Government Departments In South Africa Research Articles

The Effectiveness of Legislative Oversight in Democratic South Africa: Exploring Political Will

Abstract Drawing on empirical data from document analysis, this paper will carry out a critical analysis of the effectiveness of the oversight and accountability system of the legislative sector of South Africa in detecting early warning signs prior to financial and governance collapse, by examining three provincial government departments. The results reveal that several key early warning signs preceded governance and financial collapse at the three provincial education departments but that the provincial departments ignored signals of repetitive financial irregularities flagged up by the Auditor General of South Africa. The article argues that there is a lack of political will to effectively respond to early warning signs of looming crises in provincial government departments in South Africa for the purpose of preventing or mitigating their negative impact.

Health-related misinformation and public governance of COVID-19 in South Africa

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to examine health-related misinformation proliferation during COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on public governance in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachBecause of COVID-19 related restrictions, this study conducted a systematic review. The researchers searched several search engines which include PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus to identify relevant studies. A total of 252 peer reviewed research papers were identified. These research papers were furthered filtered, and a total of 44 relevant papers were eventually selectedFindingsThere is a relationship between the spread of health-related misinformation and public governance. Government coordination and institutional coherence across the different spheres of governance is affected when there are multiple sources of information that are unverified and uncoordinated.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to a systematic review because of COVID-19 restrictions, and therefore, actual data could not be collected. Moreover, this study was limited to health-related communication, and therefore, its findings can only be generalized to the health sector.Practical implicationsFuture research in this subject should consider actual data collection from the departments of health and communications to gain an in-depth understanding of misinformation and its implications on public governance from their perspective as frontline departments as far as government communication is concerned.Social implicationsMisinformation is an impediment to any fight against a public health emergency. Institutions which regulate communications technology and monitor misinformation should work harder in enforcing the law to deter information peddlers from their practice. This calls for reviewing existing regulation so that online spaces are safer for communicating health-related information.Originality/valueEffective health communication remains a priority for the South African Government during COVID-19. However, with health-related misinformation on the increase, it is imperative to mitigate the spread to ensure it does not impede effective public governance. Government departments in South Africa are yet to develop policies that mitigate the spread of misinformation, and this paper may assist them in doing so.

Factors Affecting Contingent Liabilities in the Public Sector

Inappropriately accounted-for contingent liabilities could result in government departments having to make enormous payouts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate factors affecting contingent liabilities in the public sector, using the audited financial statements of four national government departments in South Africa as the data set. The four departments are Education, Correctional Services, South African Police Services, and Health. Data from 12 years, 2007/8 to 2018/19, for each department were analyzed. The paper applied a quantitative approach using positive accounting theory to explain accounting practices on the effects of litigation claims and intergovernmental payables on the departments’ contingent liabilities. In addition, a Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate factors affecting the contingent liabilities of litigation claims (LC) and interdepartmental payables (IP). The study results indicated a statistically significant positive relationship between litigation claims and interdepartmental payables. The results further confirmed that both variables significantly impacted the growth of contingent liabilities in the public sector. The benefit of this study is that determining the escalation and quantum of contingent liabilities may encourage government departments to implement policies that promote efficient management and accounting practices to contain and eventually reduce contingent liabilities accounts’ transactions. Achieving this will significantly reduce government departments’ unproductive cash outflows, measured in millions of rands annually.

An exploratory analysis of the corporate identity of selected national government departments in South Africa

A communication task team appointed by the Government of South Africa in 1996suggested that there should be one corporate identity for the government. A problemresulting from this suggestion was what this unitary corporate identity should reflectand which elements it should include.This article is based on a study into the viability of creating one corporate identity forall the South African government departments.Background is given for a government decision to create one corporate identity. Theview that corporate identity consists of the integration between visual identity andbehavioural identity and its possible application on the government departments ofSouth Africa is discussed.The main finding of this study is that the current corporate identity of four selectedgovernment departments consists of corporate service and behaviour, dynamism andvisual identity

Delivering public value by selected government departments in South Africa – Perceptions of senior managers

Background: Over the years, the expectations of both the public and private sectors regarding value have changed significantly, thereby increasing the need for government departments to revisit their public-value creation model.Aim: This study sought to explore perceptions of senior managers in selected national government departments in South Africa with regard to the influence of information sharing, process innovation, stakeholder analysis and engagement in the relational governance and public value.Setting: The respondents were 230 senior managers from the five national government departments who, over time and in various groups, attended the Executive Development Programme hosted by the National School of Government.Methods: A quantitative research approach involving a cross-sectional survey design was followed in the study. Data were analysed by means of structural equation modelling (SEM).Results: In the study a strong, positive relationship was found between information sharing, process innovation, stakeholder analysis and relational governance. Further, a strong positive relationship between relational governance and public value was also established.Conclusion: Based on the perceptions of senior managers, government departments seeking to deliver superior public value need to focus primarily on managing their relational governance. To that end, it is vital that they develop their information-sharing and process innovation, as well as stakeholder analysis and engagement.

Migration of government records from on-premises to cloud computing storage in South Africa

The purpose of this study was to investigate the public sector's willingness to entrust their records to cloud computing technology with the view to propose potential strategies to encourage cloud migration. This qualitative study, utilised interviews, and document analysis to collect data. The target population consisted of purposively chosen chief information officers and records practitioners from the national government departments in South Africa. A total of ten participants were interviewed and data were analysed thematically. The study made several findings such as that the government was hesitant to subscribe to the privately-owned cloud due to security concerns such as attack of a physical host, bankruptcy, cross-border jurisdiction, sovereignty, access to information, and data loss, as well as the absence of legislation on cloud storage. The study recommends for the enactment of cloud storage legislation and encourage the storage of digital records on a cloud within the borders of South African virtual space.

When rain clouds gather: Digital curation of South African public records in the cloud

Background: Many scholars lament of poor infrastructure for the management and preservation of digital records in the public sector in South Africa. For example, in South Africa, the national archives repository and its subsidiary provincial archives do not have infrastructure to ingest digital records into archival custody. As a result, digital records are left to the creating agencies to manage and preserve. The problem is compounded by the fact that very few public sector organisations in South Africa have procured systems to manage digital records. Objective: This study investigated whether government departments in South Africa entrust their records to cloud storage. The study asked the questions: How are digital records managed and stored in these organisations? Do government departments entrust their records to the cloud as an alternative storage? Method: Qualitative data were collected through interviews with purposively chosen chief information officers, records managers and IT managers from public entities that implemented e-government services, as well as officials from the National Archives and Services of South Africa, which is charged with the statutory regulatory role of records management in governmental bodies and the State Information Technology Agency, a public sector Information Communication Technology (ICT) company established in 1999 to consolidate and coordinate the state’s information technology resources. Results: The key findings suggest that although public servants informally and unconsciously save some records in the cloud, government departments in South Africa are sceptical to entrust their records in the cloud because of a number of reasons such as lack of trust in the cloud storage, jurisdiction, legal implications, privacy and security risks related to Minimum Information Security Standards, as well as lack of policy and legislative framework, specifically regarding cloud storage. Conclusion: Because of lack of infrastructure for management and preservation of digital records, for the purpose of increased storage and access, this study recommends that government departments should cautiously consider exploring the possibility of storing their records in a trusted digital repository cloud as an interim solution whilst observing legal obligations. As cloud storage is not very prevalent amongst government departments in South Africa, given the present challenges in managing digital records, it would be advantageous to have cloud storage tested rigorously before embarking on the exercise.

Transitional Politics and Machinery of Government Change in South Africa

The ‘machinery’ of government reveals a great deal about how the state’s organisational apparatus is arranged to give effect to its policy commitments. It is a process influenced by more than structural logics and is inextricably bound up in the politics of change and the prerogatives of political leadership. This article traces the changing composition, size and number of national government departments in South Africa. It considers the drivers of machinery change by reviewing the muted effect of public sector reform and the more significant impact of political drivers following the country’s transition to democracy. The article shows that the trajectory of machinery change has been expansionary in general and, in more recent times, driven mainly by organisational fragmentation. This was initially prompted by an expanded agenda of policy demands, yet substantively shaped by political interests within the African National Congress under the transitional presidency of Nelson Mandela. Organisational change under the Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma presidencies has been more sensitive to the incumbents’ need to project policy and political control through the state machinery. However, this generated markedly different outcomes in the organisational composition of national departments, with Zuma’s presidency overseeing a significant shake-up and acute increase in the national machinery and a pronounced deployment of these institutions to serve clientelist motives.

Assessment of Performance Management and Development System in Selected National Government Departments in South Africa

ABSTRACTThe Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) in the South African public service has become a thorny issue. Performance assessment in particular, is an area that attracts more grievances. Any institution, which does not address the root causes of employee grievances risks the lowering of morale and productivity. The objectives of the study were to assess perceptions of employees in five national government departments in South Africa regarding the implementation of PMDS and to make recommendations aimed at the improvement of the current system. A survey design was adopted to achieve objectives outlined above. Main findings of the study are that the PMDS is effective, however, its implementation is not satisfactory, supervisors and their subordinates need refresher courses to improve their knowledge and further hone their skills relating to PMDS.

Exploring public sector planning for transformational government

PurposeThis paper aims to understand the conceptualisation of the notion of transformational government that is emerging within the electronic government domain. It reviewed how transformational government is manifest in the policy and strategic commitments of government departments in South Africa. The study focused on understanding the role of public sector planning towards the attainment of transformational government.Design/methodology/approachThe study is interpretive and qualitative in nature. It provides the outcomes of a deductive thematic analysis conducted on strategic documents of government departments to explore their alignment and support for transformational government.FindingsThe paper argues for the need for public sector planning that is focused on citizen benefit realisation. The results highlight the significance of strategic plans for developmental transformation. However, the planning instruments were found to have an inconsistent orientation towards transformational government.Originality/valueThe study is significant in light of the implications of public policy and the associated strategic plans for citizens. This paper also contributes to research on the nascent area of transformational government.

Co-Design as an Agile Information Systems Strategy to Empower Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) ICT End-Users in National Government Departments in Developing Countries

Lack of user involvements in the design phase of Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is believed to be the contributing factors to the barriers inherent to the poor use and acceptance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems at the Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) level. In addition, the majority of ICT systems within National Government Departments in South Africa are implemented without adequate participation of BoP end-users hence later these ICT systems become unsustainable and take time to reach the expected adoption rate or later they become unsustainable with their life cycles cut short. It is therefore necessary to investigate the extent of the Agile Information Systems strategy to align ICT systems with business processes along with user involvement at BoP level within National Government Departments in South Africa. In addition, co-design is one of the methods that can be used as Agile Information Systems strategy to facilitate user involvement. This research study therefore investingates: How can Co-design be applied as an Agile Information Systems Strategy to Empower BoP ICT End-Users South African National Government Departments to enhance Use and Acceptance of ICT System.

Measuring outputs, neglecting outcomes: The Auditor General’s role in SAPS performance assessments

Performance monitoring, often based on the use of performance indicators, has become a central aspect of the work of government departments in South Africa. Even though the South African Police Service (SAPS) is regarded as one of the leading government departments in the use of performance monitoring systems, it does not use performance information in a critical enough manner, particularly given the risk that the introduction of performance measures will lead to perverse incentives. Given that the SAPS is one of the largest police services in the world, the centralised reporting on organisational performance in the annual report is ineffective. It obscures much more than it reveals about what is being achieved by the organisation. Since 2005 the Auditor General of South Africa has been phasing in a ‘predetermined objectives’ audit that involves checking on the reliability of the performance information presented by the SAPS. Though he has limited capacity to do so, the AG also carries out what are called ‘performance audits’, that involve deeper and more focused scrutiny of the functioning of government departments. A 2008-09 performance audit on service delivery at police stations and 10111 call centres highlights the type of scrutiny that the SAPS needs to be subjected to if information on its performance is to become more meaningful.

Money down the drain: The direct cost to government of alcohol abuse

Soul City has recently embarked on a multi-year campaign that aims to prevent and reduce violence through focusing on alcohol abuse. This article describes an exercise commissioned by Soul City to estimate the expenditure allocations and expected revenue of national and provincial government departments in South Africa that can be attributed to alcohol abuse. The article highlights, in particular, the estimates derived for the security-related departments, namely Safety and Security, Correctional Services, Justice and Constitutional Development, and the national and provincial departments responsible for policing. The article concludes with suggestions regarding areas that would benefit from further investigation.

Using triangulation to view internal audit’s governance functioning

Internal audit departments of organisations are regarded as an integral component of the combined assurance model alongside the audit committee, management and the external auditors. The primary users of the work of internal audit are the audit committee, senior management, other levels of management and to some extent, the external auditors. This wide audience served by internal audit reinforces the importance of IAFs’ work, which deals with important aspects facing the entity. Internal audit is therefore able to reduce the lack of information availability for the audit committee on matters concerning risk management, internal control and governance. However, a study conducted on audit committee effectiveness, it was found that 40% of audit committees in national government departments in South Africa are not fully effective and are failing to contribute towards improving internal control, risk management, governance and financial reporting practices. Audit committees’ effectiveness in contributing to risk management, internal control and governance was measured at 63%, 76% and 62% respectively, in a comprehensive study on audit committees in the South African public sector. This indicates that their oversight in these areas, especially risk management and governance, is not yet effective. These findings are concerning given that audit committees have a legal mandate to assist government departments in these areas. Internal audit functions are key in assisting audit committees in their governance oversight responsibility. The present study reports on the extent to which internal audit in the eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa assists audit committees in their governance oversight responsibility, focusing on the scope of work of internal audit with reference to its governance mandate. A data transformation triangulation design was followed to describe internal audit’s functioning

Deployment of open source electronic content management software in national government departments in South Africa

Purpose – This paper aims to report the deployment of open source electronic content management software in national government departments in South Africa, with the view to raise awareness of the free and open source software (FOSS) policy. Many countries including South Africa have developed policies that encourage the deployment of free and open source software (FOSS). Design/methodology/approach – The paper opted for qualitative data collected through interviews with four chief information officers, five information technology (IT) officials, two records managers from government departments, one archivist from the National Archives of South Africa and one IT official from the State Information Technology Agency; these were selected purposively from national government departments. Furthermore, a free test trial of open source software, Alfresco Community Edition, was conducted for a 30-day period during September 2013. Alfresco was chosen as it is the preferred FOSS in government departments in South Africa. Findings – The key finding reveals that, in contrast with the FOSS policy, governmental bodies in South Africa preferred proprietary software over FOSS, as only one government department has migrated to FOSS. The reasons cited for the low uptake of open source electronic content management include the perceived lack of support for FOSS or short lifespan support which was confirmed through the trial test, as well as a lack of IT skills by records management practitioners who are responsible for implementation of electronic content management and hidden costs as the internal staff would spend time supporting, tailoring and enhancing the software. It is observed that failure to raise awareness and benefits of the FOSS policy in South Africa will curtail the document into a dull epistle. Research limitations/implications – Due to the chosen research approach and sampling method, the results were not generalised to the population. It is hoped that the study will stimulate further research interest and raise awareness in government departments with regard to FOSS policy implementation, especially in the area of electronic content management. Practical implications – The paper shows the difficulty in implementing a policy and putting it into practice without looking into its practical feasibility. Originality/value – This research attempts to bridge the gap and bring new elements by assessing the level of FOSS adoption in the area of electronic content management which is often ignored by the government and also less researched by scholars.

Mapping and Auditing of Internet Addiction Disorder in Selected Government Departments in South Africa

The aim of this paper was to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction disorder (IAD) amongst the civil servants in the UMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Through a survey, key government departments in the province were selected through systematic and purposive sampling techniques. Questionnaires, that were largely structured, were distributed to 52 managers from 4 government ministries, namely, Department of Arts and Culture, Home Affairs, Education and Health. The results indicate that there is high possibility that majority of the respondents may be suffering from IAD given the significant number of respondents spending a lot of time on the Internet each week. In addition, the findings reveal that the respondents do neglect household chores, social and work responsibilities in order to spend more time on the Internet. In conclusion, the Internet is not the enemy just because people become dependent on it. It has many important and necessary benefits. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p257

The Impact that Supply Chain Management Has on Fraudulent Activities in the Public Sector

The paper attempts to examine some issues within the supply chain management of the government of South Africa, in respect of procurement of services and goods intended for public use and to enhance service delivery. Supply chain Management (SCM) is the engagement and enactment of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the provision of products and service packages required by the end customers in a supply chain. A fraudulent activity is deliberately deceitful, dishonest and deviant behaviour that compromises service delivery and the image of government in the eyes of the public. This paper looks at certain salient features of SCM and outlines three specific cases that indicate the seriousness of SCM violation by government departments in South Africa. The paper does not pretend to capture all of the issues that permeate Supply Chain Management / procurement, but attempts to show the cardinal importance of Supply Chain Management to the development of the country as a whole and the consequences that result from the violation of Supply Chain Management and procurement

The reporting of performance information by South African national government departments: An adequacy analysis

Performance information is credible when it assists in accurately assessing departments’ progress towards the achievement of their goals—the cornerstone of performance reporting. In South Africa it is a legislated requirement for government departments to report annually on the performance of the entity against predetermined objectives. The purpose of this paper is to perform a qualitative analysis of the reporting of performance against pre-determined objectives by national government departments and to determine by comparison whether national government departments in South Africa have improved in the quality of the reporting of their performance information from the 2009/10 to the 2010/11 financial years. The objective of the audit of performance information by the AGSA is to determine whether the reported performance of a government department is useful, reliable and compliant to legislative and other official requirements. The results of this study clearly indicate that there are still major deficiencies in the reporting of performance information and that there was no material improvement from the 2009/10 to the 2010/11 financial years.

Security, privacy and ethics in electronic records management in the South African public sector

Computers have become such valuable tools for conducting businessthat today people would have difficulty imagining work without them.One great advantage of the computers is the ease with which a largequantity of data can be analysed, manipulated and shared amongpeople. However, there are a number of compelling security, privacyand ethical dilemmas raised by computer systems. For example, themonitoring of employee e-mails by employers to prevent them fromwasting organisation’s resources on non-business activities. Thisarticle seeks to investigate security, privacy and ethical dilemmas inthe electronic records management environment in the South Africanpublic sector. In order to draw inferences and recommendations, asurvey was conducted on existing national government departmentsin South Africa. Firstly, findings of the literature review (contentanalysis) are discussed. Secondly, the results from the survey areanalysed and interpreted. The article concludes by arguing that withouta proper information security framework and professional code ofethics that embrace electronic records management, governmentdepartments could expose themselves to unnecessary financiallosses due to litigations resulting from invasion of privacy and unethical behaviour, and urges government departments in South Africa to implement Electronic Document and Records Management Systems that are able to capture records in read-only format and generate a non-editable audit trail of all actions to address security dilemmas of electronic records.

Enhancing an ethical culture through purpose-directed leadership for improved public service delivery: A case for South Africa

The fundamental purpose of government departments is to provide services to satisfy public needs. Public leaders have to take on organisational roles to decide how to best achieve the organisation’s purpose of meeting human needs and enhancing human life. An ethical culture underpinning purposedriven leadership is viewed as an effective approach that will promote the broader interests of society in respect of public service delivery. This article focuses on the possible contribution of a purposedirected leadership approach within the South African public service toward enhancing ethical behaviour which can ultimately translate into improved public service delivery. Attention is devoted to the capacity of such an approach in creating a milieu of commitment toward service excellence, this article argues that unethical behaviour in the public service has impacted on the quality of service delivery in many government departments in South Africa. A review of reports by the Public Service Commission and the media suggest that quality public service delivery has been affected by the lack of an ethical culture within purpose directed leadership. Through a detailed review of literature and documents relating to poor public service delivery in South Africa, it has become imperative to explore the effect of ethical and purpose-directed leadership on public service delivery. This article further argues that through ethical and purpose driven leadership, the mission statement of the public service is not only communicated to all concerned, but it is also clarified and understood and becomes the driving force in delivering what is to be achieved, without compromising the quality of public services. Performance in support of the purpose can be the building blocks upon which an ethical culture is developed throughout all government departments. Public leaders must therefore use the organisational purpose as a frame of reference for the execution of all functions within the organisation so that public satisfaction can be best achieved, without compromising ethical behaviour. The public service needs to accord greater importance and focus to leadership based on purpose-driven activities to address some of the ethical issues affecting quality service delivery. Some of the ethical issues include conflict of interest, mismatch post appointments and lack of commitment to quality service delivery. By adhering to the purpose, the principles of public service delivery beyond personal aspirations and ambitions are prioritised. The study is contextualized through a general overview of the role of leadership, within an ethical and purpose-directed framework, in promoting quality services in the public sector.