Article HistoryThe local economic development (LED) had been in existence prior to the advent of democracy in 1994 government. At that time there was a strong focus on the agricultural sector. The apartheid government at that time fully supported the LED initiatives but not all citizens of South Africa benefited from that support. The Acts and policies of the apartheid government such as the Group Areas Act forced black people to move out of places with resources and placed them into areas with poor resources. After 1994 the South African government adopted LED as a strategy to deal with the disparities of the past such as poverty, unemployment, and poor standards of living. Several strategies were put into place to overcome the challenges that was as a result of the apartheid past. The Zululand district with similar intention of the post-apartheid government embarked on initiating the ward based LED program to deal with the consequences of the past. The status quo report of the Zululand district still identified high levels of poverty and unemployment and a slow growth in the local economy as a major concern. This study aimed to investigate the ward based LED program in order to establish if the program has made the achievement towards its objectives and also to establish what challenges are encountered by the local government in the implementation of the program. The study used a qualitative research method which was conducted with the adoption of one on -one interview as a tool for data collection. The researcher prepared an interview schedule of open ended questions to allow the liberty and a flexible expression of perceptions, experiences and understanding of participants on the phenomenon under investigation. Contribution/Originality:This study contributes to the existing literature of Local Economic Development (LED) in South Africa which uses ward base as a starting point. This study uses, an exploratory research approach which adopted a phenomenological (qualitative) paradigm. The study found that while the LED ward based program is a great initiative with very good intentions, the municipalities have to do some improvements in order to achieve the objectives of the program.

The study investigated the state of leadership readiness in the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) to develop policy for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). The DTPS is the lead Department in terms of 4IR within the Public Service and there are specific skills that are required within the DTPS to effectively lead in this regard. This study investigated the perceived gap between current skills and required skills in DTPS. The study adopted a qualitative method to obtain leaders' views and opinions by conducting structured and semi‐structured interviews. The nature of the study is exploratory. A total of 10 DTPS employees, both female and male on a 50/50 basis were interviewed on the skills of the leaders' state of readiness in developing policy for 4IR. The study findings identified an absence of problem‐solving, analytical, creative, technical, conflict management, collaboration and artificial intelligence, innovation and change management skills. It recommends that these competencies be included in the current Public Service Competency Assessment Framework that ensures that leaders are ready for policy development for 4IR.

Proper governance in organizations across both the public and private domain has come under great scrutiny around the world. In South Africa with a Transparency International 2015 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score of 44, rank 61/168, the question of appropriate governance structures to curb corruption is critical. There have been highly publicized recent occurrences of corruption and mismanagement in South African SOE’ssuch as Prasa, Eskom, SABC, Denel, SAA and Transnet. These instances have resulted in increased scrutiny on governance and ethical leadership in government organizations. With the high-profile cases mentioned above, and the resultant public disillusionment with government organizations, the ethical recapture of these organizations is imperative. This paper examines the latest recommendations contained in the King Report (King IV) with particular attention to ethics in leadership. It considers the question of whether King IV will be effective in promoting ethical leadership.

In today's globalised business world characterised by a high level of competition and unstable markets, businesses are called upon to utilise their resources in the most effective and efficient manner to survive. It has become critical for businesses to monitor their employees' performance and to constantly develop and train employees to eliminate inefficiencies and improve productivity. Performance management has come to play an indispensable role in helping organisations reach their productivity goals. However, research indicates that many organisations have failed to implement and maintain effective performance‐management systems owing to employees' negative attitudes towards performance‐management practices. This paper through a quantitative approach investigates the effectiveness of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) performance‐management development system (PMDS) at the RAF office in Durban, South Africa. The sample of participants were selected from different structures across the organisational hierarchy. The key findings from the study indicated that within RAF performance management review outcomes are very subjective; the performance management system is not fully implemented; there is inconsistent implementation of performance management amongst different departments; and a lack of managers' involvement in implementing the performance management system. Some of the recommendations made include the use of 360° feedback appraisal for employee performance evaluation; keeping up‐to‐date job profiles outlining the roles and responsibilities of staff; and making sure that employees are aware of performance measurements and performance criteria used during performance reviews to reduce subjectivity.