Browsing by Author "Luthuli, Malusi Kenneth."

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Developing a framework for project status reporting in South African state-owned companies.
(2020) Luthuli, Malusi Kenneth.; Chummun, Bibi Zaheenah.
There are two prominent organisations that play a critical role in the everyday life of most South Africans through freight logistics and electricity provision, Transnet State-Owned Company (SOC) and Eskom SOC, respectively. Within these organisations, billions of taxpayers’ Rand are invested into hundreds of capital projects that are frequently delayed. A capital project is a long-term, capital-intensive investment project aimed at building-upon, adding to or improving a capital asset. It is defined by its large scale and exorbitant costs relative to other projects. A project status report summarises the position or condition of a particular project during a stated period of time. It may be published as a single, stand-alone report or as part of a series of distinguishable, identifiable portions forming part of a larger report. During project status reporting, and according to the project management ‘iron triangle’, it is a measure of good governance for stakeholders to be informed of project progress during its lifecycle in terms of cost, schedule, scope, and quality. The key challenge, however, is that this can lead to stakeholders being unaware of various other constraints which affect capital projects executed by these organisations. Literature indicating how this challenge can be overcome is scarce. In developing a holistic framework for project status reporting in South African SOCs as its primary finding, this study suggests that additional project management constraints should be considered during project status reporting. Fifteen themes were identified. Delays in approval processes which can negatively influence all other project management constraints and utilisation of centralised and digitised project management software were exclusively identified during the analysis of primary data. Themes solely identified during the review of secondary data were safety, health and environment; highly regulated disciplines within the project management space. Other themes identified in secondary data were document control which is responsible for the creation, review, modification, storage, issuance, distribution, accessibility, and destruction of project documents, which should be undertaken together with the procurement of project-related goods and services which, if not strategically planned and executed, may stall progress onsite. Appropriately, most themes were present both in the primary and secondary data. These include the project cost management involving a set of processes that will allow the project to be completed within the approved budget. Schedule management details the activities and milestones that comprise the project. Scope definition is a process of developing a comprehensive description of the desired project outcome. Project quality bespeaks a philosophy of adherence to standards. Resources relate to everything that is required to perform project activities or tasks. Risks emanating from within and outside the project need to be understood. Contract lifecycle management, involves legally binding documents between the contractor and client. Together with project reporting and communication, the processes that are required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, control, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information are additional considerations. This framework formalises project status reporting pertaining to Eskom and Transnet SOCs. It nurtures effective communication, a key attribute in project management. It considers a holistic view of project management constraints, to give stakeholders an unparalleled view of all the project management disciplines. It promotes accurate flow of holistic project status information to both internal and external stakeholders, to aid problem-solving and decision-making during the project lifecycle. It advocates the utilisation of enterprise management offices as a means to improve stakeholder feedback. Lastly, it eliminates bureaucratic project management structures as a factor that is capable of undermining project status reporting. The research design is phenomenology and the research approach is qualitative. The general population, target population and accessible population are concepts that were clearly articulated in order to guide the reader in appraising sampling credibility. The techniques used and the outcomes of the research study were then declared and defined. Thereafter, purposive sampling was used to identify a SOC with an accessible population of 20 individuals responsible for project status reporting. Due to the small, manageable size of the accessible population, census sampling was used to maximise data collection points. Ultimately, 16 respondents were interviewed. Data were collected using self-administered, semi-structured interviews. NVivo software was utilised to find relationships, differences and interconnectedness between the themes in the primary and secondary data. This study recommends that Eskom and Transnet SOCs adopt this framework during project status reporting. Future research may want to refine the framework for wider application. Alternatively, future research may want to rank the project management constraints to determine the impact that each has vis-à-vis others.
The roles and functions of traditional leaders (Amakhosi) in the democratic South Africa with a specific focus on those falling under Ingonyama Trust : a case study of Ugu District municipality.
(2015) Luthuli, Malusi Kenneth.; Mngomezulu, Bhekithemba Richard.
The institution of traditional leadership remains one of the hotly contested topics in post-apartheid South Africa. This is despite the fact that Chapter 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa accords this institution status under the new political dispensation. What seems to be the bone of contention is the role traditional leaders should play in the present context. The roles and functions of amakhosi have been in constant flux, being redefined by different stages of history, from colonialism to apartheid and once again in the democratic South Africa. As such, amakhosi remain part of the present governance system. This study was guided by several aims which included but were not limited to: establish and articulate the roles and functions of amakhosi in post-apartheid South Africa and local governance, with a specific focus on amakhosi falling under Ingonyama Trust; evaluate the adequacy of resources allocated to amakhosi for achieving their directive; parallel legal requirements with work taking place at grassroots level; as well as compare and contrast the mandate of amakhosi against that of democratically elected councillors focusing particularly on those who fall under Ingonyama Trust. Empirical research using questionnaires and interviews was conducted in the Ugu District Municipality. The findings revealed inter alia that the roles and functions of amakhosi have been in constant flux over a lengthy period of time. As such, amakhosi and their traditional leadership supporting structures have had to constantly evolve to pass the bar. Another finding was that amakhosi are still accorded status and relevance in society but need to be provided financial resources for them to be more effective. Lastly, the study revealed that at times amakhosi and elected councillors compete for supremacy. It is therefore recommended that further legislation is needed to ensure that these two leadership structures work in harmony to ensure community development.