachers' qualifications until the 1980s, as well as the education policy flux during the period of political transition. Because contract teaching has existed over a long period, it has to be acknowledged as a sub-category of the national teaching corps. This means that the contribution of contract teachers towards the formation and transformation of the capacity to learn should not only be recognised and accordingly rewarded by education authorities but that casualisation of teaching should constitute an area for further academic research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, 1998.

No abstract available.

Thesis (M Consumer Science)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Clothing is an important phenomenon within corporate and organisational culture and forms an integral part of the total corporate identity. It fulfills a symbolic purpose and serves as a reference. It is a way in which companies can change or modernise their image as it is conveyed to clients. Little research has been done on uniform types of clothing, even though it has been an important phenomenon in the subject area of Clothing for ages. South African companies offers unique opportunities for research within a multi-cultural environment and Consumer Science's distinctive multi-disciplinary approach makes it an ideal starting point for this type of study. Three environments are concerned with the phenomenon of corporate clothing, namely the employers and employees of organisations or companies, academia of educational establishments and the manufacturers of corporate clothing. The study concerned tried to investigate the phenomenon of corporate clothing within the South African corporate environment. This was firstly done by studying the available clothing literature and describing aspects which have direct or indirect relations to corporate clothing. Information and advice was obtained from experts to gain insight into the South African circumstances with relation to corporate clothing. Secondly, employees who wear corporate clothing were questioned as to their opinions on specific aspects with regards to corporate clothing. This was done by means of a questionnaire which was developed to determine if employees of selected South African companies see corporate clothing as representative of company image, culture and policy. The extent to which extent employees are involved in decision-making processes with regards to corporate clothing was also determined. Employees' opinions with regards to consumer requirements and the extent of satisfaction with corporate clothing was determined. The extent to which age and position within the company playa role in employees' opinions of corporate clothing were investigated according to the information obtained through the questionnaire. The above mentioned information was structured to give possible guidelines to companies with in the implimentation and development of corporate clothing within the existing organisational culture. This study did not focus on manufacturers of corporate clothing, but it is assumed that they can benefit from the findings of the study. The study will contribute to the building of theory in the subject area of Clothing and consequently also contribute to the academical field. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Korporatiewe kleredrag is 'n belangrike fenomeen binne die korporatiewe en organisatoriese kultuur en vorm 'n integrale deel van algehele korporatiewe identiteit. Dit vervul 'n simboliese rol en dien as 'n verwysingsmaatstaf. Dit is 'n manier waarop maatskappye hul beeld aan kliënte kan verander of moderniseer. Alhoewel uniforme drag reeds vir eeue 'n belangrike fenomeen in kleredrag is, is daar steeds min aandag in navorsing aan hierdie onderwerp geskenk. Suid- Afrikaanse maatskappye bied unieke geleenthede vir navorsing binne 'n multi-kulturele omgewing en Verbruikerswetenskap se eiesoortige multi-dissiplinêre benadering maak dit by uitstek geskik as vertrekpunt vir hierdie tipe studie. Drie omgewings het belang by die fenomeen van korporatiewe drag, naamlik die werkgewers en - nemers van organisasies of maatskappye, akademici van opvoedkundige instellings en die vervaardigers van korporatiewe drag. Die betrokke studie het gepoog om op 'n verkennende wyse ondersoek in te stel na die fenomeen van korporatiewe drag binne die Suid-Afrikaanse korporatiewe omgewing. Dit is gedoen deur eerstens beskikbare kledingliteratuur te bestudeer en sodoende aspekte te beskryf wat direk en indirek betrekking het op korporatiewe drag. Inligting en advies is vanaf kundiges ingewin om insig in dié verband in die Suid-Afrikaanse omstandighede te verkry. Tweedens is werknemers wat korporatiewe drag dra, se menings oor spesifieke aspekte met betrekking tot korporatiewe drag vasgestel. Vir hierdie doel is 'n vraelys ontwikkel om vas te stel of die werknemers van geselekteerde Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye korporatiewe drag sien as verteenwoordigend van maatskappybeeld, -kultuur en -beleid. Daar is ook vasgestel in watter mate werknemers betrek word in besluitneming oor korporatiewe drag. Werknemers se menings oor verbruikersvereistes, die mate van tevredenheid met die korporatiewe drag is bepaal. Die mate waartoe ouderdom en posvlak 'n rol speel in werknemers se menings van korporatiewe drag is ook vasgestel met behulp van die inligting verkry uit die vraelyste. Bostaande inligting is gestruktureer om moontlike riglyne aan maatskappye te bied met betrekking tot die invoer of ontwikkeling van korporatiewe drag binne die bestaande organisatoriese kultuur. Daar is nie in hierdie studie gefokus op vervaardigers van korporatiewe drag nie, maar dit word aanvaar dat die groep wel sal kan baat vind by die bevindings. Die studie sal 'n bydrae lewer tot die opbou van teorie in die vakgebied van Kleding en gevolglik ook 'n bydrae tot die akademie lewer.

Since the dispensation of the democracy in 1994, the South African labour market has been inclusive to the race that previously was excluded in certain positions in the private sector. Black professionals, managers and senior managers have since increased in the market and they became in demand due to the introduction of the Equity laws by the government of South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reason why black professionals do not stay or develop loyalty with the private sector organisation that employ them within the Nelson Mandela Bay region. Factors that could affect the reason to stay or not with these private organisations were identified and researched. These factors are, Employment Equity, Career Development, Diversity Management, Trust, Transformation and Management Style. Literature review on the views of scholars about these factors was done. A questionnaire to investigate these factors was distributed to black professionals that still work for the private organisations in the Nelson Mandela Metro and to the ones that opted not to stay. Interviews were also conducted with the professionals that are specialists in the field of human resources. The following are the main findings of the study. Racial prejudice towards black professionals is evident in these organisations. There is lack of equity and affirmative action is not implemented properly, which assists in the decision not to stay with these organisations. Career development is determined by race, meaning those who are developed are chosen by their race. The lack of career development is also perpetuated by the lack of proper strategies and the respondents feel that these strategies need to be reviewed. The lack of career development also contributes to the decision whether to stay or not. Trust between the black professionals and their superiors is not a problem. The black professionals are happy with how their superiors support them and how they reward them. Racial discrimination plays a role in the superior’s ability to manage diversity and this also contributes in the decisions whether to stay or not with private organisations. The lack of the diversity management influenced by racial prejudice, gives enough reasons to the black professionals to leave the organisations. Lack of transformation is evident. It seems that black professionals are only given manager or senior manager positions only to comply with the laws of the country. The respondents seemed to be happy with the management style of their superiors.

Mercantile Law / LL. M. (Commercial Law)

Since 1994, the South African Government embarked on an ambitious Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) to correct the injustices of the past. One of the major programmes, which the government is implementing within the RDP framework, is the ―Integrated National Electrification Programme‖ (INEP) with the aim to address the electricity backlog by 2012. Recent figures from Statistics SA, indicate substantial progress with regard to access to electricity throughout the country and especially in previously disadvantaged areas. This study is an investigation of the impact of access to free basic electricity (FBE) on the welfare of indigent households in Buffalo City Municipality (BCM). This study aims at better understanding ways in which indigent households use electricity and to what extent access to electricity is improving the level of poverty in the households. Empirical evidences from pro-poor electrification programmes worldwide and especially in Asia suggest that greater access to electricity by poor people leads to economic and social development at both micro and macro levels. This study investigates the impact of electricity on household poverty, with focus on household income, household health and children‘s education. This study used mixed research methods to investigate the research problem. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using survey questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviews of key informants.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is a ethod of identifying unique items using radio waves that communicate between RFID tags and readers without line-of-sight readability. RFID technology provides great potential in many industries and a wide spectrum of possible uses. Areas of application include person identification, logistics, pharmaceutical, access control, security guard monitoring and asset management. One of the areas where RFID is being used and where it promises excellent results is the retail industry. While RFID systems have the potential to revolutionise the way products and goods are tracked and traced in the retail supply chain, barriers to its widespread adoption exist: for example; technical constraints, return on investment constraints, a lack of awareness and education and as well as privacy and security issues. The research aims to identify the barriers to the adoption of RFID and to investigate the perceptions of RFID held by members of the retail sector in South Africa (SA). Current research and available literature are used to identify RFID adoption barriers and a conceptual framework on this subject is proposed, which is then verified by SA retailers’ perceptions, established by means of a survey. Initial barriers to widespread adoption include a shortage in skills, a lack of standards, high costs associated with RFID devices, the difficulty of integrating with current legacy systems, and a lack of familiarity with the system. Finally, an enhanced framework is proposed, describing RFID adoption barriers within the South African retail sector. In summary, the framework is an outline of the barriers impacting RFID adoption in the SA retail sector that need to be considered and addressed. The framework identifies six categories of RFID adoption barriers, with each category containing two or more barriers relating to that particular category. These categories are Technological, Cost and return on investment, Privacy and security, Implementation, Organisational factors and People.

The Electricity Distribution Industry (EDI) in South Africa is in the process of restructuring into six Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs). This would entail the merging of the national electricity utility, Eskom Distribution with municipalities to consolidate skills and to improve on efficiencies. This integration would involve the assimilation of not only physical assets but also various organisational cultures into a separate organisation responsible for supplying electricity services within its designated geographical area. A separate challenge facing Eskom is an intensive capital expansion program to increase generation capacity which will require a committed workforce to execute. Organisational culture has been regarded as leading to greater productivity and generating commitment to the values and philosophies of the organisation. The purpose of the research was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between the organisational culture, organisational commitment and employee performance in Eskom Southern Region. In order to achieve this purpose a survey was undertaken (N=83) which measured perceptions regarding the existing organisational culture, preferred organisational culture as well as organisational commitment. Performance rating scores were linked to each respondent and were obtained from the performance management process of Eskom Southern Region. The main findings of this research can be summarised as follows: • The dominant existing organisational culture in Eskom Southern Region is the power culture, while the dominant preferred organisational culture is the achievement culture. • There is a significant organisational culture gap between the existing and the preferred organisational culture in Eskom Southern Region. • The dominant organisational commitment within Eskom Southern Region is affective commitment together with normative commitment. • The findings related to the employee performance include: o A slight but significant negative relationship was measured between the existing achievement culture and employee performance. o No significant relationships were measured between the preferred cultures and employee performance. o No significant relationships were measured between the organisational commitment scales and employee performance. • The findings pertaining to the relationship between organisational culture and organisational commitment can be stated as follows: o A significant positive linear relationship between the existing achievement culture and affective commitment was measured. A strong, significant negative linear relationship between the existing power culture and the affective commitment was also measured. o No significant relationships were measured between the preferred organisational cultures and organisational commitment. o The organisational culture gap has a significant effect on the organisational commitment of employees. • The findings pertaining to the relationship between the biographical variables and the organisational culture, organisational commitment and employee performance can be stated as follows: o There exists a strong significant relationship between the years of service and the existing organisational culture scales. o No significant relationships exist between the preferred organisational culture scales and any of the biographical variables. There was a common agreement across all respondents on the preferred organisational culture. o A significant relationship was found between organisational commitment and the number of people supervised. o A slight but significant positive linear relationship between the age of respondents and employee performance ratings was measured. It can therefore be concluded that the type of organisational culture has a significant impact on the level of affective commitment of the employees within Eskom Southern Region. No significant positive relationship was found between organisational commitment and organisational performance in Eskom Southern Region.

This study investigated the role of ward committees in enhancing service delivery through public participation with reference to the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in the Province of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. This study provided a motivation for the study to be undertaken, problem statement, objectives of the study, hypothesis, research design and methodology, ethical considerations, delimitation of the study and the overview of chapters. The Constitution of the Republic of South African of 1996 provides for the creation of three spheres of government, namely, the national sphere, the provincial sphere and the local government sphere. These spheres are interdependent from each other. Local government is one of the spheres of government created to bring government closer to the people, as well as giving communities a sense of involvement in the political and governance processes that control their daily lives. The need for effective democratic local government as a vehicle for development and national integration is imperative (Reddy, 1996:3). Municipalities are established in terms of section 12 of the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, wherein Members of Executive Councils (MEC‟s) may establish a municipal area which the Demarcation Board demarcates in the province in terms of the Municipal Demarcation Act 27 of 1998.