School of Public Leadership

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Browsing School of Public Leadership by browse.metadata.advisor "Brand, Dirk"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    An analysis of the performance of state- owned enterprises in Namibia : case studies in the transport sector
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Limbo, Cedric Mwanota; Schwella, Erwin; Brand, Dirk; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : The classical view of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has typically been framed around dimensions of efficiency, productivity and administrative bureaucracy (Cuervo-Cazurra, Inkpen & Musacchio, 2014). A number of theoretical perspectives, namely the property rights school, the public choice tradition, the neoclassical approach, the behavioural approach and the budget-maximising approach, have been used to model SOEs (Lawson, 1994). Despite a long theoretical interest in modelling SOEs, and their large impact on the global economy, challenges still exist to develop a comprehensive theory of SOEs (Peng, Bruton, Stan & Huang, 2016). It is generally argued that SOEs have the potential for good governance, efficiency and better service delivery through enhanced performance. However, most SOEs do not reach these ideals. This situation justifies the need to study and carefully appraise options for injecting higher performance into SOEs if they are to play a meaningful role in achieving Vision 2030 – the vision of Namibia to become an industrialised country by 2030. The primary objective of this dissertation was to analyse the performance of SOEs in the transport sector and to identify factors that have contributed to the high or low performance of these SOEs. Several arguments have been made about the inefficiency and poor service delivery of SOEs. According to Steytler (2009:19), “[t]he poor financial performance of state owned enterprises have [sic] often been attributed to weak management practices of the CEOs of these institutions”. The ‘bureaucrats in business’ thesis by the World Bank (1995) advances a contrary view, i.e. that bureaucrats who run state-owned enterprises should not be blamed for all the ills of these companies since they are not necessarily incompetent but rather have to deal with contradictory goals and perverse incentives. Although the study confirmed most of the foregoing arguments, further analysis of the performance of SOEs in Namibia revealed that SOEs do not necessarily underperform simply because they are state-owned but because of the way that they are managed. With this revelation in mind, the study developed a model that could be helpful to address this situation, namely the performance of SOEs. Without going into the merits and demerits of the different methodologies, this study opted to use a mixed methods (pragmatic) approach. This allowed the researcher to adopt the best-suited approach to the research problem without getting caught up in the philosophical debates about which one is the best approach.
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    An assessment of the Namibian government’s application of the socio-economic rights of the San people
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Hamutumwa, Sylvia; Brand, Dirk; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie is onderneem om die Namibiese regering se toepassing van sosio-ekonomiese regte van die San-mense te assesseer en om te bepaal hoe hulle die marginalisering van die San-mense hanteer het met betrekking tot die bevordering, beskerming en vervulling van hul sosio-ekonomiese regte. 'n Gevallestudieontwerp is gebruik met ’n fokus op die San-mense en 'n kwalitatiewe benadering is gevolg wat op ’n lessenaarstudie gesentreer was. Die studie het bevind dat die regering daarin geslaag het om sosio-ekonomiese regte toe te pas deur middel van strategiee soos die San-ontwikkelingsprogram. Die beleid het egter sommige sosio-ekonomiese regte soos sanitasie, maatskaplike toelaes en gesondheid oor die hoof gesien. Die onvermoë om die kollektiewe status van die San-volk te verander is egter te wyte aan ongelyke verspreiding van hulpbronne, gebrek aan befondsing en beperkte politieke wil ten opsigte van die substantiewe sosio-ekonomiese regte van die San-mense.‘n meer omvattende strategiee en inisiatiewe moet opgestel word met aangewese befondsing en 'n nasionale taakspan bestaande uit San-mense wat verseker dat mandate nagekom word. Die regering het sosio-ekonomiese regte in 'n groot mate vir sommige toegepas en in 'n mindere mate vir ander. Die studie het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die regering beperkte sukses behaal het in die toepassing van sosio-ekonomiese regte aangesien die sosio-ekonomiese lewens van die San nie drasties verander het nie.
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    A comparative analysis of public financial management in Malawi and South Africa using the public expenditure and financial accountability assessment framework
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Matala-Banda, Perekamoyo Tawulayi Kayira; Brand, Dirk; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Using the 2011 Public Expenditure Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework the study conducts a comparative analysis of the Public financial management of Malawi and South Africa. The study analyses and discusses data from PEFA reports of 2008, 2011, and 2018 for Malawi and reports from 2008 and 2014 for South Africa to make qualitative comparisons and assess performance trends. The comparative analysis reveals that South Africa's performance is much better than that of Malawi. The study highlights that weak public expenditure management practices and weak external audit, and scrutiny practices are some of the persistent shortfalls of the Malawian PFM system when measuring against the PEFA framework. Besides the obvious differences in socioeconomic factors, the study also reveals that coordination failures, capacity constraints, and political interference are some of the underlying dynamics affecting the quality of public financial management in both countries.
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    Elusive accountability? examining the complexities of governance within the civilian intelligence services of South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Sifolo, Ntandazo; Quinot, Geo; Brand, Dirk; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: This study seeks to elucidate complex matters pertaining to governance in the civilian intelligence service of South Africa, the State Security Agency (SSA). The central ontological question is the accountability of the SSA for its financial expenditure. However, the study does not seek to scrutinise or audit the finances of the institution, rather to understand the fundamental reasons behind the inability of the SSA to optimally account for its financial expenditure. The poor accountability record of the SSA was raised in two reports that were respectively produced by the Ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence (MRCI) in 2008 and the High Level Review Panel (HLRP) on the SSA in 2018. The damning finding of the HLRP that “the SSA had become a ‘cash cow’ for many inside and outside the Agency” is at the centre of the inquiry of this study. The plan is to understand the underlying reasons why the SSA deviated from principles of good governance in a manner that led it to be dubbed a ‘cash cow’ at the expense of taxpayers. The epistemological quest of understanding the phenomenon of unaccountability of the SSA is pursued through a thorough examination of existing literature on intelligence governance in general as well as relevant legislative prescripts that guide the conduct and governance of the civilian intelligence service of South Africa. A comparative analysis on navigating the subject of accountability in a secret environment is conducted by utilising the UK as an alternative of ensuring accountability in the intelligence services without compromising classified information. The entire research is conducted by utilising the grounded theory research method with the aim of creating a theory that could offer an understanding of the phenomenon of accountability of the intelligence services, in view of their unique secret operational environment. In this respect, a proposal is made for the SSA to explore the notion of combined assurance on condition that certain pertinent requirements are met for such notion to thrive. The identification of requirements that ought to be considered in the intelligence and accountability discourse is the major contribution of the study to the body of knowledge. Based on the revelations of the research and the subsequent analysis of findings, the study submits that accountability of the intelligence services should consider the omnipresent variable of a secret environment in juxtaposition with universally championed whistle-blowing; a leadership-infused culture of compliance; effective internal controls; robust oversight; and consequence management. The final conclusion of the study is that the interplay between the noted variables determines the extent to which the intelligence services could satisfy accountability requirements, particularly on financial expenditure. Thus secrecy is not necessarily a problem as long as there is a focus on good governance depicted by positive interplay of the variables that were identified by the research. In this respect, the study offers key recommendations for consideration by the SSA and external oversight structures such as the Office of the Inspector-General, the Auditor-General of South Africa and the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence. The focus on expenditure performance presents a limitation of the scope. In this regard, the matter of performance accountability is not covered in the study, owing to the deliberate focus on the matter of financial expenditure in the context of the SSA having been regarded as a ‘cash cow’. Thus, future research on the matter of accountability of the SSA regarding its performance could add valuable insights to the academic discourse of intelligence services’ accountability debate.