Research Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Political Studies University of the Witwatersrand March 2015 / Recent 21st century political developments in South Africa have given rise to debate surrounding a threat to a functioning democracy. New radical political parties, turmoil in the labour sectors, and dysfunctional government policies and activities have made populist tendencies a central aspect of this debate. Populism is an entity oft evoked in a negative light and rhetoric in this debate. It is associated with demagogues and the ‘uncontrollable’ urges of the masses that would be let loose upon society given the chance, destroying democracy in the process. It is the aim of this paper to argue the opposite. By expanding and contributing to the theoretical literature on populism, and through the analysis of empirical evidence – the Western Cape farm worker’s strikes and the Marikana strikes and subsequent massacre of 2012 –in South Africa this research report seeks to fill a gap in the conceptualisation and practical characterisation of populism in our political setting. Can populism be conceptually, theoretically, and empirically utilised to characterise and explain trends in contemporary South African politics and can it be utilised in providing a contextual underpinning for explaining recent events in South African society as a whole? Through the reliance on the theories of Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Zizek the aim will be to identify the underlying gaps in democratic politics that gives rise to populist movements and through this argument to build and utilise this conception of populism as a positive and effective analytical tool of contemporary South African politics.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Master of Management in the Field of Public Management and Development degree January 2016 / The study explores the role of traditional leaders in the Greater Taung Local Municipality (GTLM) situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality, North West Province. The purpose of the study is to investigate the role and the participation of the traditional leadership in the Greater Taung Local Municipal affairs, as well as to establish the factors leading to the tension between the traditional leaders and the municipal councillors in the municipality. Furthermore, the study proposed leadership strategies aimed at harmonising the relations between the Greater Taung municipal councillors and the traditional leaders, with the aim of ensuring sound collaboration and partnership between the two important stakeholders in provision of service delivery and development, a partnership that is more likely to improve good governance and service delivery in the area of jurisdiction of Greater Taung Local Municipality. / MT 2018

Thesis (M.M. (Governance and Public Leadership))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits School of Governance, 2017. / Former president of the movement Thabo Mbeki, in summarising what a government committed to and must do, said: “We must ensure that today is better than yesterday and that tomorrow will be better than today.” Effective leadership will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the words articulated by the previous president Mbeki is in fact realised and becomes a reality for all in South Africa. This is, equally the responsibility and mandate that all SOE’s should accept and carry out a day-to-day basis. We need leaders that are “accountable, contemplative”, who reflect and always put people and our constitutional values first. As the City of Johannesburg (COJ) embarks on a new journey by the appointments of community leaders to the boards of the SOE’s in the City Of Johannesburg (COJ). This would indeed be ground breaking and the very first in the City of Johannesburg. As South Africa continues to address the imbalances of the past, at the centre and one of the most important is housing and liveable homes for all South Africans. Therefore Community leaders appointed to the boards of the SOE’s have an important and significant role to play to not only ensure community needs are met but also the transition and transformational agenda of the city and the country as a whole is achieved. Community leaders are seen to be more in touch with their communities they serve on a day to day basis. To some they are beacon of hope and to others they are mentors and role models. They also tend to give people hope that indeed tomorrow will be better than today. The focus of the research was on one entity namely Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO). The entity has a capital budget of 1.5 Billion Rands. The mandate of this entity is to provide social housing and to transform traditional hostel dwelling into homes. This shift from hostels to homes is a significant one and will require a life style change and will have significant impact on families and the community. There is a problem of a leadership skills gap with/among community leaders appointed to the board of Johannesburg Social Housing Company (Joshco) as a State Owned Entity in the city of Johannesburg which will be needed to achieve the strategic objectives. Community leaders bring a very different dynamic to the boards of the SOE in the city of Johannesburg. They most definitely have a voice and challenges the status quo, and their different views with a community focus. They most certainly add value to the entity and the shareholder. It is most noticeable that community leaders have a transformational style to their qualities and traits as a leader. It is on that basis the researcher will demonstrate through the theories and research that is Transformational Leadership, and their qualities thereof is what is needed in the State Owned Companies in the City Of Johannesburg. Transformational leaders would most certainly advance the call for better, effective and efficient service delivery of services in the city. The researcher has focused on Transformational leadership as the conceptual framework for the purpose of this study. The data was collected after having conducted 18 interviews with respondents. The respondents are as follows - Board members of the entity - Faith based organisation in the city of JHB - Senior Administrative staff from the City of Johannesburg - Community leader from civil society Whilst having communities leaders are part of the board of the state owned entity, certain challenges were identified through this study, namely - Lack of leadership Skills - Inductions and knowledge of the business - All community based board members should sign a code of conduct and code of ethics - The skills mix of the board must include members from different areas of business - The must be oversight responsibilities fulfilled by the board members and not operational responsibilities - Stakeholder relations and Communications - Continuous professional development The researcher has also recommended strategies for implementation on the impact on the role of community leaders in the boards of the state owned entity in the city of JHB. They are as follows: - Board member’s must be trained on areas of leadership. The leadership qualities of board member’s must be developed and enhanced -The induction program should include areas like, roles and responsibilities of directors, financial management, the PFMA, strategy and leadership. - The skills mix of the board must include members from different areas of business, that is HR, finance, technical i.e. engineering skills, Strategy and corporate governance and leadership. - The Board of JOSHCO need to be at the forefront in terms of communicating with stakeholders, i.e. communities they service, suppliers, labour unions and the staff members. The board needs to be proactive and constantly engage with communities. - The board has to set up a transformation agenda / strategy - Board members must receive continuous training and development. They should be Members of IODSA hey and must kept abreast with relevant director developments and relevant changes that directors should be appraised of. The boards of state owned entities in the City of JHB is at the epicentre of service delivery for 4.5 million citizens of JHB. They must continue to drive the transformation agenda and ensure that the strategic goals of the entity and the shareholder will be realised. Board members must be willing to serve rather than self in rich. “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead “Nelson Mandela. / MT2017

Thesis (M.M. (Public and Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits School of Governance, 2017. / The aim of this study is to identify the main reasons for why there is poor leadership and poor service delivery in the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The study undertook a comprehensive review of related literature in order to enhance the knowledge gap within the concept of leadership and governance. This research adopted the qualitative research method as the research study deals with real-life social issues which involve the employees of Emalahleni Local Municipality and the residents of Emalahleni itself. Face-to-face interviews were conducted both in the Emalahleni Local Municipality and Emalahleni area to collect credible data for the study. In addition, the sample size considered for this study was ten participants who were interviewed for the study, five employees from the Emalahleni Local Municipality and five residents from the Emalahleni area. The findings derived from the data collected reveal that the Emalahleni Local Municipality is struggling to provide good services to its citizens due to the poor leadership within the municipality. In addition, the employees of Emalahleni are not performing well in their respective jobs due to insufficient training and the fact that not everyone working for the municipality is employed based on merit, which contributes to a lack of capacity and poor service delivery. The researcher makes recommendations which include appointing employees with the right skills and knowledge, developing and improving on the training programmes that already exist within the municipality, following the right leadership style to change and develop the municipality, and electing leaders who have the interests of the people at heart. / MT2017

The failure of democracy in Africa can be partially attributed to the Eurocentric assumptions that belie Western recommendations for Africa. This thesis focuses on the failure of the modernisation school to account for the resiliency of tradition in the modern African state, which is described by Sklar (1991) as amounting to a form of 'mixed government', combining the traditional with the modern to create a uniquely African form of governance. This notion of a 'mixed government' is addressed from the vantage point of traditional leaders in the Eastern Cape. It maps the vacillating relationship between the chiefs, the people and the government through colonialism, Apartheid and democratisation. It concludes that although the Eastern Cape provincial government has subordinated the chiefs, this does not signify a victory for modernity over tradition because the chiefs are not a spent force. History has shown that when the government fails to act in the interests of the people, they seek an alternative authority namely, the chiefs. The ANC government's centralising tendencies have negative implications for democracy and consequently for the people. This opens up space for the chiefs to assert themselves provided they play an active role in furthering democracy, development and modernisation in the interests of the people. Hence, although ' mixed' government in the post-1996 South Africa is currently on the ANC's terms, traditional leaders may someday play a vital role in the modern democratic state.

This study looks into the role of the institution of traditional leadership in post-apartheid South Africa. It seeks to critically engage the debate on how to locate the institution within the new politico-constitutional framework. This is done with the main objective of proposing an altemative to the current state of affairs vis-à-vis traditional leadership and governance in South Africa. In order to clear the ground, the study first deals with the important question of democracy in relation to the institution of traditional leadership. In this regard, the study unearthed that the institution of traditional leadership is fundamentally undemocratic in character, as it is largely based on heredity and devoid of principles of democracy such as equality, accountability, etc. In order to put matters into perspective the study also delves into the history of the institution of traditional leadership with the aim of getting to the role that traditional leaders played in various epochs of South Africa's political development. This investigation reveals that the denting of the integrity of the institution of traditional leadership began with the advent of colonialism and worsened by successive apartheid regimes. It is at these stages of development that the institution was subordinated to a higher authority that sought to use the institution as an instrument of domination and oppression of the black majority. Considering this role, it would seem that the place that the space that the institution occupies in the post-apartheid South African governance framework is a compromise. The institution plays an advisory role at all levels of government - with their houses in both national and provincial legislatures, whilst traditional leaders sit as ex-officio members on local councils. However, traditional leaders fiercely contest this position as, in their view, this limits their powers. The main argument of this study is that for traditional leaders to be given an advisory role in the current and future governance framework of the country is a step in the right direction, as that serves to insulate the institution from active politics. For that reason, the study recommends that the institution of traditional leadership should occupy a cultural space in society - meaning that it should be responsible for the preservation of African customs and culture. This, therefore, means that the institution is better-placed to advise government on cultural and customary aspects of development. Whilst playing this role, the institution of traditional leadership should also -be brought into line with democratic ways of governance.

A research report submitted to the School of Literature, Language and Media in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journalism and Media Studies by combination of coursework and research, Johannesburg, 2016 / This research report examines news media representation of political leadership and governance in South Africa between 2007 and 2013, when President Jacob Zuma served his first terms as ANC leader and later as the head of state. The research sought to find out what themes and ideas exist about political leadership in news media more than 20 years since the advent of democracy. Quantitative manifest content analysis is utilised to analyse newspaper articles from the City Press, Mail & Guardian, the Sunday Independent and the Sunday Times. The results show that media representation of political leadership is most discussed in opinion articles and editorials and relies on key democratic concepts such as freedom of expression and freedom of the media. The key themes and ideas that emerge include the personalisation of leadership, defining leadership, debate on how to lead, Zuma’s own leadership traits versus expectations and it became clear that news media evaluated Zuma as head of state or leader of the nation more often than as president of his party. / XL2018

Thesis (M. A.) -- University of the North, 1999 / Refer to the document

This study attempts to assess the level to which effective political and management leadership for contributes to sustainable services. Looking at the past performance of the municipality one can see that around the years of 2003 and 2004, the municipality achieved a financially unqualified report from the Auditor General with just two points raised. However, from that point on the municipality has been on a steady decline. The most decline was from the period 2006 - 2011. The decline in the performance of the municipality has been so rapid in the five year period mentioned above so much that the 2010/2011 Auditor General Report on the municipality ran up to eighty issues over fourteen pages. Noteworthy is the fact that the decline in service delivery and financial management confirmed by the performance decline marked by the Auditor General coincided with several changes at the senior political and management levels. For example under the period of decline, the Municipality operated without a permanent Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for a period of more than four years. Also, during the period of decline the municipality had six municipal managers all in acting capacities and about four executive mayors in the same period. Regarding the issue of leadership in the municipality, the Auditor General made the following observation.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the late 1940s, South Africa and South Korea were ruled by authoritarian governments, which oppressed the people’s freedom and rights. The governments created the deeply divided societies that resulted in racism in South Africa and regionalism in South Korea. These similarities may have played a major role in allowing Nelson Mandela and Kim Dae-jung to develop strong emotional bonds with their followers and to articulate their visions for the future. The two leaders, Nelson Mandela and Kim Dae-jung, fought for freedom and human rights against the apartheid government in South Africa and military dictatorial government in South Korea. During these processes of democratisation, the two leaders displayed common transformational and social learning leadership styles and presented their visions of the end of the authoritarian regimes and the establishment of democracy; shared these visions with the people and encouraged and mobilised them in struggling together against authoritarian government. Subsequently, the two leaders’ transformational and social learning leadership styles provide a successful role model to countries in which there are conflicts between the constituents of the society, as in East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East; a desire for transformation towards democracy by the people, and where countries are confronted with new challenges. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Beide Suid-Afrika en Suid-Korea was sedert die laat 1940’s onder die bewind van outoritêre regerings met gepaardgaande onderdrukking van die mense se vryhede en regte. Dié regerings het diep-verdeelde gemeenskappe daar gestel wat in Suid-Afrika op rassisme en in Suid-Korea op regionalisme uitgeloop het. Hierdie ooreenkomste mag grootliks daartoe bygedra het dat beide Nelosn Mandela en Kim Dae-jung sterk emosionele verbintenisse met hul volgelinge kon ontwikkel en hul toekomsvisies kon artikuleer. Die twee leiers, Nelson Mandela en Kim Dae-jung, het onderskeidelik teen die apartheidsregering in Suid-Afrika en die militêre diktatuur in Suid-Korea geveg vir vryheid en menseregte. Gedurende hierdie demokratiseringsprosesse het die twee leiers gemeenskaplike transformasie en sosiale leer leierskapstyle openbaar, hulle visies oor die beëindiging van outoritêre regimes en die vestiging van demokrasie bekend gemaak en die mense aangemoedig tot en gemobiliseer vir strydvoering teen die outoritêre regerings. Gevolglik verskaf hierdie twee leiers se transformasie en sosiale leer leierskapstyle ‘n geslaagde rolmodel vir alle lande waar daar konflik binne gemeenskappe bestaan, soos in Oos-Asië, Suid-Sahara Afrika asook die Midde-Ooste; lande waar die mense smag na transformasie tot demokrasie en lande wat hulleself met nuwe uitdagings gekonfronteer vind.