ZENEX FOUNDATION STAKEHOLDER REVIEW

The Zenex Foundation is known as an independent education grant-maker with a focus on improving teaching and learning outcomes in language and mathematics in South Africa. The Foundation’s mission is to strengthen the education system through delivering evidence-based grant-making, playing a thought leadership role, and building strong partnerships with all stakeholders, including government, donors, implementing agencies, and researchers. To assist in enhancing their current grant-making practices the Foundation commissioned Mthente Research and Consulting Services to conduct a Stakeholder review. The review aimed to provide the Zenex Foundation’s partners and stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback on their experiences of the organization and gain learnings of how this process can be improved.

Mthente used a mixed methods approach, which included surveys and in-depth interviews to answer questions on the Foundation’s grant-making approach, the Foundation’s values and how these translate into the way we work, a reflection on the Foundation’s approach to and in partnerships, the Foundation’s Programme Management processes and some reflections on the Foundation’s 2025 strategy. It was found that the majority of the Foundation’s stakeholders were happy with the organization’s approach to grantmaking as well as their strategy with room for improvement.

RBIDZ- Customer Satisfaction Survey

Mthente was commissioned by RBIDZ to assess the satisfaction of customers/investors from the different sectors. The research aimed to provide an understanding of RBIDZ customer interactions, to better understand how they can improve on their customer interactions. In terms of the Special Economic Zone Act (Act No. 16 of 2014), the purpose of RBIDZ, and the Special Economic Zones are: To promote and attract both domestic and foreign direct investments to boost the economy of the country which in turn creates employment opportunities as well as develop skills; Facilitate the creation of an industrial complex, having a strategic national economic advantage for targeted investments and industries in the manufacturing sector and tradable services; Develop infrastructure required to support the development of targeted industrial activities, Provide the location for the establishment of targeted investments;  Enable the beneficiation of mineral and natural resources; Take advantage of existing industrial and technological capacity, promoting integration with local industry and increasing value-added production; and Promote regional development.

Through the industrial world class infrastructure, well-established network of shipments, and tax and duty-free incentives, RBIDZ aims to encourage international competitiveness and attract export-orientated manufacturing investment. The focus area of the Customer Satisfaction Survey was developed to ensure alignment with the Strategy and Strategic Risk.

The results from the survey illustrated the customers perceptions  about RBIDZ, and whether their expectations have been met and/or exceeded over the period of the product or  service provided. The information was gathered from thirteen (13)  different investors that engage with RBIDZ. The method of assessment used were quantitative research methods. Data was collected through online and telephonic surveys, for the quantitative assessment.

Findings of the research indicated that the investors were overall satisfied with RBIDZ’s customer service however, there were areas of improvement which emerged which RBIDZ should aim to focus on going forward.

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

GIZ

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.

Perception Survey

Western Cape Government

The Centre for e-Innovation (Ce-I) in the Department of the Premier in the Western Cape services 13 provincial departments and over 75,000 government employees. In addition to providing basic support for the Western Cape Government’s ICT infrastructure and applications, the Centre is also responsible for providing residents of the Western Cape Province with increased knowledge of government services. To determine whether the Ce-I is meeting its service level agreements with its internal customers Mthente was commisioned to undertake a perception survey with its provincial government clients.

This survey was to serve as a follow-up study to the Ce-I’s baseline survey, which was carried out in 2009 by Mthente, and followed by subsequent surveys in 2011 and 2015. Many of the key performance indicators (KPIs) stayed the same in order to track changes. The approach to the study was informed by qualitative interviews with 4 internal Ce-I managers/senior stakeholders and 24 senior stakeholders within the 13 Western Cape Government departments serviced by the Ce-I, as well as a quantitative online survey sent to the Ce-I’s database of 19,000 Western Cape Government e-mail users, which generated responses from 1,227 individuals.

Small Business Annual Review Study and Survey

Mthente was commissioned by Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) to conduct an Annual Review of Small Business and Cooperative in South Africa. The aim of the project was to provide a description of trends and an analytical assessment of the performance of the small enterprise sector within the broader context of the South African economy as a whole.

This was achieved through a literature review of the global, regional and South African trends of SME performance, detailed desk-top statistical analysis, in-depth stakeholder interviews and quantatitve interviews with an indicative sample of 1 500 SMEs and Co-Operatives in both the informal and formal sector

Black South African’s Perceptions of the Jewish Communities in the following cities

The Kaplan Centre

The Kaplan Centre commissioned a survey to measure the attitudes and perceptions of Black South Africans towards Jews and the Jewish community. The research aims to also understand the pervasiveness and potency of these attitudes and perceptions. While this research will not be representative of the population of Black South Africans, a scientifically sound research methodology will be employed in order to achieve its aims.

Once compiled and finalised, the research report will be shared with the leadership of the Jewish community thus providing empirical data and insight into the future of Jews in South Africa; as well as enable the development of bespoke strategies focused on counteraction, mobilisation and advocacy.

Baseline Survey for the Saldanha Bay IDZ Community Development Project

TBSP

TBSP Advertising & Marketing commissioned a baseline study for the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone Community Engagement (SBIDZ CE) to assess both the socio-economic profile and the prevailing conditions and perceptions of the seven towns that make up the community of Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM). This research provided baseline data in relation to the SBIDZ CE, in order to monitor the project’s progress, impact and effectiveness over the medium to long term across a portfolio of activities and interventions. A survey questionnaire was translated into English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa and after a pilot study of 200 households, the survey was refined and conducted amongst 3 800 households across the following towns: Saldanha Bay, Vredenburg, Langebaan, St Helena Bay, Paternoster, Jacobsbaai and Hopefield. 20 focus groups with residents of the SBM and local stakeholders were held, which provided a comparison of responses, verification of dominant themes and corroboration of the survey findings.

Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey

IDC

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) commissioned Mthente to undertake a Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey for the gala dinner and conference held to commemorate their 75th anniversary.

The conference, intended to be the first in a regular series of premier industrial development events in South Africa. The event brought together national and international experts, and provided a bridge for dialogue between private and public sectors.

The project objectives were to gauge the value provided to stakeholders regarding the content and flow of the conference and to gain insights for the purposes of informing the 2017 conference

Energy Security Survey

Western Cape Government

The Department of the Premier, Western Cape Government commissioned market research into household and business views across the Western Cape on the current energy crisis and attitudes regarding their energy behaviour. The Western Cape Government views energy security as a game changer. Implemented in conjunction with the City of Cape Town, the aim of this game changer is a 10% reduction in current Provincial demand from Eskom over the next three years. A key enabler of the Energy Security Game Changer is that households and businesses are “informed, educated and motivated to become power providers in a way that is optimal for them and for municipalities.” The research offered a detailed understanding of consumer behaviour, attitudes and awareness, as well as an understanding of energy usage and savings. This information informed the design of a communications campaign on energy security that was developed by Y&R.

The target audience for the research project included households and businesses located in the following four local municipalities in the Western Cape Province: City of Cape Town, Drakenstein, Stellenbosch and Saldanha Bay. Key variables taken into consideration when developing the sample included municipality; race; and LSM. A total of 1,319 household surveys were conducted and 250 businesses surveyed. In addition, 6 focus group discussions were facilitated post-survey for qualitative insights.