Manpower is a vital possession of any organization and the survival of any organization is dependent on the quality and empowerment of its employees, presence of good ethical climate, organizational support and commitment by top management to the organisation. An enabled manpower results in an efficient and effective organization. There is an urgent need for South Africa's companies to develop cultures that foster positive work environments and increase productivity. Achieving this is not an easy task and one of the ways to developing this culture is in the area of employee empowerment, ethical climate, organizational support and top management commitment which will ultimately lead to employee job satisfaction. Hence this paper is trying to look at the influence of employee empowerment, ethical climate, organisational support and top management commitment on employee job satisfaction, an area that seem to have been neglected by researchers considering companies in the Gauteng province of South Africa. In today’s work environment, employees are needed to make decisions, take initiative, take responsibility and find solutions to problems as well as being motivated and having the best interest of the company at heart. This study used a quantitative research methodology through using Smart PLS software to analyse the data. A sample of 200 registered companies in the Gauteng province was used to collect data from employees in both managerial and non-managerial positions. All the posited 4 hypotheses were supported by the data collected.

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We identified the deficiency in the conventional accounting system in capturing water-loss-related information and its effect on cost-saving decisions in a water utility in South Africa. We employed the material flow cost accounting (MFCA) model in the case of the Doorndraai Water Treatment Scheme to highlight inefficient phases of the water purification processes for the manager to identify opportunities for corrective action. Findings reveal that the inability of the conventional accounting system in accurately capturing water loss information limits the scheme manager’s ability to recognize cost-saving opportunities. Consequently, we found that the implementation of the material flow cost accounting (MFCA) model identified the pumping process as a major contributor to the water scheme’s daily operating loss because of the pumping machine’s low capacitor. Besides, this pumping machine has been in operation for about five years, an indication that the water scheme had been operating at a loss daily for a number of years. Thus, we suggested that the water scheme should invest in procuring a more suitable pumping device to reduce the huge electricity cost incurred daily by the Doorndraai Water Treatment Scheme. Besides this, the paper extended the implementation of the MFCA by providing an example of how the managerial accounting system can support environmental and economic sustainability in water purification processes. Thus, we reiterate that one way of effectively managing water resources is to appropriately capture the volume of water loss and water-purification-related costs to improve its efficiency.