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Faculty of Management Sciences

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    An examination of community perceptions on service delivery : a case study of Ntabankulu Local Municipality
    (2022) Dabula, Mphumzi; Fagbadebo, Omololu M.
    This study examined community perceptions on public service delivery in Ntabankulu Local Municipality. Members of the communities in Ntabankulu Municipality often protest their dissatisfaction with public services being delivered by the government. The study investigated the root causes of poor service delivery in the Municipality. Using interviews and questionnaires as methods of data collection, the study engaged 93 participants, selected randomly to participate in the interview and administration of questionnaires. These participants were drawn from community members, councillors, and ward committee members. The study found that the lack of capacity jeopardises effective service delivery to the communities in Ntabankulu Local Municipality. Other factors that hinder effective service delivery in the municipality include a shortage of financial resources and grant dependency. The findings revealed further that the high backlog of service delivery in Ntabankulu and the non-service delivery is negatively affecting the standard of living of members of the community. The study also found that Ntabankulu Local Municipality limited technical resources in the handling of certain services that required expert knowledge. The use of consultants in place of this absence has not been able to provide the necessary services to the satisfaction of citizens. Other findings suggested that service delivery protests in Ntabankulu are about water and road infrastructure. The recommendations highlighted that Ntabankulu Local Municipality should procure its plant machinery to maintain the access roads and not outsource such services. It was recommended that the municipality should deliver water in water Tanker Trucks at least twice a week while it is trying to provide them with water taps to ensure that community members have access to clean water
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    South African comprehensive universities' community engagement : $b towards establishment of a best practice framework for community engagement
    (2021-02) Mkuzo, Luleka; Govender, Ivan Gunass
    In this study, the researcher interrogated the core fundamental purpose of community engagement (CE) in an attempt to understand the role of higher education institutions in communities. Community engagement as a phenomenon is viewed with much ambiguity, having a very broad and open interpretation and being seen as both positive and negative by others. There is no governing document that mandates how institutions should develop, implement and monitor community engagement. Consequently, each institution has developed their own guiding documents as per their purpose, mission and context. In South Africa, the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) focused on community engagement in higher education because it recognized the need for academic reconstruction. Community engagement was seen as a potentially powerful instrument that could be used in the transformation agenda in higher education. To date, this view has not changed. The challenge is to shift the academic perspective from the traditional notion of viewing university community engagement as charity to begin to see it as that of pedagogy. In working with five comprehensive universities and a total of fifty participants ranging from Community Engagement Directors, Managers, Project Leaders, students and community members, the study’s aim was to understand how community engagement is defined with regard to restraints, exclusions and inclusions. The study explores the nature of its definition; its purpose and challenges; utilizing a transformative approach proposes a framework that can be used as a guide to community engagement. The study revealed the need for both universities and communities to break their tangible and intangible boundaries to allow community engagement to be conducted in an effective manner using ubuntu, deep democracy and a scholarship approach that can bring about change and add value for both universities and communities. The study also revealed that the ambiguous contextual nature of community engagement makes it difficult for academics and community members to understand what it is, hence making it open for various universities to develop and implement it according to their own mission and vision. The study therefore recommends that community engagement be approached with a framework of Ubuntu, deep democracy and scholarship. Furthermore, there should be a clear funding model for community engagement or engaged scholarship, along with a monitoring and evaluation framework that measures the community engagement impact.
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    The impact of substance abuse in South Africa : a case of informal settlement communities
    (2020-07-20) Mbandlwa, Zamokuhle; Dorasamy, Nirmala
    Substance abuse is a major challenge for many young people globally. South Africa has been reported as a country that is experiencing high levels of alcohol abuse. The focus of this paper is to articulate the contributing factors to substance abuse in South Africa. This paper is presenting the results of the study that was conducted in the informal settlement areas. Conclusions made in this paper about substance abuse in South Africaare based on the findings of substance abuse in the informal community. This study found that the high consumption and abuse of alcohol in South Africaare found amongst young people. The factors such as unemployment, lack of effective mentorship, lack of family values, poor parenting guidance, and loss of hope contributed. This study applied a desktop research methodology, the secondary data was analyzed and unpacked to address the objectives of the study. The main objective of this study was to investigate the causes and the reasons why young people are abusing alcohol. The investigation focused on the excessive and abnormal use of alcohol by young people.
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    Ethnicity as the cause of political instability in South Africa
    (2020-07-28) Mbandlwa, Zamokuhle; Shezi, Lindelani
    Background: KwaZulu Natal has been a battlefield of political violence over the past few years in a democratic South Africa where many other provinces were no longer resolving their conflict through violence. This study aimed to find reasons why this province still experiences high levels of violence and the UMzimkhulu area was identified as the area of the study. Objectives: the objective of this paper was to examine the public responses to ethnicity as the cause of political violence in the province of KwaZulu Natal at the UMzimkhulu area. Using descriptive analysis, we investigated the root cause of political violence in the UMzimkhulu area. In a comprehensive analysis of the case of the UMzimkhulu area, we argued that to explain the causes of political violence, it was necessary to look into the type of people that are living in the area and their ethnic origin. Method: in this paper, we applied a mixed research methodology, which is the Qualitative and quantitative research methods. Twenty-five questionnaires were successfully distributed to participants and responded to. Interviews were conducted with five participants. Results: we found that the people that are living in the area are of a Xhosa tribe and a Zulu tribe, that alone created an identity conflict amongst the people. Twenty-five questionnaires were distributed to local community members and both tribes were represented, five interviews were conducted to both tribes. Conclusion: the intervention of the police and political office bearers will always be temporal because the root cause of the political violence in the area is not addressed. Every local government elections will be characterized by political violence in the area unless the ethnic disparities are properly addressed.
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    Perceptions and attitudes of the community towards impacts and sustainable development: The Case Study of eMpophomeni in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa)
    (Business Perspectives, 2015) Chili, Nsizwazikhona Simon
    The study examines perceptions and attitudes of the community towards the impact of tourism and its sustainability as it is perceived as an alternative developmental philosophy that can serve as a panacea to alleviate poverty from communities. Social exchange theory is used to achieve the aforementioned. Since the role of residents is crucial within the sustainability paradigm, it is therefore important that their perceptions and attitudes on tourism impact towards sustainable development are understood and assessed. The study investigates and examines a range of variables involved in determining township community attitudes and perceptions towards tourism impact on development and sustainability and as a result social exchange theory is used. Literature is comprehensively reviewed on resident attitudes and perceptions towards tourism impact and sustainable development and social exchange theory are used in determining the above regarding variables involved. The findings reveal that negative perceptions of residents on tourism impact in the township of eMpophomeni offset positive outcomes. The study also reveals that long-term planning as a component of sustainable tourism, full community participation and environmental sustainability within tourism are inextricably linked and related to support for tourism and to the positive impacts of tourism.