The National Development Plan (NDP) marks a significant turning point in South Africa's approach to development. Although hailed by many for its long-term vision of a sustainable and inclusive development path, the Plan appears to be negating the more egalitarian, inclusive, and broad-based and potentially more transformative and empowering Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP) of 1994. The NDP appears to be reneging on some fundamental issues that are pivotal to transformative develo ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:21:52

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of morality and indigenous African cultural practices in public sector financial management. Post-1994, the South African government embarked on policy reforms and several pieces of legislation were promulgated for public service and local government regulation. This legislation included the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the 1999 Public Finance Management Act and the 2003 Municipal Finance Management Act. Underlyi ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:18:53

From 1910 South Africa practised a social democracy that was racially exclusive in character. Within that setup, public enterprises dominated the national political economy landscape. As a result, liberation movements' struggles were informed by socialist rhetoric and after assuming power in the 1994 national elections, the democratic government adopted a development-oriented approach that was later entrenched in the democratic dispensation in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:15:42

In 1990 the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); and, the United States of America (US) emerged as the sole superpower in the world. As the "winner" of the Cold War, the US intensified its strategy to gain more influence in Africa, a former battleground for several superpower proxy wars, in a drive to spread its ideology of liberal democracy. The enlargement policy was meant to free undemocratic states from autocratic regimes and to str ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:12:16

This paper examines the implications of cadre deployment policy on service delivery as well as on effective and efficient public administration in South Africa. The paper argues that deploying people who are incompetent and unskilled does not only exacerbate a dire need for service delivery but also cements the idea that South Africa does not have qualified and experienced personnel for the jobs in public service. Cadre deployment policy was adopted by the ruling party (African National Congr ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:08:34

Institutions supporting democracy, as constituted by Chapter 9 of the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, are crucial oversight instruments. Established to promote good governance, some are more vocal than others. The three most vocal of these are the Office of the Auditor-General, the Office of the Public Protector and the Public Service Commission. However, the extent to which their noisemaking is translated into good governance remains a bone of contention. While the finding ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:05:56

The legislature plays a pivotal role in the realisation of the ideals of democratic governance by, among other things, demanding transparency and enforcing accountability. Democratic governance entails government that is capable of accountability and responsiveness; and, in the South African context, these expectations include the notion of delivering "a better life for all". Legislative oversight contributes greatly to this requirement by ensuring effective monitoring and reviewing ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:03:36

The problems with service delivery remain unresolved in almost all of South Africa's municipalities. It seems that the South African local government is struggling to fulfil its mandate of effective and efficient service delivery. Recipients of services generally perceive their delivery to be progressing at a snail's pace and not visible enough to the majority of the people who still live in abject poverty. The predominance of these societal perceptions gave rise to the so-called serv ...

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2021-Jun-22 08:01:19

The history of South Africa, in terms of democratic rule, whether examined from the indigenous, colonial or post-independence period, evokes varied emotions because of its chequered nature. It is, therefore, not surprising that there is acceptance of the popular belief that "ex Africa semper aliquid movi" (there is always something new out of Africa). Analysts often associate the problem of corruption with single factors such as the indigenous past or colonial rule. This paper adopt ...

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2021-Jun-22 07:59:05

Corruption has attracted increased and intensive consideration in the discourse about the development agenda in recent years. Beyond being an ethical problem, corruption is also a governance and development challenge. Increasingly, the socio-economic and market-related costs of corruption are being recognised. At all levels, actors are taking steps to ameliorate the corrosive effects of corruption on governance and development. This paper shows that corruption inhibits the establishment of a ...

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2021-Jun-22 07:56:56

Botswana has been variously praised as a "shining example of democracy" in Africa, the "African miracle" and a "deviant" case, among other celebratory descriptions. Apart from the high HIV and Aids prevalence rates, Botswana is acclaimed for its impressive economic, democratic and governance credentials. Scholarly works have tended to point at the positive traits of Botswana that are uncommon in Africa and less at the defects that exist within the country's s ...

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2021-Jun-22 07:54:10

This paper argues that capacity-building interventions by the South African government tend to focus more on the macro-perspective and less on local diverse and complex situations. This has created imbalances among local government responsibilities, their existing capacities and contextual realities. Evidently, in an attempt to capacitate local government, national government encouraged various interventions, including legislative and institutional reforms, project consolidation, integrated d ...

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2021-Jun-22 07:51:07

Botswana is much celebrated as the beacon of democracy in Africa because of the perceived good governance, economic growth and electoral and uninterrupted multiparty systems. Additionally, Transparency International has consistently ranked Botswana among the least corrupt countries in Africa, second only to Mauritius. Analysts have paid more attention to the good side that is uncommon in Africa and less to the vices that exist in Botswana. This paper argues that corruption has nonetheless bee ...

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2021-Jun-22 07:48:26

This paper examines factors that influence underspending to determine their relationship with corruption in Limpopo provincial departments. Theoretically, corruption has a direct bearing on underspending in respect of loss of revenue from tax and customs levies, licensing fees, traffic fine bribery, excessively high expenditure occasioned by corrupt loading, fronting on state contracts, and lack of competition between bidders. Public expenditure consists of planning, budgeting, implementation ...

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2021-Jun-22 07:45:51

This paper traces the impact of the remuneration structure of traditional leaders on their participation in municipal policies such as Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) in Vhembe District Municipalities. The paper reveals that the lack of remuneration structure for traditional leaders has the potential to derail their participation in the IDP processes as required by law. Further, it shows that traditional leaders in the Vhembe District Local Municipalities are excluded from the payroll of ...

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2021-Jun-21 23:59:47

This paper discusses corruption in the construction industry to delineate its effects on gravel roads, drawing from Tanzanian experiences. To attain this aim, the paper analyses the following aspects: cooperation between legal entities providing services to the community and the road authorities managing road networks during execution of road works; selection of subcontractors by the main contractor, and the relationship between materials, laboratory personnel responsible for checking the qua ...

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2021-Jun-21 23:51:39

Corruption is one of the elements that is plaguing the public sector and de-accelerating service delivery. Government departments, through public servants, are meant to be foot-soldiers of public service delivery; however, they are susceptible to corruption. Among the many challenges facing public service institutions in developing countries, corruption remains one of the most pervasive and the least confronted. Historically, donor agencies and their clients accepted the inevitability of corr ...

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2021-Jun-21 23:48:07

This paper draws from secondary data and grounded theory to explore the historical evolution of political clientelism in South Africa from the colonial era to post-1994 governance systems in order to develop a pertinent theoretical argument and make policy recommendations for developmental democracy. The relationship between armed struggle, as the culture of hope, and entrusting revolutionary leaders with political responsibilities in postliberal states, is evident in most sub-Saharan African ...

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2021-Jun-21 23:44:02

This paper argues that the G20 is the fulcrum of global governance and wealth; and, that to qualify as a corruption capital of the world, a country would have to involve excesses beyond any those of the members of this "premier forum". In terms of a variety of power capabilities, command of resources and societal perceptions, including the human development index (HDI), trust-deficit in government and the corruption perception index score, a democratic South Africa does not fit the ...

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2021-Jun-21 23:40:02

The South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM) comprises the provincial chapters in the make-up of its national body. These chapters are required to have their activities on a regular basis to ensure that the association's relevance is maintained in promoting the science and practice of public administration. The Limpopo chapter of SAAPAM have successfully staged its third annual conference, which was able to attract delegates from outside the country. Perh ...

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2021-Jun-21 23:34:24