Postgraduate Diploma in Management (Security)

The PDM (Security) is a one-year programme aimed at enhancing the knowledge and skills of current security sector administrators and practitioners from across the continent, enabling them to advance their careers and contribute to good governance and effective development in their organisations and communities. It provides them with an opportunity to explore new ideas, expand their analytical and managerial skills, interact with leading academics and practitioners, and reflect on their values, goals and careers.

It is also aimed at graduates with some work experience who wish to embark on a career in the security sector, equipping them with the skills they need to become effective public administrators and security sector practitioners. Lastly, it is aimed at providing students who wish to proceed to the Masters programme with a solid foundation.

PADM5233A Introduction and Orientation

This course re-introduces candidates to the world of study. It prepares them how to balance the demands of work, studying and returning to learning. The course is structured to allow degree convenors to discuss the design and overall learning outcomes of a particular degree programme and how it impacts their work and career. The course covers academic reading and writing; avoiding plagiarism; group dynamics and independent learning. This module - which has no credits - also introduces candidates to the Wits Computer LMS and Library Systems.

PADM5243A Governance, Leadership and Public Value

This course, through a study of contemporary understandings of state and society, aims to develop a deep understanding of how government institutions and agencies function, their relation to civil society and their location in local, national and regional social, economic and political contexts. It will examine the characteristics of the public service sector, the complex challenges facing it, and the meaning and implications of governance, leadership and public value for the functioning of states and public institutions. Different models of governance and leadership are explored in relation to how states and societies structure authority, distribute economic, political and social resources and create public value.

PADM5245A Public Policy

This course will interrogate conceptual and theoretical frameworks of public policy, examine models of public policy making; offer a framework of public policy analysis and explore policy contexts in South Africa, Africa and globally. The course provides candidates with an understanding of the special challenges facing policy development and implementation and how to overcome them. This will include technical and skills requirements for evaluating policy, managing vested interests, consultation and public relations, monitoring and evaluation, and the management of inter-departmental coordination and relations.

PADM5247A Analytical Methods

This course introduces candidates to statistical methods which are crucial in solving sustainability problems. It is designed to engage students in the statistical investigation process, that is, from developing a research question and data collection methods to analyzing, interpreting and communicating the results. This course further introduces candidates to basic descriptive and inferential statistics through the use of traditional and simulation approaches which include confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. Candidates will also be exposed to real world applications of statistics purely designed to enhance conceptual understanding of statistics

PADM5249A Economics for Public Managers

This course introduces candidates to fundamental economic concepts with a view to enhancing their understanding of how modern real-world economies function. The course examines key topics including the definition of ‘economics’; micro- and macro-economic; economic systems; microeconomic concepts such as costs in economics, production and consumption, demand, supply, specialization and production; macroeconomic concepts such as employment and unemployment, the national product and economic growth, inflation, the balance of payments, income and wealth distribution, and economic growth vs. development; fiscal and monetary policy; the role of the state in the economy and economic policy in South Africa since 1994.

PADM5254A Approaches to Security

This course introduces candidates to key concepts in security and governance, such as human security and security sector approaches. It introduces concepts and paradigms of security and human security, in international and African contexts. The course also introduces concepts of international relations and politics, conflict prevention, management and resolution, issues in peace studies and concepts of security and the security sector. The course furthermore explores contemporary debates and development in the terrain of civil-military relations, exposing candidates to a range of perspectives on civil-military relations and the organisation of defence and civilian structures, particularly in Africa.

PADM5255A International and Regional Security

This course provides candidates with an in-depth and critical understanding of the changing definition of security, and how security institutions respond to these changing understandings. The course examines the principal security features in the global, regional and sub-regional contexts and considers the institutional and policy capacity at those levels to respond to such features.

PADM5256A Public Security, Justice and Rule of Law

This course introduces candidates to key concepts related to public security, and how legal mechanisms play into this mode of governance. The course consists of analysis of the oversight and reform of national and trans-national policing and a secondary analysis of transitional justice and reform of the justice system. The course also explores the problems inherent in policing in Africa; political control over policing; key concepts about oversight and accountability of policing and the issues of public safety. order.

PADM5257A Security Sector Governance

This course focuses on enhancing democratic management of the security sector in South Africa and the continent through deepening understanding of the inter-relationships between the justice, public safety, intelligence and defence sectors. The course is made up of a primary component that examines concepts and principles of governance and their application to the security sector. The course also explores the roles of the executive, the legislature, ministries and government departments in governance, oversight and management, security policy-making, implementation and monitoring and political transitions, as well as peace building and reconstruction.

• Applicants require a solid Bachelor’s degree transcript or equivalent and preferably two years of relevant work experience in the public, parastatal or NGO sectors.

When lodging a formal application for the Postgraduate Diploma you will be required the following documentation:

• A brief letter of motivation indicating why you would like to study for your Postgraduate Diploma or Masters at the Wits School of Governance.
• A curriculum vitae, detailing your degrees, your employment experience.
• Official transcripts of your qualifications showing degree, courses and results (if you are still studying for a qualifying degree, please provide your interim mid-year results).
• Your graduation certificates (certified copies and then originals).
• Verification and comparison of any foreign qualifications from the South Africa Qualifications Authority (SAQA).
• IELTS Language Proficiency scores (if your previous qualification was not through the medium of English).

• Applications are handled centrally by the Student Enrolment Centre (SEnC). Once your application is complete in terms of requested documentation, your application will be referred to the relevant School for assessment. Click here to see an overview of the Wits applications process.
• Please apply online. Upload your supporting documents at the time of application, or via the Self Service Portal.
• Applicants can monitor the progress of their applications via the Self Service Portal.
• Selections for programmes that have a limited intake but attract a large number of applications may only finalise the application at the end of the application cycle.

Please note that the Entry Requirements are a guide. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee a place. Final selection is made subject to the availability of places, academic results and other entry requirements where applicable.

International students, please check this section.

For more information, contact the Student Call Centre +27 (0)11 717 1888, or log a query at www.wits.ac.za/askwits.

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies. External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.