The purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of the Lichtenburg community regarding service delivery and communication by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in The Lichtenburg municipality. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from a sample of 80 respondents. The questionnaire consisted of four sections that the respondents were to answer. The study revealed that DHA officials in Lichtenburg are trained, that they adhere to the Bathe Pele Principles, are good communicators and that they also maintain high ethical standards. Officials also have access to the necessary equipment, and have the necessary time and support to render services to the public. Although there are some shortcomings among officials - such as the absence of name tags, office cleanliness and the unfriendliness among some officials - respondents are still happy to conduct business with the DHA in Lichtenburg. Some of the shortcomings identified can be addressed within a short space of time, such as consistently wearing name tags. Addressing other shortcomings, such as the provision of human resources, will require the attention of the top ranks of government leadership, who will need to incorporate these into their planning processes. In general, the DHA in Lichtenburg is trying its best to render efficient and effective services to its clients. The study found that the public knows what is expected from the DHA when they require its services, and they are able to express these views freely. The DHA interacts with the public on a daily basis in rendering essential services such as the issuance of identification documents, passports, birth, marriage and death certificates; and its clients cannot obtain these anywhere else. Consequently, it is essential that the DHA maintains high ethical standards. It is important for the DHA to provide regular training and workshops to help its employees to keep abreast of new developments. This will help to ensure that the department maintains a high level of service delivery. The study's findings should serve as a guide to measure the performance of other DHA offices. It is recommended that regular studies of this nature be conducted to help identify any gaps in service, and to address them accordingly. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Despite the relative successes of the post-apartheid South African Government, government’s failure to adequately deliver basic services has led to recent national public unrest over the problem of poor service delivery. The aim of this study was to investigate satisfaction level pertaining the service delivery in Matjhabeng Local Municipality. Municipalities are mandated by the Constitution to provide basic services to its community such as potable water supply, electricity, refuse collection roads and sanitation. The analysis is mainly on the basis of service delivery experienced in different areas such as formal and informal townships, study amongst municipal employees, as well as middle and high suburb areas within Matjhabeng LM. The realistic evidence has revealed that communities are unhappy because of, among other things, the cadre deployment to the municipality, the poor service delivery, corrupt councillors, uncommitted employees, communication between municipality and its residents and interference of politicians which have impacted negatively on service delivery. The results showed that although many respondents are unhappy with the basic services besides the municipality making an effort to provide basic services. Furthermore, it is evident from the results that while being unhappy with services more than residents who receive monthly bills are willing to pay for services rendered. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The essence of this study is to measure the factors that lead to the negative perception of poor service delivery from the Supply and Demand Management (SDM) department of Company X. The Sasolburg operation was selected to pilot the study in order to determine the underlying issues that contribute to the perceived poor service delivery. Improved service delivery would contribute to the organisation’s overall strategy of functional excellence through its operations and service departments. Using a qualitative approach, this study attempts to obtain a clear insight of the perception of poor service delivery and ways of stimulating uniform approaches in order to being able to work together It is essential for the organisation to regularly assess its operational performance in order to ascertain whether progress has been made in terms of strategy changes. The purpose of the study is not to prove that the supply and demand department is not delivering to expectations, but to measure the delivery the factors that create the perception of poor service delivery. The initiative is also to identify the weaknesses, and suggest how these weaknesses can be remedied as well as to share the findings with the various stakeholders within the organisation. The findings of the study demonstrate that communication gaps exists within the organisation and communication is perceived as playing a key role in overcoming poor service delivery / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of the Lichtenburg community regarding service delivery and communication by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in The Lichtenburg municipality. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from a sample of 80 respondents. The questionnaire consisted of four sections that the respondents were to answer. The study revealed that DHA officials in Lichtenburg are trained, that they adhere to the Bathe Pele Principles, are good communicators and that they also maintain high ethical standards. Officials also have access to the necessary equipment, and have the necessary time and support to render services to the public. Although there are some shortcomings among officials - such as the absence of name tags, office cleanliness and the unfriendliness among some officials - respondents are still happy to conduct business with the DHA in Lichtenburg. Some of the shortcomings identified can be addressed within a short space of time, such as consistently wearing name tags. Addressing other shortcomings, such as the provision of human resources, will require the attention of the top ranks of government leadership, who will need to incorporate these into their planning processes. In general, the DHA in Lichtenburg is trying its best to render efficient and effective services to its clients. The study found that the public knows what is expected from the DHA when they require its services, and they are able to express these views freely. The DHA interacts with the public on a daily basis in rendering essential services such as the issuance of identification documents, passports, birth, marriage and death certificates; and its clients cannot obtain these anywhere else. Consequently, it is essential that the DHA maintains high ethical standards. It is important for the DHA to provide regular training and workshops to help its employees to keep abreast of new developments. This will help to ensure that the department maintains a high level of service delivery. The study's findings should serve as a guide to measure the performance of other DHA offices. It is recommended that regular studies of this nature be conducted to help identify any gaps in service, and to address them accordingly. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Despite the relative successes of the post-apartheid South African Government, government’s failure to adequately deliver basic services has led to recent national public unrest over the problem of poor service delivery. The aim of this study was to investigate satisfaction level pertaining the service delivery in Matjhabeng Local Municipality. Municipalities are mandated by the Constitution to provide basic services to its community such as potable water supply, electricity, refuse collection roads and sanitation. The analysis is mainly on the basis of service delivery experienced in different areas such as formal and informal townships, study amongst municipal employees, as well as middle and high suburb areas within Matjhabeng LM. The realistic evidence has revealed that communities are unhappy because of, among other things, the cadre deployment to the municipality, the poor service delivery, corrupt councillors, uncommitted employees, communication between municipality and its residents and interference of politicians which have impacted negatively on service delivery. The results showed that although many respondents are unhappy with the basic services besides the municipality making an effort to provide basic services. Furthermore, it is evident from the results that while being unhappy with services more than residents who receive monthly bills are willing to pay for services rendered. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Published Article / The contribution of tourism to the development of local regions is prolific, as it creates jobs and stimulates the economy (Lopez-Bonilla & Sanz-Altmira 2010; O'Sullivan & Jackson 2010; Saayman & Rossow 2011; Visser 2005). Events are an important motivation for tourists to travel. In this sense, there are three types of events: business events, sport events and festivals (Getz 2007). Festivals and festival tourism is a booming form of event tourism and the importance of festivals are recognized in both national and international spheres (Yang, Gu & Cen 2011). With this in mind, it is imperative that festival organisers have adequate information pertaining to the demographics and service delivery expectations of festival goers. The data for this investigation was collected during the 2013 Bloemfontien Vryfees and the findings report on the demographic composition of the festival goers and their service delivery expectations.

The essence of this study is to measure the factors that lead to the negative perception of poor service delivery from the Supply and Demand Management (SDM) department of Company X. The Sasolburg operation was selected to pilot the study in order to determine the underlying issues that contribute to the perceived poor service delivery. Improved service delivery would contribute to the organisation’s overall strategy of functional excellence through its operations and service departments. Using a qualitative approach, this study attempts to obtain a clear insight of the perception of poor service delivery and ways of stimulating uniform approaches in order to being able to work together It is essential for the organisation to regularly assess its operational performance in order to ascertain whether progress has been made in terms of strategy changes. The purpose of the study is not to prove that the supply and demand department is not delivering to expectations, but to measure the delivery the factors that create the perception of poor service delivery. The initiative is also to identify the weaknesses, and suggest how these weaknesses can be remedied as well as to share the findings with the various stakeholders within the organisation. The findings of the study demonstrate that communication gaps exists within the organisation and communication is perceived as playing a key role in overcoming poor service delivery / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Abstract In today’s business world, the delivery of superior information technology services has become an important deliverable for successful organisations. This study focuses on the end user perception of information technology service quality in manufacturing organisations. The study focuses on one manufacturing organisation, namely Nissan South Africa, a supplier of quality vehicles to South African customers. The main research problem describes the necessity of having a tool in place that can measure users’ perception of information technology service quality. The two subproblems describe the change of perception regarding information technology service quality when measured from a functional area or designation level perspective. The functional area represents the various departments within an organisation and the designation level, the hierarchical position of the employee within an organisation. A broad literature review is conducted and a theoretical foundation is developed and relevant service quality models are reviewed and adjusted in order to construct a model to measure information technology from a service quality perspective. The information has been collected by means of a questionnaire, which was distributed to approximately 1200 users. i i The overall perception of the information technology service quality, as experienced by the Nissan user base, is rated as above average customer satisfaction. No significant differences are identified between the demographic levels and the dimensions of the service quality model. Even though the model used in this study provides a good indication of the information technology service quality, it needs to be refined on a continuous basis in order to ensure that it is aligned with the dynamic nature of information technology.

This research provides the first thorough investigation into, and analysis of, the literature on e-government metrics and has opened up the topic and literature to the practitioner community. The research focuses on English local government, in response to what the researcher had experienced as haphazard implementation of e-government. Supplementary explorations included official and unofficial reasons for the adoption of e-government, along with the role of politics and Politics – local, national and international. Until this research, the main focus for e-government measurement had been on targets or large and complex analyses suitable only for central government. Instead, this research proposes parsimonious measurement. Such measurement, reliant upon collating citizen feedback across delivery channels, will assist improvement to services and assist channel migration. This had never been examined before. Since the subject of the research was electronic government, an action research methodology was employed, using electronic research instruments to deliver surveys, provide survey results and to house research models and background. The researcher is a practitioner within the field, so the instruments were designed to cross-fertilize the academic and practitioner thinking on the subject. It is expected that the research tool, in the form of the weblog, will continue (in the longer term) to assist professionals in debating the use of metrics. Ongoing research will continue to stretch across the academic and practitioner boundaries. This research makes original contributions to knowledge by revealing the most appropriate mechanism for the management and use of e-government, amongst other mechanisms for service delivery in the public sector, especially considering smaller authorities.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Performance Management System (PMS) processes in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The aim of this study will not be to find solutions to the lack of service delivery, but to evaluate the lDP and PMS process as well as the theory. The need for this study was considered relevant and necessary as municipalities today have become focus points for service delivery as per their constitutional obligations. The IDPs are management and planning instruments and are only effective if they enable municipalities to improve and accelerate the delivery of essential services and development. Central to the constitutional mandate, amongst other things, the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (SA, 2000) requires municipalities to establish a Performance Management System that will play a pivotal role in promoting a culture of Performance Management. It is through Performance Management that priorities, objectives and targets are set, as contained in the Integrated Development Plan, are implemented and measured. Along with the implementation of lDPs, the Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998) also mandates the implementation of performance management systems within the structures of the municipality. It was found during the literature review that the processes of IDP and PMS are linked, the resulting performance is more likely to meet the needs of an institution. There are various legislative acts and policy documents that state and mandates the use of these processes. Along with this are various guidelines that have been formulated to assist municipalities to successfully implement the lDP and a performance management system. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014