Browsing by Author "Ntuli, Mbuyiseni Goodlife."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

An analysis of systemic thinking in decision-making processes in the municipalities within the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
(2015) Ntuli, Mbuyiseni Goodlife.; Lekhanya, Lawrence Mpele.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the understanding, application and effectiveness of systemic thinking in decision-making processes in the municipalities within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. This study was based on the premised that the success or failure of the municipality is, among other factors, the product of the decision-making processes of its leadership-politicians, administrators and relations between them. These relations derive not only from conflict or cooperation, but also from the power and influence each side wields over strategic decision-making processes. A mixed method approach was used to collect data from 61 municipalities within the province of KwaZulu-Natal to test a plethora of theoretical paradigms of different erudite scholars on the discourse of systemic thinking in decision-making processes. A sample size of 183 senior managers from the population of 305 senior managers was chosen through the stratified random sampling techniques. The participants were Chief Financial Officers, Director Corporate Services and Municipal Managers. A response rate of 83% was attained. The key results indicated that the majority of respondents (88.1%) do not believe that the conventional ways of thinking are still relevant in resolving management challenges in municipalities, and the majority of the respondents (89.4%) believe that systemic thinking would be a better approach in managing the municipalities. This study contributes to the existing theory of systemic thinking in decision-making processes in the municipalities within South Africa, as a whole. The conclusions made out of this study, is that, there is a need for a development of a user-friendly manual on systemic thinking that will empower senior managers in municipalities with relevant systemic thinking skills and expertise, and this study further recommended that institutions of higher learning must incorporate systemic thinking in their management or leadership curriculum.
The effects of the educator post-provisioning model in the management of public schools in iLembe District.
(2012) Ntuli, Mbuyiseni Goodlife.; Singh, Anesh Maniraj.
The Post-Provisioning Model (PPM) is a Resource Allocation Model (RAM) used by the Department of Education to optimize the distribution of available educator resources to public schools. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education adopted the PPM to distribute the total available posts to all public schools in an equitable, transparent and resource-efficient manner. The PPM is a formula-driven model that primarily allocates educators, as human capital, to public schools based on learner enrolment numbers. In addition to allocating teaching staff, the PPM allocates the School Management Team (SMT) to each school. The outcome of the PPM formula is called the Post-Provisioning Norm (PPN). The implementation of the PPM has presented various challenges in the management of public schools. The primary aims of this study were to investigate any possible weaknesses of the PPM and to critically evaluate and explore school managers’ views of the PPM in the management of public schools. For the purposes of this study a complex probability sampling procedure was used. The participants were chosen from the principals within KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education in iLembe District. A sample size of 217 principals participated in the survey, which was drawn from the population of 420 school principals. The literature review undertaken in chapter 2 and the field research conducted in chapter 4 revealed that there is a gap between the ideals of the PPM and its implementation. It was found that there was a poor understanding of the technical aspects of the PPM formula among principals of public schools. There is evidence of equitable quantitative distribution of posts through the PPM. However, it was discovered that the PPM does not take into account the distribution of qualified educators. Hence, some of the allocated posts in public schools were often filled by under-qualified or non-qualified staff. The appointment of qualified educators was skewed. Further findings of this study revealed, amongst others, the inability of the PPM to provide for and promote the needs of a diverse curriculum in rural areas, and the inability to factor in and balance for the variable that some public schools raise millions of rands in school fees, which enables the advantaged schools to employ additional educators. The primary recommendations of this study are that principals be trained, on an annual basis, on the workings of the PPM and that the South African schools Act No.84 of 1996 must be amended to grant authority to the Head of Department of the province to appoint and deploy qualified educators to public schools.