School of Government
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The School of Government was established by the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 1993 as part of a broad initiative to meet the education and training challenges of a post-apartheid society and as a means of supporting the process of social, political and economic transformation in South Africa and the Southern African region as a whole. It provides professional and academic training for the public sector at national, provincial and local levels, for NGOs, trade unions and other related organisations, and also engages in research, consultancy and policy advice.
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Item Towards an ethics driven transformation of the department of labour in the Western Cape: an organisational communication study(Universty of the Western Cape, 1999) Williams, BrianThe Western Cape Department of labour was used as a case study in the research, which dealt with ethics driven transformation in a State Department. The study traced the origin, legacies and complex network of power relations embedded in the autocratic structures of the Department of Labour. The political and employment policies of the Apartheid era regime created serious organisational problems for the emergent post-l994 state. The vast network of inefficient and corrupt elements inherited by the new regime are major obstacles to the institutionalisation of people centred values. The new government introduced a policy framework based on nine principles in the constitution dealing with the public sector. This framework was enhanced by the guidelines for the civil service, which postulated the notion of Batho Pele as a counter strategy to overcome the effects of Apartheid.Item From pavement entrepreneurs to stock exchange capitalists: the case of the South African black business class(University of the Western Cape, 2000) Maseko, Sipho Sibusiso; Reddy, Thiven; School of Government; Faculty of Economics and Management SciencesThe evolution of policy regarding the black bourgeoisie -- Issues in the struggle for black capitalism -- The roles and effects of NAFCOC (National African Federation Chamber of Commerce) and FABCOS (Foundation of Business and Consumer Service) -- The development of black capitalists in the urban areas -- Constraints on, and the performances of black entrepreneurs -- 'Normalisation' of the economic playing field.Item Transformative sensemaking: Development in Whose Image? Keyan Tomaselli and the semiotics of visual representation(Overseas Publishers Association, 2000) Williams, John J.The defining and distinguishing feature of homo sapiens is its ability to make sense of the world, i.e. to use its intellect to understand and change both itself and the world of which it is an integral part. It is against this backdrop that this essay reviews Tomaselli's 1996 text, Appropriating Images: The Semiotics of Visual Representation/ by summarizing his key perspectives, clarifying his major operational concepts and citing particular portions from his work in support of specific perspectives on sense-making. Subsequently, this essay employs his techniques of sense-making to interrogate the notion of "development". This exercise examines and confirms two interrelated hypotheses: first, a semiotic analysis of the privileged notion of "development" demonstrates its metaphysical/ ideological, and thus limiting, nature especially vis-a-vis the marginalized, excluded, and the collective other, the so-called Developing Countries. Second, the interrogative nature of semiotics allows for an alternative reading and application of human potential or skills in the quest of a more humane social and global order, highlighting thereby the transformative implications of a reflexive epistemology.Item South Africa: Urban transformation(Elsevier, 2000) Williams, John J.This paper discusses transformation as a multi-dimensional concept to effect social change in South African society in the post-apartheid era. The policy implications of such a variegated understanding of social change are examined with special reference to planning principles such as holism, capacity building, self-reliance, community integration, participatory democracy and so forth. It is argued that transformation is a multi-dimensional process, and whilst on the basis of provisional evidence there appears to be nascent forms of socio-spatial change, structurally, such apparent change is shot through by a number of contradictions, tensions and potential conflicts.Item The use of South Africa's nature areas in the promotion of tourism and economic development(University of Western Cape, 2001) Pithers, Linda; Thompson, LisaSouth Africa has developed an extensive network of parks, nature reserves and conservation areas, the stated purpose of which is to both promote and protect nature and, particularly in the case of state-owned resources, to harness the power of tourism in social and economic development. This study examines the impact on rural and urban communities of proclaimed 'nature areas' and related efforts by the state to grow the economic and developmental contribution of tourism in the regions concerned. Through interrogating this 'triangulation' of nature, tourism and local economic development the pattern of benefit distribution from the protection of nature areas is highlighted.Item Institutional challenges in integrated water resources management in Zimbabwe: a case study of the Pungwe sub-catchment area(University of the Western Cape, 2002) Tapela, Barbara Nompumelelo; Hara, Mafa; Swatuk, LarryIntegrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is viewed by policy makers and practitioners as facilitating the achievement of a balance between water resources use and protection, and the resolution of water-related conflicts. The IWRM approach has found particular use in the new water policies of Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, where water scarcity, after the land question, is perceived to be a major threat to political, economic, social, military and environmental security. Ultimately, IWRM is seen as providing a framework towards ensuring broader security at the local, national, regional and global levels. However, the pilot phase implementation of the new water policy in the various regional countries has revealed that although the legal and institutional frameworks have been put in place, the implementation of the IWRM approach has tended to be problematic (Latham, 2001; GTZ, 2000; Leestemaker, 2000; Savenige & van der Zaag, 2000; Sithole, 2000). This study adopts a case study approach and empirically examines the institutional challenges of implementing the IWRM approach in the post-pilot phase of Zimbabwe's new water policy. The focus is mainly on the institutional arrangements surrounding the Pungwe-Mutare Water Supply Project located within the Save Catchment Area in Eastern Zimbabwe. The major finding of the study is that, while there are some problems associated with the traditional management approach, there have also emerged new challenges to IWRM. These mainly relate to the transaction costs of the water sector reforms, institutional resilience, stakeholder participation, and the achievement of the desired outcomes. There have also been problems emanating from unexpected political developments at the local and national levels, particularly with regard to the government's "fast track" land resettlement programme. The study also raises some questions concerning the ideological bases of IWRM and the conceptualization of the institutional problem.Item Institutional challenges in integrated water resources management in Zimbabwe: A case study of the Pungwe sub-catchment area(University of the Western Cape, 2002) Tapela, Barbara Nompumelelo; Hara, MafaIntegrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is viewed by policy makers and practitioners as facilitating the achievement of a balance between water resources use and protection, and the resolution of water-related conflicts. The IWRM approach has found particular use in the new water policies of Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, where water scarcity, after the land question, is perceived to be a major threat to political, economic, social, military and environmental security. Ultimately, IWRM is seen as providing a framework towards ensuring broader security at the local, national, regional and global levels. However, the pilot phase implementation of the new water policy in the various regional countries has revealed that although the legal and institutional frameworks have been put in place, the implementation of the IWRM approach has tended to be problematic (Latham, 2001; GTZ, 2000; Leestemaker, 2000; Savenige & van der Zaag, 2000; Sithole, 2000). This study adopts a case study approach and empirically examines the institutional challenges of implementing the IWRM approach in the post-pilot phase of Zimbabwe's new water policy. The focus is mainly on the institutional arrangements surrounding the Pungwe-Mutare Water Supply Project located within the Save Catchment Area in Eastern Zimbabwe. The major finding of the study is that, while there are some problems associated with the traditional management approach, there have also emerged new challenges to IWRM. These mainly relate to the transaction costs of the water sector reforms, institutional resilience, stakeholder participation, and the achievement of the desired outcomes. There have also been problems emanating from unexpected political developments at the local and national levels, particularly with regard to the government's "fast track" land resettlement programme. The study also raises some questions concerning the ideological bases of IWRM and the conceptualization of the institutional problem.Item Participatory approach an opportunity or a hurdle to water reforms: " Experiences from save catchment council, Zimbabwe(University of the Western Cape, 2002) Dube, Dumisani Hendry; Swatuk, Larry. A; Hara, Mafaniso MFor generations, participation has been a mainstay of academic writing and teaching. By the 1970's, the policy statements of the major international donors and implementing agencies all emphasize the importance of participation (Dudley, 1993). It is time to stop simply reiterating the cry for community participation and prolonged argument about definitions of participation - related concepts. That was yesterday's battle. Certainly, despite all the rhetoric, participation often does not happen.Item Performance management in developmental local government: a search for an effective and workable approach(University of the Western Cape, 2003) Moodley, Nishendra; Tapscott, Chris; School of Government; Faculty of Economics and Management SciencesNo abstract available.Item Citizenship, community participation and social change: The case of area coordinating teams in Cape Town, South Africa(Wiley, 2004) Williams, John J.Social change does not roll in under the wheels of inevitability On the contrary; we have to organize for it, mobilize for it, struggle for it and indeed, plan for it. This is especially so in a country such as South Africa, where centuries of colonial-cum-apartheid thought and practices have led planning bureaucracies to create and perpetuate socioeconomic patterns of uneven development and neglect. Amidst the geographies of largely "white" affluence, fear and collective "othering", those others, i.e. predominantly "black", unemployed, homeless, destitute, angry and alienated, are increasingly demanding their basic rights, rights that are enshrined in the post-apartheid Constitution (RSA 1995). One of the many structures that have been created in order to make available constitutionally guaranteed opportunities for participation in governance has been Areas Coordinating Teams (ACTs), established in the late 1990s as a vehicle through which government agencies could engage local communities in development planning. The ACTs were established in order to encourage consensus among politicians, bureaucrats and communities with regard to specific planning issues such as housing, health care and overall infrastructure at grassroots level. This article addresses the question of whether the ACTs, as spaces for participation in development planning available to the local communities of Cape Town, do indeed contribute towards grassroots- oriented, bottom-up programmers in post-apartheid South Africa. It draws on two complementary studies. The first consists of informal interviews with councilors and officials. In these interviews, the politicians and the bureaucrats expressed their views and understanding of ACTs. The second study was based on a structured questionnaire directed at community-based organizations (CBOs) attending the ACTs initiated/coordinated meetings. My focus here is on the relationships between the official, "invited" spaces of the ACTs and other spaces within the community and on the relationships that officials and elected representatives have with these spaces, in order to assess their potential for democratizing the development planning process.Item The political economy of South African foreign direct investment in Mozambique: a case study of Mozal and its implications for development in Mozambique and Southern Africa(University of the Western Cape, 2005) Pretorius, Leon G.; School of Government; Faculty of Economics and Management SciencesThe MOZAL aluminium smelter in Maputo is the largest-ever foreign direct investment in Mozambique. South Africa's state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) owns 24% shares in MOZAL and the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and Eskom provided road and power supply infrastructure to ensure the success of the smelter. BHP Billiton is the majority shareholder, the other being Mitsubishi. MOZAL is the flagship of South Africa's foreign policy for regional integration in southern Africa and economic reconstruction in Mozambique: a practical manifestation of the African Renaissance. This thesis is a case study of MOZAL as an example of cross-border industrial development and its implications for development in Mozambique. Using an eclectic multidisciplinary Critical Global Political Economy (critical GPE) theoretical framework, a survey of relevant literature and a series of selected open interviews, it examines how development based on the assumptions of industrialisation and neo-modernisation espoused by the governments and private sector champions of MOZAL impact on class, gender, environmental and social justice in Mozambique. The research identifies the socio-economic development dimensions of MOZAL for Mozambique and how the cost and benefits are distributed among the various social groups and actors directly and/or indirectly involved with the MOZAL aluminium smelter. The main findings are that MOZAL as a private sector FDI project is a qualified success. On the positive side, it contributes to economic growth. However, the benefits to Mozambique are exaggerated and are not broadly distributed. On the negative side, it contributes to increasing the economic dependence of Mozambique on the South African economy. Instead of narrowing the development gap, the smelter has contributed to increased differentiation between companies in South Africa and Mozambique and, within Mozambique, between the Northern and Southern regions, as well as among MOZAL employees and the majority of the population in Maputo. The implications are that the development benefits from foreign direct investment cross-border industrial development projects may, at least in the short-term, lead to uneven regional integration and development enjoyed by a few.Item African military intervention in African conflicts: an analysis of military intervention in Rwanda, the DRC and Lesotho(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Likoti, Fako Johnson; Thompson, Lisa; School of Government; Faculty of Economics and Management SciencesThe dissertation examines three military interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa which took place in the mid and late 1990s in Rwanda, the DRC and Lesotho. These interventions took place despite high expectations of international and regional peace on the part of most analysts after the collapse of cold war in 1989. However, interstate and intrastate conflicts re-emerged with more intensity than ever before, and sub-Saharan Africa proved to be no exception.The study sets out to analyse the motives and/or causes of military interventions in Rwanda in 1990, the DRC in 1996-7, and the DRC military rebellion and the Lesotho intervention in 1998. In analysing these interventions, the study borrows extensively from the work of dominant security theorists of international relations, predominantly realists who conceptualise international relations as a struggle for power and survival in the anarchic world. The purpose of this analysis is fourfold; firstly, to determine the reasons for military interventions and the extent to which these interventions were conducted on humanitarian grounds; secondly, to investigate the degree to which or not intervening countries were spurred by their national interests; thirdly, to assess the roles of international organisations like Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations, in facilitating these interventions; as well as to evaluate the role of parliaments of intervening countries in authorising or not these military interventions in terms of holding their Executives accountable. In this context, the analysis argues that the intervening countries; Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Namibia, Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe appeared to have used intervention as a realist foreign policy tool in the absence of authorisation from the United Nations and its subordinate bodies such as the OAU and SADC.Item The politics of social change and the transition to democratic governance: Community participation in post-apartheid South Africa(Juta, 2008) Williams, John J.Community participation, i.e. the direct involvement/engagement of ordinary people in the affairs of planning, governance and overall development programs at the local or grassroots level, has become an integral part of democratic practice in recent years (cfJayal, 2001). In the case of post-apartheid South Africa, community participation has literally become synonymous with legitimate governance. In this regard, for example, the Municipal Structures Act, Chapter 4, subsections (g) and (h) state respectively that the 'executive mayor [should] annually report on the involvement of community organisations in the affairs of the municipality' and 'ensure that due regard is given to public views and report on the effect of consultation on the decisions of council' (RSA, 1998c). Yet it would seem that most community participation exercises in post-apartheid South Africa are largely spectator politics, where ordinary people have mostly become endorsees of pre-designed planning programs, often the objects of administrative manipulation and a miracle of reconciliation in the international arena of consensus politics, while state functionaries of both the pre- and post-apartheid eras ensconce themselves as bureaucratic experts summonsed to 'ensure a better life for all'. Consequently, the process, visions and missions of a more equitable society operate merely as promissory notes issued every five years during election campaigns. In this course of endless rhetoric and multiple platitudes, the very concept of community participation has been largely reduced to a cumbersome ritual—a necessary appendix required by the various laws and policies operating at the local government level.Item The Everyday at Grassroots level: poverty, protest and social change in post-apartheid South Africa(CLACSO, 2009) Williams, John J.This paper posits that social change derives from how the everyday is encountered, analyzed and experienced at the grassroots level. Drawing extensively from the seminal work of Henri Lefebvre, the paper argues that for ordinary people in post-apartheid South Africa, the everyday is often an instantiation of multiple contradictions, tensions, conflicts and struggles as the promises of a “better life for all”, the mantra of the Mbeki government, would appear to remain largely rhetorical as evidenced by the increasing levels of homelessness and unemployment since the creation of the democratic State in 1994. The failure to substantively improve the everyday reality experienced by the poor, homeless and unemployed, has given rise throughout the country, especially from 2004 to 2009, to massive protests by communities against local authorities (municipalities). The paper concludes by considering the question whether or not this type of community discontent could serve to transform the everyday into a more equitable and democratic dispensation at the grassroots level.Item Survey methodology in violence-prone Khayelitsha, Cape Town, Couth Africa(Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009) Nleya, Ndodana; Thompson, LisaThis article discusses the methodological challenges of a service delivery survey in Khayelitsha, atownship in Cape Town, South Africa. The survey aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationshipbetween citizen participation and the environmental challenges facing residents in this urban area.Khayelitsha is a township prone to violence. Encountering violence during fieldwork can alter the wayresearchers execute research, yet this often remains unacknowledged in ‘objective social science’, especiallyin probability sampling. The article examines the effects of the risk felt by researchers on the researchmethod employed in quantitative surveys. It shows that deliberating on this aspect of the research process isboth necessary and useful, especially in terms of recognising the need to factor fear or uncertainty into theways in which research processes unfold.Item Local Government Capacity for Policy Implementation in South Africa: A Study of the Saldanha Bay and Swellendam Municipalities in the Western Cape Province(University of the Western Cape, 2009) Davids, Gregory Jerome; Mphaisha, Chisepo J.J.Local government in South Africa is an autonomous policy implementation arm of the government system. The purpose of this study was to examine the institutional, organisational, and human resource capacity challenges the Saldanha Bay and Swellendam Municipalities in the Western Cape faced in their policy implementation especially on poverty alleviation. The objectives of the study were to develop a theoretical framework for examining institutional, organisational and human resource capacity in the Saldanha Bay and Swellendam Municipalities; to discuss the local government constitutional, legislative and policy framework within which the Saldanha Bay and Swellendam Municipalities delivered services to communities; to examine the capacity challenges in the service delivery of the Saldanha Bay and Swellendam Municipalities and, thereby, highlight operational problem areas; and to make general policy recommendations on the basis of the research findings of the study. The methodology used was the case-study approach. It allowed an in-depth understanding of the dynamics present within Saldanha Bay and Swellendam municipality. The methodology enabled the researcher to answer the research question: In what ways, and with what results has institutional, organisational and human resource capacity affected service delivery in the Saldanha Bay and Swellendam Municipalities in the Western Cape? The major findings of the study were that local government capacity for policy implementation is directly influenced by the presence or otherwise of institutional, organisational and human resource capacity. These dimensions of capacity are mutually inclusive, independent and interrelated in practice. The study makes several policy recommendations. In the area of institutional capacity the recommendations were that floor-crossing legislation and practices must be done away with; that weak capacitated municipalities ought to be alleviated by public - private partnerships as a mechanism to enhance a municipality's ability to develop and implement policy; and that instead of solely setting standards and monitoring performance, the provincial treasury should assist municipalities to acquire financial competencies. In the area of organisational capacity it was recommended that the community ought to participate in the recruitment and selection committee of the Municipal Manager. It was also recommended that municipalities should establish district-wide forums for financial heads whose purpose would be to create a platform for collaboration, and for the exchange of ideas. And in the area of human resource capacity it was recommended that district municipalities ought to assume a more prominent role in building the capacity of the local authorities with which they share legislative and administrative powers. It was also recommended that both the administrative and political leadership ought to participate in compulsory executive and/or leadership training programmes SALGA implements through some tertiary educational institutions and/or through private service providers.Item Local perceptions of the fast track land reform programme (FTLRP) in Umguza resettlement scheme in Zimbabwe(2009) Zulu, Nqobile; Matose, FrankFast track land reform in Zimbabwe has caused a raging debate drawing a lot of attention to the re-distribution programme. The invasion of commercial farms had a bearing on agricultural production, food security, security of tenure, rule of law and respect for property rights. This thesis examines the implications of such a frayed land reform resulting in strained donor and government relations. The crux of the argument is that land reform is harmful and damaging when the rule of law is flouted, directly impacting on social and power relations at grassroots level. These strained relations result from a lack of commitment by government, external donors and white commercial farmers to correct land injustices from the colonial period and ineffective agencies of restraint. This thesis will test these perceptions and views basing on the experiences of the grassroots people. It will also attempt to test whether the land question in Zimbabwe has finally been resolved or there are still aspects to it that need attention, since land reform is often viewed in moral and political terms. Was poverty alleviation prioritized in fast track land reform by giving land to the landless poor; to help redress population imbalances or meant to reward those who struggled for liberation? The thesis attempts to answer the question of ‘equity’ or restructuring of access over production and ownership of land. It then questions the equity trump card as touted by the government. Did the government commit another injustice while trying to redress past injustices by overlooking the rightful claimants in favour of entrenching state power? This thesis contributes to the raging debate on fast track land reform in Zimbabwe, using the case study of UMguza resettlement scheme.Item Civil society and citizen participation in governance processes in Zimbabwe, 1997-2010(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Mapuva, Jephias; Thompson, LisaThe deteriorating political environment in Zimbabwe, especially from the mid-1990s culminated in the emergence of pro-democracy CSOs that sought to engage the authoritarian to encapsulate democratic principles and enhance citizen participation in governance processes in Zimbabwe, especially from 1997 to 2010. The case studies are the Combined Harare Residents ' Association (CHRA), the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Organization (ZimRights). Interviews and questionnaires conducted on CSO secretariats and members and complemented by documentary analysis presented as qualitative and quantitative data respectively. Data is drawn from a cumulative total of 300 tasks. The analytical framework is drawn from debates around the interconnectedness between democracy, governance, civil society and citizen participation provide.Item Gerwel taught us that theory without application is useless(IOL, 2012) Williams, John J.This tribute to Prof Gerwel has been triggered by a picture on p 2 of the Cape Times, 29 Nov 2012, of a group of students, he addressed in 1977 [not 1973] as I was reading for my Honours degree in Geography. As students we admired him deeply for his seemingly effortless ability to apply profound theoretical insights to the existential reality of apartheid and its nefarious effects on society as a whole. He usually addressed us during lunch-hour, in the Science Block. Every student leader of the different student organizations on campus was usually there, even the deeply- spiritual students, like myself [I headed the Anglican Student Society of Southern Africa [ANSOC/ASF] in the Western Cape, at UWC, US and UCT.Item Does membership in mutual health insurance guarantee quality health care? Some evidence from Ghana(EJBSS, 2012) Alatinga, Kennedy A.Access to health care and quality of health care are inextricably linked. Not merely is access to health care important, but also its quality: hence the apparent increasing demands for health care services where they are perceived by citizens to be offering quality services. The inverse situation also seems to exist, that is, when health systems are perceived to deliver health services that are of 'poor' quality, attendances at such facilities tend to be low. In light of this, this study seeks to examine the nascent National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana (NHIS) and how the NHIS addresses the issue of quality health care delivery for its patients. Using mixed methods research; focus group discussions and household surveys, the study compares two groups (insured and non-insured) with respect to the quality of health each group receives in attempt to providing reliable information to policy and decision-makers about the areas that need attention for improvement in quality of healthcare in the Kassena-Nankana District in Northern Ghana. While the household survey results do not establish any difference in the quality of health received by either the insured or uninsured, findings from the FGDs strongly suggest that the uninsured received better quality care than the insured. These findings provide a fertile ground for policy action. It is thus, recommended amongst other things, that health authorities investigate further alleged illegal extortions of monies by some nurses from uninsured patients.