Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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    Corruption and the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Gauteng
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Chetty, Melanie; Venter, Rob
    In most countries SMEs are vital to economic advancement and sustainability of small businesses are critical to a nation`s socioeconomic stability; otherwise, the country faces stagnation in its economy. Corruption is a global challenge which threatens sustainable economic development and adherence to good governance creates an environment where corruption struggle to flourish. this study examine the impact of corruption on SMEs in Gauteng using a quantitative research methodology whereby 77 respondent were located in Gauteng.
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    Good corporate governance in state-owned entities: challenges and compliance
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mokuena, Medi Moira; Kawadza, Herbet
    This research explores the state of good corporate governance in state-owned entities. It does so by locating good corporate governance in the state-owned entities’ operating environment. This research raises the failure of the executive managers, the non-executive directors, and the executive authorities to appreciate this powerful tool as a key to the success of the state-owned entities. The state-owned entities are significant participants in South Africa's economy. The number of state-owned entities, the size of some, and their role in the country's economy make good corporate governance imperative. The nonchalant approach of the state-owned entities management to this phenomenon is concerning because its effect on the economy and the delivery of services to the people has far-reaching negative consequences. In most instances, unethical executive managers and non-executive directors consider it inconvenient and a nuisance. The competitiveness of the economy, success and sustainability of the state-owned entities is unachievable without good corporate governance. The accounting authorities must know and understand the purpose of state-owned entities and the relevance of good corporate governance. They must own it, embrace it and oversee its effectuation throughout the organisation without fail. Once adopted, good corporate governance binds the accounting authorities, the executive managers, and all the employees in the state-owned entities, including the executive officers. There are laws and other guidelines in place to modulate good corporate governance. The overarching law is the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. These could be better. However, if properly implemented and not manipulated for nefarious reasons to the detriment of the state-owned entities, the government will realise its goals, and the public will benefit. Bad corporate governance opens the door for corruption, bribery, fraud, financial mismanagement, and money laundering. This problem is common in Southern Africa. For instance, Botswana and Namibia also have good corporate governance challenges in their state-owned entities. Their good corporate governance is premised on the King Codes and international instruments. Hence, good corporate governance must be applied in the management of state-owned entities. The quality of management and execution in state-owned entities determine their failure or success. With the help of the private sector enablers, theirprospect of success is limited
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    The impact of ethics on the organisational culture of a government department in South Africa
    (niversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Perumal, Gonasagrie Munsami; Wotela, Kambidima; Mokhohlane, Daniel
    South Africa has witnessed an increase in corruption in recent years, despite the President’s commitment to “building an ethical state in which there is no place for corruption”. This study sought to determine the factors that contribute to unethical behaviour, the attitudes and behaviours to unethical behaviour, and the impact thereof on the organisational culture. The research paper deliberated on whether leadership encouraged ethical behaviour. The study was carried out in the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic). A sample of 12 respondents who have worked at the dtic for longer than a year was selected using a cross-sectional selection sample. A qualitative research methodology was employed, using semi- structured interviews to obtain the information, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the information. The main study findings were that there were many opportunities for unethical behaviour, exacerbated by lack of trust in leadership and inconsistent, irrational and sometimes non-transparent decision-making. Attitudes and behaviour of leadership to unethical behaviour and consequences for unethical behaviours applied only to junior staff and not management, creating an environment of distrust. Leadership generally did not encourage ethical behaviour, the mechanisms were insufficient to prevent unethical behaviour, and such unethical behaviours impacted on the culture of the organisation, hence ethics and mainly unethical behaviour has a direct impact on the organisational culture.
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    Improvement of Nigeria’s Security Sector Governance to effectively control terrorism
    (2022) Ossai, Vincent
    This research explored the means of enhancing Nigeria’s security sector governance to effectively counter the threats of terrorism and its facilitation by terrorism financing. For this purpose, the subsisting status of the necessary requirements that can strengthen the sector was assessed. These requirements are those advocated in the traditional Security Sector Reform paradigm and in the African Union Policy Framework on Security Sector Reform. There are several of these but the ones concentrated on are: civil democratic oversight, human rights and good governance as well as its derivates including the country’s anti-corruption profile especially with relevance to the required transparency and accountability of the sector. Access to gainful employment as a means of poverty alleviation and to help reduce involvement in terrorism was equally assessed. The data for this purpose were sourced from relevant documents and the submissions of purposefully sampled experts. The result of the assessment showed that the subsisting quality of the above requirements, are deficient in terms of their efficacy to boost Nigeria’s security sector governance to effectively counter terrorism. This therefore, necessitated the following improvements; namely: development and application of better strategies to mitigate this crime and its illicit financial supports; strengthening the capacity of the sector through improved human resources, budgetary and equipment supports; better intelligence management; improvement of policy and legal supports; improvement in the collaboration of constituent institutions in the sector as well as complementary international cooperation supports. Others are: strengthening of the various oversight institutions and the proficiency of their functionaries as well as improvement of human rights standard of the sector through enforcement of civilized and ethical conducts of security operatives and complemented with sanctions for breaches. Further improvements revolved around provision of good governance including enhancement of Nigeria’s anti-corruption profile including the required transparency and accountability standard, entrenchment of professional responsibility etiquette and effective administration of sanction schemes. Further improvements include: provision of gainful employment opportunities through requisite skills and entrepreneurship development programmes as well as provision of supports to the private sector and investment in public infrastructure. Consequent upon the foregoing, it is expected that when the above improvement measures are undertaken and proficiently applied, that they can help to strengthen the capacity of Nigeria’s security sector governance to more effectively control terrorism in the country.
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    An exploratory study on digital payments on B2B vehicle fleet expenses: A South African perspective
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Thomas, Justin Nicholas
    Managing vehicle fleet expenses is crucial for businesses worldwide, as they significantly impact profitability. In this research study, we investigate the realm of digital fleet payments, covering aspects of fleet management and digital payment adoption. Our findings shed light on the prevailing practices and provide valuable insights to enhance existing research. Fleet expenses, including fuel, tolls, and repairs, rank among the top costs for companies, often comprising up to 60% of operational expenditure. Effective fleet management is vital to control costs and maximise profitability. While transport-focused businesses typically have dedicated fleet management resources, non-transport-focused companies often rely on outsourcing fleet solutions. These solutions encompass various services beyond telematics devices, assisting in cost control, driver management, and vehicle performance optimisation. Key players in the industry include banking institutions, insurance companies, telematics providers, vehicle manufacturers, oil companies, and data analytics firms. Fuel and repair costs alone constitute 35% of the total cost of owning a vehicle fleet, making cost management a crucial aspect of remaining competitive. For many businesses, fleet-related expenses, such as fuel, tolls, and maintenance, account for approximately 50% of operational costs. Ensuring comprehensive cost visibility and appropriate management has become an imperative business goal. To conduct this research, we conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with a sample group of eight participants, consisting of CEOs, executives, senior managers, and industry experts in digital fleet payments in South Africa. Our findings revealed that fleet cards, still utilising magstripe technology, are the primary digital payment mechanism businesses in South Africa employ. However, the market is evolving with the emergence of safer options, such as contactless payments and EMV (encrypted chip and pin). Digital fleet payment solutions offer numerous advantages, including simplicity, spending control, billing consolidation, and fuel and maintenance information access. However, obstacles like the outdated three-party paradigm, limited international transaction utility, and credit restrictions for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) hinder the adoption of digital fleet management systems. Security concerns, including fraud and fuel theft, also pose iii challenges. Despite these obstacles, digital fleet payments have shown the potential to enhance B2B fleet management through improved efficiency, cost reduction, and innovative solution
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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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    Youth unemployment in Southern Africa: the role of corruption
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Siboyi, Lebo; Mlilo, Mthokozisi
    Youth unemployment in Southern African countries remains a key concern and continues to have undesirable consequences as it leads to stagnant economic growth due to an inactive labour market and increasing pressure on the government to issue security grants amongst other issues. Most countries in Southern Africa have been faced with high youth unemployment, and policies that have been implemented thus far to counter this problem have resulted in limited success. This research aims to achieve two objectives: (i) examine the determinants of youth unemployment in Southern Africa between 1990 and 2019 and (ii) the impact of corruption on youth unemployment. Using a battery of panel data estimations techniques such as OLS, DOLS, and FMOLS simultaneously with the panel ARDL, this study assessed the relationship between corruption and youth unemployment in the 10 Southern African countries from 1990 to 2019. The findings reveal that there is a positive and significant relationship between corruption perception and youth unemployment. That is, as a country becomes less corrupt, youth unemployment increases. The cointegration analysis applied using the Pedroni and Kao tests concludes that there is a presence of a stable, long-run relationship using the combination of the variables from the model. The main conclusion from the study is that there is an indirect relationship between corruption and youth unemployment through the economic growth channel. This paper argued that corruption can promote efficiency by giving way to save time in lengthy and complex processes and rules by encouraging illegal trade. The expansion of the underground economy when corruption increases also aid in absorbing young people in the informal sector. Given that corruption is so embedded in Southern African countries, this paper recommends that when attempting to combat it, measures should be put in place to ensure that young people in the informal economy or participating and benefiting from the loopholes in the legal institutions get absorbed so that youth unemployment does not increase nor exacerbate
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    Corruption and Financial Mismanagement in State-Owned Entities – The role of Fiscal Legislation in deterring corruption and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in State-Owned Entities
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Mkhwanazi, Zola Elsie; Van Zijl, Wayne
    Corruption has been around for thousands of years, but in recent years, it has been increasing and has attracted world-wide attention. South Africa as a developing country, has also been affected by corruption and also financial mismanagement in its State-Owned Entities. South African tax law, like most tax law across different jurisdictions, generally provides for tax reforms that promote the anti-corruption drive in government entities and tax reforms that manage fruitless and wasteful expenditure. As corruption and fruitless and wasteful expenditure continuously increase in government entities, concerns about the impact on liquidity of these entities due to the misappropriation of public funds also increase. The evidence of this paper aims to address the following question: Have the promulgated tax laws been effective (proxied by perceived corruption) in deterring corruption and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in South African State-Owned Entities? The tax regulations against which an analysis was performed are: 1. Provisions of section 23(o) of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962 which regulate the deductibility of illegal expenses and fruitless and wasteful expenditure. 2. Application of the definition of gross income on illegal receipts. Specifically, it has been found that the increase in corruption, increases tax non-compliance which means it is most likely that those who are party to corruption, are likely not to comply with the laws promulgated to reduce corruption. It has also been found that fruitless and wasteful expenditure is high, and it mainly relates to interest and penalties levied by creditors and South African Revenue Services. The higher the fruitless and wasteful expenditure, the higher the amount subjected to non-deductibility for State-Owned Entities