With a public sector focus, the Department of Public Administration and Management at the University of the Free State conducts research and provides research supervision in the following areas. Research niche areas and the contact details of academics researching in these areas are outlined in Table 1. These research niche areas are aligned to South Africa’s National Development Plan 2023 and the 2030 agenda through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
- Fiscal decentralisation
- Intergovernmental fiscal relations
- Municipal financial management and service delivery
- Public financial management reforms and service delivery
- Supply chain management
- Agile and lean supply chain management
- Ethics and integrity
- Good governance and local good governance
- Human resource accountability
- Leadership accountability
- Public sector management accountability
- Risk management
- Strategic Management
- Citizen participation in the governance of local government service delivery
- Service delivery systems
- Sustainable service delivery (water governance and solid waste management)
- Sustainable development and sustainable energy development
- Social innovation / transformative social innovation in local government service delivery
- Political-administrative dichotomy
- Coalition politics and local government formation(s)
- Complex local government ideological coalition formations/types
- Public policy formulation and implementation
- Contemporary public policy challenges
Table 1: Research niche areasResearcher / Academic | Research areas |
Dr Maréve Biljohn
E: BiljohnMIM@ufs.ac.za
Orcid ID | - Social innovation / transformative social innovation in local government service delivery
- Local government service delivery systems
- Citizen participation in the governance of local government service delivery
|
Prof Chris Hendriks
E: HendriksCJ@ufs.ac.za
Orcid ID | - Intergovernmental fiscal relations
- Fiscal decentralisation
- Supply chain management (agile and lean)
|
Prof Liezel Lues
E: Luesl@ufs.ac.za
Orcid ID | - Leadership and management accountability in the public sector
- Alternative service delivery
|
Dr Tafadzwa Maramura
E: MaramuraTC@ufs.ac.za
Orcid ID | - Sustainable service delivery (water governance and solid waste management)
|
Dr Lyndon Du Plessis
E: dplesslm@ufs.ac.za
Orcid ID | - Strategic Management
- Good Governance in public organisations / local government
- Public policy and policy implementation
|
Dr Constance Motsitsi
E: MotsitsiCB@ufs.ac.za | - Public financial management reforms and service delivery
- Municipal financial management and service delivery
|
Ambrose Du Plessis
E: DuPlessisAR@ufs.ac.za | - Public policy
- Political-administrative interface / dichotomy
- Coalition politics and local government formation
- Complex local government ideological coalition formations / types and the political-administrative interface
|
Nkosingiphile Mkhize
E: MkhizeNE@ufs.ac.za
Orcid ID | - Integrity and ethics
- Good governance
- Risk management
- Sustainable service delivery
|
Khutlang Leripa
E: LeripaKS@ufs.ac.za | - Local government service delivery (electricity and water governance)
- Public- private partnership with local government
- Municipal planning and development
|
Mary Masiloane
E: MasiloaneM@ufs.ac.za | - Potable water infrastructure
- Local economic development/ sustainable development
- Municipal service delivery
|