Research Articles (School for Organisation and Resource Management)

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    Is the quality of governance a good pointer to the general economic health of the country?
    (Lifescience Global, 2019) Madumi, P.
    Good governance is believed to be instrumental in facilitating an environment for sustainable economic growth, especially for developing countries. It is no surprise that there is a growing public interest in the interplay of political and economic systems in South Africa. The chief concern is that the country is plagued by a couple of economic challenges such as sluggish gross domestic product (GDP) growth, poverty, lack of service delivery, poor financial management, weak business confidence, massive unemployment, and corruption are threats to the economic growth. It is generally believed that good governance would minimize persistent ills of the economy and ultimately pave the way for restoring economic growth. But is the quality governance the principal stimulus of a country’s economic growth? This is the chief questions which this article will attempt to answer. Based on the good governance and neoclassical growth theory, and good governance theory, this article seeks to analyse and evaluates the impact of the quality of governance on the growth of the economy in South Africa.
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    Critical analysis of the oversight role of the Education Portfolio Committee in Parliament of South Africa
    (AOSIS, 2015) Manona, W. W.
    There is a prevalent assumption in South Africa that Parliament is guided by the ideals of democracy, accountability, transparency and accessibility. However, there are still gaps and challenges as far as theoversight role of Parliament is concerned, despite the presence of committees that have been established to oversee the executive and relevant structures of government, government activities and public finances. There is widespread maladministration and misuse of government expenditure in government departments. This paper investigates the oversight role of parliamentary committees to determine their relative influence on accountability and democracy in the execution of functions by public functionaries. The aim of the paper is to provide an understanding into inherent problems in the oversight role of Parliament in the democratic dispensation in South Africa, which seems not to have been given serious attention in the academia, considering the pivotal role Parliament plays in the lives of citizens of the country. These oversight committees have selectively held Senior Executives or Ministers accountable for their ineffectiveness, misuse of government expenditure and maladministration. This could be attributed to the fact that oversight in South Africa does not seem to be properly understood and implemented as it should be. Moreover, the influence of the majoritarian authority of the ruling party in committees seems to be colluding with the executive. Failure to take action against cases of omission brings questions on the effectiveness and efficiency of the oversight role of Parliament. The adverse consequence is the delay in the provision of good quality services to poor communities. This paper employed the theoretical approach as a method of data collection. Conclusions have been drawn that the shortcomings of the parliamentary committees compromise accountability and good governance in service delivery.
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    Psychological debriefing (PD) of trauma : a proposed model for Africa
    (AOSIS, 2010-03-30) Van Dyk, E. L.; Van Dyk, G. A. J.
    Africa is a continent with severe trauma. Traumatic events include experiences of child soldiers, people living in war and conflict zones, and people struggling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. These events cause high levels of trauma. The trauma causes psychological disorders like post traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder and combat stress reaction, specific in the military environment. This article focuses on a better understanding of the implications of trauma for military people and civilians. It discusses the different theories and models of psychological debriefing. Lastly the article discusses psychological debriefing models for military forces and the civil ian population to prevent severe psychopathology after traumatic incidents in Africa.
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    Factors influencing work satisfaction of single parents in the South African National Defence Force : an exploratory study
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2019) Matjeke, Kgomotso T.; Van Dyk, G. A. J.
    There has been a documented increase in single-parent families over the years. Various causes, such as divorce, death, irresponsible fathers and choice, to mention but a few, contribute to this increase. Since 2005, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been partaking in various peacekeeping missions on the continent. The deployment of the SANDF is, however, not limited to cross-border activities. The SANDF also deploys its soldiers within the country in border control operations. While some soldiers are deployed within and outside the borders of the country, others remain in the home bases to continue with daily tasks. These soldiers usually work from 08:00–16:00, Monday to Friday. There are instances, however, where they need to work beyond the normal working hours and over weekends to participate in training exercises or even as a result of being deployed. Because of their single-parent status, these soldiers face inherent military challenges as well as role-related ones, which may influence their work satisfaction. The research reported here aimed to investigate the relationships between stress, work–family conflict, social support and work–family enrichment (WFE) in terms of work satisfaction of single parents in the SANDF.
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    Governance and public sector transformation in South Africa : reporting and providing assurance on service delivery information
    (AOSIS, 2013) Roos, Mariaan
    Reporting on performance was legislatively established in South Africa in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999, section 40 (3)(a). The auditing of the reported information was legislated in the Public Audit Act, Act 25 of 2004, section 20(2) (c). The objectives of the article are firstly to provide an overview of the development and application of the reporting and secondly providing assurance on service delivery information and thirdly to reflect on challenges to the implementation thereof in South Africa. The aim through deploying these set objectives is to formulate possible future considerations for improved governance. As central part of the methodology, review of literature on reporting and audit of non-financialwas conducted. The research included scrutiny of the different philosophies and approaches adopted by different countries to the reporting and providing assurance on service delivery information. In this respect, the research reflects a comparative element. In South Africa the Auditor-General adopted a phasing-in approach. The development of the audit approach and audit procedures has reached a stable stage, nine years after the initial process started. The audit of performance information now forms an integral part of the regularity audit process. The analysis of audit findings of the period under study indicates a considerable improvement once initiated, but stagnation persists in subsequent years. Numerous challenges remain around the application of performance reporting in South Africa including non-compliance, the lack of sufficient and appropriate audit evidence, inconsistencies between the various strategic documents and the need to improve the usefulness of performance information. In conclusion the article proposes some steps to address the challenges.