Browsing by Author "Van der Merwe, William Charles"

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    'n Evaluering van die kostedoeltreffendheid van maatskaplikewelsynsprogramme vir die versorging van ouer persone in residensiele fasiliteite
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-03) Van der Merwe, William Charles; Cronje, J. I.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since 1988 it became practice for welfare organisations to submit an evaluation of their welfare programme as part of their application for state funding for the next year. Included in this evaluation is a section on the cost efficiency of the programme. After the first democratic election in 1994 a number of processes were started to develop new welfare policies for the country. In all of these processes cost efficiency is seen as a principle, but in spite of this, so it seems from the documents, is the evaluation of cost efficiency still a problem. The question therefore arises: What is the present status of the evaluation of the cost efficiency of social services after twelve years of program evaluation? Only a few studies on the methodology of the evaluation of cost efficiency within the South African context were found through the literature study. An exploratory study was therefore undertaken to determine what the reasons could be why so little progress was made with cost effiency evaluation. The empirical study focussed on residential facilities for older persons and was done within one welfare organisation in the Western- and Southern Cape. A sample of twenty managers was randomly selected and fifteen respondents returned the questionaire. It is a potential danger that managers of residential facilities for older persons could see the evaluation of the services rendered as just another administrative task, because of the very strong link between evaluation and the application for state funding. The researcher therefore wanted to ascertain what the attitude of the managers is towards the evaluation of their services, and especially the evaluation of the cost-efficiency thereof. It was found that the managers are positive towards program evaluation and the evaluation of cost efficiency, but the majority of them responded that the lack of guidelines and manuals is a deficiency. The lack of proper measuring instruments was also stressed. The research also shown that the managers conceptualize cost efficiency mainly in terms of costs and not as a relation between the outcomes of the programme and the costs thereof. The managers of residential facilities uses the evaluation document that was send out by the department, because it forms part of the application for state funding. This means that the level of program evaluation is actually determined by the department. It was found that this document focused mainly on the measuring of inputs and outputs and not so much of the evaluation of the outcomes of the programme. Based on the results of the study the researcher proposed guidelines to promote the evaluation of the cost efficiency of social services.
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    Met woord en daad in diens van God : die diakonaat van die NG Kerk in postapartheid Suid-Afrika
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Van der Merwe, William Charles; Hendriks, Hans Jurgens; Swart, Ignatius; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past two decades the Dutch Reformed Church, a typical mainline church in South Africa, encountered radical challenges, as was the case with many similar churches worldwide. The DR Church had to face global societal shifts such as the emergence of postmodernism, the intensifying of secularisation and the growing impact of globalisation on the religious community. In addition, the members of the DR Church were exposed to radical challenges due to the dismantling of the apartheid system in South Africa. This dismantling was a particularly traumatic experience for the DR Church, seeing that this church did not only support the apartheid regime, but also legitimized it on theological grounds. It is therefore understandable that the publishing of the document Kerk en Samelewing (“Church and Society”) in 1986, which first signalled the rejection of apartheid in the DR Church, evoked a major reaction, not only among the church membership, but also within the ranks of white Afrikaners as social group. With the dawn of the post-apartheid era in South Africa in 1994, the issue of the church's relevance was already on the agenda of the ecumenical church. In recent times suddenly this theme also became critical to the church in South Africa and especially to the DR Church. The present study proposes that a missional diaconal ministry which focuses on the society as a whole will provide a modus to the DR Church by which it can function as a relevant church within the South African society. The rationale of this investigation is a follows: The DR Church is currently (2014) not in a position to impact significantly on the societal needs of South African citizens. The reason is that this church's current ministry of compassion is still based on an ecclesiocentric and specialist approach, which was typical of the Corpus Christianum. As a result, a new, unique praxis is needed for the diaconal ministry of this church. The present study argues that missional theology provides a new paradigm according to which an applicable missional diaconal praxis can be developed for the DR Church. Such a unique diaconal praxis can only develop when it is guided by a spirituality that leads to a diaconal attitude and sensitivity towards the poor and destitute. This diaconal spirituality, in turn, is activated and fed by a missional theology that builds on the triune God as origin, basis and final purpose of the diaconal ministry as such. Furthermore in this study it is shown that the concept of missio Dei implies that the diaconal ministry forms an integral part of God’s mission and is thus not an isolated church ministry besides other ministries. It is further argued in the present study that a multi-dimensional missional-diaconal practice should be developed for congregations and the various structures within the DR Church. To facilitate the conceptualisation and operationalisation of a missional diaconal ministry in this church, the study proposes that a specific research focus, namely “Missional-diaconal Studies” should be developed for the South African environment. For this purpose a research and teaching institution should be established to provide in such needs of the church.