Paul Kariuki

• PhD
• Research Fellow at University of KwaZulu-Natal

This publication is an in-depth scholarly compendium that comprises conceptual, theoretical, and empirical research rooted in the relevant applied social science literature of Public Management, Municipal Governance, Political Science, Development Studies, and Sociology. The book provides a multidisciplinary perspective on key issues associated wit...

Leadership is irrefutably a very complex phenomenon; one that should not be interpreted simplistically without considering its nuances. Part of the reason is that this concept is defined from different perspectives, including the attributes of individual leaders (Rotberg, 2003; Peele, 2005). Apart from the different definitions associated with this...

The South African government has long understood that to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality, a democratic developmental state capable of promoting inclusive economic growth is required to achieve the necessary developmental outcomes (ANC 2017). This book provides a comprehensive account of the first decade of Sou...

This book delves into municipal governance by examining the relationship between traditional systems and municipal government. It provides a selection of studies and case studies where researchers describe and interrogate a wide variety of issues such as the historical roles and responsibilities of traditional systems, the evolution of the legislat...

In most countries, parliament has the constitutional mandate to both oversee the government and to hold the government to account; often, audit institutions, ombuds, and anti-corruption agencies report to parliament, as a means of ensuring both their independence from the government and reinforcing parliament’s position at the apex of accountabilit...

The use of evaluation evidence to inform government policy-making, and decisions for programming has gained traction in many countries across the globe. More importantly, there is growing empirical evidence that monitoring and evaluation within the public sector are gaining political recognition. This recognition is important in facilitating the up...

Government projects are critical to the effective delivery of public services and the overall functioning of the state. However, the unique nature of these projects requires a focused approach that is different from that of private sector projects. This book is written to provide an in-depth understanding of the uniqueness of government projects an...

Cybersecurity threats have increased as the world becomes increasingly interconnected. Whilst the use of technology to facilitate commercial activities is now common practice, there is a need to limit exposure to these threats so that traders can transact safely. This study aimed to identify and analyse common cybersecurity vulnerabilities and thre...

The coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) is one of many global disasters, and in recent history, since events like the bubonic plague and the Spanish flu, it may continue to cause many more mortalities, and most likely disrupt the local and global economies in a significant manner. As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2020, Covi...

Pandemics are often popularly, but inaccurately, referred to as epidemics and contagions, which are massive outbreaks of infectious diseases that can substantially increase sickness and mortality over a vast topographical area. In the process, the spread of a highly infectious disease results in major socioeconomic and political upheaval, and to th...

The chapters cast a critical eye over early trail-blazing innovations in intergovernmental relations, such as the constitutional definition of spheres of government (local/provincial/central), having executive metro mayors and establishing strong intergovernmental relations. The role of the government and the political parties, public participation...

The concept of “coalition government” or “coalition governance” is relatively new continentally, specifically in South Africa. Cases of coalition governments emerging post-1994 are extremely limited. However, in the case of local government, coalition governance only manifested itself sturdily and transitioned to the top of the municipal agenda fol...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine health-related misinformation proliferation during the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on public governance in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach – Because of COVID-19-related restrictions, this study conducted a systematic review. The researchers searched several search engines whic...

South Africa became a democratic state on 27 April 1994. Since then, local government has been through critical political and socio-economic restructuring and transformation, which has changed the public governance landscape at all levels. Despite ushering in world-class legislation at the local sphere of government in South Africa – very futuristi...

This volume took on the very complex, difficult, ever-changing, politically charged, and socio-economically disrupting issue of migration. “And development” is meaningful in the title of the work because it is principally about migration and the controversies that revolve around how some, mainly the African poor in South Africa, have responded to g...

A book like none other, Gender, race and politics in South Africa: towards diverse, inclusive, and transformed political leadership is a must-read. Gender, race and politics are highly contested and debatable topics in South Africa; exploring this trio makes this book an explosive yet worthy initiative. The various authors have superseded themselve...

Democratic governance is central to achieving a prosperous African continent. At the Millennium Summit of 2000, global leaders resolved to “spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms including the right to development” . This implie...

The region of Southern Africa is no exception to the worldwide trend of increasing rate of international migration, with South Africa accounting for over half of the international immigrant stock in the region. However, attitudes towards immigrants have become less welcoming in the region, and in South Africa in particular, in recent times. The fal...

Social cohesion is an important policy issue with social, political, and economic consequences in South Africa. Given the country’s diverse population comprised of different races, ethnicities, and migrants from around the world, its history of violence, and the persistent incidences of xenophobia, social cohesion has become a prominent issue. The...

For the past three decades, political leadership in Africa has been characterized by governance failure. Corruption has become endemic and uncontrollable, resulting in significant socio-economic and political instability in most countries on the continent. As nations struggle to extricate themselves from these challenges, new political alliances in...

Having played a crucial role in bringing down the apartheid regime, civil society remains a pillar of socio-political development and is an important player in holding government accountable in the democratic South Africa. Despite the remarkable progress made since the dawn of democracy, the social fabric of the nation has remained under severe str...

The article examined the role of electronic governance (e-governance) in enabling asylum seekers’ access to public services in the city of Durban, South Africa. Due to COVID-19, the government scaled down its operations, limiting access to public services, including among migrants. The study found that asylum seekers have limited access to public s...

Citizen engagement is a key factor in the successful and sustainable use of electronic platforms. It involves multiple activities ranging from collecting to processing raw data into useable formats that could help solve societal problems. As a metropolitan city, Durban seeks to become a liveable, inclusive city in which citizens are digitally capac...

Aim/Purpose: The paper’s objective is to examine the challenges of using the mobile phone to mine location data for effective contact tracing of symptomatic, pre-symptomatic, and asymptomatic individuals and the implications of this technology for public health governance. Background: The COVID-19 crisis has created an unprecedented need for contac...

This article explores the role of open data in the monitoring of budgets as a citizen-centered accountability mechanism that could benefit budget allocation and spending by municipalities in Africa. Annually, municipalities allocate significant amounts of financial resources towards better provision of basic services. However, often these budgets a...

Participation has become an increasingly important aspect in local governance as African cities experience increasing urbanization and pressing social needs. In the interests of advancing democracy, inclusive participation of citizens has become a guiding notion of how local governments deliver development to all without excluding any section of th...

Globally, governments are investing considerably in technology in the public sector. This intense investment in the use of technology is primarily aimed at enhancing public sector effectiveness and efficiency in delivering public goods and services. South Africa is fast-tracking the assimilation of technology in its service delivery mechanisms. How...

Creating a culture that considers monitoring and evaluation as an essential tool for performance improvement is not an easy task. Some employees are likely to resist due to a lack of awareness of the value of monitoring and evaluation while others could do so due to fear of the accountability and transparency implicit in the implementation of such...

As the desire for personalized interactions with government increases, efforts to enhance citizen- and business-focused digital government are becoming a norm in our society. The intention of this paper is to discuss the challenges that the EThekwini Metro is experiencing in translating its engagement with its citizens digitally. This mixed method...

The poster is about E-government and citizen experiences in South Africa, using the Ethekwini Metropolitan as a case study

It is critical that cyber education curriculum considers the growing cyber technologies and which aspects of these technologies need to be aligned with the fourth industrial revolution. This chapter seeks to present a comprehensive analysis of the current level of cyber security education in South Africa. It will also track the current trends of cy...

Globally, governments are investing considerably in technology in the public sector. This intense investment in the use of technology is primarily aimed at enhancing public sector effectiveness and efficiency in delivering public goods and services. South Africa is fast-tracking the assimilation of technology in its service delivery mechanisms. How...

It is critical that cyber education curriculum considers the growing cyber technologies and which aspects of these technologies need to be aligned with the fourth industrial revolution. This chapter seeks to present a comprehensive analysis of the current level of cyber security education in South Africa. It will also track the current trends of cy...

Background: Post-apartheid South Africa faces major challenges in ensuring that it provides high quality and sustainable services that meet citizens’ expectations. The public wants local government that is not only responsive to their needs but also provides high quality services equitably to all people irrespective of their socioeconomic status. S...

The KwaZulu Natal Civil Society Coalition (KZNCSOC) deployed 28 monitors and 850 observers throughout the province to ensure the elections are conducted in a free and fair atmosphere. This paper presents experiences from this electoral team that utilized WhatsApp as a tool for relaying information amongst themselves and the control centre in report...

At a time when global economic climate is becoming harsher for the majority of people worldwide, accessing credit for entrepreneurship is becoming challenging for most people, especially young people. By their very nature, young people lack the necessary collateral that financial institutions require in order to grant credit. This situation calls f...

Active citizen engagement remains a principle tenet of South African democracy that is rooted in the Constitution and supported by various laws. However, as the country's democracy continues to mature, citizen engagement has been reduced to tokenism in many aspects of local governance. An earnest quest by ordinary citizens to make their voices hear...

A new era of rapid growth in technological innovation has dawned on us, characterized by increased sharing and communication of information globally using technology. To date, the world has moved into an era of advanced technological innovation that significantly affects all consumers of technology -- people, communities, governments and institutio...