Public sector industrial relations in the context of alliance politics: the case of Makana Local Municipality, South Africa (1994-2006)
- Authors: Makwembere, Sandra
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003089 , Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This thesis is in the field of Industrial Relations. It concerns a micro-level investigation of the dynamics of public sector industrial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. It focuses on the Tripartite Alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and explores what the Alliance relationship has meant for the traditional roles of employees and their representatives on the one hand, and employers and their representatives on the other. The thesis examines the political, organisational and societal contradictions and implications for COSATU public sector union affiliates and their members in their relationship to the ANC as an ally (via the Alliance) and the context in which ANC members form part of management (in government). The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) was used as an archetype of a COSATU public sector union affiliate that engages with the State as employer at the municipal level. It is a case study of Makana Local Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) using qualitative research techniques and content analysis to derive the relevant information. The author conducted a series of in-depth interviews of key informants and observations at Makana Local Municipality were done. Based on the empirical data obtained from the investigation, the thesis argues that the traditional roles in the employment relationship at the workplace have been affected by the political alliance. Industrial relations roles have become increasingly vague especially since many within local government share ANC/SACP memberships with members of the trade union. The study also highlights that within an increasingly globalising post-apartheid environment, the Alliance provides mixture of benefits and challenges for workplace negotiations and employment relations in ways that macro-level analyses of employer-employee relationships do not always capture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Makwembere, Sandra
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003089 , Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This thesis is in the field of Industrial Relations. It concerns a micro-level investigation of the dynamics of public sector industrial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. It focuses on the Tripartite Alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and explores what the Alliance relationship has meant for the traditional roles of employees and their representatives on the one hand, and employers and their representatives on the other. The thesis examines the political, organisational and societal contradictions and implications for COSATU public sector union affiliates and their members in their relationship to the ANC as an ally (via the Alliance) and the context in which ANC members form part of management (in government). The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) was used as an archetype of a COSATU public sector union affiliate that engages with the State as employer at the municipal level. It is a case study of Makana Local Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) using qualitative research techniques and content analysis to derive the relevant information. The author conducted a series of in-depth interviews of key informants and observations at Makana Local Municipality were done. Based on the empirical data obtained from the investigation, the thesis argues that the traditional roles in the employment relationship at the workplace have been affected by the political alliance. Industrial relations roles have become increasingly vague especially since many within local government share ANC/SACP memberships with members of the trade union. The study also highlights that within an increasingly globalising post-apartheid environment, the Alliance provides mixture of benefits and challenges for workplace negotiations and employment relations in ways that macro-level analyses of employer-employee relationships do not always capture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An investigation of integrated development planning (IDP) as a mechanism for poverty alleviation in Grahamstown in the Makana Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Alebiosu, Olumide Ademola
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005517 , Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Poverty among individuals, households or communities is not a static condition. There are many factors which contribute to its causes and depth. In South Africa the economic gaps imposed by the previous apartheid government aggravated economic inequalities and caused considerable disparities, which has resulted in high unemployment rates. Inequalities were also manifest in the neglect of infrastructural and service provision as well in the effective absence of independent governance among some race group. This led to a call for pro-active initiatives by the post-1994 democratic government to remedy the living condition of the previously disadvantaged people. As part of its poverty relief drive the South African government has embarked on a series of developmental initiatives in bringing infrastructure related services to the poor and to reduce the enormous prevailing backlog, with the aim of increasing community participation, improving service delivery and promoting the upliftment of the lives of poor people through the medium of local governance. This study investigated the Integrated Development Planning, which has been undertaken in Grahamstown in the Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape to respond to the prevailing poverty and underdevelopment among the poor communities. Relying on their developmental mandate to initiate and co-ordinate all development activities within their area of jurisdiction through the IDP, the Makana Municipality has drawn up a development strategic plan in conjunction with the local communities and with other stakeholders and organisations to identify and assess development backlogs within the communities with the aim of addressing such backlogs. This study revealed from the interviews conducted with some municipal personnel and questionnaires administered to sampled residents of Grahamstown that some faces of poverty, such as unemployment and lack of access to some of the most basic of infrastructure such as, sanitation facilities, water, electricity, formal house, education, security and recreation facilities are apparent in Grahamstown. However, the Makana Municipality through, the IDP has achieved some notable feats in the provision of providing some of the basic amenities such as water, housing, electricity and sanitation albeit at a slow rate. The mechanism of delivery is hampered by bureaucratic settings within government and the ambiguity attached to some of the projects. The service and infrastructural developments targeted towards the poor and the involvement of communities in the affairs of the local government might be seen as a partially panacea for poverty alleviation in South Africa. However the capacity of the local governments to effectively carry out this developmental challenge assignment might be a new twist in the developmental challenge facing local governments in South Africa. The thesis provides an overview of the Makana Municipality IDP and the degree to which is serving as one mechanism to address poverty in the Grahamstown urban area
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Alebiosu, Olumide Ademola
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005517 , Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Poverty among individuals, households or communities is not a static condition. There are many factors which contribute to its causes and depth. In South Africa the economic gaps imposed by the previous apartheid government aggravated economic inequalities and caused considerable disparities, which has resulted in high unemployment rates. Inequalities were also manifest in the neglect of infrastructural and service provision as well in the effective absence of independent governance among some race group. This led to a call for pro-active initiatives by the post-1994 democratic government to remedy the living condition of the previously disadvantaged people. As part of its poverty relief drive the South African government has embarked on a series of developmental initiatives in bringing infrastructure related services to the poor and to reduce the enormous prevailing backlog, with the aim of increasing community participation, improving service delivery and promoting the upliftment of the lives of poor people through the medium of local governance. This study investigated the Integrated Development Planning, which has been undertaken in Grahamstown in the Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape to respond to the prevailing poverty and underdevelopment among the poor communities. Relying on their developmental mandate to initiate and co-ordinate all development activities within their area of jurisdiction through the IDP, the Makana Municipality has drawn up a development strategic plan in conjunction with the local communities and with other stakeholders and organisations to identify and assess development backlogs within the communities with the aim of addressing such backlogs. This study revealed from the interviews conducted with some municipal personnel and questionnaires administered to sampled residents of Grahamstown that some faces of poverty, such as unemployment and lack of access to some of the most basic of infrastructure such as, sanitation facilities, water, electricity, formal house, education, security and recreation facilities are apparent in Grahamstown. However, the Makana Municipality through, the IDP has achieved some notable feats in the provision of providing some of the basic amenities such as water, housing, electricity and sanitation albeit at a slow rate. The mechanism of delivery is hampered by bureaucratic settings within government and the ambiguity attached to some of the projects. The service and infrastructural developments targeted towards the poor and the involvement of communities in the affairs of the local government might be seen as a partially panacea for poverty alleviation in South Africa. However the capacity of the local governments to effectively carry out this developmental challenge assignment might be a new twist in the developmental challenge facing local governments in South Africa. The thesis provides an overview of the Makana Municipality IDP and the degree to which is serving as one mechanism to address poverty in the Grahamstown urban area
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
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