Doctoral Degrees (School of Public Leadership)

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https://scholar2.stb.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/737

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 102

Measuring child well-being in Namibia : an analysis of available national surveys, international child protection reports and evaluation studies
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Kamuingona, Rahimisa; Rabie, Babette; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: Namibia developed the National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable Children in 2004 to address the plight of children who were negatively impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other social evils. The country has never conducted a formal review of the policy; however, the findings revealed that only selected objectives of the policy have been met. From this departure point, it is evident that there is a need to develop a new policy framework for children in Namibia to respond to the evolving needs of children. To ensure the effective development and implementation of a new child policy framework, Namibia needs a set of good-quality indicators to not only monitor the conditions of children, but to also address gaps and promote sound policy outcomes. These quality indicators can be aligned to measure child well-being. Adapting a child well-being approach is beneficial because it provides a multidimensional scope to collect comprehensive data on children in Namibia. The research study confirmed that data is available on child well-being in the various national surveys, international child protection reports and evaluation studies on Namibia, although not comprehensive. It has also emerged that these data are not consolidated into one instrument and are scattered across various national research mechanisms. Proposed approaches to this challenge are to either refine and institutionalise comprehensive child well-being indicators in existing research mechanisms or to adapt a child well-being index for Namibia. The study further proposes a child well-being indicator framework that combines data from existing research instruments and indicators that are useful to address the identified gaps.
A conceptual framework for municipal decision making in a complex context : the Hessequa case
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) van Rensburg, Willem Tobias Boy; Rabie, Babette; Hofmeyr, Jannie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: Municipal decision makers have to realise their constitutional objectives within a volatile, unpredictable, complex and uncertain contextual environment. Decision-making processes based on a reductionist paradigm are inadequate to address the current complexity. The complexity paradigm is more appropriate to address complex decision issues in this context. Decision making should be based on a proper understanding of contextual complexity, municipal decision-making processes, and the adaptive capacity of the municipality. Theories of systems and complexity, decision making, leadership, organisations, and governance inform the study. The qualitative, single-case case study is based on interview and focus group data, document searches, observations, and field notes. Decision-making practices from 2011 to 2021 were investigated. Multiple complementary perspectives are applied to study the internal and external municipal context at different levels of causality. Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, in combination with a manual process, was used to analyse transcribed data. The study integrates important findings on the municipal context, decision-making processes, and the adaptive capacity of the municipality in a conceptual framework for decision making. Multiple perspectives reveal features of the municipal context that are not visible when only a single perspective is applied. Study findings confirm that the municipal context is indeed complex. Shortcomings of the contextual analysis that informs current municipal decision making are exposed. Suggestions for improvements are made. The thematic analysis exposed critical sub-processes and structural aspects that influence decision making within the political arena of the municipality. Some processes may potentially be misused to manipulate decision making. Generally accepted myths that result in conservative decision making are identified. A novel framework to evaluate the adaptive capacity of complex systems is devised and applied. This framework exposes strengths and weaknesses of the municipal adaptive capacity in terms of twelve dimensions at, and across three interrelated levels of causality. The adaptive capacity of the municipality co-determines its ability to implement its decisions. A novel framework for municipal decision making is devised based on the empirical findings and literature review. This framework links ongoing environmental scanning and analysis, strategic foresight, strategy development and planning with municipal decision making. The framework addresses the need for collaboration and innovation to enhance adaptive capacity. It provides for adaptive spaces to enhance adaptive capacity. Feedback processes inform organisational learning and effective governance of decision processes. The framework matches decision strategies with the nature of contextualised decision issues in terms of the law of complexity. This law states that the complexity of any system must at least match the complexity of the issues that confront the system. Institutionalisation of the framework should address deficiencies of current decision processes. The framework may serve as a normative model for municipal decision making. The key finding is that Hessequa municipality does not actively address complexity. Municipalities may benefit a lot if decision makers enrich their decisions through the application of a complexity perspective. Much public value may be added by taking proper care of complexity during decision processes. Currently decision making is hampered by a limited awareness and understanding of complexity and a lack of resources and infrastructure to address it. Findings from this study primarily apply to Hessequa municipality but can be generalised and extended with care and caution to municipalities within similar contexts. This study makes an important contribution to academic literature on municipal decision making in South Africa. First, it demonstrates how multiple complementary perspectives provide a rich contextual understanding of a complex system, such as a municipality, in its context. Second, it demonstrates how the application of a complexity perspective can reveal aspects of municipal decision making that a simple linear approach cannot uncover. Third, it proposes a novel framework for evaluating the adaptive capacity of a complex adaptive system, such as a municipality. Fourth, it demonstrates how a novel framework for municipal decision making not only captures much of the key information that is required for decision making but also serves as a resource to address the complexity that confronts a municipality. Application of both frameworks may have practical value for the municipality and public value for its residents.
Co-designing gendered energy innovations for urban informal settlement households in Kenya : a case study of Mathare Valley informal settlement
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Anditi, Christer Adelaide; Musango, Josephine Kaviti; Ndevu, Zwelinzima; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: Energy innovation processes are gender-blind, which impedes energy innovation adoption in informal urban settlement households. While renewable energy innovations can significantly decrease carbon emissions and improve livelihoods, 80% of Africa depends on biomass for their energy needs, and only 43% have access to electricity, resulting in high energy insecurity. The impact of energy insecurity disproportionately affects women more than men. In cities, emergent inequalities are higher among poor populations living in informal settlements. For example, 60% of Nairobi’s population lives in informal settlements. Despite the global development approach to integrating informality, the current energy policy in Kenya is bifocal: rural-urban. It does not recognise informal settlement households’ uniquely gendered characteristics and their role in energy innovation adoption. Moreover, the policy lacks instruments for interrogating and implementing gendered energy needs. This study applies design thinking in mainstreaming gender in energy innovation processes to promote adoption. Three objectives achieved include: contextualising gendered energy innovations in informal urban settlements in Kenya, exploring dissemination channels for gendered energy innovations in Kenya, and co-designing an actor-network structure for gendered energy innovations in informal urban settlements in Kenya. This transdisciplinary case study of the Mathare Valley informal settlement in Nairobi develops a novel tool named Gender Mainstreaming Model for Innovation Adoption (GeMMIA) to interrogate the role of gender across the innovation process systemically. The overall methodology is mixed methods and uses cross-sectional data. A survey of 207 households in Mathare unveils the dimensions of gender in this informal urban settlement. Semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders and key informants map their journeys as they interact with innovations. Subsequently, an analysis of the user journey maps explores the decision-making process, which is then used as a guide to facilitate a focus group discussion. The multi-stakeholder focus group discussion proposes dissemination strategies for gendered energy innovations, including the need to interrogate informal agency. The ensuing multi-stakeholder design thinking workshop examines value translation across the energy chain through a quasi-experiment. The result is an actor-network structure that integrates informal agency with formal systems to promote energy innovation dissemination. The study finds that, indeed, informal settlements in Africa are uniquely gendered in several ways: women are less exposed to energy innovations, there are higher mortality rates in women and children, poor technical skills training and low participation of women in energy projects. The survey results indicate that in Mathare, although women make household energy decisions, the men pay for the energy fuels and devices in the home. Female-headed households have lower incomes than male-headed households. In addition, there is a high level of illiteracy, eminent use of poor energy sources and overall, household gender dynamics are relational. The proposed strategies in addressing emergent gender concerns across the energy innovation process are mainly women-specific and integrated. They address strategic energy needs for women but also appreciate the gender interdependency within the household. The co-designed actor network reveals stronger ties between the users and the informal community representatives than with the formal system. The study integrates these two agencies and maps their networks and value translation. In conclusion, the study contributes to systems and target transdisciplinary knowledge in the energy sector. Transdisciplinarity is essential in understanding contextual user dynamics, and while it is necessary to address women-specific inequalities, including men in development endeavours is just as fundamental. The study proposes strategies for disseminating gendered energy innovations to adopt for informal settlements in Kenya, an actor-network to test in the settlements, and develops a gender mainstreaming tool as a policy instrument.
Ethical environmental governance, public participation and sustainable development in the EIA decision-making process : a case study of the Xolobeni Heavy Mineral Sands project
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Xala, Xolela; Fortuin, Henri; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: The State is the custodian of mineral and petroleum resources as the common heritage of all the people of South Africa, for the benefit of all South Africans. This study’s primary focus is investigating and exploring the interconnectedness of ethical environmental governance, public participation and promotion of sustainable development in the EIA decision-making process, specifically in mining developments. A literature survey was explored to provide a theoretical framework for evaluating this. EIA regulations of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA) prescribe minimum requirements for environmental impact assessment (EIA), and aid decision-making when evaluating development proposals for activities that are likely to have negative environmental impacts. The EIA decision-making process and its role players are discussed in detail in this study, together with duties and responsibilities in the EIA decision-making process. The legislative framework governing ethical environmental governance, public participation and sustainable development in the EIA decision-making for mining developments is unpacked in Chapter 3. The qualitative research methodologies supported this study’s exploration and investigation and assisted in gaining understanding on the different concepts and legislation. The case of Xolobeni Heavy Mineral Sands project will be addressed in this study to support the literature collected and give practical reference to the theory and legislation framework. The study concludes with answering the research question and proving recommendation for future mining development issues on the EIA decision-making process.
A study of the factors influencing tourism performance in national parks : a comparative study of Kafue and South Luangwa National Parks
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Banda-Thole, Chikondi Hansini; Muller, Kobus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: The Kafue National Park is the largest of Zambia’s 20 national parks, covering 22,500 km². It is followed in size by South Luangwa National Park, which covers an area of 9,050km². Although Kafue National Park was given its status in 1950 by Zambia’s colonial administration, it was designated a national park together with south Luangwa in 1971 by the new post-colonial administration. Both parks have been recognised as tourist destinations and both fall into Zambia’s ‘Revenue Generation’ National Park category together with Mosi-O-Tunya and Lower Zambezi National Parks. This implies that both are meant to demonstrate their economic viability. National parks are meant to attain both natural resource conservation objectives and those related to recreation and tourism. However, tourism is the main source of revenue to support the viability of national parks and their character as tourist destinations. Tourist arrival data from 1959 to 2017 highlights that the Kafue has received 203, 242 tourists, whilst data from 1964 to 2017 indicate that South Luangwa hosted 688, 509 tourists. Data on revenue generated from the two national parks reveal that Kafue generates less than half of South Luangwa’s earnings. Tourist arrivals and revenue generated are key indicators of the tourism performance of a destination. Therefore, this study investigated the factors that have influenced the differences in the performance of the Kafue and South Luangwa National Park. This study situates itself in the field of studies on Southern African national parks and wildlife tourism. The few studies in this area place the emphasis on how national parks attain different sets of objectives that have developed over the past century or on how they maintain a high quality of attractions, basic infrastructure and services, and a supportive environment for tourism to thrive. Another study looked into their ability to gain an international reputation as a World Heritage Site. This study highlights the national parks’ ability to attract tourists and generate revenue to sustain their viability. The conceptual basis for the study combined destination development theories by Richard Butler in the Tourism Area Life Cycle, with environmental governance theory. Destination development theories associated with tourist demand and subsequent spatial growth of destinations provided a basis for investigating the stages of growth and development of the parks under study. The Environmental Governance Systems Framework by Arild Vatn highlights institutional responses to the state, and the use of natural resources, which are fundamental to the conservation objective of national parks. The dissertation reviewed other studies investigating national parks ‘tourism performance and describes eight (8) factors to study performance: Tourist Infrastructure and Services; Natural Resources; Management and Planning; Gateway Communities; International Recognition and Reputation; Private Sector Cooperation; Geographic Location and Secondary Attractions. The study has also provided a background to wildlife tourism in Zambian national parks. A critical review of the tourism policies and legislation was conducted to draw out the main themes since Zambia’s independence up until 2015 (the date of the most recent policy). Four areas were selected, namely conservation, economic efficiency, re-distributional equity and stakeholder collaboration. The study also reviewed documents, articles and websites with information on, and the history of, Kafue and South Luangwa National Parks. Primary data were collected from a survey among ten tourism accommodation businesses operating from Kafue National Park and 22 tourism accommodation businesses operating from South Luangwa National Park. A total of 969 tourists were also surveyed, with 454 who visited Kafue and 515 who visited South Luangwa National Park. Interviews were also conducted with 28 people with work experience promoting conservation and tourism in the national parks during various periods from 1964 to 2019. This study makes an applied contribution to tourism development, where theory is tested in the contexts of two African national parks- Zambia’s Kafue and South Luangwa National Parks. The analyses and discussion of the findings addressed the three objectives of the study. The first two objectives were focused on qualitative data from all three participants (i.e. Tourists, Tourism Businesses and Key Informants), validated by secondary data from documents and records. In the first, Butler’s (1980) Tourism Area Life Cycle model was applied to the tourist trend data from both national parks. Findings confirmed that Kafue National Park has underperformed as a destination. For the second objective, the analysis examined the responses of tourists and tourism businesses according to eight (8) factors drawn from the literature review, as indicated above. Findings validate the relevance of comparing the performance levels of the two national parks under study. The third analysis was quantitative and examined the conceptual framework of the study. Five (5) hypotheses propositions are analysed and interpreted using the qualitative data analysed in the first two objectives. The five propositions significant for tourism performance in national parks are: State of the Resources, Quality of Infrastructure, Promotion of Tourism Policy, Government Support and the Type of Tourists frequenting the national park. Four of these were significant to South Luangwa, except the Quality of Infrastructure. Kafue National Park had lower ratings in all five factors. Interviews amongst Key Informants brought out a wide variety of responses, as did the open-ended portions of the tourist questionnaire. However, the main factors that have led to the differences in tourism performance of the Kafue and South Luangwa national parks are (in no particular order of importance): 1. The extended periods of funding and support from donor agencies and non-governmental organisations; 2. The type of private sector investors operating from the park 3. The levels of infrastructure development to meet tourist demand; 4. The density of wildlife resources; 5. International recognition and reputation; 6. Tourism cooperation and collaboration among private sector actors; 7. Ease of accessibility, particularly for international tourists; 8. Type of tourists frequenting the park; 9. The socio-economic context of game management area communities; 10. The extent of promotion of tourism policies; 11. Governance and management issues: Those that have hindered the Kafue National Park’s tourism development include the following: a) The national park’s proximity to Lusaka, which is the national centre of the illicit wildlife trade; b) The national park has high investment costs for tourism businesses; c) Human encroachment; d) The deliberate plans to limit tourism development in the national park; e) Inadequate support from government; f) The national park is too big for effective management. Those that have influenced South Luangwa National Park’s better performance and growth include the revolving fund model for management initiated by the 1982 Luangwa Integrated Resource Development Programme (which was later named the South Luangwa Area Management Unit in 1995) and better control of the park with regard to the numbers of wildlife officers and implementation of General Management Plans; 12. Park promotion by influential individuals. The study demonstrates that investigating tourism performance in national parks should take into account: i. The history of the national park to understand its stage of development as a tourist destination; ii. Identifying the similarities in tourism performance in national parks based on cultural values from developing countries; iii. Identifying the role of different actors to tourism development (through the application of Butlers’ Tourism Area Life Cycle) and conservation agendas of National Parks (through Vatn’s Environmental Governance Systems framework); iv. National tourism policy aspirations.

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