Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2007 / The Department of Health and Social Development in Limpopo endeavors to efficiently and effectively manage revenue collection. The study analyzed the revenue collection for the Capricorn district hospitals from 2001 to 2006 by identifying problems and possible solutions related to revenue collection. A quantitative analysis of data has been obtained from in- depth structured interviews and revenue records. An analytic retrospective study design was used. All revenue records from 2001/2002 to 2006/2007, financial managers, revenue clerks, and clients /patients who came to request credit from each hospital constituted the population of the study. The findings were that in 2001/2002 none of the hospitals were able to attain the revenue targets. In 2005/2006 revenue targets were increased by almost double the amount however all hospitals were able to attain the revenue targets as prescribed. It implies that the hospitals were able to collect more revenue than in the previous financial year. It has been noted that the appointment of CEOs has brought a tremendous change in revenue collection. It has been identified that revenue is the life blood for a country or institution. The institutions need commitment of all stakeholders to collect revenue.

Thesis (M. Com. (Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / South Africa is among a number of countries that have adopted inflation targeting as their monetary policy framework since 1990. This policy was adopted in the year 2000 in South Africa, and there have been a growing number of concerns about the effects of inflation targeting on economic growth in South Africa. The main purpose of this study is to determine these effects of inflation targeting on economic growth in South Africa. In this paper, the author used co-integration and error correction model to empirically examine the long-run and short-run dynamics of inflation targeting effects on economic growth. A final conclusion that inflation targeting does not have significant negative effects on economic growth is drawn from two interesting results. Firstly, there is an insignificant negative relationship between inflation targeting and economic growth. Secondly, the influence that inflation targeting has on the relationship between the lag of inflation and economic growth is also insignificant. These findings have important policy implications. Therefore, the critique that the SARB achieves relatively low inflation at the expense of low economic growth is a misconception. This led to the conclusion that the SARB should maintain its monetary policy framework of inflation targeting which has helped it to reduce inflation. Keywords: Inflation targeting, inflation, economic growth, error correction model, monetary policy.

The research is based on financial time series modelling with special application / Thesis (M.Sc.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Financial risk tolerance, an investor’s appetite for financial risk, is an extremely important aspect that needs to be considered when constructing investment portfolios. Evidence as to how risk tolerance should be measured is mixed, with each method having its own strengths and weaknesses. It can be determined both objectively and subjectively, depending on the method used, and can be influenced by a variety of demographic characteristics. Debate as to how certain demographic factors influence risk tolerance is widespread, providing support for further study in this field, particularly from a South African perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent demographic factors influenced an individual’s willingness to take on levels of financial risk. The study used an existing, but adapted, subjective questionnaire to determine the risk tolerance levels of a sample of respondents. Respondents were categorised at an aggregate level as either being below or above average risk tolerant. A Binary Logistic model was used to analyse the effect of the independent demographic variables on risk tolerance and it was found that age and gender were significantly related to risk tolerance, whilst there was mixed evidence as to the relationship between risk tolerance and race as well as income. The findings from the study provide new evidence from a wider South African sample and could be used by financial advisors to improve their understanding of risk tolerance and its demographic determinants, as well as companies wishing to align their employees’ risk profiles with the overall company risk profile, as examples. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This research was conducted to evaluate the adoption of inflation targeting in South Africa as a strategy to maintain price stability. The research was based on the period prior to inflation targeting and the period of inflation targeting. The comparison was done to determine if the Reserve Bank was on the right track in adopting inflation targeting. The research was conducted to determine if there is any correlation between CPIX inflation and other factors affecting inflation. The factors investigated were: food inflation, transport inflation, housing inflation, exchange rate, Brent crude oil, money supply, and the current account deficit to the GDP. The correlation studies were conducted during the same period and when the factors were lagged up to eight quarters. The correlations were statistically tested at 5% significant level. The results show that the period of inflation targeting has a strong correlation compared to the period prior to inflation targeting, when compared during the same time period and lagged time period. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

<p>In South Africa, as in many developing countries, most households are poor and do not save, as a result of which they do not acquire any positive net worth and which also constrains access to formal means of finance. South Africa is a consuming nation, with increasing ratios of household consumption resulting in dissaving and often unsustainable levels of household debt, which is also stimulated by the current lower level of interest rates. This situation is worse amongst poorhouseholds who also often experience financial shocks, for instance because of the death of family membersas a result of HIV/AIDS. This report provided an overview of household saving in South Africa for the period 1983 to 2003. It identified the main factors responsible for the lack of a commitment to saving which are particularly relevant in the case of poor households.</p>

The effectiveness of monetary policy in achieving its macroeconomic objectives such as price stability and economic growth depend on the monetary policy tools that are implemented by the Central Bank. Monetary aggregates are one of the tools that have been used as indicators of economic activity and as intermediate targets to achieve these economic objectives. Until recently, monetary aggregates have been questioned and criticised on their usefulness in monetary policy. This has been attributed to the economic, financial and technological developments that have distorted the relationship between monetary aggregates and major macroeconomic variables. This study investigates the relevance of monetary aggregation by comparing the traditional simple sum and Divisia index monetary aggregates which was constructed for the first time for South Africa using the Tornquist-Theil method. The Polynomial Distributed Lag model is employed to compare the performance of these monetary aggregates using their relationship with inflation and manufacturing index. Furthermore, the aggregates are compared in terms of their controllability and information content. Overall, the study found a very strong relationship between inflation and all the monetary aggregates. However, more specifically the results suggested that the Divisia indices are superior to the simple sum in terms of predicting inflation. The evidence further suggests that the Divisia aggregates provide higher information about inflation than the simple sum aggregates. Regarding the controllability of the monetary aggregates, the findings suggest that the monetary authorities can hardly control the monetary aggregates using monetary base. Finally, the relationship between manufacturing index and all the monetary aggregates was very weak.

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.

An increasing number of people are in need of housing that would improve long-term tenure for them. Private ownership is a well-known incentive for peoples’ participation in housing programmes. The current difficulties in obtaining credit for housing, following the global economic crisis, show that private individual home-ownership is not effective enough in addressing the housing needs of the low and middle income groups. As a result of this, the need to find an option that will solve the housing needs of the people became intense. However, the implementation of the co-operative housing delivery option in South Africa has not been successfully implemented as a result of the actions or the inactions of the role players. The study sought answer to the causes of the inability to successfully implement the co-operative housing approach through the use of ‘triad model’ that has to do with the ideology of co-operatives, the praxis and the organisational structures of the various housing co-operatives. The study was domiciled in a pragmatic paradigm, using the mixed methods research approach by conducting a three-stage research whereby convergent parallel design was adopted as the methodology. Questionnaires were administered to the chairpersons of the housing co-operatives identified in this stage one of the study. Stage two consisted of conducting interviews with chairpersons of six housing co-operatives using the purposive non-probability sampling method. The final stage was the survey among the members of the housing co-operatives interviewed. It was discovered, inter alia, that the membership of housing co-operatives was not voluntary; policy and legislative documents on social housing were biased against the co-operative housing approach; limited understanding of the co-operative approach exists among officials of government responsible for the implementations and a lack of training to members of the housing co-operatives by agencies of government responsible for propagating the approach was evident. Based on the findings, framework for sustainable housing co-operatives in South Africa was proposed from the strategies identified. The strategies identified were classified into the following factors: Policy and legislation; support services; education, training and information; and governance.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract