There is currently no independent monitoring and evaluation structure for state agricultural or veterinary services to support the “Batho Pele” principle of effective and efficient service delivery to the people of South Africa. Participatory rural appraisal was used in Moretele District, North West Province, to design, implement and assess veterinary extension on the tick and worm parasites of cattle. Veterinary extension, in contrast to agricultural extension, is defined as practical and understandable advice given to individual, groups, communities and population about livestock diseases and includes their prevention, treatment and control, as well as the way they influence the well being, health, and productivity of both humans and animals. The study was conducted in Moretele, which lies about 60km north of Pretoria, and is divided into three service delivery wards, each managed by an animal health technician. A random sample of 30 beef cattle farmers, each with a minimum of 10 cattle, was done in each ward. From each of these 90 farmers, five indicator cattle were purposively selected to include two calves, two sub-adults and one adult animal. Adult feeding ticks were sampled from predetermined sites and eggs per gram were estimated from pooled faecal samples of the same animals. The knowledge levels of animal health technicians (N=44) were assessed prior to the extension being given to the farmers and it was found to be inadequate. They were then given further training. Demographics and knowledge level of farmers were assessed using structured interviews. Baseline sampling for parasites was done on the indicator cattle. A farmer’s day and monthly extension using the visit and training method of extension was done with the farmers over a period of 12 months. The level of knowledge of the farmers was reassessed and the indicator cattle resampled at the same time of the year as the first sampling. It was found that although there was a significant increase in the farmers knowledge, there were no significant differences in the level or species of parasites. It was concluded that animal health technicians did not normally have sufficient knowledge of the subject to give farmers affective extension messages. It was also concluded that knowledge and implementation of extension are not the same thing and that further research is required into the reasons for lack of implementation. / Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Paraclinical Sciences / unrestricted

This study attempts to capture the role and limits of the erstwhile Bophuthatswana state in implementing a set of reforms directed at the contradictions of uneven development, created by itself. This was undertaken on the basis of an internal hegemony perpetrated upon the rural masses, political patronage, and the role of the land-grabbing elite in supporting the regime on the basis of the resilience of its power. The realization that the Bophuthatswana state lacked the legitimacy, politically required to meet the aspirations of the majority of the people, in respect to sustained development on a democratic basis and, owing to a lack of popular support, resulted in a state which suffered from a fiscal, administrative and discontinuity crisis.The agrarian crisis was characterized in its objective and subjective dimensions in terms of sharply uneven development among the rural power base and in terms of massive rural poverty and political tensions. On this basis the study attempted to look at the management and role of general agriculture, extension, state veterinary services, training, and the failure of rural development initiatives within the former Bophuthatswana. The research hypothesis of the study was that efficient and effective management of veterinary services in the erstwhile Bophuthatswana were flawed due to the legitimacy crisis in state power. An urgent need thus exists and existed for a unifying framework that is sufficiently comprehensive to explain the fact of underdevelopment, and yet simple enough to provide a set of guidelines that can and could be more specific in historical, geographical and ideological contexts, in order to serve as a basis for policy formulation and political action in an emerging new South Africa.The hypothesis and research objectives of the study were validated by means of subjecting them to analysis and, in so doing qualitative open-ended interview schedules were utilized. In addition, discussion by the process of interview with personnel within specific organizations in the agricultural sector and other state departments within the administrative services were conducted overtime. In further validating the hypothesis and research objectives, quantitative structured questions were constructed with the study leader and tested with a pilot group. Field work was conducted at selected sites within the erstwhile Bophuthatswana. The collection and use of statistical data made available by government institutions at the time was also utilized. These methodologies lent themselves to validating the hypothesis and research objectives. The research findings highlight the outcomes of the research and verify the assertions made in this study. Amongst others, it was found that the Bophuthatswana state, entered into a fiscal administrative and discontinuity crisis from the very beginning of its so-called independence.Land reform and rural development programmes can be effective mechanisms in the creation of social articulation and mass based democratic regimes and that; this was not possible in the erstwhile Bophuthatswana; owing to a host of factors which were articulated and confirmed in the study.The study confirms that extension and training within agricultural development can play a pivotal role in accommodating change through the effective development of human resources. The study further confirms the view that non-formal education, extension, training and agricultural development must be pursued and coordinated, in the interest of a more acceptable society. Finally, the contradictions of the agrarian question and unequal development, against the equation of food and massive poverty, can only be expected to deepen in this region of South Africa. The study concludes with a host of recommendations for veterinary services reform, and for further research. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Public Management and Administration)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

This study attempts to capture the role and limits of the erstwhile Bophuthatswana state in implementing a set of reforms directed at the contradictions of uneven development, created by itself. This was undertaken on the basis of an internal hegemony perpetrated upon the rural masses, political patronage, and the role of the land-grabbing elite in supporting the regime on the basis of the resilience of its power. The realization that the Bophuthatswana state lacked the legitimacy, politically required to meet the aspirations of the majority of the people, in respect to sustained development on a democratic basis and, owing to a lack of popular support, resulted in a state which suffered from a fiscal, administrative and discontinuity crisis.The agrarian crisis was characterized in its objective and subjective dimensions in terms of sharply uneven development among the rural power base and in terms of massive rural poverty and political tensions. On this basis the study attempted to look at the management and role of general agriculture, extension, state veterinary services, training, and the failure of rural development initiatives within the former Bophuthatswana. The research hypothesis of the study was that efficient and effective management of veterinary services in the erstwhile Bophuthatswana were flawed due to the legitimacy crisis in state power. An urgent need thus exists and existed for a unifying framework that is sufficiently comprehensive to explain the fact of underdevelopment, and yet simple enough to provide a set of guidelines that can and could be more specific in historical, geographical and ideological contexts, in order to serve as a basis for policy formulation and political action in an emerging new South Africa.The hypothesis and research objectives of the study were validated by means of subjecting them to analysis and, in so doing qualitative open-ended interview schedules were utilized. In addition, discussion by the process of interview with personnel within specific organizations in the agricultural sector and other state departments within the administrative services were conducted overtime. In further validating the hypothesis and research objectives, quantitative structured questions were constructed with the study leader and tested with a pilot group. Field work was conducted at selected sites within the erstwhile Bophuthatswana. The collection and use of statistical data made available by government institutions at the time was also utilized. These methodologies lent themselves to validating the hypothesis and research objectives. The research findings highlight the outcomes of the research and verify the assertions made in this study. Amongst others, it was found that the Bophuthatswana state, entered into a fiscal administrative and discontinuity crisis from the very beginning of its so-called independence.Land reform and rural development programmes can be effective mechanisms in the creation of social articulation and mass based democratic regimes and that; this was not possible in the erstwhile Bophuthatswana; owing to a host of factors which were articulated and confirmed in the study.The study confirms that extension and training within agricultural development can play a pivotal role in accommodating change through the effective development of human resources. The study further confirms the view that non-formal education, extension, training and agricultural development must be pursued and coordinated, in the interest of a more acceptable society. Finally, the contradictions of the agrarian question and unequal development, against the equation of food and massive poverty, can only be expected to deepen in this region of South Africa. The study concludes with a host of recommendations for veterinary services reform, and for further research. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Public Management and Administration)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.