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This study explores the law enforcement model for vehicle speed in Tshwane municipality of South Africa.  South Africa has comparatively high road traffic crashes and casualty rates. Most of these crashes are associated with illegal speeding. This study was designed against the background of protracted road traffic crashes the triple causative factors as well as existing traffic law enforcement systems and processes aimed at managing illegal speeding. Data were collected from a sample of 28 senior law enforcement officials from the Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) traffic division, the Gauteng Traffic Police and the National Traffic Police. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis’ open and axial coding processes on Atlas.ti.8. In its findings, the study developed a model that shows that illegal speeding and consequential road crashes were caused by an interaction of multiple factors. These were poor human behavioural elements as the main factor, road-environment factors and vehicle-related factors in the presence of inadequate and uncoordinated traffic law enforcement, weak penal systems for offenders, corruption, poor driver training and low road safety education.

This study sought to analyse the role of the South African Qualifications Authority in curbing the misrepresentation of qualifications. Academic degrees are highly valued throughout the globe because they are seen as a dependable and trusted proxy for the bearers' knowledge, abilities and skills. In the same vein, the higher education system in South Africa makes every effort to generate well-qualified graduates who are capable of assisting in the leadership of the country's socio-economic growth. Recent reports in the media, on the other hand, create the impression that this initiative is being hampered by the widespread use of counterfeit, phoney and other illegitimate credentials. Consequently, the reputation of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is in grave danger as a result of the increasing prevalence of dishonestly misrepresented qualifications in both the public and private sectors. The education system is also at risk of losing its credibility as a result of actions involving deception, which is a subject that has to be addressed at the highest levels possible. Notably, the public service in South Africa is making significant progress towards the goal of ensuring that individuals who misrepresent their qualifications are barred from ever working in the public sector again. In this regard, SAQA plays an important role by offering verification services to individuals who are interested in applying for jobs in the public sector. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on credentialism and qualifications from the developing world with specific reference to South Africa.

One of the most important concerns facing the world today is financial inclusion. Organizations, financial institutions, and people in positions of responsibility are all demonstrating an interest in learning more about this. Several industrialized and emerging nations have recognized financial exclusion as a major socio-economic problem that needs to be addressed. This paper aims to examine the factors influencing smallholder farmers' financial inclusion in Zimbabwe. Using the logistic regression analysis, the results of the study pointed out that there was a considerable correlation between a household's size, off-farm income, agricultural extension service, distance, and transaction costs in a logit model, which was used to determine whether it had access to financial services. Government and financial service providers should strive to make it easier for people to get to their nearest banking institutions by establishing access points close to their residences. Filling stations and major supermarkets are examples of places where these access points could be positioned. As a result of greater access to formal financial services, small-scale farmers may benefit. Financial service providers must perform regular charge reviews as one of the factors that may deter families from utilizing financial services.

An organisation's performance suffers when employees are not adequately skilled in certain job areas.  This article sought to investigate whether training and development affected the delivery of citizen-centric services in a government department in South Africa. The study adopted a mixed research methodology and a non-experimental research design. The data was collected via 20 open-ended interviews and 130 structured questionnaires. The study results indicated that shifting the government's focus to citizen-centricity would improve efficiency and service delivery. One of the significant findings suggests that training in service delivery requirements awareness could positively improve and motivate public officials' performance to remain relevant to the needs of citizens.

The objective of this study was to explore existing insights on the use of Community Policing Forums (CPFs) for crime prevention, focusing on the Brooklyn police station in South Africa. With the adoption of the phenomenological research design and the qualitative research approach, about Ten (10) participants were selected purposively at the Brooklyn police station, various data collection methods, such as the documentary sources and unstructured face-to-face interviews, aided with the application of direct observation technique was employed. The inductive Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was employed for data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that the larger part of Brooklyn police station’s officials portrays a professional image despite this demanding career. However, participation on the ground level based on crime prevention actions is not always viable. By utilising the consulted studies and empirical data, three (03) recommendations for policy intervention are made. Firstly, respective communities should urgently avoid paying for the crime prevention private services to provide detailed crime information to the local SAPS. Secondly, the local ‘Private Security Companies’ should collaborate with the CPFs and SAPS to aid the failing crime prevention responsibilities, while working on the restoration of SAPS’s trust by the local community members. Thirdly, the SAPS management should consider persuasive strategies such as frequent education and training of community members and their officials [Undergoing refresher courses], relating to community safety initiatives and implementations of legislative frameworks and policies.

The objective of the study was to explore alleged corrupt practices of stock theft by public sector officials in the selected rural areas of Giyani in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, focusing on causes and experiences. The local South African Police Service (SAPS) and Department of Justice and Constitutional Development: Giyani Magistrates’ Court (DOJ & CD: GMC) officials are allegedly touted to be allegedly involved in corrupt and fraudulent activities relating to this crime. From a qualitative standpoint; this study purposively selected 64 participants to form part of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) for data collection based on their respective knowledge and exposure to this crime. The collected data was analyzed to reach structured, reliable and conclusions adopting the Tesch technique. Major findings of this study indicate that the local SAPS and DoJ & CD: GMC were implicated in corruption acts, it is established that limited wages, greediness, profit and power, opportunity, as well as inadequate training, poor hiring practices and failure to adhere to a code of ethics are some of the notable causes of police corruption on stock theft cases. The improvement in legislation, punitive methods, remunerations, political partisanship, and the use of anti-corrupt strategies are cited as some recommendations in this study. Moreover, relevant stakeholders should work closely with provincial structures at rural communal levels, while avoiding a silo mentality to enhance collective actions thereof.

The globe is facing challenges such as wars, poverty, injustice, environmental degradation, inequality, and climate change. These challenges have unsettled man in his habitation on the globe thereby prompting the United Nations to engage all nations to unite in addressing these global challenges. The interaction of the United Nations with the global community led to the understanding that eradicating poverty must be coupled with strategies that promote economic growth whilst addressing a myriad of social needs as well as climate change and environmental issues. Amongst the strategies to tackle the global challenges indicated above are sustainable accounting and the green economy. As members of the global community, South African listed companies also have a role to play in combating sustainability challenges. This paper contributes to the literature on sustainability, particularly on the adoption of the green economy and sustainable accounting by listed companies in the South African context as well as lessons learned in the process.

Given that undergraduates, graduates and tertiary institutions of higher learning are uncertain Given that undergraduates, graduates, and tertiary institutions of higher learning are uncertain regarding the expectations of employers in the work organizations on the skill that graduates possess, the study presented in this paper attempts to provide some meaningful clues in that directions. The study followed a research question that interrogates what employability skills employers expect graduates to possess for an entry-level job. Designed as a descriptive study, a quantitative research approach was chosen, where the survey method of data collection was employed through a closed-ended structured questionnaire. The study targeted employers (managers) of public and private work organizations in the health and education sectors in a South African town Mthatha, from where a sample of 41 participants (representing organizations) was drawn. The study employed a stratified random sampling in selecting the participants, which ensured that the principle of selecting representatives of the target population was met. Data collected from the participants were analyzed by the use of selected descriptive tools. The analyzed data revealed that all employers expect graduates to possess all the 13 skill areas that employees require to function in the workplace. Surprisingly, the employers mostly expect least from the young graduates in terms of quantitative skills and leadership capabilities. While this finding corroborates what exists in the literature, it provides a new dimension with regard to priority skills needed by employers in the South African labor market. The study, therefore, recommends that the work organizations and higher institutions of learning should form a partnership and a close relationship so that they can assist one another in building the employability skills of graduates.

The purpose of this article was to apply the job demands-resources (JD–R) theory in a public university as a lens to ascertain the extent of measures undertaken by academic supervisors to provide physical environment resources that support administrative employees and enhance their performance of the demanding duties they constantly perform. Supervisors’ understanding of their role in catering to the physical environment needs of administrative employees has been ignored in previous studies conducted in the university sector. The research design was qualitative since data collection relied on semi-structured interviews with six academic heads of departments who supervised office administrative employees in a public university context. The participants’ responses indicated a high understanding of the importance of providing resources such as updated equipment and eliminating any physical environmental factors that could enhance office employees’ performance in their demanding administrative duties. The challenges expressed were mainly with the budget that proved to constrain them.  This finding on supervisors is significant as it addresses a research gap in which the focus on physical environment factors has mainly been on employees’ perceptions and experiences in the business sector with less interest in the public sector and developing countries. The success of an organization requires a caring leadership that strives to provide enabling workplace physical environment resources that meet the work demands of employees.

The study examined corporate governance and corporate sustainability impact on the performance of South African listed companies. Data retrieved from 30 companies for the period 2010-2020 was analysed using panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) methods. Dependent variables were grouped into the Accounting-based approach and the Market-based approach. Explanatory variables were also grouped into Corporate Governance and Accounting ratios. Findings revealed a strong relationship between corporate governance and company performance. This was substantiated by the result from Board gender diversity, which revealed both positive and negative relationships that were significant under both approaches. Directors’ remuneration revealed a positive but insignificant relationship under both approaches, while Board size revealed a negative relationship under both approaches. Further findings also revealed a strong relationship between corporate sustainability performance and company performance. This was established by the results from the ESG and ROA and ROE, which revealed negative but significant relationships under the first approach and became positive and significant under the second approach. Lastly, a strong relationship between corporate governance and corporate sustainability performance was revealed as shown between ESP and directors’ remuneration and a negative but significant relationship with board size and gender diversity. A cross-country based investigation to ascertain whether the same results can be achieved should be carried out.

The aim of the study is to explore the impact of brand awareness, brand loyalty and brand attitude on purchase intention in online shopping. The study was quantitative in nature adopting the survey method. Due to the absence of a sampling frame, convenience sampling, a form of non-probability sampling was utilised a total of 253 responses well collected from Braamfontein, a busy business district in Johannesburg, South Africa. In order to test the proposed hypotheses, a unique conceptual model was developed in which brand awareness, brand loyalty, and brand attitude acted as predictors while purchase intention served as the outcome. Data analysis was conducted in SPSS 27 where descriptive statistics were produced as well as regression analysis to test the proposed hypothesis. Findings suggested that customers perceived brand attitude to have the strongest impact on purchase intention while the weakest predictor of purchase intention was brand awareness as far as online purchasing was concerned. Managerial implications emerged from the study and suggestions for further research were proposed.

The phenomenon of absent fathers continues to be one of the major social problems affecting families globally. This study examined the lived experiences of adolescent boys who grow up in absent father families. The objectives of this study were to elucidate the experiences of adolescent boys with absent fathers, to describe the challenges faced by adolescent boys who grow up without a father and to determine their understanding of the role and value of having a father. A qualitative approach was followed for this study. Data were collected from 18 adolescent boys through face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions. The data collected was analysed thematically. The findings showed that adolescent boys regarded fathers as important figures in their lives and their families. The absence of fathers in their total upbringing has some negative ramifications, among others, financial challenges, poor academic progress, alcohol abuse and lack of immediate gender role model.

Consumer decisions are influenced by various variables, including compliance with society’s social norms and by involvement by consumers with the issue under consideration. Both variables have influenced consumers’ actions during previous pandemics. Therefore, this study investigated involvement with the Covid-19 pandemic, together with social norm compliance (SNC), their mutual influence, and how demographic characteristics and country of residence influenced these three issues. The methodology involved a quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey, with a quota sample of 1096 responses, based on age, gender, education, habitation, and income. The research was conducted with populations representing the consumers who patronize major retailers in a developed country (Germany) and a developing one (South Africa). Data was collected via questionnaires e-mailed to commercial consumer panels covering both countries. The findings showed that involvement is influenced by gender, age, education, habitation, and country of residence, but that SNC is not influenced by demographics but does differ according to country. Further findings were that involvement with Covid-19 strongly influences SNC and, similarly, SNC also strongly influences involvement with Covid-19. Furthermore demographics, excluding habitation, also influence these variables. However, the relationship between the involvement and SNC variables does not differ between the two countries. This study has provided a better understanding of consumers’ involvement with Covid-19 and SNC as components of consumer behavior, which is important since, during the Covid-19 pandemic, retailers have been instrumental in implementing health protocols. Therefore, understanding the relationship between involvement with Covid-19 and SNC, and how they are influenced by consumer demographics, is important.

School curriculum in post-colonial societies has been castigated, not only as alien and irrelevant, but as dehumanizing and marginalizing to the indigenous people. This study gleans insights into how Ubuntu (humanness) – a strand of indigenous African knowledge - is being implemented in Zimbabwe’s New Curriculum Framework 2015-2022. This qualitative desktop study, couched within the Southern Theory framework, teases the enactment of Ubuntu (or lack of it) in classroom practice. Critical discourse analysis was adopted as the research design in reviewing 15 studies published between 2016 and 2021 on the implementation of Ubuntu in Zimbabwean primary and secondary schools. Findings indicate that, while Ubuntu is espoused as the overarching reform philosophy, not much has been done to nurture classroom practice that promotes collective participation, communitarianism, humility, and love for humanity – the key principles of Ubuntu. This critical discourse shows that most teachers, because of their training, limited knowledge, urbanization and westernization, are not keen to practice Ubuntu in their classrooms. Paltry salaries and poor working conditions also demotivate most teachers from embracing curriculum change and experimenting with new ideas.

This article discusses social issues faced by children which can be solved through children’s literature. Apart from children’s literature is seen only as a resource for reading, it can also be utilised in solving other societal ills faced by children. These ills include bullying, abuse, family structure and physical impairment. Social challenges are unpacked, detailing how they affect children. Low literacy levels are an issue for many children in South Africa. There are external conditions of learning which may be explained as features outside the learner that influence learning possibilities and are involved in the learning process. These external features are what this article analyze as it has been observed that some of them inhibit the environment for learning, thereby obstructing learning or the required standard of literacy in general.

Globalization and rapid technological change have made knowledge a critical determinant of competitiveness in the world’s economy. Online education has been auspicious and adjustable even to students with tight schedules. However several critical success factors need to be improved in order to enhance the effective learner experience. This paper is aimed at uncovering the impact of three critical success factors namely; instructional design, learner interaction and learner technology adaptation on learner experience. Hence, the discretions of 300 students were diagnosed using the Likert scale questionnaire ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The Holm Bonferroni method from R- package version 0.88 (2021 edition), was engaged to reduce the family-wise error (FWER) associated with multiple hypothesis comparison. It was observed that at a 5% level of significance, the alternative hypothesis was acceptable in favor of the null hypothesis and the conclusion was that instructional design, learner interaction, and technology adaptation, have a direct impact on the learning experience of the learner. The adopted models for the three critical success factors were validated by the Fornell and Larcker's (1981) convergent reliability test and tolerable with high composite reliability of 0.71. In accordance with the adopted model, a well instructional design is suggested for compliance.

This paper articulates on the challenges of unemployment in Butterworth, a town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The objectives of the study were to investigate psychological, social and economic challenges of unemployment respectively. Keynisian theory was used to explain the unemployment situation in the study area. The study made use of quantitative approach, where 80 respondents were drawn from the target population through a stratified sampling technique. Data collected from survey (questionnaire) were analysed with appropriate tools in the Statistics Package for Social Sciences. Demographically, the majority of the sample were females, people between the ages of 18-23, all of African race, were never married, had a diploma, were unemployed for more than three years and said they had not look for work in three weeks. The most prevalent feeling by the unemployed was disappointment and frustration, which according to them led them to engage in anti-social behaviour, especially being dishonest in many occasions and use of alcohol. The biggest social challenge among them include, not getting the expected support from family and friends. They face many economic challenges, in which they are unable and sometimes struggle to have money to apply for jobs or buy clothes. This study made recommendations on how to overcome the challenges of unemployment in the study area

This study aimed to explore the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs operating in the learner transport industry in South Africa, specifically in the Gauteng province. The study adopted a qualitative research approach by making use of semi-structured interviews with 15 female entrepreneurs operating in the learner transport industry in the Gauteng province. A non-probability sampling approach was adopted by means of convenience sampling. Data was analysed through thematic content analysis, using Atlas.ti.  Findings from the study indicated that female entrepreneurs in the learner transport industry face several challenges such as high operational costs, a male-dominated industry, being disrespected or undermined by customers, a lack of trust and commitment, being belittled, as well as a lack of opportunity awareness. Participants also indicated a need for government intervention in the industry due to prevailing working conditions. The findings of the study contribute both to the industry, as well as the existing body of knowledge. The findings from the study will assist the national government to collaborate with regional governmental transport agencies, as well as with regional industry associations in an effort to improve the working environment for female entrepreneurs, as well as grow the learner transport industry in a more structured and regulated manner. The industry, despite being regulated by regional transport associations, is currently unstructured.

Chobeliso, as it is known in Lesotho, is the practice of abducting young girls for marriage. Despite global authorities establishing child marriage as a violation of human rights, chobeliso continues to be practiced, particularly in communities that perceive it as a customary, religious and/or social norm. Furthermore, limitations of legislation may inadvertently contribute to perpetuating forced child marriages. This paper explores the role of the Lesotho legislature in responding to child abductions for forced marriages. A sample of 10 adult female participants from the Semonkong area in Lesotho, who were abducted and forced to marry as children, were selected using a snowball sampling technique. In-depth interviews were used to collect data that were analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that most women were abducted and forced into marriage while they were under the legal age of marriage and the offenders were not prosecuted. There are limitations of law in prosecuting cultural practices considered customary by the Basotho people. Even though existing laws protect children's rights, Basotho people perceive forced marriage as acceptable. This paper argues that preventing forced child marriage requires strengthened legal frameworks to ensure increased awareness, greater enforcement of existing laws and severe punishment to increase deterrence measures.

Today use of Credit Card even in developing countries has become a common scenario. People use it to shop, pay bills and for online transactions. This study explored the challenges of forensic technology in responding to credit card fraud as an approach used by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Sedibeng region. This study was carried out utilising a qualitative approach and thirty nine interviews were carried out among officials deployed in the SAPS, community leaders, members of the community and bank managers. The key findings indicated that the challenges in responding to this scourge is that the perpetrators utilise advanced technologies resources (computer hacking software) as opposed to SAPS which does not have systems nor capacity to effectively respond to this crime. The limited resources to respond to this crime adequately. For recommendations; significant emphases should be directed on the promotion of public awareness through public education. The intensive training of SAPS officials and inter-governmental collaboration between the SAPS, community police forums, bank managers and South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) in understanding this technology are highly advised.