Quality management of RDP housing construction: myth or reality?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Amoah ◽  
Tanya Van Schalkwyk ◽  
Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Free State ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Housing Scheme ◽  
The Government ◽  
Housing Units

Purpose South Africa has a large social housing scheme to provide primary housing for less privileged citizens who obtain an average monthly income of less than R 3,500.00. The government seeks to promote an integrated society by developing sustainable human settlements and quality housing within a subsidy system for different income groups. This study aims to examine whether quality management is applied to the reconstruction and development programme (RDP) housing programme during construction. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey approach was selected for this study. This involved using a close-ended questionnaire to collect data amongst 1,893 households who are currently residing in government housing units in the city of Bloemfontein, in the Free State province. The questionnaires were self-administered amongst randomly selected respondents based on their availability at the time of the visit to the above area. However, only the occupants of a household were included in the study. The data gathered were analysed by making use of R-programming software. Findings The findings revealed that a low level of quality is evident in the already constructed RDP housing units. Most of the inspected units were built with low-quality building materials or were not well-constructed, with derelict structural frames and finishes being evident in most houses. Respondents also indicated that they were not satisfied with the quality of some aspects of the units, such as the plaster and paint finishes, door frames built into walls and uneven floors and floor finishes. These complaints indicate that little to no quality management was applied at the time of construction or even afterwards during the latent defects period. Research limitations/implications The survey was limited to responses amongst randomly selected government RDP housing occupants in seven communities in Bloemfontein’s periphery, in the Free State Province of South Africa. Practical implications The empirical results from the findings indicate that the South African Government should ensure that quality management is applied during the housing units’ construction. This may mean that a new strategy for verifying the units’ quality will need to be developed, considering the respondents’ concerns by improving the quality of the construction materials and methods used to erect these units. The government should also consider improving contractors’ tender selection criteria to ensure higher quality construction methods, materials and management. Originality/value The study has identified quality challenges in constructing the social housing and stated recommendations that will address the identified issues if implemented by the programme implementers. This will help achieve the programme's objective, which is to improve the living conditions of previously disadvantaged individuals through social housing scheme.

The empirical reality of project management failures in the construction of social housing projects in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-435
Author(s):  
Christopher Amoah ◽  
Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu ◽  
Tanya van Schalkwyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Free State ◽  
Project Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Project Deliverables ◽  
The Government ◽  
Project Objectives

Purpose The concept of government reconstruction development programme (RDP) social housing in South Africa was rolled out in 1994 after the African National Congress Government came to power when the apartheid rule was abolished. The main aim of the government was to enhance the lifestyles of the poor in society through the provision of houses that they could not afford in the open market. However, many concerns have been reported about the social housing project in terms of poor project implementation and the delivery of deliverables that do not befit the need of the end-users. This study aims to assess the flaws in the application of project management (PM) principles in the construction of these social houses. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted for the study by making use of closed- and open-ended questionnaires to collect data from 1,893 social housing inhabitants in Bloemfontein, Free State. Descriptive statistics and R programming language software were used to analyse the data collected. Findings The findings reveal that there was a profound failure in the application of PM principles in the construction of the social houses leading to the provision of deliverables that do not meet the needs of the beneficiaries. There are also poor project deliverables and lack of consultations that could have probably been prevented had proper PM systems been put in place by the government throughout the project lifecycle. This lack of proper PM philosophies has generated dissatisfaction among the beneficiaries leading to numerous complaints about the social housing programme. Research limitations/implications The survey was done in only RDP housing communities in Bloemfontein in the Free State Province of South Africa; however, the result may be applicable in other RDP housing programmes. Practical implications The empirical results indicate that the government has been providing houses with disregard to project objectives by not instituting an appropriate PM systems; hence, the main objective of providing befitting houses to the less privileged to enhance their living conditions has woefully failed, as the inhabitants do not see any improvement of their social standings after receiving the houses. This means the government might have wasted resources as a result of ineffective PM throughout the project implementation. Originality/value This study has identified PM flaws in the construction of the RDP houses, which have led to poor project deliverables. This study thus gives recommendations with regard to proper PM strategies for the implementation of the same or similar project in the future to achieve project objectives.

Meeting the expectations of the social housing recipients in South Africa: a myth or reality?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Amoah ◽  
Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu ◽  
van Schalkwyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Housing Scheme ◽  
The Government

PurposeThe majority of South Africans were deprived of participation in the socio-economic activities in decades of the apartheid rule. The ANC government after coming to power in 1994 thus promised to improve the livelihood of people deprived of social intervention benefits by the apartheid regime through the provision of social housing. This research, therefore, sought to investigate if the expectations of the beneficiaries of the social housing scheme have been met by the government.Design/methodology/approachThe research approach adopted for this study is a quantitative survey. Questionnaires made up of closed-ended and open-ended questions were used to solicit data from 1893 randomly selected government social housing inhabitants in Bloemfontein. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collected.FindingsThe results indicate that the government has been able to meet the expectation of the social housing recipients in some aspects such as improved living conditions as compared to the shack structures, good sanitary surroundings and a comfortable environment. However, the inhabitant's expectations such as a safe environment, houses with good finishes and fittings, good roads network and adequate houses to accommodate the family sizes have not been met. More so, where respondents acknowledged expectation achievement, they were benchmarking the conditions to the informal settlement (shack) environments rather than being actually happy with what they currently have. Thus, meeting the expectations of the social housing recipients by the government is currently a myth rather than a reality.Research limitations/implicationsThe survey was limited to only government social houses inhabitants in communities around the periphery of Bloemfontein, the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa.Practical implicationsThe implication from these findings is that the government has been providing social houses that do not meet the expectation of the recipients since 1994. The government should, therefore, appraise the social housing scheme thoroughly and reconstitute the delivery strategy in order to supply houses that meet the need and expectations of the beneficiaries and thereby fulfilling the goal of improving the living standards of previously disadvantaged individuals through the social housing scheme.Originality/valueThe study has come up with recommendations that if followed by the government supply houses that meet the need and expectations of the beneficiaries and thereby fulfilling the goal of improving the living standards of previously disadvantaged individuals through the social housing scheme and make the programme sustainable.

Impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded accommodation establishments in the Free State province, South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1198-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deseré Kokt ◽  
Relebohile Ramarumo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Job Stress ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Free State ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded accommodation establishments. The demanding nature of work in the hospitality industry (e.g. long hours and shift work) renders job stress and burnout, a persisting challenge for the industry. Employees that are constantly subjected to a challenging work environment may experience increased levels of job stress and burnout or even leave the industry entirely. The Free State province of South Africa has a well-established hospitality sector, and this investigation shows the extent to which job stress and burnout are mitigated by a favourable organisational culture. Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was administered to 46 graded accommodation establishments in the two main economic clusters (Bloemfontein and Clarens) of the Free State province of South Africa. The investigation was quantitative in nature and the robust competing values framework (CVF) was used as conceptual guide. Findings – The findings indicate that graded accommodation establishments had a predominantly Rational Culture, which points to strong external positioning and competitiveness. Correlation and regression analyses further confirmed that although the Rational Culture does have a mitigating effect on job stress and burnout, the values associated with the Group Culture and Developmental Culture exert an even stronger mitigating effect. Practical implications – Managers need to establish a flexible, employee-oriented work environment where employees are allowed to be innovative and entrepreneurial. Originality/value – The main causes of job stress and burnout in accommodation establishments revolve around the intense customer focus of the industry and the subsequent performance expected from employees.

Remittance inflows and starting a business

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Durga Prasad Gautam
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Reform ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Regulation ◽  
Variable Approach ◽  
Sensitivity Tests ◽  
The Government ◽  
Entry Regulations ◽  
Starting A Business

Purpose Political economy research recognizes that the inflows of external financial resources help the governments enact market-oriented reforms. Since remittances have outpaced other types of financial inflows in many countries, they can potentially increase the government’s incentive to implement regulatory reform that can contribute to business-friendly environment. This issue has long been overlooked by the literature on remittances. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether remittances promote business regulatory reform in the recipient countries. Design/methodology/approach This study uses balance of payments data on remittances for 114 countries during 2004-2012 period. Since remittances could be endogenous to business regulation, the identification strategy follows an instrumental variable approach. The author assesses the general stability of linear model estimates by fitting the beta regression model. Findings The results show that, while the increase in remittance inflows is associated with lower regulatory requirements for starting a business in the recipient economy, this association is stronger in developing countries than in high-income nations. Various sensitivity tests reinforce the robustness of these findings. Originality/value One of the most important yet overlooked aspects of remittances is that they can potentially shape the political will to enact regulatory reform for businesses. The incentives for the government to relax burdensome entry regulations tend to stem from potential gains associated with the formalization of remittances. This paper makes a first attempt at studying the link between remittances and the quality of entry regulation.

Comparison of the effects of the food supplementation programmes of ICDS centers and primary schools at Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambagh, West Bengal, India

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 232-246
Author(s):  
Gopal Chandra Mandal ◽  
Kaushik Bose ◽  
Slawomir Koziel
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Food Supplementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Quality Of Food ◽  
The Government ◽  
Better Than

Purpose – Developing countries like India, accounts for about 40 percent of undernourished children in the World and it is largely due to the result of dietary inadequacy in relation to their needs. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the changes in the nutritional status of the children, from their preschool days to the present primary school days. Design/methodology/approach – The present investigation was conducted at 20 Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) centers (Center-A) and 15 primary schools (Center-B) in Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambag, Hooghly District of West Bengal, India, at an interval of three to four years. A total of 1,012 children (boys=498; girls=514) aged two to six years old enrolled in these ICDS centers and a total of 603 children (boys=300, girls=303), aged five to ten years were studied from the 15 primary schools who were the beneficiaries of ICDS centers. Underweight (weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ)) and wasting (weight-for height Z-score (WHZ)) were used to assess the nutritional status. Findings – The nutritional situation (both in case of underweight and wasting) was better in Center B as compared with Center A. In general, the nutritional condition of boys was better than girls. Center had a very significant effect on both WAZ as well as WHZ, irrespective of age and sex. Sex has a significant impact only on WAZ. Interestingly, there was no significant sex-center interaction for both WAZ as well as WHZ. The children of the area were getting Mid Day Meal supplied through the school authorities which was comparatively better than the ICDS centers’ food supplementation. Better monitoring of nutritional supplementation at primary schools may be an important factor. Practical implications – In ICDS centers, only the Anganwari worker is responsible in running and implementing the programs offered by the Government. However, at primary schools, the active involvement of all the teachers to run the program may have effectively led to have better results. Furthermore, the Government's focus should not be only on the increase the area covered by the ICDS program, but focus should be to increase the quality of food supplied, proper monitoring of the implementation and increase the allocation of funds. Appropriate measures may be taken by the authorities regarding this. Originality/value – The results of the study will help in policy making in reducing the prevalence of undernutrition.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document