School of Public Leadership
Permanent URI for this community
Browse
Browsing School of Public Leadership by browse.metadata.type "Article"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 90
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemAccountability in the context of cooperative governance and local economic development (LED) in South African local government(Megatrend University, 2021) Kamara, Richard DouglasProvided the tensions and challenges found in different types of governance systems for developing clear objectives, effective policy implementation strategies, as well as monitoring and reporting mechanisms aimed at improving efficiency and sustainability of initiatives, this paper seeks to contribute to both theoretical and practical debates surrounding cooperative governance and LED. Whilst better policy outcomes that fit with local and differentiated needs among stakeholders may be one of the drivers for moving towards cooperative governance, there is a normative question of accountability. Does the common feature of flexible and adaptable arrangements in cooperative governance create accountability deficit, specifically promoting laissez-faire approach commonly associated with the implementation among role-players? This paper considers this question and the extent to which accountability may be ensured. To address these concerns data were collected from six municipalities in Western Cape, South Africa. A qualitative research design paradigm based on Interpretivists/Constructivists philosophy was employed. Data were collected through three data collection instruments, namely, document review, interviews and focus group discussions. This paper argues that employing Key Performance Indicators as commonly used in the public service to promote accountability is difficult to enforce specifically in collaborative endeavours where participatory is voluntary. The paper recommends some accountability promotion enhancers. This will assist in improving the understanding of the context that may inhibit or enable stakeholders in taking full advantage of collaborative-led developmental interventions to further peoples’ lives and to enhance their opportunities to partake in matters of development in their municipalities.
- ItemAlgorithmic decision-making and the law(Department for E-Governance and Administration, Danube University Krems, 2020) Brand, DirkThe Fourth Industrial Revolution is reshaping the world we know dramatically and is characterised by a close interaction between the biological, digital and physical spheres. Digital technologies are impacting all facets of our lives and create a series of new opportunities but also various challenges. The Fourth Industrial Revolution does not follow a linear development trajectory, but due to the diverse nature and rapid pace of technological developments, could rather be compared to a series of networks with multiple connecting points. This has caused the development of the law which deals with these concerns to generally be slow and unable to match the pace and scope of technological developments. In the context of public law there are many questions and challenges relating to individual rights, for example the right to privacy, and the role and responsibilities of government relating to policy development and regulation dealing with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The concept of a Rechtsstaat could arguably provide an appropriate legal framework for shaping the ethical framework, normative standards and a value-based governance model for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including for algorithmic decision-making. The public law concept of accountability should be contextualised in order to apply it to algorithmic decision-making. In the data-driven economy of the 21st century the pace and scope of technological developments that impact humanity requires the development of appropriate legal frameworks to reflect and accommodate the needs of society, in particular relating to the recognition of fundamental human rights. It is concluded that a broad set of ethical and legal principles, which can guide the development of international and national legal frameworks to regulate algorithmic decision-making, is needed.
- ItemAnalysing challenges facing smallholder farmers and conservation agriculture in South Africa : a system dynamics approach(AOSIS Publishing, 2016) Von Loeper, Wolfgang; Musango, Josephine; Brent, Alan C.; Drimie, ScottSmallholder farmers in South Africa find it challenging to participate in the modern economy. Most of these farmers have limited access to credit and insurance, and to markets in which to sell their produce. This paper reviews ethnographic research data and argues that smallholder farmers struggle to take part in modern agricultural value chains in South Africa. System dynamics modelling is used to understand the dynamics relating to agricultural value-chain participants, and to determine whether the ethnographic research data is sufficient to answer the question as to which value-chain participants potentially have the largest impact on smallholder farmers. The modelling results show that banks may have the potential to trigger an impact on smallholder farmers’ productivity that could then attract other value-chain industries to take part in efforts to support these farmers. Smallholder farmers could become a long-term viable and sustainable option for increasing food security in South Africa. However, this study has its limitations. The data used from existing ethnographic research, conducted by way of semi-structured interviews with valuechain participants, is limited and is not able to answer questions such as: (i) how much each industry is prepared to engage with smallholder farmers in the event of other industries being prepared to do the same; and (ii) how long it will take each industry to react to a willingness to engage. Ongoing research is required to extend the interviewee base and data in order to answer these questions and for the model to be completed and used for policy guidance.
- ItemAnother look at economic approaches to environmental management and policy with reference to developments in South Africa(AOSIS Publishing, 2016) De Wit, MartinThe wide acceptance of economic approaches to environmental management and policy, masks increasing heterogeneity in the field. This editorial addresses the question whether the economic approach is still warranted and under which conditions. A broad outline of the trends in both orthodox and heterodox economic approaches is also presented. The traditional split between environmental and ecological economics is not doing justice to recent developments in the field. Instead it is proposed to rather refer to Environmental, Resource and Ecological Economics (EREE), Ecological-Economic Systems (EES) and Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) approaches as well as Heterodox approaches to Environment and Sustainability (HEES). The contributions made to this special issue are placed within their respective subfields of influence. It is concluded that a deeper, self-critical exposition of moral philosophies and values as well as models of reality are needed. A strategy of engagement in an attitude of self-criticism, humility and in participation with others is proposed as a viable way forward. For such a process to be successful two conditions are required, namely valuing the human person and accepting the reality of a nondeterminate world full of meaning.
- ItemAnti-corruption Agencies in South Africa and Brazil : trends and challenges(African Consortium of Public Administration (ACPA), 2017) Pillay, P.Corruption at all levels has become an everyday reality in South Africa and Brazil with dire consequences for both countries, leading to perpetration of social inequality. In both countries, the existing legislation and anti-corruption agencies have been unable to curb the phenomenon efficiently. One of the key reasons for this failure has been the modus operandi of the anti-corruption agencies, which throughout the years have faced serious changes (political, legal, administrative and organisational) in their fight against a multi-facet, complicated, and multi-layered reality. In both countries, the state bureaucracy apparatus, has over the years, faced both grand and petty corruption in both the public and private sector domains, whereby the competition for irregular thirst for wealth accumulation has reached unprecedented levels. The anti-corruption agencies then have to deal with a multiplicity of corruption diversions and dimensions in their efforts to detect, dissect, investigate and prosecute. There are a number of differences in the legislative frameworks determining the structure, functions and operations of such organisations in these countries. This article, based on an empirical paradigm rooted on interpretative qualitative methodology, will analyse and dissect the similarities, differences, achievements, failures and challenges in terms of mandates, efficiency efficacy, and resources allocation. This comparison will be located within the ‘multiple versus single agency’ debate.
- ItemAssessing cooperative environmental governance systems : the cases of the Kogelberg Biosphere reserve and the Olifants-Doorn catchment Management Agency(Unisa Press, 2008) Muller, KobusAgainst a background of institutional fragmentation and lack of coordination among the respective role players, the notion of co-management of natural resources has emerged in many countries around the world as the most promising institutional prospect for resolving resource conflicts and building partnerships in conservation and management between local actors and government authorities. In South Africa, like elsewhere, the fragmentation and lack of coordination among the various executing agencies represent a significant hurdle and a barrier to successfully integrated environmental governance. Following international trends, and supported by the constitutional vision of cooperative governance and the transformation agenda of the government – which created an openness to new and alternative service-delivery mechanisms – innovative new networked regional and community-based natural resource governance systems emerged in the late 1990s. These new forms of cooperative management of natural resources, and in particular the role of networks and partnerships, have led to a new and growing general interest in evaluating cooperative environmental governance systems. Following a broadly institutionalist approach, which is useful for studying situations of governance where policy formulation and implementation involve a wide range of actors, a diagnostic tool was developed to facilitate opportunities for organisational and social learning. The perceived usefulness of having such a tool was put to the test by applying it to two case studies in the Western Cape, namely the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve and the Olifants-Doorn Catchment Management Agency. In this article the characteristics of two evolving environmental governance systems are mapped, using the framework to assess and refine its usefulness in contributing to our knowledge and understanding of building social capital and institutional capacity in decentralised and networked governance settings.
- ItemThe challenge of environmental governance : the case of mainstreaming biodiversity in productive landscapes, with specific reference to the Gouritz initiative in the Western Cape(Unisa Press, 2012-03) Wessels, Nadia; Kobus, MullerSouth Africa boasts one of the world's richest and most diverse natural landscapes and is world-renowned for its biodiversity. The Cape Floristic Region, particularly, is the world's sixth and smallest floral kingdom and the only one housed within the confines of a single country and predominantly within the Western Cape Province. It is also the richest, with more than 9 000 plant species. This region is considered one of the world's 25 most threathened biodiversity hotspots; most of the priority areas fall outside of existing statutorily protected areas and are mainly on privately owned land. Ensuring ecological sustainability across a diverse range of productive sectors and landscapes requires partnerships and a form of environmental governance that mediates the interactions between society, the economy and ecological functions. The collaborative environmental governance process is complex, as a result of the multitude and diverse range of socio-economic and political issues; the cross-cutting nature of environmental issues that span national, provincial and local spheres of government; and the uncertainty and unpredictability of ecological processess and functions, particularly on a landscape scale. This article focuses on the Gouritz initiative, a landscape-scale conservation and development initiative in the Western Cape. It was established in recognition of the challenges of concurrent governance for the long-term protection of the area's globally significant biodiversity. The continued efforts of collaborative planning, implementation and adaptation in the Gouritz Initiative have demonstrated that despite the complex, ongoing challenges associated with cooperative environmental governance, conservation initiatives can be successful if society's nees, most of which are socio-economic, are balanced with the need for biodiversity protection.
- ItemChallenges facing South Africa’s electricity sector’s integrated resource plan : a qualitative system dynamics approach(Association of Southern African Schools and Departments of Public Administration and Management, 2018) Mqadi, L.; Musango, J. K.; Brent, A. C.National electricity plans are policy approaches that provide opportunities for integrated, goal-oriented electricity transition management. This article provides a critical reflection of the challenges that face the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) of South Africa, which include the misalignment of the electricity sector’s long-term plan with other national strategic plans, and the minimal endogenisation of this long-term plan into existing sustainability transitions governance frameworks. The article argues that the use of qualitative system dynamics, particularly causal loop diagrams, can be useful in learning about the key feedback loops that relate to the IRP development process challenges in South Africa. The results show that resistance to IRP development, adoption and its overall implementation has contributed negatively to the electricity sustainability transitions agenda. Further, current solutions merely deal with symptoms rather than the root cause of the IRP challenges. An integrated sustainable electricity transitions framework is thus proposed, aimed at improving South Africa’s electricity sustainability transitions agenda. The article finally argues the need to entrench the sustainability transitions-based framework in the existing IRP policy development process in South Africa.
- ItemChefs as change-makers from the kitchen : indigenous knowledge and traditional food as sustainability innovations(Cambridge University Press, 2019) Pereira, Laura M. (Laura Maureen), 1985-; Calderon-Contreras, Rafael; Norstrom, Albert V.; Espinosa, Dulce; Willis, Jenny; Lara, Leonie Guerrero; Khan, Zayaan; Rusch, Loubie; Palacios, Eduardo Correa; Amaya, Ovidio PerezProjections of a burgeoning population coupled with global environmental change offer an increasingly dire picture of the state of the world's food security in the not-too-distant future. But how can we transform the current food system to become more sustainable, more equitable and more just? We identify kitchens as sites of transformative innovation in the food system where cooks and chefs can leverage traditional food knowledge about local food species to create delicious and nutritious dishes. Achieving a sustainable food system is a grand challenge, one where cooks in particular are stepping forward as innovators to find solutions.
- ItemChrist-centred ethical behaviour and ecological crisis : what resources do the concepts of order in creation and eschatological hope offer?(AOSIS, 2013-05-08) De Wit, Martinus P.The ecological crisis, as well as a limited ethical response, forces a reflection on the transformative potential of Christian ethics on an idolatrous society largely shaped by a dominant economic culture. The aim of the article was to explore how the concepts of creation order and eschatological hope may be helpful in the understanding and formulation of a Christ-centred ethical response to the ecological crisis. A review of the relevant literature was presented, limited to insights from Reformational philosophy and eco-theology into the concepts of creation order and eschatology. The main internal tensions of using the concepts of creation order and eschatological hope as resources in Christ-centred eco-ethics were highlighted and discussed. Some implications for the further explanation and development of Christ-centred eco-ethics are outlined.
- ItemA conceptual framework for energy technology sustainability assessment(Elsevier, 2011-03) Musango, Josephine K.; Brent, Alan C.Technology assessment has changed in nature over the last four decades from an analytical tool for technology evaluation, which depends heavily on quantitative and qualitative modelling methodologies, into a strategic planning tool for policymaking concerning acceptable new technologies, which depends on participative policy problem analysis. The goal of technology assessment today is to generate policy options for solutions of organizational and societal problems, which, at the operational level, utilize new technologies that are publicly acceptable, that is, viable policy options. This study focuses on the development of a framework that incorporates a technology assessment approach, namely, system dynamics, within the broader scope of technology development for sustainability. The framework, termed systemapproach to technology sustainability assessment (SATSA), integrates three key elements: technology development, sustainable development, and dynamic systems approach. The article then demonstrates the framework of incorporating the system dynamics methodology in energy technology assessment theory and practice within the context of sustainable development. The framework provides for technology sustainability assessment, which, in turn, can guide the promotion of sustainable energy technologies at a policy level. In addition, it can assist technology developers in understanding the potential impacts of a technology, hence enabling them to reduce technology transfer risks
- ItemConceptualizing household energy metabolism : a methodological contribution(MDPI, 2019) Strydom, Adel; Musango, Josephine Kaviti; Currie, Paul K.Urban metabolism assessments enable the quantification of resource flows, which is useful for finding intervention points for sustainability. At a household level, energy metabolism assessments can reveal intervention points to reshape household energy consumption and inform decision-makers about a more sustainable urban energy system. However, a gap in the current urban metabolism research reveals that existing household energy consumption studies focus on outflows in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, and have been mostly undertaken at the city or national level. To address this gap, this study developed a method to assess household energy metabolism focusing on direct energy inflows in the form of carriers, and through-flows in the form of services, to identify intervention points for sustainability. Then, this method was applied to assess the energy metabolism of different households in Cape Town, South Africa, as categorized by income groups. The study argued that the developed method is useful for undertaking bottom–up household energy metabolic assessments in both formal and informal city settings in which more than one energy carrier is used. In cities where only national or city-level data exists, it provides a method for understanding how different households consume different energy carriers differently.
- ItemContextualising public protest : the case of Khayelitsha(ASSADPAM, 2013-06) Mchunu, Ntuthuko; Theron, FrancoisThe upsurge in the number of public protests in most South African municipalities, including the City of Cape Town, continues unabated. While public protest is a demographic right, provided for in the Constitution (1996), the persistence of protests and violent nature at municiapl level are a cause for concern. The associated violence often leads to the destruction of both pbulic and proivate property, disrupetion in economic activities, loss of lives and severe injuries to innocent victims. Public protest continues despite the fact that the democratic dispensation ushered in a paradigm geared for transforming local government into a democratic and autonomous sphere of government, with a broad developmental mandate. The new dispensation introduced the "invited spaces" (Integrated Development Plans and Ward Committees) of participation to facilitate authentic and empowering public participation at a municipal level. The study sought to determine the extent to which the perceived lack of authentic and empowering public participation through the invited spaces contributes to public protests in Khayelitsha. The study indicates that the invited spaces of participation does not instil a sense of trust among the general public with regards to local government's political will and ability to deliver a developmental local government. The study also indicates that lack of authentication and empowering public participation opportunities in the decision-making processess alienates the public and leads to public disenagement from the invited spaces of participation. It is during this period of alienation that the public have been inventing own spaces of participation, in the form of public protests demanding that public voices be heard.
- ItemCooperative governance and local economic development in selected small towns : a case study of the Western Cape Province, South Africa(Peoples Friendship University of Russia, 2021) Kamara, Richard D.This article reports on a study based on cooperative governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in selected small towns in the Western Cape Province. The dearth of an integrative institutional framework to promote collaborative participation negatively influences local municipalities’ ability to successfully manage LED cooperatively with relevant stakeholders. Promoting such inclusive representation and participation of all relevant stakeholders provides a viable and complementary alternative to the traditional bureaucratic governance mechanism. The study investigated the specific factors involved in designing and implementing cooperative governance for LED in selected, comparable municipalities in the Western Cape. Specifically, the study aims to determine the push and pull factors for the successful functioning of cooperative governance aimed at promoting LED in those municipalities. Data were collected through three data collection instruments, namely, document review, interviews, and focus group discussions. The document review is complemented by data from interviews and focus groups discussion. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on cooperative governance by identifying the specific cooperative governance factors, enabling the efficacy and governance of LED in small towns, aimed at positively influencing municipalities’ ability to successfully manage LED cooperatively with relevant stakeholders. An in-depth understanding of the relationship and dynamics of these variables helps to offer recommendations as to how to improve the management and responsiveness to socio-economic concerns within the municipalities through improved LED governance.
- ItemThe correlation between energy cost share, human, and economic development : using time series data from Australasia, Europe, North America, and the BRICS nations(MDPI, 2018) Roberts, Ryan; Musango, Josephine Kaviti; Brent, Alan Colin; Heun, Matthew KuperusThis paper investigates how a change in a region’s energy cost share (ECS), a ratio of a region’s energy expenditure as a fraction of its gross domestic product (GDP), affects the region’s social and economic development. Nations from four regions of the world, namely Australasia, Europe, North America, and the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) were chosen for this study. Using time series data from the period of 1978 to 2010, the annual ECS of each country was compared to the year-on-year GDP change, as well as the components of the human development index (HDI). High ECS values were seen to correlate with low economic development. The existence of an ECS threshold was found in 14 of the 15 countries, for all the regions, and for the worldwide analysis, with very strong correlation coefficients obtained for periods of high ECS. New to this field of research, this study also investigated the effects of ECS on gross national income (GNI) per capita change, as well as the effects of 0, 1, 2, and 3 year lags. This investigation found that ECS has a very strong correlation to GNI per capita change, which was much stronger than the correlation between ECS and GDP change. The effects of ECS on social and economic development occurred after varying time lags, and it is unique to each country and region. Regions with similar ECS dynamics were identified, with possible reasons for the similarities being provided.
- ItemCorridors of Clarity: Four Principles to Overcome Uncertainty Paralysis in the Anthropocene(2020-11) Polasky, Stephen; Crépin, Anne-Sophie; Biggs, Reinette, 1979-; Carpenter, Stephen RGlobal environmental change challenges humanity because of its broad scale, long-lasting, and potentially irreversible consequences. Key to an effective response is to use an appropriate scientific lens to peer through the mist of uncertainty that threatens timely and appropriate decisions surrounding these complex issues. Identifying such corridors of clarity could help understanding critical phenomena or causal pathways sufficiently well to justify taking policy action. To this end, we suggest four principles: Follow the strongest and most direct path between policy decisions on outcomes, focus on finding sufficient evidence for policy purpose, prioritize no-regrets policies by avoiding options with controversial, uncertain, or immeasurable benefits, aim for getting the big picture roughly right rather than focusing on details.
- ItemCorruption : consequences for Socio-economic Well-being in South Africa(CSSALL Publishers, 2019) Mantzaris, Evangelos; Pillay, PregalaThis paper begins with the hypothesis that high levels of corruption can self-perpetuate on occasions, as the phenomenon of corruption is perpetrated through all societal levels and sectors. The loss of ethical standards, lack of honest and cohesive leadership, organisational gaps and weaknesses and individual or group greed, coupled with political, or organisational opportunities, and immunity of offenders, are some of the fundamental roots leading to corruption. High levels of corruption have serious negative repercussions for the present and future of any country especially when it occurs in the public sector. Corruption deters investment in the country, as private investment can be discouraged. The consequences are particularly dire in the case of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), where corruption can amount to an additional cost. It reduces GDP growth as it harms international trade; negatively affects the inflation and exchange rates; affects prices of either imports or exports, thus influencing trade volumes and trade patterns; influences and distorts consumption patterns; increases the wealth distribution disparity and affects the country’s consumption patterns; leads to resource misallocations; harms a county’s international reputation; reduces efficiency, innovation and competition throughout the economy; causes waste of capacity and money, and biases the allocations capital and talent. Finally, it increases inequality as it is instrumental in lowering employment, deters fixed investment as well as becoming a serious hurdle in the establishment of new businesses. The focus of this contribution is on public sector corruption.
- ItemCorruption and its repercussions on employment, poverty and inequality : Rwanda and South Africa compared(Lifescience Global, 2019) Khan, Firoz; Pillay, Pregala; Theletsane, K. I.Effective statecraft is founded on governance, planning and policy execution foundations that are historically derived and conditioned. In contemporary times, effective statecraft supposedly centres on ‘sustainable’ development paradigms and frameworks. This paper examines the connection between state construction and contemporary statecraft - refracted through anti-corruption policy and implementation - and their combined repercussions on employment, poverty and inequality. These include the challenges encountered by the proliferation of corruption, which many posit to be the ‘key enemy’ of good governance and, by extension, ‘sustainable’ development. Using Rwanda and South Africa as case studies, it is demonstrated that fighting corruption cannot be disconnected from power, political economy, the dynamics of public policy formulation, and the mechanics of policy implementation. This paper posits an association between specific types of patrimonialism, economic performance and service delivery with attendant consequences for employment generation, poverty eradication and reducing inequality.
- ItemCorruption and the erosion of citizen trust in Brazil and South Africa(African Consortium of Public Administration (ACPA), 2017) Mantzaris, Evangelos A., 1953-; Pillay, PregalaThe exploration of public trust towards a democratic government has taken different forms throughout history because it is a multi-dimensional and complicated process determined by actions, inactions, political, social and economic processes and societal power relationships. It is widely accepted that good governance, in turn, is a crucial element in the process of building citizens’ trust in government. This implies that unethical, corrupt actions negatively affect citizens’ trust, which is one of the reasons the relationship between social trust and governance has been a focal point of the academic and policy-making communities. The present case studies are based on primary and secondary qualitative research and deal with concerns such as those in South Africa and Brazil and seek to explore the causal relationship between good governance and citizen trust and the effect of corrupt actions. Citizens’ trust takes different forms that fluctuate from the ‘general’ to the ‘particular/specific’ and such realities have different effects on governance as well as the shaping of public policy, attitudes and political imperatives. In both of the aforementioned countries issues of political, economic and social transformation and development are societal imperatives, empirical studies on such relations of trust and good governance can pave the way forward in re-evaluating the differences, similarities and forms of the struggle against corruption.
- ItemCorruption in the health sector in South Africa and India.(African Consortium of Public Administration (ACPA), 2017) Pillay, Pregala; Mantzaris, A.The article is an integral part of a comprehensive comparative empirical study on corruption in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The article begins with the context and parameters of the research identifying a number of core concepts associated with the phenomenon. The anti-corruption legislation in the two aforementioned countries is presented next with South Africa seemingly introducing a diverse range of anti-corruption laws, rules and regulations that tackle almost all aspects of the phenomenon in comparison to India. A number of the most significant laws and instruments relevant in the fight against corruption in the healthcare sector is briefly analysed. The methodology followed in the study combined diverse empirical approaches, such as primary documentary research released by the South African and Indian Treasuries and the Auditor-General authorities, unstructured interviews with researchers, experts and government officials in both countries as well as content analysis of the print media. The data analysis provided the realities of fraud, corruption and collusion, its types and reasons for perpetration in a comparative perspective. The key differences between the two as revealed by the findings is that while in India the rampant corruption is more evident in the private sector, the opposite is true for South Africa. A number of explanations based on the empirical findings are advanced.