Suchergebnisse

Local government in South Africa (SA) has come a long way from the period when there were over 1200 racially segregated municipalities. From more than 800 municipalities after 1996, they have been merged to currently 284 municipalities which now cover every 'millimetre' of the country, and are focused on growing local economies and maintaining the provision of a lot more diverse and complex basic municipal services to all their citizens and especially to geographical areas and citizens that were previously neglected. This transformed local government environment has brought about many changes in the nature and extent of basic public services delivered at the grass- roots level of this developing country with its limited resources and unlimited needs – especially in the areas of potable water supply and sanitation services.This article will firstly highlight the changed environmental context of public service delivery in the local government sphere of the country before the transformation in relevant legislation will be reported on. Subsequently the nature and extent of current realities of local governance, dynamics and challenges regarding the diverse and complex public services by a typical Category B Local municipality will be identified in the real SA out there. The use of the Politics – Administration System Model by Easton for environmental management analysis will also be illustrated. Lastly, for easy classification of typical characteristics and challenging issues in the dynamic municipal government sphere of SA, the SWOT-analysis format will be used.

In view of South Africa's diversity, its unresolved issues of race and complex social legacy, election campaigns are highly sensitive. From a Reformed Christian perspective, a critical question is: To what extent is the political culture infused by the Biblical imperatives of brotherly love, respect and compassion? Given the growing use of adversarial political advertising the following two questions arise and are specifically addressed: • Could it realistically be expected of Christian political communicators in a secular country such as South Africa to communicate with full respect to people at all times, or should they be excused if they try to win at all costs? and • How do political theorists view the issue? In answering these questions, social responsibility and the need for social harmony as precondition for free and fair political activities, as well as a Biblical perspective on communication are addressed. In view of these theoretical points of departure the role of emotional messages is discussed and evaluated. It is argued that all advertising, but specifically political advertising in an emotionally charged atmosphere such as an election campaign, could have a direct negative impact on social harmony and is therefore Biblically unacceptable. Examples from previous South African general elections are discussed and evaluated from a Biblical viewpoint. It is argued that parties should not merely campaign with the aim of winning an election, but rather with the intention of respecting voters while campaigning. Simultaneously they could promote democracy within a fragile social context. Any victory outside of these parameters will not stand the test of a Biblical critique. However, it would seem extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prescribe in any detail which types of negative advertisements are acceptable and which are not.

In view of South Africa's diversity, its unresolved issues of race and complex social legacy, election campaigns are highly sensitive. From a Reformed Christian perspective, a critical question is: To what extent is the political culture infused by the Biblical imperatives of brotherly love, respect and compassion? Given the growing use of adversarial political advertising the following two questions arise and are specifically addressed: • Could it realistically be expected of Christian political communicators in a secular country such as South Africa to communicate with full respect to people at all times, or should they be excused if they try to win at all costs? and • How do political theorists view the issue? In answering these questions, social responsibility and the need for social harmony as precondition for free and fair political activities, as well as a Biblical perspective on communication are addressed. In view of these theoretical points of departure the role of emotional messages is discussed and evaluated. It is argued that all advertising, but specifically political advertising in an emotionally charged atmosphere such as an election campaign, could have a direct negative impact on social harmony and is therefore Biblically unacceptable. Examples from previous South African general elections are discussed and evaluated from a Biblical viewpoint. It is argued that parties should not merely campaign with the aim of winning an election, but rather with the intention of respecting voters while campaigning. Simultaneously they could promote democracy within a fragile social context. Any victory outside of these parameters will not stand the test of a Biblical critique. However, it would seem extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prescribe in any detail which types of negative advertisements are acceptable and which are not.

Carletonville is a gold-mining town in western Gauteng province, South Africa, and is located in the Merafong City Local Municipality's geographical area of responsibility. It is one of the richest gold-producing areas in the world but unfortunately the current state of the town's infrastructure is in shambles and the environment is in a pitiful state because of human activities that have caused massive physical changes. Geohydrological aspects such as complex geology and the compartmentalisation of the groundwater into seven areas separated by syenite dykes, of which five have been dewatered to facilitate the gold-mining, have made it the research area of choice. Unfortunately, this led to the formation of hundreds of new sinkholes between the towns of Westonaria and Carletonville and eventually the evacuation of the old town of Bank, abandoning the area and declaring it unsuitable for human settlements. To try and identify possible reasons for this unfortunate state of the human-induced environmental change all along the Wonderfontein Spruit draining the area, the author using a comprehensive literature review, study of geological maps and databases as well as through data collection and semi-structured interviews with selected role-players and stakeholders identified basic essential geographical, geohydrological, organisational and municipal management aspects of significance for consideration. These steps were all a part of an attempt to improve the nature and extent of basic water-, sanitation-, human settlements- and environmental management in the Westonaria, Carletonville and Khutsong areas.

Local government in South Africa (SA) has come a long way from the period when there were over 1200 racially segregated municipalities. From more than 800 municipalities after 1996, they have been merged to currently 284 municipalities which now cover every 'millimetre' of the country, and are focused on growing local economies and maintaining the provision of a lot more diverse and complex basic municipal services to all their citizens and especially to geographical areas and citizens that were previously neglected. This transformed local government environment has brought about many changes in the nature and extent of basic public services delivered at the grassroots level of this developing country with its limited resources and unlimited needs – especially in the areas of potable water supply and sanitation services. This article will firstly highlight the changed environmental context of public service delivery in the local government sphere of the country before the transformation in relevant legislation will be reported on. Subsequently the nature and extent of current realities of local governance, dynamics and challenges regarding the diverse and complex public services by a typical Category B Local municipality will be identified in the real SA out there. The use of the Politics – Administration System Model by Easton for environmental management analysis will also be illustrated. Lastly, for easy classification of typical characteristics and challenging issues in the dynamic municipal government sphere of SA, the SWOT-analysis format will be used. ; https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v5i1.149

Der Artikel will die Notwendigkeit einer systematischen Umweltpolitik für Südafrika unterstreichen. Er beginnt mit einem historischen Überblick über Ansätze von Umwelt- und Ressourcenschutz, die bis auf das Jahr 1652 zurückgehen. Anschließend werden kurz einige Ursachen für die zunehmende Ressourcenbelastung genannt. Empfehlungen zur Verbesserung der Umweltpolitik und des Problembewußtseins in der Bevölkerung richten sich an Regierung und Verwaltung (DÜI-Spl)

The rapid global development is mostly economically driven and made up of complex country-specific problems. Although sustainable development (SD) is a well established concept and an urgent global challenge, differing levels of progress had been made in organisations, communities and countries. To facilitate consistency of understanding, the authors accept the definition of 'sustainable development' as including the economic, social and environmental dimensions. Furthermore, they argue that these dimensions are not functioning as separate silos but are interdependent and grounded in legislated governance frameworks from where co-operative governance (COG) realizes as an option to facilitate an integrated approach. The article discusses the challenges in the facilitation of COG and suggests practical guidelines for implementation to facilitate improved integration.Keywords:Sustainable development, governance, co-operative governance, integrated,organising, and communication. Disciplines:Public Administration, Public Management, Social Welfare, Environmental Management, Municipal public service delivery, Social Development, Organisational Behaviour, Co-operative Governance, Communication, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Organisational Development

All South Africans, especially, those involved with the development and management of its water resources should be aware that South Africa is generally an arid to semi-arid region, with an average rainfall of approximately 500 mm per annum, compared to a world average of 860mm. Consequently, potable water is a very scarce resource, and is often the biggest prohibiting factor for development of, for example, new residential areas in a town or city.Hence a public service rendering municipality like the Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) City Council will have to, in its quest to manage its potable water supply more effectively, efficiently and economically, take cognisance of aspects such as:· The origin of its potable water;· The nature and extent of the storage and treatment of the potable water;· The manner in which the potable water is distributed to the users and consumers;and· The manner in which the wastewater is collected, treated and managed.The authors of this article are of the opinion that the aforementioned can only be taken care of effectively by incorporating a physical environmental management perspective in its municipal governance.

When the South African Government in 1998 re-demarcated its 283 municipalities so that they completely cover the country in a "wall-to-wall" manner, their main focus was on growing local economies and maintaining the provision of an increased number of diverse and more complex basic municipal services to new geographical areas consisting of millions of citizens who might previously had been neglected.In most of the instances the newly established and merged municipalities were demarcated according to geographical aspects inherited from the previous political dispensation, historical municipal areas and magisterial district farm names. The fact that these municipal government jurisdictions for the purpose of improving co-operative municipal- and integrated water resources management (IWRM), in most instances do not correspond with environmental and physical land features such as the demarcated surface water (rivers) drainage regions' boundaries, could lead to the ineffective, inefficient and non-economic municipal management of water, sanitation and environmental services.The aforementioned is a case with reference to water services management in the Free State Province town of Lindley located in the Vals River catchment and the Nketoana Local Municipality's area of jurisdiction.An extensive literature review, the use and study of geographic tools such as maps, ortho- photos and information data bases, as well as two field visits to the area, enabled the researchers to identify the essential geographical, geo-hydrological and municipal management aspects of importance for the potable water service providers and managers in the Lindley municipal area.The researchers argue that effective trans-boundary municipal management through simunye-type co-operative governance and IWRM must be facilitated in the Vals River surface water catchment between the respective local- and district municipalities for the benefit of the Lindley, Arlington, Steynsrus and Kroonstad communities.

The rapid global development is mostly economically driven and made up of complex country-specific problems. Although sustainable development (SD) is a well established concept and an urgent global challenge, differing levels of progress had been made in organisations, communities and countries. To facilitate consistency of understanding, the authors accept the definition of 'sustainable development' as including the economic, social and environmental dimensions. Furthermore, they argue that these dimensions are not functioning as separate silos but are interdependent and grounded in legislated governance frameworks from where co-operative governance (COG) realizes as an option to facilitate an integrated approach. The article discusses the challenges in the facilitation of COG and suggests practical guidelines for implementation to facilitate improved integration.

The rapid global development is mostly economically driven and made up of complex country-specific problems. Although sustainable development (SD) is a well established concept and an urgent global challenge, differing levels of progress had been made in organisations, communities and countries. To facilitate consistency of understanding, the authors accept the definition of 'sustainable development' as including the economic, social and environmental dimensions. Furthermore, they argue that these dimensions are not functioning as separate silos but are interdependent and grounded in legislated governance frameworks from where co-operative governance (COG) realizes as an option to facilitate an integrated approach. The article discusses the challenges in the facilitation of COG and suggests practical guidelines for implementation to facilitate improved integration.

The rapid global development is mostly economically driven and made up of complex country-specific problems. Although sustainable development (SD) is a well established concept and an urgent global challenge, differing levels of progress had been made in organisations, communities and countries. To facilitate consistency of understanding, the authors accept the definition of 'sustainable development' as including the economic, social and environmental dimensions. Furthermore, they argue that these dimensions are not functioning as separate silos but are interdependent and grounded in legislated governance frameworks from where co-operative governance (COG) realizes as an option to facilitate an integrated approach. The article discusses the challenges in the facilitation of COG and suggests practical guidelines for implementation to facilitate improved integration. ; https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v7i1.257

It is by now common knowledge that South Africa is a water scarce country and that the correct public management of its potable water sources such as the transportation of it as well as the purification of the used water is of utmost importance. In the history of South Africa, the supply of potable water and basic sanitation services to all the inhabitants has never been higher on the national, provincial and especially the local government sphere agendas than since the end of April 1994. Even though the Mooi River valley area has always been described as water rich, it might in the near future be described as "water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink"! The city of Potchefstroom gathers its potable water from surface- and groundwater in the Mooi River Catchment. The water is collected, stored and released from the Boskop Dam from where it is transported in a 12km long open-on-top cement canal to the water purification works of the City. In an ad hoc field visit by the authors, it was discovered that the water canal is broken and being polluted in a variety of ways before it reaches the purification works. Improvement of this inefficient management situation is also currently quite impossible seeing that the Department of Water Affairs' workforce has declined to a mere 20 people to maintain the whole of the Mooi River valley. The article starts off with a historical water related background of Potchefstroom identifying some historical happenings and developments of importance with reference to the development related to Potchefstroom and especially the source and transport of its potable water. Thereafter the article highlights some important water resources related legislation, which is obviously not being adhered to. Important role-players involved with the public management of the potable water supply for the city residents of Potchefstroom are furthermore identified. Lastly the way forward is addressed and some recommendations on the improvement of the transport of the City's potable water through the dolomite underlain area are given.

It is by now common knowledge that South Africa is a water scarce country and that the correct public management of its potable water sources such as the transportation of it as well as the purification of the used water is of utmost importance. In the history of South Africa, the supply of potable water and basic sanitation services to all the inhabitants has never been higher on the national, provincial and especially the local government sphere agendas than since the end of April 1994. Even though the Mooi River valley area has always been described as water rich, it might in the near future be described as "water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink"! The city of Potchefstroom gathers its potable water from surface- and groundwater in the Mooi River Catchment. The water is collected, stored and released from the Boskop Dam from where it is transported in a 12km long open-on-top cement canal to the water purification works of the City. In an ad hoc field visit by the authors, it was discovered that the water canal is broken and being polluted in a variety of ways before it reaches the purification works. Improvement of this inefficient management situation is also currently quite impossible seeing that the Department of Water Affairs' workforce has declined to a mere 20 people to maintain the whole of the Mooi River valley. The article starts off with a historical water related background of Potchefstroom identifying some historical happenings and developments of importance with reference to the development related to Potchefstroom and especially the source and transport of its potable water. Thereafter the article highlights some important water resources related legislation, which is obviously not being adhered to. Important role-players involved with the public management of the potable water supply for the city residents of Potchefstroom are furthermore identified. Lastly the way forward is addressed and some recommendations on the improvement of the transport of the City's potable water through the dolomite underlain area are given.

The nature and extent of local governance regarding water services management in South Africa (SA) have been transformed since the proclamation of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, the National Water Act 36 of 1998 and the Local Government:Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998. For the fi rst time, the place and role of a developmentally orientated local government sphere have been clearly identifi ed. Unfortunately, there are some serious challenges that the newly-merged municipalities must try to manage more effectively, effi ciently, economically, equally and environmentally sensitively than their predecessors did. Aspects that come to mind include the need to incorporate a more holistic and integrated management approach to water services management according to the surface water catchment areas the Department of Water Affairs demarcated, to consider account the dangers of developing urban areas that are geologically underlain by dolomite rock, as well as the need to obtain, develop and retain the necessary experience, knowledge and skills capacity to manage the diverse and highly-complex basic services, such as the potable (drinking) water supply in a sustainable manner. This article will fi rstly highlight the changed environmental context of public service delivery in the local government sphere of the country. Hereafter, the focus will shift to the nature and extent of current realities of local governance. This includes the dynamics and challenges regarding a basic public service, such as potable water supply. Lastly, the nature and extent of water services management in, for example a municipality situated in a dolomite area (Delmas) will be explored. The article aims to contribute to the cultivation of an environment conducive to consolidating local governance and gaining knowledge of water management in the local government sphere. ; http://www.researchgate.net/publication/235922024_The_assessment_of_doctoral_theses_A_Public_Administration_and_Management_perspective