- Professor Ruffin’s career spans across law, business, government, the non-profit sector and academia. The former atto... moreProfessor Ruffin’s career spans across law, business, government, the non-profit sector and academia. The former attorney was a consultant to or manager of various public, commercial, and non-profit organisations in the USA prior to joining UKZN in 2011. Her expertise is primarily based in global affairs with a focus on the global/regional/local nexus of public administration, public management, public policy, socio-legal matters and regional integration. UKZN conferred upon Professor Ruffin its coveted Distinguished Teacher’s Award in 2018. The South African Council of Higher Education (CHE) and Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA) conferred upon Prof Ruffin its Teaching and Learning Excellence Award in 2019.
Besides previously serving as Academic Leader for the Discipline of Public Governance (2015–2017) at UKZN Professor Ruffin contributes University-wide by working with the DST-NRF Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Systems and developing a nationally approved Post Graduate Diploma in African Indigenous Knowledge Systems for the College of Humanities. Professor Ruffin intertwines research and community engagement. Research project results have been presented at AU, OECD, UN, and World Justice Forum events on various continents. She contextualises research findings to transform curriculum in an Africanised and entrepreneurial way. Professional affiliations include the African Governance Seminar Series network under the auspices of the African Peer Review Mechanism of the African Union. Her multi-inter-transdisciplinary research interests revolve around global governance, indigenous knowledge systems, community-based justice systems, meta-sector networks, entrepreneurship, higher education and socio-legal studies. Professor Ruffin is a sought-after public speaker, has published widely, graduated numerous master’s and doctoral students and regularly mentors colleagues and students; upholding her beliefs in the triumph of universal holism.edit
Recurring governance crisis has been associated with the Nigerian state since independence despite its oil wealth. Successive regimes have been tinkering with the nation's resources in a manner that reduces the fortunes of the... more
Recurring governance crisis has been associated with the Nigerian state since independence despite its oil wealth. Successive regimes have been tinkering with the nation's resources in a manner that reduces the fortunes of the ordinary citizens in terms of welfare and good living. Personalised leadership style of the political elites dominates the political space with little regard for the welfare of the citizens. This article compared the effectiveness of the political arrangements in the pre-and post-colonial Nigeria. It discovered that the principles that guided the operations of politics in the pre-colonial era were more result-oriented. Leaders were more focused on the need for the promotion of the public good. Post-colonial leaders promoted personalisation of politics. Rather than harnessing extant constitutional powers to police the execution of public policies, public office holders, most especially the lawmakers, exploited their requisite oversight powers to negotiate for pecks and other pecuniary gains for personal benefits. The article concluded that the Nigerian state requires a purpose driven institutions of governance in a form of reinvention and rebranding of the principles associated with the pre-colonial political process and culture to curb the excessive use of executive power to promote impunity.
Research Interests:
Qualitative research sample size determination has always been a contentious and confusing issue. Studies are often vague when explaining the processes and justifications that have been used to det...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
After the 2015 attack on foreign nationals in South Africa, the 2017 outbreak of xenophobic violence attracted wide condemnation across the globe. The image of the South Africa government was put in the global limelight as African... more
After the 2015 attack on foreign nationals in South Africa, the 2017 outbreak of xenophobic violence attracted wide condemnation across the globe. The image of the South Africa government was put in the global limelight as African migrants and foreigners were attacked in their various locations in the country. A sizeable number of South Africans, especially in the academic community, rose against the attack of African migrants. Anti-xenophobic protests were organized in South African cities with government officials in attendance in a bid to dissociate the state from the attacks. Despite this, South Africa’s foreign relations with some African countries was strained as anti-South African sentiments dominated discourse in the international media and fora. This chapter engages with the spate of xenophobic attacks and contends with the reasons adduced to have sparked the violence. While people have attributed the attacks to series of developments, it is discovered that prejudices again...
Research Interests:
The paper uses secondary sources to discuss the importance of African indigenous languages in communicating environmental issues. It argues that the desired change in environmental conservation can only be achieved if the information... more
The paper uses secondary sources to discuss the importance of African indigenous languages in communicating environmental issues. It argues that the desired change in environmental conservation can only be achieved if the information appeals to the cultural values of the recipients. In the context of Africa, African indigenous languages are the best vehicles of communicating environmental information as they are culturally specific. It is therefore recommended that African indigenous knowledge stakeholders including researchers and academics apply them to correct dominant Eurocentric values and misinterpresentation of Africa’s environmental realities. This is important if they are to mobilize African communities for sustainable environmental conservation. They also need to cooperate and coordinate their activities to avoid duplication of efforts in a competitive global knowledge environment.
Research Interests:
The purpose of this chapter is three-fold. First, African indigenous modes of land governance are considered in selected pre-colonial polities across eastern, western and southern regions. Opposing scholarly arguments are examined in... more
The purpose of this chapter is three-fold. First, African indigenous modes of land governance are considered in selected pre-colonial polities across eastern, western and southern regions. Opposing scholarly arguments are examined in terms of ontological and epistemological standpoints that turn on distinct historicized worldviews toward land governance and ownership. Second, in light of the above, comparative contemporary land governance in environments of post-colonial legal pluralism are explored in Kenya, Ghana and South Africa. In these democratized nation-states, not unlike others on the continent, architecture of traditional leadership and indigenous law were retained along with informal dispute resolution mechanisms. The chapter highlights how such legal pluralism relates to power and social relations pertinent to land access. Third, in both African indigenous knowledge systems (AIKS) and present day epistemological approaches to land governance, implications for gender are highlighted. Gender in AIKS is distinguished from gender in the westernized rule of law orthodoxy that governs land reform and restitution with an aim toward drawing lessons from AIKS for incorporation in contemporary land governance. Evidence from which arguments arise and conclusions made in this chapter is induced from previous case studies and archival records. Seemingly irreconcilable differences that appear to impede land governance given concurrent legal systems are identified and explained. The chapter concludes with recommendations as to how such legal tensions influencing land governance could be approached to benefit all, irrespective of gender, in the subject nation-states and others similarly situated.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Genetics, Human Ecology, Environmental Ethics, Diaspora, African Environmental Ethics, and 6 moreYoruba Religions in the Americas, Role of Orisa and Ifa characteristics in the Yoruba cosmlogy, Yoruba and Ifa practice, Indigenous, African Indigenous and Diasporic Knowledge Systems, and African indigenous knowledge systems
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT The adoption of the principles of New Public Management by many governments across the world was invariably accompanied by the implementation of performance evaluation. It is generally accepted that performance evaluation... more
ABSTRACT The adoption of the principles of New Public Management by many governments across the world was invariably accompanied by the implementation of performance evaluation. It is generally accepted that performance evaluation optimizes the performance of workers. As part of a broader investigation which employed a mixed methods approach, the study used data from six interviews with high school principals and 100 survey questionnaires with purposively selected high school teachers in uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In the analysis of this data, the paper demonstrates that beyond the obvious benefits of performance evaluation such as improvement in performance, there are also unintended consequences such as a narrow focus on measured output, teacher burnout, and falsification of information in order to maximize credit or to avoid punishment. This study illustrates the understandings of high school educators in uMgungundlovu District of the effects of performance evaluation. The findings have important implications for public administration and scholars alike.
Research Interests:
In this article, the discourse around humanitarian intervention involving international human rights law, morality, and politics, is considered, and a right to intervention given the rigours of sovereignty is questioned. Further issues... more
In this article, the discourse around humanitarian intervention involving international human rights law, morality, and politics, is considered, and a right to intervention given the rigours of sovereignty is questioned. Further issues interrogated are: if intervention takes place, should it be authorised by the United Nations or should unilateral intervention by regional organisations or a single country be permissible in the face of mass killings, genocide and similar events; and what factors drive the act or omission of unilateral intervention for humanitarian purposes? The debate around these inquiries is introduced by considering the intermeshing of world politics and international law in a substantially globalising world - with particular reference to state sovereignty and the role of the United Nations. Thereafter, the evolution of humanitarian intervention and its contemporary development is examined - in the specific context of the 2011 humanitarian intervention in Libya. This is done by examining the justifications for such intervention under international law. The legality of the intervention is explored and it is argued that the Libyan experience demonstrates that humanitarian intervention is more about morality and politics than international law. Although the lessons learned from the Libyan conflict are perhaps still unclear, it is concluded that a reformed UN Security Council may well be the global authority with auspices above powerful nation-state interests, and with the wherewithal to give meaning to international law over morality and politics in humanitarian interventions.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article situates the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Road Entry Point Management Systems (REPMS) within international supply chain logistics. It exposes the influence of REPMS on the link between movement of goods and... more
This article situates the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Road Entry Point Management Systems (REPMS) within international supply chain logistics. It exposes the influence of REPMS on the link between movement of goods and optimum supply chain performance. A novel transdisciplinary theoretical framework drawn from supply chain and international relations theories is applied to survey data from respondents at border points that link Zimbabwe to Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. The 345 respondents are international truck drivers and small and medium entrepreneurs. The authors argue that simultaneity of transformation of two-stop border posts to one-stop border posts is required in a logistical corridor. Findings show that failure to do so disrupts supply chain logistics, impedes international trade and hinders regional integration. Conclusions reveal that, inter alia, SADC REPMS are out of sync with non-state actors and international trade facilitation. Recommendations include cultivation of public-private partnerships for REPMS transformation.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The supply of goods follows a chain with constituent parts, and the system's performance hinges on each constituent part's performance. In international supply chain and trade facilitation, one critical component is shipping of... more
The supply of goods follows a chain with constituent parts, and the system's performance hinges on each constituent part's performance. In international supply chain and trade facilitation, one critical component is shipping of goods across borders. Border delays are inimical to supply chain efficiency. Modernising information communication technology is a widely hailed solution to easing this problem. In this paper, the importance of marrying hard and soft infrastructure for optimum efficiency is buttressed. This is based on empirical evidence from surveys involving 345 participants on four road entry points to Zimbabwe's territorial borders. Participants are truck drivers and small and medium entrepreneurs. Findings trace the perpetuation of delays, to failure to tie together hard and soft infrastructure components of entry point management systems. This consequently disturbs the supply chain of goods in the Southern African development community. Recommendations are made on how road entry point management systems can be improved, in order to enhance regional integration.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As the international community adjust to implement UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) adopted by the United Nations on 31 October 2000 innovative women peace-builders make inroads across the globe. Negotiating peace and rebuilding... more
As the international community adjust to implement UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) adopted by the United Nations on 31 October 2000 innovative women peace-builders make inroads across the globe. Negotiating peace and rebuilding societies is nothing new for women--it is a reaffirmation of it not its conception as embodied in the resolution. We have yet to meet a human being not born of a woman or a mother who did not undergo the most personal of physical trauma in negotiating peace while delivering a new life. Resolution 1325 reaffirms and assures that women assume their decision-making role in conflict prevention and resolution as well as peace-building. One of the main themes of the 48th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSD) held in New York in March 2004 was womens equal participation in global conflict prevention management and resolution and post-conflict peace-building. While the shift in human consciousness to fully adopt and incorporate the gender mainstreaming contemplated by resolution 1325 is more easily achieved by some women-driven peace initiatives are occurring. Governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are also making conscious efforts to implement the resolution. (excerpt)
Research Interests:
... Title: Hybrid governance and network management in the globalizing metropolis: a comparative case study examining the impact of law on the business improvement district model in Cape Town and Newark. ... The city is a long-time... more
... Title: Hybrid governance and network management in the globalizing metropolis: a comparative case study examining the impact of law on the business improvement district model in Cape Town and Newark. ... The city is a long-time contested terrain. ...
Research Interests: Law and International Law
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The displaced Africans from the transatlantic triangular slave trade took the essence of African indigenous forces of nature including environmental ethics with them and those forces of nature sustained in them. These forces are... more
The displaced Africans from the transatlantic triangular slave trade took the essence of African indigenous forces of nature including environmental ethics with them and those forces of nature sustained in them. These forces are everywhere in rivers, oceans, lakes, thunder, lightning and graveyards. It is argued that the Òrisa are autonomous forces of nature and may express themselves through divination and mediumship possession. The paper explores the role of several African women displaced in Brazil and Cuba who were selected by the Òrisa to safeguard and expand this Yoruba system. It highlights implications for gender in African indigenous knowledge systems. Finally, the paper concludes with recommendations for environmental ethics and policies that honour the forces of nature and that are central to peace, wellbeing and sustainable development.
Research Interests:
The paper uses secondary sources to discuss the importance of African indigenous languages in communicating environmental issues. It argues that the desired change in environmental conservation can only be achieved if the information... more
The paper uses secondary sources to discuss the importance of African indigenous languages in communicating environmental issues. It argues that the desired change in environmental conservation can only be achieved if the information appeals to the cultural values of the recipients. In the context of Africa, African indigenous languages are the best vehicles of communicating environmental information as they are culturally specific. It is therefore recommended that African indigenous knowledge stakeholders including researchers and academics apply them to correct dominant Eurocentric values and misinterpresentation of Africa's environmental realities. This is important if they are to mobilize African communities for sustainable environmental conservation. They also need to cooperate and coordinate their activities to avoid duplication of efforts in a competitive global knowledge environment.
Research Interests:
The South African democratic government is now responsible for providing public services to all of its citizens. To increase accountability, enhance good governance and improve service delivery for all citizens, in 2009/2010 the... more
The South African democratic government is now responsible for providing public services to all of its citizens. To increase accountability, enhance good governance and improve service delivery for all citizens, in 2009/2010 the Presidency shifted the public sector from the input-output performance management (PM) framework to the Outcomes Approach (OA). Questions presented are (1) whether the African National Congress as ruling party, renowned for a successful liberation struggle, has fostered results-oriented PM? (2) In importing the international best practice of the OA did the South African government take African epistemologies into account? It is argued that African epistemologies, such as Afrikology (Nabudere, 2011) offer a strategy for putting people first to improve service delivery for all South Africans. The mixed method research design applied case study strategy to draw upon 44 senior managers in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs as respondents. Content, matrix and thematic analyses were employed to analyse qualitative data. Stata software was used to analyse quantitative data. Unlike results from qualitative data, results of quantitative data yield some evidence of political accountability and PM effectiveness through the OA. Change management for OA implementation appears elusive. It does not seem that African epistemologies are incorporated into change management and OA implementation. It is recommended that the South African government take cognisance of African ways of knowing and be at the forefront of decolonising the Public Service by using Afrikology to promote new knowledge production for employee development and citizen driven PM to improve service delivery.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The adoption of the principles of New Public Management by many governments across the world was invariably accompanied by the implementation of performance evaluation. It is generally accepted that performance evaluation optimizes the... more
The adoption of the principles of New Public Management by many governments across the world was invariably accompanied by the implementation of performance evaluation. It is generally accepted that performance evaluation optimizes the performance of workers. As part of a broader investigation which employed a mixed methods approach, the study used data from six interviews with high school principals and 100 survey questionnaires with purposively selected high school teachers in uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In the analysis of this data, the paper demonstrates that beyond the obvious benefits of performance evaluation such as improvement in performance, there are also unintended consequences such as a narrow focus on measured output, teacher burnout, and falsification of information in order to maximize credit or to avoid punishment. This study illustrates the understandings of high school educators in uMgungundlovu District of the effects of performance evaluation. The findings have important implications for public administration and scholars alike.
Research Interests:
In this chapter, theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and legal empowerment are explored and intersection of these social actions by community based-paralegal practice in rural KwaZulu-Natal examined. Conceptually,... more
In this chapter, theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and legal empowerment are explored and intersection of these social actions by community based-paralegal practice in rural KwaZulu-Natal examined. Conceptually, integration of social entrepreneurship and legal empowerment innovatively contributes to the broader discourse on self-determined community development and democratic governance. Empirical evidence shows that community-based paralegals generate legal empowerment as social entrepreneurship and such service delivery advances rural women empowerment. Arguably there is a global/local nexus of each social action; a positive theory of social entrepreneurship is more useful than normative theories; rule of law orthodoxy is less meaningful for and somewhat contradictory to self-empowerment of indigenous populations that experience plural legal systems. This qualitative study found that while contemporary business models are incorporated in the intersection of social entrepreneurship and legal empowerment, so are African indigenous justice principles and remedies.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Purpose – This paper seeks to explore leading theories and concepts in professionalising the emerging field of business district management. Design/methodology/approach – In the context of globalization and localization, it discusses... more
Purpose – This paper seeks to explore leading theories and concepts in professionalising the emerging field of business district management. Design/methodology/approach – In the context of globalization and localization, it discusses distinctive place-based elements of business improvement districts (BIDs), such as: law, nomenclature, assessment formulae, and branding; while suggesting and analyzing strategic international application of certain theories and concepts. Findings
Research Interests:
In the context of globalization, regionalization, and urbanization, business improvement districts (BIDs) emerge on the urban landscape as a public-private mechanism of place management across networks. This article raises the question:... more
In the context of globalization, regionalization, and urbanization, business improvement districts (BIDs) emerge on the urban landscape as a public-private mechanism of place management across networks. This article raises the question: In a public-private partnership model that is globalizing, how does the local context shape BID performance management across networks? In search of an answer, this paper uses the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's urban entrepreneurial governance framework to examine a sociospatial reconfiguration of space in which BIDs are often nestled and within which they manage network structures for service delivery while implementing urban revitalization policy. The article explores the BID model as a microcosmic example of how performance management may emerge through meta-sector network management geared toward creating a globally competitive locale. In so doing, the article draws on qualitative research data from the Newark Downtown District in New Jersey and the Central City Improvement District in Cape Town, (Western Cape, South Africa). Findings from the cross-national triangulated descriptive case study suggest that Newark Downtown District's collaborative network management for capital improvements generates performance-based budgeting, and in Cape Town, collaborative network management facilitates opportunity for transformative social development.