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Doctoral Degrees (Policy and Development Studies)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/14279

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Policy and Development Studies) by Author "Stanton, Anne Sylvie."

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    A policy analysis of self-governed collective action among agricultural cooperatives in uMgungundlovu District, KwaZulu-Natal.
    (2016) Shisanya, Florence Adhiambo.; Stanton, Anne Sylvie.; Lawrence, Ralph Bruce.
    To address the injustices of apartheid rule, the African National Congress government embarked on a series of policy reforms, among them the overhaul of the old Cooperatives Act no. 19 of 1981 to The Cooperatives Act no. 14 of 2005. According to Ostrom (1990) cooperatives are a typical example of self-organised collective action groups in which the actors stand to earn mutual benefits, strictly if they can curb free-riding, instil commitment, have a constant supply of rules, and oversee individual adherence to the rules. Management of cooperatives as business enterprises is difficult given their unique nature: they are voluntarily and democratically created by the owners who serve as the management and the client (Prakash, nd). This study set out to analyse self-governed collective action among agricultural cooperatives in uMgungundlovu District KwaZulu-Natal Province. In this study Ostrom’s (1990), Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action, is used as the conceptual framework and the mixed methods approach is employed. The findings of this study show that community attributes did not facilitate the formation and sustained governance of these cooperatives. The cooperatives lacked the necessary resources and had only one partner; the government. The seemingly abundant but segmented and uncoordinated support from various government departments did not reach most cooperatives and hindered them from becoming autonomous. Members of cooperatives did not understand the concept “cooperative” and lacked basic skills in governance. The high mushrooming rates, drop-out rates and collapse rates of cooperatives also point to the failure of members of cooperatives to govern themselves. Thus, fragmented implementation of the Cooperatives Act no 15 of 2005 has resulted in failed self-governed collective action among the emerging agricultural cooperatives in South Africa. There is therefore the need for a coordinated support to cooperatives and to separate the Cooperatives Development Policy from the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Policy and implement the policy according to the cooperative principles and values. All the stakeholders need to be equipped with a thorough understanding of the concept "cooperative" and made to work towards establishing an independent cooperatives movement with varied partners. There exists very little research on self-governance of cooperatives in South Africa, most of which is economics based and often covers small pockets of the country. There is need for further research which is social science oriented and covers wider areas of the country that will help authenticate and compare the findings of this study.
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    Public healthcare in a post-apartheid South Africa : a critical analysis in governance practices.
    (2016) Brauns, Melody.; Stanton, Anne Sylvie.
    The South African public healthcare system has undergone fundamental changes since 1994. There is a solid constitutional and legislative policy framework in place that guarantees the right to access to healthcare. However, difficulties remain in its implementation. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has negated many of the health gains made since 1994. Numerous studies have concluded that South Africa lacks the necessary skilled workforce and infrastructure. Nevertheless, while this is not disputed, this study argues that the implementation of public health policies in South Africa needs a governance approach that will strengthen cooperative governance across national, provincial and local spheres of government; as well as strengthen relationships between the private and public healthcare providers if the government is to meet its legislative obligations. This study determines why, after almost 20 years of democracy; substantial transformation in the healthcare sector; significant increase in national revenue allocation; and numerous healthcare policy interventions; the South Africa government continues to struggle to provide public healthcare services. This study identifies the various public healthcare sector reforms that have been undertaken and the respective governance approaches that have been adopted. The study concludes that the lack of resources (human, financial and technical) are not the only or primary stumbling block to providing universal public healthcare. There is a serious disparity between theory and practice: One the one hand, there is a comprehensive legislative health policy framework in place, on the other hand, there is a vacuum on how this is meant to be implemented. The institutional arrangements within the public health sector; the intergovernmental relations between the different spheres of government; as well as the lack of mechanisms, processes and institutions which govern the relationships between the private and public sector remains vague. As long as this remains, policy implementation in the public healthcare sector will remain flawed and limited.