State capture became topical in South Africa in March 2016 following the dismissal of the then Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene, on 09 December 2015. ‘Nenegate’ revealed poor understanding of state capture among politicians and the general public. The literature indicates that state capture lacks analytical clarity as there is no clear demarcation between legitimate political lobbying and state capture created by corruption. The research question addressed in this article is: What is state capture and how is it manifested in South Africa? Firstly, it systematically unpacks the phenomenon as a type of business–state relationship distinct from influence, corruption and lobbying and outlines its types, features and essence. Secondly, the article explores state capture in contemporary South Africa. Methodology-wise, a combination of literature study and current research reports is used to illuminate the phenomenon and its manifestation. The article contributes to existing knowledge by not only clarifying a concept conflated with corruption but also analysing the manifestations of state capture in South Africa.

Introduction and backgroundResearch indicates that it is vital for customers to be consistently satisfied if organisations are to be successful (Deng et al. 2017). Customer satisfaction is essential for service-oriented publicsector entities, such as municipalities that must ensure citizens receive quality services that meet or exceed their expectations (Twala 2014). Consequently, municipalities are mandated to use available resources to deliver quality services. Employees in service-oriented municipalities frequently interact with customers, during which they represent both the municipalities and services provided (Jerry 2014). Fogli (2015) indicated that satisfied customers and motivated employees are important to municipalities in meeting their obligations. Given the critical role of employees in meeting the expectations of the public during service experience, it is essential for municipalities to implement practices and strategies that ensure employees are motivated and satisfied in order to deliver quality service. Luddy ( 2015) identified inefficiency and ineffectiveness as major problems affecting the ability of the South African public sector to offer high-quality services. Challenges associated with many South African municipalities include poor governance, poor monitoring and accountability, lack of proper financial management, high backlogs and high turnover rates amongst officials occupying critical positions (Pretorius & Schurink 2017). Inability to provide basic municipal services effectively and efficiently to the satisfaction of Background: In South Africa, municipal service delivery is characterised by a low level of motivation amongst employees, poor service quality and a high level of citizen dissatisfaction, often resulting in violent protests. Aim:The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between municipal employees' motivation and quality of services delivered. Setting:The study was conducted at a selected municipality in the Western Cape province, which is unnamed for ethical reasons.Methods: In this quantitative study, two main hypotheses were advanced to examine the relationship between employee motivation and service quality, and six hypotheses tested the relationship between leadership, job satisfaction, career growth, organisational culture, physical work environment, work group teams and service quality. The sample consisted of 121 employees selected from a target population of 219 using simple random sampling technique. A five-point Likert-scale survey questionnaire was administered. Data were captured on an Excel sheet and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The analysis was done descriptively and correlationally.Results: Whilst analysis of descriptive statistics showed low mean scores for motivation and five of its six constructs, indicating low motivation amongst municipal employees, correlational analysis confirmed the six hypotheses for the constructs, with different degrees of positive correlation between them and service quali...

Social entrepreneurs are well positioned to tackle socio-economic problems in deprived communities. The impact of social entrepreneurs is becoming important for addressing social challenges and providing innovative, sustainable and effective social solutions. Although many entrepreneurs are active in the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality area, their impact on community development remains largely unreported publicly. This article focuses on social entrepreneurs’ impact on community development and provides an understanding of their impact. It addresses the question: what impact do social entrepreneurs have on community development? It is based on a study that combines qualitative and quantitative data collection methods conducted in Khayelitsha (Harare) and Gugulethu (Section 21). The sample consisted of 73 respondents representing social organisations, social entrepreneurs and individual township residents, selected by using the margin of error formula. Interviews and a questionnaire were the instruments. It was found that social entrepreneurs positively impact communities’ development in several ways: improvements through training, educating and facilitating communities’ engagement in different activities such as home-based care and developing children’s mentality and creating space for people to develop their needs. Despite the crucial role social enterprises play in deprived communities, their activities do not alleviate core community problems and their impact is minimal owing to shortcomings such as non-involvement of local people, unsustainability of their activities’ outcomes, lack of plans to present to communities, poor implementation of activities and weak monitoring of outcomes. To enhance their impact, social entrepreneurs should involve beneficiaries trapped within socio-economic problems in the process of community development.

The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) is mandated by law to provide support services and creating conducive business environment that supports the transformation of both small and large scale industries in Nigeria. The FMITI mandate and task is facilitated through its subsidiary, the Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). This is against the background that the parastatal will facilitate development (if well supported) by triggering production, employment opportunities and growth. Especially in Nigeria, where the informal sector employs more people than the formal sector, but with declining affluences of micro and small businesses, questions must be asked concerning the effectiveness of the institution's programmes and policies in revitalising, sustaining as well as growing the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector. In this paper, literature on monitoring and evaluation (M&E), legislative framework linked to the functioning of small and medium business sector is extensively reviewed. Furthermore, this paper will critically evaluate SMEDAN mandate to provide support services that will transform the informal sector of the Nigerian economy using existing monitoring and evaluation systems of selected programmes and policies put in place by the agency to indicate readiness (or lack thereof) of the current system to further develop the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector of the economy. This paper adopts qualitative and quantitative methodologies. It is anticipated that findings from this research-based paper will present lessons which can be harnessed to better reposition monitoring and evaluation systems hence, ensure effectiveness of future programmes and policies that will generate employment opportunities through SMEDAN.

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