Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The local sphere of government is the crucible of services delivery in South Africa, however since the first local government election, various local government authorities have been plagued by service delivery. In order to improve such delivery at local level, various legal and policy instruments has been designed, including the enactment of Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005 (IGRFA). Despite the promulgation the IGRFA to formalise cooperation and collaboration between State departments and the local government authorities, municipalities are still grappling with inefficient and ineffective implementation of service delivery programmes. These failures have resulted in incidents of violent protest by members of local communities against local municipalities across all provinces. The study examines the implementation of intergovernmental relations (IGR) and Intergovernmental Relation Frame Work Act, and the effect thereof on the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery through the prism of Greater Giyani Municipality. The study has adopted the qualitative research methods to determine the extent of IGR and IGRFA implementation amongst and between state institutions. The study also made application of quantitative study to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery undertaken by state institutions within Greater Giyani Municipality. The study found that there are various challenges which impede the implementation of IGR and IGRFA amongst the state institutions, and that such impediments result in ineffective and inefficient rendering of services within the Greater Giyani Municipality. The study further highlights the actions which need to be taken in order circumvent factors which impacts on the implementation of IGRA and IGRFA amongst State institutions. The study makes recommendations which may be adopted by officials of both national and provincial departments and municipalities in order to improve the implementation of IGR and IGRFA to enhance the efficiency of the execution of service delivery programmes. The study has also developed a framework which can be used to enforce the implementation of IGR and IGRFA for the augmentation of service delivery within local municipalities.

Multilingualism in classrooms is currently prompting debate and has significantly impacted on schooling in South Africa over the last decade. At present South African educators face the challenge of coping with and finding solutions to culturally and linguistically diverse urban school contexts that did not exist before. In many South African communities young learners, without any prior knowledge of English, are placed in English preschools. Preschool teachers have the demanding task of preparing these multilingual preschoolers for formal schooling in English, and, in addition, are pressurised by parents or caregivers who expect their children to be fluent in English by the time they enter primary school. A group of preschool teachers in a specific urban, multilingual preschool context expressed concern about multilingual preschool learners’ academic performances and their future, and requested advice and support. Consequently a need was identified for speech-language therapists to make their expertise available to multilingual preschool learners, as well as to their preschool teachers. To address this need, an exploratory, descriptive, contextual research design, incorporating the quantitative perspective, was selected to describe the specific educational context of multilingual preschools in the Pretoria Central Business District (CBD) and Sunnyside area. A descriptive survey was conducted and two survey techniques were employed to collect the data, namely a questionnaire and a test battery. The questionnaire was used to collect information from 32 teacher participants to investigate the needs and strengths of preschool teachers and multilingual preschool learners. The test battery was utilised to collect data on the language and communication proficiency in English of 30 learner participants. Results indicated that the teacher participants perceived certain personal challenges while supporting the preschool learners acquiring English as Language of Learning and Teaching (ELoLT). These teachers expressed a need for knowledge and support. They also reported that the multilingual preschool learners in the research context had to communicate in ELoLT despite it being an unfamiliar language. Some of the multilingual preschool learners displayed behaviours that could be indicative of negative influences on their self-esteem. The language and communication assessment revealed that many learner participants’ comprehension and expression in ELoLT were insufficient for learning and that they required support for academic success. In addition, the results support the claim that an integrated view of the multilingual learners’ communication abilities need to be established across contexts, by combining assessment strategies, such as naturalistic and structured assessment, as well as interdisciplinary perspectives. The results of the empirical research was used to propose a service delivery model for the acquisition of ELoLT in the research context. This proposed model may be an effective approach to provide supportive intervention to multilingual preschool learners with linguistic barriers to learning. In addition, initial stage intervention guidelines for the basic level ELoLT learner were offered in response to the needs of the specific community. These guidelines may provide a basis for the planning of intervention strategies to preschool teachers who were concerned about the education and future of multilingual preschool learners. / Thesis (DPhil (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / Unrestricted

Thesis (Ph. D. (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 semistructured 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. Keywords Accountability, Committees, Democracy, Executive, Government, Governance, Good Governance, Legislature, Performance, Public Participation, Service Delivery, Transparency, Political Parties, and Oversight.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute for Government and Policy Studies

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

MPM / Department of Public and Development Administration

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

PhD (African Studies) / Department of Development Studies / Protests for basic services in South Africa are a relatively new phenomenon. Noticeably, they now happen almost on a daily basis. The manner in which they manifest is at times worrisome. Under the new political dispensation after 1994, South Africa has seen an unprecedented mushrooming of protests for services. Like other provinces across the country, Mpumalanga Province was also hit by the protests for services between 2004 and 2010. Since 2008, Gert Sibande District Municipality has experienced more intensified protests for service delivery, wherein communities were mobilized and marched to various local municipalities demanding improved services by these municipalities. The study aimed to establish some of the sources of these protests, their trends and their impact with the view to propose some solutions. To achieve this goal, the study used document analysis and empirical data obtained through interviews. Firstly, the study provides a historical background and overview of the three municipalities which fall under Gert Sibande District Municipality, namely: Msukaligwa, Mkhondo and Dr. Pixley Ka Isaka Seme. It further investigates the causes of violent protests for services in these municipalities. Attention is given to various pieces of legislation that establishes Local Government in South Africa. The socio-economic conditions of the three municipalities are also examined. The key findings from the interviews that were conducted pointed out factors that gave rise to the violent protests at the three municipalities. Amongst them was that the protests were politically motivated. Some were caused by lack of resource allocation and lack of human capacity to deliver services, lack of the political will by both the political and government representatives to deliver on their mandate, as well as the criminal elements that hijacked the protests. It is the mandate of government to deliver quality services to the people uninterrupted as prescribed by the Constitution. This will minimise the ongoing protest for services in the country. / NRF

Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The purpose of this study was to investigate municipal-citizen communication channels of the Thulamela Local Municipality, and their implications on service delivery. The study adopted a mixed method, qualitative-quantitative sequential approach. Qualitative data was sourced from key-informants comprised of community leaders, Ward Committee members, and a Community Development Workers. Quantitative data was sourced from ordinary community members of Dumasi village. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used as data collection tools for both the qualitative and quantitative phases. Thematic Content Analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Data analysis for the quantitative data was conducted using Cronbach’s Alpha, t-test and ANOVA test. The findings from both studies revealed that respondents perceived Thulamela Municipality’s communication channels to be ineffective. Community members’ reluctance to attend community meetings and lack of proper feedback were identified as the main causes. The findings further revealed that ineffectiveness of the communication channels leads to an increase in the number of community service delivery protests. Several suggestions are made resulting from the findings of this study. These include the designing and implementation of context-specific, municipal-citizen communication channels, in consultation with local communities.