Theses and Dissertations (Accountancy)

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations (Accountancy) by Author "Beneke, J. B., Dr."

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    The influence of financial literacy on the financial behaviour and financial decision making of employees at a selected University of Technology
    (Vaal University of Technology, 2023-01-11) Makhuvele, Ephraim M.; Maseko, G. J., Dr.; Beneke, J. B., Dr.
    Financial literacy has an important effect on financial behaviour, which is an important factor that plays a vital role in sound decision making. Financial literacy and sound financial decision making determine not only the financial behaviours of individuals but also their financial well-being. The literature review showed that different authors have different understanding pertaining to financial literacy. Determinants of literacy (demographics) were identified in the literature and highlighted. Furthermore, measures of personal financial literacy which are budgeting, investing, borrowing and protection were highlighted in the literature. The lifecycle theory was outlined to show the influence of financial literacy on the financial behaviour and decision making. This study aimed to determine the influence of financial literacy on the financial behaviour and financial decision making of employees. The population in this study was employees of the Vaal University of Technology who are employed by the university, with a total of 2072 employees. The sample was determined by using simple random sampling, which obtained 205 samples. The collection of primary and secondary data was done using the quantitative approach, together with an exploratory and descriptive design, which was used in designing the questionnaire. Data were collected from employees from the Vaal University of Technology through a self-administered questionnaire. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the collection of data negatively as some employees did not have access to their emails; therefore, they did not participate in the study. The analytical tool in this study is the descriptive analysis and Chi Square. Data was processed by using the SPSS program and Microsoft Excel. The results showed the overall financial literacy index was 0.693 which showed that most of the respondents have a high level of financial literacy. This study concluded that high levels of financial literacy has had a positive influence on the financial decision making of employees towards their money management skills and has led to their ability to behave correctly. The study recommended that employees should change their attitudes towards money management, and they must acquire the necessary financial knowledge through financial education and training to improve their level of financial literacy.
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    Perceptions on 'free' tertiary education and operational budgeting within a public university
    (Vaal University of Technology, 2022-07) Tewe, Remilekun Felix; Siewe, L.; Beneke, J. B., Dr.
    A series of strikes by public university students protesting the exorbitant cost of tertiary education across South Africa, a country where extreme poverty is pervasive, brought the entire country to a virtual standstill in 2015 and set the stage for government to be coerced into implementing a ‘free’ tertiary education policy that it neither planned nor prepared for. The result is that, since then, universities across the country have struggled greatly to meet their financial needs. The taxation rates have being increased, and thus government must protect the monetary space to support their plans in upcoming years. This implies that any financing activated by the government to support the financial difficulties in tertiary education must be re-prioritized from other government programmes. Therefore, what should the universities’ management do to strike a harmony between budget cuts from the government as result of ‘free’ tertiary education implementation, inflationary increment of operational expenses and ‘free’ tertiary education? The primary objective of this study is to examine the perceptions of Heads of Department, and Director of directorates on ‘free’ tertiary education in relation to operational budgeting within a public university in the Gauteng province. The study embraced critical realism as its research paradigm as per a qualitative research approach, using semi-structured interviews to address the empirical objectives and a narrative literature review method to engage with the theoretical objectives of the study. The findings of the study reveal that participants welcome ‘free’ tertiary education as a system but are sceptical about its sustainability. This is because the government of South Africa failed to conduct a proper feasibility study on how to raise the funds needed to make the model work. The participants also specified that implementation of ‘free’ tertiary education in a developing economy such as South Africa will have a range of negative effects and will increase the financial burden on taxpayers. Thus, there is a need for the public university’s management studied to cultivate a sound and irrepressible monetary policy that can guarantee sustainable academic programmes and operations at the university. The study also contributed to the existing body of knowledge in the field by establishing that inevitable budget cuts by the government could lead to cost-cutting, compelling universities to reduce academic programmes offered, regardless of the significance of such programmes for national development in South Africa. The study recommends ways of generating additional income to cushion the negative effects of consistent budget reductions in subsidies to public universities as result of difficult economic conditions in the country.