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This study aimed to furnish insights into the features and outcomes of positive emotions in the Nkangala district. The reviewed literature indicated that such a topic is under-researched in the Nkangala region. This study employed the affective events theory (AET). The study's research design was both descriptive and correlational and influenced by the positivism paradigm. The sample size of 808 municipal employees was conveniently selected due to not having a sample frame, and other municipal respondents were unwilling to participate in the study. In addition, other managers did not provide researchers with permission letters; hence, the data were collected from four municipalities. The data were collected using a close-ended questionnaire. A validated and reliable scales were analysed in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 28. The results showed that autonomy was the highest feature/predictor of positive emotions. In addition, it was determined that positive emotions predicted job satisfaction. This study found that when municipal managers offer their employees autonomy, it yields happy, joyous and proud employees.  Similarly, managers who provide employees with timely feedback and who do not micro-manage employees create a positive working climate. In addition, it is recommended that supervisors and managers should submit their reports/evaluations to their employees in a timely manner and offer constructive feedback. If it is negative, managers should also provide employees with appropriate support to improve their performance. This is vital since job satisfaction is a proxy of productivity or service delivery.

The formulation of student leadership development has been a focal point and a product of shaping student leaders who occupy positions of leadership in the higher education sector. The persisting challenges of the society find a discomfort in wasted opportunity for any leadership initiative which is not aligned with the policy narrative of African development and nation building. This notion led to a situational response in student leadership development that missed an opportunity to fashion student leadership development that addresses the complex challenges of society. This study intends to pen down the experience of transitioning student leadership towards activating agency for social transformation. It also intends to address how student development must be perceived as an integral part of social innovation and a catalyst for reimagining the future of South Africa for the attainment of a sustainable future. One of the key shortfalls of the transactional approach to student leadership development is how the notion of leadership development in higher education is mismatched from the quadruple helix framework model which demonstrates failure for being futuristic in nature tends to be problematic. In this instance, the study used a quadruple helix framework to justify the transition that map the intention of Nelson Mandela University’s establishment of Madibaz YouthLab. The study is a qualitative conceptual framework using a literature review to argue this important transition. The study conclusion and recommendation are postured to add to the discourse on the reformulation of student leadership development in higher education shifting towards adding value to sustainable development.

The delivery of public services in South Africa is dependent on good governance and decisive leadership. Furthermore, the success of government programmes depends on the size of the budget that has been allocated to a given government department or entity. When the Minister of Finance delivers the budget speech in the National Assembly, there is a clear indication on how much is going to be allocated to each government department over the next financial year. It is up to the government departments to ensure that the allocated budget is used as efficiently and effectively as possible. Each government department is guided by the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA), 1999. The PFMA seeks to regulate financial management in the national government and provincial governments; to ensure that all revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities of those governments are managed efficiently and effectively; to provide for the responsibilities of persons entrusted with financial management in those governments; and to provide for matters connected therewith. Given the objectives of the PFMA, accounting officers are tasked with the responsibility of enforcing the PFMA in all procurement processes. According to Section 36 of the PFMA, an accounting officer is the head of a department. These accounting officers play an important role in ensuring that services are delivered, while they must ensure that public funds are spent responsibly and in accordance with the relevant government policies and the PFMA. This paper analyses the role that accounting officers need to play in ensuring responsible public financial management, especially because of the limited resources available to our government. By employing a qualitative study, this paper looks at instances where accounting officers did not act in accordance with the PFMA and the implications of this failure.

The South African municipalities have continued to demonstrate weaknesses or inadequacies in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). A possible barrier in South African municipalities is a lack of M&E expertise. While M&E can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of a programme, some potential pitfalls and gaps were discovered during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A case study design was employed to conduct in-depth and detailed examination within two metropolitan municipalities in the Eastern Cape. A mixed methods approach was adopted in a convergent manner for data collection and analysis. In-depth interviews were utilised to collect data from 13 senior municipal managers at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) and the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). A total of 191 questionnaires were despatched to municipal employees and 186 were returned, giving a 97% response rate. The findings reflect the weaknesses of M&E policies in the municipalities and paints a picture of M&E not being prioritised in the municipality.  The findings also reflect the current situation at the municipalities concerned, which is that there are pitfalls and gaps when it comes to evaluation measures. Thus, the study concludes that accountability for financial and performance management is non-existent. This study attempts to make a valuable contribution by providing technical assistance, capacity building to ensure that municipalities have effective M&E systems in place to monitor and evaluate service delivery and improve the lives of communities.

This study explores the obstacles and opportunities for women who sell arts and crafts along the borders of the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The Kruger National Park is one of South Africa's most famous symbols, both nationally and internationally. Women who stay along the borders of the Kruger National Park have also harnessed tapping into the tourism sector by trading in arts and crafts because tourists purchase them as souvenirs. Women dominate the craft industry because of fewer barriers to entry as they normally use traditional skills to create crafts. South African women in the informal sector are said to be significantly contributing to the Gross Domestic Product of the country. A qualitative research design utilising a Case study was used to explore the obstacles and opportunities for women who trade in arts and crafts in the tourism industry around the Kruger National Park. Data was collected through semi-structured interview schedules from thirty (30) women who sell arts and crafts from the Kruger National Park gates in Mpumalanga Province. Data was then summarised to capture emerging themes as well as opinions, attitudes and perceptions. The key findings reveal that women face various challenges, mainly in terms of (i) lack of access to finance, (ii) low literacy levels (iii) lack of access to infrastructure and (iv) Poor marketing skills and access to markets.

The use of force by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been widely reported. Unfortunately, the situation does not seem to be improving. However, it is not yet reported whether the members of the SAPS instinctively display aggressive or nonaggressive behaviour in response to the handling of violent and non-violent protestations in South Africa. Therefore, this article aims to assess whether police’s behaviour in the handling of protestations is instinctively aggressive or nonaggressive. Secondly, the article reflects on the possible factors that may contribute to the police’s aggressive behaviour towards protestations in South Africa. This article makes use of videography, which is a qualitative method of inquiry and interpretive in nature. Videography involves analysing video data as a focused hermeneutical and ethnographic exercise. In this regard, video recordings that are publicly accessible online which show South African police’s responses and conduct when handling protestation were analysed. Such videos were purposefully selected as they were deemed fit and useful for the object of this paper. Another method that was applied is a critical review of literature on police brutality in South Africa. Based on the analysis of evidence flowing from video analysis, it is clear that members of the SAPS tend to display aggressive behaviour when responding to violent protestations. At the same time, some members of the SAPS seem to lose their temper due to provocations by protesting individuals. The article reveals that the handling of protestations requires a thorough assessment of risks that may be incurred when applying various strategies for crowd management. This may need the state to invest in training and skilling the members of the SAPS in handling of violent and non-violent protestations. The article provides the basis for crowd management specialists within the SAPS to develop strategies suitable for ensuring professional and nonaggressive behaviour by the police in handling both violent and non-violent protestations.

There is scant literature available in South Africa that explores the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of student nursing trainees and other healthcare workers who deliver sexual health services to sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities with unique health needs. An online, mixed-method, questionnaire-based survey was employed to conveniently sample 39/78 (50%) final-year Bachelor of Nursing students from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal to understand their knowledge, attitudes and perceptions. Descriptive statistics were applied for quantitative results and thematic analysis was used for free-text qualitative data. Results suggested that over 67% of the participants lack the skills and knowledge to obtain a comprehensive history salient to the health needs of SGM populations. Students reported that social upbringing and religious beliefs impact the care they render, with many showing favourable attitudes toward the SGM community. Overall, students reported no content related to SGMs in the current nursing curriculum, however, students were receptive, highlighting the need to be clinically competent to provide relevant healthcare for SGM to meet their sexual health needs. It thus require that students must be trained and have included the SGM content in their curriculum to meet the sexual health needs of SGM population to enable non discriminatory, equitable health provision. being informed and having the necessary skills and knowledge obtained during training in the health institutions of higher learning can address the issues of greatest concern related to the HIV health needs of SGM populations.


 Chieftainship being well anchored to hold the cultural fabric of Botswana together remains an institution of interest to uphold democracy in the country. Despite this important function, political administration misconstrues the strategic function of chiefs, leading to insecurity of the institution of Chieftainship. A case in point in this study is that of the principal chief of Bakgatla-baga-Kgafela. Kgosi Kgafela II was the paramount chief of Bakgatla-baga-Kgafela from 2008 to 2011 when the government of Botswana derecognised him. This is a qualitative study that used documents as the main source of data collection. The study analysed the sequence of events and activities during Kgafela’s tenure as a Chief till he fled the country to South Africa in 2012. While there is existing literature on how chieftainship has posed a threat after democratic consolidation in many African states, not much has been done on Bakgata-ba-ga-Kgafela’s case. Documents were analysed in line with the theory of societal security which states that when a referent object is faced with an existential threat it develops a mechanism to ensure its survival. In this case, the study seeks to evaluate if there are implications for Botswana’s national security as Chiefs respond to such societal threats. Further to determine if tribesmen continue to be loyal to their chiefs. The main findings of this study were that; Kgosi Kgafela, declared that the bogosiinstitution is threatened. The institution still seeks to find itself in the governance structures with power and decision-making. Bakagtla reacted to the threats, through initiatives that the community itself carries out and also moved the matter to the political sphere and put the matter as a state agenda item which is in line with propositions of societal security. 

The rapid advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have significantly transformed the landscape of education, impacting both learning and teaching processes. The use of ICT in learning and teaching have changed the whole concept of education and had proved to be of great benefit for both the student and the lecturer. This paper draws from students and lecturers’ reflections on the use of ICT in learning and teaching environments in one South African University. An interpretive qualitative approach was adopted to conduct this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from six participants which constituted five students and one lecturer, and the thematic phenomenological analysis was used to analyse data. Findings revealed that the use of ICT in learning and teaching environments in have enhanced learning experiences, access to information and resources, collaborative learning opportunities, personalized learning among students and enhanced lecturer professional development in the university. The study recommended that education institutions should prioritize the allocation of resources for infrastructure development. Technology should be used purposefully to enhance teaching and learning, rather than integrated for its own sake. Lecturer’s must align their pedagogies with technology as suggested by TPACK theory.

Scholars and policymakers widely acknowledge the critical role of good governance in rural development and poverty reduction. Unfortunately, decades of good governance reforms have not reduced poverty in Nigeria. But what is good governance? The problem is that the working definition and popularized principles of good governance do not actually emanate from the poor. Moreover, there is a lack of contextualization of the concept of good governance within the Nigerian context. Rather, donors’ institutional understanding is universalized through the imposition of a good governance agenda. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining the concept of good governance through the lens of rural communities in south-west Nigeria. Understanding good governance from the viewpoint of local citizens, who are the recipients of governance reforms, is vital for effective targeted reform. The study is based on the premise that communities possess a deep understanding of their own social circumstances and possess the capacity to express their unique insights. Employing Participatory Action Research (PAR) and qualitative methods like semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the research engaged a purposively selected sample from three rural communities in south-west Nigeria. The findings revealed that, for these communities, good governance primarily involves the government's ability to meet basic needs and provide welfare-enhancing infrastructure. Conversely, bad governance is characterized by declining welfare, economic hardship, and inadequate infrastructure. Interestingly, participants did not prioritize reforms like regular elections or anti-corruption measures as core attributes of good governance, although they did not oppose these aspects. This study underscores the need to incorporate the perspectives of local citizens in defining good governance, allowing for homegrown solutions that might offer quicker and cost-effective strategies for development.

Chemistry is a field of study that teaches students critical skills in producing day-to-day products ranging from detergents, cosmetics, energy components and supplies for treating water. The majority of chemistry students seek formal employment after completing their studies, which helps to explain the increased incidence of unemployed South African graduates. This occurrence is more apparent in the Eastern Cape where there are very few chemistry industries with such employment opportunities. However, having an entrepreneurial mindset can lead to students venturing into business during or after their studies. Student businesses not only benefit the student but the community with accessible personalized solutions to their problems, institutions with reputation, creating a circular economy and possibly employment of others. Hence, this study aims to evaluate whether the offered entrepreneurship education to chemistry students stimulates an entrepreneurial mindset. The paper employed the qualitative narrative literature review methodology and the connectivism learning theory to achieve the set aim. Explored themes in realizing the aim are graduate attributes, science-based entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial mindset. The key findings are that science-based entrepreneurship education lacks the embedment of fundamental chemistry that creates familiarity with the concept and subsequent relatability with the course content. The connectivism learning theory supports the link between familiarity and new learning opportunities whereby, in this case, an entrepreneurial mindset can be stimulated. The study proposes that entrepreneurship education for chemistry students must include chemistry-related case studies and a participatory practical approach as a co-curricula. The co-curricula aspect will involve opportunities to start a real business on campus during the semester in which the course is offered.

One of six comprehensive universities in South Africa, the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) combines the best academic credentials from universities and technikons in an effort to effectively meet the socio-economic development needs of the nation, in the Eastern Cape Province, and the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Chris Hani Municipality, King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality.  An institution of a new generation, the WSU is more than the sum of its parts. Its goal is to improve community potential through quality academic programs, research, and community engagement projects with a strong emphasis on involvement and sustainable development. This article considers the different successes and difficulties associated with the WSU rationalization and consolidation of faculties.  This theoretical article observes that the government started using rationalization and consolidation as a tool to reconfigure and reform the higher education sector. Rationalization and consolidation are nothing new, and several nations have used them to revamp or reorganize their higher education industries. The article provides literature debates and scholarly background on comparing the South African higher education sector's proposed rationalisation and consolidation to those of other nations' higher education sectors, however, would reveal the most ambitious reform program ever launched in recent memory. The conceptual paper adopts a thematic qualitative approach.  The primary wave of the mergers mandated by the government that happened in 2004 and 2005 was preceded by the 2002 merger of Walter Sisulu University.

The study examines whether the customer complaints management policy in the Department of Employment and Labour in the Free State province is effectively and efficiently implemented. Skilful and committed policy implementers are required to ensure that policies are implemented successfully. A descriptive qualitative research design was employed in this study using semi-structured online interviews, to gather data from 20 participants who were purposively selected. The major findings of the study reveals that a lack of clarity and accessibility of complaint channels, inadequate training of newly appointed officials in customer complaint management processes, and user-unfriendliness of the complaint processes flow are prohibiting factors of the implementation of the policy. Additionally, there was a lack of effective communication and coordination among both the internal and external stakeholders, and a noticeable absence of consequence management. The study recommend that the Department of Employment and Labour should consider to design a user-friendly customer complaints management processes flow as well as to incorporate customer complaints module during the induction of newly appointed employees.

The literature links significant parental involvement in school activities to good school outcomes. The two-fold study examined factors affecting parental participation in rural primary school governance and its advantages. The qualitative case study method was used to collect data from nine purposively recruited individuals from three rural elementary schools. Individual semi-structured interviews collected thematically analyzed data. The study found that negative school attitudes caused parental animosity toward school. Lack of role awareness, inadequate professional connections caused by academic gaps, and language difficulties also discouraged parental involvement in school governance. Parental involvement promotes collective accountability and school-home integration. Home and school characteristics affected parental participation in school activities, the study found. Based on the findings, recommendations included improving parent-teacher interactions to help students succeed and training SGBs to improve their performance.

South Africa is a diverse nation with a rich tapestry of indigenous languages spoken across its provinces. As the country continues its democratic journey, local government plays a pivotal role in ensuring service delivery, community engagement, and development. This article explores the potential of indigenous languages as a valuable resource for enhancing the efficiency of local government operations. Indigenous languages, often marginalised, hold a wealth of cultural, historical, and contextual knowledge that can be harnessed to improve governance, communication, and community engagement at the local level. This paper investigates the multifaceted benefits of incorporating indigenous languages into various aspects of local government activities. The paper also draws upon case studies on incorporating indigenous languages in municipalities for efficient communication.

This paper explores the potential role of indigenous languages in fostering local economic development through cultural-tourism within the Polokwane Local Municipality. As a region rich in cultural diversity and indigenous heritage, Polokwane presents a unique opportunity to leverage its linguistic and cultural assets for sustainable economic growth. This paper discusses how the incorporation of indigenous languages can contribute to various aspects of local economic development, including tourism, entrepreneurship, cultural preservation, and community engagement. Therefore, this conceptual paper uses a traditional literature review and secondary data analysis techniques to discuss trends of research on the relationship between indigenous language, cultural tourism and local economic development.

This study explored the relationship between leadership styles adopted by managers in the district hospital in the Limpopo province in South Africa (SA) and service delivery to rural communities in the area. This study was essential as over 70% of district hospitals in SA are non-compliant with meeting its service delivery commitments. There was a need to investigate whether the challenges associated with the poor service delivery were related to the leadership styles adopted by managers in the district hospital. Both transformational and transactional leadership styles formed the basis of the study. A quantitative research methodology and case study were used. A Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used to determine which leadership styles were adopted and the outcomes at the hospital. The survey was completed by seventy managers in the hospital. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that certain leadership styles, as well as attributes impacted on service delivery to communities. The data suggested that, although some transformational leadership traits were exhibited by managers at the hospital, this had not necessarily led to improved service delivery to communities. The study was therefore critical, as it has become evident to policymakers that an expansion in the scope and quality of health care to rural communities in SA is vital. Recommendations were made for the improvement of service delivery by the hospital. An integrated leadership approach is therefore essential with a view to addressing challenges in the hospital and improving service delivery to the community.

South African Defence Review 2015 found that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is in significant decline and will lose important military capabilities in the long term if nothing is done. In a shrinking defense budget, general rhetoric blames aging equipment and staff for the decline. However, managerial issues in the SANDF may be to blame for the decline. We examined academic and other literature to find the origin of this problem and found that the SANDF does not use any systems management methodology to manage tasks. This peculiarity hinders SANDF management and prevents it from providing credible defense to South Africa. We found that empirical studies on SANDF management are scarce and failed to explain this oddity. To understand why the SANDF's application inherent management functions fail to provide a genuine defense capacity, this paper proposes a cognitive technique to conceptualize an empirical investigation beyond a literature review. We propose a systems management approach based on the Administrative Theory of Management, Neoclassical Theory of Management, and General Systems Theory frameworks in management education. We believe that empirical public and management research may create defence capabilities management understanding. This premise guides our study conceptualization by outlining the research context and then doing a research problem analysis to find the knowledge gap. To examine the literature, we use thematic summative content analysis. The research conceptualisation—problem statement, purpose statement, research questions, strategy, design, process, and methods, and interpretative frameworks—is based on this analysis. On the latter, we expect to write later.

This article explores theorisation that identifies the locus of South Africa’s scorched-earth lived experiences in the fixation on scientific dogma and conceptual binaries as well as governance utopianisms, wherein the latter are derivatives of the former. It explores South African’s lived experiences over the past 28 years in order to demonstrate that politicians’ reverence for governance utopianism has failed to appreciate the unity of realities, facts, values, objectivities, subjectivities, permanences, fluxes and changes, which consist of complex intricacies that are not amenable to dogmatic “incontrovertibly true” sets of authoritative principles and catchy governance utopianisms, because humanity’s imagination and creative thought are experimental in nature given the diversity of spatialities and “geography differences.” From desktop-based research literature survey and theorisation, the article advances a theoretical argument that if “science is one,” and if reality is unitary, then fragmentary theories and models are creatures of humanity’s world of imperfections. Additionally, the article analyses statistical evidence drawn from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) in order to demonstrate that the scorched-earth metaphor is real for South Africa’s 28-year democratic governance. It finds that in South Africa’s twenty-eight years of democratic experiment, lived experiences resemble scorched-earth metaphor with no silver lining in sight. Philosophically, the paper concludes that if what resides on God’s left is on humanity’s right, then the “rightness” and/or “leftness” of people consists of intractable complexities of particularity, individuality and incommunicability that have led to fragmentary science, fixation on dogma and binaries as well as politicians’ reverence for governance utopianisms, simultaneously as society’s lived experiences resemble normalised scorched-earth.

This paper uses politico-social capital theorisation of the relationship between public trust and democracy in order to demonstrate the interdependence of the African National Congress’ (ANC’s) declining electoral fortunes and the increasing public trust deficits in South Africa’s state, constitutional democracy and political institutions. As desktop-based research, the paper conducts literature survey to distils the relationship between public trust, as social capital, in institutions of society, and electoral performance and formation of societal leadership vacuum, within complexities of the political-economy and political culture and system such as those entrenched in South Africa under the ANC’s 28-year rule. The paper analyses statistical evidence from Afrobarometer’s 2022 survey about South Africans’ public trust in state and political institutions from 2006 to 2021, as well as national, provincial and local government election results from the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) from 1994 to 2019, to corroborate its theoretical framing. It makes three findings, thus: there is a direct relationship between the ANC’s declining electoral fortunes and the erosion of public trust in institutions of society; the ANC’s 28-years of state governance has created an ominous societal leadership vacuum, setting South Africa’s democracy on the precipice of civil strife; and, the ANC’s declining electoral fortunes will persist into the foreseeable future because public trust is hard to regain and sustain once eroded.