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Thulamela's tourism sector has experienced growth in recent years, contributing to a steadily rising regional GDP. However, persistent unemployment and poverty raise concerns about the extent of local community involvement in tourism planning and decision-making, which is essential for ensuring equitable benefits, cultural preservation , and sustainable development. this study examined community participation and interactions with local businesses and authorities in Thohoyandou and surrounding villages within the Thulamela Local Municipality. A quantitative survey involving 304 community members was conducted, and the data were analyzed using SPSS version 29.0 with appropriate statistical techniques. the results reveal a significant gab between communities and administrative governance structure , along with a strong demand for inclusion in the formulation and drafting of tourism policies and participatory planning platforms. This study contributes to the scholarship on community involvement in tourism and offer potential insight for academics, managers, planners and policymakers who seek to enhance inclusive, community-centered tourism governance in developing contexts such as South Africa.

This paper examines the challenges facing the provision of low-cost housing conundrum, with specific reference to the Eastern Cape Province. The paper will further explore policy alternatives to the idea of low-cost housing scheme delivery over time with a view to improving delivery of low-cost housing inquest for integrated sustainable communities in the province. Against the above stated background, the aim of this paper is to investigate challenges facing the provision of low-cost housing on the people of Eastern Cape Province.  The guiding research question of this paper is: what is the efficacy way of implementing integrated low-cost housing strategy in addressing the problem of affordable housing shortage for the poor in the Province through the Integrated Human Settlement Plan? This papers setting is in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A mixed method approach is employed to explore and describe the complexities at play in the policy tensions conundrum in the Eastern Cape Province. The findings of this paper suggest that the goal and vision of Integrated Human Settlement Plan should be consistently communicated in clear simple terms to all affected, especially the rural poor communities as they are most affected by the provision of low-cost housing provision. This article contributes to the scholarship of Public Administration and Development Management of resources surrounding the ongoing debate on the implementation of Integrated Human Settlement programme’s and government interventions that are targeted at low income and poor communities in South Africa with regard to transformation, development and policy implementation. The main argument of this paper is that with an adequate policy execution of the government’s development agenda we can improve service delivery as well as integrated human settlement that brings human dignity to the province of the Eastern Cape.

Curriculum transformation in South African universities strives to revive disadvantaged communities to change existing Eurocentric and Westernized curriculums to be Afrocentric.  However, there are debates on whether there should be the adoption of fully Africanized curriculums or infusing African values into the Eurocentric epistemologies. The study sought to bring out the roles of entrepreneurial skills in curriculum transformation in one university in the Eastern Cape. The study adopted a qualitative approach, where university students and lecturers were the key informants. To collect data interviews were used where the interview schedule is attached. It was found that universities are challenged by organizational culture, lack of resources, the existence of colonial systems, and a colonial-caged mentality. The paper illustrated that decolonizing curriculums is useful in resource-constrained institutions if resources are pumped in and if the curriculum transformation works in an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Therefore, the university should invest more resources into the curriculum transformation and African and European epistemology should be fused to come up with strong and vibrant knowledge that will positively change societies. Additionally, for a university entrepreneurship ecosystem, there should be staff empowerment on entrepreneurship education in the curriculum across disciplines. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of abnormal accruals on abnormal tone in the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) statements of South Africa’s (SA) top 40 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed businesses in the 2021 financial year.  This study employs the quantile regression analysis and the generalised linear regression model.  For this evaluation, the Top 40 JSE-listed firms' integrated annual reports (IARs), which include the annual financial statements and CEO statements, were extracted from the companies' official web pages.  Findings revealed that abnormal accruals have a negative relationship with the abnormal tone used in the CEO statements of the top 40 JSE-listed companies. i.e., anomalous accruals and irregular tone move in different directions, as abnormal accruals increase, the abnormal tone in CEO statements decreases.  This suggests that abnormal accruals and abnormal tone do not co-occur and that companies with abnormal accruals do not conceal them using abnormal tone in their CEO statements.  We recommend that the amount of flexibility and judgment given to preparers of annual financial statements be reduced to lessen the use of earnings management practices.  The research adds to the sparse literature on tone management and earnings management in developing nations, particularly SA.

This article analyses factors that inhibit the quality of learning and teaching in one of the provinces of South Africa. The interpretive approach was used together with face-to-face interviews to collect data from five secondary schools. Two participants were interviewed in each school in the OR Tambo Coastal District in the Eastern Cape. Findings revealed that owing to large numbers of learners in the classroom, teachers’ workload is increased. Consequently, it is difficult for teachers to give feedback and provide learners with individual attention. Many under-resourced schools, such as rural schools, still face unacceptably high learner-teacher ratios and large classes in their schools. Teachers had problems in establishing discipline in their classrooms and dealing with the increasing noise level which made it difficult for learners to hear the teacher. It is recommended that School Governing Bodies should hire SGB-paid teachers. The Department of Basic Education should assist the schools with more classrooms. The Department of Education should also provide schools with resources such textbooks, big screens, overhead projectors and microphones in order for teachers to be effective.

Most higher education marketing theories have not explored student recruitment strategies for masters and doctorate qualifications, particularly in Africa. As a result, this study aims to explore student recruitment initiatives used by South African universities when recruiting students for masters and doctorate qualifications. A qualitative method of investigation was adopted to enable the researcher to judge the effectiveness of policies, practices or innovations in the recruitment of masters and doctorate students. Heterogeneous variation sampling was adopted to allow the researcher to compare university similarities and trends. Telephonic and face to face interviews were conducted to obtain information and opinions from research managers and marketing personnel regarding the recruitment of postgraduate students. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data obtained during in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that university recruitment initiatives include individualised marketing and product differentiation. The availability of internal systems to encourage staff and current students to enrol for research degrees was also highlighted. University initiatives will ensure that suitable students are attracted to research masters and doctorate studies. With the university alumni, personnel and the internal students, the public universities can increase postgraduate enrolments.

The essay is a typical task provided in schools to evaluate learner’s writing abilities and newly acquired knowledge. Because of how text-oriented the world has become, writing has been regarded as one of the most important abilities. As a result, teachers are in tremendous need of efficient methods to boost writing abilities in their classrooms. Yet, most learners lack the ability to write an English essay, particularly in remote areas. The aim of the study is to investigate the underlying reasons for the difficulties teachers encounter while attempting to teach English writing skills in rural schools of OR Tambo Inland District, Eastern Cape Province. The Zone of Proximal Development is highlighted as the issue of collaboration in the education system in order to develop children’s creative writing. Therefore, the study adopted socio-cultural theory as the theoretical framework. The study also adopted a quantitative research method. The participants of the study included six language teachers that were purposefully selected as information-rich participants. The findings of the study revealed that (i) teachers were lacking inappropriate methods, (II) the time spent in teaching essay writing was grossly inadequate, and finally (III) teachers experienced many challenges in reading and writing skills, which included, difficulty in motivating their learners, learners of diverse levels, difficult materials and time constraints to teach the learners. Therefore, the study recommended the use of pre-taught vocabulary, various teacher influences and the implementation of positive literacy practices.

This paper presents the effects of technology integration in the learning and teaching of Mathematics in first- and second-year mathematics students. The technology-based learning environment has been the demand in groundwork learning to shape a more active approach to students' learning process. The South African government has made an obligation to advance its people's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills and to connect the digital gap by targeting previously disadvantaged groups. The interpretive approach was used with face-to-face interviews to collect data from ten participants. Six participants were interviewed by the lecturers teaching mathematics and four students doing mathematics in one of the rural universities in the Eastern Cape. Findings confirmed that (i) Teacher technology competence and lack of resources are barriers to technology learning implementation. (ii) Consequently, it became evident that learners had a robust positive perception of computer usage in Mathematics learning and teaching even though almost all had little or no access to computers in their schools. It is recommended that the university should ensure that all students have the data card loaded with uncapped data for learning and teaching to run smoothly.

The study assessed the effectiveness of On-The-Job training on the performance of employees, focusing on the Integrated Tertiary Software Users at Walter Sisulu University. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. The study employed a qualitative approach, focusing on in-depth knowledge from the participants rather than numerical facts. Participants were employees from the Registrar’s division within Walter Sisulu University, and students and a sample of twelve participants were purposefully selected. Seven of the thirteen participants were employees from the same division but different units: The examinations office, the Admissions and Registration office, and one faculty officer. Six participants were students from various faculties. Data were analyzed using Atlas ti, version 9. In this study, the light was shared on the importance of On-The-Job training and its effectiveness on employee performance and productivity. The focus of the interviews was on the effectiveness of this training method, and the study found that this method is effective in upskilling recruits and existing employees. Training and employee motivation were seen as the essential elements of increasing employee performance in this technology-infused University. It has been discovered that development programs directly influence organizational effectiveness, advancement, and development is critical for an effective organization.

School-Based Experience (SBE) is integral to teacher training in South African universities. SBE in South African universities is organized in education schools and is mandatory for all students who pursue education. This study aimed to explore how student teachers from the Economic and Management Science (EMS) discipline perceive their SBE. This study aimed at the students’ experiences and their impact on their perception of the teaching profession and assessed the challenges that students encounter while in school. The study adopted a guided reflection theoretical framework to understand student teachers’ perceptions of the SBE. A qualitative approach was employed with a purposive sampling of 10 second-year EMS student teachers. Data was collected through individual interviews and analysed using Content Analysis (CA), and categorised using thematic analysis. The study's findings revealed that student teachers perceived SBE as impactful, providing an opportunity to gain school experience and put theory into practice in their teaching profession. Moreover, the findings revealed that student teachers experience challenges while on SBE, such as a lack of school resources, unpreparedness, and poor organizational skills. The study recommended that more support be provided for SBE student teachers.

In South Africa, members of the South African Police Services (SAPS) are constitutionally mandated to protect society. However, while executing their duties, they continuously experience an alarmingly high rate of attacks from alleged criminals, often leading to the death of SAPS members. Subsequently, this situation increases the staff shortage for patrolling the streets and arresting criminals. The situation's aftermath also leads to increasing community perceptions that crime is out of hand and that crime prevention strategies are ineffective. This study examined the ordeal of police victimization in the Mthatha Policing Cluster, Eastern Cape, South Africa. A questionnaire was used for data collection from 105 respondents. The non-probability sampling method was used and the study employed the snowball sampling technique. Results reveal that victimization of law enforcement officers is a reality. The research questions that guided this study included: What are the upheld views by police officers of their victimization? Which factors make police to be susceptible to victimization while executing their duties? What is the impact of police victimization on policing society at large? Altogether, 80.8% of respondents revealed that police are being robbed and assaulted, and in some instances, the use of the K*** word is evident. SAPS members are not fulfilling their mandate because they fear being killed while executing their duties. In the study, new strategies are highly recommended for curbing crime, and police need to be empowered with new, modern techniques of policing.

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.

The teaching of Economic Management Sciences (EMS) in Senior Phase (SP) classrooms, particularly in Grade 7, still needs to be researched. This paper examines the pedagogical practices of Grade 7 EMS teachers when teaching financial literacy (FL). We employed a qualitative research case study. Two schools were purposively chosen in the Chris Hani District, serving as the case under exploration. A data set of six participants were observed and interviewed for six months. The main findings of the study indicated that (i) the teachers adopt pedagogical practices that are based on experience and subject area content knowledge,(ii) teachers with experience and subject content knowledge were found to deliver learner-centered, creative lessons while emerging teachers relied on the textbook and taught in teacher-centered ways, (iii) lack of training on the relatively new content of FL in EMS, lack of resources and complicated language of FL concepts resulted in teachers relying on standard pedagogical practices. The study proffers recommendations and interventions that teachers could use to better their skills of pedagogic practices. Amongst these are training EMS teachers by higher education institutions, workshops, and induction of newly hired EMS teachers.

This paper explores the relevance of the industry stakeholder in the production of skilled electrical installation and maintenance technical college (TC) graduates in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. One research question was set in the study: What is the relevance of stakeholder partnerships in the production of skilled Electrical Installation and Maintenance Trade (EIMT) Graduates? A qualitative exploratory case study involving a Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) approach was used to purposively select ten participants. The data were generated through individual interviews and focus group discussions and were analysed thematically. Experiential learning theory was employed as a theoretical framework in the study. The study's findings revealed the emergence of the following themes: development of willingness to learn, exposure/development of new relevant trade-related skills, exposure/development of practical skills, challenges of the technical college programme, and innovative teaching. From these findings, the study concludes that the industry stakeholder is necessary for producing skilled EIMT graduates in line with the objectives of the TC programme in Nigeria. Thus, the study contributes to the body of existing knowledge on the Technical College programme and within the field of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) on the relevance of industry stakeholder partnership in the production of skilled EIMT. Recommendations were also made based on the conclusion.

This paper aims to investigate whether home language teaching has an impact on enhanced additional language learning pedagogies. Participants, as data sources, were four university teachers purposely identified because of the task assigned to them, assessing student teachers in diverse schools during TP. Data for this inquiry was collected through semi-structured interviews. It was divulged as the main findings that (i) time constraints caused by consistent code-switching to acquaint with the unfamiliar medium, and (ii) learner dropout rate were challenges. This paper concludes that policies need to be redefined for enhanced language proficiency so that the ultimate end is learners who can communicate globally in a wide range of linguistic constituencies.

As qualitative research, this paper aims to identify the impact of the necessary significance of enhanced digital learning strategies in rural senior secondary schooling. The main findings about improved digital learning strategies in rural schools are (i) limited availability of digital resources coupled with (i) motivation as a factor for teachers and learners as recipients of the schooling process. As a result, this paper concludes by outlining the necessary significance for teachers and learners to have upgraded skills for viability in the digital world. Therefore, this paper recommends that teachers require more professional support and development to transform teaching strategies.