Thesis (PhD (School of Public Management and Planning
))—University of Stellenbosch,
2006. / Using an investigative approach the study starts by outlining the governance
quandary that exists within the public sector, with observations made over the
past decade by scholars and active role players in the governance arena both
in the private sector and in the public sector. It continues to show a growing
need for good governance in the public sector, especially in the developing
economies of emerging democracies. It uses South Africa as an example in
this regard, although the discussion can just as well be applied to other
countries finding themselves in a similar situation. It places the governance
debate in perspective and provides the background for the development of
the Public Sector Integrated Financial Governance Framework (IFGF).
A brief look is taken at the reasons for the growing focus on governance in
general, governance in the private and public sector, the need for
governance, the basic dynamics of governance, stakeholder relationships, the
regulatory framework and the role of the judiciary. It then places this
understanding of governance – from a financial perspective – within the South
African context.
Using the South African context the study discusses the need for an IFGF,
the basic requirements for such an IFGF and then as a response proceeds to
discuss the role of values and principles, functional application areas and
governance-related activities in an IFGF. It develops a financial governance
universe, which provides an overview of the various subsections within these
aspects. From this basis the study proceeds to develop the IFGF by identifying specific
principles and values applicable to South Africa, followed by a description of
functional application areas consisting of leadership, management and control
practices required as a minimum to ensure healthy public sector financial
governance. It continues to develop governance-related activities based on
existing frameworks recognised by public sector agencies globally and in
some instance, designed for the private sector. The study proceeds to
develop these areas to enable employees in the public sector to discharge
their duties in a manner that can form the cornerstone in governance
excellence.
Having used a deductive approach during the first few chapters to develop
the IFGF, the study then proceed using an inductive process to construct the
conditions and the related activities required by the IFGF. It develops
detailed information on specific activities that must be in place for the IFGF to
be functional. These activities provide the “how” and are grouped together
based on a recognised framework. Governance effectiveness depends on a
situation where all areas are considered.
Lastly the study focuses on the conclusions regarding the IFGF outcomes
and therefore discusses the implementation of the IFGF and the impact on
the accounting system, measuring governance and keeping the IFGF
updated with developments internally and externally.
The study shows the growing importance for developing countries and
emerging economies to demonstrate healthy governance processes and
practices. However, no consensus yet exists on the approach or methodology, particularly with regard to building national ownership of and
political commitment to governance (Landell-Mills, 2003:369). Fortunately
similar initiatives have been forthcoming from a number of countries and,
although they are each focussed differently, they provide a base for
developing a public sector IFGF for South Africa in particular, but can also be
used as a guideline for other emerging democracies. Developing the
governance universe facilitates the process of keeping track of a multitude of
possibilities that are relevant in day-to-day management.
The study determined the applicable criteria that an IFGF must satisfy to
attract attention when funding is required from the donor community and to
provide assurance to stakeholders with limited skills and knowledge that
objectives are achieved effectively and efficiently in an ethical environment.
The benefit of this framework is that it has passed the first scrutiny in South
Africa namely that of the Provincial Treasury of the Provincial Government
Western Cape (PGWC) public sector audit committees in the public sector
(PGWC) and is currently being subjected to a four-year implementation
process, starting with an awareness phase in all Departments of the PGWC.
During this process the senior management of all the departments are being
exposed to the principles contained in the IFGF and their practical
observations and suggestions will be applied towards formulating an updated
version of the Governance Framework of PGWC (Draft version 2.20e).
This is significant, because it represents a healthy interaction between
academic research and practical application, a process that is more often
than not balanced, but appears to be in favour of either the one or the other.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1223 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Pieterse, C L |
| Contributors | Burger, A. P. J., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Management and Planning. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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