OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open-access peer-reviewed journal
An assessment of solid waste collection model for Mogale City Local Municipality, West of Johannesburg, South Africa
Mpinane Flory Senekane 1, Telang Dominic Nyokana 2
1,2 Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Volume 16, Issue 08, Pg. 11-20, 2023
Abstract: The solid waste collection in all municipalities requires proper infrastructure and upgrading of all waste management activities. Increasingly expensive of waste collections services is associated with lack of planning by individual municipalities. While this is a fact, municipalities often find themselves in poor financial status due to mismanagement of municipal finances, and this affect waste collection services negatively where in some municipalities the services are poor and in others non-existent. At this juncture, the municipalities that are affected normally decide on another approach of providing waste collection services amongst which are the development of a new waste collection model. In line with this, some municipalities experience major shortcomings with the current models that are in place in their own area. The aim of study was to assess the waste collection models that are used in Mogale City Local Municipality. To achieve this aim, objectives were to assess the waste collection services, to review the implementation of waste collection systems and to recommend a new waste collection model for Mogale City Local Municipality. This study was conducted in Mogale City, West Rand District of Gauteng, South Africa. The total population was thirty-nine (n=39) municipal wards from which a sample size of 22 wards was drawn. Respondents were categorized into three groups of wards councillors (n=22), managers of residential complexes and shopping centres (n=51) and municipal solid waste officers (n=13). Selection of respondents was done randomly. Data were collected quantitatively and interpreted qualitatively. Data analysis of themes identified from the study categories was done separately by using SPSS version 25.0 with the assistance of STATKON (Division for data analysis within the University of Johannesburg). Findings of the study revealed that waste collection services were inconsistent owing to insufficient budget to cover waste collection services and the red tape on procurement processes. The outcomes of this study may help the Mogale City Local municipality to develop a solid waste collection model in their jurisdiction and, the development of such model may be seen used in other municipalities in Gauteng province that are experiencing the problem of solid waste collection backlogs. Findings will also be shared with the global researchers through publications and presentations in conferences. This study recommends that communities in Mogale City should all pay for waste collection services, the bureaucrats and waste management officials within the Mogale City Local municipality should budget together to prevent backlogs of solid waste collection in the study area.
Keywords: waste, waste collection model, waste management, municipal internal waste collection, municipality
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Tax governance: acts and decisions of the Commissioner that improve confidence in the South African Revenue Service
Werner Roux Uys
Department of Taxation, University of South Africa, Gauteng, South Africa.
Volume 16, Issue 08, Pg. 21-32, 2023.
Abstract: In South African society, the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) holds a high position of trust. The Commissioner is responsible for ensuring that SARS collects taxes efficiently and exercises all its powers reasonably. Otherwise, it may harm the tax ecosystem and the fiscus. Taxpayers’ well-being is enhanced when the Commissioner’s acts and decisions are perceived as reasonable, unbiased, and fair. It is also essential to consider the social contract between taxpayers and the tax authority when considering factors that shape views about SARS governance. These factors include SARS’s perceived lack of action or a decline in tax morality. A lack of action by the Commissioner may indicate that SARS needs to manage public finances better. To promote taxpayers’ willingness to pay taxes, the Commissioner must actively support the rule of law. This is insofar as tax legislation permits the punishment of non-compliant taxpayers, including fraudulent and corrupt tax activities. The Commissioner’s failure to act may cause taxpayers to believe their taxes are wasteful expenditures. This article identifies and explores a résumé of facts about the Commissioner’s acts and decisions against the backdrop of case law and online articles. This article examines how taxpayer trust and confidence can be built through the Commissioner’s acts and decisions. This can impact trust in SARS. A doctrinal research methodology was employed using the qualitative research method to analyse key factors contributing to tax governance. LexisNexis and the South African Legal Information Institute electronic databases were used to identify applicable case law. The use of a variety of online resources and databases were accessed for information. Several court rulings are analysed through the proverbial “lenses of the judiciary”. The study aims to educate taxpayers about the Commissioner’s acts and decisions in several tax cases. Since South Africa’s fledgling constitutional democracy was inaugurated in 1994, almost three decades have passed. At this time, the Commissioner’s acts and decisions should reflect constitutional alchemy. SARS officials and the Commissioner are required by law to acknowledge taxpayers’ fundamental human rights. Taxpayers experiencing “extenuating circumstances” deserve compassion, not punishment. SARS can build taxpayer confidence and trust through consistent and properly applied tax laws.
Keywords: Commissioner, Governance, SARS, Taxpayers, Trust.
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Analysis of institutional responses to gender-based violence and femicide in the South African Police Service
Nozipho Nkosikhona Simelane 1, Jacob Tseko Mofokeng 2, Dee Khosa 3
1,2,3 Tshwane University of Technology, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Safety and Security Management, 2 Aubrey Matlakala Street, Soshanguve – K, Soshanguve, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa.
Abstract: It is argued that gender-based violence (GBV) is described by many as the most prevalent human rights violation in the world. GBV is thus a complex phenomenon that exists in many different forms and may be experienced within family and intimate relationships, in public spaces and workplaces, as well as online. Acts of GBV are usually part of a pattern that can affect all aspects of survivors/victims’ lives. This includes their access to education, employment, housing, health care and justice, as well as their physical and mental well-being and health. When survivors/victims have children, such impacts may also extend to them. Moreover, GBV has economic ramifications for survivors/victims, their families, and societies. Eradicating all forms of GBV is thus a global responsibility. While many governments have enacted policies and programmes towards this end, strategic planning, policy co-ordination, and long-term investment in services has often been uneven for GBV, limiting the effectiveness of governmental measures. The gendered profession of police, as well as gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) as a societal problem, is central to the discussion surrounding associations between gender and police response to GBVF in South Africa. It is argued that GBVF, is one of the most oppressive forms of gender inequality, posing a fundamental barrier to the equal participation of women and men in social, economic, and political spheres. A violence directed against another gender, usually directed against women, that undermines, fails to recognise, or violates fundamental rights, equality between gender categories and impacts on social, economic, political and freedom rights of specifically women. The prevalence of GBVF is high in South Africa. This research study aims to investigate, analyse, and evaluate perceptions and responses by the police towards GBVF. Further, it aims to produce an overall summary estimate on the prevalence of GBVF according to different types and its risk factors among women and children as well as the South African Police Service (SAPS) response. In South Africa, like in other jurisdictions, GBVF remains a challenge that significantly constrains service delivery to victims of GBVF. This report uses content analysis as the basis to analyse prevalent GBVF risks in South Africa. It first describes the legislative and policy level frameworks associated with violence against women and girls as well as their implementation at the national and subnational levels. It then provides a detailed analysis of specific social norms that have created acceptance for or at least a lack of condemnation of GBVF at the community level. Finally, based on field research, it delves deeper into some of the interpersonal and individual drivers of various forms of GBVF in the selected communities.
Keywords: Communities, gender-based violence and femicide; global, South African Police Service, victims
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