Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Government action'

Despite a highly centralised system of government, Tanzania, has attempted several measures aimed at achieving decentralisation of its immense powers to allow people to have a say on matters affecting their respective areas of jurisdiction. By discussing the autonomy of local government in Tanzania, this research will highlight whether or not local government in Tanzania has the autonomy to exercise its functions without undue interference from the central government. There is not much literature on the local government laws of Tanzania .Therefore, this research will contribute to the concept of decentralisation in Tanzania in particular and Africa in general.

The South African social, political and economic landscape has been characterized by profound changes during the past several years. Many organizations and their management are faced with inter alia, downsizing decisions, affirmative action policies to be implemented and a overabundance of other factors which could sway motivation and morale, attitudes and views of employees. The general research aim was to measure work motivation amongst employees in a government department in the Provincial Government Western Cape. Research has shown that motivated and satisfied employees are more productive and there is an improvement in service delivery.

The political context that prompted the formation of district municipalities in the present form can be summarized as follows: before 1994, there were a few sporadic Regional Services Councils and Joint Services Boards responsible mainly for bulk service provision in rural areas. In many rural areas, the acute imbalances in personal wealth, physical infrastructure and the provision of services were most patent. Provinces decided which of the local government models best suited their province. Consequently, it was possible for the institutions of local government to differ from province to province and there would be a two-tier system of local councils and region-wide district councils throughout non-metropolitan South Africa. The aim of this study was two-fold. FIrst to analyze the key causes of conflict that arise within the two-tiered system. Second, to determine whether district intergovernmental forums will be able to address the key causes of conflict identifies and assist in making the relationship between district and local municipalities more co-operative.

The main objective of this study was to examine how the process of decentralization has affected the rendering of essential services in Namibia, through a case study of the Hardap Region. The main aim of this research was to determine the extent to which the objectives of the decentralization policy have been achieved by the Hardap Regional Council. The main objectives of the decentralization policy of the Namibian Government were to extend, enhance and guarantee participatory democracy and to safeguard rapid sustainable development.

Social welfare services are essential for development of human capital and eradication of poverty in South Africa generally. Social welfare plays a pivotal role in enabling the impoverished and vulnerable communities and households to lead their lives through provision of care, social relief, stability and human resource development. Non-Governmental Organisations form an integral part of the welfare system through their formal and informal welfare and residential and non-residential welfare services. The role of the NGOs becomes imperative precisely because of their inherent empathy and proximity to the communities they serve. Government itself has been engaged in the process of transformation and the same challenges of transformation, governance, and effectiveness still profound the NGO sector. Notwithstanding the contribution of the NGOs in the welfare system, it is crucial to scrutinise the nature of their work and the rate of transformation to flourish in the democratic dispensation. To enhance the process of transformation in the NGO sector, government passed a plethora of policies and legislative requirements, inter alia, White Paper for Social Welfare 1997, Non-Profit Organisations Act of 1997. The intent of this research therefore, was to establish the significance of transformation and inherent issues of governance, effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery and sustainability of the nature of social welfare services rendered by the NGO sector in the Western Cape, particularly the Worcester district.

Organisations are by nature, dynamic entities that continuously undergo transformation in response to both internal and external pressures, which are imposed on them (Robbins, Odendaal &
Roodt, 2003). Government departments are by no means immune to these changes, which pose challenges that affect their service delivery. During periods of fundamental transformation, individuals typically experience changes in their levels of organisational commitment, which impacts on effective and efficient service delivery. Organisational commitment as an area of research is one of the factors that could lead to greater morale, strong organisational climate, motivation and productivity in many organisations facing transformation (Salami, 2008). The aim of this study was to investigate the level of organisational commitment after a transformation process at a Provincial Government Department. Recent organisational transformations (both in the private and public sector) have included the redrawing of divisional boundaries, flattening of hierarchic levels, spreading of spans of control, revising compensation, streamlining processes and reforming governance (Ndlovu &
Brijball Parusumar, 2005). The results of the research indicate that employees are moderately committed to the organisation. Statistically significant relationships were found between the dimensions of organisational commitment, except for affective commitment and total commitment which were not significant. 
Furthermore, results indicate that statistically significant differences exist based on the biographical characteristics (namely, gender, race, tenure, marital status, age and job level) but these characteristics do not significantly explain the variance in organisational commitment for this organisation. A limitation of the research is that the sampling composition and research design preclude the results of this study being generalised to other organisations and it is recommended that a stratified random sampling design be utilised for future research.

The effectiveness of foreign aid in bringing economic and social development is mired in controversy. However, despite the controversial debates on its effectiveness, poor countries of the world have been receiving and using aid as a leverage to relieve themselves from development constraints they faced. Ethiopia is no exception amongst developing countries. Since the time it joined the World Bank group in 1945, foreign capital inflow has remained an important source of revenue for the government. This paper examines the fiscal impact of aid inflow into Ethiopia using time series data for the period 1975-2005. The empirical findings reveal that inflow of foreign aid influences public decision on revenue and expenditure patterns. The result shows that a larger proportion of aid is allocated to capital expenditure and that only a small proportion goes to recurrent expenditure. There is a strong positive association between aid inflow and capital expenditure. The finding also shows that, while a very weak negative association exists between aid and taxation effort, aid and borrowing are used as alternative source of finance.

This study is a response to the dilemma of poor service delivery or the lack thereof. In this regard, this study posits the professionalisation of local government as part of the solution. The focus is on the administrative arm of local government, which is the major conduit for service delivery. Professionalisation of local government is a broader theme. For the present purposes, focus will be devoted to the competency component which entails attracting qualified personnel competent to discharge local government responsibilities. However, it is not limited to attracting already competent and professional staff. It also entails developing the skills of existing staff. This definition, in essence, relates to qualification through training, learning and specialisation.11 In essence, professionalisation of local government ensures that all employees act and behave in a professional way. In this regard, this study seeks to identify the competency standards set by the legislative framework and then explore the legal avenues for enforcing compliance, by the municipal administration, with such standards. This requires one to look at and answer the following questions: What constitutes municipal staff?
What is the content of the competency framework in question?
What are the enforcement mechanisms currently in place?
Whose role is it to enforce compliance with the competency framework?
Broadly speaking, enforcement can take two forms: hard enforcement and soft enforcement. The hard form of enforcement relates to giving incentives for compliance with the competency framework and dismissal for non-compliance. Softer enforcement, in turn, relates to correction and monitoring.

Government procurement is a very important aspect of international tradeas it can either promote or inhibit trade depending on laws and policies of a country. The study is confined to issues pertaining to the role of RTAs in establishing government procurement standards that resemble or conform to those of the GPA in developing countries. The study used Africa as a case study by evaluating selected RTAs that have been signed focussing on RTAs such as the procurementinitiativeof the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement. The major objectives of the study were to examine the role of the existing international regulatory instruments towards the harmonisation of global standards on government procurement. The reserach aimed at analysing the role of the WTOs GPA as a possible global standard for government procurement and to investigate reasons of limited membership by developing countries.

Land ownership, control and reform have been some of the most contentious issues in contemporary Zimbabwe. The land question has generated a lot of emotional debate and there is a general consensus that it represents a critical dimension to the crisis the country is going through. This thesis intended to offer some insights into the modus operandi and outcomes of land reform in the country.

Traditional leaders were occupying communal political positions sanctified by cultural mores and values who enjoy the legitimacy of particular communities to direct their affairs. Their basis of legitimacy is tradition, which includes the whole range of inherited culture and way of life, a people's history, moral and social values and the traditional institutions which survive to serve those values. As stated by Bennett, the structure of tribes contained no more than a few thousand indivuduals. Members were assumed to be related by a tie of kinship and due to their ancestry, they were a homogenious group. They were three rungs in the hierarchy of traditional leadership, the Kumkani (King), the Nkosi (or Chief, a term the traditional leaders do not like because it is of colonial imposition), and the lowest rung called the Headman or junior traditional leader. Traditional rulers required no special training as they were qualified for office by their ansestry alone
a king is a king because he is born to it. Furthermore, the all inclusive powers of government were not differentiated, in the Western manner, into judicial, administrative and legislative categories. In South Africa the office was hereditary according to the principle of primogeniture in the male line. There was a duty to consult councillors and to act for the benefit of the people. Even though many of the issues of traditional leadership were similar across the country, it must be accepted that traditional leadershipis the expression of different nations. Each African nation had a dirresent system of customary law and different models of traditional societal organisation in which traditional leadership plays diferent roles. If the grip of traditional leaders on the masses of the people were not broken, it would not be easy for colonial powers to get a listening ear from the people and therefore to govern as they saw fit...

This phenomenological study examined how 10 leaders from one government agency described their experience in an action learning process that focused on the open-ended question and no group dialogue and how this experience resulted in transformational leadership behaviors. This study used Mezirow's (1991) transformative learning theory, transformational leadership theories (Bass, 1985; Kets de Vries, 1994; Sashkin, 1988; Yukl, 2010; Burns, 1978; Kouzes & Posner, 1987; Tichy & Devanna, 1986), and a modified action learning process modeled after Marquardt's (2004) framework as the context for the study. A phenomenological approach of interviews (Moustakas, 1994) was used to understand the participants' experience. The interviews were coded and analyzed using Atlas.ti analytic software. Two coresearchers coded and confirmed the findings.

The action learning process of open-ended questions and no group dialogue allowed each participant to present challenges and to hear different perspectives in the form of questions. The study revealed 12 findings in three broad areas. The action learning process findings revealed that organizational, individual, and program context created the conditions and influenced the degree to which participants experienced transformative learning; The learning findings revealed that all participants learned from the different perspectives; however, not all participants experienced transformative learning. The leadership findings indicated that participants who experienced all or some of the elements of transformative learning developed transformational leadership behaviors.

This study contributes to both theory and practice. First, it identifies the role of open-ended questions accompanied by limited dialogue in creating the conditions for self-awareness and transformative learning. Second, the study provides practical information on how to foster transformational leadership development and create interacting networks within an organization as a way to address leadership challenges through diverse perspectives. Third, this study highlights the use of peer-to-peer learning in fostering learning and leadership. Finally, it provides the basis for developing a framework of questions that address key transformative learning elements and transformational leadership behaviors.

It was the purpose of this study to demonstrate that the government of Namibia has been seeking to adopt structures and procedures that will contribute to the realization of general national development. Decentralization in any country takes place in a political context and its implementation assumes some political significance, as it is not merely a matter of centralization or decentralization of government functions and procedures, but both centralization and decentralization tendencies exist and reinforce each other in practice. This study argues that the dynamic features of decentralization and its implementation in Namibia have been shaped by central government's view, through the ministry of regional and local government and housing, of the concept decentralization. The objectives of this study were to provide a critical understanding of the theoretical foundation of the concept decentralization.

This dissertation was divided into two parts. In the first part questions of representation and textuality in the discipline of history will be explored with the aim of positing the historical play as productive for the writing of history after apartheid. In the second part it was attempted to specify the implications of this critique for the discipline of history through reading a number of historical narratives and plays together.

This thesis analysed the significance of disputes or conflict in Ghana's industrial realtions since her independence in 1957. It further analysed the causes of industrial conflict and its management or resolution in Ghana in particular. Scholars argue that industrial conflict may not only adversely affect the living standards of both the employers and the employees but may also destabilize the labour market and bring about industrial injustices. The thesis outlines the historical development of Ghana's industrial realtions since independence with special reference to strikes.

This study focused on participatory governance in the form of involvement of communities and community organisation in matters of local government in general, and citizens participation in the local budget process in particular. The study therefore aimed to assess the theoretical and policy framework for citizens participation in South Africa
and evaluated the perceptions of councillors and civics and ratepayer organisations on participation in the local budget process at the eThekwini Municipality.

This research study seeks to investigate how institutional arrangements impact on intra-party democracy in Malawi. Intra-party democracy is essential as it promotes party unity through reduced fragmentation and factionalism, encourages a culture of democratic debate and deliberation of critical issues within the party and therefore collective ownership of decisions. Further, it creates legitimate internal conflict management systems and finally, reduces opportunistic and arbitrary use of delegated authority. These are fundamental tenets of any functioning democratic entity. These elements of intra-party democracy are attainable if they are formerly stipulated and governed by the party&rsquo
s constitutional rules. Where such rules either do not exist or are not effectively enforced, major operational problems arise. These may include: non-inclusive candidate selection procedures, centralised coalition negotiation processes, unprocedural conflict management mechanisms and unconstitutional or illegitimate party conventions. Consequently, the resulting outcomes include party instability and factionalism stimulated by resignations and expulsions, declining electoral support and weak coalitions. These factors undermine the party&rsquo
s contribution to democracy. The next section gives the context and historical evolution of parties in Malawi.

The subject of this research paper is the analysis of the recent national and provincial legislation on traditional leadership. Within the new constitutional dispensation the legislature had to retain traditional leadership pursuan to Chapter 12 of the Consstitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. It was unclear how to change institutions that are based on customary
aw at the same time, recognize them as they are. The legislative branch of government provided its answer through the national and provincial Acts. Precisely the answer forms part of the research paper.

This research sought to understand the nature of election-related conflict and what needs to be done to arrest the eruption of such conflict in Lesotho. It sought the opinions of selectively respondents who have been involved in the conflicts in different ways. The interviews and documented literature revealed that what constitutes a background to election-related conflict involves issues that are many and varied. Among others such issues include the following: weak political institutions, use of vulgar language by political leadership, and the weak economy that intensifies neo-patrimonial tendencies. The research concluded that all the factors associated with the eruption of illegitimate conflicts during and after general elections in Lesotho are a result of the politicians&rsquo
desire to retain or capture national resources to satisfy their selfish interests and those of their cronies. The conflicts could be minimised if the country&rsquo
s economy could be transformed to provide the politicians with alternatives of economic survival outside the structures of government. Furthermore, to minimise the conflict, the country should consider establishing electoral courts. These have the potential of speeding up the resolution of electoral grievances, in the process preventing them from graduating into serious conflicts.