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Inside South Africa! Reflections on a Troubled Business Environment
Nnamdi O. Madichie5
Government provides essential services to the population and therefore, uncertainties that could hinder government’s objectives should be identified, mitigated/ controlled and monitored. Using the content analysis for data extraction in the annual reports of national government departments (NGDs) and the SPSS software for data analysis, this paper explored risk management practices in South Africa’s public service, with national government departments as a case in point. The findings are that in general, there are poor risk management practices in the NGDs as the majority of the observed category es were not disclosed in the NGDs annual reports. Since risk deals with the uncertainties on the objectives, it is concerning that NGDs have poor risk management practices, particularly because they are enablers (implementers) of government overarching strategy. As enablers of government strategy, it is recommended that NGDs view risk management as a process that enables them to identify threats that could hinder the attainment of their objectives whilst also leveraging opportunities that may arise. It is further recommended that the processes is viewed as an scenario or option analysis exercise that allows NGDs to properly plan, understand the intended outcomes and prepare responses to deal with any uncertainties. A summarised and harmonized risk governance requirement used for the purpose of exploring risk management disclosures could be used as a reference point of risk disclosure improvement by NGDs.
Given the deep energy crisis that currently engulfs South Africa, which has been attributed to the crisis of electricity supply leadership and perceived weak locus of control among Eskom management and staff, the purpose of this study is to review the self-leadership and internal locus of control literature to identify components of these concepts that could leverage employee job performance and improve electricity service delivery. In the absence of literature that examines the combined effects of self-leadership and internal locus of control, the researchers adopted a theoretical and reflective approach that combined the interpretation of extant literature on isolated effects of these variables on job performance and the researchers’ individual perspectives on the matter. Drawing on this literature review, gaps in the extant literature are identified and an integrative framework for improving Eskom engineers’ job performance and electricity service delivery is developed. The study reported that although the reward strategy component of self-leadership and external locus of control serve as moderating variables, the combination of behaviour-focused strategies, thought self-leadership strategies of self-leadership and internal locus of control had the greatest influence on job performance of Eskom engineers. The paper renders a rich literature review on self-leadership and locus of control in a resilient, national energy supply institution and bestows an innovative conceptual framework for leveraging the job performance in particular and electricity service supply in an energy crisis ridden country in general.
Small businesses receive much attention in South Africa as vehicles that stimulate economic growth and development. Evidence shows that high levels of unemployment and poverty exist; small business owners and managers have limited skills, capabilities and knowledge; while low levels of education persists. This paper focuses on the technical and conceptual skills of small businesses in the City of Tshwane, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Respondents were selected from nine economic sectors, representing a sample of 270. Data processing and analysis were done by the Bureau of Market Research, University of South Africa. Chi-square tests show a significant association between the business sector and type of skills possessed. Technical skills are high in all sectors, while conceptual skills lack in most sectors. Small business owners and managers are advised to participate in various initiatives to enhance the level of conceptual skills in particular.
This paper highlighted factors affecting agricultural market participation and the promotion of the establishment of vegetable markets, fruit markets and nurseries in the Zululand District, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. This entailed taking a representative sample consisting of 50 agricultural projects, with 418 beneficiaries participating in the research. The following 5 local municipalities were visited: Mahlabathini, Nongoma, Pongola, Dumbe and Abaqulusi. Quantitative and qualitative design was used as a detailed questionnaire written in English, with a focus group discussion, a stakeholder’s discussion, and field observations as part of the data collection. A purposive sampling technique was used to select fifty (50) projects, in order to cover uniformity and homogenous characteristics such as infrastructure requirements, skills availability, production challenges, agricultural training needs, water source needs, educational level and others. Data was coded, captured and analysed with a software package for social sciences (SPSS version 20). The following analyses were conducted: Descriptive and Univariate Regression. The results showed a significant association among the following variables: Age, Educational level, Farming experience, Land acquisition, Crops planted, Water source, Farming fulltime, Land size, Production inputs, Agricultural training and Market participation. It is recommended that factors determining market participation should be addressed first and then fruit and vegetable markets can be established, as well as the creation of a complete, viable agro value chain that will expand community driven agricultural production and processing.
The article reports on the levels of job satisfaction of mining-sector employees, as well as the perceived influence of skills shortages on the job satisfaction of these employees. The findings emanating from the study indicate that the respondents did experience job satisfaction, and that perceived skills shortages in two core occupational categories did not influence job satisfaction. The study has augmented the body of knowledge vis-à-vis the relationship between perceived skills shortages and job satisfaction. This is particularly important, since the mining industry remains a key driver of economic growth in South Africa, despite the negative perceptions that have beset the sector following the Marikana massacre of 2012.
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