Thesis--Harvard.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / The study aims to assess how people in South Africa perceive the impact of the global financial crisis on the South African economy in the context of unemployment, poverty, crime, the mining, industrial, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, household expenditure, capital inflows, capital flows, capital outflow, electricity prices, education funding, health funding, remittances, pension funding, and financial institutions. From 2008 to 2010 the South African economy entered into recession because of the global financial crisis which was caused by the collapse of the United States’ housing market. A survey questionnaire which aimed to measure the perceptions of the impact of the global financial crisis on the South African economy was administrated to 300 randomly selected students and staff at two universities. A number of people were selected from the general public in Cape Town and at selected survey areas: two universities and five townships in Cape Town (Mandela Park, Hout Bay Harbour, Guguletu, Nyanga and Khayelitsha). The research followed the procedure of random sampling with students and staff at two universities in Cape Town and they were selected by the researcher and fieldworkers on an arbitrary basis. The employed field workers selected persons from the townships on the same basis. Results from the survey showed that a majority of respondents from universities and non-university subjects (170) agreed that the global financial crisis has impacted negatively on the South African economy in the context of unemployment, poverty, crime, the mining, industrial, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, capital inflows, capital flows, electricity prices, education funding, health funding, pension funding, and financial institutions. The survey questionnaire was designed according to the sample, which comprises staff and students at two universities in Cape Town, as well as, non-university subjects. This meant that many respondents included university staff and students because they are educated and have more knowledge and understanding than non-university subjects. This research found that non-university respondents were more unwilling to participate. The fieldworkers were also challenged to assess the perceptions of a large number of these respondents owing to a lack of language and cognitive skills. The research used two fieldworkers to assess the perceptions of university respondents concerning the impact of the global financial crisis on the South African economy. The research also used 14 fieldworkers to assess the perceptions of non-university respondents concerning the impact of the crisis on the South African economy. The cost of the fieldworkers’ remuneration was justified as the assessment process would have been extremely difficult for the researcher to have undertaken alone.

Increasing accountability is a key element in a wide variety of governance reforms, from national level, public sector restructuring, to anti corruption campaigns and to centralise service delivery at local levels. (Van Wyk, 2002:311). Financial accountability has a major effect on performance issues, and these two combined have implications on democratic accountability. It is obviously a fact that when public officials become accountable, this will have a positive effect on service delivery. The introduction of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) 1999 (Act 1 of 1999) as amended by Act 29 of 1999 adopts an approach to financial management, which emphasises the need for accountability of results by focusing on output and responsibility rather than the rule driven approach of the previous Exchequer Acts. One quickly realises that the PFMA aims to regulate financial management at both National and Provincial levels of government. It directs attention at revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities and aims to see that these are managed efficiently and effectively. Public finance accountability is increasingly becoming important in the public sector. One means of effecting accountability is through auditing. For this reason the Office of the Auditor -General through the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 (Act 108 of 1996 section 216 (1)) was established to facilitate effective accountability through auditing. The Office of the Auditor -General’s role is by no means minor, for it plays a major role in curbing corruption and acts as a ‘watchdog’ of the nation over public funds. Amidst high mismanagement and misuse of public resources, as well as corruption, especially in developing countries, the major question one asks is how effective the Auditor -General can be in ensuring effective public financial management and accountability within state departments so as to improve service delivery.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in 25% fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public and Development Management) March 2017 / In recent years, increased attention being given to accountability on public finances in South African municipalities saw an increase in the number of municipalities establishing Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) to address deficiencies and gaps in the local government accountability mechanisms and oversight. The purpose of the study was to establish the alignment between the recently established MPACs and the generally accepted public accounts committees with respect to the institutional design, practices and performance assessment. A qualitative case study of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) MPAC was followed where documents were analysed and semi-structured in-depth interviews with purposively selected participants were conducted. This research study revealed some gaps in the alignment of the NMBM MPAC to the generally accepted public accounts committees. The most crucial gap that emerged pertained to the mandate and powers of the NMBM MPAC. Recommendations for enhancing the financial oversight of the NMBM MPAC were made. The study also suggests further research on a larger number of municipalities. / GR2018

Thesis (MBA.) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study mainly focuses on the negative factors that are affecting sound financial practices in the Greater Letaba Local municipality. Greater Letaba municipality fails to achieve a clean audit opinion because of a number of negative factors that affect its sound financial management practices. The municipality partially adheres to financial management policies and legislation which underpin good financial management practices, for example the Auditor General South Africa’s (AGSA) report reflects no adherence to Supply Chain Management (SCM) regulations and also to GRAP standards. These factors include poor record keeping, lack of accountability, none compliance to legislations and poor financial management activities and practices. Audit opinions are either regressing or remaining unchanged and a clean audit is still not achievable at this stage. The municipality’s audit opinion did not change in the past two financial years. The audit opinion remained qualified.The study employed a qualitative research approach whereby interviews wereconducted with Letaba Municipal Officials that are directly involved in financial management practices to collect data. Data were also collected through review of relevant and current literature in the topic under investigation. One of the major findings of the study is that there are a number of vacancies in the critical positions such as in the finance department. The other finding is that the employees do not implement the sound management practices that they are trained for.Therefore, this study recommends that strategies for effective financial management practices should be developed and implemented at Letaba Municipality. Furthermore it investigates the negative factors that are affecting sound financial management in the municipality.

M. Tech. Cost and Management Accounting / Long-term financial planning in South Africa was at the time of the study not regulated by legislation. In addition, municipalities were accused of failing to plan their finances, which included failure of adherence to the long-term commitments of long-term contracts, neglecting revenue collection, and consequent over-reliance on government grants and borrowing. The aim of this study was to assess whether the adoption of the Long-term Financial Strategy by the City of Tshwane, improved the municipality's financial performance, in order to determine whether a longer term financial strategy should become a legal requirement for all municipalities in South Africa.

M. Tech. Business Administration / Since 1994, South African local government has undergone significant financial reforms. Recently reform implementation has been focused on the budgeting and financial affairs of municipalities with the promulgation of the Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulations. Objectives included the modernisation of the financial planning and budgeting processes of municipalities in achieving higher levels of accountability, transparency, and appropriate lines of responsibility within the local government accountability cycle. Among other dimensions of financial planning, this reform introduced cash flow forecasting as a management tool in ensuring the budget is appropriately funded, resulting in implementation as planned. Notwithstanding these objectives, municipalities continuously face cash and liquidity challenges questioning the effectiveness of these reform efforts. The methodology incorporated a variance analysis of the budget as planned versus implementation, and a performance 'trend' instrument similar to a Likert scale for comparing municipal performance of six metropolitan municipalities. A general questionnaire was circulated to municipal finance practitioners in testing their opinion and attitude towards cash flow forecasting. The research is concluded with a structured interview with chief financial officers. The research finds that, although improvements can be observed, they have been at a slow and low-key pace owing to capacity limitations, an instrumentalist approach to reform implementation and the significant rate of change associated with the reform roadmap.

Thesis (DTech. in Managerial Accounting and Finance) / Optimum performance in the South African public service is paramount to eradicate the backlog in social services. The South African government introduced financial management reforms to address this challenge. There is, however, still instances of poor financial management and performance, but managers do not seem to be held accountable for these under performances. This study aimed to define financial performance in the South African public service and in particular the financial performance expected of line managers.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics and Economic History)) - Rhodes University, 2006.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the concept of clean audit reports in relation to service delivery. The study was conducted in the Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province and centred on the audit outcome of the municipality for the 2013/2014 financial year. A qualitative research design was adopted in order to conduct the study and the data was collected through the conducting of semi-structured interviews. The research sample comprised officers who were employed by the Amathole District Municipality and one manager from the office of the Auditor-General. The key findings of the study revealed that, at present, the concept of a clean audit outcome is used by municipal officers to imply that the performance of an organisation is to be assessed mainly on the basis of evidence which is provided by financial indicators, to the exclusion of non-financial benchmarks. This assumption tends to encourage municipal officers to strive towards impressing auditors, rather than serving their communities through the providing of adequate service delivery. In addition, the auditing of municipalities does not assess their performance in relation to service delivery and the ways in which communities at the local level are affected by it. At present it appears to be beyond the remit of auditors to investigate the validity of the protests which erupt in communities in response to poor service delivery or whether the members of communities and other affected stakeholders are satisfied or dissatisfied with the manner in which services are rendered by their municipalities. Consequently, those who are tasked with the making of decisions in municipalities act upon the recommendations which are made in their audit outcomes and formulate plans in relation to service delivery or projects which do not necessarily accord with the needs of the communities which they are intended to serve. Consequently, on the basis of the findings of this study, it is proposed that assessments of the performance of organisations should incorporate non-financial indicators into the auditing process. Adopting this approach would minimise incidences of municipalities receiving clean audit outcomes while the members of the communities which they serve take to the streets to express their anger and frustration as a result of poor service delivery.