In 2017, Crispian Olver unleashed a harrowing account titled How to steal a city: The battle for Nelson Mandela Bay, of how the African National Congress (ANC) captured the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality leading to the massive pilfering of the latter's kitty. His was an 'insider account' of someone who was seconded by the then Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Pravin Gordhan, to the municipal government with a mandate to ar ...

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2021-Jun-28 16:12:29

The amalgamation of municipalities in South Africa often occurs prior to local government elections. This change is necessitated by the growth in municipal boundaries. Moreover, the growth of certain areas is influenced by the formation of informal settlements and new developments. In most instances, amalgamation of municipalities is inevitable. This has a direct impact on the distribution and redistribution of public services to the citizens. The purpose of this article is to investigate the ...

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2021-Jun-28 16:10:21

Solid waste management practice is one of the essential and basic service delivery requirements that should exist in all places. The method(s) of handling, storage and processing solid waste at household is key and plays a significant role in public health, ensuring a safe environment and efficiency in dealing with municipal solid waste. This study sought to identify factors influencing waste management practices using an extensive literature review, field observations and a field study condu ...

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2021-Jun-28 16:05:57

This article explores challenges experienced by young people in their attempts to participate in development and governance at uPhongolo Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Youth participation is critical for human rights protection and society's expectations of young people in thriving for meaningful ways to contribute towards local economic development (LED). This article argues that youth participation at uPhongolo Local Municipality is more focused on political movement than it is on ...

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2021-Jun-28 16:03:25

The concept public participation has gained great attention over the decades with development scholars arguing that it is crucial to democratic governance. Generally, public participation means that the citizens directly or through their associations and organisations participate in the processes of decision making together with their government. Their participation contributes to the building of effective, efficient, responsive, transparent, and accountable governance. Public policy formulat ...

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2021-Jun-28 16:00:54

There is international acknowledgement that efforts to reduce disaster risks must be systematically integrated into policies, plans and programmes of various departments and ministries in each country. The Covid-19 global pandemic has demonstrated the importance of multi-sectoral coordination in managing disaster risks. This article addresses the integration of disaster risk reduction in the planning processes and initiatives of various departments or ministries in South Africa. The main obje ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:57:33

A pursuit to enhance the capacity of the state requires an in-depth evaluation of the frameworks created to optimise efficiency in managing public affairs. In the local sphere of government, at the core of this are Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) -important tools for managing local affairs. The IDP is a strategic plan of local government while M&E system is a tool that provides both guarantees and feedback on the performance of state institutions. ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:55:01

This article is an analytic narrative of the falling apart of the Democratic Alliance-led coalition in the City of Tshwane. It asks the question, what does this presage for the future of coalition politics? To answer this question, the article adopts a case study approach, where insights are drawn from the theory of casual process which states that "any facts about causation as a relation between events obtain only on account of more basic facts about casual processes and interactions&qu ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:52:38

Covid-19 caught many countries napping. Their responses to the pandemic differed. Some appeared to have fared well in their efforts to contain the virus compared to others. Against this background, the question this article asks is, have socialist-oriented countries managed the Covid-19 pandemic better than those who are capitalist-oriented? In order to answer this question, a cross-national comparison is conducted between three centre-left countries, two centre-right countries, and a further ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:50:05

Global nations have been extremely pressurised by the rapid spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and where people live. Countries such as China, Italy, and the United States of America have been worst hit by this pandemic. In Africa, South Africa is leading with a high rate of infection. The inhabitants of its informal settlements continue to struggle, as they are unable to comply with the lockdown regulations imposed by the government. This article explores the difficulties faced in South African ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:47:38

Futurists and scenario planning practitioners the world over revere the Mont Fleur Scenario exercise. The said project took place at the dusk of pre-democratic South Africa, bringing together leading figures from divergent stakeholder groups whose interests were at times diametrically opposed. Mont Fleur contributed to the consensus necessary for South Africa's vaunted peaceful transition from minority rule to constitutional democracy. Singapore, to its benefit, continued the Mont Fleur l ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:44:38

Among many inevitable questions as the Covid-19 wreaks havoc is, what is its implication on the public service? This lecture reflects on this question. My intention is not to provide answers but rather to start a dialogue or trigger an ongoing conversation/debate. I will draw on a few examples from public services across the world, from developed and developing countries. As mentioned by many observers, and allow me to make reference to the Time magazine, "the Covid-19 crisis is not just ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:42:06

The global pandemic has forced the African continent to realise the importance of implementing sought after innovative ideas in accelerating public service delivery. Buzzwords such as e-services, mobile services, e-governance, e-government, open governance and 4IR became practical interventions that were fully implemented by public institutions. This implies that public institutions were involuntarily coerced into embracing creativity and innovation to remain resilient in this agile, complex ...

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2021-Jun-28 15:39:40