The emergence of public enterprises was heightened in the middle part of this century at a time when the Keynesian theory dominated economic thinking. State involvement in the economy was viewed as essentially crucial for crowding in of investment. With recession creeping in the late 70s, coupled with dynamic and evolving economic thinking and policies of the time, degovernmentalisation assumed prominence. The central theme was that the private sector was more efficient in the allocation of resources. The UK led the way in 1979 with pronouncements of privatisation of state enterprises. Privatisation became the new buzzword, and was exported all over the world. In South Africa, the problems encountered towards the close of the late 1980s paved the way for privatisation. South African Posts and Telecommunications' (SAPT) path towards privatisation was mooted in 1988 and chanted in October 1991 when it was commercialized to form TELKOM SA Limited. The takeoff to privatisation occurred in 1996 when 30% of TELKOM shares were sold off to Telekom Malaysia Bhd partnered by US-based SBC Communications Inc. Telecommunications has pervaded all facets of human endeavors covering social, security and business functions. Intricately intertwined global processes have complemented the sector's propensity to expand and integrate since the late 70s. Despite its salient impact on political, economic and social development, telecommunications remains at a crossroads in South Africa. The seemingly dichotomous situation in South Africa presents an interesting development dilemma of social thrust versus private capital development. In telecommunications, there are two conflicting objectives that have to be met: universal service provision versus growth and development of world class business services. Privatisation will have a profound impact on various stakeholders including the government, TELKOM, trade unions, residential and business consumers, equipment manufacturers and engineers among others. The study therefore seeks to give an anagram of parastatals emergence, analysis of the privatisation process, as well as provide a critical and empirical review of TELKOM development trajectory. The analysis is made within the context of development using the following theories: principal-agent theory, theory of contestable markets and regulatory theory. These are central to issues behind privatisation since ownership; efficiency and regulation shape the policies and operations of companies today. This thesis has found that TELKOM has performed relatively well over the last couple of decades but has been facing major challenges created by the new sociopolitical dispensation, globalization and a shift in economic thinking premised on capitalism. There are wide disparities in the provision of phones along spatial and racial lines. Competition is still a far cry although regulation structures are in place. For regulation to work there must be competition and free access to information, and this is non existent. Regulation in an information asymmetry environment can render it ineffective. The only route open for telecommunications in South Africa is privatisation, which should be implemented in stages in consultation with various stakeholders. Policy guidelines should emphasize the promotion of both the universal service and market services in order to close the gaps created by apartheid and make South Africa industry competitive. Models from the developed and developing worlds should be blended while taking into consideration historical and specific conditions prevailing in the country. The dynamic telecommunications industry is going to self adjust through a process of partnerships and alliances while lower tariffs can be achieved through competitive provision of services and supply of equipment. Complementary telecommunication services should be provided through existing networks operated by Transtel, Eskom etc. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1999.

<strong>Nature and Scope of the Study</strong><br /> Constant organisational change can be attributed to many factors, including competition among peers in the same markets, globalisation, privatisation of public sector organisations, technological advances, and operational requirements. These factors almost always lead to organisations reducing headcount. One such organisation is Telkom, which bi-annually embarks on large-scale retrenchments. Service organisations within the company were chosen at random to participate in this study. Telkom&rsquo / s Human Resource Management, Legal Services, Employee Relations, and the organisation&rsquo / s recognised unions participated in this study.<br /> <br /> <strong>Purpose and Objectives of the Study</strong><br /> Through an evaluation of Telkom&rsquo / s staff reduction process, the study seeks to:<br /> 1. Find out what measures Telkom has in place to ease the necessity of retrenchment within the organisation.<br /> 2. Review whether Telkom has looked at other alternatives before planning staff reductions.<br /> 3. Investigate whether a social plan within Telkom exists to help incorporate retrenched employees back into the economy.<br /> 4. Investigate and examine Telkom&rsquo / s compliance with labour legislation, specifically the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

M.Ed. / South Africa needs to spread its available and required competence, skills and educational basis among its broad population (Valchanges, 1992:23). This is reflected in South Africa being rated 43rd out of 47 countries in the human development and skills level, or put differently, 14th out of 15 Group II countries in the World Competitiveness Report of 1992 (Gerber, Nel and Van Dyk, 1995:6). The South African educational system also ranked 14th of the 15 Group II countries in the same report (Gerber, et al, 1995:7). The situation is even worse if the World Competitiveness Report of 1995 is taken into consideration. South Africa ranked. 44th of 46 countries regarding its human resource development (Buffington and Associates, 1996; Rossouw, 1996:3; Pretoria News, 29 May 1996). If the above is taken into consideration it is clear that the start of the National Training Board (NTB) process that began in 1993 was necessary. The initial debates in the process were located within the vocational training context (HSRC, 1995:34). Four stakeholders entered the initial NTB process; namely: The government of the day with official representation by the departments of Education and Labour (called the Department of Manpower at the time); Representatives of different employers organisations; Representatives of organised labour; and Providers of learning. Different concerns from each of the above stakeholders caused a shift in the debate from a concern about vocational training to a broader concept of vocational education and training. This lead to the argument of an integrated approach. Thus: The field of education, training and development should adopt an integrated approach to all activities and systems currently classified as education and training and, unlike the past concentrate on vocational training only (HSRC, 1995:35). As part of such an integrated approach, education, training and development should not be seen as separate entities, but as one unit within the larger field of human resource development, i.e. the development of all those involved in Education, Training and Development (ETD), must be ranked as one of the biggest priorities in South Africa (National Training Board, 1995a:5). In November 1993, Working Committee 3 of the NTB submitted a report on "Trainer Development", under the title of "Education, Training and Development Practitioner" (NTB Annexure A, 1995c:2) thus starting a process of integrating the ETD field. Those involved in ETD were referred to as Education, Training and Development Practitioners (ETDP). The original task given to Working Committee 3 reads as follows: "Develop a South African competency-based model for trainers. Identify requirements for registration, certification, accreditation and recognition of existing qualifications and experience or competency in a national integrated certification/qualification structure." The ETDP competency model must be based on outcomes/outputs as a central focus, that will link the ETDP competency model with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), thus ensuring registration, certification, accreditation and recognition of existing qualifications and experience (NTB, 1995c:21. To ensure that the ETDP Model complies to the requirements of the NQF (NTB, 1995a:5) it must be described in terms of: Roles; Outputs/Outcomes; Quality Standards; Competencies linked to outputs/outcomes; Range variables; and Levels of complexity.

M.Comm. / Telkom is currently busy with extensive re-engineering of its customer interface operational structures. The primary goal of this study is to measure the impact of these re-engineering processes on Telkom customers' perceptions of service quality by way of tracking the impact of the current Telkom re-engineering process on customer satisfaction. The study consists of both a literary review and an empirical survey. The literature review consist of a study of service quality, the re-engineering process required in order to improve service quality, and service quality improvement in the South African environment with specific reference to Telkom. The empirical survey consist of comparing two research reports on customer service quality in Telkom. The research reports are the result of the customer satisfaction satisfaction monitor program that Telkom initiated to track customer perceptions of service quality. The main conclusions of the study are as follows: Many organisations' transformation efforts fail because of ineffective planning and execution. Research have identified various reasons why transformation efforts fail and what steps are crucial to the success of any transformation process. The studies have shown that there are no single success recipe when it comes to organisational transformation methodology. The micro environment as well as the macro environment influencing the organisation determines the manner in which a transformation process is structured, implemented and managed. This includes the strategic intent guiding the organisation, the architecture (or design) of the organisation; and the relationships between all the organisational stakeholders. The implementation of a chosen transformation process is essentially a team effort with strong leadership crucial to its successful management. The process can succeed or fail depending on the success of this alone. Culture change within the organisation is also crucial to success. The hardest part of transformation is getting employees not only to act differently, but to think differently as well. Employee's styles (the ways they think and behave) and their attitudes (what they believe is important about their work) must be realigned to fit the new process. It appears that South African organisations are not sufficiently prepared for the opening of its markets to international competition. Especially in highly competitive environments, a lot of South African organisations have been adversely affected. These organisations have not planned sufficiently for this threat and as a result few or no transformation efforts have been initiated to improve service levels to the standards of their international competitors. Telkom will play a key role in the future competitiveness of South African businesses. Through the effective provisioning of telecommunications, businesses are provided with one of the most essential competitive tools. According to the Telecommunications Act no 103 of 1996, Telkom are excluded from competition for the largest part of its business until 2001. Telkom has until then to raise service levels to international levels so as to attain customer loyalty when the period of exclusivity expires. To be as successful as possible in this task, Telkom started on a road of transformation in order to attain maximum effectiveness. Part of this transformation includes the constant re-engineering of processes and procedures involving all levels of Telkom. Telkom's Total Quality Management initiatives together with the Customer Satisfaction Measurement programme is geared toward identifying the critical areas where customers perceive Telkom to provide ineffective service quality, implementing action plans to improve the service level standards in these areas and continuously tracking the effect of these improvement initiatives on customer satisfaction levels.

From the 1990s onwards, significant developments have occurred in the international telecommunications sector that have affected the South African telecommunications industry and peoples’ access to the network. Rapid developments in Information and Communication Technologies and the reorganisation of telecommunications operators through commercialisation, privatisation and the effects of market liberalisation have resulted in monopoly operators moving away from their public service mandates. Globalisation and adherence to World Trade Organisation rules are causing operators to rebalance their tariffs closer to cost. Long-distance rates are decreasing while the cost of local calls is increasing. High-end users of telecommunications services are benefiting while low-end, largely residential users are being priced off the network. The end result is a negative effect on universal access to telecommunications services. This study examines the extent to which commercialisation, privatisation and liberalization are affecting the provision of telecommunications services and the government’s goal of achieving universal access in South Africa. Qualitative research methods were utilised to establish that the state owned operator, Telkom, has transformed itself from a public service operator to one that is fully commercialised and prepared for an Initial Public Offering and competition. Telkom no longer attempts to ensure that its tariffs are affordable for all people. However, positive developments presented themselves in the form of an increasingly competent regulator, a reorganised and dedicated Universal Service Agency, and the popularity of cellular telephony. The primary discovery of this study is that the liberalisation of the South African telecommunications sector cannot be assumed to have a negative effect on the provision of service. This study finds that liberalisation will most likely benefit the country through the role out of new infrastructure, the provision of new services and ultimately the reduction of those services themselves. In order for universal access to be achieved in this country the study recommends that the resources of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa be enhanced to enable the regulator oversee the industry effectively. Secondly, the Universal Service Agency must provide clear definitions of universal access and universal service as well as manage the Universal Service Fund with greater efficiency. Lastly, the two bodies mentioned above must ensure that services are affordable for all people of this country.

M.A. (Social Work) / There are some drastic changes that took place in Telkom SA during the past six years. The extent andpace of these changes could lead to increased stress levels in employees and especially technical managers. This study undertakes an exploratory and descriptive investigation into the manifestation of work / stress in the lives oftechnical managers employed by Telkom. The study has a dual purpose, namely to explore work stress from a social work perspective and to determine to which extent the technical managers experience work stress. Four measuring instruments were used during the empirical research. A description of the group ofrespondents was obtained by way of a biographical questionnaire. The use of the experience ofwork and life circumstances questionnaire (WLQJ provided information about the stress levels ofrespondents and the stressors that influence respondents. The stress reaction questionnaire gives a quantitative indication of the stress reactions and symptoms which manifests in managers. This questionnaire also served as a cross correlationfor the WLQresults. Focus group discussions were facilitated to obtain information about the envisaged nature and impact ofspecific stressors in Telkom. Most respondents presented normal stress levels on the WQL results, while 64% of the respondents presented high levels of stress reactions (symptoms). Respondents with high stress levels also had high levels ofstress reactions. Managers in the age category 35 - 39 years with 0 - 5 years experience on management levels and in the Free State- and Northern Cape region apparently had higher stress levels and stress reactions. Respondents from the Northern Cape area presented higher stress levels than their colleagues in the other areas. Stressors such as organizationalfunctioning and task content was perceived by all respondents as being most stressful. Recommendations with reference to the study are made: Industrial social workers in Telkom can present programmes to improve the internal capacity of managers to deal with stress. Programmes can include include stress control, management support the establishment of support networks and mid-life crisis information. A further recommendation is that human resource sections must join forces to ensure career planning, effective organizational structures and healthy management culture. It is recommended thatfurther research in this regard must be undertaken.

M.Comm.

M.Comm. / A modern electronic telephone exchange is very flexible in terms of size. Such exchanges can vary in size from a few lines to more than 50 000 lines. They can be expanded at any time to cater for more subscribers. This means that the telecommunications service provider is able to build the exchange just large enough to supply service to the subscribers in the area, and then expand the exchange on a regular basis as needed to cater for any growth in demand for exchange connections. The main advantage of this flexible approach is that money is not tied up in very expensive exchange equipment which is not being used.

M.Com. ( Business Management) / This study wants to express an opinion on the implementation of an activity-based costing system in a service company with specific reference to Telkom SA Ltd. (hereafter Telkom), which has implemented a costing system as a first step towards an activity-based costing system. This studyis seenas a follow-up study on the work doneby Van Dyk(1993), which was also seconded to the Cost Management team within the Financial Management section of Telkom. His research paper was entitled: "Activity-based costing as a managerial control measure in a service organisation". His work in chapter one on the historical overview of accounting, the evolution of cost management systems and the description of the cost accounting system of Telkom must be seen as stepping stones on which this study will build. In chapter two Van Dyk(1993) concentrated on the influence oft he five competitive forces in the formulation of a generic strategy and the role of the value chain concept in order to understand the behaviour of costs. All of this work must be seen as the foundation and complementary to this study.

Operating as a commercial company since October 1991, Telkom has grown into the largest communications services provider in Africa based on operating revenue and assets. The Group, consisting of the fixed-line company Telkom and a 50 per cent shareholding in mobile operator Vodacom. Telkom has changed its vision to the following: “To be a leading customer and employee centric ICT solutions service provider”. The company has been retrenching staff since 1999 and the staff numbers have reduced significantly from approximately 65 000 people to 25 575 people in 2006. The focus has been on increasing shareholder value and the staff feel that their value has not been recognised. The research paper focused on the extent that employees engaged to build a performance culture in Telkom’s NCC division. The following research methodology was followed: - A literature survey to determine factors or behaviours that will enhance employee engagement in building a performance culture and what Telkom NCC can do to build the workplace that will foster higher levels of employee engagement. - A survey was conducted to determine what the engagement levels of employees are at Telkom NCC, what stops the employees from doing their best and what Telkom NCC division can do to show they care and value their staff as according to their employees by means of a questionnaire. - The findings from the literature study and empirical study would be used to determine to what extent are employees engaged to build a performance culture in Telkom’s NCC division. A self administered questionnaire was used to collect the data required for this research. In conclusion it was said that employee engagement is a partnership between the company and the employees where everyone works together to achieve the business objectives of the company and the personal aspirations of employees. The organization has the responsibility to create the conditions for this to happen (Understanding Employee Engagement, 2004: 2). It was recommended that in order for NCC to enhance their employees attitudes toward the promoters’ team especially in terms of pride, strong attachment, feeling part of the family and motivating employees to do well promoters must concentrate on building relationships with their teams and individual members of the team. Employees must also be given decision making power for implementing the idea. NCC should educate their leaders on the value of recognition and the best way to go about it. In order for employees to grow and be promoted into higher positions, NCC must consider that if positions become available that they first be advertised in the NCC division before it be made available to the rest of the company.