Literacy is a key outcome of education. Although literacy is a basic human right, and, can lay the foundation for further education and training, there is still a high number of illiterate people in South Africa. Black rural women form the majority of non-literates in the country and this has a negative impact on the development of the country. This means that rural women are still marginalized and stay in conditions of squalor because they are unemployed, poor and lack skills required by the labour market. This study focuses on the importance and benefits of literacy programmes to the empowerment of black rural women. It was conducted in two rural areas of Mopani District Municipality, in Greater Giyani. Rural women who have been socially excluded and benefited less from the growing economy need to be empowered through literacy programmes to stand up and fight poverty, ill health and other social ills they face. The qualitative method was employed where participants were involved in focus group and one on one interviews so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the literacy programmes. The results of the study indicate that literacy programmes did empower women to a certain extent because they have gained functional skills and they involve themselves in community development programmes. However, the engagement of all stakeholders in the provision of quality literacy programmes can emancipate rural women so that they may take their rightful places in society. / Educational Studies / (M. Ed. (Secialisation in Adult Education))

<p>Open source software is becoming a credible and realistic alternative to proprietary software in municipalities. The aim of this thesis is to explore the strategies and logical issues that inspire and motivate municipalities to migrate into or integrate use of open source software. The research approach used in the study is an explorative, comparative case study performed in the three Swedish municipalities of Falköping, Alingsås and Kungälv, which considers implementation and use of OpenOffice in administration. The methodologies used in the case study were in-depth interviews with Chief Information Officers in the municipalities and document analysis. The interviews were combined with the tool of SWOTanalysis to further focus on the reasons for choosing OpenOffice as an application program. There is certainly not a unique strategy to migrate into or integrate use of Free/Open Source Software. Since each municipality is autonomous in the process of decision-making, various strategic planning or guidelines are use in different municipalities. In the municipalities of Alingsås and Kungälv the strategic planning is used for leading the processes of implementation of new software applications. However, in Falköping municipality, the procedures are guided by a set of guidelines. The lower Total Cost of Ownership and the Free/Open Source Software’s freedoms besides many other advantages, make the municipalities stimulated to migrate into use of OpenOffice suite. In contrast, there are some drawbacks and barriers, such as shortage of internal and external standardization and lack of user knowledge and familiarity, which demotivate the municipalities to take this decision. To lower costs of IT administration seems to be the most significant factor in motivating municipalities to migrate into use of OpenOffice. More research is needed in order to find out the consequences of implementation of OpenOffice in municipalities as well as to investigate if Total Cost of Ownership really is decreased by the use of Open Office.</p>

The purpose of this research is to determine the extent of public participation in waste management, willingness of the community to assist the municipality in waste management and how the officials involve the community as partners in waste management. Waste management has become a big environmental challenge in Sedibeng District Municipality due to rural- urban drift leading to population increase in the region. In cities and towns where there is population increase there is excessive generation of waste which demands new methods of waste management including public engagement and participation. This can be achieved through education and awareness campaigns in all municipality Wards to capacitate residents to minimize waste at household level. Community participation in waste collection, prevention of waste generation, recycling methods and assistance of waste management departments is one of the recommended methods and solution to waste collection challenges. The challenge in waste management is how to identify the informal sector stakeholders that can be involved in sorting of recyclable waste material that has been separated at source. Another challenge is how private sector can be approached to participate in household refuse collection to reduce backlog of un-serviced areas in the three local municipalities of Sedibeng District Municipality. The objectives of the research are: firstly, to determine the status quo of the household waste collection in the three local municipalities comprising Sedibeng District Municipality. Secondly, it is to determine the extent of backlogs emanating from the un-serviced households in Emfuleni; Midvaal and Lesedi local municipalities. Thirdly, it is to determine how local communities, informal sector and private sector can be involved in waste solutions. Fourthly, it is aimed to identify limitations; constraints and challenges that confront municipalities in engaging stakeholders in waste management solutions. The responses were from the officials of the three local municipalities, relevant supporting departments and stakeholders. Qualitative research and data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. Findings of the research indicated, among others, that: *Though sustainable household collection services are rendered in the three local municipalities, there is a backlog of 10 000 houses at Emfuleni, 270 at Midvaal and 6 000 at Lesedi local municipalities *There are no other stakeholders rendering waste management services in the region except for the operations of the landfill sites *Only 35% of householders recycle at source. The residents are prepared to participate but lack knowledge *The study revealed that in public participation, the community, Office of the Speaker, officials and Executive Mayor are the most important stakeholders to promote sustainable waste management services. They should ensure that public participation policies and strategies are implemented in the region. The study recommends, among others, that municipalities must support the community in the form of education and awareness campaigns, recycling at source, establish infrastructure for recyclable and separated goods, how to establish co-operatives and public-private-partnerships in waste management. New approaches such as composting of organic waste, proper disposal of electronic, medical and hazardous waste need to be communicated to the public. The study ends with recommendations for further research to be pursued in the following fields of study: *The role of the private sector in a municipality. *Integrated Waste Management Plans as tools to promote public participation in the Sedibeng District Municipality *Education and awareness to the public as a strategy to promote sustainable development in waste management in the Sedibeng District Municipality *The impact of waste storage containers in the prevention of illegal dumping in local municipalities *The role of environmental committees within a municipality in waste management and public participation / PhD (Public Management and Governance), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

For the Emfuleni Local Municipality to successfully realize its fiduciary mandate of providing service. effectively and efficiently to the public, it is of paramount importance that the employee of the municipality have to possess the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding on the theoretical aspect of on-the -job training. The government has created an enabling environment through the enactment of legislation such as the Skills Development Act and the White paper on Public Service Training and Education to ensure that the municipality is able to realize this. mandate. The role of the training department of the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) becomes central in enabling the council to realize this critical objective of service delivery. The success or otherwise of the municipality to deliver quality services is' inextricably interlinked with the capacity of the employees in the training department to provide up to date on-the-job training to employees of the municipality. The objective of this study is therefore to study the effects of on-the-job training on service delivery at the Emfuleni Local Municipality. For the purpose of this study, the hypothesis was formulated that the current deficiencies in performance management and low levels of payment of rates can be linked to the ineffectiveness and in efficiency of the Emfuleni Local Municipality in prioritising the training of its employees. In order to test the validity or otherwise of the hypothesis, a comprehensive theoretical exposition of the literature on on-the-job training was undertaken. The empirical method of interviews and questionnaire was employed to gather qualitative and quantitative data. These methods assisted in arriving at some of the following findings: • Training as a strategy to improve effective and efficient service delivery is supported by the employees of the municipality and as such should enjoy a larger slice of the budget allocation from the ELM executive. • There are at times when the training offered is incompatible with the actual work situation. • The majority of the resident of Emfuleni, including the very employees of the municipality are not content with the quality of the services delivered by the ELM as reflected by their ratings of the performance of the ELM, hence the need to capacitate the training department. • The Employees Assistance Programme’s existence is in name only with the majority of employees not utilizing its services, an indication of lack of confidence in the office/officer's ability to help employees with their problems. • Members of the public still have confidence in the relevance of local government as a sphere that should be able to respond to their needs, since they are able to interact with officials at that level as a result of their close proximity. The study ends with recommendations for management action by the Mayoral Committee of the Emfuleni Local Municipality / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

This dissertation's intention is to deal with the legal demarcation of regions' and municipalities' jurisdiction, with short history excurs from year 1848 to the present. Next intention are individual components of the individual and delegated jurisdiction, regulatory activity and content statutory authorization to authority to legislate and its limits. Continue to be paid to comparison of czech and European legislation contained in the European Charter of Local Self- Government. The aim of this thesis is to compare the definition of regions and municipalities, of the individual or of delegated powers, and highlight some of the differences in this definition.

The main aim of the study was to explore the resident's perception of urban integration or integration of the settlement with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) in terms of the economic, spatial, political, environmental and social aspects.In order to accomplish this aim, data were gathered from a sample of twelve Dukhatole informal settlement residents in the EMM. A research questionnaire was used as the main instrument of data collection. Collected data were analysed qualitatively using both coding and thematic formats.The findings of the study demonstrated that Dukathole informal settlement is spatially, economically, and socially integrated with the EMM. More importantly it is the physical location of the community that has ensured the the Dukathole informal settlement is economically and socially integrated with the EMM city. These results led to the conclusion that the proposed government processes to relocate Dukathole informal settlement to distant areas will disintegrate or exclude this community from the EMM city. It was also discovered that the majority of the respondents are unemployed and involved in the informal sector of the economy with less income. This automatically excludes them from the formal housing processes as they could not afford. Based on the foregoing finding it was concluded that formal rental accommodation does not and will not cater for the urban poor.

Thesis (M.M. (Security))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / Soon after the ANC acquired the leadership of this country there has been a series of service delivery protests in most of the municipalities. Several studies have sought to explain the causes of these protests and many have come to the conclusion that they are caused by the slow pace of delivering houses, electricity water and sanitation to the local communities. Most of the existing work has discussed the problem from the point of view of politicians and members of the community. To date, no research has elected to focus on the view of the employees of the municipalities to which the grievances are mostly directed. Using a qualitative research that surveyed municipal managers, ordinary employees as well as community members in Bitou Municipality, this study argues that poor governance, structural reasons, social reasons, systematic reasons are some of the causes of service delivery protests in the municipalities. The research has also uncovered a litany of reasons that contribute to service delivery protests and government practice which fuel support or hinder service delivery.

Thesis (M.Dev)--University of Limpopo, 2005. / The aim of this study was to investigate and quantify the status of household sanitation level in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality. The study was conducted at Mthuzuni Settlement in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality. A probability sampling technique was employed in the study. Simple random sampling was used to sample respondents from each of the 50 households. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the 50 sampled respondents. An interview schedule was also used to collect data from the ward councillor.The findings revealed that there are inadequate sanitation facilities in the Mthuzini settlement. The significance of this study is that it can be used to educate the community about good sanitation practices. It can also serve to inform the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality to speed-up provision of basic household sanitation facilities to needy communities.

Authors: Linda Olsson &amp; Dennis Åström Title: A journey of discovery on the third floor – A case study in how juvenile agents in the municipality of Kalmar communicate with its young people Level: BA Thesis in Media and Communication Studies Location: Linnaeus University Language: Swedish Number of pages: 60 Introduction: The participation amongst young people regarding political, democratic and society related questions is through an investigation confirmed not being high enough. Within the municipality of Kalmar, juvenile agents work as a link between young people and the opportunities that the municipality provides. To create this link with young people, communication is essential. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to create an understanding of how the juvenile agents work in order to create and maintain communication with young people. The purpose is also to evaluate the result of the information campaign they executed in 2011. Methodology: For this paper we had a hermeneutic approach with an inductive viewpoint. In our qualitative research we gathered our empirical material by doing qualitative interviews and the respondents were chosen based on both their knowledge in the subject of youth related questions and also the results of the information campaign in 2011. Conclusion: Within the process of creating and maintaining communication with young people, we can see that the juvenile agents strive to become a strong link between them and young people. The obstacle they stand in front of, as we see it, is that the creation of communication is achieved in a bigger extent than the maintaining of communication. Keywords: Communication, municipality, democracy, youths, social media

Are you aware of the changes taking place where you live? Have you ever thought: “I want to change that and make my voice heard?” But how do you get a hold of the decision makers, and if you do, would anyone listen? These are questions that an operational team of Örnsköldsvik’s municipality has considered. This operation is named Världsklass 2015 and is a development work and a platform where the citizens together can contribute to Örnsköldsvik’s future growth in an increasingly competitive world. Our degree project is conducted towards this operation within Örnsköldsvik’s municipality. Världsklass 2015 team’s task has, among other things, been to increase transparency and responsiveness between the municipality and its citizens. But which media should be used to reach the inhabitants?   Social media has been on the rise the last decade and with it the power relation between companies and customers has changed. Through social media customers have been empowered. The main purpose of this degree project is to examine a municipality’s citizen participation within a particular operation with help of social media. Citizen participation can be achieved by building a stronger relationship between the municipality and its citizens and improving the two-way communication. We have chosen to look at citizen involvement from a view of the competitive business environment, where it is crucial to maintain a good relationship with its customers. Our conclusions aim to function as a framework in the municipality’s on-going development of strategies regarding social media and citizen participation. Our research question is formulated as such:   How can a municipality create participation among citizens via social media for a development operation?   Our research question is answered through four sub-purposes. With these sub-purposes we analyse our findings, where the conceptual framework later on is developed into key insights. We use these to formulate our recommendations to Världsklass 2015 who then can utilize them to improve their communication and relationship to the citizens. We have chosen to use a mixed-methods approach to reach the citizens and to collect relevant data from representatives of the municipality. Our qualitative research is based on three semi-structured interviews with the municipality’s employees, the manager of the information department at the municipal administration, the web manager and the manager of Världsklass 2015. In the quantitative study we received 84 survey responses from the citizens. The analysis and conclusion of our empirical findings will be validated through relevant theories on relationship marketing, customer involvement, relationship marketing, citizen participation, CSR-strategies and e-government.   The main conclusion from this degree project is that the municipality of Örnsköldsvik has realized that it is important to have a purpose in the use of social media. We can confirm a strong interest from the citizens regarding the municipality’s existence in social media. Further they need to improve their two-way communication and encourage the citizens to participate in the municipality’s social media forums to improve citizen participation. / Världsklass