CONTRIBUTIONS OF PARLIAMENTS TO PRIMARY RESEARCH: THE RESEARCH UNIT S SAFEGUARDING SOUTH AFRICA S LAND BORDERS PROJECT

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1 CONTRIBUTIONS OF PARLIAMENTS TO PRIMARY RESEARCH: THE RESEARCH UNIT S SAFEGUARDING SOUTH AFRICA S LAND BORDERS PROJECT 12 April 2015 Calvin Manganyi & Wilhelm Janse van Rensburg Parliamentary Research Unit 1 1

2 INTRODUCTION Parliaments and ther legislatures are in a unique psitin t cntribute t primary research due t access. Access means the Research Unit can cnduct primary research and prduce high quality research utputs. Recent prject: Safeguarding Suth Africa s Land Brders: The rle f the Suth African Natinal Defence Frce, the Suth African Plice Service and Hme Affairs. Prject illustrated the fllwing: Value f the Prject Cntributin f Parliament t schlarly knwledge based n primary research 2

3 INTRODUCTION Aim f the paper is t illustrate the cntributin f the Parliament f Suth Africa t primary research. The fllwing will be discussed: Backgrund and Ratinale f the study, its purpse, and significance and research methdlgy. Ethical issues f interviews. Practical cnsideratins f the study during qualitative data gathering frm the Maseru Bridge, Ficksburg Bridge, Beit Bridge and Lebmb prts f entry and surrunds. Synpsis f hw recmmendatins can assist Parliament s versight functin. An verview f Parliament s cntributin t primary research. 3

4 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE BORDER SAFEGUARDING PROJECT Prusness f land brders. Brder Safeguarding is a Gvernment pririty; Natinal Develpment Plan 2030, the Medium Term Strategic Framewrk, and departmental plicies and targets (Strategic Plans and Annual Perfrmance Plans). Varius departments play different rles in brder safeguarding, but challenges remain. Suth African Natinal Defence Frce (SANDF): Land brderline Suth African Plice Service: Land brder psts (Prts f Entry) Department f Hme Affairs: Land brder psts (Prts f Entry) Parliament prvides versight t ther branches f Gvernment: Thus, study fits in that rle. Shrtcmings and Gvernment effrts t strengthen brder security infrmed the ratinale f the study. 4

5 LINKING PRIMARY RESEARCH TO THE PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Purpse f the study: Largely descriptive. T ensure riginality and relevance, the study included an aspect f primary research. In-depth understanding f actual challenges faced n the brders. Supplemented the infrmatin that exist in the public dmain frm bth Gvernment and ther surces. Cmprehensin f hw higher rder decisins impact n service delivery n the grund, and vice versa. Significance f the study: Assist Members f Parliament and Cmmittees t fulfil their mnitring and versight functins pertaining t brder safeguarding. 5

6 LINKING PRIMARY RESEARCH TO THE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Research Design: Case Study. Units f analysis: Organisatins and institutins f the Department f Defence, Department f Plice and Department f Hme Affairs. Research Methdlgy: Qualitative apprach. Techniques r data cllectin methds: Literature study (primary and secndary surces). Semi-structured interviews. Observatins. 6

7 ETHICAL ISSUES OF INTERVIEWS Clearance btained frm Departments Supprt f Cmmittee Chairpersns Ethical dimensins utlined in Cnsent t Participate in Research as fllw: Purpse f the Study. Prcedures. Ptential risks and discmfrts. Ptential benefits t participants/r t sciety. Payment fr participatin. Cnfidentiality. Participatin and withdrawal. NB: The cmbinatin f institutinal permissin and practical means f addressing ethical cnsideratins laid the theretical fundatin fr cnducting f primary research. 7

8 PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF DATA GATHERING Main challenge: T btain sufficient and high quality infrmatin thrugh primary research. Reliability, Validity and Perspective: Reliability refers t the quality f the measurement methds that suggests that the same data wuld have been cllected each time. This is challenging in qualitative data gathering. Qualitative interviewing prves strnger in terms f ensuring Validity, bth face validity and criterin-related validity. Validity was enhanced in the research prject thrugh: Divisin f interview grups accrding t rank (in case f the SANDF) Perspective btained thrugh reviewing inputs frm persnnel at varius levels. 8

9 PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF DATA GATHERING (2) Main challenge: T btain sufficient and high quality infrmatin thrugh primary research. The research envirnment: Need fr researcher t be relaxed and cnduct interviews in an apprpriate setting. The interview site itself embdies and cnstitutes multiple scales f spatial relatins and meaning. During data gathering, members f the SANDF, SAPS and DHA were interviewed in their places f emplyment/deplyment. This cntributed t a relaxed/familiar envirnment and further allwed fr bservatins. The setting fr interviews als assisted researchers t pay attentin t what the participant says abut the place, generating useful research material. 9

10 PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF DATA GATHERING (3) The research envirnment: 10

11 DIRECTING THE MEANS TO JUSTIFY THE ENDS Parliamentary research differs frm academic research in that it is required t be client-specific (supprting MPs in their versight and ther rles). Supprt t MPs was achieved by means f the fllwing: The final research prduct was aimed at the MPs f fur specific Cmmittees. This was als reflected in the structure f the dcument. An intersectral element was prvided in the research dcument. Specific Recmmendatins were included fr MPs n the enhancement f brder safeguarding. Sectr-specific (cmmittee-specific) recmmendatins General (verarching) recmmendatins 11

12 PRIMARY RESEARCH: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES Supprt t Parliament The main aim f the prject was t supprt Parliament in its versight rle. The success f the prject was based n the fllwing: Clear alignment with the Natinal Develpment Plan (NDP) Clear alignment with the Medium Term Strategic Framewrk (MTSF) and ther plicies Practive research and frward thinking Supprt frm Chairpersns User-friendly packaging f infrmatin Slutin rientated recmmendatins 12

13 PRIMARY RESEARCH: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES (2) Cntributin t Schlarly knwledge The primary advantage in a Parliament-driven primary research prject relates t access. Accessibility t infrmatin frm gvernment departments and entities pses less f a challenge. Primary data btained in tw ways: Gvernment institutins make regular presentatins t Parliament Parliament, thrugh its varius Cmmittees, cnducts versight visits Hwever, the Parliamentary prgramme ften des nt prvide sufficient time t fcus n matters at peratinal and tactical levels. The Research Unit can fill this infrmatin vacuum by cnducting primary research. The schlarly cntributin lies in the publishing f such infrmatin which will make the research available t the brader academic cmmunity fr additinal scrutiny. 13

14 PRIMARY RESEARCH: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES (3) Challenges Althugh there are prspects regarding the cntributin f Parliament t primary research, several challenges exist: Lack f a Publicatin Ethics Cmmittee The publicatin f research Dealing with tw Wrlds (Balancing the needs f clients versus schlarly inquiry) Time cnstraints 14

15 CONCLUDING REMARKS Mving twards the future, institutinal supprt fr primary research by the Research Unit remains imprtant as part f evlutin and innvatin t meet the infrmatin needs f Parliament. The value f parliament-driven primary research lies in unparalleled access. Increases value t MPs. Imprve the parliamentary versight prcesses. Hlds ptential cntributin t schlarly knwledge. The need remains t address challenges t maximise the ptential f primary research 15

16 Thank yu ~ Calvin Manganyi & Wilhelm Janse van Rensburg Parliamentary Research Unit 16 16