scholarly journals Barriers and Challenges to Service Delivery and Funding: A Case Study of a Nonprofit Organization in the Western Cape, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 293
Author(s):  
Simone Martin-Howard
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Barriers And Challenges

There is limited qualitative case research focusing on the underreported voices of black and coloured men and women employed at nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and living in underserved communities of South Africa. The purpose of this single case study, then, is to explore barriers and challenges to service delivery and funding at one specific NPO in South Africa’s Western Cape Province (WCP). To do so, I rely on observations and indepth semistructured interviews with 11 staff members. According to a majority of the staff, religion and race are the primary barriers that prevent the organization from achieving its goals and objectives. Moreover, they note that poverty and poor living conditions, child abandonment and neglect as a result of maternal alcohol abuse, and racial and cultural tensions are contextual challenges that inhibit organizational effectiveness. While these barriers and challenges are specific to this particular NPO, the contextual factors that staff identified are evident in other townships in the WCP. As such, the findings from this study add to the knowledge of NPOs in the WCP and provide insights into how to improve service delivery for low-income and underserved populations in the region.

scholarly journals Strengthening public financial management in the health sector: a qualitative case study from South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. e006911
Author(s):  
Jodi Wishnia ◽  
Jane Goudge
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public Financial Management

IntroductionEffective public financial management (PFM) ensures public health funds are used to deliver services in the best way possible. Given the global call for universal health coverage, and concerns about the management of public funds in many low-income and middle-income countries, PFM has become an important area of research. South Africa has a robust PFM framework, that is generally adhered to, and yet financial outcomes have remained poor. In this paper, we describe how a South African provincial department of health tried to strengthen its PFM processes by deploying finance managers into service delivery units, involving service delivery managers in the monthly finance meeting, using a weekly committee to review expenditure requests and starting a weekly managers’ ‘touch-base’ meeting. We assess whether these strategies strengthened collaboration and trust and how this impacted on PFM.MethodThis research used a case study design with ethnographic methods. Semi-structured interviews (n=30) were conducted with participant observations. Thematic analysis was used to identify emergent themes and collaborative public management theory was then used to frame the findings. The authors used reflexive methods, and member checking was conducted.ResultsThe deployment of staff and touch-base meeting illustrated the potential of multidisciplinary teams when members share power, and the importance of impartial leadership when trying to achieve consensus on how to prioritise resource use. However, the service delivery and finance managers did not manage to collaborate in the monthly finance meeting to develop realistic budgets, or to reprioritise expenditure when required. The resulting mistrust threatened to derail the other strategies, highlighting how critical trust is for collaboration.ConclusionEffective PFM requires authentic collaboration between service delivery and finance managers; formal processes alone will not achieve this. We recommend more opportunities for ‘boundary crossing’, embedding finance managers in service delivery units and impartial effective leadership.

scholarly journals Fatal drowning in the Western Cape, South Africa: a 7-year retrospective, epidemiological study

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 529-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Jayne Saunders ◽  
Robyn Adriaanse ◽  
Abigail Simons ◽  
Ashley van Niekerk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Registration System ◽  
Drowning Prevention ◽  
Adult Men ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Public Holidays

IntroductionDrowning is a neglected public health threat in low-income and middle-income countries where the greatest drowning burden is observed. There is a paucity of drowning surveillance data from low-resource settings, particularly in Africa. Understanding local epidemiological factors will enable the development of context-specific drowning prevention initiatives and the appropriate allocation of resources.AimThe primary aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of fatal drowning in the Western Cape, South Africa.MethodThis retrospective study describes fatal drowning incidents captured in the Western Cape vital registration system between 2010 and 2016. Data were obtained from the Forensic Pathology Services of the Western Cape Government. One-way analysis of variance was performed to detect a trend in mean drowning mortality rates between 2010 and 2016. χ2 tests for independence were performed to detect differences in the distribution of variables between groups.ResultsA total of 1391 fatal drownings occurred in the Western Cape between 2010 and 2016, with an age-adjusted drowning mortality rate of 3.2 per 100 000 population. Rates were fourfold higher in men compared with women. Children, particularly young children aged 0–4 years, and young adult men between 20 and 34 years of age were identified to be at high risk of fatal drowning. Drowning occurred predominantly in large, open bodies of water with concentrations in summer and public holidays.ConclusionsThe Western Cape drowning prevention strategy should prioritise interventions to reduce drowning in children and young adult men, with a targeted focus on festive periods such as public holidays.

scholarly journals Sustainability Practice of a Multinational Oil Company in Nigeria: A Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Charles Afam Anosike
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Community Relations ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
High Level ◽  
Oil Company

Environmental degradation and socioeconomic dilemma continue to affect agricultural productivity in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Several works of literature confirm the high level of pollution and contamination of land and water as a result of over 50 years of oil production in the region. The effects of environmental pollution continue to aggravate the hardship of the local people, which generates development friction, threaten oil operation, and mutually contrive relational efforts, by so invoking mistrust between oil companies and the host communities. Sustainability programs of oil companies often provide the channel to engage and promote community relations from which projects are conceived and executed. Despite sustainability efforts of oil companies, the region continues to experience oil spills and environmental degradation.Hence, the current research explores the sustainability efforts of a multinational oil company to establish whether the company’s leadership makes environmental considerations and to identify possible corrections that could be adopted to achieve sustainable value. For this purpose, the paper employed a single case study approach using open-ended interview sessions in collecting data. Research data were gathered from a sample of 20 experienced sustainability practitioners of the oil company, partnering nonprofit organizations, and community leaders through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were segmented and categorized. The data analysis process revealed several themes regarding the challenges and shortfalls of sustainability programs in the region. The evidence found suggests that implementing a transparent and inclusive sustainability management system is essential to enable a systems view in contemplating sustainability programs. In so doing, oil MNCs leaders could enable effective environmental consideration in their sustainability programs to help reinvigorate productive agriculture and ensure continuing oil operation.

scholarly journals A Path Dependency Approach to Governance Practices at a Public University of the Western Cape, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Tom Mark Brown
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Student Unrest

This paper investigates the governance practices embedded within governance structures at the disposal of students at a public tertiary education institution, and student unrest as a mechanism to sway decision-making and reform policy at the case study institution of higher learning. In particular, the study is guided by a qualitative research paradigm using a structured interview tool to gather primary data using the University of the Western Cape (UWC) situated in Cape Town, South Africa, as a bounded case study, against the backdrop of the 2015-2016 #FeesMustFall (FMF) protests. It is suggested in this paper that student unrest is not the main reason, but rather a symptom of the broader inadequacies of the current participatory mechanisms available in university governance structures in general, and at the UWC. Employing a Path Dependency Theoretical (PDT) Approach. The article concludes by analyzing the findings of the empirical research, by identifying several themes and sub-themes.

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