A Thesis submitted to the Graduate School of Public and Development Management in fulfilment of 50 percent of the requirement for the degree of Master of Management in Public Policy University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg March 2015 / The South African government has extended the constitutional mandate of the Auditor-general to cater specifically for performance information in the public sector, which has resulted in the rollout of a Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation system designed to enhance efficiency, accountability and transparency in the public sector. This study investigated the capacity gaps and systems problems in the M&E systems that caused a majority of the North West provincial government departments to receive qualified opinion on performance information between 2010/11 and 2013/14 financial years. A qualitative approach was used, supported by interviews and documentary analysis to extract rich data. The capacity gaps and systems problems in the M&E systems in the provincial departments manifested themselves in the form of inadequate oversight role; poor leadership; malicious compliance; lack of approved M&E policies; lack of uniformity in M&E structure and location; lack of M&E skills, inadequate budget; lack of accountability and transparency. The overall conclusion of the study is that adequate oversight role and effective leadership, and political stability are central in the implementation process of M&E systems. Key recommendations of the study include amongst others capacitating the institutional oversight structures and leadership; approved M&E policies; streamline M&E systems; all programme managers should account for the M&E function; M&E systems should be fully resourced; and capacitate the M&E fora.

Thesis (MTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / This study explored perceptions of twenty managers at the City of Cape Town Municipality regarding the challenges facing talent management. A detailed study of the literature was conducted on variables that are relevant in talent management in organisations. These variables included definitions of talent management, pay satisfaction, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, tenure, motivation, employee engagement, turnover and intention to turnover. This study adopted a qualitative research method as it was found from the literature that managers often prefer face-to-face interviews instead of questionnaires. An interview guide was developed for the twenty managers that were internally chosen by the City of Cape Town management. Data collected from the interviews was subjected to content analysis method with different themes emerging. The results revealed that the City of Cape Town is well on course in implementing talent management with it’s approximately 25 000 employees. The study revealed a plethora of challenges facing talent management at the City of Cape Town. One huge challenge facing this municipality is its size, which makes implementation of a talent management system difficult to implement at the City of Cape Town. The findings support the assumption developed for this study that poor talent management practices in the public sector lead to ever increasing staff turnover rates. The findings of this study contribute to both theory and practice. Theoretically the study contributes to the literature, as it is the first empirical study to use managers in a local government municipality to explore challenges surrounding talent management. Furthermore, local government managers can use the findings of this research to design strategies and policies to enhance talent management in local government municipalities, and subsequently ensure talent retention.

M. Tech. Business Administration / The City of Tshwane initiated and implemented a structural and infrastructural change process in recent years, by merging with Metsweding District, Cullinan and Bronkhorstspruit. One of the critical tools that influences the success or failure of a change process is communication. This study investigates how communication during the implementation phase was utilised and it impacted on the attitudes and behaviours of employees of City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

M. Tech. Business Information / Improved Data Quality Management is the desired outcome of managers for many government departments if not all. The constant use of manual systems, the utilization of legacy information systems, the results from departmental mergers and other agency acquisitions, by the South African government departments contributes significantly to poor data quality which leads to fruitless expenditure, fraud and corruption, duplication of processes, none-aligned departmental priorities and service delivery challenges. Literature reveals that there are documents that have been developed to manage the quality of data such as South African Quality Assessment Framework document, which guides and evaluates government organizations on how to achieve quality statistics focusing mainly on the meta-data; however they do not cover other dimensions of Data Quality Management. This research focuses into the strategy of Data Quality Management in government organizations and Data Quality Management tools applied using a conceptual model based on the Technology-Organization-Environment framework.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Masters of Management (in Public and Management Development) February 2017 / Accessibility in the built environment has always created barriers for persons with disabilities. Accessibility in public buildings is a key factor for persons with disabilities in achieving livelihoods and independence. However, inaccessible public buildings limits the rights of persons with disabilities to equal participation and prevents them from being equal citizens. Persons with disabilities are often faced with barriers that limit them from actively participating in social and economic life. Many of these barriers are related to accessibility in the built environment. This research report looked into the Department of Public Works’ Accessibility Programme. The accessibility programme intends to make all state-owned buildings accessible for persons with disabilities. The participants of the study were mostly implementers of the accessibility programme and participants from organisations of persons with disabilities. Most of the participants acknowledged the work the Department of Public Works has done. However, they also noted shortcomings in implementing the accessibility programme. The lack of knowledge on disability issues and understanding on how to address accessibility in the built environment was a contributing factor to the ineffective and efficient accessibility programme. The recommendations of the study include inclusive disability programmes in the built environment in the planning, policy development, designing and completion stages. Education and advocacy are highly recommended at all stages of the implementation of the accessibility programme. / MT2017

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 Masters of Management in the field of Public Policy / This study investigates oversight and accountability in the City of Johannesburg. The study explores the City of Johannesburg’s new governance model as implemented after the 2006 local government elections. The study is premised on establishing an understanding of the issues that the City of Johannesburg is grappling with since rolling out its oversight and accountability model as adopted by its Council in 2006. The Constitution of South Africa (1996) vests both the executive and legislative authority in the Municipal Council. This is in contrast to other spheres of government, namely National and Provincial, whereby there are specific chapters on what the Executive, the Parliament and Provincial Legislatures powers are. The study begins by discussing the cases of separation of powers in local government in the United Kingdom and the City of Johannesburg governance model and the rationale behind implementing such a model. The study then makes an analysis of the legislative framework in South Africa that gives expression to oversight and accountability in government broadly. The study discusses its research methodology and the rationale for such a methodology in investigating issues that the City of Johannesburg is faced with in implementing its oversight and accountability model. In this case study the researcher explores the functionality of the model. In doing so, the researcher then proposes ways of ensuring that the oversight and accountability could be more effective and whether there are any legislative impediments, and then propose to national law makers what needs to be done as informed by the research conducted

A report on a research study presented to the Department of Social Work School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Social Work by coursework and research report in Occupational Social Work , August 2017 / In 2004 the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) introduced a health and wellness Programme to manage human risks that negatively influence work performance and the wellness of employees. A qualitative research study was conducted using phenomenology design to explore in-depth experiences of 13 EHWP Coordinators on the implementation of wellness management as one of the four pillars of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) integrated Employee Health and Wellness Strategic Framework (EHWSF), (2008). The EHWSF was created to rapidly transform the nature of holistic support to employees so as to mitigate individual and organisational risks within the public sector. The method of data collection utilised was face to face interviews, with the use of a semi-structured interview schedule as a tool to gather data. Purposive sampling was utilised and the sample selected from a population of twenty nine (29) GPG EHWP Coordinators based on an inclusion criteria. The collected data was analysed utilising thematic analysis to identify themes and patterns in the data, to contextualise and describe the findings. The main findings were the inconsistent understanding in terms of the implementation of the DPSA EHWSF wellness management among participants, which suggest that the programme is not fully implemented in GPG. The lack of capacity, dedicated budge, inconsistent structure and positioning of the programme as well as management support were some of the deterrents in implementing the full scope of the wellness management pillar. Although DPSA EHWSF promotes the integration of four pillars, the study found gaps with the practical implementation of the framework in particular the wellness management pillar which was the focus of the study, there was less emphasis on organisational wellness. The study concludes that the findings will contribute towards review of policy, framework and programme development. / XL2018

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), 2016 / Every organisation has a good or bad culture. One of the key factors in stable institutions is culture within organisation which plays a critical role in organisational operations. Culture affects most aspects of the organisations' planned life, such as how decisions would be made, who would make them, how would people be treated and how the entity would respond to its environment. This research report examines the nature and extent of the organisational culture, and the link between the organisational culture, leadership and problem solving practices within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The report presents with the assumptions and ideological influences contained in the public sector reform, which remained entrenched by its legacy systems. This study has revealed that there is a lack of congruence between the organisational culture, leadership and problem solving practices in the NPA. The observed incongruence may inhibit performance and unconsciously remain the barrier of the effectiveness of the reformed institutions. The study concludes that the organisational culture should be one of inclusiveness, participation in decision making, and acquisition of new knowledge and skills which is more aligned to the reformed state institutions expectations. It is recommended that all organisations should diagnose desired organisational culture in order to establish gaps between current and future organisational culture. / XL2018

Research report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Public Policy in the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management at the University of Witwatersrand Degree of Confidentiality: A Date: March 2017 / This dissertation is set out to investigate corruption-related challenges within the procurement and Supply Chain Management practices in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality that hinder good practices and the promotion of good governance and offers insight on how those challenges could be addressed. A research design adopted is descriptive case study through a qualitative method approach which was influenced by the nature of the research problems understudy, in order to uncover trends in thought and opinions, and dive deeper into the problem, using in-depth interviews. The findings of the study or the identified challenges that are associated with procurement and SCM processes in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality are a lack of capacity (skilled), inconsistent Bid Committee processes, lack of appraisal systems, ineffective technologically advanced SCM systems (E-procurement), lack of SCM monitoring tools, and lack of training programs for personnel. The study was meant to investigate corruption-related challenges within the procurement and Supply Chain Management practices in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality that hinder good practices and the promotion of good governance, with the focus being on issues of accountability, rule of law, ethics and integrity, and transparency as principles of good governance and elements of anti-corruption measures in curbing corruption. The findings highlight the challenges that are likely to hinder good governance; and with a clear bigger picture of what the challenges are, then that would pave a way for what could to be done, especially in the procurement and Supply Chain Management Unit of the Municipality to abate corruption-related activities. / MT2017

Thesis (MPA) -- University of Limpopo, 2011 / The study explores the role of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature in promoting public awareness activities at the Fetakgomo Local Municipality. The study reveals that lack of awareness about the activities of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature has been identified. The study critically analyzed method and models of public participation and the role of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature in terms promoting public awareness activities. The findings of the study will assist the Legislature with interventions that are necessary for the improvement of public awareness activities. The study concluded that the Limpopo Provincial Legislature had not created an enabling environment for meaningful community participation, and had consequently limited the impact of community engagement on the Legislature activities. As a result, guidelines and recommendations were proposed for public awareness activities.