Professor G. van Zyl

M.A. / The study deals with the nature and problems of traditional leadership and the variables that influence the interface between traditional leadership in shared rural local governance within the context of an interactive government framework. Due to South Africa’s specific history and the power that the Apartheid regime instilled on traditional leaders, the country has somewhat of a unique situation. Therefore, the emphasis falls on the South African context. The general aim of the study is, therefore, to analyse the concepts and legislative requirements related to traditional leadership. Furthermore, it aims to determine how traditional leaders could help Government in its rural development effort to deliver more effective services to rural people. This enquiry is premised on the view that the institutionalisation of traditional leaders has been constitutionally and statutorily recognised and can make an important contribution to shared rural local governance on a political, economic, social and cultural level. It remains an important link between the local government and rural communities. As such, traditional leaders play a vital role in the development process. Furthermore, traditional leaders are important with regard to resource mobilisation, political stability and policy implementation in shared rural governance. In general, the study reveals that, despite modernisation, traditional leaders are still influential actors in the rural life of communities in South Africa. Furthermore, attempts to strip them of their formal powers, such as the allocation of land and jurisdiction in criminal cases, have not reduced their influence. In the light of the above argument, the institution of traditional leaders remains influential because it has been able and continues to adapt itself to the changing modern environment.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Zambia has, since independence in 1964, endeavoured to build an effective local government system anchored on decentralisation in an effort to attain the values and principles of democracy, autonomy and transparency. These values and principles are essential in enhancing service delivery and development. Within the South African context, De Visser and May argue, in keeping with the developmental imperatives for decentralisation, that local governments should be entrusted with fundamental powers and functions related to basic service delivery. A local government entrusted with fundamental powers is said to be the best foundation for building democracy, social and economic development. Therefore, the desire to build a strong foundation for an effective local government system is what motivates the design of local government administrations in many countries. One of the essential aspects in the design of a local government system is administrative autonomy. Administrative autonomy is important because it plays a complementary role to the realisation of political and fiscal autonomy. Administrative autonomy refers to the discretion to appoint, remunerate, discipline and dismiss staff as well as determining internal administrative procedures. It further ensures that the implementation of local policies is locally directed and driven by promoting accountability of local administrative officials to sub-national governments. In an effort to have a local government system that promotes accountability of local administrative officials to sub-national governments, Zambia has over the years employed three systems of local government administrations from 1964 to 2016 namely, the separate, unified and integrated systems.

Magister Legum - LLM / The unemployment rate in South Africa is alarmingly high. In the year 2018, the unemployment rate was recorded at 27.2%. Many people are forced to do desperate, and even dangerous things in order to sustain themselves. This includes people going into landfills to collect recyclable materials to sell and look for a meal. Collecting and retailing recyclable waste has become an informal source of income for thousands of people in South Africa. Waste pickers are individuals whose survival largely depends on collecting, sorting and selling recyclable waste. Waste pickers are defined as people who “collect, sort and sell reusable and recyclable materials”. They embark on waste picking as a means of survival. Given the fact that informal waste management is not regulated by the government, waste pickers are left vulnerable to exploitation and hazardous working environments. Waste pickers are denied access to landfills by either private companies, where municipalities have outsourced this function, or by municipalities themselves. Depending on the management of the landfill, waste pickers could also potentially be faced with crime on landfills with gangsters robbing them of their recyclables and/or hard earned money.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partlal fulfillment of the requirements for-tne degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public and Development Management). / This research report develops a review framework for metropolitan local government in Greater Johannesburg and South Africa, through the extrapolation of the key aspects of three generic models of metropolitan local government. These models are classified as confederal. tow-tier and unicity type of city government. The need for the review of local government in Greater Johannesburg is illustrated through an historical overview or events in the transformation of local government since 1990, The crucial clements or the generic models arc also described in terms of metropolitan evaluation criteria and area variables. Evaluation criteria are defined as essential strategic indicators of performance, whilst area variables are seen as those factors which contribute to the specific structure and nature of metropolises in South Africa. Tile generic models are compiled in the format of a review matrix. which take the crucial elements thereof, as well as the evaluation criteria and area variables into account. Compatibility with the evaluation criteria are measured as being either low, medium or high. The conclusion is made that either an integrating two-tier system or metropolitan government or an unicity with limited delegation to community councils represent the optimal alternative for Greater Johannesburg. / AC2017

Student Number : 0110471A - MSc research report - School of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Having followed various different approaches in environmental management capacity building for a number of years, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) achieved various degrees of success. The increased importance of environmental management at local government level required a more consistent approach from the DBSA in order to improve delivery. This necessitated the identification of success criteria that the DBSA could implement to guide this improvement. In order to identify these criteria, the following main aspects were researched: The environmental mandate and capacity of local government in South Africa, the international perspective on capacity building, the DBSA’s mandate on capacity building and lastly the outcomes of four environmental capacity building projects implemented by the DBSA. The criteria identified focussed on two main areas, namely project management and environmental management. Furthermore, various steps were identified that the DBSA needs to take with relation to its own project cycle that might lead to improvements in this regard.

A research report submitted to the faculty of commerce, law and management, university of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of management (in the field of public and development management). YEAR: 2015 / Knowledge sharing is a critical component of knowledge management and a new phenomenon in the South African public sector. To introduce knowledge sharing in government, the Department of Public Service and Administration included it as one of the core management competencies for senior management service officials. There is a general perception that government employees are not keen to share what they know, as sharing empowers your colleague to compete with you for power and promotional opportunities. The purpose of this research study was therefore to investigate the perception of staff members on knowledge sharing activities in Limpopo Provincial Treasury department. In particular, the study was aimed at answering the following questions about the department: (1) What is the perception of employees on knowledge sharing as a catalyst to achieve operational and service delivery objectives? (2) What is the readiness level of LPT employees to share their experiences and know-how for the benefit of the institution? This was a qualitative research. The data was collected through the questionnaire distributed to employees grouped in two stratas, namely senior management and middle management services. Discussions were held, mostly with members of the dysfunctional knowledge management committee and other identified staff members. Relevant departmental documents were also reviewed as part of the research process. The outcome of the study is that the state of employees’ perception towards knowledge sharing is generally positive but in practice, there is little knowledgesharing taking place due to unconducive organisational culture and lack of leadership to position knowledge management as a strategic focus of the department. The study recommends that LPT adopts knowledge management as a strategic focus and put plans in place to preserve institutional memory

No description available.

A Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system is important in a country or public sector organisation as it can assist in the understanding of a country or organisation’s M&E efforts. Information acquired from using the M&E system will then lead to a clearer understanding of the current M&E initiatives, the overall environment where the system is used and some of the institutional arrangements involved. Using the system can also be looked at from a viewpoint of improving the current M&E initiatives and using M&E information obtained from using the system to assist and benefit the intended stakeholders. Based on the above remarks around M&E systems, this study explored the challenges faced by the Gauteng Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs (DLGTA), in implementing a municipal M&E system. In a probe of the challenges related to the implementation of this system, the study found that department’s lack to properly capacitate the municipal service delivery M&E unit with the required and skilled personnel mostly impacted the department’s efforts to implement a municipal M&E system. The study also found that the challenges of not implementing a municipal M&E system was as a result of the DLGTA as an organisation not properly viewing itself as the coordinating body of municipal M&E in the Gauteng province. By not recognising itself as the coordinating body of M&E in the province, the DLGTA’s efforts were minimal in terms of capacitating its service delivery M&E unit with the right number of personnel, but also highly skilled personnel who have a solid M&E background, training and who could ensure the implementation of a municipal M&E system. A major consequence of the above departmental shortcomings is that they lead to the human capacity challenges of the service delivery M&E unit of the DLGTA that contributed to the non-implementation of a municipal M&E system. This is the system that should be used to conduct municipal M&E and also assist Gauteng municipalities with their M&E functions as mandated by legislation.

A Dissertation presented to The Department of Social Work School of Human and Community Development Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand In fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Social Work by Research May, 2016 / The public sector work ethics in South Africa persist to highlight negative perceptions because of overt employees’ unethical behaviour and managerial incompetence. The primary aim of the study is to explore what factors are impeding frontline staff of Department of Labour (DoL) in delivering client services in accordance with standards and requirements and what will contribute to the improvement of service delivery by DoL frontline staff. A qualitative approach was used and a multiple case study research design conducted. Non-probability purposeful sampling was used to select the participants, of DoL employees in South Africa, referred to as the Client Service Officers (CSOs), the frontline staff members and their Supervisors from two sampled offices, Johannesburg Labour Centres (LCs) in Gauteng (GP) and Witbank LC, Mpumalanga (MP) Provinces. A total of three semi-structured interview schedules were used for separate phases of individual and group face to face interviews of frontline staff and Key informants from ProductivitySA and DoL Head Office to collect data, with consented tape recording. Thematic content analysis was used and while some generalisation can be drawn, anticipation was to identify the challenges public servants experience which hampers them to deliver services. Overall findings suggest misalignment of the mandate of DoL with clients’ needs; challenges with personnel’s work knowledge; management, administrative, resources and ethical issues; and service structures’ non-compliance to standards of health and safety. Remedies include policy reviews, training and employment of social work services in frontline operations