African Journal of Public Affairs Volume 9, Number 2 (2016)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/59920

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Front matter, African Journal of Public Affairs, Volume 9, Number 2
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016)
Perceptions of local businesses on the Employment Tax Incentive Act : the case of the Vaal Triangle region
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Meyer, Natanya; De Jongh, Jacques J.; Meyer, Daniel Francois
South Africa is facing the reality of extremely high youth unemployment rates. The problem poses a threat to the country’s economic development and future labour force projections. In response, the South African government has promulgated the Employment Tax Incentive Act, 2013 (Act 26 of 2013), a targeted employer-side supply wage subsidy which requires a significant degree of public-private sector cooperation. The purpose of this study is to determine perceptions of local businesses regarding youth unemployment and the aforementioned act to determine its feasibility as an appropriate tool to address this problem. A qualitative research approach was used to collect data. A total of 13 in-depth interviews were conducted with business representatives in the Vaal Triangle region, Gauteng. Results of the study indicate that 92 percent of the interviewed business representatives support the act. However, its effectiveness in contributing to the employment of the youth is impeded by supply side issues of the said crisis that make businesses reluctant to hire young people. Strict labour policies and laws also induce difficulties restricting its implementation.
Improving financial oversight of development finance institutions
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Klingelhöfer, H.E.; Erasmus, Lourens J.; Teka, M.G.
Effective financial oversight is an integral part in ensuring that Development Finance Institutions deliver on their mandate and also to hold the executive to account for the use of public funds and resources. This article investigates the use of supervision tools by the National Treasury of South Africa in its oversight of the Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa (Land Bank). Of the variety of tools in use globally, it identifies the CAMELS assessment framework as well as the Subsidy Dependence Index (SDI) and explores their benefits and drawbacks in the South African context. In addition, the article gains the perception regarding financial oversight by means of interviews from National Treasury and Land Bank stakeholders. Taking the financial information from the Land Bank audit report and performing a quantitative analysis of the bank’s performance, as well as measuring the social cost of the subsidies, the findings show that the adoption of the CAMELS rating could assist the Land Bank in determining a bank’s overall condition and identifying its strengths and weaknesses in terms of finances, operations and management.
Self-leadership as an antecedent of authentic leadership : an empirical study among public sector employees
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Kotze, Tina M.
There are scholarly claims that self-leadership and authentic leadership have positive outcomes for organisations. In pursuit of understanding the competency development needs of public sector leaders, this study examines the infl uence of selfleadership on authentic leadership among public sector managers. A convenience sample of 183 public sector managers applying for MBA and leadership programmes to a South African Business School participated in the study. The Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) was used to measure authentic leadership and the Abbreviated Self-Leadership Questionnaire (ASLQ) to measure self-leadership. The findings indicate that self-leadership positively influences all four dimensions of authentic leadership, namely self-awareness, balanced processing, relationaltransparency and internalised-moral-perspective. The implications for leadership development stemming from the findings are discussed here.
On ethics, inequality, public corruption and the middle class : the case of South Africa
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Mantzaris, E.A.
The article deals with ethics, inequality and the role of the middle class, especially its white collar component. The article uses empirical realities in South Africa to illustrate the relationships between these items. The article begins with a brief exploration of the conceptualisation of ethics and the empirical manifestations of a public sociology of ethics based on an analysis of the concrete details of social practice evident in the actions of individuals, groups, social and state entities and society at large. Next, levels of inequality and their manifestations in South Africa are outlined. The success of various governments, social and financial interventions to alleviate poverty are considered as the country’s large gaps of inequality have not narrowed much. The discussion of the concept of a middle class, with special reference to the white collar section, is followed by an overview of recent empirical research findings which suggest that there are high levels of corruption in this stratum in South Africa. It is shown that this stratum is now characterised by a loss of ethical standards and the compelling need for individuals to satisfy their own personal financial and material interests. It is concluded that the results of such behaviour at all levels of society must have serious consequences for South Africa, and will, in many ways, perpetrate inequality.
Innovation in public service delivery : the case of civic participation in Slovakia
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Merickova, B.M.; Svidronova, M.M.; Nemec, J.
Participation as such is connected with political, social and civic dimensions. Through participation, citizens can directly or indirectly help to make the public process become more transparent and more efficient. It allows citizens “to see” into a decision-making process, to understand it, as well as contribute and be able to control it. In practice, civic participation has various forms, it includes both formal civic associations and informal groups of citizens that develop activities in order to solve local problems. In this article we focus on civic participation in the innovation in the provision of public services, i.e. co-creation. Our objective is to map the best practices of co-creation in social innovations at the local government level in Slovakia. The main findings of the analysis are that co-created innovations are mostly initiated by nongovernmental actors. The study uses a qualitative approach and is based on original survey data from our own research, conducted mainly within the LIPSE research project.
Ethics and accountability in South African municipalities : the struggle against corruption
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Pillay, P.
The article identifies conceptual issues and relationships between ethics, accountability and corruption, and touches on their social and developmental dimensions. It explores the roots of corruption in municipalities and their relationship to social science paradigms. The argument is supported by examples of corruption in municipalities in different parts of South Africa. These reported cases of corruption are used as an empirical basis to identify several types of corruption noted in anti-corruption literature. The article shows that corruption may occur more readily where there is systemic and organisational encouragement for someone to become corrupt. A lack of ethics and accountability amongst the leaders often lead to loose, poorly organised, weak or inefficient organisational systems and structures as well as supply chain and procurement weaknesses. A holistic approach in addressing corruption and fraud is recommended. This involves solving the political/administrative conundrum evident in many municipalities. The effort needs to be spearheaded by the adoption of collective leadership, and must be accompanied by strong political will. The approach can be supplemented by the introduction of internal control mechanisms and solid financial management initiatives rooted in a Fraud and Corruption Detection and Response Plan.
Localising the sustainable development goals (SDGs) : the role of local government in context
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Reddy, P.S.
The United Nations (UN) has of late been debating the new international development framework that will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) post–2015. This process has been popularly referred to as the post-2015 development agenda. It is a fact that many of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that have been identifi ed will impact on the role and responsibilities of local government, namely, poverty reduction; access to water and sanitation; health; education; economic growth; development of cities and human settlements; and resilience to climate change. A critical issue that was highlighted when the MDGs were introduced in 2000 was the implementation modalities as it was felt that the process and goals were primarily top down (CLGF 2014:3). Consequently, there has been strong advocacy for local government to be a key implementation partner in the achievement of the new sustainable development goals that would have been finalised in September 2015 (www.worldwewant2015.org/ localising2015; CLGF 2014:3; www.capacity.undp.org; Slack 2014:1). Key aspects of the debate and discussion to date have been how to localise the new development framework, evaluate the local impact of the future SDGs and ensure that the local dimension is prioritised and successfully implemented (UNDP 2014a:3). There is a firm belief that the issue of localisation has to extend beyond national, provincial/state/regional implementation and there should be a focus on how the new development agenda will be implemented locally and the implications for the local level of government in this regard. According to the UN, localisation denotes the “process of defining; implementing; and monitoring strategies at the local level for achievable global, national and subnational sustainable goals and targets” (UNDP 2014a:3). This process would involve the utilisation of distinct tools, mechanisms, strategies, platforms and innovations to ensure that the development agenda is effectively translated into firm action and concrete results at the local level to benefit communities. It is envisaged that it will be an inclusive process and will move beyond the municipal jurisdiction to draw in relevant stakeholders to create a strong and capable local authority. Viewed in this context, localisation is an integral part of the multilevel governmental system and more so in terms of attaining the sustainable development goals that will be shortly adopted by the international community (CLGF 2014:3).
An analysis of public private partnership in Sub-Saharan Africa
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Tshombe, L.M.; Molokwane, T.
A full understanding of the implementation of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is essential. PPPs should be considered in sectors where there is need for improvement of infrastructure and service delivery. Every government should have legislation and a regulatory framework on PPPs to facilitate local and foreign investors to implement new projects. The absence of a legal and regulatory framework on PPPs hinders close collaboration between the public and private sectors. This article argues that the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project is an excellent model for governments in SSA where there is lack of infrastructure to provide better service delivery. Most BOT projects require sizeable financial investment. Many governments prefer to use BOT for construction of specific infrastructure such as new electricity power plants, toll roads, prisons, dams and water plants. Experience shows that BOT agreements tend to reduce market and credit risk for the private sector because in most cases government is the only customer, thus reducing the risk associated with insufficient demand and the inability to pay.
Towards a typology of government interventionism in municipalities
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Van der Waldt, Gerrit; Greffrath, W.
Although significant progress has been made since democratisation in 1994, much still needs to be done before all local, district and metropolitan municipalities in South Africa are fully functional, sustainable, and developmental. In response to general municipal dysfunctionalism with inadequate service delivery levels and rising levels of public protest, the South African Government has a statutory and moral obligation to intervene in the affairs of municipalities. The nature, scope, and intensions of such interventions are, however, not always clear. It is evident though that Government increasingly views interventionism as a viable approach. Embracing such an interventionist paradigm in government requires scholars to more closely scrutinise municipal interventions, not as loose-standing and isolated occurrences, but as part of an emergent strategy in South African governance. The purpose of this article is to make a contextual and conceptual contribution to the analysis of interventionism by developing a theoretical construct in the form of a typology. This typology could stimulate further scholarly perspectives into the phenomenon of government interventionism in South African municipalities.
Retention and the psychological contract : the case of financial practitioners within the Limpopo Provincial Treasury
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016) Van Dijk, Hilligje Gerritdina; Ramatswi, M.R.
The retention of scarce skilled employees is one of the major challenges affecting public service delivery. Retaining scarce skilled employees in organisations is not always strategically prioritised, despite the cost of turnover to the employer. The article is the product of research which describes the nature of the psychological contract and analyses the extent to which the Limpopo Provincial Treasury (LPT) is able to retain financial practitioners (scarce skilled employees) by focusing upon issues such as career development, motivation and attachment. The LPT faces serious staff turnover rates in scarce skilled employees, specifically pertaining to young internal auditors, which has resulted in unmet targets over the past 10 years. In this research, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data. The questionnaire comprised both closed- and open-ended questions designed to determine employee perceptions regarding the retention of scarce skilled employees. The questionnaire was distributed to 60 core employees in the LPT. The target population included internal auditors, risk management practitioners, internal control practitioners, financial management practitioners, information technology specialists, revenue management practitioners, accountants and economists. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics in the SPSS software packages, while qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. The results revealed that the employee morale, the lack of promotion opportunities and inadequate resource allocations were the main causes for retention failure. The research resulted in recommendations put forward for the development of an integrated human resource management policy aligned to retention through an intensive resource allocation strategy.
Rationalisation of municipalities : a panacea for improved municipal governance in South Africa?
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016-06) Koma, Samuel Bogalebjapoo
This article examines the functioning and rationalisation of municipalities within the context of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and applicable legislation. The role of the Municipal Demarcation Board and the demarcation criteria used to re-determine, de-establish and rationalise municipalities referring to a selected number of municipalities are discussed as well. The discourse on the performance of municipalities is intimated in the article based on the continuing disappointing results reflected through the Auditor-General’s annual reports, including those published by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the National Treasury. The article also offers plausible solutions to address some of the perennial problems facing municipalities. The data collection methods used for the purpose of this article primarily include documentary review of existing official documents and annual reports plus a literature review. Since the advent of the democratic order in South Africa, the local sphere of government has assumed a crucial constitutional role in respect to ensuring the provision of basic services to local communities in a sustainable manner and promoting social and economic development amongst others. Local government is described as a sphere of government located within communities and well-placed to respond to local needs, interests and expectations of the communities served by each municipality. The constitutional status, powers and functions of local government are provided for in Chapter 7 of the Constitution.
Public policy uncertainty, regime contests and divestment : the case of South Africa
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016-06) Croucamp, P.A.; Malan, Lianne Priscilla
Public policy uncertainty has become as destructive and inhibiting to developing political economies seeking entrance into the new, information-driven international political economy as uncivil contests between the state and society had been in the aftermath of decolonisation. The notion of a weak state persists as well as the doggedness of authoritarian urges in the guise of dispersed power politics beyond the distributive interests of the liberal-democratic experiments. This article reflects on the contest between two dominant, but contending regime preferences; the information-age-driven (market) political economy versus the distributive interests of systemic patronage. The latter might well infuse a degree of legitimacy in times of inadequate extraction, but could also be the reason for divesting in the economy and the policy uncertainty which precedes the low economic growth trajectories since 2009. The conclusion is that depending on which of these two regime preferences prevail over the other in the milieu of rapid transformation within the international (political and economic) regime South Africa’s prospect for social stability can be mapped.
The application of economywide techniques as a tool to understand policy impacts
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2016-06) Chitiga-Mabugu, Margaret
Over the past few decades, the pursuit of sustainable growth and development has been the focus of economic policy in Africa. The challenges confronting Africa range from poverty, unemployment, inequality, insufficient and sometimes, inefficient public service provision, through to environmental degradation. In attempting to solve these problems, African governments have traditionally used a variety of policies: and it is upon the effectiveness and efficiency of such policies that people’s livelihoods depend. However, the practical implementation of a policy may not only fail to achieve the desired outcomes, but may in fact unfairly privilege one group or sphere over another. In this article, it is argued that in order to fully understand the effects of the range of policies available to policy makers, as well as their interconnectivity and cohesiveness, a valuable framework to use is the economy-wide analysis. The article explains such a framework and exposes some applied studies that have employed the framework in order to gain insights into policy analysis. An advantage of the methodology is its quantitative nature which allows for measurement of impacts. It is recommended that such methods ought to be part of a toolkit for policy makers.

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