Employee participation in training and development at a selected municipality in the Western Cape, South Africa

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019The study focuses on Human Resource Development through employee training and development practices. This research sheds light on the relationship between employee training practices and employee development, with specific emphasis on employee performance and job satisfaction. The purpose of training and development programmes is to improve employee competence and organisational performance. A number of employees are perceived to be reluctant to attend training and development opportunities and do not want to develop themselves. The objectives of the research were to investigate employee training and development practices followed at a selected municipality in the Western Cape in South Africa and to explore and understand the dimensions of employee training and job satisfaction. It was anticipated that this would give an indication of the various training and development programme types, as well as its benefits, offered to municipal employees of the selected municipality. It also focuses on employees’ expectations and involvement in such types of training programmes. The aim of the study is to analyse the implementation of training and development intervention practices of a selected municipality as well as its impact on the perceptions about employees who do not want to attend training and development interventions organised which, in the long run, will lead to job performance improvement and job satisfaction. An investment in training activities is returned in the form of retaining more productive and effective employees. Training and development intervention programmes may focus on individual or team performance. It is observed that municipalities following systematic and scientific training and development practices create high job satisfaction levels amongst employees. In contrast, municipalities who do not put training interventions in place to make sure employees are given opportunities to undergo training and development, do not perform well, and usually receive disqualified audit statuses and experience community protests for lack of service delivery. Municipal employees who attend training and development programmes are more committed towards better performance – results show positive outcomes. The development and implementation of training interventions should be based on needs analyses. Information obtained could be useful for the improvement of training and development practices in all departments. Factors affecting the effectiveness of training and development intervention practices in municipalities include lack of support from top management and peers, employees’ individual attitudes, job-related factors and deficiencies in training practices. In an era where Government struggles to address community’s crisis, public service employees should be managed efficiently and effectively by implementing systematic training and development intervention programmes in order to enhance job performance and understanding of job criteria. This will ensure effective transmission of basic services to communities. There is an urgent need to reshape training and development interventions in order for Government to provide advancement possibilities in Local Government and for departments to be centres of excellence. Government departments should design training policies that resonate with communities’ needs and develop guiding documents that are understandable and implementable. Departments also need to review training budgets and the relevance of training programmes. In addition, the training opportunities provided should be accredited and recognised to afford workers opportunities for growth and promotion as well as to gain a qualification that will give them access to obtaining a formal qualification

An Exploration of Involvement of Budget Managers in the Budget Development Process: A Case of Western Cape Department of Social Development.

Budgets are inevitable strategic tools used in the planning of the effective delivery by any organisation. In a sense budgets become the financial interpretation of work, services or products to be produced or services to be delivered by the organisation. In the same vein, government departments have plans and programmes to be implemented, and these programmes are quantified in the form of budgets. The budgeting processes are determined by the strategic imperatives and the type of leadership in an organisation, thereby differing from organisation to organisation. The traditional approach in government budgeting is that the activities to be undertaken start as political decisions which will be cascaded down to the different departments. Though the different department units construct their own budgets, the ultimate budget comes top down more than it comes top up. This research aimed to identify the extent of the involvement of budget managers in the budget development process and the possible limiting factors if any. Questionnaires were used to collect data which was analysed using Excel Spreadsheet and the findings were interpreted. The findings imply a need for extensive training as well as empowerment of the budget practitioners to be able to create congruence between budgets, budgeting processes, project implementation and envisage delivery to the citizens. Keywords: Budgeting; Managers’ Involvement; Service Delivery; Social Development; Public Servic

An assessment of the impact of organisational restructuring on the morale of employees at a selected financial institution

Rising global competition, the influence of advances in information technology and the re-engineering of business processes are some of the imperatives that force organisations to restructure their businesses. In South Africa, the situation is even more compelling, with the recent democratisation of the country that requires companies to implement certain restructuring programmes designed to empower previously disadvantaged individuals. Organisational restructuring is therefore inevitable for any organisation. These changes, however, do affect organisations and employees. Employees become insecure, confused about their jobs, and therefore less productive. To the extent that change can adversely affect both organisations and employees, it becomes critical that organisations should implement it carefully, if they are to survive. To achieve this, requires managers to fully understand drivers of change, the possible consequences of change on both organisation and employees, and to take appropriate actions. The main objective of this study was to identify possible approaches that organisations can pursue in implementing restructuring without adversely affecting the employees. The practical context chosen was an organisation that had recently implemented organisational restructuring. The research methodology for this study entailed the conducting of an intensive study of the relevant literature, to determine what the theory reveals in respect of restructuring strategies that can assist organisations in effectively implementing the restructuring process. Dissertations, theses, research reports and journals were consulted, in an attempt to formulate a theoretical basis for this study. The contemporary literature reveals that there are various strategies that organisations can employ to effectively restructure their organisations with minimal adverse influence on employees. The restructuring organisations should ensure that employees are genuinely involved in the process at the iv outset. The desired changes and the benefits thereof, should be clearly and consistently communicated to the employees at the beginning of the restructuring process. An empirical study was then conducted at the chosen organisation that had recently embarked on an organisational restructuring. The focal point of the empirical study was to determine how this organisation had implemented its restructuring process. The main purpose was to establish the impact that this restructuring had on the morale and motivation of the employees. The final step of this study included an assessment of the findings. This was done so that suitable conclusions could be drawn and appropriate recommendations made. The conclusions revolved around the effects of restructuring on the employees of this organisation. The focus of the recommendations was on what approaches the restructuring organisations should follow to successfully and effectively implement the restructuring process, without adversely affecting the employees

An assessment of strategies used to retain nurses in selected hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipal area

The harsh realities currently facing public hospitals such as budget cuts, understaffing and poor working conditions, have resulted in nurses experiencing low morale and finding it increasingly difficult to stay in the public health sector. The obvious targeting of South African nurses by recruitment agencies with job offers to work overseas is causing a massive skills’ drain that the country cannot afford. The situation is further compounded by the fact that the government is freezing posts of those nurses who have resigned. Consequently, nurses who are currently working in these hospitals have to cope with unreasonable workloads. Public hospitals are nowadays faced with the challenge of delivering quality health care within the constraints of gross staff shortages, and an increasingly competitive global health environment. The main objective of this study was to identify strategies that can be implemented by hospitals in order to reduce turnover, thereby enhancing retention of staff. Interviews were conducted with the matrons-in-charge of the hospitals under study to investigate strategies that are in place to improve retention. Secondary data regarding staff turnover in the hospitals under study was collected and analysed. It emerged that there are no concrete strategies in place to lower turnover. Hospitals are indeed experiencing staff turnover and posts that were vacated by those nurses that have resigned are frozen. The literature survey revealed three strategies that can be utilised to retain employees, namely, motivation strategies, effective leadership strategies and human resources strategies. Based on various literature reviews, it was concluded that the three strategies are interrelated. The empirical survey was conducted at the three selected hospitals, to determine the extent to which the retention strategies identified in the literature survey are being utilised. All three are invariably used in the hospitals. It is evident that the leadership behaviour in these hospitals affects the level of motivation of employees. The extent to which some of the human resources strategies are utilised invariably leads to low morale and dissatisfaction among employees. Lastly, research findings were assessed with the aim of drawing conclusions so that appropriate recommendations could be made. Recommendations focused on the retention strategies that can be implemented to boost morale of employees and enhance retention

Aetiological factors that lead to suicide attempts among the youth of Lusikisiki area

The general aim of this study was to investigate the aetiological factors that lead to suicidal attempts among the youth of Lusikisiki area in the Eastern Cape Province. A sample of hundred and fifty participants with an average age of 24 years old was selected using convenient sampling. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. After the data were collected, it was then analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that various factors lead to suicide ideation and suicide attempts among youth of Lusikisiki. Economic hardship, depression and substance abuse to name few, were found to be among factors that lead to suicide attempt. Based on the research findings, the researcher recommends that various stakeholders such as the Department of Social development should work in corroboration. Departments such as Department of Education and Sports, Recreation and Culture should make awareness campaigns that will psycho-educate youth in rural areas, possibly alleviating drug and substance abuse. Those awarenesses may also tap into strengthening psychosocial well-being of youth. Furthermore, Department of Social Development should come up with community outreach programs aimed at alleviating poverty as the contributory factor towards suicide attempt.Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 202

Aetiological factors that lead to suicide attempts among the youth of Lusikisiki area

The general aim of this study was to investigate the aetiological factors that lead to suicidal attempts among the youth of Lusikisiki area in the Eastern Cape Province. A sample of hundred and fifty participants with an average age of 24 years old was selected using convenient sampling. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. After the data were collected, it was then analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that various factors lead to suicide ideation and suicide attempts among youth of Lusikisiki. Economic hardship, depression and substance abuse to name few, were found to be among factors that lead to suicide attempt. Based on the research findings, the researcher recommends that various stakeholders such as the Department of Social development should work in corroboration. Departments such as Department of Education and Sports, Recreation and Culture should make awareness campaigns that will psycho-educate youth in rural areas, possibly alleviating drug and substance abuse. Those awarenesses may also tap into strengthening psychosocial well-being of youth. Furthermore, Department of Social Development should come up with community outreach programs aimed at alleviating poverty as the contributory factor towards suicide attempt.Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 202

Expansive homeomorphisms on quasi-metric spaces

[EN] The investigation of expansive homeomorphisms in metric spaces began with Utz in 1950. Thereafter, several authors have extensively studied this concept for different motivations. In this current article, we study expansive homeomorphism in the context of quasi-pseudometric spaces. This is motivated by the fact that any expansive homeomorphism on quasi-pseudometric space is again expansive homeomorphism on its induced pseudometric space but the converse is not true in general. Moreover, the study of orbit structures has been taken to consideration in this article. For instance, we investigate the denseness of orbits in the context of quasi-metric spaces.Olela Otafudu, O.; Matladi, DP.; Zweni, MS. (2024). Expansive homeomorphisms on quasi-metric spaces. Applied General Topology. 25(1):1-15. https://doi.org/10.4995/agt.2024.1985511525

Coalition effects on financial and service delivery performance in metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng

Background: The South African electoral system does not favour a winner-takes-all situation. It is designed for a possible political coalition government on the basis of an electoral outcome below the 50+1 at the national, provincial and local government levels. Thus, the 2021 Local Government elections delivered nine hung municipal councils in Gauteng province. This implies that the sphere of local government has now entered an electoral epoch shaped by a multi-party system without an outright majority for a majority-led municipal council in at least 70 municipal councils throughout the country. Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the financial and service delivery performance of the metropolitan municipalities of Gauteng province. Methods: The study used a qualitative research approach in the form of secondary data analysis, in which documentary and literature reviews were conducted to answer the research question using financial ratio analysis to examine the financial performance of metropolitan municipalities governed by political coalitions. Results: The study found that the revenue of these metropolitan areas under political coalitions is not sustainable. Additionally, the expenditure is not credible, and the budgets do not respond to the needs of the poor. Furthermore, budgets are not passed in time, which compromises and deteriorates service delivery. Conclusion: Political parties that are involved in political coalitions in these metropolitan municipalities do not adhere to the political coalition agreements, and this leads to failing governance in these municipalities. The study makes a valuable contribution by suggesting an integrated approach to financial and service delivery performance. Contribution: This study makes several salient contributions by suggesting an integrated approach of financial performance and service delivery in metropolitan municipalities arising from the advent of coalitions in these municipalities

‘Dissemination as intervention’: building local AIDS competence through the report-back of research findings to a South African rural community

There is much debate about researchers’ ethical obligations to their informants, especially when they study marginalised communities in serious distress. Some say researchers should contribute to interventions to ameliorate the problems they investigate. Within this context, we report on a ‘dissemination as intervention’ exercise developed to report back research findings to a South African rural community -- using a dialogical approach which sought to strengthen participants’ confidence and ability to respond more effectively to HIV/AIDS. Nine workshops were conducted with 121 participants (78 women, 41 men) including religious and traditional leaders, health volunteers, development and sewing groups, scholars, youth out-of-school, traditional healers and teachers. Workshop transcripts, fieldworker diaries and participant debriefing sessions were subjected to thematic content analysis. Workshops provided many with their first opportunity to discuss HIV/AIDS in a supportive context (in a wider climate of fear and denial) and to identify how their individual and collective responses were hampered by gender and age inequalities, stigma, resistance by local leaders and lack of outside support. Workshops alerted participants to the valuable role played by local volunteers and facilitated reflection on how they might support volunteers, assist those living with HIV/AIDS and protect their own sexual health. We highlight variations in the way different groups engaged with these topics in terms of both style of engagement and content of discussions. Workshops provided opportunities for participants to develop critical understandings of the possibilities and limitations of their responses to a pressing social problem, understandings which constitute a necessary (though not sufficient) condition for further action