This paper discusses households’ food insecurity among low income, poor urban households in and around the City of Tshwane, South Africa’s capital city. Using systematic random sampling with sampling ...interval of three, primary data were collected from 900 selected households, though only data from 827 households were analyzed following a rigorous coherence tests. The survey was conducted in Attridgeville, Soshanguve, and Tembisa. In the process, the study employed the use of two-way analyses of variance to explain differences between actual and expected household food security perceptions and those of severe, moderate and mild food insecurity. A favourable (adverse) variance could be interpreted to imply that means for achieving household food security are lower (higher) than predicted or that food security is higher (lower) than expected given the same level of main determinants. The observed variance is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether or not the means of several groups experiencing favourable (adverse) variances are equal. The main findings are that variances in the population means of households’ experiences of food insecurity vary by income class of the head of household, engagement in formal or informal income sources and by categories of social grants received. Poorer households that depend largely on cash income for food purchases experience highest food security variances and those receiving state pension. As such, timely receipt of household income under conditions of unimpeded access to social grants will improve urban poor households’ food security. The level of educational attainment has a very strong impact on a household’s food security. Those with “no schooling” have the lowest level of food security. Experiencing high variances in access to child grants, and low incomes, younger female household heads experience the highest degree of variances in food security and should be particularly targeted in an effective food security policy plan. Negative food security variance among these categories of South Africans could be devastating.
Purpose
This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of local ...governments in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 purposively selected social entrepreneurs in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. The interview guide consisted of main themes and follow-up questions. Themes included SEs’ general history, the social business model; challenges faced and how these were overcome; scaling and growth/survival strategies. These enabled the evaluation of SEs in terms of identifying key criteria of affordability, availability, awareness and acceptability, which SEs must achieve to operate successfully in low-income markets. Social enterprise owners/managers within the electricity distribution, water reticulation and waste management services sectors were surveyed.
Findings
Most respondents focus on building a network of trust with stakeholders, through communication mechanisms that emphasize high-frequency engagements. There is also a strong focus on design-thinking and customer-centric approaches that strengthen value creation. The value creation process used both product value and service value mechanisms and emphasized quality and excellence to provide stakeholder, as well as societal value, within their specific contexts.
Practical implications
This study builds upon other research that emphasizes SEs’ customer-centric approaches to strengthen value creation and on building a network of trust with multiple stakeholders. It contributes to emphasizing the business paradigm shift towards bringing social values to the business practice.
Social implications
Social good, but resource providers are demanding more concrete evidence to help them understand their impact (Struthers, 2013). This is because it is intrinsically difficult for many social organizations to document and communicate their impact in more than an anecdotal way. The research has contributed to the understanding of how SEs can provide evidence of value creation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of how business models are designed to create value within the context of the overwhelming complexity of local government services in South Africa.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to discuss growth and performance of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Central and Littoral provinces of Cameroon’s manufacturing and retail sectors.
...Design/methodology/approach
– A full survey of 700 randomly selected SMEs owner-managers was conducted though only 575 enterprises were retained for analysis after performing the coherence test. The survey was conducted in the central and littoral regions, the location of almost 70 per cent of the SMEs in Cameroon. The survey questionnaire administered consisted of about 50-60 questions covering the profile of the business owner, and business growth and performance. The full sample consists mainly of enterprises in the tertiary and secondary sectors. They were mostly retails and wholesales (supermarket, hardware shop, clothing shop, perfume shops and liquor store). Although, the secondary sector contributes 31 per cent of Cameroon's GDP and employs 15 per cent of the population, they are mostly large enterprises, with very few SMEs. Hence few businesses were interviewed in this sector.
Findings
– Business location affects turnover growth. The likelihood of negative growth or zero growth decreases with the age of enterprise. Increased levels of education result in improved turnover growth. There is no association of gender of with growth of business turnover. The burden imposed by municipal regulation and compliance with it negatively affects turnover growth. Time taken to be in compliance with tax regulations overall also negatively affects turnover growth.
Social implications
– Disseminating regulatory information to SMEs would be useful in order to improve compliance in general and newly formed enterprises located in the Littoral Province in particular. It is important to reduce regulatory burden on SMEs overall. Restrictive trade and business regulations in Africa tend to be largely devised through negotiated settlements with large corporates, and the onerous requirements tend to be inappropriate and out of reach for small, medium and micro firms. The business environment in the Littoral Province should be improved.
Originality/value
– Studies that examine econometric determinants of the growth of SMEs in Africa, and especially in Cameroon are few indeed. This is an area that is very crucial to examine and fully understand for policy development.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to empirically report the findings on the relationship between financial sector development, economic growth and of millennium development goals (MDGs) for ...poverty reduction, education and health development in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
– The autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing technique was applied to two indicators of financial development, economic growth and four indicators of MDGs.
Findings
– Economic growth and MDGs jointly cause financial development. Similarly, economic growth and financial sector development jointly cause the attainment of MDGs. The attainment of MDGs such as increased per capita expenditure on food and education as well as economic growth jointly cause financial development.
Practical implications
– The findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between financial development, economic growth and MDGs. It is essential that the government of South Africa pursue a three track strategy of promoting financial sector development, economic growth and MDGs. The development of one strategy causes and is caused by the development of the other two.
Originality/value
– Relationships between financial development, economic growth and MDG targets are unsettled in the literature. This paper studies the link between the three variables in South Africa. Hence, the contribution of this study is to enrich the understanding of this important field in the context of an important African country.
Studies that provide insight into citizen participation in public services delivery protests in Africa are very few. The paper discusses Citizens participation in public service delivery protests in ...the Sedibeng district municipality of South Africa. The municipality consists of three local municipalities namely Lesedi, Emfuleni and Midvaal. The sampling procedure was carefully designed, taking into account the spatial distribution of the population in the Sedibeng District Municipality and the three local municipalities. A structured sample of 1,000 respondents was used for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics approaches were used in the analysis. Overall, the average level of satisfaction with public service delivery is quite low. There are highly significant differences in the mean ranking of satisfaction with public service delivery by age of protesters in respect of water supply, electricity provision and solid waste removal. Also, there are highly significant differences in the mean ranking of satisfaction with public service delivery by district for all service categories. There is a clear link between perception of municipal governance and participation in street protests. It is important for public service delivery in Sedibeng Municipality to improve so that citizens public confidence could rise. Municipal authorities need to explore more avenues for public consultation especially given the cultural impediment that citizens have regarding challenging leaders in public. Prompt action needs to be taken to address development challenges identified by residents as envisioned in the objectives of civic engagement in municipal planning. It is important to improve municipal governance which the protesters are particularly concerned about. Service delivery suggestions made at ward meetings should be provided by the municipality. These include those of improved roads, crime fighting and job creation are also essential to any effort to improve service delivery in Sedibeng municipality. It is also important for politicians to refrain from making empty promises or creating unrealistic expectations. Public services are a key determinant of quality of life that is not measured in per capita income. They are also an important element of any poverty reduction strategy. Improving public service delivery is one of the biggest challenges confronting local administration in Africa. Studies that provide link citizens satisfaction with public services delivery with participation in street protests in Africa are very few. This study hence makes an important contribution to our understanding of this important field.
The relationship between financial development, economic growth and millennium development goals are unsettled in the literature. Using four indicators of financial development, this paper studies ...the link between the three variables in South Africa. In general, per capita income improves per capita spending on education in the short run. However, total domestic credit to GDP ratio decreases spending on education. There are highly significant long run relationships among the variables. Improving access to private sector credit and increasing per capita incomes are associated with improvement in health outcomes in South Africa. There are no short run nor long run relationships between household spending on clothes, economic growth and financial sector development. Improved private sector credit also improves household spending on food. In general, there are long run relationships between per capita spending on food, per capita income and financial sector development.
This study seeks to identify, compare and appreciate salient differences in the financial sector development and economic growth experiences of Cameroon and South Africa. A comparative study is often ...conducted in the early stages of development of a branch of science in order to help research to progress from the initial level of exploratory case studies to a more advanced level of general model invariance, such as causality. Furthermore, a comparative study can also help in understanding the root cause of the development and/or weakness of one system (economy). A comparison between the financial sectors of Cameroon and South Africa will help to identify whether or not the level and structure of a financial sector can explain differences in terms of the effects of the latter on economic growth. The paper first compares the economic growth experiences of Cameroon and South Africa and examines the development of their financial sector. This is to assist in understanding their economic situations, in order to acknowledge the experiences of the two countries, which may explain the nature of the development of their financial sectors. The paper then analyzes the further development of their financial sectors using various indicators of financial deepening. This is to evaluate how all the policies implemented in order to restore the economic situation in these countries have impacted on their financial sector, either in terms of the number of players (financial widening), or in terms of their efficiency (financial deepening). Implications and conclusion are then included. It has been suggested that in Cameroon, during the pre-reform period, the country as well as the financial sector, excelled the most, partly due to the discovery of oil in 1978. However, the mid 1980s economic shock experiences of Cameroon significantly affected the financial sector. Subsequent financial sector development policies of Cameroon have failed to improve the economic situation. In the post-reform period, the banking sector was unable to efficiently collect savings and allocate these to the economy, possibly because of the loss of confidence in the banking sector although few efforts were made to attract savings from the economy. Furthermore, real interest rate, which reflects the real cost of funds to the borrower and the real yield to the lender, was almost negative throughout the period under review, and did not attract savings, even when it was positive. For South Africa, throughout the period under review, there has been a trend of an increase in almost all the indicators of the financial sector development selected. Savings have been better mobilised and effectively allocated to the economy and the financial sector has done well since the liberalisation of the sector.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze citizen satisfaction with public service delivery in the Sedibeng district municipality of South Africa. The municipality consists of three local ...municipalities, Lesedi, Emfuleni and Midvaal.Design methodology approach - The sampling procedure was carefully designed, taking into account the spatial distribution of the population in the Sedibeng district municipality and the three local municipalities. A structured sample of 1,000 respondents was used for the study and descriptive and inferential statistics approaches were used. The focus was on citizen satisfaction with public service delivery in health care, housing, water, electricity, solid waste removal, community services or overall physical appearance of the community, cutting crimes and job creation.Findings - Respondents are most dissatisfied with roads maintenance, government efforts to create jobs and reduce crime. Respondents from Emfuleni local municipality hold more positive feelings about public service delivery in the area of water, electricity, and solid waste. Their most negative feeling is in the area of job creation, roads and the municipality's efforts in cutting down on crime. On balance, respondents from Lesedi hold positive feelings about public service delivery only in the area of water and electricity supplies. Similarly, their most negative feelings are in the area of job creation, roads, and the municipality's efforts in cutting crime. Respondents from Midvaal do not hold positive feelings about public service delivery in their local municipality. Similar to other two local municipalities, their most negative feelings are in the area of job creation, roads, and the municipality's efforts in cutting crime. Overall, the most negative sentiment about public service delivery has been expressed by respondents from Midvaal, followed by Emfuleni and Lesedi.Practical implications - It is important for public service delivery in Sedibeng municipality to improve so that citizens' public confidence can rise.Originality value - Throughout Africa, governments have been entrusted to finance and provide basic services such as health, education, telecommunications, safe water and modern sanitation. Adequate access to these services enhances development. Public services are a key determinant of quality of life that is not measured in per capita income. They are also an important element of any poverty reduction strategy. Thus, improving public service delivery is one of the biggest challenges in the continent.
Purpose - South Africa is among the world's highest levels of alcohol consumption per drinker. Liquor abuse is hence rampant and many drinkers engage in risky drinking regularly. The purpose of this ...paper is to discuss the problem of liquor abuse and seek to understand the degree to which respondents are aware of the alcohol problem in South Africa and whether they have experienced incidents of alcoholism, its impacts and in particular, the study seeks to determine the degree to which minors are exposed to liquor. Awareness of the seriousness of the problem is crucial to finding a lasting solution to it.Design methodology approach - This paper conducted a survey in five provinces of the socio-economic aspects of liquor abuse. These are Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Kwazulu Natal (KZN), Mpumalanga and Western Cape provinces. The paper intends to address whether there are: differences in liquor abuse between experiences of demographic (racial) groupings per province; differences in the knowledge of alcohol-related activities and impacts per province; and differences in exposure of minors to liquor-related violence per province.Findings - South Africans are generally aware of the liquor abuse problem and many have had personal experiences or know family members who have had personal experiences. Liquor abuse is associated strongly with negative social activities in the country. Among occupational groups, administrative officers in Gauteng and Mpumalanga are significantly associated with being transported by drunk drivers. Drinking at work is significantly associated with professionals in KZN.Originality value - There are few studies that examine issues related to the problem of liquor abuse and the awareness of its seriousness. The findings could assist in understanding how to target education campaigns to inform the public of the problem of liquor abuse.
PDF