Abstract
The absence of disclosure measurement and quality assessment indices to assess the fitness for and of
purpose of an annual report in terms of Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)
Regulation for Reporting by Public Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in South Africa (SA), which
leads to stakeholders' inability to hold accountable those charged with governance of PHEIs,
necessitated this study. The study investigates annual report disclosure as a vehicle for public
accountability by SA PHEIs in terms of the 2014 DHET Regulations for reporting by PHEIs.
The positivism-interpretivism hybrid research paradigm was used to address the research questions.
This was accompanied by a convergent parallel mixed research method. An extensive critical analysis
of the 2014 DHET Regulation for reporting by PHEIs and literature facilitated the conceptualisation
of a disclosure measurement and Quality Assessment Checklist (QAC) that were subjected to a tworound
Delphi study to validate the disclosure measurement items and ensure the applicability of the
QAC in PHEIs. The study also sought to determine the weights of each disclosure measurement and
quality assessment categories.
The conceptualised, applicable and validated disclosure measurement and QAC were used to develop
a Public Accountability Disclosure Index (PADI) and Annual Report Quality Index (ARQI), based on
the weights of disclosure and quality categories weights from the Delphi round two. The conceptual
PADI and ARQI were subsequently applied using mechanistic and interpretive content analysis to
extract secondary data from 129 annual reports for a longitudinal period of 2015 to 2019 for all 26 SA
PHEIs. Using deductive inferences, the PADI and ARQI served as grounded data for developing the
Public Accountability Model for SA PHEIs.
The PADI results indicate that the 2014 DHET Regulation for Reporting by PHEIs is not practical,
and PHEIs’ annual reports are not fit for and of purpose to ensure public accountability by PHEIs. In
addition, the ARQI findings show that PHEIs’ annual reports do not reflect and integrate the qualitative
characteristics of the annual report. Finally, based on the PAM, the thesis argues that the current public
accountability mechanisms of the 2014 DHET Regulation for reporting by PHEIs are neither efficient
nor effective in ensuring that the DHET regulation as a public accountability tool meets the needs of
sections 41 and 69 of the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997.
It is envisaged that the PADI, ARQI and PAM may be helpful to DHET to ensure compliance,
monitoring and evaluation of the PHEIs’ submitted annual reports comply with its Regulation for
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reporting and assess whether PHEIs’ annual reports are fit for and of purpose. Other stakeholders may
employ the index and model to appraise the disclosure level of annual report towards public
accountability and raise appropriate inquiries to make advised decisions, indicating the scale of
accountability and transparency discharged by PHEIs. Finally, the study bridges the gap, extends
previous research, and makes a modest contribution to knowledge on the disclosure measurement and
quality assessment indices to evaluate the fitness for and of purpose of PHEIs’ annual reports in terms
of the DHET Regulation for reporting through Public Accountability Model for South African PHEIs.
KEYWORDS:
Annual Report Disclosure; Public Accountability Disclosure Index; Annual Report Quality Index;
Public Accountability Model; Fitness for Purpose; Fitness of Purpose. Disclosure Measurement
Checklist; Quality Assessment Checklist.