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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.

With the intensity of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being widely adopted to perform key tasks in economic activities. The audit profession has also embraced AI in the performance of its function in carrying out activities like audits, oversight, and advisory functions. The application of AI has been met with acceptance, given its advantages in some quarters and with resistance/scepticism in some. Proponents table benefits such as improved sampling procedures, reduced labour, and time in performing audits, increased efficiency, and effectiveness (due to increased audit coverage) including improved audit quality. Opponents raise pragmatic concerns such as the violation of ethical principles governing the audit profession, potential biases (loss of employment) as well as the challenges of coordinating machine and human activities. The study has two objectives. Firstly, to explore the role of AI in the external audit function. Secondly, to evaluate the ongoing debates on artificial intelligence and external auditing and assess the implications of using AI in the external audit function. The study adopts a qualitative research approach, employing a critical literature review. The study will accentuate the controversies and convergences among researchers on the role and implications of applying AI in external auditing to bring to light possible research gaps that can be explored by future researchers on the subject area. Highlighting the potential externalities of using AI has both theoretical and practical implications.

Tax compliance and evasion pose significant challenges to tax authorities in South Africa and other countries. In recent times, corporate governance issues have increasingly involved tax compliance. This study focuses on unresolved audit issues with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), expensive litigation, and lengthy arbitration with the tax Ombudsman. These issues are complicated by legal elucidations, legislative components, and regulatory frameworks. The paper aims to clarify the purpose of a tax legal audit expert at SARS in the initial phases of an audit procedure.  To answer this research question, a thorough mapping review using methodical, technique-based literature evaluation was conducted. The study found that the lack of skilled tax legal audit experts hampers the effectiveness and efficiency of tax audits. Therefore, tax authorities must invest in the skills of tax legal audit experts to improve audit outcomes.

The psychological, behavioral, and technological impacts of adopting online modalities in the Universities within the post-COVID-19 and 4IR era were assessed in this paper. The current researcher obtained informed consent from the 125 academic staff members from five universities in four provinces—the University of Pretoria, University of Johannesburg, Durban University of Technology, University of Western Cape, and North-West University—through a cross-sectional survey methodology. This study's researcher promoted voluntary participation and ensured ethical standards were respected. In total, 116 surveys were located and completed. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29 was used to clean and analyze the data. This study illustrates how willingness to use online modalities inside universities during the post-COVID-19 and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is highly influenced by a readiness to change, innovative work behavior, and technological competence. This study demonstrated that adopting online modalities in South African universities during the post-COVID-19 and 4IR periods was significantly influenced by technological proficiency, innovative behavior, and willingness to change.

The correlational impact of intra-organizational social capital, job burnout, and organizational reward in sustaining employee performance in the 4IR was evaluated in this paper. Four Hundred (400) employees of the following four businesses in the Nigerian states of Oyo and Lagos were given questionnaires on purpose: First City Monument Bank Plc, British American Tobacco Nigeria, Health Emergency Initiative, and Eko Pearl Towers. The current researcher encouraged voluntary participation and ensured that moral standards were upheld. There were found and appropriately concluded 377 surveys in total. The data was cleaned up and analyzed using SPSS version 29 of the statistical package for social sciences. This study demonstrates how organizational rewards and intra-organization social capital significantly impact employee performance. Job burnout negatively impacts it. Additionally, the study discovered that job burnout, organizational reward, and intra-organizational social capital had a significant and combined impact on employee performance.

Over the past two decades, cybercrime and cybercriminals have had a great impact on the safety, security and protection of the public sector’s confidential data and information assets. The increased usage of the internet and new, advanced 4IR technologies, and the digitisation of government’s public sector goods and services have become a growing concern to the government and its public sector institutions. In the South African context, as a developing country, it unfortunately lags behind advanced and developed nations in terms of fully counteracting cybercrime and cybercriminal operations. Despite this challenge, the South African government has been making tremendous efforts in combatting cybercrime. The aim of this article is to contextualise the study and practice of cyber threat intelligence at the national sphere of government in the South African public sector, namely, the former Department of Energy (DoE), former Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the former Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) a qualitative research approach was followed using a case study approach. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with senior departmental management. The findings are presented according to the Threat Intelligence Lifecycle analysis which serves as an analytical framework. The study concludes that in order to achieve effective cybersecurity practices and principles in the public sector , the government must identify the top trends commonly associated with cybersecurity to be able to develop and implement counteractive strategies and approaches, as well as to improve security systems and programs to ensure that an organisation is sufficiently prepared for and protected against cybercriminals and cyberattacks.

Formative assessment is crucial for teachers to gauge students’ understanding of subject content, and applying formative assessment in an online context is more challenging than in a traditional Physical Sciences classroom. This study examines challenges experienced by Grade 10 Physical Sciences teachers when enacting online formative assessment as per the research question. The empirical investigation adopted a generic qualitative design in which three purposively selected Grade 10 Physical Sciences teachers from three different schools and quintiles within the Tshwane North District in South Africa. Data were collected through individual and focus group interviews. Interviews were video recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed using grounded theory to construct a thematic framework for supporting the study. Technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) was utilised as a theoretical framework underpinning the study to identify challenges experienced by Grade 10 Physical Sciences teachers when enacting online formative assessment. Challenges identified in this study include the enforced utilisation of Annual Teaching Plans, lack of technological knowledge, lack of internet connectivity, and poor digital infrastructure at schools, and in towns and cities in South Africa. The study aims to show that the Department of Basic Education faces the key imperative to provide continuous teacher professional development and concomitant online learning materials that can facilitate meaningful enactment of online formative assessment in various educational settings while policy is needed to ensure that every student has access to data and internet resources.

This study was motivated by the need to shift from the illusory perception of longing for e-Governance to be declared a new paradigm of Public Administration. Public Administration is said to be static, but yet dynamic. Implying that the dynamics of Public Administration can incorporate electronic governance (e-Governance) to improve matters of governance, public service delivery, accountability and transparency in public affairs. However, even with an incongruous adoption and implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within the South African government, this study shed light on the empirical and systematic evidence and analytical distinction between e-Governance and public administration. The analysis suggests that the complexity and implication of e-Governance via the use of ICTs may enhance government efficacy. Still, it cannot be entirely trusted in maintaining administration and government-businesses-citizens interaction partly due to its rapid technological changes and the various conditions of its implementation within different nations including South Africa. With the aid of qualitative research methods, which heavily relied on secondary data gathered from scholarly journals, academic books, trusted databases and websites, this study reveal that there is scant evidence to support research in incorporating e-Governance as a new paradigm of Public Administration due to the imbalance, network failures, inadequate ICTs infrastructure to govern in a democratic manner which include all citizens. This study concludes that e-Governance is already analysed from a public administration dynamic and complementary perspective implying that it is an analytically and structurally incomplete reform to take its full form as a new Public Administration paradigm due to its rapid technological changes.

Over the past decades there has been a remarkable paradigm shift in Public Administration. Traditional Public Administration was in dire need for a change of a New Public Administration (NPA) approach in the 1980s. From early 2000s, the NPA began to be subjected to heavy criticism, which influenced public administration to take complete control of different reforms and approaches regardless of their diversity, complexity, hybrid and contradictory situations rather than offering the perfect approach and reform to the public sector. The New Public Management (NPM) and Post-New Public Management (Post-NPM) paradigms emerged in times whereby the NPA was already experiencing a massive deconstruction and reconfiguration of the public sector management. To scan and understand the remarkable paradigm shift in the field and practice of public administration, this study applies both NPM and Post-NMP to examine different views, principles, values and norms, and reform proposals for South African Public Administration. Methodologically, this study used qualitative research methods with the aid of secondary data to evaluate both the NPM and post-NPM paradigms, criticisms, arguments, challenges, and changes in public policy implementations. Recommendations are provided based on the existing challenges confronting the current public administration in South Africa. This study contributes to literature, new policy proposals and research within public administration.

This study examines readers` perceptions and preferences for online and print newspapers in four South African legacy newspapers. Specifically, the study aims to: i) determine the influence of whether or not a print newspaper succeeded in the 4IR; ii) examine the challenges and opportunities that print newspapers in South Africa face; and iii) examine the influence of customer satisfaction on customer perceptions of print newspapers. The study employed a quantitative methodology, and data from readers of the Daily Maverick 168, the Mail and Guardian, Isolezwe, and Grocott's Mail were gathered and analysed using a descriptive survey method. A sample of 249 readers made up the study's participants, and the technique for gathering data was a standardised questionnaire. The findings show that readers' perceptions and preferences influenced their decision to read a particular newspaper. The study recommends that all key players in the South African newspaper sector make use of the findings to enrich strategies and policies for the adoption of news materials in the sphere of digital business.

The work environment in Nigerian financial institutions reflects the polarization and segregation of employees into different employment statuses. However, the implications of this on employee task identity are rarely discussed. This study, therefore, examined the difference in the task identity between the outsourced and core employees in Nigerian financial institutions. A cross-sectional survey research design was employed. A total of 359 employees were selected from six commercial banks in Southeast Nigeria using a multistage sampling method. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to analyze data at the bi-variate level, while logistic regression analysis was used at the multi-variate level, all at p<0.05. Outsourced employees experienced a lower level of task identity than core employees. Employment status (OR =5.501, 95% CI 3.051-9.919) and education (OR=2.896, 95% CI 1.329-6.313) were significantly associated with task identity. Banks should design enriched jobs that will enable the completion of entire job functions for all employees without discrimination or favor to any groups or persons, as this will help employees to identify with their tasks when completed and feel pride and important, as well as enhance employee motivation, satisfaction, and commitment.

This research aimed to identify the key drivers of the pharmaceutical supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic disruption, focusing on the South African pharmaceutical industry. The study aimed to unveil the dynamic strategies and challenges experienced during the pandemic and suggest recommendations for resilient supply chain operations. The study drew on established supply chain management theories and integrated them with the unique and novel circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. It mainly referred to theories regarding pricing, strategic sourcing, ICT usage, product availability, and logistics management contextualised within the pharmaceutical industry. An exploratory research approach was adopted to uncover the five overarching themes that function as pharmaceutical supply chain drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were used to acquire the primary data with industry supply chain professionals, supplemented with secondary data from industry reports and relevant literature. The findings revealed that the pricing of medications, strategic sourcing decisions, information and communication technology, the availability of pharmaceutical products, and logistics management played critical roles in the pharmaceutical industry's supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to challenges such as price hikes, supply shortages, and logistical complications. The study provides crucial insights into managing supply chain disruptions amid a global health crisis. Implementing dynamic pricing mechanisms, developing resilient sourcing strategies, using ICT effectively, improving inventory management, and enhancing logistics management are recommended for robust supply chain operations. The findings contribute to academia by enriching the existing body of knowledge and offering practical solutions for industry supply chain professionals. The research is original and timely, offering a unique perspective on the South African pharmaceutical industry's supply chain during an unprecedented global health crisis. The results are valuable for academia and industry, shedding light on the adaptive strategies, challenges encountered, and lessons learned from navigating the pharmaceutical supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study looks at potential barriers to internationalization that SMMEs in South Africa may face while implementing service quality strategies. The contingency theory, which underpins this essay, emphasizes the necessity for SMMEs to employ a variety of techniques for resolving issues that may impede the implementation of a service quality strategy for the international market. Thematic analysis methods were used in this paper's qualitative research technique, and secondary sources were predominantly used to acquire data on both the private and public sectors. A comprehensive search was used to find the foundational literature for the qualitative study. The results obtained indicate that SMMEs struggle to put their specific strategies into practice because of things like management support, vision barriers, resource barriers, organizational leadership and commitment issues, a lack of knowledge about international markets, technological barriers as a barrier to strategy implementation, and culture, environment, and change management. The authors recommend small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) devote sufficient effort, resources, and staff to the implementation of their service quality improvement strategy for internationalization. Furthermore, it is advised that SMMEs prioritise service quality strategies for internationalization as well as the necessity of pursuing joint ventures with other multinational enterprises. High leadership dedication, increased global technology improvement, and consideration of environmental considerations will all contribute to improved service quality for the international market. All of this is done to make it easier to implement a strategy and supply appropriate services to all SMMEs in South Africa.

The comprehension of oral literature is very crucial as it is the literature that is readily available, that is at no cost most of the time. If used well, it can play a huge role in combating some of the issues of literacy. Due to oral tradition being part of many people’s cultures, it is one literature that can be relied upon in a country that has varied socio-economic issues. It is considered that oral literature is an important entry point to the meaning of verbal texts and that it plays an important role in exposing children to words. This article analyses selected Northern Sotho rhymes and folktales as forms of oral literature that can be utilised in addressing literacy challenges, demonstrating how teachers and learners can use rhymes and folktales as a teaching and learning resource. The article has demonstrated that some rhymes can teach children sequence of events, colours, different animals, cooperation, social skills and be a form of exercise. Folktales add on to their vocabulary and impart some moral skills.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the human capital and human capability models in order to show the connection between graduation and employment. There appear to be topical issues in Zimbabwean electronic and print media regarding the complaint of the mismatch between the students’ training and the product of graduates, which may lead to the failure to meet the industry’s needs. The mismatch between the university curriculum and national developmental needs results in the production of graduates who have to be trained in order to be employable in industry, and this little linkage led me to write this paper. A qualitative interpretive study of the examination of the gap between graduation and employability was used after identifying a small-scale case study with twenty (20) managers and university students that were purposefully sampled and then interviewed. The results of the interviews were presented in tables and graphs, then analyzed and interpreted. The findings of the results revealed that Zimbabwean businesses are suffering from the influx of recent graduates who lack the market-required scientific, technological, social, problem-solving, and creative abilities. The involvement of different stakeholders in higher education institutions, including the government, universities, and industries, should lead to the production of education and economic policy’s new language, posture, position, and direction that Zimbabwe could take to stabilize the economy. A new stable season where values are corrected and projected towards economic recovery, industrialization of the economy, and the creation of employment can be realized.

The study examined the impact of the gender inequality gap in administration which serves as a interference to achieving sustainable social and economic development in Africa. The existence of gender differences has been overlooked in management and leadership research; hence it remains a reality that women are underrepresented in leading management positions in general on the ground, and particularly in leadership roles. The main question is if women’s call to occupy leadership positions is a complete reality or if it is purely a pursuit for political acceptability. Gender gaps in the workforce over the last two decades remained largely unaffected, notwithstanding the increased number of women who have acquired education. Qualitatively, data was primarily collected through secondary content. The need to improve the education systems in low and middle-income countries is recommended, as all countries can reap the benefit of optimizing their deployment of female-skilled professionals and leverage their talent.

This paper aims to provide an overview of corporate social responsibility (CSR) from an Islamic perspective. The discussion includes an overview on aspects such as CSR activities, CSR and the environment, CSR and marketing, CSR and stakeholders, CSR benefits and challenges and CSR research conducted in various countries. The research is based on a narrative review, considering selected literature relevant to the topic. In general, the study concludes that engaging in CSR does not violate the Sharia, however, there are numerous challenges in implementing and reporting on the impact of CSR activities. Thus, more studies of an empirical nature are needed to understand CSR in the context of the Islamic financial system.

The primary aim of this study was to assess the demand for internet services before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, considering the challenges and opportunities brought about by the global health crisis. While the pandemic has had numerous negative impacts on people's lives, it has also facilitated advancements in technology, particularly the adoption of the 4th industrial revolution. To explore the positive impacts of these technological advancements, the study focused on analysing changes in household internet usage using the 2019 and 2021 General Household Survey data obtained from STATS SA. The study examined the shifts in internet usage between the two data sets and found a modest increase in internet usage over time. To further investigate the determinants of household internet usage, the study employed descriptive analysis, cross-tabulations, and a binary logistic regression model. Income, age, household size, and gender were used as independent variables, while internet usage served as the dependent variable. The results revealed that all the independent variables were statistically significant factors influencing the probability of internet usage. Income and household size demonstrated a positive relationship with internet usage, indicating that higher levels of income and larger household sizes were associated with increased demand for internet services. Conversely, the age of the household head showed a negative effect on internet usage, suggesting that as individuals grew older, their likelihood of using the internet decreased. Additionally, the study found that male-headed households exhibited higher levels of internet usage compared to their female counterparts. To ensure that digital inclusion is prioritized, it is crucial for authorities to ensure that internet access is accessible to low-income households. Addressing the disparity in internet usage between higher and lower-income households is essential. Government regulators can encourage broadband providers to expand affordable internet access, while reducing administrative burdens to facilitate network deployment, thereby supporting the current levels of internet usage, and promoting further growth. By considering these findings, policymakers and stakeholders can develop strategies to bridge the digital divide and ensure equal access to internet services for all segments of society. This will contribute to a more inclusive and equitable digital landscape, fostering social and economic development in the medium to long term.

This article deals with rhetorical questions as a literary device in N.G. Sibiya’s selected essays in Amalangabi (1993). Rhetorical questions are employed for different purposes in literature, and this discourse intends to discover the rhetorical purpose they serve in Sibiya’s essays specifically. The study is motivated by the discovery that, even though rhetorical questions are used artistically in N.G. Sibiya’s essays, there seems to be no work, so far, that has been done to examine this. Since the study observes the rhetoric or stylistic use of rhetorical questions, literary stylistics is adopted as a theory to theoretically ground the analysis. Textual analysis, as a qualitative research technique, is also adopted because data is primary collected, organised, and interpreted from Sibiya’s two essays (Amalimi and Izibongo). The analysis of data will highlight how Sibiya employs rhetorical questions for different stylistic effects in his essays. This includes their emphasis and persuasive effects. It also includes their role as a channel to express strong emotions, their ability to draw readers to the problem and promote critical discussions, and their ability to challenge common assumptions and beliefs.

Globally, governments should prioritise and lead cybersecurity awareness as they have a duty to inform their citizens about responsible online behavior. This study aims to search for government-led cybersecurity awareness practices followed by the four world-leading countries (the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Saudi Arabia and Estonia) as evident on their websites. This qualitative study employs content analysis by performing a review of the four world-leading countries’ websites, with a specific focus on support materials and other relevant activities as part of cybersecurity awareness. Analysis of the websites found that cybersecurity awareness practices had a wide reach. Firstly, a host of multimedia content (videos, readings, infographics, memes, games, and quizzes) was used in addition to social media platforms. Secondly, the content was categorized for a range of users, with parents and children being favored. Lastly, for countries where the first language was not English, websites were in the official language in addition to English. The study contributes to the literature on cybersecurity awareness. The good practices employed by these countries could serve as a benchmark globally for other countries seeking to formulate or update their websites. Furthermore, showcasing the four world-leading countries serves to assist countries which have a lower Global Cybersecurity Index organizational measure can improve their cybersecurity awareness websites.