Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This research investigates the performance of private sector participation (PSP) in the water sector from a governance perspective. It is concerned with the role that institutions play in the interaction between the state and the private sector, which occurs with respect to the regulation and implementation of such PSP arrangements. The research takes place within the context of a development debate and practice, which identifies water as a key poverty issue in a substantial part of the developing countries, which advocates private sector participation as a remedy to inadequate water management and which acknowledges good governance as a crucial requirement for development. Nevertheless, few studies have scrutinized the impact of governance and institutions on the outcome of PSP arrangements in the water sector. Most research on the performance of PSP arrangements has examined exogenous and endogenous determinants, such as the price mechanism and the property rights allocation, but these factors proved unsatisfactory as explaining variables in the context of natural resource management. To contribute to filling a gap in research this study aims at evaluating the impact of institutional frameworks on the outcome of private sector participation in water supply and sanitation through a case study of the Management Contract for Water and Wastewater Service in the Amman Governorate, Jordan. At the end of the 1990s the quality of water supply and sanitation in the Jordanian capital Amman was unsatisfactory, as supply was insufficient and entailed high costs. Therefore, in 1999, the government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan contracted a private joint venture to improve water service provision in the Amman Governorate. The research takes into account the specific institutional framework for the mentioned arrangement in Amman, which is comprised of the national judicial and political institutions, the specific regulatory institutions as well as relevant international institutions. These institutions are not limited to laws and regulations only, but also include informal institutions such as traditions. The specific objective of this study is to show how the institutional framework of a transaction affects regulatory processes by abating and amplifying the potential for opportunistic behavior of the contracting parties, and thereby affecting the performance of a privately operated water utility. The examination of the institutional framework of the Amman Management Contract revealed that mainly judicial and international institutions and specific contract rules were constraining the discretion of the contracting parties. Political checks and balances were insufficiently established and the regulatory institutions of the water sector were set up in an improper way. The field study discovered that the resulting discretionary power of certain actor was used opportunistically, which had a detrimental effect on the outcome of the PSP arrangement. Nevertheless the overall performance of the arrangement was good from which the general insight was drawn that regulatory credibility may be developed even in unpropitious environments. However, to be able to judge upon the effect of governance and institutions on a planned or existing PSP arrangement each time a complex assessment of the respective institutional environment is necessary. This is because institutions may not be seen as independent building blocks but rather form a network which is likely to be unique for each country and situation. The mini-thesis is organized as follows. In Chapter 1 an outline of the study and its problem background is provided. Chapter 2 provides a detailed literature review and sets out the theoretical framework and research hypotheses of the study. Chapter 3 outlines the research design and methodology that was used for the study. Chapter 4 provides background detail on the Jordanian political, economic and social situation, on the issues pertaining to the water sector, andon the Amman water contract. Chapter 5 provides a description and analysis of the main research findings. Chapter 6 provides a summary as well as final conclusions and considerations.

Magister Public Health - MPH / BACKGROUND: Namibia has generalised Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics. In response to the TB/HIV co-epidemics in Namibia, the Ministry of Health and Social Services approved a policy of TB/HIV collaborative activities at national level and the integration of TB/HIV services at the point of service delivery. The present study explored barriers and facilitators of integration of TB and HIV service delivery in Tsandi District Hospital, which lies in rural northern Namibia. It focused on understanding the perspectives of healthcare workers and service users on integration of TB and HIV services at the health facility. AIMS & OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to describe the barriers, facilitators, and opportunities of integrated TB/HIV service delivery in Tsandi District Hospital. The specific objectives were: to describe the staffing and support systems in place for the integration of TB/HIV care; to describe the perceptions and experiences of integrated TB/HIV care by the health care workers, management and co-infected clients; and to describe the factors that facilitate or hinder the integration of TB/HIV services in the district from the point of view of district hospital managers, health care workers and co-infected clients. METHODS: The study used a descriptive qualitative study design with semistructured key-informant interviews conducted with five healthcare managers and senior clinicians and focus group discussions with 14 healthcare workers and five TB/HIV co-infected patients, supplemented by non-participant observation in Tsandi district hospital over two weeks between May – June 2011. Sessions were audiorecorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed. RESULTS: Several factors influenced whether and to what degree Tsandi district hospital was able to achieve integration of TB and HIV services. These are: (1) model of care and nature of referral links; (2) the availability and use of human resources and workspace; (3) the system of rotating staff among departments in the hospital; (4) the supply and mode of providing medicines to patients; (5) information systems, recording and reporting arrangements; (6) and the amount of follow-up and supervision of the integrated services. The main suggested barrier factors are: (1) poor communication and weak referrals links between services; (2) inadequate infrastructure to encourage and deliver TB and HIV care; (3) staff shortages and high workload; (4) lack of training and skills among healthcare workers; (5) financial constraints and other socioeconomic challenges; and (6) fragmented recording and reporting systems with limited data use to improve service delivery. The four main facilitating factors are: (1) positive staff attitudes towards TB/HIV integration; (2) common pool of staff managing different programmes; (3) joint planning and review of TB and HIV activities at the ARV Committee; and (4) informal task sharing to alleviate healthcare worker shortages. CONCLUSIONS: This study recommends that the district build on the current facilitators of integration, while the inhibitors should be worked on in order to improve the delivery of TB/HIV services in the district. Simple and practical recommendations have been made to address the some of the barriers at district level. It is hoped that these will inform future planning and review of the current model of care by the District nagement Team.

Transformation of social service delivery began after 1994 with the establishment of the Reconstruction Development Programme. It was followed by the commitments made in the World Summit on Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) with the emphasis on sustainable development. The Financing Policy for Developmental Social Welfare Services (1999) was introduced as a transformation tool to implement the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997). The researcher is working as a social worker in Tembisa and discovered in practice that there is little evidence of the transformation of social welfare services as stipulated in the Financing Policy for Developmental Social Welfare Services (1999). This study was part of a team effort among four researchers to investigate the impact of the Financing Policy for Developmental Social Welfare Services (1999) on service delivery in different communities in Gauteng. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of the Financing Policy for Developmental Social Welfare Services (1999) on service delivery in Tembisa from the perspective of service providers. A quantitative research approach was utilized and data was gathered through a questionnaire. From the research findings, it was concluded that, although service providers have made progress with regard to transformation of social services to a developmental approach, many challenges remain with regard to fast tracking this transformation process. Recommendations based on the research findings and conclusions of the study indicated that transformation of social service delivery to a developmental approach depends on clearly defined guidelines to give direction to service providers on how to transform social services to a developmental approach. These guidelines should include training, partnerships, communication forums, monitoring and evaluation and practice of principles for developmental approach. / Dissertation (MSD (Social Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

In South Africa, the current movement towards the inclusion of children with disabilities, including children with hearing loss, is likely to have far-reaching consequences for both teachers and learners. Undoubtedly, needs will arise from teachers during the transition, especially in the areas pertaining to the audiological and educational management of children with hearing loss. A hearing loss often negatively impacts on the development of the child’s auditory, language, speech, communication, literacy, academic, and psychosocial skills. The educational audiologist is uniquely skilled in managing the effects of hearing loss on the child’s educational development, and is a crucial member on the educational team. The educational audiologist as specialist in the management of children with hearing loss, is able to offer a wide range of support and assistance to teachers as well as children with hearing loss in the inclusive educational system. When teachers receive appropriate educational audiology services, they are enabled to provide quality education that strives to reach the full potential of every child with hearing loss. Therefore, an urgent need existed to determine the needs of teachers of children with hearing loss regarding an educational audiology service delivery model for use within the inclusive educational system. In order to comply with this need, a descriptive research design was developed comprising of a questionnaire survey followed by focus group interviews. The questionnaire survey explored the needs of 664 teachers of children with hearing loss. Focus group interviews were conducted with 19 teachers of children with hearing loss and these results were used to substantiate findings from the questionnaire survey. The results of the study indicated that the needs of teachers differ according to the sub-groups found among teachers, namely those teachers who mainly promote the use of spoken language and those who mainly promote Sign Language. Findings revealed that, although participants realised the importance of various aspects of development of the child with hearing loss, they generally did not realise the importance of receiving support from an educational audiologist. With respect to specifics in term of support, participants strongly recommended that teachers receive support in the acquisition of knowledge re the trouble-shooting of hearing aids, advocacy for the implementation of FM systems in inclusive classrooms and the development of speech production skills of the child with hearing loss in the inclusive environment. In addition, various suggestions were made regarding the structure of services rendered within the educational context. These findings were utilised in order to propose an educational audiology service delivery model for South Africa in the current timeframe. / Thesis (DPhil (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

In an effort to reduce the cost and size of government public service delivery has become more decentralized, flexible and responsive. Public entrepreneurship entailed, among other things, the establishment of special-purpose governments to finance public services and carry out development projects. Community Development Districts (CDDs) are a type of special-purpose governments whose purpose is to manage and finance infrastructure improvements in the State of Florida. They have important implications for the way both growth management and service delivery occur in the United States. This study examined the role of CDDs for growth management policy and service delivery by analyzing the CDD profile and activity, the contribution of CDDs to the growth management and infrastructure development as well as the way CDD perceived pluses and minuses impact service delivery. The study used a mixed methods research approach, drawing on secondary data pertaining to CDD features and activity, semi-structured interviews with CDD representatives and public officials as well as on a survey of public officials within the counties and cities that have established CDDs. Findings indicated that the CDD institutional model is both a policy and a service delivery tool for infrastructure provision that can be adopted by states across the United States. Results showed that CDDs inhibit rather than foster growth management through their location choices, type and pattern of development. CDDs contributed to the infrastructure development in Florida by providing basic infrastructure services for the development they supported and by building and dedicating facilities to general-purpose governments. Districts were found to be both funding mechanisms and management tools for infrastructure services. The study also pointed to the fact that specialized governance is more responsive and more flexible but less effective than general-purpose governance when delivering services. CDDs were perceived as being favorable for developers and residents and not as favorable for general-purpose governments. Overall results indicated that the CDD is a flexible institutional mechanism for infrastructure delivery which has both advantages and disadvantages. Decision-makers should balance districts’ institutional flexibility with their unintended consequences for growth management when considering urban public policies.

Thesis (M. Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The new democratic government has introduced integrated development planning as a strategy to enhance service delivery at the municipal level. This study intends to investigate the efficacy of IDP in enhancing service delivery in Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality. This study adopted a normative and evaluative research design. Data was collected using households survey, interviews, observation and literature review. A total of 80 households and 6 key informants participated in the study. The finding revealed that Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality has been implementing the IDP. The integrated development planning has several importance’s for the municipality in particular to addressing service delivery backlogs, promoting community participation towards determining the needs and priorities as well as improving integration and coordination. However, the implementation of the IDP encountered certain challenges including amongst other poor shortage of resources, incomplete projects poor community participation and political meddling. another finding shows that the municipality has increased the level of services to beneficiary households more especially the delivery of electricity while the provision of water, sanitation and refuse removal are still inadequate. However, due to water and electricity cut-off the households developed some coping strategies. Most households reported their dissatisfaction with the provision of water, sanitation and refuse removal. Regarding involvement of communities in service provision respondents highlighted that municipalities held consultation sessions, IDP forums and ward councillor meetings. However, communities are still dissatisfied about their level of involvement. Despite the overall achievements by the municipality in rendering basic services, there is still a service delivery backlog caused by corrupt practices, shortage of resources, lack of capacity and improper targeting. The finding further shows that the implementation of the IDP has contributed significantly to enhance service delivery in the municipality. It is evident that all the development planning and programmes of the municipality start with the IDP hence the municipality is able to plan and deliver in accordance with the intended needs of the people. The services viii and infrastructural projects implemented through has assisted the municipality to provide basic service such as water, electricity and sanitation. In addition, the municipality has also implemented infrastructure including roads to benefit the community. However, the municipality has not fully achieved the provision of basic services due to poor implementation of the IDP which was caused by lack of capacity, poor community participation and shortage of resources. As a remedy, the study recommend that the municipality should give priority to improve the provision of water, electricity particularly for new settlements, sanitation and refuse removal. It is further recommended that the municipality should pay attention to improve community participation, efficient use of MIG and building its capacity to strengthen the planning and implementation of the IDP. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Thesis (PhD.(Public Administration)) --University of Limpopo. 2019 / South Africa continues to experiment with democracy after 23 years since its rebirth in 1994. The country’s democracy is still developing towards greater transparency, full participation and accountability. Development depends on the existence of strong and vibrant institutions of accountability in the face of the challenges that threaten to reverse the gains made since the advent of democracy. Among such institutions is the legislature, which is the focus of this study. The study probes the oversight role of legislatures in South Africa. Oversight has become a subject of interest in the field of Public Administration as it is viewed as the mandate of legislatures to hold the government to account for managing public resources in the course of conducting public affairs. This study broadens the understanding of oversight by examining crucial relations between the legislature and the executive, and by providing insight into the legislature’s ability and capacity to carry out the oversight mandate. This is mainly because in most developing countries, the legislative sector, and particularly African legislatures have been categorised as weak. They are generally censured to have institutional weaknesses and limited decision-making role. There are, however, common challenges, including but not limited to lack of capacity, the dominance of the executive and its reluctance to cooperate, and lack of political will attributed to various factors. These challenges are intensified by the legislature’s perceived inability to deal with emerging issues. Studies previously conducted in the Gauteng Legislature have affirmed some of these challenges, including among others, lack of independence and capacity issues when exercising its oversight role. However, the literature pointed to increased oversight activities in democratic legislatures over the years. Although increase in oversight activities is acknowledged in the study, literature on oversight effectiveness is scant. From the foregoing, the aim of the study was to examine whether the oversight role of legislatures has effects in terms of the promotion of good governance, particularly executive transparency and accountability as well as public involvement. In addition to focusing on the relationship between the executive and the legislature, ability and capacity of the legislature, the study also set out to determine the extent to which the public participates in oversight processes of legislatures. The study concentrated on the Gauteng Legislature, and focused on the work of Portfolio Committees as they are responsible for the day to day oversight work of legislatures. The literature reviewed points out to the complex nature of the legislative oversight setting based on the systems of governance adopted in a country, which has an influence on the relationship between the executive and the legislature, and in turn, on oversight. The study has employed a qualitative approach, with the data collected utilising semi-structured in-depth personal interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Semi-structured personal interviews were the main data collection tool utilised to collect primary data from the participants. The participants were selected utilising non-probability (purposive) sampling to target participants with knowledge and experience on the subject matter to attain the objectives of the study. In addition, the participant observation and document analysis were used to collect both primary and secondary data to supplement the interviews with the respondents. This was mainly to respond to the contention of this study. The study argues that the legislature through its oversight role has the ability and capacity to promote transparency and accountability as well as public involvement. The findings of this study suggest that to a certain extent, the oversight role might have positive effects on promoting executive transparency and accountability. However, the findings have pointed out some serious shortcomings regarding the extent to which the public participates in the oversight work of the legislature. This is regardless of the efforts made by the legislature to establish platforms to ensure that the public participates in the oversight role to hold the executive accountable. Furthermore, the study has found that Portfolio Committees are a suitable mechanism to hold the executive to account as among others, the Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) work well together. There are improved relations between the Gauteng government departments and committees. The departments are responsive; yet there are still challenges leading to the elusion of accountability, with limited or no consequences. The study recommends inter alia, follow-up on oversight activities; committee action against the executive’s reluctance; strengthening the role of research; and regular interactions between the executive and the legislature.

Thesis (M. A. (Criminology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The study focused on Community Policing Forums (CPFs), sector policing and visible policing which are the policing strategies that are currently used to bring police officers closer to the community in order to identify and address the root causes of crime. These strategies are also meant to improve police service delivery which will satisfy and meet the community’s expectations about police services. The study also focused on factors which affect the lack of police service delivery to the community. Quantitative research design was used to evaluate Mamotintane community’s level of satisfaction with police service delivery. Non-probability sampling was used in which purposive or judgmental sampling methodology was used to select the 120 community members from Mamotintane Village. A fixed-response questionnaire that was written in English then translated in Sepedi which is the language commonly used by the target population was used in the study. A Statistical Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS Statistics Version 22) software was then used to analyse the data which was presented in a form of graphs and tables. Summary of the empirical findings are that a large number of 33% community members disagree that CPFs are successfully established in the community where police officers have regular meetings with community members in order to discuss about crimes which are affecting the community. A large number of 43% respondents strongly agree that police corruption has a negative impact to the community.

Thesis (M.A. (Criminology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The study aimed to determine the relationship between service delivery protests and crime in the Sekhukhune District Municipality. To achieve the study a qualitative approach was adopted. Focus group discussions were held with 10 discussants in each of the municipalities within the Sekhukhune District Municipality (10 in Elias Motsoaledi Municipality, 10 in Ephraim Mogale Municipality, 10 in Greater Tubatse Municipality, 10 in Fetakgomo Municipality, and 10 in Makhuduthamaga Municipality).Thematic analysis were used to analysed data collected from 50 participants. The results revealed that lack of service delivery, corruption, poor housing and unemployment cause service delivery protests. Service delivery protests turn violent due to community frustrations and police presence escalates the violence. Sekhukhune District Municipality members participate in violent service delivery protests due hopelessness and lack of knowledge of participatory mechanisms. Road barricading, tyre burning and vandalism are the nature of criminality associated with service delivery protests. Public protests are caused by a myriad of factors; however the findings indicate that there is a gulf that exists between the public and the municipal authorities. The public voice seems not to be heard by authorities, which leads to the public engaging in public protests. Public protests come only as a last resort, after all public participation avenues have been exhausted including the failure of the authorities to respond timeously to public demands. The study was able to determine the relationship between service delivery protests and crime. Sekhukhune District Municipality need to explore ways for both the invited spaces and invented spaces of participation to co-exist. This will provide for early detection (warning signs) for the levels of frustrations and subsequent protests.