v

PADM assignment	February 26 2018
Taking a closer look at the 2012 Limpopo verification report. Looking at contributions that were not taken into consideration that may have prevented the problem.		Limpopo verification report study

 

 

In this essay I will be taking a closer look at the contributions that were not taken into consideration by the DBE(Department of Basic Education) and LDoE(Limpopo Department of Education) on the distribution of text books in 2012.

 

The renowned author Henry Fayol is famous for the 14 principles he contributed to public administration. The following of his principles were not taken into account: discipline; unity of command; remuneration; scalar chain; equity and esprit de corp.

 

Firstly discipline was absent because distributors didn’t arrive for the collection of the text books which caused a delay in distribution. Unity of command was absent because it was found that employees had to report to more than one person. The remuneration policy should be revised, since it’s unknown how distributors were compensated. Scalar chain was not operational because people were put in job positions which they were not capable of fulfilling, which then lead to a lack of equity. There was no co-operation between departments which contributes to the absence of esprit de corp.

 

Political scientist Luther Gulick and British management consultant Lyndall Urwick are known for their contribution to public administration that is known as POSDCORB as stated by C De Wet et al.(2014:7). The following of their contributions were not taken in to account: budgeting; co-ordinating; reporting; planning; organising and directing.

 

The Limpopo provincial government over spent their budget for 2011 which lead to the unavailability of funds to purchase the text books. Co-ordinating and planning were absent because the text books should have arrived at the schools on the 15^th of June instead, the text books arrived at the central warehouse on the 7^th. This was problematic because it takes six weeks for the books to get distributed to the schools from the central warehouse. There was a reporting error because there was no evidence on the report, that the text books were delivered at the schools. When text books were delivered the books were given to unauthorised personnel, which means organising was also absent. Directing was absent because schools were never given a limit on their budget, so they ordered more books than what was actually needed.

 

From a personal point of view I believe the contributions overall, were not taken into account because of the following attributes. The lack of knowledge by employees on how to use the systems of the service providers. Employees lack the qualification for their job. There was also the fact that the distributors were heavily under staffed for the tremendous amount of text books, which should have been delivered.

 

My research on the Limpopo verification report proves, that the lack of these contributions, were the result of the delayed arrival of the text books. In my opinion, if there had been better overall management, sufficient leadership and if these contributions were present, the delay could have been prevented.

 

Reference List

 

De Wet, C., Malan, L., Mphaisha, C., Sokhela, P., Tshiyoyo, M., Reddy P.S., Govender, J., Muller, K., van der Waldt, G., Holtzhausen N., Fourie, D., van der Waldt, D., Dassah, M., Brynard, D., Sindane, M. & Uys, F. 2014. Public Administration & Management in South Africa.