Browsing by Author "Naidoo, Vinothan"
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- ItemOpen AccessAn investigation into the difficulties of integrating social services in South Africa(2022) Valentine, Lucinda Jane; Naidoo, VinothanAfter the first democratic elections in 1994, the newly elected democratic government of South Africa tried to remedy social inequities from the past by implementing more development-oriented social policies. The Department of Social Development's Integrated Service Delivery Model (ISDM) is one of these efforts. However, the integration of social services has been fraught with challenges. During a practical placement at a community clinic in Fisantekraal in the Western Cape, the researcher, as a social work student, observed that many nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) were ignorant of additional social services available in the area. Amongst the social services being offered, the researcher discovered duplication, fragmentation, and gaps. As a result, a closer examination of these observations was required. Not even the government social development authorities knew about the ISDM. The social service providers in Fisantekraal did not know about the principles of the developmental approach and the Generic Norms and Standards for Social Welfare Services, stated in the ISDM. According to the ISDM, integrated service delivery requires collaboration between NGOs, government, and the private sector; consequently, research into promoting integration in social service delivery in South Africa is critical. The question that framed and led this study is what challenges confront efforts to promote integration in social services delivery in South Africa. In order to investigate these challenges, this study administered a sample survey to social service providers across government, non-profit organisations and private practitioners. According to the core findings, the great majority of social service providers understand the concept of integrated social services. However, the data revealed that translating a widespread understanding of the concept of integration faces many operational obstacles. Many service users do not have access to specialised services because of the cost and distance required to travel. In addition, inadequate communication hinders partnering with the government on a provincial and local level. The mindset of lowering workload by exploiting the incentive of collaborating vi with other organisations has yet to become commonplace, even though there has been some progress in this area in the past. Promoting collaboration proved to be one of the most significant barriers to integrating social services, along with budgetary and capacity constraints. The NGO sector is financially stretched, and many organisations believe that a lack of funding impedes them from integrating their services. However, the opposite should be the case because combining their services would allow them to share costs and workload. In addition, many organisations have their own objectives and directives, which militate against the establishment of unified goals. Collaboration with the government was the most major roadblock to reaching a goal consensus. This was owing to a lack of access to their social service practitioners and their rigid mandates. A significant number of respondents have also not received training on the ISDM, implying that they are unaware of the model's intricacies and thus unable to implement it. The study reveals that social services providers are ill-equipped to deliver integrated social services. There appears to be a lack of know-how about how to create strong and effective organisational collaborations on the ground. A thorough understanding of integrated social services is not taught in the South African social services field despite a strong appreciation for the value of the concept. A shift in mindset is necessary, and this may be possible if more widespread training on integrated social services is provided.
- ItemOpen AccessAn analysis of state-civil society relationships in Botswana : a case of the Women's Affairs Department and women non-governmental organisations(2011) Mooketsane, Keneilwe; Naidoo, VinothanInteractions between the state and Non-governmental Organisations have been heightened globally. This has led to states engaging civil society more than ever before. However, tendencies to control NGOs by the state seem common in African countries. This dissertation seeks to examine relations between the state and NGOs in Botswana. Botswana is a democratic country, which has been hailed as stable and a strong state, however, civil society in Botswana remains weak. This creates a problem of a dominant state and weak civil society. The dissertation employs Najam's theoretical framework in trying to understand the extent of state dominance in the relationship between the state and NGOs in Botswana.
- ItemOpen AccessAssessing Racial Redress in the Public Service(HSRC Press, 2008) Naidoo, VinothanEfforts to make South Africa’s public service more representative were propelled by the introduction of a non-racial democracy in 1994. The racial profile of South Africa’s public service was integral to sustaining the policy of apartheid, which was designed to promote a segregated and unequal system of social, economic and political relations between legally defined race groups. Van den Berghe (cited in Marger 1994: 402) interestingly referred to apartheid South Africa as a Herrenvolk democracy, defined paradoxically as a ‘state that provides most democratic features of political rule to whites while ruling blacks dictatorially’. More specifically, the creation of geographically separate and administratively distinct homeland territories to house South Africa’s black African population represented the pinnacle of a race-based system of public administration designed to strategically regulate the representation of the country’s black population in the public service relative to its white population.
- ItemOpen AccessAn assessment of public participation in selected ward committees in the City of Cape Town(2012) Smith, Cheryl-Anne; Naidoo, VinothanThis study investigates public participation at local government level in South Africa, namely, the ward committee system. It will look at the extent to which ward committees, as instruments of public participation, can be said to empower citizen involvement in local government decision-making. Therefore the research question is what do the processes of public participation reveal about public empowerment at municipal government level? To realise the objectives of this study, Fung and Wrights Empowered Participatory Governance (EPG) model is applied to five ward committees in diverse-socio-economic areas in the southern suburbs in the city of Cape Town. It should be noted that EPG is a possible model that can be used to enhance participation and facilitate empowerment at municipal government level.
- ItemOpen AccessBudget and policy planning in devolved Kenya: a case study of citizen participation in Nairobi county(2018) Mukorombindo, Yeukai Chido; Naidoo, VinothanThe new Constitution of Kenya has devolved a significant portion of public finances, powers and responsibilities to a new sub national level of government. Kenya now has 47 Counties, each with a County assembly, an elected Governor and an administration in charge of managing public resources and providing social services. Kenyan legal frameworks such as the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act and the County Government Act (CGA) as well as specific County government participation legislation obligate County governments to facilitate and promote citizen participation in the development of County plans, budgets and policies. This thesis shall show that despite legislative efforts furthering devolution and citizen participation, the law is not always implemented and does not always function well in some instances. There appears to be little improvement in overcoming challenges faced in citizen participation of previous decentralised funds through the Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP). Elite capture, resource and capacity constraints, poor bureaucratic coordination, communication as well as a limited understanding by both local officials and citizens regarding the new roles and mechanisms for participation have not resulted in simplistic 'magic bullet’ reforms. This is further compounded by a lack of information, feedback on citizen inputs and poor implementation of public participation meetings and service delivery projects. A serious limitation in terms of access, meaningfulness and inclusiveness has resulted in citizens not making use of or taking up participation opportunities. Citizens are thus opting for alternative and more effective strategies of engaging and influencing local government processes. The thesis will also show that although legislation acknowledges and provides a role for civil society to partner with government in jointly facilitating effective citizen participation in public policy; the partnership between local government and civil society does not automatically translate into effective partnerships because of poor civic capacity, unequal power dynamics, and unclear and insufficient guidelines with regards to representation.
- ItemRestrictedThe challenges of policy coordination at a programme level: Why joining-up is hard to do(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2013) Naidoo, VinothanThis article examines obstacles to policy coordination to promote development at a programme level. Contemporary efforts to promote coordination or ‘joined-up’ working across government entities highlight attempts to promote policy synergy and resource maximisation for achieving objectives that straddle the sector-specific boundaries of multiple departments. This paper assessed efforts to coordinate the actions of multiple departments towards achieving a single cross-cutting policy objective. Programme-level analysis of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South Africa revealed various reasons why joining-up is difficult to negotiate in practice. This consisted of policy goal and operational incompatibility between specialised entities, which appears sensitive to the specificity and stringency of policy goals and implementation regimens; as well as a host of difficulties related to how coordination is formally defined and designated. This included role definition and confusion, as well as the nature and locus of coordination mandates across and within individual departments.
- ItemOpen AccessChanging Conceptions of Public ‘Management’ and Public Sector Reform in South Africa(International Public Management Network, 2015) Naidoo, VinothanSouth Africa’s political transition to democratic rule was the catalyst for ambitious public sector reform efforts, which sought to restructure the organisational and personnel profile of the state. A key aim of this process was to enhance the state’s management capacity to steer a far-reaching socio-economic policy agenda, which drew on the principles and tools of comparative public management practice as it had evolved globally and intellectually. This article examines how South Africa’s policy commitment to management reform can be characterised in comparative terms, and twenty years on, assess if and how this commitment has materialised in practice. I will argue that the South African case exhibits a confusing and directionless mix of traditional management control and unconsummated NPM advocacy. Although this is generally consistent with NPM practice in developing countries, I will propose that there are at least three specific elements that lend texture to the South African case, namely, capacity, commitment and capture.
- ItemOpen AccessConveyor-belts of information: the role of political parties in basic service delivery in Africa(2023) Krönke, Matthias; Naidoo, VinothanDespite a growing interest, African political parties have received relatively little attention beyond their role as providers of clientelistic goods and services. Yet, they also regularly transmit large amounts of information about government performance between the state and its citizens. In this dissertation, I aim to fill this gap in the literature by asking whether political parties matter for how citizens view the delivery of basic government services? I argue that where political parties collect, process, and share information about government service delivery between citizens and bureaucrats, citizens are more satisfied with said services, even where the provision is objectively the same. To illustrate political parties' role as Conveyor-Belts of Information, I focus specifically on two types of actors in these organisations – local party activists and elected representatives. First, using a panel survey of Zambian citizens I demonstrate that party activists and elected officials operate as ambassadors, advocates, and problem solvers, continuously exchanging information with citizens about service delivery during and between elections. Second, I use surveys of Malawian party elites and bureaucrats to show the inner workings of political parties as conveyor-belts of information that seek to improve citizen experience with service delivery. Third, I employ public opinion data from over 30 African countries, and surveys of more than 800 elected representatives from 17 countries to demonstrate under which conditions political parties increase citizens' satisfaction with service delivery. Ultimately, I find that African parties play an important role for citizens' satisfaction with basic services in general, and particularly for education, and health care. Further, I show that this mechanism not only applies to ruling, but occasionally also to opposition parties. The findings of this study have important implications for our understanding of how political parties contribute to democratic accountability in Africa. For example, the findings suggest that African political parties may be far more important for the transmission of information between the state and its citizens than we have previously believed.
- ItemOpen AccessA critical assessment of policy coordination in the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme: the case of Riemvasmaak(2016) Maré, Annelie; Naidoo, VinothanRural development has been a part of South Africa's policy agenda since the country's transition to democracy, but it has enjoyed new prominence since the ANC's policy conference at Polokwane in 2007 (ANC, 2008). This renewed interest in rural development as a policy priority culminated in the establishment of the new Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and the adoption of its flagship strategy, the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP), in 2009. Even in its earliest incarnations, rural development was classified as a crosscutting policy problem beyond the scope of a single South African government department, therefore requiring horizontal coordination across sectors like land reform and agriculture, as well as vertical coordination with provincial departments serving concurrent functions. On the vertical plane, local government is also considered to be vital not only in identifying the needs of communities, but in their contributions to integrated planning processes. This study aims to examine the policy coordination mechanisms of the CRDP, including the new lead department tasked with its implementation, since the crosscutting nature of the policy problem necessitates such a wide variety of stakeholders coming together and taking a coordinated approach. The dissertation will focus on the town of Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape as a case study, following a site visit and a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with officials from different spheres of government involved in the implementation of the new programme. The findings suggest that, despite the benefits of having a new national department, political support and financial resources at its disposal, policy coordination in the CRDP is not functioning as it should. The line between rural development and agriculture's mandates are becoming blurred, risking duplication between the two departments, while the CRDP's own chosen mechanism at grassroots, the Council of Stakeholders, seems to be duplicating existing Integrated Development Planning (IDP) processes at local government level. The findings also suggest that none of the chosen mechanisms proved adequate for resolving or overcoming conflict and other complexities hampering coordination at community level.
- ItemRestrictedEfforts to Coordinate and Integrate Water Services in South African Metropolitan Municipalities: A Review(South African Association of Public Administration and Management, 2016-03) Naidoo, Vinothan; Kiliçoğlu, Chantal; Cameron, RobertSouth African municipalities operate in an increasingly water scarce environment. This, coupled with the removal of apartheid-era barriers that regulated influx and residential movement, and the consequent urbanisation that has ensued, has placed them under severe pressure to manage competing demands for water and waterborne sanitation. This article is based on the findings from a study initiated by the University of Cape Town's Urban Water Management group, which sought to investigate the institutional arrangements for managing water resources in South Africa's four largest metropolitan municipalities. The study was prompted by the appeal of the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) concept, which advocates a holistic approach to managing urban water resources, focusing on the degree of coordination and integration. The data consisted of sixteen key informant interviews with twenty-six officials, and accompanying municipal planning documentation. Our findings revealed varying degrees of coordination, including potential steps towards integration, among water services and related departments. Line functions responsible for catchment and stormwater management were at the forefront of more extensive efforts to coordinate, while lower level coordination remained mainly reactive, displaying limited alignment between urban spatial planners and water services planning, and was hampered by resistance in water supply departments and institutional fragmentation.
- ItemOpen AccessAn examination of administrative capacity to implement development programmes in South Africa(2008) Naidoo, Vinothan; Cameron, RobertThis thesis examined the concept of administrative "capacity", which has been employed to critique the ability of public administrations to implement development programmes in South Africa. References to administrative capacity in South African academic discourse have generally treated the term as a concrete item, often translated as public sector organisations lacking the ability/capacity to respond to the increasing scale of development needs which accompanied the country's recent political transition. This emphasis has in turn raised questions about whether these bodies possess the requisite or sufficient capacity to carry out development activities, and where this is judged not to be the case, that efforts should be directed at acquiring this capacity, i.e. capacity building or strengthening. This thesis argued that this prevailing twofold interpretation of capacity was too narrow, because it did not adequately capture how the organisational and operational circumstances under which public sector bodies functioned, might influence their ability (in other words, capacity) to implement development programmes.
- ItemRestrictedExpenditure Volatility and Provincial Government Reform in South Africa(UNISA Press, 2012-01) Naidoo, VinothanSouth Africa’s provincial governments were the subject of vigorous debate during 2007. This culminated in an official policy review, that included potentially far-reaching questions about their status, role and future existence. The review was initiated during a period marked by serious concerns about the capacity of provincial governments to implement programmes and services through budgeted expenditure. It focused on the ability of provinces to spend allocated revenues on activities adequately with a direct bearing on social and economic development. This debate was revisited by this research in focusing specifically on the question of provincial under-spending. the purpose was to investigate provincial expenditure preceding the 2007 policy review, with the objective to empirically observe the general shape, extent and pattern of provincial incapacity to spend revenues. Based on this, the idea was to consider how expenditure performance might rationally influence subsequent and continuing policy debate pertaining to the future configuration of provincial government. The research presents an analysis of provincial expenditure for a four-year timeframe (2002–2006), indicating that under-spending seems to be secondary to the more significant problem of spending volatility, or rapid shifts between under- and over-spending. the complexity of expenditure performance suggests that past and continuing debate about the wholesale or even partial restructuring of the provincial system of government needs to be moderated by a more incremental and escalatory series of responses.
- ItemOpen AccessFacilitating educational access for children with learning disabilities: The implementation of inclusive education in South Africa(2022) Mampane, Jane Thandi; Naidoo, VinothanChildren with disabilities have long experienced barriers to equal education due to discrimination. When the United Nations declared education a fundamental human right for every child in 1948, UNESCO-led conferences began to endorse campaigns worldwide that encouraged governments to reform their segregated education systems and promote the inclusion of children with disabilities in formal and mainstream schools. Following the demise of apartheid in 1994, the newly elected democratic government declared education a fundamental human right of all South Africans. The Department of Education adopted an inclusive education approach that intended to dismantle the segregated education system that historically discriminated against children with disabilities. The department introduced the Education White Paper 6 in 2001 to establish an inclusive system that would accommodate children with diverse learning needs in ordinary classrooms. However, children with disabilities are still subjected to exclusion from ordinary schools, while thousands more are out of school. This is especially true for children with learning disabilities because they are considered ‘stupid' and uneducable. This study sought to examine the extent to which the implementation of policy on inclusive education, namely Education White Paper 6, has facilitated access to mainstream schooling for children with learning disabilities. The study was based on collecting data from a sample of full-service public and independent schools as well as special schools in Gauteng. The study found that the implementation of inclusive education can claim certain achievements such as the adoption of alternative learning programmes in schools to accommodate diverse learners, the development of good inter-relations between pupils with learning disabilities and their non-disabled peers in schools, and the establishment of well-functioning and supportive District- Based Support Teams in some school districts. However, some factors hinder the successful inclusion of children with learning disabilities in ordinary schools, which include a lack of teachers and government officials sufficiently trained in special and inclusive education, as well as large class sizes due to schools not having enough classrooms. Negative attitudes and cultural denialism towards children with learning disabilities as well as financial constraints were also found to be factors that prevent these children from attending school like their non-disabled peers. Other factors that continue to impede access to equal education for children with disabilities are misdiagnosis and incorrect placement in special schools when they are actually candidates for ordinary schools, as well as the lack of sufficient national information campaigns to educate the public about inclusive education. The study found that although there have been efforts to implement inclusive education in ordinary schools and admit children with learning disabilities, progress remains slow due to several school-level and cultural barriers.
- ItemOpen AccessFacilitating trade in mineral resources : policy implications for trade between Africa, South Africa and East Asia(2014) Moon, Sinechole; Naidoo, VinothanThis thesis aims to carry out a comparative research to analyse the policies and countermeasures taken by various countries related to the trade in Rare Earth Elements (REEs). The similarity of the approaches of East Asian countries – China, Korea, and Japan – towards the African continent, and South Africa's mineral policies with the goal of national development provides the basis for the formulation of a SWOT Matrix analytical tool. As mineral resources, particularly REEs, have increased in significance with the advancement of modern technology, it will be valuable from an academic, business and political perspective to undertake such research in order to consider the optimal policy instruments that can benefit resource poor countries, such as Korea in particular, and resource rich countries such as South Africa. In Chapter 3, a number of proposals for Korea to establish rational policy systems to secure a stable REE supply chain will be put forward, followed in Chapter 4 by a SWOT Matrix analysis to provide some recommendations to South Africa for a number of policy instruments to meet its requirements of generating inclusive economic growth through establishing cooperative models.
- ItemRestrictedGovernment responses to street homelessness in South Africa(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2010) Naidoo, VinothanThis paper reviews government responses intended to assist the street homeless in South Africa. The paper demonstrates that in South Africa the legislation and policy responses to the problem of street homelessness have been to a great extent shaped by the broader circumstances of a larger population living in informal housing, with whom the street homeless share intimate ties through social instability and economic poverty. This context has resulted in an intersectoral legislative and policy framework shaped mainly by two sectors – Social Welfare and Housing – that has prioritised various preventive measures to reduce the structural, social and economic risks and vulnerability of becoming homeless on the street. Given its nature, this framework has been and continues to be highly dependent on effective collaboration and coordination between government departments.
- ItemOpen AccessHow do conceptual and contextual problems affect the measurement validity of policies directed at orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa?(2010) Theron, Mariette; Naidoo, VinothanThe research question examines how conceptual and contextual problems affect the measurement validity of policies directed at Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in South Africa. This study looks at the definition of concepts used in policies directed at OVC in South Africa and to what extente these concepts lend themselves measurement. The research focused on two specific concepts related to OVC policy: 'OVC' and 'stigma'.
- ItemOpen AccessImplementing sanitation for informal settlements: conflicting rationalities in South Africa(2015) Taing, Lina; Naidoo, Vinothan; Cameron, RobertFrom 1994 to 2008, South Africa's national government disseminated numerous policies, laws, regulations and strategies to support its objective of providing basic sanitation access to the urban poor by 2014. The state has yet to attain this objective - ostensibly due to poor municipal execution of national policy. This thesis challenges this assessment, as it overlooks how non-municipal actors have shaped implementation and ignores possible weaknesses in policy. After assessing the delivery of sanitation services in Cape Town informal settlements, I found that disputes among municipal implementers, policy beneficiaries and social advocates about broadly framed policy, as well as policy gaps in servicing informal settlements, contributed to the City's failure to achieve national objectives. The local actors'differences and policy gaps necessitated the re-formulation of sanitation policy and programmes in Cape Town according to conflicting rationalities that accommodated the'lived' and 'practical' realities of servicing informal settlements. In light of these circumstances, this thesis argues that there is a disproportionate focus on turning national policy into practise - for this viewpoint misses how policy oftentimes is re-formulated according to local actors' perspectives and experiences. Understanding the complex interplay between policy rationales and implementation realities can contribute to more constructive means of effectively providing sanitation services for South African informal settlements.
- ItemOpen AccessImplementing the National Development Plan? Lessons from Co-ordinating Grand Economic Policies in South Africa(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2015) Naidoo, Vinothan; Maré, AnnelieThe formulation of grand economic policy strategies to promote growth, job creation, and industrial development has been a regular feature in South Africa’s democratic transformation. The National Development Plan (NDP) is the latest in a line of such strategies dating back to the Reconstruction and Development Programme in 1994. While the creation of these strategies at various points in the country’s transition has been indicative of the state’s commitment to economic progress, implementing this commitment has been severely tested by the locus of authority, cohesion among and capacity of state institutions. In this paper, we critically examine the institutional arrangements behind the implementation of grand economic policy strategies in South Africa, observe how these produced variable implementation effectiveness across these initiatives, and consider the lessons for the implementation of the NDP. We will specifically focus on how ‘co-ordination’ was configured through the institutional arrangements, and look at how this shaped implementation.
- ItemOpen AccessLocal Government: Strengthening Capacity – A Review of Measures Taken in the Last Fifteen Years(2008-02-20) Ndletyana, Mcebisi; Muzondidya, James; Naidoo, VinothanRecurring episodes of local protests, in the period preceding the 2006 elections, have focused public attention on the state of local government. The main cause of this spectacle is reportedly inadequate or/and absence of municipal services (Ndletyana, 2007). This inevitably raises questions about the capacity of local government to execute its mandate. Existing backlog in social infrastructure renders the resolution of this problem even more urgent. In September 2005, the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) reported that a significant number of municipalities were failing to provide social services (Atkinson, 2007). Moreover, municipalities are increasingly expected to lead economic development in their respective communities. The purpose is to make residential areas more than just places of residence but also economically viable to absorb residents into the labour market. This is a response to the high rate of unemployment that not only denies residents a quality lifestyle, but also breeds anti-social behaviour with unsettling consequences for the community. Thus, among others, municipalities lead public works programmes, build infrastructure and initiate local development, all in an attempt to create employment and better living conditions (www.thedplg.gov.za). Needless to say, if the backlogs continue unattended and a significant segment of South African populace remains economically inactive, local unrests and a host of other anti-social behavioural traits are likely to persist. Municipal capacity, therefore, is the catalyst in this whole scenario. This begs the question: Do municipalities have the requisite capacity to live up to their mandate? The study sought to answer the afore-mentioned question. Specifically, the study sought to ascertain the existing level of skills relative to municipal needs; evaluated the existing programmes introduced to offset a lack of municipal capacity; and then, where possible, made some recommendations on how these programmes could be strengthened.
- ItemOpen AccessMeasuring Corruption Risk in the South African Public Service: An Institutional Analysis(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2017-03) Naidoo, VinothanCorruption features prominently in assessments of the governance, performance and capacity of South Africa’s public service. However, accounts of corruption too often fail to offer systematic appraisals of its occurrence within the diverse institutional makeup of the public service. This article seeks to address this gap by investigating the relationship between the level and type of corruption, and the institutional characteristics of government departments. Based on an original dataset which assembles published data on nancial misconduct, staf ng and budgetary information, the article examines whether the institutional makeup of national departments render some more susceptible to corruption than others. The ndings highlight the multi- dimensional nature of corruption, indicating that departmental risk should not simply be judged on its cumulative or aggregate effect: how much corruption do departments sustain, but incorporate the proportional effect of corruption: how much does it matter? Indicators such as overall staff size, ratio of supervisory to non-supervisory staff and functional orientation are necessary but insuf cient indicators of corruption risk, whilst budget size appears to have little bearing on increased risk; although there is more, though not unequivocal, reason to be concerned about departments with a higher percentage of their budgets allocated to goods and services spending.