An analysis of the politics-administrative interface and its impact on delivery of municipal services: a case of the Mnquma Local Municipality
- Authors: Ndudula, Mziwoxolo Rutherford
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , City council members -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Politicians -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Public administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Eastern Cape -- South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: vital:11659 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007043 , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , City council members -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Politicians -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Public administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Eastern Cape -- South Africa -- Politics and government
- Description: The study took a qualitative approach to the analysis of the effect of the politics-administrative interface on municipal service delivery. It was a case study of the Mnquma local municipality in the Eastern Cape Province. The researcher developed a keen interest in researching on the topic because the political infighting and clashes between politicians and administrators of the municipality have caused a public outcry for the root causes of the infighting to be effectively addressed and redressed. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of the study will help, reshape public policy implementation, service delivery and fostering of mutual cooperative relations between politicians and administrators both at local government level and any other sphere of government in South Africa. The study, is categorized into five chronological chapters, with chapter one (introduction and background), chapter two (literature review), chapter three (research design and methodology), chapter four (data analysis, interpretation and presentation) and chapter five (conclusions and recommendations). The researcher used a sample size of 40 respondents who were selected using snowball sampling, a non-random sampling design spread accordingly over both politicians and administrators. Data collection was made possible through an open-ended questionnaire, interviews, observations and documentary analysis. Various reports and media statements were also used to augment this empirical study. The study also used an in-depth qualitative data analysis technique which was descriptive in nature and the study made numerous deductions and findings based on the collected and collated data. Findings of the study were, inter alia, too much politicization of the public sector, interference between politicians and administrators into each other’s affairs and vice versa and adverse effects of cadre deployment which are damaging service delivery. The study made numerous recommendations which included, inter alia, training and development of administrators and politicians on their respective roles and responsibilities, enforcement of the politics-administrative interface as a mutually beneficial approach to service delivery, need for proper interpretation of Acts and policy documents and the enforcing of section 139 interventions into municipalities.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Evaluating the Efficacy of Poverty Eradication Strategies and Interventions: Department Of Human Settlement (King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality, Eastern Cape)
- Authors: Sentiwe, Maxwell
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: vital:11715 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015269
- Description: Poverty in the Eastern Cape KSD Municipality remains widespread and deep due to South Africa’s Apartheid history, poverty is intergenerational and structural. The commitment by the South African government to poverty reduction has been expressed in recent years through various national, provincial and local policy interventions. As such since 1994 the South African government has introduced a large number of interventions to address poverty in its various manifestations, not least income poverty, human capital poverty, service poverty, asset poverty. Former president of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki in 2004 said “Endemic and widespread poverty continues to disfigure the face of our country, it will always be impossible for us to say that we have fully restored the dignity of all our people as long as this situation persists, for this reason the struggle to eradicate poverty has been and will continue to be a cornerstone of the national effort to build the new South Africa”. The ANC led government has committed itself to meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. These goals aim at addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions, including income, poverty, hunger, disease, adequate shelter and exclusion, to promote gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. South African government has sought to address poverty from many angles, like The Reconstruction and Development Programme Policy Framework of 1994 which seeks to address poverty through five key programmes namely, Meeting basic needs, Developing our human resources, Building the economy, Democratizing the state and society, and Implementing the RDP. (RDP 1994). Interventions have varied from child support and disability grants, housing, water and electricity. There has been little means of appreciating the overall magnitude or significance of these attempts. Despite what appears to be overall progress in the fight against poverty, it is also generally recognized that there remain pockets of enduring poverty that government is struggling to eradicate. In particular, there is evidence that those residing in deep rural areas have tended to see fewer improvements across the board, be they access to improved services or amenities. At this point in time it appears somewhat fluid, in the sense that different statements package the elements differently, sometimes omitting one and including something else and this is evidence of a lack of coherence in government’s anti-poverty strategies. The unjust state of rural areas in the Eastern Cape has remained unchanged since 1994. Political analyst, Dr Somadoda Fikeni said even with rural development being national government’s priority, there has been no massive shift of resources from urban cities to the rural. “The fixation is on urban development, leaving the rural to fend off diseases, unemployment and pathetic leaving conditions”. The Eastern Cape OR Tambo district’s poverty rate is higher than the provincial and national averages, with an estimated 1,183,517 people living in poverty, According to the community survey report conducted in 2207 has determined the housing backlog showing the OR Tambo as the largest area of need by 36% and the largest part is the KSD Municipality with an average growth rate of -1.67, number of people in poverty from year 2000 to 2010 and average growth rate of -2.42 of poverty rate. Eastern Cape government have undertaken a series of programmes to address poverty, however programmes implemented since 1994 have not yielded the desired impact in eradicating poverty.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Influence of mite predation on the efficacy of the gall midge Dasineura sp. as a biocontrol agent of Australian myrtle Leptospermum laevigatum (Myrtaceae) in South Africa
- Authors: Mdlangu, Thabisa Lynette Honey
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Dasyneura leguminicola , Myrtaceae -- South Africa , Mites as biological pest control agents , Pests -- Biological control , Biological pest control agents , Predation (Biology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Zoology)
- Identifier: vital:11789 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/272 , Dasyneura leguminicola , Myrtaceae -- South Africa , Mites as biological pest control agents , Pests -- Biological control , Biological pest control agents , Predation (Biology)
- Description: Dasineura sp. is a gall forming midge that was introduced into South Africa for the biocontrol of the Australian myrtle, Leptospermum laevigatum. It causes galls on both the vegetative and reproductive buds of the plant. Although Dasineura sp. was initially regarded as a potentially successful agent, galling up to 99 percent of the buds of the host plant, it has been preyed on by native opportunistic mites, which caused a decline in the performance of the midge as a biocontrol agent of L. laevigatum. This raised a concern about whether this fly will be able to perform effectively in the presence of its new natural enemies. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: 1) ascertain whether mite abundance has seasonal variations; 2) determine if plant density and plant size have an effect on midge predation by the mites; and 3) determine if midge predation varies in different locations. The study was conducted at three sites in the Hermanus area, Western Cape Province. Every three weeks for thirteen months, galls were collected and dissected so as to count and record the numbers of midge larvae, pupae, adults and mites that were found. Data collected showed that predation varied with season, and the mites were scarce during the flowering season. Predation also varied among the study sites and plant density had an effect on midge predation. Midges in smaller plants (saplings) were more vulnerable to predation than those in the bigger plants (plants from isolates and thickets). It was concluded that although mites have an effect on midge populations, they do not prevent their establishment on the plant. Therefore, a survey should be done in two to three years time to check if the midges are still persisting on the plant, vi and recommendations are that a new agent should be released to supplement the midges.
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- Date Issued: 2010