Browsing by Author "Malindini, Kholiswa"

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    Exploring the link between perceptions on corruption levels and the prevalence of high unemployment in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Molise, Tieho Francis; Malindini, Kholiswa
    The failure of the government to deliver leads to dissatisfaction and loss of hope amongst the citizens. The focus of this study was to provide a disclosure on the knowledge and insights of how the citizens perceive the Government towards fighting corruption and creating jobs. This single based country study, which adopted a correlational research design, was aimed to investigate whether there is an association between the perceived high corruption levels and ability of the government to create jobs. The study used a Chi-Square test for association which ruled out the Null hypothesis in favour of the Alternative hypothesis that there is a significant (P=0.000) association between the perception of corruption and job creation for both round five and round eight Afrobarometer surveys covered in this study. The study also found that the citizens in South Africa continued to perceive the government to be doing very badly in handling job creation and fighting corruption. Therefore, the Government ought to address the voice of the nation to retain its own reputation, supremacy and for progression of the economy and wellbeing of its nation at large
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    Impact analysis of institutional quality on foreign direct investment inflows into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Malindini, Kholiswa; Pillay, Pundy
    The quality of governance has increasingly become a significant determinant of foreign direct investment inflows in recipient countries. Although extensive research has been conducted internationally to examine the role of institutional quality on foreign direct investment inflows, this concept has not been thoroughly interrogated in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) context. The region is poverty-stricken, unemployment rates are skyrocketing, economic growth is deteriorating, and the region only accounts for only one percent of global FDI. Thus, this study sought to examine three main objectives critically: first, the effect of institutional quality on foreign direct investment inflows into the SADC region; second, the influence of the financial development on the FDI-institutional quality nexus and thirdly, to assess whether countries’ income levels matter for attracting FDI inflows. FDI as a percentage of GDP was measured as a dependent variable, while institutional quality, financial development, natural resource availability, and GDP growth were the main explanatory variables. The study controlled for inflation rates, trade openness, and trade policy. An interaction term was generated to evaluate the effect of financial development on the FDI-institutional quality nexus in the SADC region. In order to achieve the research objectives, a mixed-methods approach was adopted, and a convergence research design was applied. Secondary data for other macroeconomic variables were drawn from the World Bank Development Indicators. In contrast, data for financial development were drawn from the International Monetary Fund’s Financial Development Index database, and data for governance indicators were drawn from the Worldwide Governance Indicators’ database. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires. Econometric models were developed to analyse panel data from 2011 – 2018 for 15 SADC member states to achieve the set objectives quantitatively. Specifically, the study adopted the Generalised System Methods of Moments (GMM) as the appropriate and efficient estimation technique for the analysis. Using a Pillar Integration Process, the data were integrated. The overall findings suggested that, while GDP growth, trade openness, and natural resources positively influence FDI inflows into the region and are statistically significant, institutional quality, inflation, trade policy and financial development are negatively and statistically significant coefficients towards FDI. The results revealed that a poor regulatory environment, the rule of law, and weak accountability are the main disincentives to improved quality of governance. The overall results indicated that weak institutional quality is still a significant challenge as far as inward FDI attraction is concerned; the lack of an enforcement mechanism directly impacts foreign investor property rights protection and eventually deters foreign investment inflows. Also, the unstable political framework that fails to sufficiently support economic institutions and ensure certainty, and the lack of political will, particularly by heads of government to implement and prioritize regional objectives over national interests, is a significant problem and stifles progress towards more profound integration. It also transpired that the financial markets and institutions within the region are not efficiently developed and are still fragmented, and this is attributed to macroeconomic instability and weak macroeconomic convergence. The findings also revealed that the countries’ income levels do not matter as far as FDI attraction is concerned. Based on these results, it may be necessary for SADC member states to adopt an institutional framework that promotes collaboration in the region and ensures effective and efficient implementation of the potential protocols. Given the dominance of national sovereignty over regional objectives, it may be worth examining the regimes that govern the member states; based on the view that sometimes non-compliance by member states emanates from the regime, which may sometimes not support regionalism. Convergent bilateral and multilateral arrangements are necessary for the region. The region needs to raise its export competitiveness by attracting domestic and foreign investments, and a rigorous trade integration process is a prerequisite. Policymakers in the region should focus on working together with institutions to promote development in the banking sector. Further, given the adverse effects of financial development on FDI inflows due to rising domestic credit by the banking sector, efforts should be made to maintain domestic credit levels to allow room for more FD
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    Misalignment between government planning and budgeting in Limpopo department of economic development, environment and tourism
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Mahlatji, Elizabeth Sarona; Malindini, Kholiswa
    Prior to 1994 in South Africa, strategic planning and budgeting processes were fragmented. However, in the post-1994 democratic dispensation, the South African government introduced certain strategic planning and budgeting reforms. The aim of these reforms was to ensure alignment between government planning and budgeting processes to enhance service delivery, as well as the effective and efficient utilisation of resources. These reforms included the introduction of various policy frameworks, structures, and systems to guide planning and budgeting. The purpose of this research was to assess the factors contributing to misalignment between strategic planning and budgeting and challenges this presents in the execution of government programs in LEDET. The study employed the organisational alignment theory to guide the development of this empirical journey stressing the integration of various functional areas within an organisation to enhance performance. A qualitative research approach was employed and a total of 13 senior and middle management officials within the chosen case study participated in the study. Participants were purposefully sampled for semi-structured interviews so as to provide rich information relevant to the phenomenon under investigation due to the experience and knowledge they possess relating to the subject. A thematic data analysis method was used to analyse the primary data and formulate the themes. Some of the findings of this study indicate that, despite the government reforms to ensure alignment between planning and budgeting, misalignment still persists. This misalignment impacts negatively on effective and efficient utilisation of government resources in terms of budget and achievement of planned developmental programs and projects for improved organisational performance. The study further discovered that misalignment between government planning and budgeting is due to both internal and external factors. Internally, misalignment between planning and budgeting is as a result of parallel processes by planning and budgeting units with no efforts for synchronisation. There is duplication of functions that existed for a long time between the department and some state owned entities which has a bearing on allocation of limited resources. In addition, the study found that evaluations of departmental programs and projects to determine their impact on the plight of the poor people and also to inform future planning and budgeting are not conducted. Furthermore, a lack of strategic leadership contributes to the misalignment between planning and budget, as sometimes things are done just for compliance, rather than for improving the quality of the processes to ensure synchronisation. It may be necessary to deploy effective planning and budgeting processes to enhance alignment, support the evaluation of departmental programs and projects to inform future planning and budgeting