African Public Research Articles

Place, Space and Time: Adult Education Experiences of Learners and Librarians in South African Public Libraries

Drawing on results of a national survey, this article examines adult education in South African public libraries from the perspective of adult learners and librarians. Quantitative data from 589 libraries from the total sample of 1295 libraries was collected. This was supplemented by qualitative data collected during site visits to eleven libraries selected to cover geographical spread. The activities of the 26.7% of the libraries involved in adult education are analysed with a view to understanding the interventions through the experience and perceptions of the participants, and so arriving at an understanding of the contribution of the libraries' role in the fight against illiteracy which is acknowledged by the South African government as a serious impediment to its development efforts. An attempt is made to assess the extent to which the experiences in the libraries can be said to be particular to the local situation, or whether the lessons learned form part of a broader pattern of adult education policy and practice observed in other parts of the world, especially developing countries. It is concluded that, in spite of the modest scale of the interventions, the impact is sufficiently encouraging to recommend intensifying and spreading initiatives in the public library's drive for social inclusion.

Managing Talent in the South African Public Service

Given South Africa's social and economic development challenges, general human resources management (HRM) practices may not be adequate to address the challenges of transformation and executing the expected developmental role. A review of the literature and practices regarding the envisaged role of the Public Service in what is characterized as a developmental state is undertaken here, and the existing inadequacies with respect of attracting and retaining skilled employees are highlighted. The argument is offered that talent management should be adopted as a complementary HRM practice to achieve Public Service objectives. This is necessary in the context of a shortage of skills and the need to redress past racial biases in the Public Service.

Book ReviewsAll Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830–1900. By Martha S. Jones. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007.Private Politics and Public Voices: Black Women’s Activism from World War I to the New Deal. By Nikki Brown. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook Reviews All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830–1900. By Martha S. Jones. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007. Private Politics and Public Voices: Black Women’s Activism from World War I to the New Deal. By Nikki Brown. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006.Joyce A. HansonJoyce A. HansonCalifornia State University, San Bernardino Search for more articles by this author California State University, San BernardinoPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 34, Number 1Autumn 2008 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/588438 Views: 44Total views on this site © 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

African American Religion and Public Life An Assessment

African American Religion and Public Life An Assessment

African American Religion and Public Life An Assessment

African American Religion and Public Life An Assessment

The Skills Gap in Hospital Management in the South African Public Health Sector

A lack of management capacity has been identified as the key stumbling block to the transformation and reconceptualization of the public sector in South Africa into a more effective, efficient, and responsive system of health delivery. As part of the overall management development process, this research aimed to identify the skills important for public sector health management and to evaluate managers' self-assessed proficiency in each of these skills. A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among hospital managers in the South African public health sector. Respondents were asked to rate the level of importance that each proposed competency had in their job and to indicate their proficiency in each skill. Self-assessment of levels of competency showed that managers felt most competent in strategic planning, people management, and self-management, and relatively less competent in the task-related skills and their ability to deliver healthcare. People management, self-management, and task-related skills were rated as being most important, followed by strategic management and health delivery skills, respectively. The largest differences between mean importance rating and mean skill rating were for people management skills, task-related and self-management skills. These findings reflect the reality of the local health service environment and the needs of health managers and will be useful in the conceptualization, design, and delivery of health management programs aimed at enhancing current and future management and leadership capacity in the public health sector in South Africa.

The Everyday Functioning of an African Public Service: Informalization, Privatization and Corruption in Benin’s Legal System

On the basis of ethnographic research this paper examines the everyday functioning of the legal system and the common professional practices of its actors in the Republic of Benin.The fundamental functional problems of the Beninese legal system arise from severe personnel, material and technical, organizational and regulatory under-resourcing or misresourcing. In the face of the resultant overloading of the system, the professional legal actors and their clients develop collusive relief strategies of informalization and privatization, each arising in two forms. Informalization may be pragmatic, developing spontaneously. This is illustrated by the numerous simplifications of the formal requirements for obtaining official documents or certificates, which are often in direct contravention of the law and never written down. It is more prevalent than the other form, administrative informalization, illustrated by the practice of prospective home owners acquiring only dwelling authorizations (permis d’habiter) rather than full legal titles to their building lots. Privatization of conflict resolution may be effected by keeping conflict resolution outside the legal system (avoidance strategies), and also by spontaneous internal privatization, generally referred to as corruption. In the latter case conflicts are dealt with by the official legal professionals using resources of public office but outside the correct legal procedure. An example is when an official of the public prosecution service (parquet) uses the threat associated with their official function in criminal proceedings to induce a person to settle a civil claim (the official usually being paid a commission). A result of this is that all or a sufficient number of Beninese citizens work on the assumption that decisions by the legal system are not produced by means of correct procedures, but by payment in other ‘currencies’. Consequently it is not possible for sufficient trust in the system to emerge to justify sole dependence on the legal process. This, in turn, reinforces in a feedback loop the incentive for the use of alternative or additional ‘currencies’. Corruption thus perpetuates itself.The analysis suggests that, contrary to a commonly cited model of alternative conflict resolution methods, avoidance and violence should not be viewed as the only alternatives to legal procedure. The examples given show that there are further alternatives like ‘time’, ‘money, ‘social status’, ‘social relations’ and ‘supernatural powers’. Moreover, these are not usually mutually exclusive alternatives, but are combinable and are typically used on a complementary basis. Their scope is always limited by the structure of society, the social attributes of the actors, and the nature of the conflicts, but in an African society like that of Benin, the scope and combinability of the various options, and the possibility of ‘optation’, would appear to be larger than in European society.

South African Public Library Services to Culturally Diverse Communities: Analysing the Status Quo and Planning for the Future

South African Public Library Services to Culturally Diverse Communities: Analysing the Status Quo and Planning for the Future

Culture and HIV/AIDS Management in South African Public Schools

Culture and HIV/AIDS Management in South African Public Schools

The People's Republic of China and FAPRA: Catalysts for Theory Building in Africa's Public Relations

Africa is experiencing an unusually high economic interest from the People's Republic of China, whose government has invested billions of dollars in schools, clinics, roads, railways, factories, and oil wells on the continent; has canceled more than $1.36 billion in debts owed to it by 33 African nations; and has pledged to provide Africa with $5 billion in preferential loans and credits through 2009. Its top party officials traverse the continent, seeking to develop business relationships and to reinforce others. While such efforts help place Africa on the cusp of significant economic growth, they also boost the programs and activities of the Nairobi, Kenya-based Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA), an umbrella body of all national public relations associations in Africa and a consultant to African governments and to the African Union. FAPRA has launched a 5-year action plan to improve the stature and social relevance of the public relations practice, largely through enhancing its efforts to professionalize it. Both China and FAPRA are, in essence, collaborating to create environments conducive to enhancing the practice in Africa, and to laying a foundation for an expansive view of public relations research—one that questions grand narratives, defines concepts, challenges orthodoxies, measures variables, and determines program outcomes or effects. And researchers and practitioners work together in creative ways to improve the practice. This article argues that questions and concepts are, in themselves, opportunities for a much-needed theory building in Africa's public relations. It, therefore, outlines 4 propositions as a template for such theory building, based on a 4-concept research agenda: culture, good governance and rule of law, economic freedom, and FAPRA's integrated programs and activities outlined in its 5-year action plan. The return of China … to global economic prominence in the twenty-first century is likely to reshape global politics and society. The overwhelming dominance of the West, which lasted half a millennium, is probably passé. We should view these developments not only with awe, but with anticipation. (Sachs, 2005, p. 187) We want to work in partnership with the international community, but we believe that it must be a partnership based on mutual respect and mutual accountability. (Former Namibian Prime Minister Geingob, 2006, p. 56)

Popularising the Prophet Isaiah in Parliament: The Bible in Post-Apartheid, South African Public Discourse

Popularising the Prophet Isaiah in Parliament: The Bible in Post-Apartheid, South African Public Discourse

Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post--Civil Rights America

Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post--Civil Rights America

Popularising the Prophet Isaiah in Parliament: The Bible in Post-Apartheid, South African Public Discourse

Popularising the Prophet Isaiah in Parliament: The Bible in Post-Apartheid, South African Public Discourse

Problems Surrounding Probation In The South African Public Service

The aim of the study was to investigate problems surrounding probation periods in the South African Public Service. A qualitative study was conducted to determine the views of both probationers and supervisors managing the probation process. Data was gathered by means of focus groups and individual interviews. Nine key areas were identified as being problematic, viz. clarity regarding the purpose of probation, lack of proper guidelines, the duration of probation, rotation during probation, lack of training, poor management of probation, performance management, anxiety and stress, power and authority. Recommendations are made concerning possible interventions.

From Political Ally to Technocratic Competitor - How the EU is Perceived by South African Public Opinion, Political Elites, Civil Society and the Media

What is the European Union (EU) for South Africa? What is the perception that elites and citizens have of the EU and its role in world politics? How do civil society organizations view the EU? And what is the media coverage of the EU? This report attempts to answer those questions by drawing from a collection of quantitative and qualitative data. Based on the availability of data and information, it was decided to look at a number of documents dating back to the mid-1990s until 2004, while for the quantitative analysis this report only focuses on the years 2000-2002.

An Evaluation of the Policy Framework on HIV and AIDS in the South African Public Service: The Effectiveness of the Current Guidelines and the Ability of the Policy Framework to Absorb the Impact of HIV and AIDS within the Public Service

This study seeks to determine firstly, the extent to which the public service is implementing the policy framework on managing HIV and AIDS in the workplace and establishing employee assistance programmes (EAPs) as a service to people living with HIV and AIDS at both national and provincial levels. Secondly, it seeks to determine whether or not the current policy framework is able to absorb the probable impact of HIV and AIDS in the workplace and, thirdly, to investigate, determine and define the roles of EAPs in addressing the problems of HIV and AIDS in the workplace within the South African public service. A situational analysis approach was used, including profiling, scoping, surveying, interviewing, focus groups, impact assessments, evaluation and gap analyses.

Serving Culturally Diverse Communities in South African Public Libraries

This article presents an overview of the multicultural nature of South Africa including the meaning of multiculturalism and multicultural public libraries in the South African environment. An empirical survey was conducted to determine the status quo of the collections and services being offered by South African public libraries to culturally diverse communities, and to determine if these are representative of South Africa's culturally diverse communities. The findings suggest that public libraries in South Africa often do not recognise the diverse nature of the communities they serve. Causes for the current situation are identified. Finally, suggestions for the development of multicultural library services and collections are also given. The results show the importance of training in cultural diversity issues for libraries.

Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post‐Civil Rights America – Edited by R. Drew Smith

Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post‐Civil Rights America – Edited by R. Drew Smith

The Need for Tighter Rheumatoid Arthritis Control in a South African Public Health Care Center

Medical facilities are restricted in public health care centers in South Africa and patients that enroll in these centers are socioeconomically deprived. We investigated the impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on disability in both a public health care and a private care center. The disability index of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ-DI) and an extensive range of disease and non-disease-related patient characteristics were recorded in 359 RA subjects, 196 public care and 163 private care patients. We compared the data between both patient groups and identified potential predictors of the HAQ-DI by univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis. The median (range) HAQ-DI was 1.625 (0 to 3) in the public care patients and 0.500 (0 to 3) in the private care patients (P < 0.0001). As compared with private care patients, public care patients were more often African (P < 0.0001) and of mixed ancestry (P < 0.01) and less often White (P < 0.0001). Public care patients also had higher current disease activity scores (P < 0.0001) (except for tender joint counts and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate), higher cumulative disease activity or disease severity scores (joint deformities) (P < 0.0001), a higher frequency of tuberculosis (P < 0.01), and were more often treated with prednisone (P < 0.0001). In multivariable logistic regression models, a HAQ-DI of >1 was independently predicted by current disease activity (swollen joint count) (P < 0.004), cumulative disease activity (joint deformities) (P < 0.005), being under public care (P < 0.008), and prednisone use (P < 0.04). Racial differences were not independently predictive of disability. Results of disease outcome measurements were poorer in our public care patients than in our private care patients. Facilities that allow for tighter disease activity control of RA are needed in South African public care centers.

Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post-Civil Rights America. Edited by R. Drew Smith. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2004. 239 pp. $29.95

Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post-Civil Rights America. Edited by R. Drew Smith. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2004. 239 pp. $29.95