The meaning of Mthente
Mthente is a Zulu word for thorn tree. The thorn tree aptly epitomises the nature and character of our company: the thorns symbolise the resilience and robustness of the firm; the delicate leaves, on the other hand, denote the company’s sensitivity and adaptability to the socio-economic, political and business contexts in which it operates.
Mthente draws inspiration from the Zulu proverb Umthente Uhlaba Usamila, which loosely means that building character in children or young people at an early stage of their development will equip them with the tools to cope with dangers and risks later in their lives. This idiom accords with our company’s belief and commitment to help our clients tackle their problems at the root before they ultimately spiral out of control.
Our core ethos is a guarantee of innovative, cost-effective and high quality research and business solutions for our clients.
Our unique team of research specialists includes experienced experts in applied social and policy research, trade and economics, business administration, and monitoring and evaluation. Mthente is an accredited Level 1 B-BBEE enterprise. In addition, Mthente is accredited by the Southern African Marketing Research Association (SAMRA).
Mission
Mthente strives for professionalism and quality through listening, learning and responding for mutual growth. Our core ethos is a guarantee of innovative, cost-effective and high quality research and business solutions for our clients.
Values
At Mthente we value integrity, growth and excellence. We are passionate about our business and are committed to providing value and quality to our clients and partners through hard work, professionalism and open communication. We believe in and embrace the spirit of ubuntu* as an essential component of the way we do business.
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Latest projects
FEM Education Foundation NPC (FEMEF): a longitudinal impact programme evaluation of the Columba Leadership Programme
Mthente Research and Consulting Services (Pty) Ltd successfully bid for an evaluation commission by the FEM Education Foundation NPC (FEMEF) for a longitudinal impact programme evaluation of the Columba Leadership Programme.
The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the baseline outcomes in year 1 and provide a progress evaluation of the outcomes against the baseline at the end of year 2 and 3, as well as provide a detailed endline asssessment of the educational impacts against the baseline in year 4. This evaluation will include two components. Firstly, a desktop analysis of all existing evaluations conducted on Columba to date and a review of research conducted on similar interventions. Secondly, a longitudinal assessment of the outcomes and impact of the Columba Leadership program in accordance with its theory of change. A classical pre-post and group-comparison will be used to draw conclusions on progress within the control group and as compared to the treatment group.
It is expected that the customised indices developed during this evaluation to measure school culture and youth resilience will continue to be used past the life of the evaluation. As such, the tools developed will be designed with this consideration in mind. The customised indices will take into account the School Culture Index and Youth Resilient Leadership Index – both developed by Columba – as well as the theory of change, logic framework and other relevant literature from the desktop review.
It is expected that this report will be widely shared. This includes being published on the FEM and Columba websites. The final evaluation report might be used to influence government and other stakeholders.
Parliament Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey
Mthente Research and Consulting Services (Pty) Ltd has been appointed to conduct an annual (2019/2020: financial year) stakeholder satisfaction survey for the Parliament of South Africa.
The 5th Parliament has identified the engagement of stakeholders as a strategic outcome-orientated objective, placing its stakeholder relations on a new development path. It views this as critical to enhancing its ability to deliver on its three-legged mandate of making laws, holding the executive accountable and optimising citizen participation.
In 2016/17: financial year Mthente undertook the first survey that informed the stakeholder engagement strategy which outlined a programme of action. This included the setting of year-on-year outcome-based targets that focused on evaluating the effectiveness of its stakeholder engagement strategy and execution of this in relation to the service charter. Accordingly, this stakeholder survey is a follow up survey on the 2019/20: financial year stakeholder satisfaction levels.
The objectives of the survey are to measure the perception of Parliaments employees, Members of Parliament and external stakeholders on the services offered by Parliament and the levels of satisfaction with their interactions with Parliament. This will be determined through an online survey being sent to 1769 internal stakeholders and 690 number of interviews with external stakeholders.
The survey results will be presented in a report that provides recommendations to Parliament on what is required to further improve stakeholder satisfaction levels, as well as on what aspects of the Service Charter need to be strengthened.
GIZ South African Climate Change Education and Awareness Survey
Mthente Research and Consulting Services has been appointed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarheit (GIZ) to conduct a South African Climate Change Education and Awareness Survey.
Mthente understands that the 2011 National Climate Change Response Policy (NCCRP) sets out South Africa’s climate change response and approach to achieving a just transition to a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy and society, advancing the vision of the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP). Key to the achievement of South Africa’s climate change response objectives, as indicated in the NCCRP, is the informed participation of all stakeholders in South Africa’s climate change response. This is to be enabled by enhanced awareness and understanding of climate change causes through understanding its impacts and having access to information. This is deemed to be, a basis for empowered and transformative action by all sectors of society.
Through the research Mthente’s aims to:
- Analyse the climate change education and awareness survey results in line with international and national assessment standards.
- Identify barriers and opportunities for enhancing climate change education and awareness in South Africa.
- Provide recommendations to inform the development of the climate change education and awareness strategy.
Tshikululu – Due Diligence – NGO Early Development Expansion Programme
Tshikululu Social Investments commissioned Mthente Research and Consulting Services to conduct a due-diligence evaluation of a Faith-based Non-Government Organisation (NGO) based in Pretoria, and their Pre-school Forum Expansion programme. The programme had capacity to work with 43 early childhood development (ECD) centres and was proposing to expand working with 150 ECD centres in the next two years and 750 ECD centres in the next 6 years.
The objectives of this due-diligence study were to:
- Define and analyse the organisation’s proposed operating model
- Identify whether the model is worth replicating
- Ascertain if the organisation has sufficient resource capacity
- Understand the organisations finances and costing (financial due diligence)
- Observe its impact on beneficiaries.
In order to make decisions on funding this programme, the due-diligence evaluation conducted research with the NGO, as well as conducting research with the ECD centre beneficiaries of the Pre-school Forum programme. In so doing, the NGO’s structure and overall financial, human resource, and governance capacity was investigated, as well as the structure, content and impact of the Pre-school Forum.
GDED: Implementation Evaluation of The Gauteng Informal Business Sector Strategy (GIBUS) and Gauteng Trade and Investment Strategy (GTIS)
Mthente was appointed by the Gauteng Department of Economic Development (GDED) to assess the implementation of the Gauteng Informal Business Sector Strategy (GIBUS) and the implementation of the Gauteng Trade and Investment Strategy (GTIS).
GIBUS was created to provide a strategic direction that guides the design and coordination of the implementation of programmes between provincial and local spheres and align provincial efforts with the National Informal Business Upliftment Sector Strategy (NIBUS). The evaluation was guided by 2 local benchmark case study visits to identify key lessons and learning for the strategy. Furthermore, implementer interviews, 500 beneficiary surveys were conducted to gather information relating to the impact of the strategy
GTIS was implemented to ensure policy alignment with the national vision of industrial development which is included in the National Industrial Policy Framework. The objective of the evaluation was to assess how effectively the strategy was being implemented, assess the outcomes the strategy has contributed towards, and the extent the objectives of the Strategy were being achieved. The evaluation objectives were achieved through interviews with key stakeholders, implementer interviews, 500 beneficiary surveys to gather information relating to the impact of the strategy, and 2 local benchmark case study visits to identify key lessons and learning for the strategy.
IOM: Institutional Assessment and Mapping of Return and Reintegration Services in South Africa
Mthente was commissioned by the IOM to assess the capacity of the Government of South Africa to facilitate the dignified voluntary return for stranded and vulnerable migrants in the country. This included identifying gaps in migration governance, legislation, policy, coordination mechanisms and procedures for return and reintegration of migrants returning to their country of origin.
The study consisted of a mixture of data collection methods including a comprehensive desktop review, 10 expert interview, quantitative surveys with 30 support organisations, and 6 focus groups with Malawian and Mozambican migrants.
Indonesian Consulate: Halal Market Research on Indonesian Food and Beverage Products in the South African Market
Mthente Research and Consulting Services was appointed by the Indonesian Consulate in Cape Town to conduct market research on Indonesian Food and Beverage Products in the South African Market. The primary objective of the research was to investigate the opportunities and challenges of Indonesian products in accessing the market. The research was conducted from the perspective of local consumers, which included two consumer focus groups of Halal as well as non-Halal consumers; three interviews one-on-one interviews with major South African retailers and the Muslim Judicial Council Halaal Trust within the Western Cape.
The research findings identified opportunities and barriers that are evident in Indonesian food and beverage products accessing the South African markets
Office of the Premier, Limpopo: Customer Satisfaction Survey
The Office of the Premier appointed Mthente to conduct a comprehensive assessment on the level of satisfaction by customers on the services provided by the Limpopo Provincial government in five districts of the Limpopo Province (Vhembe, Mopani, Capricorn, Waterberg and Sekhukhune).
The survey was in response to the White Paper on Transforming Service Delivery (1997) which requires the Political head of the Province to account on the state of service delivery to the citizens and other prescripts such as Batho Pele Principles, and citizens to be informed of services and quality of the services rendered by government.
The customer satisfaction survey served as an account to the citizens of the province on the level of service delivery satisfaction. As such, the primary objectives for the customer survey were to (i) determine the awareness of Limpopo citizens of Batho Pele on service delivery standards; (ii) Assessing the impact of the Batho Pele programmes on service delivery; and (iii) Measuring and evaluating customer satisfaction both internally and externally in line with Batho Pele principles.
The objectives of the study were achieved through conducting a door-to-door household survey of 4000 households in the Limpopo district; 500 online-based internal customer perception surveys online surveys with government staff; and 8 focus groups.
“Mthente’s energy, commitment and high-quality work provided our team with accurate and timely information to guide program changes and insightful recommendations for post-pilot adjustments to enhance impact.
Mthente’s targeted interviews and focus group discussions also helped to capture nuanced 21c skill growth and the unique impact of the program on confidence and grit.”
Michelle Malecki, Programme Management Officer, World Vision.