Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology. / The primary objective of this study was to contribute evidence and analysis that the administration of Parliament and structures such as portfolio committees can utilise during their oversight activities to ensure the successful implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP). In this regard, this study endeavoured to shed light on the current legislative, oversight and public participation practices of the National Assembly with respect to the executive. In particular, the study considered the strengths and weaknesses of the many ways in which Parliament pursues its mandate, through its oversight methods such as debates, questions, portfolio committee oversight activities, and legislation, amongst others. As such, the study’s recommendations are geared towards strengthening the capabilities of Parliament to deliver improved outcomes and, in so doing, raise the level of accountability within and throughout the institution. A number of gaps and weaknesses in the way in which Parliament executes its mandate were found. Significantly, accountability – which is the axis around which the roles of Members of Parliament and Parliament itself revolves – has been significantly weakened by competing political agendas. The highly political context and the proportional representative system influence the autonomy and commitments of Parliament. The NDP (2012:45) holds that “accountability is essential to democracy and that the accountability chain should be strengthened from top to bottom”. Serious questions emerged about the ability of Parliament to hold the executive to account. Capacity constraints which pertain to both members and staff and the building of coalitions (external expertise) were factors that require attention.

This thesis deals with a very important issue in government, i.e. the process of procuring goods and services. The state is the biggest consumer of goods and services in South Africa and with the increasing privatisation of government services, the ambit of procurement is expanding.<br /> <br /> Government procurement is afforded constitutional status in South Africa. Section 217 of the Constitution provides that the state must contract for goods or services in a manner which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. This does not prevent the state from using procurement as a policy instrument, i.e. to, for example, address past discriminatory policies and practices. Legislation must furthermore be enacted to make provision for the use of procurement as a policy tool.<br /> <br /> A number of statutes have been enacted to reflect the constitutional status of government procurement in South Africa. In addition to these statutes, government procurement decisions and procedures are regulated by the common law, in particular, the law of contract and the law of delict. The general rules of constitutional and administrative law also apply to government procurement.<br /> This thesis evaluates the way in which the legal regime in South Africa collectively gives effect to section 217 of the Constitution. First, the constitutional standard against which the elements of the legal regime can be measured is set out. In doing so, meaning is given to the different principles in section 217 (fairness, equity, transparency, competitiveness and cost-effectiveness) and attention is given to the legal nature of the principles and the relationship that exists between the different principles. The focus then shifts to how the principles are given effect to in legislation / how the courts give meaning to the different principles / whether there is compliance with the principles throughout the procurement process, i.e. from the time that the decision is made to procure goods or services until the conclusion of a contract and completion of contractual performances / and whether adequate provision is made for the effective enforcement of the principles in practice.<br /> <br /> It is argued that aside from a few shortcomings, the legal regime in South Africa generally gives adequate effect to section 217 of the Constitution. Not only has the procurement procedures and decisions of the state been constitutionalised, section 217 can be said to capture the most essential elements of a good procurement system. The principles of fairness, transparency and value for money, in particular, are generally regarded as the cornerstone of good procurement practices. The principles in section 217 will furthermore form part of South Africa&rsquo / s government procurement system for a very long period of time. The state will therefore always have to take serious account of the principles in section 217 and ensure compliance therewith.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed October 13, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-400).

This thesis deals with a very important issue in government, i.e. the process of procuring goods and services. The state is the biggest consumer of goods and services in South Africa and with the increasing privatisation of government services, the ambit of procurement is expanding.<br /> <br /> Government procurement is afforded constitutional status in South Africa. Section 217 of the Constitution provides that the state must contract for goods or services in a manner which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. This does not prevent the state from using procurement as a policy instrument, i.e. to, for example, address past discriminatory policies and practices. Legislation must furthermore be enacted to make provision for the use of procurement as a policy tool.<br /> <br /> A number of statutes have been enacted to reflect the constitutional status of government procurement in South Africa. In addition to these statutes, government procurement decisions and procedures are regulated by the common law, in particular, the law of contract and the law of delict. The general rules of constitutional and administrative law also apply to government procurement.<br /> This thesis evaluates the way in which the legal regime in South Africa collectively gives effect to section 217 of the Constitution. First, the constitutional standard against which the elements of the legal regime can be measured is set out. In doing so, meaning is given to the different principles in section 217 (fairness, equity, transparency, competitiveness and cost-effectiveness) and attention is given to the legal nature of the principles and the relationship that exists between the different principles. The focus then shifts to how the principles are given effect to in legislation / how the courts give meaning to the different principles / whether there is compliance with the principles throughout the procurement process, i.e. from the time that the decision is made to procure goods or services until the conclusion of a contract and completion of contractual performances / and whether adequate provision is made for the effective enforcement of the principles in practice.<br /> <br /> It is argued that aside from a few shortcomings, the legal regime in South Africa generally gives adequate effect to section 217 of the Constitution. Not only has the procurement procedures and decisions of the state been constitutionalised, section 217 can be said to capture the most essential elements of a good procurement system. The principles of fairness, transparency and value for money, in particular, are generally regarded as the cornerstone of good procurement practices. The principles in section 217 will furthermore form part of South Africa&rsquo / s government procurement system for a very long period of time. The state will therefore always have to take serious account of the principles in section 217 and ensure compliance therewith.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-09T12:28:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014Bitstream added on 2015-04-09T12:47:55Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000814007.pdf: 1562590 bytes, checksum: 6c9ca684870c43a935938db21b8520aa (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A área da saúde pública brasileira possui problemas acerca da qualidade dos serviços prestados, muitas vezes por falta de investimento adequado, causando impacto direto nos programas criados pelo Ministério da Saúde para a promoção da saúde. Informações sobre atos governamentais, antes indisponíveis, hoje são disponibilizadas nos sítios do Governo Federal, com o objetivo de aumentar a transparência da gestão pública, permitindo que o cidadão acompanhe como o dinheiro público está sendo utilizado e ajude a fiscalizar. Profissionais da área da saúde são atores essenciais na fiscalização desses atos, pois são potenciais integrantes dos Conselhos de Saúde, órgãos responsáveis por essas fiscalizações. Informações sobre repasses financeiros advindos do Governo Federal são cruciais para a efetiva fiscalização. Por meio de uma observação realizada com futuros profissionais da saúde, esta pesquisa apresenta resultados sobre a percepção desses usuários, no processo de acesso a este tipo de dado. A metodologia foi de caráter exploratório quantitativo, com a utilização de questionários e as respostas graduadas pela Escala de Likert. O acesso aos dados foram feitos por meio do sítio do Datasus. O resultado da pesquisa demonstrou que há grande dificuldade no processo de acesso aos dados nos sítios governamentais e a ocorrência de algumas páginas indisponíveis inviabilizou algumas consultas. Concluiu-se que foram feridos princípios propostos pelo Movimento de Dado Aberto e na amostragem foi identificado o desconhecimento dos profissionais da área da saúde sobre as formas de como os repasses são feitos e identificadas as dificuldades para acessar as informações no Portal da Saúde. / The area of the Brazilian public health problems have on quality of services, often for lack of adequate investment, causing a direct impact on programs created by the Ministry of Health to promote health. Information on government actions, previously unavailable, are now available on the websites of the Federal Government, with the aim of increasing the transparency of public management, allowing citizens to track how public money is being used and help supervise. Health professionals are essential actors in the supervision of such acts as are potential members of Health Councils, agencies responsible for these inspections. Information arising from financial transfers from the Federal Government are crucial for effective supervision. Through an observation made with future health professionals, this study presents results on the perception of these users, the access to this type of process data. The quantitative methodology was exploratory, with the use of questionnaires and graded responses for Likert Scale. Access to the data were made through the site Datasus. The research result showed that there is great difficulty in accessing data on government sites and process the occurrence of some pages unavailable prevented some queries. Who were injured it was concluded principles proposed by the Open Data Movement and sampling the lack of health professionals on ways of how the transfers are made and identified the difficulties to access information on the Health Portal was identified.

Orientador: Ricardo César Gonçalves Sant'Ana / Resumo: A área da saúde pública brasileira possui problemas acerca da qualidade dos serviços prestados, muitas vezes por falta de investimento adequado, causando impacto direto nos programas criados pelo Ministério da Saúde para a promoção da saúde. Informações sobre atos governamentais, antes indisponíveis, hoje são disponibilizadas nos sítios do Governo Federal, com o objetivo de aumentar a transparência da gestão pública, permitindo que o cidadão acompanhe como o dinheiro público está sendo utilizado e ajude a fiscalizar. Profissionais da área da saúde são atores essenciais na fiscalização desses atos, pois são potenciais integrantes dos Conselhos de Saúde, órgãos responsáveis por essas fiscalizações. Informações sobre repasses financeiros advindos do Governo Federal são cruciais para a efetiva fiscalização. Por meio de uma observação realizada com futuros profissionais da saúde, esta pesquisa apresenta resultados sobre a percepção desses usuários, no processo de acesso a este tipo de dado. A metodologia foi de caráter exploratório quantitativo, com a utilização de questionários e as respostas graduadas pela Escala de Likert. O acesso aos dados foram feitos por meio do sítio do Datasus. O resultado da pesquisa demonstrou que há grande dificuldade no processo de acesso aos dados nos sítios governamentais e a ocorrência de algumas páginas indisponíveis inviabilizou algumas consultas. Concluiu-se que foram feridos princípios propostos pelo Movimento de Dado Aberto e na amostragem foi identificado o desconhecimento dos profissionais da área da saúde sobre as formas de como os repasses são feitos e identificadas as dificuldades para acessar as informações no Portal da Saúde. / Abstract: The area of the Brazilian public health problems have on quality of services, often for lack of adequate investment, causing a direct impact on programs created by the Ministry of Health to promote health. Information on government actions, previously unavailable, are now available on the websites of the Federal Government, with the aim of increasing the transparency of public management, allowing citizens to track how public money is being used and help supervise. Health professionals are essential actors in the supervision of such acts as are potential members of Health Councils, agencies responsible for these inspections. Information arising from financial transfers from the Federal Government are crucial for effective supervision. Through an observation made with future health professionals, this study presents results on the perception of these users, the access to this type of process data. The quantitative methodology was exploratory, with the use of questionnaires and graded responses for Likert Scale. Access to the data were made through the site Datasus. The research result showed that there is great difficulty in accessing data on government sites and process the occurrence of some pages unavailable prevented some queries. Who were injured it was concluded principles proposed by the Open Data Movement and sampling the lack of health professionals on ways of how the transfers are made and identified the difficulties to access information on the Health Portal was identified. / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-11T13:58:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 josenaldo.pdf: 1954448 bytes, checksum: a6815606bd6e80556460cd59d79aa7da (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-23 / A sociedade brasileira, a partir da redemocratização do país na década de 80, assumiu uma participação cada vez maior na vida política e econômica da nação. De mero assistente dos atos políticos e administrativos, o novo cidadão começa a assumir uma postura mais engajada, passa da figura de tutelado a sócio da coisa pública. Neste cenário novo que começa a se desenhar, onde o cidadão deve ser o centro de tudo e o interesse público deve prevalecer sempre, é necessária também a mudança de atitudes por parte dos agentes públicos. Assim, as ações não devem ser somente fiscalizadas, mas também avaliadas com o intuito de se certificar se foi alcançado o resultado desejado pela comunidade. Tal avaliação será feita pela sociedade (controle social) por meio de mecanismos adequados e também de forma institucional pelos órgãos de Controle Interno e Externo. Dentre os mecanismos mencionados destaca-se a accountability, expressão anglo-saxônica que não tem ainda uma tradução para o português, mas que significa transparência governamental, bem como a prestação de contas por parte das autoridades. Ante essa problemática, o objetivo deste trabalho consistiu em examinar a atuação do Órgão de Controle Interno do Estado de Roraima com vistas a avaliar se esta conduz o gestor público ao cumprimento dos requisitos de alcance da accountability. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo de caso neste órgão que é o responsável pelo Sistema de Controle Interno do Governo do Estado de Roraima, coletou-se dados documentais, fontes legais aprovadas, tais como Leis, Decretos, dentre outros, que regulamentam a estrutura do Poder Executivo do Estado de Roraima, bem como os relatórios desenvolvidos pelos controles internos nos exercícios de 2006 a 2008. Os resultados mostram que a simples publicação legal não é suficiente para o atendimento aos requisitos da accountability. Os atores sociais tendem a se organizar para operar frente à administração pública, exigir o respeito ao direito à informação, além de atuar na fiscalização e na auditoria das contas governamentais e denunciando aos órgãos fiscalizadores as irregularidades detectadas. Dessa forma conclui-se que o órgão de Controle Interno do Poder Executivo do Estado de Roraima tem atuado em busca da transparência, considerando suas limitações, porém falta um mecanismo de divulgação de grande alcance à sociedade, fato este que vem motivando a realização de ações integradas com outras estruturas do Governo na luta pelo combate à corrupção.

LL.M. (International Law) / Before 2006, there had been some movement to expose conspiracy and injustices in government and corporate life but the emergence of Julian Assange and wikileaks would set a new standard in this kind of investigative probe into what the political leaders and heads of major corporations did behind the scenes. Assange’s initial revelations and release of incriminating documents was about to launch his debut as an ‘international man of mystery’ as people who are globally and politically curious will forever wonder what else he would reveal to the world. The first target of his disclosures was Africa then the United States but his actions would unleash a wave of leaks with corporate and government conspiracy at a volume that the world as we know it was previously unaccustomed to. Although some doubted the authenticity of his disclosures, and others criticized his methods, none doubted his right to freedom of expression as enshrined in national, regional and international instruments. Assange’s organization proposes that governments and corporations should be transparent in their dealings, and policies. Although tumultuous at first, leaks from Assange have helped expose some corrupt practices that would not otherwise have come to light. The impact of wikileaks on freedom of expression in the world has been massive and far reaching, the viral way in which the leaks spread are evidence to the fact that people have always been curious about this kind of conspiracy theories and are eager for transparency. It shows also that it is unwise to underestimate the impact that an event in one country could trigger globally. But what does it really mean to global stability and freedom of expression when one man chooses to go against conventional methods and probe into the powers that be? How will this change how the world does business in the area of what people are allowed to freely say or disclose without persecution and how this disclosure affect the laws that govern this kind of freedom of expression?

Not all documents are records. One of the central concerns of contemporary governance is the reduced or complete lack of accountability among public officials when rendering public services. In the absence of accountability and records, corruption thrives. This research examines the relationship that exists between transparency, accountability and record keeping in order to find the effect that records has; in terms of producing positive audit outcomes and in eliminating corrupt activities by public official/s. Since the transition to democracy in South Africa, the new constitution demands transparency and accountability on matters of governance supported with available information (records). Various pieces of legislation in South Africa are available in support of timely, accessible and accurate information in pursuit of official duties. The difficulty in ensuring an effective record keeping creates an opportunity for governance, transparency and accountability to fail. The essence of this research undertaking was motivated by the fact that, absence of records (which has a negative effect in achieving clean audits) renders governance chaotic and infringes on the democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution such as accountability and transparency. The purpose of the study was to investigate the practice of record keeping in the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Basic Education (ECDoE) in ensuring accountability and transparency. This research undertaking was guided by the following three research questions: (1) what is the legal/normative framework that governs record keeping in South African public service? (2) How does ECDoE practice record-keeping in ensuring accountability and transparency? And (3) how does the practice of ECDoE’s record-keeping compare with the requirements of the legal/normative framework? After all the gathering of information from different sources, it is therefore recommended that the ECDoE send its employees for records management courses and there must be strict adherence to legislation and recommendations made by the Auditor General in his last audit report for the department. During the conduct of this research undertaking, these are the findings that emerged from the study: at the ECDoE (1) There is no adequate training provided to employees in record keeping. (2) There are ineffective internal control systems. (3) There is no risk management contingency plan. (4) There is no proper record keeping. (5) There is non-compliance with legislation by officials. (6) There is no strong or effective leadership. (7) There is shortage of staff and qualified personnel. (8) Lack of commitment to excel. (9) No significant corrective action undertaken to eliminate past inaccuracies. (10) There is absence of following up on recommendations made by the external audit. Lastly, the researcher accepts the arguments raised by the different authors about record keeping, transparency and accountability in that: there can be no accountable and transparent government without an effective record-keeping in place. Records are vital sources of evidence admissible to any institution be it a court of law or standing committees should clarity be required.

The state of the Tendering Process in South African Government Institutions has become an area of concern in recent years with issues related to transparency, governance and rigid retrospective procedures being cited as impediments to efficiency. In tum, Knowledge Management (KM) and its ability to be applied to all types of organisations to increase efficiency has been popularised extensively. An analysis of KM literature suggested that the principles of KM may be used to increase efficiency and create competitive advantage. This study attempted to identify whether the benefits gained by other organisations through the application of Knowledge Management principles, could be applied to the Tendering Process in South African Government Institutions. The study sought to identify how Knowledge Value Chain by Wang and Ahmed (2005) may be leveraged to create an enhanced Tendering Process. The study then reviewed the Tendering Processes conducted in Australia, United States of America, Malaysia and South Africa and sought to identify the common steps in a tendering process in order to construct a standard tendering process. The Knowledge Value Chain was then applied to this process to create a standard tendering process enhanced by Knowledge Management Principles. The model was compared to the processes currently conducted in two Government institutions and two parastals. The findings indicated that the model is well suited for Government Organisations and would assist in the creation of greater transparency, however the practical implementation of the model is yet unlikely as the model suggest electronic access to information, and the process in South African Government Institutions is predominately paper-based.