Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This thesis used the Logical Framework Approach to create a project proposal for the establishment of a community-driven educational and training model for sustainable community development based in the Western Soutpansberg in the Limpopo Province. The project aims to provide much-needed socio-economic upliftment to this area, which is characterized by many large poor local communities with relatively few employment opportunities. The proposed programme focuses on the formation of the Soutpansberg Centre for Sustainable Development. This Centre is intended to be a demonstration model for land and agrarian reform based on sustainable development principles, indigenous knowledge and appropriate technologies. It would serve as a working example of how the reform process could be accelerated thus making a significant impact particularly on the lives of the rural poor and landless in the surrounding area. The research that was undertaken for this proposal entailed assessing and building on available primary data and information. It was informed by existing documentation, research and interviews with key stakeholders. The intention is for this project to become a reality in the near future and therefore it was necessary to create a document that is both viable and practical taking into consideration and assessing the various elements involved in such a sustainable development initiative.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / As an attempt to usher in a paradigm shift in the way public services are rendered in the new dispensation, Section 195 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act No. 108 0f 1996, envisages a Public Administration governed by specific values and principles intended to act as a guide in government‟s endeavours of seeking to provide services impartially, fairly and without bias. According to the supreme law of the country, this could be achieved among other things by responding adequately to the needs of the people and further entrenching the participation of the citizenry in the policy processes of government; thus deepening good governance. Part of the challenge that faces the realization of what the Constitution envisages centres largely around the transformation of public servants sothat they begin to deliver services in a way that puts the citizen first. To this extent government has already responded with a very ambitious Batho Pele program, the implementation of which is intended to effect a turn around in the Public Administration status quo bequeathed by the past, so that it is deliberately focused on the needs of the client. The current section of the thesis is an introduction to the entire work aimed at assessing the levels of implementation of the Service Delivery Improvement Policy of Provincial Government within the Department of Arts Culture and Tourism in KZN.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / LED is the encouragement of a greater degree of local economic governance as an integral component of the pursuits of local community goals. It is about a systemic approach that manages community governance in such a way to achieve shared community goals and objectives. The intent to promote LED has become an established feature in the Frances Baard district, but certain constraints such as resource and skills constraints, lack of communication and lack of guidance from the other spheres of government, hinder the delivery of LED at Local Government level. LED is immersed in a line function environment that institutionally cannot support or sustain it, unless broader institutional reform takes place to bring the LED Approach into the mainstream of municipal and community decision making in terms of locating LED higher up in the municipal hierarchy. There is confusion between the roles and responsibilities of the Frances Baard District and local municipalities in terms of who should facilitate and guide the economic development in the municipal area. The assessment of these difficulties and confusions in terms of the institutional operations in the Frances Baard Local Government will identify and develop important operational guidelines for the district and local municipalities to overcome these shortcomings that occur within their organisations.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The core business of schools is to develop, implement and sustain an effective and efficient curriculum delivery process in order to provide quality education to all learners. External and internal changes though constantly affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the curriculum delivery process and it is required of schools to adapt and meet the demands that are required by these external as well as internal changes. Successful adaptation in an ever-changing environment also depends on how successful a school transforms itself into a learning organisation, develops conducive learning circumstances for learners and encourages constant learning by staff members as well. Research in this respect indicates that principals play a very important role in transforming schools into learning organisations. Schools as learning organisations are also recognised as complex organisations, which consist of multiple relationships or linkages between educators, learners, parents, fellow colleagues, provincial and national education departments, government, service providers, as well as other stakeholders. These relationships are never stable, nor predictable and it requires of principals to monitor, understand and interpret changing circumstances and respond appropriately. Appropriate responses must reflect our country’s constitutional values, which promote collaboration and consultation with all stakeholders. It also requires of school principals to apply a leadership approach, which not only facilitates participation by all stakeholders, but which focuses on empowerment as well. Furthermore, the role of principals in leading and managing schools has changed tremendously and there is a great need to empower principals and school management teams with facilitatory-and-empowering leadership competencies. Such competencies will enable them to understand, interpret and manage change in collaboration with other role-players much more effectively. It will also enhance their ability to effectively lead and efficiently manage the curriculum delivery process and all other supportive systems, such as the academic planning, assessment, finance, procurement, maintenance and human resources systems. Considering the former, this study focuses on the development of a governance model for schools, which considers schools as complex organisations continuously affected by change in the external as well as internal environment. Hence, the governance model provides principals and senior staff members with the understanding how to manage these changes in terms of principles which are derived from complexity theory. Complexity theory informs the practice of school leadership coherently and provides principals with the insight to look at the school educational system as a whole in order to advance organisational effectiveness continuously. According to complexity theory, no system is stagnant; it constantly changes, adapts, learns and evolves. The governance model therefore outlines various facilitatory-and-empowering leadership approaches which are required to cope in an environment which are continuously affected by change. It also illustrates the supporting role of effective communication and sound labour relations in this respect and outlines various management roles, which are required of the principal to transform schools into learning organisations. The governance model also focuses in particular on three essential governance processes, which are applicable to the translation of monetary allocations into appropriate nonpersonnel resources. These governance processes are budgeting, cost management and information technology. The last part of the model focuses on the various control systems for quality assurance purposes, such as whole school evaluation, systemic evaluation, performance appraisal and risk management. In conclusion, West Bank secondary school was used as a case study to experiment with and study the impact of appropriate leadership approaches, management roles, governance processes and controls. The integration of existing research and practice knowledge at this institution aims to extend the scope of application of the governance model to all schools in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The thesis evaluates the extent to which good governance has influenced the procurement process at the Lejweleputswa District Municipality. Under good governance, the manner in which goods are procured or disposed of, is supposed to be unproblematic and conducted with the highest integrity, taking into account both the costs involved in the process and the benefits of the delivery of the services. Good governance should act as a “decontaminator or antiseptic in a germ infested area” (Cloete 2006:6–19). To extend the analogy further, this process of disinfecting the wound definitely requires some form of expertise and knowledge, as well as the participation of different role players, such as doctors and nurses; in addition, certain utensils to clean and cover the wound would be needed. In the same way, the procurement process needs experts to handle and enforce correct procedure. The values of good governance alone are meaningless unless there are people who are willing and have the capacity to manage the required processes and procedures. In South Africa, a new procurement process was adopted in the public sector in 1994. To date it has been interpreted and implemented in favour of historically disadvantaged individuals, like black people, women and disabled people through a legislative framework, the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, 2000 (RSA, Act 5 of 2000) and the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (RSA, Act 53 of 2003). It is crucial to point out, however, that the definitions given by these laws about black people differ or contradict each other. Challenges like this have turned the procurement process upside down. In an effort to attain uniformity in the procurement process in the local sphere of government, both National and Provincial Treasury Departments have instituted legislation and guidelines to steer the process. Despite all these efforts, municipalities are still associated with allegations of corruption and nepotism when awarding tenders to service providers. The Lejweleputswa District Municipality has not been spared from such accusations, as shown by the spate of riots that occurred in the Free State (Mail and Guardian 2007:6–12). This research has therefore been undertaken with the general objective of determining whether the values of good governance have managed to sustain a good procurement process in the municipality or whether the values are being ignored leading to procurement processes which do not fulfil the aims of the legislation and guidelines and remain open to allegations of corruption and maladministration. The specific objectives for the research were to investigate good governance in procurement in the municipality context and to make recommendations, if appropriate, on how to promote good governance in municipal procurement.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this thesis is to determine the perceptions and expectations of employees at regional offices about the service delivered to them by central head office. A further objective is to establish what employees at regional offices expect from head office, attempting thereby to establish the current position of the head office (perceived image) in relation to their expectations (ideal image). The method of data collection is quantitative with a survey design technique in the form of questionnaires to be completed by all employees at regional offices in order to assess their perceptions and expectations. The basis of the theoretical and legislative framework of this research is service delivery. It is within the context of service delivery that internal customer service within the organisation, in particular, is conferred. The legislative framework is also dedicated to Batho Pele and the eight principles to highlight public service delivery. These principles should equally be applied when it comes to internal customer service. The main findings from this study are that employees and the four regional offices per se have different perceptions and expectations about the internal service delivered by central head office. This must be taken cognisance of because perceptions can be the core element of most organisational behaviour and the expectations that employees hold is important for the morale and effectiveness of organisations. The following objectives were achieved: A review of the policies, documents and annual reports to determine to what extent the central head office delivers an internal service to the regional offices. An evaluation as to how internal service delivery is being perceived. An evaluation of the ideal central head office. Established the shortcomings of the current internal service being delivered. It is also recommended that future research can be to ascertain how those negative feelings impacts on job satisfaction and commitment to the organisation and how it affects employee turnover. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die persepsies en verwagtinge van werknemers by die streekkantore, oor die diens wat aan hulle verskaf deur sentrale hoofkantoor, te bepaal. 'n Verdere doel is om vas te stel wat werknemers by die streekkantore verwag van hoofkantoor. Sodoende probeer om vas te stel wat die huidige stand van die hoofkantoor (waargenome beeld) in verhouding tot hul (werknemers) verwagtinge (ideaal beeld) is. Die metode van data-insameling is kwantitatief met 'n opname ontwerp in die vorm van vraelyste. Hierdie vraelyste sal deur alle werknemers by die streekkantore voltooi word, om hul persepsies en verwagtinge te assesseer. Die basis van die teoretiese en die wetgewende raamwerk van hierdie navorsing is dienslewering. Dit is binne die konteks van dienslewering wat interne kliënte diens binne die organisasie, in die besonder, toegeken word. Die wetgewende raamwerk is ook toegewyd aan die agt beginsels van Batho Pele en dus openbare dienslewering te versterk. Hierdie beginsels moet ook toegepas word wanneer dit kom by die interne kliënte diens. Die belangrikste bevindings van hierdie studie is dat die werknemers en die vier streekkantore as sulks het verskillende persepsies en verwagtinge oor die interne diens gelewer deur die sentrale hoofkantoor. Dit moet kennis geneem word want persepsies kan die kern element van meeste organisatoriese gedrag wees en die verwagtinge wat werknemers hou is belangrik vir die moraal en doeltreffendheid van organisasies. Die volgende doelwitte was bereik: „n Hersiening van die beleid, dokumente en die jaarlikse verslae om te bepaal tot watter mate die sentrale hoofkantoor „n interne diens aan die streekkantore lewer. „n Evaluering oor hoe interne dienslewering waargeneem word. „n Evaluering van die ideale sentrale hoofkantoor. Die tekortkominge van die huidige interne diens wat gelewer word is vasgestel. Dit word aanbeveel dat toekomstige navorsing toegewy word om vas te stel hoe negatiewe gevoelens impak op werkstevredenheid en verbintenis tot die organisasie en ook hoe dit werknemer omset beïnvloed.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Community participation is a concept adopted to ensure participation and give opportunities to communities to determine their own destination in terms of their needs. It is a means of empowering people by developing their skills and abilities to enable them to negotiate with the development delivery system and to equip them to make their own decisions in terms of their development needs and priorities. The aim of the study is to asses community participation in the development planning and service delivery system by the Omusati Regional Council. As a government institution at the grass root level, it has a task to deliver required basic services through development programmes and projects. Interviews and participatory observation, including project visits were the methods used to collect information on the implementation of community participation in the decision making processes, and project implementation by the Omusati Regional Council. The study is structured into six chapters. Chapter 1 deals with the general introduction, background to the study, the statement of the problem, the hypothesis, objective of the study, perceptions, research methodology, significance of the study and organisation of the study. Chapter 2 discusses the theory and philosophy of community participation. It conceptualizes the key terms of community participation in development planning, such as sustainable development, integrated development planning and projects, decentralised development and the building block of development integrated rural development, basic service delivery and indigenous knowledge systems. Chapter 3 highlights the policy framework on community participation in terms of international, national and regional development planning policy documents. Chapter 4 is concerned with the local context of study (Omusati Regional Council), while Chapter 5 presents the data results, interpretation and analysis. Chapter 6 reflects the conclusion and the way forward.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Globally, transport and its associated ills are creating urban landscapes that can best be described as unhealthy, unfriendly and unsustainable. The unsustainable nature of current transportation practices are most keenly displayed in four key areas, namely: the pending oil peak; global climate change; environmental degradation and social deprivation. South Africa is no exception to these impacts, but also suffers an extra disadvantage of demonstrating very little knowledge of more sustainable transportation option in terms of its planning regime. This study endeavours to improve the state of sustainability in transportation planning by developing a user-friendly and pragmatic transportation sustainability appraisal mechanism and testing this mechanism on a real-life case. In order to develop such an appraisal mechanism, the theory of sustainable development is firstly examined to provide direction to the study, followed by an attempt to distil the most pertinent principles of sustainable transport from the literature. These principles form the objectives which the appraisal mechanism aims to measure sustainability against. Owing to the poor level of awareness regarding sustainable transport practices in South Africa, a discussion on selected benchmark sustainable transport practices is also included in the study and consequently added to the appraisal mechanism. To test its operability, the appraisal mechanism is finally applied to Cape Town’s Draft Integrated Transport Plan (ITP) 2006-2011. The study indicates that the ITP is a reasonably sustainable transport plan, with the exception of its affordability and public participation aspects. These exceptions are attributed to the ITP either not properly addressing these aspects, or due to the ITP not providing enough information on these aspects. Finally, the study found that the developed appraisal mechanism is operable in the field of transportation planning, but suggests that the mechanism be further developed and refined to improve its value and effectiveness. A transdisciplinary process involving the input of community stakeholders and specialists is identified as major area for such development / Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies

Thesis (MA (Public and Development Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Great pressure is placed on national government to initiate a way of achieving greater economic growth as well as alleviating poverty. A mandate has therefore been given to local government to play a fundamental role in achieving this. Local Economic Development (LED), a relatively new approach to development, is currently seen as a prominent strategy to tackle the problem of unemployment and poverty in South Africa and provide a bottom-up approach to economic development. It forms part of the economic and social development mandate given by national government to local authorities. However, although policies are in place, LED strategies have produced very few success stories for various reasons, such as the lack of capacity within municipalities as well as resource constraints. It is also alleged that LED is incorrectly interpreted and therefore also incorrectly implemented. Because of the presumed effects of LED in terms of economic growth and social upliftment, pressure is placed on municipalities to get appropriate strategies into place as soon as possible. A literature review is presented which covers the theory of LED by looking at the global perspectives of the concept and nature of LED, the history and concept of LED, the different LED approaches and strategies, and key actors within LED. LED is then evaluated within the context of development in order to establish a link between LED and poverty alleviation. LED is also evaluated within the South African context, specifically with regards to the policy context, the historical approach and the challenges to LED implementation in South Africa. An investigation into the background of the City of Cape Town served as the point of departure to evaluate LED implementation. The issue of regional planning for LED integration between urban and rural areas is also discussed. The challenges to economic and social improvement in the City of Cape Town are also highlighted and the current draft Strategy for Economic and Human Development in the City of Cape Town was evaluated. This was done to investigate the LED approach and specific interventions of the City of Cape Town Municipality in terms of the Comprehensive Approach Model, a model formulated in the thesis. This was done to establish whether it is likely to succeed or not, and therefore the thesis specifically explored the priorities and the fundamentals outlined by the Strategy. Thereafter its possible implementation was assessed according to the organisational structure and how it affects the operationalisation of the Strategy in terms of planning, the process itself, and the monitoring and evaluation of the process. Finally, the challenges to the Strategy were discussed and recommendations were made. From the literature review it is clear that LED should lead to much more than merely economic improvement; this insight reinforces the socio-economic role of LED development intervention strategies. What is also evident in terms of LED in developing countries is that the approach has to establish a strategy which deliberately focuses on pro-poor LED implementation. It is often the way that the process is executed that brings the social focus of LED into perspective.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The study evaluated co-operative governance in integrated development planning (IDP), with a focus on local economic development (LED). Literature review, survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were data gathering instruments. Co-operative governance entailed mutual understanding with inclusive decision-making between government spheres and government, business and communities. This was unsuccessful in IDP because of national government dominance, complex tools for co-operation, expert-controlled co-operative governance, finance-dominated planning, a lack of proactive municipal planning and dominance by empowered role-players. Four LED models, namely, a Western, Latin American, African and South African emerged. South Africa’s model is multi-sectoral with land management policy, investor promotion, institutional development, financial and social investment strategies and sufficient policy and legislation. However, co-operative governance in IDP (LED) is dis-functional because of assumed equality of stakeholders. The study recommends a ‘Quilted Co-operative Development Planning Model’, which has a streamlined policy framework, efficient and effective management tools and organisation that promote bottom-up planning.