Acknowledgement to reviewers

No abstract available.

Strategy implementation in South African public entities between 2006 and 2016: Does leadership impact on performance during strategy implementation?

Background: Those in leadership must always envision endless possibilities even in the event of what appear to be insurmountable problems. Leadership exists to solve problems in any given context. Leadership is a determinant of value creation and sustainable competitive advantage through superior organisational performance in any organisation. Yet, pervasive leadership challenges are prevalent in the South African public entities, and not a lot of research has been done in this area. Hence, this research was an attempt to determine the influence of leadership on organisational performance during strategy implementation in the Northern Cape based public entities.Aim: To empirically investigate the relationship between leadership and organisational performance during strategy implementation in the Northern Cape provincial public entities in South Africa.Setting: Public entities in the Northern Cape province with regards to relationships amongst financial and human resources, poor organisational culture, leadership, organisational performance, as well as service delivery.Method: A survey design and mixed methods were applied in this study. A survey questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from a simple random sample of 38 executives of the public entities and government departments in the Northern Cape province. The response rate was 78%. The t-test, correlational analysis, multiple regression analysis were performed. These were complemented by content analysis of government’s strategic documents.Results: It was found that unqualified leadership and insufficient financial and human resources affect strategy implementations and organisational performance negatively. Most entities have problems with leadership capacity, which creates strategy implementation challenges. Weak Boards in some entities translate into weak leadership because there is no direction in the entities.Conclusion: Unqualified leadership affect organisational performance negatively. This implies that the public sector entities might fail to fulfil their mandate to serve the public. Recommendations are made to minimise the challenges of leadership in the South African public entities to increase organisational performance. When appointing Board members, the quality of the members in terms of qualifications should be considered. Board members, apart from having competence and requisite skills to execute the mandate in the entity, should also be visionary and dedicated to the province. They should provide ethical leadership and corporate governance both at the strategic and governance level. Ethical and honest leadership which is not tainted by corruption (real or perceived) is of critical importance in any organisation and setting.

A conceptual framework for using social innovation as an approach to local economic development

Background: Approaches such as social innovation were visible during many of the responses that public-sector organisations, civil society, communities, and the private sector collaboratively implemented to address the issues of unemployment and the impact of economic challenges during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The use of social innovation as an approach to local economic development by South African municipalities, however, reveals a research gap in terms of a conceptual framework for enabling such use.Aim: This article explores a conceptual framework for using social innovation as an approach to local economic development by South African municipalities.Setting: Conventional top-down local economic development approaches by South African municipalities have become inadequate for dealing with contemporary local economic development challenges. Such inadequacy calls for municipalities to rethink and adapt their approach to dealing with economic challenges and to developing and implementing their local economic development strategies.Methods: Through an interpretivist paradigm, the adopted methodology is underpinned by a qualitative research approach. Content analysis was performed of relevant research documents concerning social innovation and local economic development. From this content analysis, a conceptual framework was developed through an inductive approach.Results: The findings illustrate that the praxis for using this conceptual framework is vested in the interconnected nature of its attributes, antecedents, and consequences, which will contribute to the achievement of certain local economic development outcomes.Conclusion: This article suggests that a conceptual framework could contribute to stimulating future research concerning the phenomenon and can serve as an impetus and direction for research inquiry.

The incidence and quality of graphs in annual reports: A South African analysis of graph disclosure in state-owned entities

Background: South African state-owned entities (SOEs) have become synonymous with issues such as poor service delivery and wasteful expenditure. State-owned entities are accountable to various stakeholders with the annual report viewed as an accountability mechanism. Given the different components of the annual report, this provides management with the opportunity to use different elements to present a better image of the SOE. Some elements that can be used to manipulate information are graphs.Aim: The purpose of this study was to analyse the use of graphs in the annual reports of SOEs and to conclude whether SOEs use graphs to manipulate information presented.Setting: The annual reports of the 277 SOEs included in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) schedules as of 31 March 2018 were analysed.Methods: This study followed a quantitative research method. Content analysis is used to identify impression management techniques used in the graphs of SOEs.Results: The findings indicate that 64% of SOEs present graphs in their annual reports, with non-financial graphs being disclosed more than financial graphs. Using the graph discrepancy index (GDI), it was found that SOEs tend to overstate data trends more than understating trends resulting in a better image of the SOE being presented. The presentational features of graphs were not used excessively to influence users.Conclusion: Graphs appear to be used as a form of impression management to manage users’ perceptions of SOEs. Given the impact of the annual report on users’ decision, the distortion of graph may impact the decisions taken.

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

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.

Erratum: Public sector reforms and national development: A situational analysis of post-independent Nigeria

No abstract available.

The management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service post-2009 to the 2018 era

Background: Poor management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service departments is on the rise. The management of disciplinary cases, amongst other things, has drawn considerable criticism from within the public sector, various media outlets, interest groups and even opposition movements. The government has adopted progressive discipline prescripts to inculcate and promote a culture of professional ethics and accountability. In the workplace, objectivity, consistency and fairness are an important part of healthy employer–employee ties.Aim: The study sought to obtain an in-depth understanding of disciplinary cases and describe the challenges senior managers face when managing disciplinary cases in the public service departments.Setting: Both the national and provincial public service departments of South Africa.Methods: The study adopted qualitative modernistic research approach. Semi-structured electronic questionnaire was used to collect views from 751 senior managers.Results: Public service employees are deprived of organisational justice because of weaknesses associated with the discipline management. This is because management of disciplinary cases and sanctions in most national and provincial departments in the public service is perilous and incongruent with the discipline management prescripts.Conclusion: Based on the findings, the current practices do not deter future violations of discipline management prescripts; inconsistent, unfairness and injustice application of sanctions and management of cases and future misconduct in the workplace. Therefore, the authors recommend the use of team-based and progressive discipline to ensure that staff contribute effectively, efficiently and ethically to the goals of the government. The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on human resource management and organisational behaviour and provides a platform that broadens an understanding of the amplifying toxic management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service context.

Global governance reforms to achieve Sustainable Development Goal One (no poverty) in BRICS

Background: The article discusses whether global governance is effective enough to uphold the economic development and can it combat poverty to achieve Sustainable Development Goal One (SDG 1) in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). It is an area that is least researched in the domain of global governance.Aim: This article focuses on the SDGs as part of global goals and investigates the implementation status of SDG 1 (no poverty) in BRICS countries.Setting: The research is descriptive in nature that played an important role in developing an in-depth account of the status of SDG 1 in BRICS.Methods: The article employed a qualitative, descriptive research method. This article, which is theoretical in nature, drew its arguments on secondary data, which included books, journal articles, newspaper clippings, internet sources and official documents.Results: The findings confirm that global governance cannot be successful completely until it deals with aspects of legitimacy and representation.Conclusion: From the literature reviewed, it can be deduced that BRICS is not in a position to achieve SDG 1 on absolute terms.

An exploration of government administrative processes in supporting agro-smallholders’ access to municipal markets in eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Province

Background: The government’s inability to ensure that both the local and the national markets adequately accommodate smallholder producers is inhibiting the sector’s ability to grow and expand.Aim: This article explored the influence of the governmental administrative processes on agro-smallholders’ ability to access municipal markets.Setting: The study is based in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), specifically in the eThekwini Municipality. The target population is agricultural (agro-) smallholder producers who are located within the traditional leadership and government officials (KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and eThekwini Municipality).Methods: A qualitative exploratory research methodology using semi-structured interviews was adopted for this study.Results: The results showed that the government structures and municipal markets do not provide substantial support to agro-smallholder producers who are seeking access to markets. The results further showed that there is no integration or relationship between the government institutions on the issues related to the promotion and development of agro-smallholder producers.Conclusion: Through the application of administrative theory, the article posited the recommendations that the government institutions should incorporate stakeholders’ insights, lay a policy foundation for a whole-of-government approach to planning and set the direction for agro-smallholder’s planned future. It is also recommended that the government departments create a single planning and coordination structure or forum that will be beneficial to the smallholder sub-sector and avoid duplication and resource wastage directed to this sub-sector.