Vol 21, No 2 (2002)

The South African Qualifications Authority was promulgated by enabling legislation
through the SAQA Act (59 of 1995). The mandate of SAQA is quite simply to establish
and maintain the National Qualifications Framework or NQF. This is a structure derived
after study and investigation of a number of similar systems internationally, especially
in the USA, UK (more specifically Scotland), Australia and New Zealand. Note that all
the countries used as exemplars are developed countries. The philosophy underlying
this process emanates from the avowed intention to shift thinking from education for
employment to education about employability - to be effected via the critical crossfield outcomes, thus OBE. The upside of the process has been that SAQA has laudable
aims and objectives and is democratic with a strong emphasis on relevance. Some
serious hiccups in the system have led to the setting-up of the NQF Study Team being
appointed to scrutinise the activities and functionality of the NQF, and to ensure that
the work of SAQA be streamlined and accelerated. The SAQA structure as devised is
not user-friendly to higher education institutions. The recommendation by the Study
Team, that issues dealing with higher education should be transferred to the appropriate
structures, is strongly supported. This would make it possible, for example, to have a
more flexible and workable structure of qualifications and concomitant level descriptors.

This article addresses the Marketing Public Relations (MPR) concept, whose emergence
can partly be ascribed to the continuous debate regarding the respective boundaries
of both the fields of public relations and marketing. The article first explains the
nature of the debate and then explores the emergence and some theory of MPR. It also
argues the position of MPR in the organisation and finally contemplates its future.
This article in particular debates the current apprehension that MPR is merely product
publicity or mostly adds credibility to an organisation's product advertising efforts. It
argues that MPR can achieve much more in the organisation than scholars and theorists
currently address, especially with regard to the establishment of long-term customer
relationships and trust.

The aim of this research is to provide a meta-theoretical framework for the
conceptualisation of the role of the corporate communication strategist. The latter has
previously been conceptualised by the author as a role at the top management or
macro level of the organisation. It entails gathering, interpreting and disseminating
strategic intelligence on stakeholders and issues amongst decision-makers (obtained
by means of environmental scanning) - to be used as input in the organisation's
strategy formulation processes.
The problem addressed in this research is the changing role of business in society and
how the corporate communication function could assist the organisation in achieving
a balance between commercial imperatives and socially responsible behaviour. Seven
approaches to the role of business in society are identified and discussed. It is suggested
that the meta-theoretical approach to the conceptualisation of the role of the strategist
is a synthesis of six of these approaches, namely the social responsibility/ethical approach,
corporate social responsiveness approach, the corporate social performance approach, the
stakeholder approach, the issues approach and the corporate community approach.