scholarly journals The effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups: A reflection on South African informal urban settlements

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethuel Ngcamu ◽  
Evangelos Mantzaris
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
South African ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The South ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Vulnerable Communities ◽  
Negative Effect

Background: The economically vulnerable population, mostly black, especially those who are residing in precarious informal settlements are most susceptible to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Aim: To determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socio-economic condition of the vulnerable groups in South Africa. It also attempts to reflect the government’s response strategies to provide help and services for the vulnerable communities who are considered to be most susceptible to the existing pandemic. Lastly, the response strategies of civil society groups and the challenges they are encountering in providing humanitarian assistance to indigent communities are explored.Setting: This is a reflective study where secondary data has been analysed and intertwined with the researchers’ experiences and insights of the South African informal settlements’ welfare.Methods: This article followed a reflective approach where the experiences of the vulnerable communities are strategically reflected upon.Results: This fascinating study unearthed the effects of the coronavirus disease on the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable communities, the economy of the informal sector, the brutal enforcement agencies during the lockdown period, criminality, the fragmented government response and the marginalisation and frustration of civil society groups in providing humanitarian assistance to those in need.Conclusion: The South African government’s fragmentations, bureaucratic, maladministration and corruption in public departments have adversely impacted the welfare of the vulnerable groups who are living in the informal settlements. The human rights violations by the security agencies which are directed to the indigent people, and the centralisation of the humanitarian efforts by government had a negative effect on their wellbeing.

Professional accounting education programmes in South Africa and India

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Stainbank ◽  
Devi Dutt Tewari
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a contextual analysis of the professional accounting education programmes in South Africa and India by benchmarking both programmes to the International Education Standards (IESs) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology is a qualitative archival approach extracting information from secondary data (Statements of Membership Obligations’ compliance questionnaires available on the IFAC web site and information from the web sites of the relevant professional accountancy bodies). Findings – With regards to the IESs, the study found that both countries comply with the standards, although important differences occur. In South Africa, most of the education takes place during the university phase; and while both countries cover the content requirements, India covers the acquisition of professional skills more formally; ethics is taught and examined in both countries; both countries require a three year training contract; both countries have a final examination but the content of the examinations are different; and South Africa requires more continuous professional development than India. These findings, when related to India's and South Africa's relative positions on certain of the Global Competitiveness Indices may indicate that India could learn from the South African accountancy education model in order to strengthen the Indian position with regards to auditing and reporting standards. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of the study is that it did not investigate the quality of the relative education programmes and it benchmarks both programmes at a single point in time. Practical implications – India could strengthen its accounting profession by implementing some of the South African aspects of its education model. South African could consider adopting the flexibility in the entry requirements in the Indian education model in order to increase the number of accountants in South Africa. These findings may also be useful to other developing countries to identify practices which could be adopted if suitable in their respective countries. Originality/value – The study is original as accountancy education programmes in India and South Africa have not been contrasted before. In view of their similar colonial background and the fact that both countries are major economic and political forces in their respective regions, the value of this study is that it provides useful and relevant information to India, South Africa and other countries with similar economic and social backgrounds.

Assessment of corruption in the humanitarian assistance in Puntland State of Somalia

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-118
Author(s):  
Abdinur Abdirisak Sofe
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fear Of Victimization ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Government

Purpose Corruption in humanitarian aid is one of the most worried and worst problems around the world. The existence of corruption acts in humanitarian aid delivery can endanger the already susceptible lives of the neediest individuals in the community. Amid serious humanitarian allegation in the country, this study aims to capture meaningful insights in humanitarian aid corruption in Puntland State of Somalia. Design/methodology/approach The study applied qualitative method and used interview as a technique of data collection. The information obtained through the interview was analyzed by quoting and narration forms. Findings The findings indicated numerous acts of corruption in all project stages including corruption in project granting and humanitarian staff employment, distortion of project targets and diversion of humanitarian project from targeted communities. The research also found that governmental and non-governmental actors are involved in the humanitarian corruption such as project managers and support staffs in addition to line ministries, parliament and community representatives. Research limitations/implications Corruption is a taboo and is difficult to research; people do not want to share the information for fear of victimization. Concerned institutions were not willing to provide necessary materials which led to shortage of secondary data. Another problem encountered during the study has been that the humanitarian stakeholders (for instance, government, non-government and private institutions) acted reluctantly to cooperate because of suspicion that disclosing information may lead to negative effect on their business. To overcome the challenges, the study assured the confidentiality of the members and that information collected would be used for research purposes only. The study further combined various tools of data collection so that the weakness of one tool becomes the strength of the other; while the researcher made efforts to build rapport with the research participants. Originality/value This study will contribute to the literature on corruption in the humanitarian aid. Specifically, the findings of this study will benefit academicians/researchers by giving empirical insights of corruption in the humanitarian aid in Puntland. It will benefit the government policymakers in the formulation of policies to combat corruption in the sector. Donors and aid agencies may also find the findings useful as they are key stakeholders who are interested in corruption in the humanitarian sector and finally the findings will benefit the wider society that is the primary victim of corruption in the humanitarian sector.

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS OF PROJECT AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Murendeni Liphadzi ◽  
Clinton Aigbavboa
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
South African ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
The South ◽  
Construction Firms ◽  
Secondary Sources

The construction industry is one of the major industries in South Africa. Like any other industry, strong leadership is vital for its growth. Moreover in order to stay competitive, South African construction firms must find a way to train their project and construction managers to become competent leaders in their specific disciplines. It is to this end, that the study presents findings on how leaders can be developed in the South African construction industry. The data used in this research were derived from both primary and secondary sources. The secondary data was collected via a detailed review of related literature. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire aimed at 150 projects and construction managers in the South African construction industry. From the 150 distributed questions, only 110 questionnaires were received and subsequently data based on the received questionnaire which was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that, education and qualification can help develop leaders in the South African construction industry. This was followed by leadership training courses, taking responsibility, new challenges, and internal motivation, professional and personal development. The study explores leadership and leadership development in the South African construction industry. The study presents a robust background about the construction industry and the importance of leadership.

scholarly journals Tapping into the bottom of the pyramid (bop) market in South Africa: possible? And how?

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 280-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pravina D Oodith ◽  
Sanjana Brijball Parumasur
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Bottom Of The Pyramid ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
African Context

Prahalad (2005) believes that the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) proposition can fulfill both the social goals of poverty eradication and the business goals of profits. The current ominous state of poverty in South Africa together with South Africa’s commitment to the United Nations Millennium Declaration to halve poverty by 2015 has motivated the researchers to consider Prahalad’s proposition of collaborating with the various constituencies including the multinational corporations (MNCs) to address the needs of the BOP market. This paper aims to evaluate the feasibility of implementing Prahalad’s Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) proposition in the South African market and to conceptualize alternative approaches to developing marketing strategies for the South African BOP consumers. The study adopts a theoretical research study. It reviews statistics on the extent of poverty in South Africa. Arguments for and against the BOP proposition are examined and the researchers assess how the BOP proposition may work in the South African context. The secondary data indicates that the BOP is a lucrative market in the South African context. The authors conclude that the BOP proposition, if effectively implemented, has the potential to reduce poverty in South Africa and increase the profits of multinational corporations (MNCs). The researchers recognize the importance of MNC’s buying into the BOP proposition from the standpoint of corporate social responsibility (CSR). They also propose a 6As Framework for the implementation of the BOP philosophy and a model for eradicating/minimizing poverty through profits.

scholarly journals Law and Mobilization against State Capture

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Klaaren
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Mobilization ◽  
The South ◽  
Public Interest Law ◽  
Mobilization Theory ◽  
State Capture

This paper examines an important feature of the night before the “New Dawn” – the phenomenon of state capture in South Africa. It is primarily interested in analyzing the civil society mobilization against such state capture, specifically the legal and organizational aspects. After exploring the phenomenon of state capture, this paper investigates the use of legal mobilization theory to describe and contextualize the organization of South African civil society against state capture, with attention to the more general phenomenon of corruption. Section One covers state capture, drawing on the 2017-2018 work of the academic network, the State Capacity Research Project, to analyze and attempt to give a definition of the term. It is argued here that the term serves to identify a particular political project, one extant during the Zuma administration and drawing a degree of its force from the apparent failure of black economic empowerment. Section Two outlines the civil society mobilization against the state capture project, noting two significant features of such mobilization: that it formed to a significant degree around legal actions and that these actions were undertaken by a second generation of post-apartheid public interest law organizations. Then, Section Three describes two significant and representative instances of such legal mobilization. The first consists of litigation engaged in by a second-generation South African public interest law organization, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC), in order to ensure the impartiality of the national prosecuting authority. The second instance of litigation took place from 2009 in the social grants payments sector, aiming at ensuring the provision of social assistance, a socio-economic rights benefiting nearly one-third of the South African population. Section Four uses legal mobilization theory from socio-legal studies to explore in further depth the mobilization of law against corruption in South African society. Here, it is significant to make the distinction between institutional anti-corruption mechanisms and impact litigation on the one hand and collective legal mobilization against state capture on the other. The Conclusion offers some reflections on topics for further research including the place of business in the mobilization against state capture and the emergence of new civil society actors.

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