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The study was meant to provide a comparative analysis of the association between economic complexity and the current account performance for selected Sub-Saharan Africa and the BRICS group. Economic complexity measures the sophistication of a country’s productive structure by combining information on the diversity of a country (the number of products it exports), and the ubiquity of its products (the number of countries that export that product). The objective was to investigate whether a short- and long-term relationship exists through a Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PARDL) for 1994 – 2018. Additionally, agricultural exports were also incorporated to measure against the economic complexity Index (ECI). On the current account-ECI relationship, the PARDL estimates exposed a positive and significant impact from ECI on the current account performance in both groups in the long run, while short-run results were insignificant. On the other hand, agricultural exports were an insignificant predictor of the current account in both groups in the long run. However, only the BRICS realised a significant negative contribution in the short-run. Hence, it is essential, especially the still developing selected SSA, to improve upon its ECI to facilitate a current account improvement better. There is a need to modernise the agricultural and agro-industries in the selected SSA. The region should harness the full potential of its agricultural sector and also the overall, abundance of raw resources to advance process-led products for the export market.

The paper seeks to illustrate the propinquity between mobile phone technology and the profitability of immigrant entrepreneurs’ businesses and whether there is a positive effect. The outcome should ascertain if mobile technology could be propounded as a credible source of competitive advantage. The paper uses a qualitative approach, using content analysis as the research design tool. Data analysis was done through the conceptual content analysis approach. Various online databases such as EBSCOhost, Google scholar, JSTOR, and Science Direct were accessed for literature. Different terms (keywords) such as; “Mobile phone technology”, “mobile marketing”, and “mobile payment” were searched. The data collected through a systematic literature review were compiled, analysed, and generated conclusions. This paper deduces that immigrant entrepreneurs stand to gain a competitive edge by using mobile phone technology, thereby improving business performance. Future researchers need to expand the scope of their study to other sectors and industries globally. The paper exhibits the significance of apps and websites as mobile technology tools that can positively impact business performance. This paper outlines how mobile technology is now an essential catalyst in the performance of various business sectors. Results are essential to app and website developers, entrepreneurs and the business society.

The teaching of life sciences within the Islamic culture was observed in this investigation by instructors at the Association of Muslim Schools in the KZN region. The following question served as the basis for the investigation: Do Islamic schools teach life sciences from an Islamic perspective? The Association of Muslim Schools gave its approval after receiving ethical scrutiny. A questionnaire, interviews, and observations were used to gather data. The analysis of the data was conducted using an inductive methodology. The philosophy of Islam and its approaches to teaching the required Life Sciences curriculum served as the study's conceptual foundation. The results show that there is a problem with integrating religious knowledge into science teaching in Muslim ethos schools in South Africa. The Professional Teaching Model was an initiative to close the gap caused by educational dualism.

  Society plays a vital role in guiding human behaviours; as a result, the public needs to adhere to societal rules. This then gives primal importance to institutions, especially mass media, which communicate to the public. The accuracy of the institutions' information influences how well the public adheres to societal rules. This paper uses COVID-19 as a case study to investigate how mass media influences society's compliance with societal rules. This paper aims to examine both the positive and negative impacts of the media during COVID-19 and massages out how the media bring about social change through their influence on human behaviour. This paper is guided by strategic communication theory. The paper concludes that moving forward, the ethics of mass media is the best approach as it would go a long way to ensure that the industry's standards are high. Keywords: COVID-19, Mass media, Strategic Language, Communication, Ethics

With the growing popularity of social media as a news source, there is a need to explore the audience-inclusion function of these social media platforms for news reporting. It is imperative to explore how the audience uses these platforms in the production of news to define the transformative nature of the media and its role in empowering society (the audience) to ‘break’ and tell their own story. Furthermore, it is necessary to understand how these social media platforms encourage audience inclusion and provide opportunities for the audience to participate in the production and dissemination of news items. In understanding this, society will be able to situate the role of emerging social media platforms in news dissemination, especially in the 21st century. The study conceptualised the audience inclusion theory to explore and examine the role of Facebook and Twitter in producing and disseminating news, particularly in reporting the #FeesMustFall campaign. It explored how social media allows participation in news production and dissemination and how #FeesMustFall participants used Facebook and Twitter to produce and disseminate news about the protest. The study used a qualitative exploratory approach within the interpretive paradigm to understand the audience inclusion role in news dissemination. Findings indicate that students find recourse in social media as an avenue for news during the peak of #FeesMustFall. There is also a change in news reporting due to audience inclusion provided by social networks. Also, citizens in the form of university students have become more engaged with social media because of its ease of access and sense of connectedness.

Education is generally considered to be the core source of individuals’ better life and countries' economic and social development. Consequently, attending university and getting high qualifications are perceived as tools that generate and enhance economic growth. The current study aimed to analyse the effect of various educational levels on South African economic growth. The study employed quarterly data from 1995Q1 to 2021Q4. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model was employed to assess both long-run and short-run relationships among variables. The long-run results revealed that people who completed their grade 12 (with matric certificate) and bachelor's degrees contribute positively to South African economic growth. However, honours and higher degrees (master's and PhD) were found to have an inverse relationship with economic growth in South Africa. On the other hand, the short-run relationship indicated that all education levels contribute to economic growth in the short term. Based on these findings, the author suggests that the South African higher education curriculum should be revised as the negative effect of high education towards economic growth should be resulting in growing unemployment and graduates waiting to be employed rather than creating jobs themselves. Additionally, increasing job creation for graduates with higher qualifications would reduce the number of graduates that leave the country looking for employment abroad.

In recent years, most South African (SA) municipalities still need to produce clean audits. In 2018 and 2019, most municipalities in SA needed better-quality financial statements and performance reports. Misrepresentation of financial statements in audit reports is linked to inadequate governance, misappropriation of public funds and poor public service delivery. It is upon this background that this study aimed to: (i) assess perceptions of municipality middle management employees on factors affecting auditing, (ii) evaluate the differences in perceptions among municipality middle management employees on factors affecting auditing, (iii) measure the effect of factors affecting auditing on overall clean audit and (iv) establish the effect of clean audit on service delivery at two municipalities in Mpumalanga province. Using a structured questionnaire, a quantitative descriptive approach methodology was employed to collect data from a minimum sample of 294 employees in the middle management category working within the accounting and finance department at two municipalities in Mpumalanga province, SA. SPSS v28 was used to conduct descriptive and multivariate analyses, including mean, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation, and regression analysis. Results indicated that employees from the clean audit municipality had positive perceptions of factors affecting clean audit, while employees from the municipality with an unclean audit had negative perceptions. It was also concluded that factors affecting auditing had a statistically significant positive effect on clean audits. The findings in this study led to significant implications for theory and practice.

As qualitative research, this article aims to critically engage on the level of scholarship by modern scholars for pursuing knowledge development in South African public administration. The article also concludes that the purpose of peer review is to evaluate and improve the text and that if scholars perceive their purpose in review as to criticise and not to critique the scientific work for areas of improvement, they expose their weaknesses and biases, which does not contribute to knowledge development and improvement in the scholarship debates.

Business organizations face more issues due to globalization and continually changing customer expectations. To overcome these challenges, businesses must invest in the training and development of their employees. Training and development are essential nowadays. Employee performance is improved via training and development. A company's personnel determine its efficacy. In this era of globalization, training is crucial for the competitive and challenging corporate environment. The nerve must contribute to raising employees' quality of life at work and expanding the business. This paper aimed to investigate the impact of training and development programs on employee performance and productivity in the selected municipality of OR Tambo District Municipality, South Africa. To conduct this study, the researchers embraced an exploratory qualitative approach. The rationale for implementing qualitative methodology emanates from the need to understand the effectiveness of training programs in the Oliver Tambo district municipality in Eastern cape province, South Africa.The administration of the Nyandeni Local municipality conceded permission. The researchers acquired the letter, which permitted them to gather information from employees from the local municipality. Ethical clearance was affirmed genuinely. Non-probability sampling was used for its convenient strength. Precisely, data was obtained using semi-structured face-to-face interviews for this study. Thirty-five participants were included in this research study. According to the results, poor training and development were seen as a cause for the poor performance of employees. Capacity building was seen as a tool to increase employee commitment. Training programs were only visible to some in the municipality and the present study recommended that the Skills office conduct roadshows so that all employees could understand the office's role in the municipality. The study further recommended that training and development be closely monitored to determine its effectiveness.

Leadership theories have underpinned significant leadership studies and practices which span decades. Despite the plethora of research on different leadership theories and styles, there is minimal research exploring the relationship between previous leadership theories and the ethical leadership style. Previous research has shown that the ethical leadership effect goes above and beyond other leadership styles and theories as the latter lack an exclusive ethical focus. Therefore, this paper aims to address the identified gap from a preliminary perspective of previous leadership theories as compared to the ethical leadership style. In addition, ethical leadership is the ‘only’ leadership style that is part of the King IV code and report on Corporate Governance in South Africa. The study is built on previous research conducted on leadership theories in relation to ethical leadership and corporate governance as per the King IV report. The method employed involved conducting a historical narrative review of research from more than 60 relevant sources obtained from different databases and search engines on this topic. The paper found that a relationship exists between historical and contemporary leadership theories, contemporary theories and ethical leadership style, and ethical leadership and corporate governance. Stemming from these results, a conceptual model of the relationship between leadership theories, ethical leadership style, and Ubuntu ethics is shown. It is hoped that different types of organizations in South Africa will benefit from this review paper since most need to comply with the King IV report and code. The focus should be on ethical leadership as it promotes better employee performance and positive organizational outcomes.

Leadership effectiveness is critical for organisational success. An assessment of the factors which promote leadership effectiveness is therefore warranted. The study sought to investigate the attributes of effective leaders within the retail industry and reveal how they influence the perceptions of subordinates of the level of leadership in the sector. A self-administered questionnaire was hand-delivered to a sample of managers employed by retailing firms in the greater Tshwane area. The researchers analysed survey data from 104 respondents, using exploratory factor analysis to tease out the factors representing the attributes of effective leaders relative to the level of leadership. The findings suggest that subordinates believed the level of leadership among retail managers to be average. The results of the multiple-factor analysis revealed four categories of attributes, namely skilful, inspiring, compassionate and persistent. The correlation analysis between the level of leadership and attributes of leadership/management team revealed the level of leadership to be significantly and positively related to skilful, inspiring and persistent. Our discussion highlights the importance of understanding the qualities that make an effective leader. The study furthers the results of the inquiry into leadership and suggests avenues for future research on enhancing leadership effectiveness among retail managers.

A study investigated how normative commitment leads to employee commitment in a South African University. The literature review was conducted on the concepts of employee commitment, normative commitment, and employee commitment in a university setting. An explanatory research design was adopted together with a deductive research approach. Quantitative methodological was chosen to determine the common characteristics of the respondents, and a survey by means of a questionnaire was used to collect data, while descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA (analysis of variance) were conducted on IBM SPSS, Version 26.  Findings suggest that none of the tested variables (gender, age, qualification as well as years in an organisation) influences commitment. This led to the conclusion that normative commitment does not influence employee commitment in that institution. Recommendations to include different variables to test normative commitment have been formulated, involving many other higher learning institutions. 

The proliferation of technology has innovated new ways of saving and investing money: online savings and investment platforms [OSIPs]. Predicting the intention to adopt Fintech has triggered the interest of many researchers in academia and industries. The primary objective of this study was to examine factors influencing the intention to adopt OSIPs in Nigeria by using data gathered from 640 digitally active citizens from selected cities in Nigeria. Reliability and validity tests were conducted through construct reliability and discriminant validity, respectively, through WarpPLS. Data were computed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version) 24 and analyzed with structural equation modeling via WarpPLS. The findings of this study showed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence significantly affect attitude while facilitating conditions predict intention to adopt. It was also found that attitude significantly influences the intention to adopt OSIPs. The paper also discusses the study’s research limitations and presents implications for theory and practice.

This study investigated the impact of parental financial socialisation on financial attitude of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa through quantitative research approach, survey design and self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected from young black African adults in Fetakgomo Tubatse and Intsika Yethu local municipalities, low-income and rural areas in South Africa. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationship between parental financial behaviour, parental financial monitoring, parental financial discussion, parental financial communication, and parental financial teaching with financial attitude. The results showed that parental financial communication and parental financial teaching had a significant positive relationship with financial attitude. While parental financial behaviour, parental financial monitoring and parental financial discussion had no significant positive relationship with financial attitude. Therefore, the overall results indicated that parental financial socialisation has no impact on financial attitude of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa. This study provided recommendations to parents, young black African adults, financial educators, financial services institutions, financial counsellors and the government.

This study aims to shed light on the continued difficulties municipalities in South Africa are having in achieving SDG 6 and also explore the impacts of effective governance principles on ensuring sustainable development. To explore this, the study adopted a qualitative research methodology in a form of a conceptual research design to gather secondary data. The secondary data covering SDG 6 challenges and effective governance principles were reviewed and synthesized. Different databases were used to review data from July through October 2022, such as Google Scholar, Google, Sabinet, Scopus, and other online platforms. Different keywords were used to guide and search the existing relevant literature. Secondary data was analyzed using a critical discourse analysis approach. Because of South Africa's lax governance standards, the theoretical findings of this study demonstrate that there are growing concerns about achieving SDG 6 in the near future. However, it can be agreed that progress toward effective governance has been encouraged and promoted, but the challenges remain. Therefore, the study recommends effective and inclusive governance because, without it, South Africa will not achieve its socio-economic goals, like SDG 6. South Africa should put in place structures that support constitutionalism, accountability, democracy, and good governance if it is to meet its development objectives. It is important to overcome lax governance, which is characterized by mismanagement, fraud, bribery, corruption, and a lack of accountability, transparency, and public participation. Again, South Africa should have an efficient government that works to fulfil the localized SDGs and responds to community desires and aspirations enshrined in the Municipal Systems Act (Act 32 of 2000)

COVID-19 has been observed as the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR), which has naturally advanced education five/ten years ahead of digitalisation. The COVID-19 revolution has obliged everyone to be a student needing to be educated about national lockdowns, personal hygiene practices, digital technologies, and vaccines. This study intended to explore lessons learned by higher education institution (HEI) students in Eswatini, Lesotho, the Republic of South Africa, and Zimbabwe during the COVID-19/5IR which helped them to complete their PhD studies. Using purposive with convenience sampling, this study selected twenty most accessible PhD students. The pragmatic paradigm, participatory action research (PAR), and natural identity were used to frame this study in order to guide reflective activities, Zoom focus-group discussions, and semi-structured interview data-generation methods. Findings indicated that students achieved good education on personal hygiene practices and digital technologies that assisted them to effectively deal/continue with their studies. However, education on vaccines remained a major concern because participants believed that the world was treating symptoms of COVID-19 by vaccinating humans more than dealing with the source/s of the virus before it affected humans. Consequently, this study recommends a good education that balances personal, societal, and professional needs to understand natural identities.

The role of strategic leadership in ensuring organisational survival and success has attracted much attention among researchers worldwide. However, more research needs to be conducted on the practice of university strategic leadership in Zimbabwe, especially in times of environmental turbulence. This conceptual paper examines extant literature on strategic leadership to propose a situated strategic leadership framework for research and practice in universities in Zimbabwe. A background literature review on models and frameworks of strategic leadership was conducted in several peer-reviewed journals to identify the dimensions and significance of the higher education institutions (HEIs) in Zimbabwe. The findings show that university strategic leadership requires individual and organisational capabilities, collective sense-making processes, and inclusive envisioning of the future in turbulent times. Three competencies of leading self as a university strategic leader involve strategic thinking, building personal social capital, and ethical competence. Additionally, five organisational-level capabilities include (1) setting and pursuing direction, (2) leading to drive strategy and results, (3) agility in leading strategic change, (4) building and using human capital, (5) and promoting an entrepreneurial and resilient culture. Based on the above components, an integrative framework of strategic leadership is proposed, which hinges on a holistic and systemic balance of the needs of multiple stakeholders, collective sense-making and inclusive envisioning of the future of a university. The paper concludes that university strategic leadership in turbulent times is complex and multi-dimensional and integrates individual and organisational capabilities and processes to reshape Direction, Alignment and Commitment (DAC).

Retracted Paper The need to train learners to think critically has been stressed and it has become a key concern among scholars in recent years. Although there is strong evidence demonstrating the benefits of critical thinking as well as proposals for its integration in schools, scholars are still looking for evidence demonstrating how teachers instill critical thinking in the classroom and the obstacles they face. Furthering this argument necessitated lecturers’ feedback on the obstacles to teaching critical thinking in the classroom. Data was collected from academics at a South African university of technology using interpretative phenomenological analysis approaches. The lecturers identified several obstacles that inhibited them from inculcating critical thinking in the classroom. The first one is time, according to the lecturers there is not enough time to inculcate critical thinking since the average lesson last for fifty minutes. The second is the large population of students. The third is the learners themselves who according to the lecturers are indifferent, unwilling to engage. Finally, the educational system according to the lecturers is based on rote learning and memorisation at all levels, which hinders creative, unique, and logical thinking. The findings of this study could have significant consequences for the auditing profession, as teachers are frequently pushed to come up with new approaches to help students improve their critical thinking abilities.

The study presents a burden on theory and practice for discovering a reward criterion that achieves workspace morale in a hyperinflationary context. It aimed to determine the relationship between the individual components of rewards (extrinsic, intrinsic, and social) and workspace morale and the mediating role of employee engagement in a hyperinflationary context. The study applied a cross-sectional study. It employed a structured questionnaire as a study instrument. The target population for the study comprised 900 employees and managers of Bindura municipality in Zimbabwe. The study employed a sample of 269 employees and managers, and the methodology used was a case study. A total of 269 questionnaires were hand delivered after administering the ethical consent form. A total of 214 questionnaires were returned, and after preliminary review and cleaning, 17 questionnaires were found with missing values leaving 197 analyzable questionnaires thus, achieving a 73.2% response rate. The study used multiple regression analysis. The results reveal a significant direct effect of total reward, intrinsic reward, and social reward on workspace morale. The direct effect of extrinsic reward on workspace morale was statistically insignificant. It also reveals that the effects of total reward on workspace morale are mediated only partially by employee engagement. The study viewed employee engagement as a mediating force between rewards and workspace morale but did not examine the bond longitudinally. The study recommends exploring reward options, specifically supportive supervisory relations, work autonomy, role clarity, skill variety and regular feedback to improve workspace morale in hyperinflation. The results demonstrate the importance of practices that win employee hearts to enhance commitment instead of external motivation in an inflationary environment.

The Covid-19 pandemic, a catalyst in embracing the online mode of learning, is one of the key motivating factors for a paradigm shift in curriculum development due to the increased focus and reliance on technology. For the effective education of tertiary students globally, a revised curriculum development integrated with the Learning Management Systems and other eLearning platforms or tools that support asynchronous learning play a key role. This study seeks to determine the influence of user experience and user interface design of e-learning platforms on learning experience in higher education. A systematic review of studies regarding usability of e-learning platforms at tertiary institutions was conducted to determine the common issues and successes. A snapshot of research over the last five years was used in a systematic review to determine the influence of UX/UI on eLearning concerning higher education. Using the ERIC and Google scholar databases of journals, and specific criteria for selection of publications, 25 articles were examined in this study. Findings indicate that focused attention on interface design and user experience of eLearning systems for effective learning is crucial.