Local government, as government at grassroot, has, probably undergone transformation more than any institution in post-1994 South Africa. State-of the- art legislation have been passed that have restructured municipalities, and, especially, in the areas of performance and conduct of councillors and officials. Prominent in the areas of transformation are the roles of the Executive Mayor, which are no longer ceremonial as well as the radical changes which have been legislated in municipal financial management. This study was undertaken to determine the challenges that confront the Executive Mayor in financial management in selected local municipalities in the Free State. The hypothesis was formulated that “despite the state-of-the art legislation to regulate municipal finance, Executive Mayors in municipalities face the challenge of poor service delivery as a result of noncompliance to financial statutes due to human resource incapacity”. To test the hypothesis, use was made by empirical research that comprised questionnaires completed by sample of managers and officials in the selected local municipalities of Mafube, Metsimaholo, Moqhaka and Ngwathe.The findings, amongst others, were that: • Human capital in the 4 selected local municipalities are in their prime age. 69 present of managers are in the aged between 30 years to 50 years; • 57 present of the managers responded that they have adequate qualifications and training to pursue the challenges in municipal finance; • All 4 municipalities normally get their budgets approved as required by compliance. • The hypothesis was consequently, invalidated. The study ends with recommendations to help improve standards and quality of financial management practice in the 4 municipalities. / MA (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Finn (2007) developed a procedure that uses psychological assessment tools towards therapeutic ends known as Therapeutic Assessment (TA). The Assessment Intervention session was later developed as part of the TA as an improved method of preparing clients for feedback. The dynamics and effectiveness of this stage of TA have not been studied to date. The current study used a time-series design to follow two clients as they took part in a TA intervention. Participants were involved in ongoing therapy at the time of the study. Participants completed brief, daily measures related to their reported symptoms and presenting concerns before, during, and after the TA. In addition, clients completed longer, standardized measures of psychological symptomatology and therapy progress. Clients and the assessor (Dr. Stephen Finn) were interviewed about their experiences of the Assessment Intervention session and the resulting text was coded and interpreted according to a modified Grounded Theory Method. A time-series analysis revealed that neither client reported improvement on any of the daily measures of symptoms when comparing baseline and post-TA intervention periods. However, one client saw improvements during the TA period only and both clients saw global improvements in the scores reported on the standardized measures. In addition, clients reported satisfaction with the TA and, while therapists reported positive results regarding therapy progress, clients’ reports were mixed. Finally, qualitative feedback from participants revealed that clients and assessor experienced the Assessment Intervention as evoking something familiar but also new for the clients. The integration of the new and the familiar had to be carefully balanced for the clients to be able to experience the Assessment Intervention as beneficial. The context of narrative, a supportive relationship with the assessor, and strong, memory-linking feelings and insights were important for the positive integration of the new experiences. / text

Collaborative child assessment combines traditional assessment methods with techniques aimed at increasing the therapeutic benefit of assessment for children and parents. Previous studies have found high consumer satisfaction, increased self esteem, decreased symptomatic distress, and greater hopefulness following participation in collaborative assessment. However, full collaborative assessment protocols are complex, time-consuming, and thus not practical to use in many applied settings. This study investigated the practicality and potential benefits of implementing several collaborative techniques into otherwise traditional child assessments, including co-generation of assessment questions, use of a process orientation during child testing, and use of an individualized, level-based approach when providing feedback. It was hypothesized that, compared to parents participating in traditional assessments, parents participating in collaborative assessments would report greater satisfaction, greater collaboration, learning more about their child, stronger alliance with the assessor, more positive feelings about the assessment process, and more hopefulness about their child’s challenges and future. Univariate analysis of variance statistics were used to test these hypotheses, which were not statistically supported, in part due to the limited sample size obtained. However, group differences of small to moderate effect sizes were seen for most of the outcome variables, including parent-reported learning about their child, assessor-parent relationship, assessor-child relationship, collaboration, negative feelings about the assessment, general satisfaction, and negative emotions about their child’s future. The results suggest that further research in this area is warranted. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed. / text

Local government, as government at grassroot, has, probably undergone transformation more than any institution in post-1994 South Africa. State-of the- art legislation have been passed that have restructured municipalities, and, especially, in the areas of performance and conduct of councillors and officials. Prominent in the areas of transformation are the roles of the Executive Mayor, which are no longer ceremonial as well as the radical changes which have been legislated in municipal financial management. This study was undertaken to determine the challenges that confront the Executive Mayor in financial management in selected local municipalities in the Free State. The hypothesis was formulated that “despite the state-of-the art legislation to regulate municipal finance, Executive Mayors in municipalities face the challenge of poor service delivery as a result of noncompliance to financial statutes due to human resource incapacity”. To test the hypothesis, use was made by empirical research that comprised questionnaires completed by sample of managers and officials in the selected local municipalities of Mafube, Metsimaholo, Moqhaka and Ngwathe.The findings, amongst others, were that: • Human capital in the 4 selected local municipalities are in their prime age. 69 present of managers are in the aged between 30 years to 50 years; • 57 present of the managers responded that they have adequate qualifications and training to pursue the challenges in municipal finance; • All 4 municipalities normally get their budgets approved as required by compliance. • The hypothesis was consequently, invalidated. The study ends with recommendations to help improve standards and quality of financial management practice in the 4 municipalities. / MA (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014