No abstract available. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

It is the objective of this dissertation to highlight the legislative and administrative aspects of teacher training for Indians in Natal. However, because the field which could be covered was so extensive, it was decided to focus attention primarily on those aspects pertinent to teacher training for Indians in Natal. Attention by way of example is invited to the following fields which had to be explored as they serve as the basis for teacher training of Indians in Natal: 1) A synopsis of the history of teacher training with special reference to recent developments. In this regard the survey inter alia, reveals that teacher training gained momentum during the last few decades. Prior to that, commencing from the close of the last century, the problem of an adequate corps of qualified teachers arose mainly as a result of historical circumstances. It was only during the 1950's that the Department responsible for Indian Education made concerted efforts to tackle the Indian teacher training problem in all seriousness. Thus, for almost six decades little was done to alleviate teacher training facilities for Natal's Indian community. 2) An overview of the basic legislation for teacher training in the South African context. The rapid growth of the South African population and to a lesser extent the effects of the Second World War prompted the South African Government to introduce numerous legislative and administrative measures to meet the teacher training needs of prospective students. National legislation presently places most of the responsibility for providing adequate teacher training facilities for the different population groups on the shoulders of the different education departments. 3) An overview of the financing of teacher training institutions and trainee teachers with special reference to the Springfield College of Education. It is the responsibility of the Central Government to fund education. Since the financial means of the Government are limited, it is not possible presently to provide all the population groups with adequate facilities for teacher training. A larger percentage of the national budget will have to be spent on teacher training than at present. Incentives, such as, inter alia, bursaries, are awarded to successful candidates for teacher training. On the financing of the tertiary educational sector, the Universities advisory council has completed an investigation into a revised subsidy formula for universities. A subsidy formula for technikons has been designed and will be adapted to the basic formula for universities. 4) A description of the administrative framework and basis for selecting prospective students for admission to teacher training institutions. No other single factor is as decisive in determining the quality of education in a country as the quality of the corps of teachers, lecturers and instructors. The recruitment and selection methods employed by the Department of Education and Culture (House of Delegates) are comparable to those employed by other education departments in South Africa. Since supply exceeds demand in the case of the number of applicants for teacher training in the Indian education department, applicants are carefully screened and the best are obviously selected. 5) An overview of teacher training and practice in essence with special reference to the University of Durban-Westville. Teaching practice forms an integral part in the moulding of a prospective student for teaching. Teaching practice is basically in two forms, that is, school-based and campus- based. A detailed study of the teaching practice programme implemented by the University of Durban-Westville indicates that students are subjected to almost all aspects of a teacher's normal work. Furthermore, if students are successful in following all aspects of teacher training as offered, the possibility exists, that they could be successful teachers The following recommendations are, inter alia, made, viz. that - i) an investigation into a more cost-beneficial system of financing of the tertiary education sector be undertaken; ii) a broad model for recruitment and selection of trainee teachers be drawn up by the Education Authorities; iii) facilities for continued education be carefully planned in terms of accessibility; and iv) that training institutions be geographically and demographically well placed. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 1985.

No abstract available. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 2000.

The research study emphasizes the significance of public participation in integrated development planning at the local level of government in South Africa. The introduction of a democratic dispensation highlighted the idea of public participation and placed it in the spotlight. The typology is described and presented within the locus and focus of municipal strategic management, and the context and operation of development planning in the current local government dispensation. The literature review presents a theoretical analysis of the local government systems and processes necessary for enhanced citizen participation, and further examines integrated development planning as a strategic communication tool that emphasizes the social praxis of ongoing dialogue with local communities. Furthermore, a concentration on public administration within municipal strategic governance, integrated development planning and public participation will facilitate an in-depth coverage of materials relating to developmental governance within the current context in South Africa. Much has happened to affect the field of local government in South Africa. Of significance, is the impact of public participation via integrated development planning. An integrated development plan is therefore regarded as a strategic management tool that serves as a guideline and informs all planning activities, outcomes, outputs and impact of a municipality. The emphasis, therefore, of this research is centred around an evaluation of eThekwini Municipality's strategic plan focusing on public participation in its integrated development plan which feeds into its Long Term Development Plan (LTDF) for 2020, an analysis of the roles of key stakeholders in the political-management interface between the Council and local communities, and the integration of municipal resources in its long-term planning activities and developmental outcomes. This enquiry therefore culminated in an extensive literature review of municipal strategic planning in eThekwini Municipality within KwaZulu-Natal. Citizen participation through the integrated development plan ought to be viewed as simple and uncomplicated, and is aimed at increasing levels of education and literacy amongst local communities. To this end, the Municipality focuses its integrated development plan on Umsebenzi (Keeping You Informed). Through its strategic approach that "citizens are the centre of the focus, and not an add on through mere political rhetoric", the integrated development plan can serve as an archetype of strong civic-focused leadership. Moving beyond urban pathologies and local bureaucracies and despite a promising and sophisticated institutional framework for public participation, there is still a lack of participation in the local government structures. One of the factors that help to make the public participation cliché move beyond mere lip service is active engagement or holistic integration. The research examines and analyzes some of the factors for poor or non-performance in the municipal dichotomy, and the dynamics of public participation in integrated development planning amidst metropolitan urban management. The research arrays the study in a framework that leads to some key recommendations, and brings the following observations to light: • Ensure that the municipal functionaries and the local communities are oriented for more constructive and robust engagement of civil society issues; • Investment in strengthening local governing capacities because municipalities need increased emphasis on strategic planning as opposed to master-planning mechanistic models; • Focus on pragmatism and the promotion of joint learning through genuine interaction with local communities using the bottom-up approach as opposed to a top-down approach; • Undertake research and take proactive steps to manage dynamic climate change in response to economic and socio-environmental needs and sustainable development; • Facilitate social programmes which will emphasis and illustrate the potential development axis, and serve as connexions aimed at addressing grassroots issues and delivering visible and practical outcomes via the integrated development plan, and • Establishing a co-operative community culture invoked by civic pride and public involvement. From the afore-going discussion, the research emphasizes that each trait and focus of development is a distinct variable, and can lead to a new kind of experimentalism when working with local communities, which can contribute to mutual enrichment for urban efficiency and community satisfaction. The outputs of strategic interventions by municipalities affect the communities and help shape their subsequent inputs. Finally, the satisfaction of public desires depends on aspirations, as well as achievements. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2008.

The study which is documented in this dissertation was undertaken to portray primarily, the involvement of welfare officers in the performance of administrative and management functions. The period during which the study was conducted, that is, prior to the postapartheid era, was very significant. The significance of the research period was in the sense that welfare officers of the former KwaZulu Government who were interviewed, were already critically evaluating their functions and work situation. The study provided a medium whereby welfare officers expressed the perceptions of their real and present, as well as their ideal and envisaged work situation, in the context of the post-apartheid environment. The study took cogmsance of the welfare officers' performance of their functions as public servants in the field of public administration. In the above context, the study viewed public administration as a vast field of work consisting of a number of main function-groups namely: (i) The generic administrative functions each of which has two dimensions that is: (a) the conceptual (initiatory and innovative) and directive dimension and (b) the managerial dimension. (ii) The auxiliary functions (iii) The line functions - also referred to as functional activities. Although the study focused on administrative and management functions which are reported separately, it should be noted that like in any public institution, both dimensions of generic administrative functions of welfare officers are performed along with the functional, auxiliary and instrumental activities. The ultimate aim of public administration, which is also recognised by this study, is the promotion of the general welfare of the community. The study has realised the fact that welfare officers were significant promoters of the community's welfare. For being promoters of the welfare of the community, welfare officers have the responsibility and the obligation to commit themselves to the observation of normative guidelines to ensure that their service delivery is effective and efficient. In line with the above statement, the welfare officers' observation of current and future normative factors features prominently in this study. Although responses on current and future normative factors are presented separately in this report, this study acknowledges the significance of welfare officers integrated approach to the observation of and commitment to both current and future normative guidelines. Apart from the listed examples of interviewees' involvement in performing their functions, and advantages of observing normative guidelines, detailed accounts of what were perceived as obstacles are also presented. Responses, remarks and ideas expressed by interviewees provided adequate information on which the researcher based his conclusions and recommendations. The apparent merit of this study is in its depiction and revelations of the extent and magnitude of welfare officers' functions, responsibilities, commitments and obligations. Another favourable and notable feature of the study is the fact that it was conveniently timed at an opportune transitional period whereby both the current and future work environments of welfare officers could be critically assessed, evaluated, and possibly amended. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 1995.

No abstract available. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 1995.

The study is a monograph on participation in local government in South Africa. Participation is framed within the theoretical perspectives of representative democracy and its off-shoot, deliberative democracy. The research draws from three conceptual aspects: the main theories of democracy and participation contemplating the local sphere of government; the policy framework staging the interactions between the key participants, namely, local government and civil society formations; and the institutional spaces, values and attitudes involved therein. The problematique of the research in terms of the three conceptual aspects are: to show that representative democracy has declined in favour of participation praxis; to assess policy coherence for effective participation at the local sphere; and to examine the accommodation of new participative spaces. To this end, the research undertook an extensive literature review and an empirical study of the eThekwini Municipal Area, in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The literature review indicated three learnings. Firstly, there was a decline in representative democracy, with decreasing emphasis on the electoral mode of politics. Rather, the tendency shifted towards supplementation with forms of public participation. Public participation and engagement developed into an off-shoot of representative democracy, now known pervasively as deliberative democracy and discursive democracy. The basis of these new democratic approaches means that citizens ought to have a hand in, and influence public decisions. Secondly, participation has taken new democratic forms that could be viewed alternatively as space; dialogue and deliberation; rights; development; decentralization; and accountability. Thirdly, new spaces for participation could be viewed in the form of political society and social capital vis-a-vis international agreements; poverty eradication; public administration; and the combined import of administrative law and judicial review. In terms of the aims of the study, the work revealed that the participatory framework is based upon extensive theoretical and policy understandings. Participation is adequately captured in constitutional and legislative instruments in South Africa. The Draft National Policy Framework for Public Participation, 2005 is a concrete outcome of South African local government preparedness to engage in meaningful participative discourse and praxis. In terms of the research problems of the study, the work concluded the following: • there is agreement on the part of stakeholders for engagement in parallel representative and participative forms of governance; • local government participative policy appears sound but there is a need for convergent understanding on the part of the different participants, namely, municipal councillors; community stakeholders; and actors within the municipality; and • there is evidence of contrasting debates on aspects of participatory praxis, but on the whole, participants have taken a knowledgeable and practical approach to new spaces for participation. The study makes six recommendations: •Brief and consult councillors, community stakeholders, and municipal actors on the findings of the study. (This exercise will serve two purposes, namely, to verify the findings of the study; and to develop a concrete programme for participation in the eThekwini Municipal Area, including a code of best practice). •Develop a capacity building programme on judicial review for the three categories of stakeholders, namely, municipal councillors, municipal officials, and community stakeholders. •Undertake further research on democratic participative forms at the local government level with particular focus on effective praxis through administrative justice. •Initiate developmental programmes and case studies based upon participation praxis to address the most acute problems experienced by select local communities in the eThekwini Municipal Area. •Make input into the review of provincial and local government policy processes initiated by the South African government and co-ordinated by the Department of Provincial and Local Government. • Triangulate and establish the theoretical relationships of participation, democracy and governance. The conclusions of the study reflect positively on the ideational foundations of participation and willingness of stakeholders to adopt new forms of discursive politics. The six recommendations of the work can serve to advance research and policy planning in the local government sphere in South Africa. / Thesis (DPA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2008.

The main aim of this thesis was to explore the impact of urbanisation on the provision of water to the people of the Durban Metropolitan Area. The literature study revealed that urbanisation is proceeding rapidly and that the urban population in Durban will continue to grow and expand. Employment opportunities and enhanced service delivery in urban areas were two of the primary factors that attracted people to the city centres. The provision of water was identified as a growing priority in the new South Africa. It was found that whilst the privileged minority enjoyed first world lifestyles, the majority of people were poverty stricken and had little or no access to basic services. The literature as it exists reflects that local government is entrusted with a mammoth and crucial task in enhancing sustainable service delivery at affordable prices to impoverished communities. In light thereof, local government required a concerted strategy to address urban needs if it is to respond more effectively to its clientele and to the effects of urbanisation in the new millennium. The empirical study included the use of questionnaires to: - managers at the Urban strategy Unit; - managers at Durban Metro Water Services; and - two hundred subjects randomly selected from the Inanda/ Phoenix, Cato Crest / Cato Manor, Clare Estate / Reservoir Hills and Umlazi informal settlements. The data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings illustrates that an increase in urbanisation patterns has caused a decline in job opportunities and has added pressure to the local government infrastructure. The data revealed that the major obstacles to water delivery was accelerated urbanisation, lack of finance, high construction costs, high population growth rates, shortage of skilled labour, violence and crime and inadequate community participation. The empirical study revealed that people of all ages resided in the informal settlements. The majority of people were unemployed, generally had access to primary or secondary education and occupied menial jobs which were poorly remunerated. There is a need to create a National Commission on Urbanisation Development which can serve as an advisory body to government. This provision is universally recommended by urban geographers and government officials. This study calls for central government to play a more meaningful role in service delivery by strengthening the authority of local governments to raise adequate revenues to meet rising urban service needs. Central government must also provide technical assistance and training to local officials in improving tax administration, collection procedures and increasing revenues from existing and new sources. Local authorities need to improve their own performance in service delivery. This can be achieved if it has the capacity to act effectively and efficiently. Administrative structures and practices should be designed according to the services to be provided and the policies to be implemented. Furthermore, private sector involvement is crucial to ensure the provision of water to people, especially in impoverished areas. / Thesis (DPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 2000.

The performance management and development system for senior managers in the South African Public Service, the focus of this study, was introduced in 2002 with a view to improve productivity, individual and organisational performance. In Provincial Education Departments, the Member of the Executive Council, responsible for education, is entrusted with the responsibility of promoting the mandate of the government-of-the-day, namely, quality basic public education. Responsibilities and functions are consequently delegated to senior managers of the Department and performance is managed through a performance contract that is legally binding. This contractual performance-oriented relationship between the executing authority and the accounting officer is monitored and evaluated, and is enforced with either rewards or sanctions. In the South African Public Service, the performance management and development system has been prompted by the transformative agenda set for the public service since 1995, and the public service is expected to operate within the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm with a focus on achievement of measurable results and acceptable levels of service delivery. This meant that there had to be a shift from bureaucratic rule-driven approaches in public service management to a results-oriented approach to government performance. Furthermore, the goal-directed approach was replaced with an outcomes-based approach. The pursuit of goals did not necessarily result in the improvement of performance in the organisation. With the introduction of the performance management and development system for the senior management service in the public service, an infrastructure of systems and elaborate processes were introduced, such as drawing up of performance agreements, agreeing on what has to be delivered, designing work plans and appraising performance. Managers must undergo quarterly performance reviews by their supervisors and capacity deficits are addressed through training and development to enhance skills and knowledge. Performance is appraised annually in April of each year. The performance management and development system is focuses on individual and institutional performance. The performance of several managers in the public service cannot be deemed as optimal. The matriculation results in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education have been progressively declining since 2004. The performance of learners in KwaZulu-Natal especially in nationally conducted systemic evaluation tests for grade six in 2005 relating to numeracy and literacy indicated that the average performance has been 36 and 38 percent respectively. The statistics is reflective of a sample of learners. Moreover, the performance of grade 6 learners in tests conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisational (UNESCO) in conjunction with the Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) show that the performance of learners is less than satisfactory. On the other hand, the performance of managers is considered as fully effective. The public service overall and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education in particular, are complex organisations and often, the causal relationship between individual and organisational performance is not easily evident. Measuring and managing performance is therefore incongruent. The disjuncture between individual performance and organisational performance is the import of this study. Studies conducted particularly by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) refer in the main to either organisational performance or performance of member countries. This research study has been prompted by several studies undertaken by departments in the public service and the Public Service Commission (PSC) whereby performance is investigated within the context of optimal productivity and service delivery improvement. The study of the performance management and development system in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education is underpinned by goal-setting theory and the principal-agency theory. The fundamental principle of the goal-setting theory is that an agency, organisation or government department sets a series of goals and objectives, and these goals and objectives are aligned to direct the performance of the organisation. The goals of the department are cascaded from the executive authority through to all employees. The expectation is that, through a process of collaboration, co-ordination and endeavours of commitment, the goals of the Department can be achieved. The principal-agency theory purports that the responsibility and authority for the production of public goods and public services are delegated to public managers by the executive authority and accountability for results is managed by performance contracts, rewards and sanctions. The research strategies employed for this study were both qualitative and quantitative. For the qualitative strategy, data was gathered through interviews and observation and for the quantitative strategy, a purpose-designed questionnaire was used to examine and report on causal relationships. Appropriate statistical techniques were used to analyse the gathered data. Emanating from the data analysed, the study found that not all managers take cognisance of the goals that direct performance management in Education. Moreover, poor performance of the organisation is attributable to employees being neither rewarded, nor sanctioned for good or poor performance respectively. Further, there are no consequences when the organisation performs poorly. It has also been found that the performance management and development system as it is applied to senior managers in Education was conducted as a matter of compliance. Whilst managers have acknowledged that individuals’ performance impact on the overall performance of the organisation, they however, refused to take ownership and responsibility for the poor performance of the organisation. The individualistic nature of the performance management and development system contributes to shifting of responsibility and accountability within the organisation. With this in mind, certain recommendations have been made. A new theoretical model is proposed to integrate performance of the organisation and performance of individuals with a view to increasing productivity. This perspective on performance management will however, require further research. All senior managers ought to have fixed-term performance contracts not exceeding five years, renewable if acceptable levels of performance are rendered. It is also recommended that external moderators should be enlisted to perform moderation of scores obtained during the performance appraisal process to ensure that objectivity is upheld. Managing the performance of senior managers particularly in the South African Public Service, and demanding greater accountability are crucial to achieving organisational results and fulfilling the mandate of government. The performance of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education can improve with stricter adherence to the tenets of performance management, emphasis on monitoring performance, demanding higher levels of accountability for resources employed and rewarding managers for good organisational performance whilst sanctioning poor performance. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westvile, 2002.