Factors affecting the performance of South African municipal officials: stakeholders’ perspectives

Since the inception of the democratically elected post-apartheid government, South Africa has experienced growing numbers of protests about inadequate provision of basic municipal services. Recent studies have revealed that the poor performance of municipal officials contributes towards poor municipal service delivery. This article is based on a study which used qualitative key stakeholder interviews to analyse the performance of South African municipal officials, specifically in the delivery of services. It found that the following inter-related factors were responsible for the lack of performance: an unsupportive institutional environment, negative power struggles, over-regulation, political interference, a tense and bureaucratic environment, lack of coherent management systems, absence of a culture of excellence, poor skill utilisation, poor oversight mechanisms, weak capacity to engage in collaborations, and lack of trust between councillors from different political parties. The study concludes that for South African municipalities to meet their constitutional obligations to deliver optimal basic services to the people, the government must, inter alia, invest in building the capacity of municipal officials through the development of skills and other crucial local government interventions and transformations. The municipalities should also depoliticise local government and promote non-partisan appointment of municipal officials

Engaging communities as partners: policing strategies in Johannesburg

PURPOSE : This paper aims to explore police perspectives on community engagement strategies within the context of crime prevention in South Africa, focusing on Johannesburg metropolitan police stations. The study’s objective is to scrutinise the effectiveness and challenges of community policing strategies. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : Through a qualitative research approach, this study conducted unstructured interviews with station commanders and visible policing officers across 10 Johannesburg metropolitan police stations. FINDINGS : The findings reveal that community policing strategies, such as community–policing forums, sector policing, street patrollers and social media utilisation, can effectively engage communities as partners in crime prevention. However, certain challenges such as resource limitations and difficulties in policing-specific regions, were also identified. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : This study contributes to the broader understanding of community–policing partnerships and the practical implications of community–policing strategies in South Africa, suggesting areas for improvement and adaptation to the unique South African context. This knowledge can help optimise efforts to foster stronger relationships between police and communities, bolster public trust and ultimately improve crime prevention outcomes.The National Research Foundation (NRF).https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/1757-8043hj2024School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA)SDG-11:Sustainable cities and communitie

Assessing service delivery : public perception of municipal service delivery in South Africa

Existing research reveals that there has been increasing community impatience related to basic municipal service delivery in developing countries, for example, South Africa. Many scholars have argued that the rise in service delivery protests in South Africa can be attributed to organisational failure to provide satisfactory basic services because many communities remain un-serviced. This article investigates citizen satisfaction with basic municipal service delivery in South Africa and analyses citizen perceptions thereof based on the South African Social Attitude Survey. The study is quantitative in nature. The findings reveal that citizen dissatisfaction with service delivery is influenced by factors such as perceptions of relative deprivation and inequality, unfulfilled political promises, uneven access to services, provision of substandard services and high levels of poverty including disparities which emanate from the post-apartheid regime. The article is relevant at this point because many African municipalities are facing similar service delivery challenges.http://um.ase.ro/home.htmam2019School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA

The police and citizens as co-producers of crime prevention in Johannesburg

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : Data is unavailable due to privacy/ethical restrictions.The city of Johannesburg is the largest metropolitan municipality out of eight in South Africa. It is notorious for its high levels of crime, with a crime index of 80.72 and a safety index of 19.28. This article examines crime prevention co-production in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. The purpose of the study was to analyse how co-production of crime prevention is organised in Johannesburg and to understand the effectiveness of the practice there. Collaborations between the regular producers (police) and citizens were assessed to fully determine the potential of crime prevention co-production. This led to qualitative interviews with 20 police officers from 10 police stations in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. A citizen survey was conducted with a selected sample from the population (n = 400) residing in the neighbourhoods covered by the police stations investigated. The findings indicate that police officers have devised practices and programmes to co-produce crime prevention. These include the sharing of pamphlets and crime prevention education and awareness during school visitations, the use of Zello technology, community police forums, and information sharing at the youth desk and in WhatsApp groups. Nevertheless, these practices do not seem to be popular among the citizens. There is a contradiction in the perception of successful crime prevention co-production between citizens and the police. This is mainly due to citizens’ lack of trust in the police. The study acknowledged the importance of the work carried out by the police in crime prevention co-production but also observed the citizens’ lack of trust in the police as a potential threat to crime prevention co-production. Trust is crucial in managing information sharing on crime prevention. Front line professionals, such as the police, will not be able to meet future crime challenges if there is a trust deficit. Hence, it is important to restore trust in the work carried out by the police. Professionals in public administration could learn about the importance of trust in their crucial role of implementing policies, government programmes, and service delivery.The National Research Foundation (NRF).https://www.mdpi.com/journal/admsciSchool of Public Management and Administration (SPMA

You just have to ask coproduction of primary healthcare in Ghana and Nigeria

The urgent need to improve the quality of healthcare provision in developing countries such as Nigeria and Ghana is caused in part by inadequate financial support for Primary Health Centres. This article investigates whether coproduction by involving citizens, and asking citizens for their involvement, could provide a solution. The findings show that part of the solution to improving healthcare outcomes in these countries lies in the practice of collective coproduction in primary healthcare services, and that asking citizens directly to make a contribution does indeed play a role. The outcomes are based on a survey among the populations and in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals in Ghana and Nigeria.http://link.springer.com/journal/11115hj2020School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

A Comparative Policy for the COVID-19 Emergency Management of Frontline Health Workers in Selected African Countries

Health workers are often exposed to health risks and danger in the discharge of their duties. This is especially distressing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employs a multiple case study design to investigate the COVID-19 emergency management of frontline workers in South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria. The findings from the study reveal that governments in the selected countries prioritize the response phase of the emergency management theory over the mitigation and preparedness phases. The response phase was meted with inevitable consequences. Health workers feared risking their lives, and the majority threatened to abandon their jobs due to insufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and welfare support. The study concludes that the government should prioritize all the phases of emergency management instead of focusing on the response phase, which involves the use of both human and financial resources on an overwhelming pandemic. They should have prepared the frontline workers adequately and equipped their health systems in preparation for any impending epidemic

IN VITRO ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF BLUE-GREEN ALGAE-GEITLERINEMA SPLENDIDUM COLLECTED FROM WESTERN GHATS, SOUTH INDIA

Objective: Geitlerinema splendidum is non-edible blue-green algae available in freshwater systems. It belongs to the family Pseudanabaenacae genera. In exploring the medical properties of algae, our present work aimed to analyze the anti-inflammatory effect of the algae G. Splendidum.Methods: Anti-inflammatory activity was done by human red blood cell membrane stabilization assay for ethyl acetate and ethanol crude extracts of alga and found that the ethyl acetate extract has better inhibitory property than ethanol crude extract. Diclofenac was used as the standard drug.Results: The experimental results obtained are comparable to the reference drug and are found to be dose-dependent. Even at a minimum concentration of 12.5 μg/ml, the percentage inhibition was in the range of 56.6±0.12–58.5±0.03 %, which indicated that the alga G. splendidum has a satisfactory anti-inflammatory activity.Conclusion: Our present work is supposed to be the first report in exploring the anti-inflammatory effect of the algae G. splendidum

The Police and Citizens as Co-Producers of Crime Prevention in Johannesburg

The city of Johannesburg is the largest metropolitan municipality out of eight in South Africa. It is notorious for its high levels of crime, with a crime index of 80.72 and a safety index of 19.28. This article examines crime prevention co-production in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. The purpose of the study was to analyse how co-production of crime prevention is organised in Johannesburg and to understand the effectiveness of the practice there. Collaborations between the regular producers (police) and citizens were assessed to fully determine the potential of crime prevention co-production. This led to qualitative interviews with 20 police officers from 10 police stations in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. A citizen survey was conducted with a selected sample from the population (n = 400) residing in the neighbourhoods covered by the police stations investigated. The findings indicate that police officers have devised practices and programmes to co-produce crime prevention. These include the sharing of pamphlets and crime prevention education and awareness during school visitations, the use of Zello technology, community police forums, and information sharing at the youth desk and in WhatsApp groups. Nevertheless, these practices do not seem to be popular among the citizens. There is a contradiction in the perception of successful crime prevention co-production between citizens and the police. This is mainly due to citizens’ lack of trust in the police. The study acknowledged the importance of the work carried out by the police in crime prevention co-production but also observed the citizens’ lack of trust in the police as a potential threat to crime prevention co-production. Trust is crucial in managing information sharing on crime prevention. Front line professionals, such as the police, will not be able to meet future crime challenges if there is a trust deficit. Hence, it is important to restore trust in the work carried out by the police. Professionals in public administration could learn about the importance of trust in their crucial role of implementing policies, government programmes, and service delivery

Stakeholders' Experience of the Innovative Ways of Coproducing Neighborhood Security in Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg is known to be the crime capital in South Africa. This hinders investment opportunities for the country and causes insecurities for citizens. This article analyzed the current neighborhood security challenges and sought to develop an innovative and inclusive model of co-producing neighborhood security in the City of Johannesburg based on the unstructured interviews with police officers in Johannesburg which were analyzed using a qualitative approach. The study found that the challenges of neighborhood security in Johannesburg include socio-economic status, crime, lack of trust, and inadequate resources. Moreover, inclusivity promoted community involvement and effective participation from the South African Police Service, civil society, and government whilst innovation utilized technological methods such as social media, radio shows, and newspapers which ensured that the insecurities were eliminated and that the crime rate in Johannesburg decreases