The Gender Equity Dilemma: The Decade Ahead for Female Representation in the South African Public Service

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Naff
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
The South

The transformation of the South African Public Service: exploring the impact of racial and gender representation on organisational effectiveness

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Fernandez ◽  
Hongseok Lee
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
The South ◽  
Organisational Effectiveness ◽  
Demographic Representation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe transformation of the South African Public Service into a bureaucracy that is broadly representative of the population is one of the most significant public sector reforms to occur since the end of apartheid. Grounded in the theory of representative bureaucracy, this study examines demographic representation in the South African Public Service and how it impacts the organisational effectiveness of national departments. The empirical analysis is based on longitudinal data from 60 national departments from 2006 to 2013. The findings show that as these organisations become more representative by hiring a higher per cent of Africans, of Coloureds, and of Indians, they achieve a higher per cent of goals. The findings for gender representation are more mixed and show that female representation among most racial groups is unrelated to organisational effectiveness.

The South African public service wage bill deadlock in 2021: living on the edge

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Marianne Matthee ◽  
Albert Wöcke
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The Government

Subject area Macro-Economics. Study level/applicability Undergraduate and MBA. Case overview The COVID 19 pandemic-related restrictions devastated South Africa’s economy in 2020 and although the restrictions were generally less damaging than in 2020, the government had to budget for vaccinations and rebuild the economy. Public service unions had just announced that they were demanding an increase of 4% above inflation for their members and that they were preparing for a strike. They were bitter about the fact that the South African Government had withdrawn from the last year of a three-year wage agreement in February 2020 and their members had not received an increase for the two years. These demands and Finance Minister Mboweni’s response to them had to consider the structural and cyclical impact on the fiscus and economy. Expected learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the general objectives of fiscal policy and stakeholders’ interests; understand the tradeoffs in fiscal policy and the implications of taking a position; and make recommendations based on reasoned judgements about those recommendations. Complexity academic level Undergraduate and MBA level courses on Macro Economics. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

scholarly journals Whistleblowing: Impediments to effective implementation within the South African public sector

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirmala Dorasamy ◽  
Soma Pillay
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
The Cost

This purpose of this article is to explore impediments to effective whistleblowing as a strategy for promoting anti-corruption practices within the South African public sector. Corruption, which violates the public service code of conduct; deters foreign investment, increases the cost of public service delivery, undermines the fight against poverty and unnecessarily burdens the criminal justice system. The article addresses the question on whether legislation on whistleblowing is adequate to encourage whistleblowing in the public sector. A review of literature determines that the effective implementation of whistleblowing legislation is largely dependent on addressing the challenges identified in the article. The quantitative research method was employed in the study to ascertain the views of employees in the public sector on whistleblowing. Empirical findings confirm the hypothesis that the protection of whistleblowers through legislation is inadequate to encourage whistleblowing. The article provides a conceptual framework for the effective achievement of the intended outcomes of whistleblowing in the public sector.

scholarly journals A micro-level outcomes evaluation of a skills capacity intervention within the South African public service: Towards an impact evaluation

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petronella Jonck ◽  
Riaan De Coning ◽  
Paul S. Radikonyana
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
The South ◽  
Training Interventions ◽  
Outcomes Evaluation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Previous Training

Orientation: Interest in measuring the impact of skills development interventions has increased in recent years. Research purpose: This article reports on an outcomes evaluation under the ambit of an impact assessment with reference to a research methodology workshop. Motivation of the study: A paucity of studies could be found measuring the workshop outcomes, especially within the public service as it pertains to training interventions. Research approach/design and method: A pretest–post-test research design was implemented. A paired-sample t-test was used to measure the knowledge increase while controlling for the influence of previous training by means of an analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis. Main findings: Results indicated that the increase in research methodology knowledge was statistically significant. Previous training influenced the model only by 0.8%, which was not statistically significant. Practical/managerial implications: It is recommended that the suggested framework and methodology be utilised in future research as well as in monitoring and evaluation endeavours covering various training interventions. Contribution/value add: The study provides evidence of the impact generated by a training intervention, within the South African Public Service. Thus, addressing a research gap in the corpus of knowledge.

scholarly journals Integrated Financial Management Information Systems: Guidelines for effective implementation by the public sector of South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffel J. Hendriks
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Management Information Systems ◽  
Management Information ◽  
The South

Background: Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) can improve public sector management by providing real-time financial information to managers in order to enhance their decision-making capabilities. The South African Public Service is currently busy with the implementation of an IFMIS. However, the implementation of such a project has proved to be a very demanding undertaking and has not been met with resounding success.Objectives: The research was conducted in order to identify the challenges and risks that are involved in the implementation of the IFMIS in South Africa. After identification of the challenges and risks, solutions or guidelines were developed that may make the implementation more successful.Method: The methodology that was used is that of a literature study where theories were explored and used to solve a research problem. Based on the theoretical research, solutions and guidelines were developed to solve challenges and risks experienced.Results: The results indicated that there are a number of challenges involved with the implementation of an IFMIS. A set of best practice guidelines was developed that may make the implementation more successful.Conclusion: The sheer size and complexity of an IFMIS poses significant challenges and a number of risks to the implementation process. There are, however, critical success factors or best practices that can be used for the project to succeed. It is recommended that these best practices be used by the South African Public Service. 

scholarly journals Influence of sense of coherence on work-life balance at the South African public service

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 206-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abe N. Ethel ◽  
Ziska Fields ◽  
Atiku O. Sulaiman
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Sense Of Coherence ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
The South ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Life Balance

The inability of workers to achieve balance between work and family responsibilities has led to heightened incidence of illnesses associated with stress. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the role of Sense of Coherence (SOC) on the achievement of work life balance by focusing on individual managers at a municipality in the South African public service. These individual managers often struggle with work-life balance (WLB) challenges like HIV/AIDS, relational tension, single parenthood, child and elder care, alcohol and substance abuse, debt and financial issues, absence of job autonomy, function vagueness/role conflict and job stress. A sequential transformative mixed methods research design is adopted. Data were collected using self-report questionnaire administered to 364 individual managers; additional eleven members of top management were interviewed. Quantitative data gathered are analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 to test the reliability and validity of the instrument as well as the bivariate association between the variables. NVIVO is used in organizing qualitative data for ease of content analysis. The findings indicate that SOC should be considered when designing strategies to address employee work-life needs. Furthermore, it confirmed that the presence of strong SOC does not lead to achievement of WLB

scholarly journals The management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service post-2009 to the 2018 era

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manasseh M. Mokgolo ◽  
Maoka A. Dikotla
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
Organisational Justice ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
The Government ◽  
Opposition Movements ◽  
Progressive Discipline

Background: Poor management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service departments is on the rise. The management of disciplinary cases, amongst other things, has drawn considerable criticism from within the public sector, various media outlets, interest groups and even opposition movements. The government has adopted progressive discipline prescripts to inculcate and promote a culture of professional ethics and accountability. In the workplace, objectivity, consistency and fairness are an important part of healthy employer–employee ties.Aim: The study sought to obtain an in-depth understanding of disciplinary cases and describe the challenges senior managers face when managing disciplinary cases in the public service departments.Setting: Both the national and provincial public service departments of South Africa.Methods: The study adopted qualitative modernistic research approach. Semi-structured electronic questionnaire was used to collect views from 751 senior managers.Results: Public service employees are deprived of organisational justice because of weaknesses associated with the discipline management. This is because management of disciplinary cases and sanctions in most national and provincial departments in the public service is perilous and incongruent with the discipline management prescripts.Conclusion: Based on the findings, the current practices do not deter future violations of discipline management prescripts; inconsistent, unfairness and injustice application of sanctions and management of cases and future misconduct in the workplace. Therefore, the authors recommend the use of team-based and progressive discipline to ensure that staff contribute effectively, efficiently and ethically to the goals of the government. The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on human resource management and organisational behaviour and provides a platform that broadens an understanding of the amplifying toxic management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service context.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document