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This study investigates opportunistic behaviour in Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) within South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services, with a focus on its implications for governance and project performance. While PPPs are used to support infrastructure delivery in the correctional sector, concerns persist regarding the conduct of partnering actors and the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms. A qualitative research design was employed, using semi-structured interviews with officials involved in PPP management. The data were analysed thematically to identify key patterns and institutional challenges. The findings indicate that opportunistic behaviour is driven by information asymmetry, weak transparency practices, and unequal power relations between partners. In addition, gaps in monitoring and accountability systems enable contractual non-compliance and reduce project efficiency. These factors collectively weaken governance and undermine the long-term sustainability of PPP arrangements. The study contributes to the limited empirical literature on PPP governance in correctional services and recommends strengthening institutional oversight, improving transparency, and addressing power imbalances to enhance partnership performance

Infrastructure development remains a core mandate of local government in South Africa; however, many municipalities continue to experience persistent infrastructure backlogs due to financial constraints, limited technical capacity, and governance challenges. In response to these challenges, public–private partnerships (PPPs) have increasingly been adopted as an alternative approach to infrastructure development, enabling collaboration between the public and private sectors through the sharing of resources, expertise, and risk. Despite their growing application, the effectiveness of PPPs at the local government level remains inconsistent, particularly within smaller and resource-constrained municipalities.

Governments of Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries have struggled to successfully invest in capital intensive projects. As such, public private partnerships play a key role in redefining the role of Government in the context of infrastructure projects, by focusing on supervision and regulation and moving away from direct ownership and management. Sub Saharan African countries have seen such inclusive partnerships yielding some numerous benefits in different sectors. However, despite the salubrious benefits that PPPs have brought in different projects, PPPs in SSA countries are still dogged by a myriad of administrative, technical, financial and legal challenges. These corporate governance related challenges have made it difficult for these SSA governments to glean the full benefits of PPPs. The study is informed by the qualitative methodology with an extensive review of literature. Data was gathered from purposively selected written documents and these documents were analysed using thematic and content analysis techniques. The study established that there are some corporate governance deficiencies in most PPP projects in the SSA countries. Additionally, most of these public projects in the SSA lack adequate good corporate governance attention that is given to the PPP procedures and processes involved. The study therefore recommends that there is need for the full adoption of good corporate governance systems, practices, processes and procedures in the PPPs designing, financing, implementation and operationalisation in SSA.

Over the last decade, developing countries have been promoting public-private partnerships (PPPs) as an alternative approach to developing infrastructure and services. This is done by utilising the efficiency and innovation of the private sector and enabling access to private-sector finance through public-private partnerships (PPP). Importantly, PPPs ensure more value for money than traditional financing options and highway and transportation infrastructure revenue sources. The study is qualitative, relied on the extensive review of written documents. In light of this, the study explores the utility and efficacy of PPPs in road tolling initiatives and highway infrastructure investment in Zimbabwe. Emphasis was placed on the PPP arrangement between the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) and a South African company- Group Five, which saw road tolls being erected and operationalised to fund Zimbabwean highway infrastructure. The paper established that despite this PPP arrangement being a success, as seen by the faster completion of the trunk roads, lower project lifecycle costs, better risk allocation, faster implementation of public works and services, improved service quality and additional revenue streams a myriad of operational and administrative challenges equally dogged it. To this effect, the paper, therefore, recommends some strategies to strengthen and enhance the adoption, operationalization, and management of PPPs for road tolling and highway infrastructure investments in developing countries.

Clean, sufficient water is becoming increasingly scarce worldwide, particularly in African metropolitan areas. Today's urban water systems face several challenges, including, among other things, migration from rural to urban areas, climate change, natural disasters, and a lack of institutional capacity, expertise, and financial and human resources. As a result, governments across Africa are struggling to meet constitutional requirements to provide clean and sufficient water and sanitation. This article aims to investigate the value of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in improving Africa's urban water infrastructure. The research in this article was qualitative. Data were gathered through a literature review, and conceptual analysis was used. The findings show that a variety of factors are at work.