Browsing by Author "Xaba, Frederick Matthews Dumisani."
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Item Public policy and KwaZulu-Natal's Integrated Poverty Eradication Programme : a complexity perspective.(2015) Xaba, Frederick Matthews Dumisani.; Hardman, Stanley George.Issues of poverty and inequality are central to ordinary people and policy makers all over the world. The growing gap between rich and poor galvanized countries through the United Nations to adopt the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, and more recently the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. Part of the challenge in achieving the goals as set out in the MDGs and SDGs is that poverty is a complex phenomenon. Policy makers, politicians, scholars, development practitioners all have divergent views on the definition of poverty. Defining poverty is a very contentious undertaking that is influenced by a variety of perspectives and settings. These divergent perspectives serve to underscore the very complex and multi-dimensional nature of poverty. Implementation of a complex public programme such as a poverty eradication programme requires a departure from conventional linear approaches to policy implementation. The objectives of the study were to explore and reconstruct the narrative that informed the thinking of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Administration in developing the Poverty Eradication Master Plan (2014) and the implementation thereof, from a complexity theory point of view; to delineate and describe how the selected national, the different provincial departments, state-owned enterprises were brought together to pursue a common mandate through a network of relationships, and to use the complexity theory to define poverty and illustrate the complex challenges experienced during the development of the KwaZulu-Natal Poverty Eradication Programme. The findings of the study revealed that the development of the Poverty Eradication Programme faced tough challenges due to the contestation of the policy space, the conceptual approach, the mandates and resources by the different agents involved. The implementation thereof, while fully integrated into the annual plans of implementing departments, faces enormously complex challenges. Given these issues, the study recommends a systems approach to the implementation of the Poverty Eradication Master Plan, taking into cognizance the complex nature of the problem and the vertical and horizontal integration across government.Item A systems thinking approach to a sustainable management model for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development’s Youth Academies.(2018) Xaba, Frederick Matthews Dumisani.; Sibanda, Rosemary.In South Africa, like in most developing countries, the provision of integrated youth development programmes is vitally important to provide the future workforce with the crucial and relevant skills for the modern economy. The youth development academies under the Department of Social Development in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, are an innovative approach by government to deal with the dearth of skills, and high unemployment rates among the youth. Through the examination of the youth academy vignettes, the study sought to examine whether the current management approaches were effective in supporting the objectives of the youth development academy conceptual framework and what theoretical framework underpinned the model for the youth development academies and the management thereof. The study followed a mixed method approach where both quantitative and qualitative methods of data generation were used. The Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) was applied to critically analyse the environmental dynamics that had an influence in the organizational complexity. Furthermore, the study used the Ralph Stacey Model and stakeholder theory to highlight and analyse complex areas of contestation between the different stakeholders. The study then proceeded to use a causal loop analysis to identify systems determinants for sustainability. The study found shortcomings and limitations with the current management model which is based on partnerships because of the complex relationships between stakeholders. The study also found that causal loop analysis provides an opportunity to identify explicit complex cause-and-effects relationships and high probability risks, which need to be anticipated and mitigated. It then recommends a systems approach for managing the academies in a complex dynamics of power relations, complexity and social norms. This study contributes to the knowledge domain of the management of youth development academies using a systems approach in a state and the not-for profit organization partnership model. It further enhances the deeper understanding of the complex challenges that exist in such a partnership model within a community development praxis. Keywords: Systems thinking, complexity theory, causal loops, Ralph Stacey Model, youth development academies