Reform In South Africa Research Articles

INHEEMSE ERFOPVOLGINGSREG IN ZIMBABWE: LESSE VIR SUIDAFRIKA DEEL II: ERFOPVOLGINGSREG NA HERVORMING

In Part II of this article legal reform of the customary law of succession in Zimbabwe is considered with a view to extract lessons for legal reform in South Africa. In the discussion specific emphasis is placed on conflicting case law which seems indicative of the inherent strain between statutory reform and the customary law of succession applicable in a primarily patriarchal society.

The relationship between investor tax preferences and the payout methods of JSE listed companies

Background: Investor tax preference parameters have been included as an explanatory variable for changes in payout methods in developed countries. There is, however, a lack of research in this area in developing countries. Tax reform in South Africa – comprising a change in the tax regime and successive increases in tax rates – offers a unique setting to examine investor tax preference parameters as a contribution to literature.Aim: This study investigated the relationship between investor tax preference parameters (of individuals, corporates, and institutions) and payout methods (namely dividends, capital distributions, additional shares, and share repurchases).Setting: The study used data collected in respect of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa for the financial reporting periods ranging from 2012 to 2019.Method: A regression analysis of panel data was employed to relate the changes in payout methods to changes in profits, investor tax preference parameters, the lagged levels of variables, and ownership concentration dummy variables.Findings: The empirical evidence of this study revealed that investor tax preferences affected dividends as a payout method. This accordingly suggests that the tax differential of dividends and capital gains affect the supply of dividends in South Africa.Conclusion: The study contributes empirical evidence in support of the taxes and tax clienteles theory from a developing country perspective. This could suggest that tax reform in a developing country, in this case, South Africa, has a more pronounced effect on payout methods than in developed countries.

Unpacking planners' views of the success and failure of planning in post-apartheid South Africa

This paper discusses post-apartheid planning reform in South Africa and identifies the successes and failures thereof, as understood by South African planners. We noted a perception of success regarding the reform of planning legislation; however, the general feeling was that planning had failed to achieve spatial transformation in the post-apartheid era. A variety of reasons were given for this: the failure to achieve reservation of planning work for planners, political interference, weak planning tools, lack of capacity, and planners' lack of key skills. We argue that underlying these failures was a deeper issue, namely that many powerful stakeholders in the built environment seemingly did not ascribe value to the planning process. In other instances, they may accept the value of the process, but not the uniqueness of planners' skills. This divergence of opinion of and power struggle between the legitimacy of planning versus planners shapes both the form that planning reform takes, but also the perceptions of the successes or failures of planning reform. Consequentially, this means that to achieve ‘successful’ planning reform, it is necessary to account for how the interaction of micro (individual) and macro-meso (organisational, societal) agendas shape these processes.

Rethinking Land Reform and Its Contribution to Livelihoods in South Africa

Abstract Land reform in South Africa has been criticised for its failure to significantly improve beneficiaries’ livelihoods. Among the reasons is the government’s stubborn enforcement of large-scale farming on land reform projects. This article presents the experiences of land reform beneficiaries on a single case farm in Limpopo Province, confirming, on one hand, that indeed the capital-intensive model of production negatively affects their production and livelihoods. On the other, the article shows that where alternative land uses are introduced, even alongside large-scale farming, land contributes to beneficiaries’ livelihoods. The article argues that a nuanced analysis that goes beyond the narrow commercial and econometric value of land, to include its social value, allows us to comprehend the full extent of land’s contribution to rural livelihoods in South Africa.

Overtreatment and benevolent provider moral hazard: Evidence from South African doctors

Overtreatment is widespread in health, with potentially dire consequences for patients, health systems and public health. It may be fueled by providers when they do not bear the cost of treatment (moral hazard), even they do not profit financially from it (i.e. benevolent providers). We test this hypothesis by creating an exogeneous change in the incentives faced by private doctors in South Africa. We find that provider moral hazard has no effect on overtreatment in volume but fuels overtreatment in cost. By contrast, when they bear the marginal treatment cost, doctors choose cheaper drug. While these results suggest that provider moral hazard contributes to overtreatment in primary care, we consider other plausible channels, such as responses to a perceived demand for high-quality drugs or market segmentation. We discuss the potential scope for supply-side cost-sharing incentives to reduce inefficiency in future health system reforms in South Africa.

Co-producing urban expertise for SDG localization: the history and practices of urban knowledge production in South Africa

ABSTRACT The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used as an entry point to consider issues and questions surrounding the forms of urban expertise that are required to achieve transformative and sustainable urban development. The article builds on the authors’ experiences as researchers working co-productively with South African municipalities through the African Centre for Cities, an interdisciplinary research hub at the University of Cape Town. Insights from the literature on urban policy mobilities are deployed alongside those from an emerging literature on transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production for global policy implementation. The aims are, first, to identify emerging kinds of urban expertise that are produced and mobilized by constellations of actors involved in the advancement of global development policies at the city scale and, second, to examine the role of city-university partnerships in producing particular forms of urban expertise to support SDG localization. Locating this work within a longer genealogy of urban governance reform in South Africa, it is shown that the conditions under which effective co-productive relationships can be built and institutionalized are highly context specific and geographically uneven. Understanding and assembling such conditions will enable cities to benefit from the forms of expertise these can engender.

Is South Africa ready for the future of human germline genome editing? Comparing South African law and recent proposals for global governance

Over the past few years, developments in the science of precise editing of human genomes using CRISPR-Cas9 have led many countries that lack specific laws in this area, such as South Africa (SA), to contemplate legal reform. Thaldar et al. recently published five principles to guide legal reform in SA on heritable genome editing. In a similar vein, concerns about the global impact of human germline genome editing have led to calls for a global regulatory mechanism. This is what the World Health Organization has tried to achieve with the recently published ‘Draft governance framework for human genome editing’. In this article, we compare the policies proposed by the draft framework to the current SA legal position, as well as the five guiding principles. The article concludes that SA law is in need of reform in order to meet the global standards that the draft framework seems to be moving towards.

The Prospects for Socialist Politics in South Africa

Our article endeavours to critically examine the prospects for socialist parties and socialist policy reform in South Africa. Firstly, we seek to provide an appraisal of modern socialist politics and policies globally. Secondly, we attempt to diagnose why South Africa has been as yet unable to fashion a suitable socialist workers’ party during the democratic epoch. In this, the article discusses the prospects of socialist parties and policy reform in South Africa after examining the failure of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers’ Party (SRWP) to make an impact at the 2019 polls. Using a combination of comparative methodology and critical inquiry, our study presents not only that socialist politics and policies are valuable to democratic systems, but also that socialist politics should have a more viable vehicle in South Africa. The prospects for deepened ideological development, particularly the formation of a successful socialist or workers’ party, remains quite weak in South Africa but there is considerable evidence to suggest that civil society both requires and desires a more vibrant relationship with modern socialism.

Learning from the grassroots: The case for the consideration of community-based agrarian and food security reforms in South Africa

Studies of projected agro-climatic variability on the productivity of small-holding farming livelihoods have been evaluated by indirect methods using simulation models on country or regional basis but few have been done at the community level. This study explores direct observation of the impact of soil and climate factors on crop and livestock livelihood systems in the three major agro-ecological zones of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It also analyzed their influence on small farmers’ choices of agrarian livelihood activities and the lessons learned for the suitability of agro-ecologically integrated agriculture as part of agrarian and food security reforms needed among small farming households in rural communities of South Africa. The impact of soil and rainfall on the crop and livestock livelihood choices of small-holders in the three major agro-ecological zones were explored. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 223 small-holding farming households during the harvesting period of rain-fed farming season. Data on household livelihood activities were processed in monetary terms and subjected to gross margin and cost/benefit analysis. Geographic information system (GIS) mapping and statistical analysis were used to determine the association of small-holder maize revenue with agro-climatic variation. The results indicated that crop-based activities performed better in the Grassland zone, while livestock activities performed better in the Savanna zone. Small farms in the Karoo can only productively engage in livestock production. The results also showed that farming activities that combined more vegetable crops yielded greater profits than other field crops. Furthermore, the results indicate that the mixed cropping method remains one of the strategies for breaking-even and risk-bearing effort used by the small-holder farmers considering its cost-sharing benefits. Geographical information system (GIS) mapping further indicates that small-holders’ farming activity was not only affected by soil-climatic factors but by their management skills as well. We recommend agro-ecologically adapted policies and incentives for agriculture-based livelihood activities and intensified mixing of cropping systems among the small-holder farming households in the study area.

JUDICIAL DISCRETION IN THE DETERMINATION OF POST-DIVORCE CHILD SUPPORT: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MAINTENANCE ACT 99 OF 1998 AS COMPARED TO THE CANADIAN FEDERAL CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES OF 1997

There are various models for determining and allocating child support obligations post-divorce and many different principles upon which such a policy can be based. In most legal systems the parents retain the duty to support their needy children after divorce as it is primarily their obligation to ensure the adequate financial welfare of their children. This principle is applicable in both the South African and Canadian legal systems. In South Africa, in terms of both the common law and legislation, both parents must maintain their children “according to their respective means”. The awarding of a specific amount of maintenance is, however, a complex process calculated by the courts on a case-by-case basis mainly by considering two issues: the needs of the children and the parents’ ability to maintain their children within the circumstances and means of each of the parents. Although both aspects are important in a maintenance enquiry, the focus of this note is on the interpretation of the calculation of the contribution of each of the parents, especially the non-custodial parent. The interpretation of the concept “means” obviously has important consequences for the parties: the broader the interpretation of the “means” of a parent, the higher the proportion of the contribution of that parent would be towards the support of the children. This is especially important in South Africa where a substantial proportion of those who are obligated to pay maintenance is impecunious. The Canadian law rested on similar principles until 1997 when the federal government promulgated the Federal Child Support Guidelines as an amendment to the Divorce Act. The impact of these Guidelines on the calculation of the parental share of post-divorce child support has been far-reaching. The aim of this note is firstly to examine the meaning of the term “means” within the South African legal system as set out in the common law, the various statutes and as these have been interpreted by the majority of courts over the past century. The second aim is to give a brief overview of the Canadian Guidelines and to compare their current system with the South African scenario. The rationale for choosing this jurisdiction is (i) the fact that in both jurisdictions the courts have the ultimate say over the amount of support paid; and (ii) as the Canadian position before their 1997 amendments was similar to the current South Africa system, it was envisaged that by exploring their reasons for change and evaluating their current system, some useful insights might be gained in solving some problems experienced in the South African maintenance system. The note will conclude with some suggestions for reform in South Africa in light of the Canadian experience.

THE ROLE AND DUTIES OF DIRECTORS IN THE PROMOTION OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Owing to global changes in the field of corporate governance and corporate law reform in South Africa, corporate governance has become an important aspect of the way in which corporations are doing business. Corporate governance is the collection of law and practices that is grounded in the fiduciary duties of directors. It regulates the conduct of those in control of the corporation. An important aspect of corporate governance is the establishment of structures and processes that enable directors to discharge their legal responsibilities. This article investigates corporate governance principles in South Africa and explores the importance of the role and duties of directors in the promotion of corporate governance principles.

Land Reform in South Africa

For the past two to three decades, since the transition to democracy, policy orientation in South Africa has predominantly been centred on redressing the inequalities and legacies of the apartheid regime. This was broadly defined as social justice, with the land question often treated as a highly state-centric matter reserved for government, until Julius Malema became president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and then leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). This article explores some of the dominant narratives around the land question in post-apartheid South Africa and presents some recommendations on how the issue of land should be dealt with in the immediate future.

Perspectives of Rural Women on Access to Land in Zululand District

Most literature on land reform in South Africa negates the rural community development. Hence, this paper analyses the perceptions of rural women on land reform efforts in the Zululand District of KwaZulu-Natal. The paper aims to generate a body of knowledge on how rural women understand what is being done towards their access to land. The paper argues that patriarchy, authority figure and gatekeeping, conscious and unconscious linguistic sexism, delays and gender segregation, women`s lack of basic law and land-related law, and non-participation in local land processes impede women`s access to land in Zululand District, KwaZulu-Natal. The paper makes recommendations on the implications of individual women and women’s groups as well as policy structures at the local, provincial, and national levels. This paper uses a qualitative descriptive approach in analysing how rural women feel about the provisions of land access. Focus group discussions with thirty rural women in KwaZulu-Natal`s Zululand District were conducted. A thematic analysis was done to analyse their perceptions of provisions of land access.

Cancer care reform in South Africa: A case for cancer care coordination: A narrative review.

This review provides an overview of the existing literature on the importance of care coordination for lung cancer care and other cancers in general. The review is inclusive of the burden of cancer, with a special reference to lung cancer, as well as challenges and achievements relating to cancer care coordination. We conducted a search of online databases of peer-reviewed studies published in the English language. The analysis for this review has been packaged into themes in order to generate results that can inform researchers and cancer health professionals, on the existing gaps necessary for developing appropriate intervention strategies and policy guidelines. Cancer is a complex condition that often requires multiple interventions provided by a variety of health professionals within the healthcare continuum. This paper reviewed research studies that explored the supportive care needs of cancer patients. The results are presented in three superordinate themes, namely (a) cancer as a healthcare priority in South Africa (SA), (b) making a case for coordinated cancer care in SA, and (c) care coordination: a poorly defined, yet complex concept. One major need identified was the requirement of informational support. Other essential needs included referral, emotional, and financial support. The identification of current obstacles has the potential to guide the development of a model to improve quality coordinated cancer health care. It remains that limited research exists around cancer services and cancer care in the South African region. This narrative review identified common elements and barriers to care for lung cancer patients and survivors, and offers recommendations for developing clinical care models.

Do Design Science Research and Design Thinking Processes Improve the ‘Fit’ of the Fit-For-Purpose Approach to Securing Land Tenure for All in South Africa?

In South Africa, land tenure security is a challenge for 60% or more of the population who hold interests in land outside of the formal system of registered title. There is a need for the cadastral and land administration systems to be reshaped, and for new land tenure forms to be developed to record all land rights and interests so as to improve land tenure security for all. In this paper, we undertake a reflective retrospective of the processes of land administrative reform in South Africa using a thematic framework that includes fit-for-purpose, design science research, and design thinking processes. Literary sources are coded using the thematic framework to identify potential contributions of foregrounding design science research and design thinking in fit-for-purpose land administration (FFP LA) approaches. Design science research paired with tools of behavioral science add value in understanding the context, problems, needs, and objectives and in communicating the results of critical reflection. The design thinking process has much to offer in capitalizing on the human abilities of empathy, deep understanding, and challenging assumptions, setting the scene for unconstrained creative thinking. Design science research and design thinking within FFP LA may promote innovations in land administration systems reform initiatives that deliver restorative justice in the South African land sector.

Towards a viable farm size – determining a viable household income for emerging farmers in South Africa's Land Redistribution Programme: an income aspiration approach

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to propose an improved methodology to determine a viable farm size for potential emerging farmers as land reform beneficiaries. Land reform in South Africa has been criticised because of poor implementation and slow pace, accompanied by poor productivity in redistributed land. To explain this, it has been suggested that commercial farms are too large for emerging farmers who have little or no experience in commercial farming. Thus, there have been calls for measures to make subdivision of land easier and cheaper. To this end, cross–sectional survey data from 833 potential emerging farmers in three rural provinces are analysed to determine a viable income for emerging farm households as a basis for calculating a viable farm size, using the income aspiration literature, farm household economics theory as a point of departure. Off–farm income, farm income and aspirational income are included in the calculation. The viable income was matched to the existing commercial farm enterprise gross margins per hectare obtained from the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy, which are then used as the basis for suggesting “viable farm sizes” for different emerging farm households.

Unity in diversity? When advocacy coalitions and policy beliefs grow trees in South Africa

Competing coalitions can stabilise policymaking and hinder policy changes that are required to address the mounting pressures on land use systems across the globe. Thus, understanding the driving forces of coalition formation is important. This paper builds on the Advocacy Coalition Framework to determine the relative contributions of two sets of beliefs (more general policy core beliefs and more specific beliefs concerning policy instruments) to coalition formation in South African tree plantation politics and to identify coalitions therein. Discourse Network Analysis was used to code 656 statements regarding 40 beliefs to create network data from 55 interviews with organisational elites. Results from a network analysis of the twelve most salient beliefs indicate that dissimilar policy core beliefs about the validity of environmental regulation, social costs of tree plantations, and the conditionality of land reform in South Africa divide actors into two coalitions: the hegemonic “business-as-usual” coalition and the minority “justice and change” coalition. These boundaries were confirmed by comparing the network based on shared policy core beliefs with a co-ordination network. Dissimilar beliefs concerning policy instruments, including eco-certification and an indicative zoning, also divide actors, yet actors’ reasoning for or against these instruments differ to the degree that united fronts are unlikely to form. Hegemonic coalitions that combine selected state and business interests with labour arguments and prioritise short-term economic efficiency threaten to delay the necessary changes away from business-as-usual across land use systems in South Africa and beyond.

How a government panel on land reform in South Africa is stuck in old ways

ABSTRACT The government Panel on land reform, headed by Dr. Vuyokazi Mahlati, presents an encompassing analysis of government programmes suggesting revised and new programmes to increase the speed of land reform. This note registers that improvement of local democracy is not a variable in the report. The note suggests that the Panel is stuck in old ways, in effect a centralised planning tradition and a heavily top down governing model. It suggests that developing local municipal and amakhosi democracy might seem a detour in land politics but might actually lead to a different and more effective land reform. Such land reform will favour more dignity, creativity and trust among people and a more fair modernisation of the South African economy.

STUDENT EXPERIENCES OF IMMIGRANT TEACHERS IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS

1. Introduction Educational reforms in South Africa have been framed by legislative policies that promote democracy and human rights. The South African Schools Act (Act No 37 of 1997) catalysed by the Bill of Rights and the South African Constitution formalised the process of desegregation of schools in South Africa. As a result of these constitutional measures, the public schooling system in South Africa has undergone radical changes. It created the opportunity for students from diverse cultural backgrounds to attend public schools of their choice; as much as this choice was determined by extraneous factors such as high school fees, travelling distances, language of instruction, amongst others. It also created the opportunity for teachers of any race group to teach at public schools. Furthermore, it created the opportunity for black (Indian/ African) immigrant teachers to be employed at public schools in South Africa. A vast number of black (Africa/Indian) immigrant teachers who are employed at South African schools come from the African continent, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Consequently, many South African learners have for the first time been exposed to these immigrant teachers. What is the ethos of reception that South African learners provide to immigrant teachers? What are the reactions of South African learners towards immigrant teachers? What are some of the challenges that South African learners encounter? What are some of the opportunities? What lessons can be learnt from these experiences? Accordingly, this study asks, what are students' experiences of immigrant teachers in South African schools? Against this context we developed a project to look at experiences of immigrant teachers in general and more specifically how they reconstruct and renegotiate their professional identities in this new context. The findings are discussed in some publications (Vandeyar, Vandeyar & Elufisan 2013). In focusing on students that were taught by these immigrant teachers, as a means of triangulating the data, it became evident that talking about their experiences of immigrant teachers meant also that they expressed views and opinions about South African teachers. The portrait that unfolded was one of immigrant teachers juxtaposed against South African teachers. The picture they created about South African teachers is troublesome in its negativity. The purpose of this paper is twofold; to explore South African learners' experiences of immigrant teachers and to establish in detail what the negative picture of South African teachers is about and what implications it holds for South African society. The findings are presented and subsequently analysed and discussed in an attempt to unpack learners' experiences of immigrant teachers in South African schools? 2. Background context The advent of democracy in South Africa witnessed the reincorporation of South Africa into the international arena and also the dissolution of South Africa's fortified borders which allowed more people and goods to enter the country effortlessly (Klotz 2000). Before 1994 only white Europeans were allowed to enter South Africa as professionals while black Africans were restricted to the supply of unskilled labour such as farm labourers and mine workers (Adepoju 2003). During the apartheid era it was government policy to relentlessly limit black immigration and actively encourage white immigration (Morris 1998: 1118). The relaxation of fortified borders particularly afforded immigrants from other African countries that were previously denied access, to now freely enter South Africa. This easier access brought about challenges and opportunities for black immigrants. First, it exposed many black immigrants, especially those from African countries, to xenophobic violence (Sharp 2008; Steinberg 2008). One of the reasons for these attacks is that some South Africans, especially black African South Africans (1) perceive immigrants from African countries as competitors for available jobs and resources (Stemmett 2008; Hassim, Kupe & Worby 2008). …

PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM: KEY CHALLENGES OF EXECUTION

1. Introduction This article explores the key challenges to building a 'capable development state' in South Africa, as articulated in the National Development Plan (NDP). These challenges stem not only from a lack of capacity, but from a lack of coherence in framing the agenda and key success factors of a capable development state. The debate on state literature has evolved considerably from the Weberian analysis of examining state bureaucracies from a rationalist perspective--that is, focusing on the presence/absence of a coherent and hierarchical organisational logic, its efficiency and effectiveness and the existence/non-existence of a meritocratic professional bureaucracy insulated from day-to-day political interference (see van Bockel & Noordegraaf 2006). Later literature began examining the capability of the state with reference to its historical location in the existing political economy --that is, the periodisation of statehood from colonialism to modernity, class formation and political cohesion (Evans 1997; Houston & Muthien 2000). More recently, state literature has examined the capability of the state against the trajectory of democratisation and/or development (Evans 1989). Finally, there has been a closer scrutiny to the mechanics of the state engine with the growth of 'managerialism' centred in the rise of new public administration (Schwella 1991; Muthien 2000). All of these theories in essence present a mosaic of analyses of various angles of state operations. For the purposes of this article, state capability will be assessed through the level of expertise and professionalism, the governance of accountability, the effective design of organisational systems and processes, the level of skills and the quality of leadership; drawing on a hybrid of perspectives of state theory. State capability in South Africa will also be examined through the prism of public sector reform and discourses around the development to date. 2. Public sector reform Public sector reform in South Africa has come a long way since 1994 from a highly centralised 'command and control' function to a more decentralised function at three tiers of government with devolved authority to national departments, provinces and local authorities. The NDP affirms this decentralisation and goes further to make a bold call for devolving more power to the metros at local government level. As evident in the dominant post-apartheid discourse since 1994, the paradigm of public sector reform has evolved from: --democratisation and transformation of the state machinery (1994-2004), to --building a development state (2005-2013) However, public sector analysts have observed that South Africa still lacks a coherent model of public sector reform and public management (Chipkin & Lipietz 2012; Muthien 2013). It is important to emphasise that South Africa is not a 'failed state'. We have a functioning judicial system, legislature, state bureaucracy and executive. Moreover, we have pockets of excellence in terms of institutions, people and departments. Some authors have argued that the Mandela government inherited and reproduced the apartheid bureaucracy without much change (Picard 2005). That is far from the truth. In fact the Public Service Commission (PSC) mandated by President Mandela to restructure the fragmented apartheid public services, undertook a complete abolition of all departments and established new departments with revised organisational structures and mandates. Management had to apply for the newly created positions and the PSC had to approve all senior appointments to uphold the merit principle. Furthermore there was a complete overhaul of occupational classification whereby approximately 284 occupational classes were reclassified into 16 broad bands and Occupational Specific Dispensations (OSDs) for scarce skill and highly qualified professional classes were introduced. …