Published Articles

Latest Articles : 2013


South Africa is not immune from the socio-economic challenges facing most developing countries the world over. There is consensus amongst academics, practitioners, and political office-bearers that South Africa is faced with the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. The discourse pertaining to these have become dominant in the public domain. Studies indicate that these challenges, as in the Census 2011 results conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), remains endem ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:37:25

Civil society, a term employed to name the space of those persuaded to join associations, in voluntary membership to collectively establish unions, churches, political parties, cooperation, neighbourhoods, schools of thoughts, societies to promote or prevent actions in government, influence policy, enhancing accountability and safeguard the interest of the public from exploitation by holding public officials accountable for their action in government. Civil society in developing democracies, ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:34:19

Despite claims that the practice of public administration is, or can become, a professional activity, this paper argues that the South African public administration (SAPA) lacks the hallmarks of a true profession, and faces immense challenges if it wants to become one. The public service in South Africa, however, as in many countries, has become professionalised, not because of its contributions to the field of public administration, but rather because the contributions of scientific and othe ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:31:38

This paper concentrates on the use of project management to measure the provision of low-cost housing (LCH) in the Metsimaholo Local Municipality (MLM). The provision of LCH forms part of government urban regeneration programmes for achieving social sustainability. The LCH projects serve as an instrument for the development of sustainable human settlements and contribute to urban regeneration. The housing vision is underpinned by principles of sustainability, integration, equality and good go ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:28:54

South African Constitution provide for three spheres of government (National, Provincial and Local Government) that are distinctive, Interdependent and Interrelated. These three spheres of government through policies and legislation are bound to foster a nation that is hands on when it comes to matters affecting their well-being in their respective communities across the Republic. It is through these policies and legislations that provisions are made that citizens will be able to voice their ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:26:26

The concept of governance has been introduced in the discourse of Public Administration by when the focus of public administration practice was to ensure developmentally-oriented objectives for governments. Society as the custodian of government of the day needs to take charge of how the societal affairs are run to the benefit of its welfare. Interactions that take place within the realm of public administration had to be informed by the polity within a given state through the will of the peo ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:23:00

Within the international community, democracy and governance are widely advocated as intrinsically desirable goals. Governance capacity also plays a vital role in advancing human security, enabling states to respond effectively to citizen's demands. Governance allows citizens to express their demands, hold public officials to account and rid themselves of ineffective leaders. Nevertheless, alternative schools of thought dispute their consequences and as the most effective strategy for ach ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:19:54

Globally, the achievement of Millennium Development goal 3 is slow, as is evidenced by surveys conducted by some of the reputable international organisations, such as the Global Employment Trends, (2009) and the Global Employment Trends for Women, (2009) (both conducted by the International Labour Organisation), the Mastercard Worldwide Index on Women's Advancement, (2009), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2011). The surveys explore the reality that gender ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:17:10

This paper discusses issues concerning child sex trafficking from the perspective of current UK policy and practice. It examines different academic ideological perspectives on child sex trafficking issues and highlights how these can be detrimental when applied to government policy and decision-making. Specific reference is made to the issue of internal child sex trafficking (ICST) in the UK, a previously under-researched area of child sexual exploitation. Recent high profile cases, such as t ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:14:30

Various legislation, policies, and strategies have been formulated since the advent of the democratic dispensation as an attempt to address the problem of unethical behaviour in the South African public sector. The discourse on ethics in the South African public service recognises undoubtedly that South Africa has a sound legislative and policy framework for promoting professional and ethical conduct. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), as the supreme law of the country, ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:11:33

Research and knowledge management (RKM) are arguably the fundamental basis upon which their success or survival rests in many organisations. Yet, these critical tools for supporting and measuring an organisation's performance in an information age, are often found wanting in African election management bodies (EMBs). The resultant gaps threaten smooth governance in these institutions; and a lack of empirical research and relevant infrastructure in turn affect the governance of elections i ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:07:35

A large part of the discourse of governance envisages cooperation between civil society and the state, with some theorists and practitioners arguing that there is a positive correlation between civil society and good governance. In particular, civil society action is presumed to be a requirement for good governance as well as an indicator of it (Roy, 2008). In essence, the very idea of governance is symbolically significant and suggests that the state alone cannot be the sole manager of publi ...

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2021-Jun-20 22:04:48

Public Administration highlighted the discrepancies between the international, national and sub-national administrations, prompting calls for state capitalism meta-governance. The latter is established in the state-capital nexus, through corporatisation of public utilities into giant state-owned companies that gobble public funds in public-private partnerships that involve consortiums led by multinational corporations. Rather than serve public interest mandates, and aided by state activism, s ...

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2021-Jun-20 21:58:45

The Sphere of Local Government tends to appoint employees to specialised positions based on blind allegiance and political affiliation to the ruling political party, which has led to the malfunctioning of the customer care centres within eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. This malfunctioning has also been seen through unequal distribution of centres, equipment and personnel throughout the municipality, whereby rural or peri-urban centres are characterised by incompetence, a lack of integrit ...

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2021-Jun-20 21:50:08

This paper examines organisational work procedures as an important efficiency driver in the public sector. Using expositions in literature and drawing from some of the findings from a recent organisational policy and procedures review project, the paper examines the potential role that organisational procedures can play in service efficiency. The paper begins with an assessment of the scientific management concepts of work and efficiency against issues of equity and public value. The aim is t ...

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2021-Jun-20 21:45:47