Billing system, communication strategies, and organisation change in Zimbabwe: the case of telone customers’ postpaid to prepaid migration
- Authors: Dube, Sizalobuhle
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: Communication , Organizational change , Organizational change -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27336 , vital:66942
- Description: This study investigated the effectiveness of the communication strategies used to implement the migration of telephone services from post-paid to prepaid billing at TelOne Zimbabwe. This study adopted the Freeman‟s stakeholder theory and the Lewin‟s change model to analyse the factors that influenced the effectiveness of the communication strategies used by TelOne before, during and after the change implementation as a way to communicate the initiative with its stakeholders. A qualitative approach was utilised and the key research methods used included document analysis, participant observation, as well as 21 face-to-face and 79 telephonic semi-structured interviews conducted with respondents from among TelOne managers, employees and the customers. The documents and respondents were purposively sampled based on the researcher‟s knowledge of their relevance in the study. The findings revealed several factors that mired effective change communication strategies such as company image, stakeholder recognition and communication centralisation. To curb these communication challenges, the study proposes Thrive organisational communication change model TOCC that encourages organisations to communicate the initiative to its relevant internal and external stakeholders considering their views and addressing factors that might hinder effective communication as a strategy to enhance successful change management. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
- Authors: Dube, Sizalobuhle
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: Communication , Organizational change , Organizational change -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27336 , vital:66942
- Description: This study investigated the effectiveness of the communication strategies used to implement the migration of telephone services from post-paid to prepaid billing at TelOne Zimbabwe. This study adopted the Freeman‟s stakeholder theory and the Lewin‟s change model to analyse the factors that influenced the effectiveness of the communication strategies used by TelOne before, during and after the change implementation as a way to communicate the initiative with its stakeholders. A qualitative approach was utilised and the key research methods used included document analysis, participant observation, as well as 21 face-to-face and 79 telephonic semi-structured interviews conducted with respondents from among TelOne managers, employees and the customers. The documents and respondents were purposively sampled based on the researcher‟s knowledge of their relevance in the study. The findings revealed several factors that mired effective change communication strategies such as company image, stakeholder recognition and communication centralisation. To curb these communication challenges, the study proposes Thrive organisational communication change model TOCC that encourages organisations to communicate the initiative to its relevant internal and external stakeholders considering their views and addressing factors that might hinder effective communication as a strategy to enhance successful change management. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
Experiences of youths participating in combination social protection and HIV prevention programme in resource constrained settings of Gauteng Province in South Africa: a collective case study design
- Authors: Zibengwa, Enock
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: HIV infections -- Prevention , HIV (Viruses) , HIV infections -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27347 , vital:66944
- Description: South Africa continues to experience unacceptably high Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV incidence rates among youths aged 15 to 24 years. Remarkably, this is despite the numerous youth HIV prevention programmes that have been implemented in the country. Unfortunately, the programmes have not significantly curbed the spread of HIV due to the partial and fragmented nature of their implementation. The programmes are also observed to be weak in addressing complex economic factors recognised as important structural drivers for vulnerabilities that put youths at risk of HIV infection. To address this challenge, there is increased adoption and implementation of the Combination Social Protection introduced in this research as the CSP by Non-Governmental Organisations NGOs. The CSP is a youth empowerment programming strategy whose critical foundations are entrenched in combining economic strengthening interventions and HIV prevention education. CSP could provide youths with a set of indispensable life skills that enhance their competencies and agency to make informed and effective decisions regarding their health and economic lives. Despite its growing traction, little is known regarding links between the CSP and its abilities to improve HIV prevention outcomes for youths. Given the paucity of research, this study aimed to explore the experiences of youths participating in the CSP and HIV prevention programme, with a particular focus on the resource-constrained settings of Gauteng Province in South Africa. This study employed a collective case study design, within the qualitative approach, and was exploratory. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 30 youths from six established NGOs in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). Qualitative thematic analysis was employed as a data analysis strategy. Focus groups were separately with six practitioners from the same six NGOs, and five officials from the Department of Social Development (DSD). Both phases of data collection were guided by interview themes, which were aligned with the objectives of the study. The findings of the study point to the fact that the CSP’s innovative and holistic approach offered numerous transformative and empowering benefits to youths. It equipped them with basic informational resources, capabilities, and social assets to safeguard their health and aid their economic advancement. The programme’s mixedgender sessions provided space, freedom, and support for youths to engage on issues of gender, differential access to health and socio-economic opportunities. Another major finding of the study was that improvement of economic aptitude (brought about by financial literacy education), employability, and entrepreneurship training stirred a sense of agency and purposefulness among youths, which in turn, prompted them to be more focused on achieving long-term objectives instead of indulging in risky sexual practices. Conversely, findings revealed that the programme had limited opportunities and did not create an adequate supportive environment for youths to develop successful entrepreneurial or income-generating projects. There was also no structure to assist youths to access apprenticeship and employment markets. The study specifically recognised that the programme’s efforts to develop youths’ entrepreneurship and employability capabilities were curtailed by a lack of mentorshipnand access to financial capital for start-up costs. With these findings in mind, recommendations are made for the creation of an enabling environment by purposefully engaging youths, establishing collaborative relations with communities, and building networks with businesses and financial institutions that can help youths with capital, mentorship, and linkages to internship and wage employment. Such collaborations could be fundamental in unravelling the impact of the programme on building livelihoods and reducing HIV among youths. Hence, this study proposes a model with strategies to support the successful implementation of economic strengthening interventions for youths. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
- Authors: Zibengwa, Enock
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: HIV infections -- Prevention , HIV (Viruses) , HIV infections -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27347 , vital:66944
- Description: South Africa continues to experience unacceptably high Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV incidence rates among youths aged 15 to 24 years. Remarkably, this is despite the numerous youth HIV prevention programmes that have been implemented in the country. Unfortunately, the programmes have not significantly curbed the spread of HIV due to the partial and fragmented nature of their implementation. The programmes are also observed to be weak in addressing complex economic factors recognised as important structural drivers for vulnerabilities that put youths at risk of HIV infection. To address this challenge, there is increased adoption and implementation of the Combination Social Protection introduced in this research as the CSP by Non-Governmental Organisations NGOs. The CSP is a youth empowerment programming strategy whose critical foundations are entrenched in combining economic strengthening interventions and HIV prevention education. CSP could provide youths with a set of indispensable life skills that enhance their competencies and agency to make informed and effective decisions regarding their health and economic lives. Despite its growing traction, little is known regarding links between the CSP and its abilities to improve HIV prevention outcomes for youths. Given the paucity of research, this study aimed to explore the experiences of youths participating in the CSP and HIV prevention programme, with a particular focus on the resource-constrained settings of Gauteng Province in South Africa. This study employed a collective case study design, within the qualitative approach, and was exploratory. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 30 youths from six established NGOs in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). Qualitative thematic analysis was employed as a data analysis strategy. Focus groups were separately with six practitioners from the same six NGOs, and five officials from the Department of Social Development (DSD). Both phases of data collection were guided by interview themes, which were aligned with the objectives of the study. The findings of the study point to the fact that the CSP’s innovative and holistic approach offered numerous transformative and empowering benefits to youths. It equipped them with basic informational resources, capabilities, and social assets to safeguard their health and aid their economic advancement. The programme’s mixedgender sessions provided space, freedom, and support for youths to engage on issues of gender, differential access to health and socio-economic opportunities. Another major finding of the study was that improvement of economic aptitude (brought about by financial literacy education), employability, and entrepreneurship training stirred a sense of agency and purposefulness among youths, which in turn, prompted them to be more focused on achieving long-term objectives instead of indulging in risky sexual practices. Conversely, findings revealed that the programme had limited opportunities and did not create an adequate supportive environment for youths to develop successful entrepreneurial or income-generating projects. There was also no structure to assist youths to access apprenticeship and employment markets. The study specifically recognised that the programme’s efforts to develop youths’ entrepreneurship and employability capabilities were curtailed by a lack of mentorshipnand access to financial capital for start-up costs. With these findings in mind, recommendations are made for the creation of an enabling environment by purposefully engaging youths, establishing collaborative relations with communities, and building networks with businesses and financial institutions that can help youths with capital, mentorship, and linkages to internship and wage employment. Such collaborations could be fundamental in unravelling the impact of the programme on building livelihoods and reducing HIV among youths. Hence, this study proposes a model with strategies to support the successful implementation of economic strengthening interventions for youths. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
Integration of digital media and pedagogy in the twenty first century classroom: a survey of selected high schools in Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Mhlomi, Yolisa
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: Teaching , Digital media , Classroom learning centers
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27369 , vital:66952
- Description: The essence of this thesis was to study the effectiveness of integrating digital media technologies within the pedagogical approaches adopted and implemented in private and public high schools in a comparative manner. The study looked closely at private and public high schools of the Eastern Cape Province, to study the gaps of accessibility to technology by schools. The study identified the Eastern Cape Province as having a problem of poor performance in matric results at the end of each year as compared to other South African provinces. In order to select the relevant sample for the study, the researcher has utilized two secondary schools private and public in Makhanda Grahamstown and one public secondary school in Alice. The pragmatic paradigm was used to inform the study and used the mixed methods approach to data collection. The researcher distributed closed ended questionnaires to the learners in the three selected secondary schools and semi-structured interviews for the principals of the schools. The key findings reveal that the digital media tools are used for the teaching and learning purposes as well as communication to the schools’ stakeholders. The findings also revealed that various online platforms are utilized for teaching and sharing of information. For example, D6 and Ibambisa School Communicator app, WhatsApp groups for learners, Facebook, Instagram and School website for potential stakeholders. Hence, the results of this study should contribute to the field of ICTs and education in the country to solve the problems facing the teaching and learning systems of private and public schools of the Eastern Cape. Most schools (especially the public) do not have access to digital media tools in their classrooms. Thus, they still depend heavily on the textbooks, which may be outdated or not enough for all learners. In response to the issues faced by the Eastern Cape secondary schools and the findings, the researcher has suggested a model named the Digital Media and Pedagogy Integration DMPI Model of Communication. This model will contribute to the body of knowledge by providing advice to the Department of Basic Education on how teachers and learners can utilize digital media tools effectively. Also, the study has recommended that there is a need for provision of computer literacy training for teachers in secondary schools in this digital age. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
- Authors: Mhlomi, Yolisa
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: Teaching , Digital media , Classroom learning centers
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27369 , vital:66952
- Description: The essence of this thesis was to study the effectiveness of integrating digital media technologies within the pedagogical approaches adopted and implemented in private and public high schools in a comparative manner. The study looked closely at private and public high schools of the Eastern Cape Province, to study the gaps of accessibility to technology by schools. The study identified the Eastern Cape Province as having a problem of poor performance in matric results at the end of each year as compared to other South African provinces. In order to select the relevant sample for the study, the researcher has utilized two secondary schools private and public in Makhanda Grahamstown and one public secondary school in Alice. The pragmatic paradigm was used to inform the study and used the mixed methods approach to data collection. The researcher distributed closed ended questionnaires to the learners in the three selected secondary schools and semi-structured interviews for the principals of the schools. The key findings reveal that the digital media tools are used for the teaching and learning purposes as well as communication to the schools’ stakeholders. The findings also revealed that various online platforms are utilized for teaching and sharing of information. For example, D6 and Ibambisa School Communicator app, WhatsApp groups for learners, Facebook, Instagram and School website for potential stakeholders. Hence, the results of this study should contribute to the field of ICTs and education in the country to solve the problems facing the teaching and learning systems of private and public schools of the Eastern Cape. Most schools (especially the public) do not have access to digital media tools in their classrooms. Thus, they still depend heavily on the textbooks, which may be outdated or not enough for all learners. In response to the issues faced by the Eastern Cape secondary schools and the findings, the researcher has suggested a model named the Digital Media and Pedagogy Integration DMPI Model of Communication. This model will contribute to the body of knowledge by providing advice to the Department of Basic Education on how teachers and learners can utilize digital media tools effectively. Also, the study has recommended that there is a need for provision of computer literacy training for teachers in secondary schools in this digital age. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
Unleashing the nexus between climate change and food security in rural South Africa: role of three community radio stations in the Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Bamigboye, Foluke Bosede
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: Climatic changes , Food security , South Africa -- Rural conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27325 , vital:66939
- Description: This study investigates the role of Forte FM, Mdantsane FM and Rhodes Music Community Radios in disseminating the different kinds of messages on the nexus between the impacts of climate change and food security in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Therefore, the study aims to investigate how these community radio stations play their informative, educative and entertainment roles regarding climate change and food security awareness programmes to their listeners. The study employed the qualitative research approach and convenience, and non-probability samplings techniques were subsequently used to select samples for this study. In-depth interviews were conducted individually for Forte FM, Mdantsane FM and Rhodes Music community radio programme managers respectively, who serve as the key informants. One focus group discussion each was held with residents of Golf Course, Mdantsane and Grahamstown areas where these radio stations broadcast from, with eight participants in each focus group. The total number of participants for the focus group discussions was 24 participants. The collected data were coded into themes using NVivo 12 software to generate the theme nodes and case nodes as key findings, analysis and then interpreted. The findings of this study confirmed that these three community radio stations do contribute to climate change communication through their programmes that focus on climate change and food security related issues. Another vital finding from the study showed that listeners do benefit immensely from these climate change and food security related programmes of the under-study community radio stations. Hence, listeners physical, social, and cognitive well-being of their climatic environment have been greatly impacted. In the same vein, the findings of this study further revealed that the rural communities who are mostly affected by the impacts of climate change on food security have been well informed and enlightened on the suitable ways to enhance a sustainable food security and climate adaptation system through Forte FM, Mdantsane FM, and Rhodes Music community radio stations. Significantly, this study has been able to come up with two suggested models and the conceptual frameworks, which are the Local Action Adaptive Communication (LAAC) Model and the Indigenous Behavioral Change Conceptual (IBCC) Model. These models are focused on increasing listeners interests, adaptation, and behavioral change on climate change issues. The models are also aimed at ensuring better climate change and food security communication Author. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
- Authors: Bamigboye, Foluke Bosede
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: Climatic changes , Food security , South Africa -- Rural conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27325 , vital:66939
- Description: This study investigates the role of Forte FM, Mdantsane FM and Rhodes Music Community Radios in disseminating the different kinds of messages on the nexus between the impacts of climate change and food security in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Therefore, the study aims to investigate how these community radio stations play their informative, educative and entertainment roles regarding climate change and food security awareness programmes to their listeners. The study employed the qualitative research approach and convenience, and non-probability samplings techniques were subsequently used to select samples for this study. In-depth interviews were conducted individually for Forte FM, Mdantsane FM and Rhodes Music community radio programme managers respectively, who serve as the key informants. One focus group discussion each was held with residents of Golf Course, Mdantsane and Grahamstown areas where these radio stations broadcast from, with eight participants in each focus group. The total number of participants for the focus group discussions was 24 participants. The collected data were coded into themes using NVivo 12 software to generate the theme nodes and case nodes as key findings, analysis and then interpreted. The findings of this study confirmed that these three community radio stations do contribute to climate change communication through their programmes that focus on climate change and food security related issues. Another vital finding from the study showed that listeners do benefit immensely from these climate change and food security related programmes of the under-study community radio stations. Hence, listeners physical, social, and cognitive well-being of their climatic environment have been greatly impacted. In the same vein, the findings of this study further revealed that the rural communities who are mostly affected by the impacts of climate change on food security have been well informed and enlightened on the suitable ways to enhance a sustainable food security and climate adaptation system through Forte FM, Mdantsane FM, and Rhodes Music community radio stations. Significantly, this study has been able to come up with two suggested models and the conceptual frameworks, which are the Local Action Adaptive Communication (LAAC) Model and the Indigenous Behavioral Change Conceptual (IBCC) Model. These models are focused on increasing listeners interests, adaptation, and behavioral change on climate change issues. The models are also aimed at ensuring better climate change and food security communication Author. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-04
Participation dynamics in the management of protected areas: the case of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and its adjacent communities, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Nyamahono, James Donald https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1391-9126
- Authors: Nyamahono, James Donald https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1391-9126
- Date: 2023-03
- Subjects: Protected areas , Natural resources conservation areas -- South Africa , National protected areas systems
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27358 , vital:66947
- Description: In many parts of the developing world, participation in the management of ‘protected areas’ is among the most tangible indices of how the rural population encounters formal conservation policies, strategies and ideologies. However, some scholars have argued that the sharing of the burdens and benefits of participation is devoid of equity. While some analysts have emphasised the imperative of multi-stakeholder participation in nature conservation, citing this as a crucial socio-ecological investment, others have highlighted the inherent contradictions in the process, describing it as an avenue for manipulation, tokenism and exploitation. This study is located in this debate and focuses on narratives around the participation of different stakeholders in the management of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and its adjacent communities in the rural Wild-Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The researcher notes that research on the degrees and participation dynamics among various role players involved in the management of protected areas in South Africa, Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in particular is limited. Against this background, this study contributes to ongoing discussions on protected area management in South Africa but seeks to expand this discussion by interrogating the nature and degrees of participation within the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve - to deepen intellectual understanding on the significant role played by protected areas in engendering participatory democracy, equity, justice as well as meeting the needs of marginalised communities. Primary data for the thesis were collected using in-depth and key-informant interviews with officials from government institutions and parastatals, politicians and traditional authority figures. Focus group discussions were held with ‘youth’ participants as well as ‘elders’ in the Reserve’s adjacent communities. An analysis of policy and other government documents sought to outline the institutional attributes of protected areas management in South Africa and the underpinning ideas. A thematic analysis of the corpus of empirical information helped to show how these institutional attributes inhere in Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve as well as the epistemic challenge these attributes pose vis-à-vis indigenous ecological ideas and practices in the adjacent ‘indigenous’ communities. The study revealed that participation is perceived differently by various stakeholders due to multiple, mutually contradictory impulses. While institutional stakeholders attached great importance to the structural role of institutional frameworks, hence the vigorous reliance on formal conservation strategies, narratives from community members drew attention to ‘equity deficits’. The study also found that while the selected Reserve may have fostered cooperation between government and the adjacent communities, conflict and distrust ran deep between these stakeholders. From these and other findings, the study concluded that ecological participation in the study area was characterised by clusters of stakeholders who regard one another as ‘epistemic outsiders’ and related to one another as such, with practical consequences – especially for the long-term sustainability of the Reserve. In the main, the thesis rests on the argument that in the face of epistemic differences, dominance and marginalisation could become a defining feature of protected area management that cannot be readily resolved through the mere process of participation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03
- Authors: Nyamahono, James Donald https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1391-9126
- Date: 2023-03
- Subjects: Protected areas , Natural resources conservation areas -- South Africa , National protected areas systems
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27358 , vital:66947
- Description: In many parts of the developing world, participation in the management of ‘protected areas’ is among the most tangible indices of how the rural population encounters formal conservation policies, strategies and ideologies. However, some scholars have argued that the sharing of the burdens and benefits of participation is devoid of equity. While some analysts have emphasised the imperative of multi-stakeholder participation in nature conservation, citing this as a crucial socio-ecological investment, others have highlighted the inherent contradictions in the process, describing it as an avenue for manipulation, tokenism and exploitation. This study is located in this debate and focuses on narratives around the participation of different stakeholders in the management of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and its adjacent communities in the rural Wild-Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The researcher notes that research on the degrees and participation dynamics among various role players involved in the management of protected areas in South Africa, Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in particular is limited. Against this background, this study contributes to ongoing discussions on protected area management in South Africa but seeks to expand this discussion by interrogating the nature and degrees of participation within the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve - to deepen intellectual understanding on the significant role played by protected areas in engendering participatory democracy, equity, justice as well as meeting the needs of marginalised communities. Primary data for the thesis were collected using in-depth and key-informant interviews with officials from government institutions and parastatals, politicians and traditional authority figures. Focus group discussions were held with ‘youth’ participants as well as ‘elders’ in the Reserve’s adjacent communities. An analysis of policy and other government documents sought to outline the institutional attributes of protected areas management in South Africa and the underpinning ideas. A thematic analysis of the corpus of empirical information helped to show how these institutional attributes inhere in Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve as well as the epistemic challenge these attributes pose vis-à-vis indigenous ecological ideas and practices in the adjacent ‘indigenous’ communities. The study revealed that participation is perceived differently by various stakeholders due to multiple, mutually contradictory impulses. While institutional stakeholders attached great importance to the structural role of institutional frameworks, hence the vigorous reliance on formal conservation strategies, narratives from community members drew attention to ‘equity deficits’. The study also found that while the selected Reserve may have fostered cooperation between government and the adjacent communities, conflict and distrust ran deep between these stakeholders. From these and other findings, the study concluded that ecological participation in the study area was characterised by clusters of stakeholders who regard one another as ‘epistemic outsiders’ and related to one another as such, with practical consequences – especially for the long-term sustainability of the Reserve. In the main, the thesis rests on the argument that in the face of epistemic differences, dominance and marginalisation could become a defining feature of protected area management that cannot be readily resolved through the mere process of participation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03
Contextually based model of an early childhood home-visiting programme for vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
- Authors: Schmidt, Kim
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Poverty -- South Africa , Orphans -- Abuse of , Children -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27380 , vital:66965
- Description: In South Africa, there are many vulnerable children. Vulnerability refers to the child’s potential to be harmed either physically or psychologically with multiple exposures to stress resulting in children becoming vulnerable (Matengu, 2018). Factors that place young children at risk of being harmed include poverty, being orphaned, not living with their biological parents or having a disability. In South Africa, more than 50% of children are impacted by these very factors (DSD, 2018). Vulnerable children can be supported through various interventions to overcome the challenges they face, in spite of the stress that they may experience. This results in a great need for prevention and early intervention services particularly during early childhood when children are most vulnerable because of their complete dependency on caregivers for care and protection. This study adopted an interpretivist, qualitative approach using an intervention research design to develop guidelines for a model of an early childhood home-visiting programme that supports the optimal development of vulnerable children, aged 0–2 years in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Findings confirmed that vulnerable children need responsible caregiving and a nurturing environment yet they are exposed to risk factors such as extreme levels of poverty, ongoing and severe child maltreatment and poor physical health. In addition findings confirmed that there was support available to vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape province but that there were gaps in these services. Furthermore findings indicated that there is a need for an early childhood home-visiting programme, that such a programme should be implemented by a multidisciplinary workforce and that the guidelines for such a programme must include a range of practice principles and processes. In conclusion the study found that vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape province continue to be exposed to a complex range of risk factors with devastating consequences for their immediate and future well-being and that the gaps in services to vulnerable children further hinders their development. Lastly it was concluded that there is a need for a multidisciplinary team to implement a home-visiting programme and that such a programme would hold many potential benefits for the young and vulnerable child. Guidelines for a model of an early childhood home visiting programme were developed and refined to include five practice principles which outline processes in relation to the engagement and advocacy with stakeholders and role players, the recruitment and selection of a home-visiting workforce, the content of a training programme for a home visiting workforce, the implementation of the home-visiting programme and the monitoring and evaluation of the programme. This model draws together the disciplines of health, social work and early childhood education to provide transdisciplinary training to a home-visiting workforce that is then equipped to engage with communities and caregivers in support of ensuring that vulnerable children are able to achieve optimal development. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
- Authors: Schmidt, Kim
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Poverty -- South Africa , Orphans -- Abuse of , Children -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27380 , vital:66965
- Description: In South Africa, there are many vulnerable children. Vulnerability refers to the child’s potential to be harmed either physically or psychologically with multiple exposures to stress resulting in children becoming vulnerable (Matengu, 2018). Factors that place young children at risk of being harmed include poverty, being orphaned, not living with their biological parents or having a disability. In South Africa, more than 50% of children are impacted by these very factors (DSD, 2018). Vulnerable children can be supported through various interventions to overcome the challenges they face, in spite of the stress that they may experience. This results in a great need for prevention and early intervention services particularly during early childhood when children are most vulnerable because of their complete dependency on caregivers for care and protection. This study adopted an interpretivist, qualitative approach using an intervention research design to develop guidelines for a model of an early childhood home-visiting programme that supports the optimal development of vulnerable children, aged 0–2 years in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Findings confirmed that vulnerable children need responsible caregiving and a nurturing environment yet they are exposed to risk factors such as extreme levels of poverty, ongoing and severe child maltreatment and poor physical health. In addition findings confirmed that there was support available to vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape province but that there were gaps in these services. Furthermore findings indicated that there is a need for an early childhood home-visiting programme, that such a programme should be implemented by a multidisciplinary workforce and that the guidelines for such a programme must include a range of practice principles and processes. In conclusion the study found that vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape province continue to be exposed to a complex range of risk factors with devastating consequences for their immediate and future well-being and that the gaps in services to vulnerable children further hinders their development. Lastly it was concluded that there is a need for a multidisciplinary team to implement a home-visiting programme and that such a programme would hold many potential benefits for the young and vulnerable child. Guidelines for a model of an early childhood home visiting programme were developed and refined to include five practice principles which outline processes in relation to the engagement and advocacy with stakeholders and role players, the recruitment and selection of a home-visiting workforce, the content of a training programme for a home visiting workforce, the implementation of the home-visiting programme and the monitoring and evaluation of the programme. This model draws together the disciplines of health, social work and early childhood education to provide transdisciplinary training to a home-visiting workforce that is then equipped to engage with communities and caregivers in support of ensuring that vulnerable children are able to achieve optimal development. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
Exclusion of women in the church governance structures : The Case of the Baptist Church of Southern Africa in Cradock Region
- Authors: Mbali, Nkosinati McGiven
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Women in church work , Church and social problems -- South Africa , Cradock Baptist Church
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23924 , vital:61567
- Description: In every community there are women. However, they are often marginalized because they are perceived as being unable to make a meaningful contribution to various economic endeavours or society in general. Sometimes they are shunned by their own families, while even church communities have been known to treat women in thoughtless ways. As a result, their spiritual potential cannot be effectively tapped. The research has explored many experiences of women in the mainstream Baptist Churches of Southern Africa in Cradock Region in the Eastern Cape. The study delves into the barriers that prevent the full inclusion of women in church life and what churches are and/or should be doing to remove such barriers so that women can embrace all that a church has to offer and progress on their spiritual journey. The study also looks at the importance of systematic theology in the church and how it should be directed at enabling women to exercise their spiritual gifts. The study applied the theoretical framework that discussed what is faced by women in the church, providing in-depth literature and Biblical review, and examining selected individuals who contributed to the study on what is faced by women daily in their spiritual growth. It provided important insights into how involved the participants are in church activities and whether they face subtle or more overt discrimination. A few strategies were also considered aimed at improving conditions for excluded women in the church, not only through better physical access but also through greater acceptance by the church leadership and the membership as a whole. The findings from the study will not only help the churches that were the focus of the fieldwork to help their women members embrace church life more fully and exercise their spiritual gifts, but they will also provide important insights for the broader Christian church towards the potential of inclusive community that will contribute richly to the spiritual enhancement of their church, family and community. For the survey work, the researcher adopted a qualitative approach. The participants' sample consisted of adults with a range of women and men of the church. Supplementary input was solicited from women and men who understand the challenges presented by both parties – particularly when a lack of familiarity with certain physical conditions leads to an unthinking, and sometimes uncaring, attitude. The data has been collected using informal and semi-structured interviews and observation. Being able to exercise choice and having control over their lives and a sense of independence were singled out as being of great importance to the women participants, as these factors contributed to their well-being and satisfaction with life. Most of the participants reported that they were not warmly embraced by their churches, because of their gender, and they were able to lead a fulfilling life of worship. However, more could be done to enhance their participation in church affairs and to become role models for other church communities that are not as accommodating through a lack of knowledge, training and resources. The research only focused on the rural, white, Coloured, Indian and African residential areas in Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Therefore, the study will only focus on the Baptist Church of Southern Africa in Cradock Region and should ideally not be generalized to areas other than those selected for this study. There is much scope for more detailed research to be conducted on disability in other Christian churches to break down both physical and attitudinal barriers that prohibit many individuals' spiritual and emotional satisfaction and growth. Each Chapter has a unique contribution to advancing the central argument of the study with Chapter One introducing and painting a backdrop against which the problem of the marginalisation and exclusion of women in church leadership and structures must be understood. In Chapter Two the researcher reviews the relevant literature, gaining a deeper understanding of what knowledge already exists in the body of knowledge, identifying gaps and using the study to propose solutions for what might be done to mitigate the challenge. In an attempt to guide the study, an appropriate research methodology is suggested and discussed in Chapter Three. This chapter deals with what data needed to be collected and what instrument had to be used to analyse the data. The appropriateness of the research methodology is of the essence in deciding what path the study must follow to realise the objectives of the study and respond to the set research questions. In Chapter Four, the collected data is presented and analysed using the mechanisms proposed in Chapter Three. Finally, a consolidation of the findings is presented in a summary with recommendations of what mechanisms the researcher has distilled from the analysed data. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
- Authors: Mbali, Nkosinati McGiven
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Women in church work , Church and social problems -- South Africa , Cradock Baptist Church
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23924 , vital:61567
- Description: In every community there are women. However, they are often marginalized because they are perceived as being unable to make a meaningful contribution to various economic endeavours or society in general. Sometimes they are shunned by their own families, while even church communities have been known to treat women in thoughtless ways. As a result, their spiritual potential cannot be effectively tapped. The research has explored many experiences of women in the mainstream Baptist Churches of Southern Africa in Cradock Region in the Eastern Cape. The study delves into the barriers that prevent the full inclusion of women in church life and what churches are and/or should be doing to remove such barriers so that women can embrace all that a church has to offer and progress on their spiritual journey. The study also looks at the importance of systematic theology in the church and how it should be directed at enabling women to exercise their spiritual gifts. The study applied the theoretical framework that discussed what is faced by women in the church, providing in-depth literature and Biblical review, and examining selected individuals who contributed to the study on what is faced by women daily in their spiritual growth. It provided important insights into how involved the participants are in church activities and whether they face subtle or more overt discrimination. A few strategies were also considered aimed at improving conditions for excluded women in the church, not only through better physical access but also through greater acceptance by the church leadership and the membership as a whole. The findings from the study will not only help the churches that were the focus of the fieldwork to help their women members embrace church life more fully and exercise their spiritual gifts, but they will also provide important insights for the broader Christian church towards the potential of inclusive community that will contribute richly to the spiritual enhancement of their church, family and community. For the survey work, the researcher adopted a qualitative approach. The participants' sample consisted of adults with a range of women and men of the church. Supplementary input was solicited from women and men who understand the challenges presented by both parties – particularly when a lack of familiarity with certain physical conditions leads to an unthinking, and sometimes uncaring, attitude. The data has been collected using informal and semi-structured interviews and observation. Being able to exercise choice and having control over their lives and a sense of independence were singled out as being of great importance to the women participants, as these factors contributed to their well-being and satisfaction with life. Most of the participants reported that they were not warmly embraced by their churches, because of their gender, and they were able to lead a fulfilling life of worship. However, more could be done to enhance their participation in church affairs and to become role models for other church communities that are not as accommodating through a lack of knowledge, training and resources. The research only focused on the rural, white, Coloured, Indian and African residential areas in Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Therefore, the study will only focus on the Baptist Church of Southern Africa in Cradock Region and should ideally not be generalized to areas other than those selected for this study. There is much scope for more detailed research to be conducted on disability in other Christian churches to break down both physical and attitudinal barriers that prohibit many individuals' spiritual and emotional satisfaction and growth. Each Chapter has a unique contribution to advancing the central argument of the study with Chapter One introducing and painting a backdrop against which the problem of the marginalisation and exclusion of women in church leadership and structures must be understood. In Chapter Two the researcher reviews the relevant literature, gaining a deeper understanding of what knowledge already exists in the body of knowledge, identifying gaps and using the study to propose solutions for what might be done to mitigate the challenge. In an attempt to guide the study, an appropriate research methodology is suggested and discussed in Chapter Three. This chapter deals with what data needed to be collected and what instrument had to be used to analyse the data. The appropriateness of the research methodology is of the essence in deciding what path the study must follow to realise the objectives of the study and respond to the set research questions. In Chapter Four, the collected data is presented and analysed using the mechanisms proposed in Chapter Three. Finally, a consolidation of the findings is presented in a summary with recommendations of what mechanisms the researcher has distilled from the analysed data. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10
Consumerism, authenticity and African communalism
- Smook, E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4226-6029
- Authors: Smook, E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4226-6029
- Date: 2022-09
- Subjects: Consumption (Economics) , Authenticity (Philosophy) , Philosophy, African
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23958 , vital:62022
- Description: Let me state, from the outset, that the issues raised below may be considered from various vantage points – Capitalism, Marxism, etc. However, this thesis is an endeavour to account for the loss of authenticity due to the most salient features of the consumer paradigm, which is the manufactured object, the production line and the proliferation of said objects. True relationships, or shall we say authentic dialogue, is based upon a difference of viewpoints – or epistemic distance – between the interlocutors. This difference of opinion, it may be argued, allows for a cognitive jostling between the subjects involved and represents, as it were, the reciprocal back and forth movement of ideas that betokens actively engaged dialogue. Crucial, then, to true, and by extension authentic, relationships is an epistemic distance steeped in variegated, heterogeneous points of view. For it is in sharing the differences in our points of view or interpretations of the world that we may start a dialogue far removed from each other and then sustain said dialogue in an attempt to reconcile our differences. The continuation of the dialogue, then, depends upon difference. Without the latter difference, the conditions of true dialogue, which is also a marker of authentic relationships, the need for sustained debate is forfeited and the dialogue ceases to serve a purpose – for the subjects involved in the intellectual jostling and exchange of ideas may already anticipate the thoughts of the other. In so anticipating the thoughts of the other, what is brought to the fore is not the ideas of the other, and by extension the other’s existence distinct from mine, but rather my own existence and thoughts. Were I and the other to share a constellation of beliefs, I am left with only that which I already believe in and so only with my own thoughts. The other’s differing opinion is crucial to their appearing to me as an element discreet and distinct from me. For if the other’s being is in essence of the same ilk as mine – and with that I mean if the other’s points of view and adopted systems of praxis mirror mine – we are like trees in a forest. The existence of collective nouns attests to this latter remark; we are prone to see the forest, not the similar trees that constitute it. Now the question arises as to the constitution of the self; what is it that makes up the character and nature of a person and how, if at all, may subjects be said to differ epistemically? According to Sartre, the ego is a transcendent object for consciousness, meaning that it exists out there in the world just like other objects. This is the case because consciousness is essentially empty. Recall Sartre’s famous claim that existence precedes essence, which in turn means that consciousness, or the ego, is filled up inchmeal with contents outside itself. In other words, that with which we are engaged constitutes the contents of consciousness. Repeated exposure to certain objects, or phenomena, brings about the cultivation of states and qualities – these, as it were, constituting the ego in the end. Moreover, these states and qualities, as arisen from repeated exposure to like phenomena, will instil in the subject a certain proclivity for a certain manner of action under specific conditions. As such, having been presented with something disagreeable many times over, a state of repulsion might gain a foothold in my ego regarding the phenomenon in question. This in turn will dictate how I act in the presence of said phenomenon or any other phenomena that include, adumbrationally, some of the qualities of the original phenomenon. As such, then, my actions are reflections of the states that I experience in the presence of certain objects or phenomena and, it may be argued, reflexively represent the world around me as that which constitutes my ego. The facticity of the world, then, has a great bearing upon the manner in which I perceive and engage the world. However, claims Sartre, facticity is but one side of the coin. The world and its meaning are constituted by what Sartre calls brute meaning. This refers to the fact that meaning is a matter of public opinion and does not precede the phenomenon or object itself – the latter being, in essence, but a bare, pliable, monstrous mass of being-in-itself. Due to this occurrence of meaning being man made, we are in a unique position of freedom. We are, he further claims, capable of transcending these brute meanings, enabling us to avail ourselves of the objects or phenomena in question in a bespoke manner. Freedom to choose how we interact with and interpret the world is thus the ontological ground of choice. We have, on the one side, the world in its undifferentiated state – being-in-itself – and on the other the possibility to give this world a specific meaning in accordance with our intentions – being-for-itself. Freedom to choose, so construed, thus ontologically underlies the very fabric of our existence, hence the claim that we are condemned to be free. Choosing whether to continue along the path set out by our original factual condition or to transcend it and make of it something different altogether is thus not a choice at all, but the obligatory condition of the human condition. Once again, this is the case because consciousness, as per Sartre, is empty to start with and can only be filled with the contents of phenomena or objects in accordance with our intentional engagement of them. However, Sartre continues, this freedom of meaning and the fact that brute existents represent nothing more than the convergence of publicly ascribed meaning awaken in the subject a certain nausea – a nausea born of the fact that we, the people, are at every junction in a position where we have to choose the meaning of life. Determinism, thusly, does not exist and we are not only free to choose the meanings of our own lives, but are responsible for what our lives become. This realisation proves to be too much for most to stomach and leads them along a specific path of choice: over-identification with either their factual realities or with the possibility to transcend the latter. Either way, what they aim to achieve with this overidentification is the suppression of the nauseating reality that reality is nought but what we make it to be and we are thus responsible for what it becomes. Sartre calls this bad faith. Pandering to this proclivity towards bad faith, or alternatively, the propensity for overidentification with either side on the facticity/transcendence dichotomy, we find consumerism. The consumer paradigm delineates happiness as an objective ideal, attainable through the acquisition of specific markers of demonstrable happiness. At the same time, it also provides an answer to the nauseating reality that we, humans, are never fully determined beings, but find ourselves vacillating between our factual constraints and our transcendences thereof. It offers us the crystalised means of becoming this or that individual by way of populating our immediate and personal surroundings with signifiers of happiness. Considering, moreover, that a liberalist conception of human being clearly indicates that individuation of each subject is an important aspect of existence, authenticity in terms of rights emerge as a corollary of said individuation. Each individual, so construed, is given the opportunity, the right, to acquire said markers of happiness and individuation. Obtaining these, it may be argued, allows the individual two things: firstly, to quell the nausea that haunts our dualistic lives by concretising it altogether and so doing highlighting the factual side of things; and secondly, to become discreet and individuated subjects, authentic in their beings. However, the authenticity so begotten provides nought but a thin veneer of idiosyncrasy, as the markers of said authenticity are publicly available and so the same for everyone. The problem, thus, of self-individuation is resolved by providing the subject the means of over-identification with their factual realities whilst convincing them, the consumers, that the objects on offer will afford them a degree of happiness and set them apart from their fellow subjects. The unfortunate upshot of this is that subjects all avail themselves of the same set of objects in an attempt to quell the nausea that besets the individual plunged into an undifferentiated existence. We are here at the heart of the matter. Due to the proliferation of like objects throughout the life-world, a specific system of praxis is implied. So as to navigate the life-world and utilise the similar objects that populate it, consumers are driven towards shared ideologies and courses of action. Moreover, their intentions also converge, as they all seek to establish a web of objects around them that would bespeak their individuation and happiness. Where the life-world has become such a homogeneous landscape, it may be argued, in line with Sartrean thought, that the contents of consciousness would also be similar for all. And where the contents of consciousness is similar for all, we may argue that reasoning would be similar for all. It is at this point that dialogue breaks down, for there is nothing epistemically to separate interlocutors and therefore no differences of opinion to sustain true dialogue. If, as it was reasoned some pages prior, it is the case that sustained dialogue provides the predicate upon which authentic relationships are to be based, the collapse of this epistemic distance between consumers must then also lead to a collapse of authentic relationships. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-09
- Authors: Smook, E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4226-6029
- Date: 2022-09
- Subjects: Consumption (Economics) , Authenticity (Philosophy) , Philosophy, African
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23958 , vital:62022
- Description: Let me state, from the outset, that the issues raised below may be considered from various vantage points – Capitalism, Marxism, etc. However, this thesis is an endeavour to account for the loss of authenticity due to the most salient features of the consumer paradigm, which is the manufactured object, the production line and the proliferation of said objects. True relationships, or shall we say authentic dialogue, is based upon a difference of viewpoints – or epistemic distance – between the interlocutors. This difference of opinion, it may be argued, allows for a cognitive jostling between the subjects involved and represents, as it were, the reciprocal back and forth movement of ideas that betokens actively engaged dialogue. Crucial, then, to true, and by extension authentic, relationships is an epistemic distance steeped in variegated, heterogeneous points of view. For it is in sharing the differences in our points of view or interpretations of the world that we may start a dialogue far removed from each other and then sustain said dialogue in an attempt to reconcile our differences. The continuation of the dialogue, then, depends upon difference. Without the latter difference, the conditions of true dialogue, which is also a marker of authentic relationships, the need for sustained debate is forfeited and the dialogue ceases to serve a purpose – for the subjects involved in the intellectual jostling and exchange of ideas may already anticipate the thoughts of the other. In so anticipating the thoughts of the other, what is brought to the fore is not the ideas of the other, and by extension the other’s existence distinct from mine, but rather my own existence and thoughts. Were I and the other to share a constellation of beliefs, I am left with only that which I already believe in and so only with my own thoughts. The other’s differing opinion is crucial to their appearing to me as an element discreet and distinct from me. For if the other’s being is in essence of the same ilk as mine – and with that I mean if the other’s points of view and adopted systems of praxis mirror mine – we are like trees in a forest. The existence of collective nouns attests to this latter remark; we are prone to see the forest, not the similar trees that constitute it. Now the question arises as to the constitution of the self; what is it that makes up the character and nature of a person and how, if at all, may subjects be said to differ epistemically? According to Sartre, the ego is a transcendent object for consciousness, meaning that it exists out there in the world just like other objects. This is the case because consciousness is essentially empty. Recall Sartre’s famous claim that existence precedes essence, which in turn means that consciousness, or the ego, is filled up inchmeal with contents outside itself. In other words, that with which we are engaged constitutes the contents of consciousness. Repeated exposure to certain objects, or phenomena, brings about the cultivation of states and qualities – these, as it were, constituting the ego in the end. Moreover, these states and qualities, as arisen from repeated exposure to like phenomena, will instil in the subject a certain proclivity for a certain manner of action under specific conditions. As such, having been presented with something disagreeable many times over, a state of repulsion might gain a foothold in my ego regarding the phenomenon in question. This in turn will dictate how I act in the presence of said phenomenon or any other phenomena that include, adumbrationally, some of the qualities of the original phenomenon. As such, then, my actions are reflections of the states that I experience in the presence of certain objects or phenomena and, it may be argued, reflexively represent the world around me as that which constitutes my ego. The facticity of the world, then, has a great bearing upon the manner in which I perceive and engage the world. However, claims Sartre, facticity is but one side of the coin. The world and its meaning are constituted by what Sartre calls brute meaning. This refers to the fact that meaning is a matter of public opinion and does not precede the phenomenon or object itself – the latter being, in essence, but a bare, pliable, monstrous mass of being-in-itself. Due to this occurrence of meaning being man made, we are in a unique position of freedom. We are, he further claims, capable of transcending these brute meanings, enabling us to avail ourselves of the objects or phenomena in question in a bespoke manner. Freedom to choose how we interact with and interpret the world is thus the ontological ground of choice. We have, on the one side, the world in its undifferentiated state – being-in-itself – and on the other the possibility to give this world a specific meaning in accordance with our intentions – being-for-itself. Freedom to choose, so construed, thus ontologically underlies the very fabric of our existence, hence the claim that we are condemned to be free. Choosing whether to continue along the path set out by our original factual condition or to transcend it and make of it something different altogether is thus not a choice at all, but the obligatory condition of the human condition. Once again, this is the case because consciousness, as per Sartre, is empty to start with and can only be filled with the contents of phenomena or objects in accordance with our intentional engagement of them. However, Sartre continues, this freedom of meaning and the fact that brute existents represent nothing more than the convergence of publicly ascribed meaning awaken in the subject a certain nausea – a nausea born of the fact that we, the people, are at every junction in a position where we have to choose the meaning of life. Determinism, thusly, does not exist and we are not only free to choose the meanings of our own lives, but are responsible for what our lives become. This realisation proves to be too much for most to stomach and leads them along a specific path of choice: over-identification with either their factual realities or with the possibility to transcend the latter. Either way, what they aim to achieve with this overidentification is the suppression of the nauseating reality that reality is nought but what we make it to be and we are thus responsible for what it becomes. Sartre calls this bad faith. Pandering to this proclivity towards bad faith, or alternatively, the propensity for overidentification with either side on the facticity/transcendence dichotomy, we find consumerism. The consumer paradigm delineates happiness as an objective ideal, attainable through the acquisition of specific markers of demonstrable happiness. At the same time, it also provides an answer to the nauseating reality that we, humans, are never fully determined beings, but find ourselves vacillating between our factual constraints and our transcendences thereof. It offers us the crystalised means of becoming this or that individual by way of populating our immediate and personal surroundings with signifiers of happiness. Considering, moreover, that a liberalist conception of human being clearly indicates that individuation of each subject is an important aspect of existence, authenticity in terms of rights emerge as a corollary of said individuation. Each individual, so construed, is given the opportunity, the right, to acquire said markers of happiness and individuation. Obtaining these, it may be argued, allows the individual two things: firstly, to quell the nausea that haunts our dualistic lives by concretising it altogether and so doing highlighting the factual side of things; and secondly, to become discreet and individuated subjects, authentic in their beings. However, the authenticity so begotten provides nought but a thin veneer of idiosyncrasy, as the markers of said authenticity are publicly available and so the same for everyone. The problem, thus, of self-individuation is resolved by providing the subject the means of over-identification with their factual realities whilst convincing them, the consumers, that the objects on offer will afford them a degree of happiness and set them apart from their fellow subjects. The unfortunate upshot of this is that subjects all avail themselves of the same set of objects in an attempt to quell the nausea that besets the individual plunged into an undifferentiated existence. We are here at the heart of the matter. Due to the proliferation of like objects throughout the life-world, a specific system of praxis is implied. So as to navigate the life-world and utilise the similar objects that populate it, consumers are driven towards shared ideologies and courses of action. Moreover, their intentions also converge, as they all seek to establish a web of objects around them that would bespeak their individuation and happiness. Where the life-world has become such a homogeneous landscape, it may be argued, in line with Sartrean thought, that the contents of consciousness would also be similar for all. And where the contents of consciousness is similar for all, we may argue that reasoning would be similar for all. It is at this point that dialogue breaks down, for there is nothing epistemically to separate interlocutors and therefore no differences of opinion to sustain true dialogue. If, as it was reasoned some pages prior, it is the case that sustained dialogue provides the predicate upon which authentic relationships are to be based, the collapse of this epistemic distance between consumers must then also lead to a collapse of authentic relationships. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-09
Attitudes of heteronormative traditional male circumcision stakeholders towards the emergence of same-sex sexuality in ulwaluko: a case of Mdantsane and New Brighton,Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Zolani, Sonjani
- Date: 2022-08
- Subjects: National socialism and homosexuality , Men -- Sexual behavior , Circumcision--Law and legislation
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27391 , vital:66967
- Description: Although the South African government has drafted policy documents to protect gays, they, year-in-year-out face abhorrence. Notably and shockingly, misunderstanding of the sexual orientation of gays in initiation schools has brought about conflict. It is of great significance for ulwaluko tradition to renegotiate its terms of being a tradition tolerating those with different sexualities within their adored culture. Therefore, this study sought to assess the attitudes of heteronormative traditional male circumcision stakeholders towards an emergence of same-sex sexuality in ulwaluko in Mdantsane and New Brighton, Eastern Cape. The study endeavoured to achieve the following objectives: i to establish the policy insights on same-sex sexuality in South Africa and elsewhere; ii to assess the prevalence of homosexuality in South Africa and other contexts; iii to establish an account of gay men’s intimate behaviour at the initiation schools; iv to examine perceptions and attitudes of selected communities on Xhosa gay men undergoing the rite of traditional male circumcision; v to establish attitudes and perceptions of selected communities on the conflict between homosexual practices and traditional male circumcision TMC and vi to assess perceptions of Xhosa gay men on the use of TMC as an instrument to “convert” them to heterosexuality. The study was informed by Four 4 theoretical lenses: sociocultural theory, anomie theory, queer theory, and intersectionality theory. Methodologically, the objectives were investigated through a qualitative research method and data was collected accordingly. The study adopted a case study as its design. Data was collected through in-depth one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions, and key informants’ interviews. The study purposively selected eighty-two 82 participants and revealed the following findings: different lenses on South African constitution and homosexuality; different attitudinal facets of the development of same-sex sexuality in South Africa, opposed lenses on homosexuality being a natural phenomenon; intimate partner relationships among the gays in the initiation schools; behavioural the difference between gays and heterosexuals in the initiation school; establishing the nature of homosexuals’ dress code; gays downplaying TMC teachings in initiation schools; Intimate partner relationships among gays in the initiation school; homosexuality associated with modernization; effectiveness of TMC as a tool to achieve gays’ heteronormativity; and lastly, gays achieving heteronormativity through rape. This study concluded that TMC needs to renegotiate its terms of being a tradition of the contemporary epoch. Perhaps this may assist in breaking the tension between ulwaluko and same-sex sexuality in society. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-08
- Authors: Zolani, Sonjani
- Date: 2022-08
- Subjects: National socialism and homosexuality , Men -- Sexual behavior , Circumcision--Law and legislation
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27391 , vital:66967
- Description: Although the South African government has drafted policy documents to protect gays, they, year-in-year-out face abhorrence. Notably and shockingly, misunderstanding of the sexual orientation of gays in initiation schools has brought about conflict. It is of great significance for ulwaluko tradition to renegotiate its terms of being a tradition tolerating those with different sexualities within their adored culture. Therefore, this study sought to assess the attitudes of heteronormative traditional male circumcision stakeholders towards an emergence of same-sex sexuality in ulwaluko in Mdantsane and New Brighton, Eastern Cape. The study endeavoured to achieve the following objectives: i to establish the policy insights on same-sex sexuality in South Africa and elsewhere; ii to assess the prevalence of homosexuality in South Africa and other contexts; iii to establish an account of gay men’s intimate behaviour at the initiation schools; iv to examine perceptions and attitudes of selected communities on Xhosa gay men undergoing the rite of traditional male circumcision; v to establish attitudes and perceptions of selected communities on the conflict between homosexual practices and traditional male circumcision TMC and vi to assess perceptions of Xhosa gay men on the use of TMC as an instrument to “convert” them to heterosexuality. The study was informed by Four 4 theoretical lenses: sociocultural theory, anomie theory, queer theory, and intersectionality theory. Methodologically, the objectives were investigated through a qualitative research method and data was collected accordingly. The study adopted a case study as its design. Data was collected through in-depth one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions, and key informants’ interviews. The study purposively selected eighty-two 82 participants and revealed the following findings: different lenses on South African constitution and homosexuality; different attitudinal facets of the development of same-sex sexuality in South Africa, opposed lenses on homosexuality being a natural phenomenon; intimate partner relationships among the gays in the initiation schools; behavioural the difference between gays and heterosexuals in the initiation school; establishing the nature of homosexuals’ dress code; gays downplaying TMC teachings in initiation schools; Intimate partner relationships among gays in the initiation school; homosexuality associated with modernization; effectiveness of TMC as a tool to achieve gays’ heteronormativity; and lastly, gays achieving heteronormativity through rape. This study concluded that TMC needs to renegotiate its terms of being a tradition of the contemporary epoch. Perhaps this may assist in breaking the tension between ulwaluko and same-sex sexuality in society. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-08
Public goods and social resistance: A study of the perceptions of risk and vulnerability in the n2 toll road project in the wild coast of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Mambiravana, Tafadzwa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7543-2989
- Authors: Mambiravana, Tafadzwa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7543-2989
- Date: 2022-08
- Subjects: Infrastructure (Economics) , Roads -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23910 , vital:61293
- Description: The construction of the N2 Toll Road in the Wild Coast has been lauded for its ‘developmental agenda’, as the government envisages, this 550 km road project linking Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces will act as a game changer to the socio-economic status of the region in a manner beneficial to local people and the nation in general. However, the road project has equally been criticised by several local communities and environmental advocacy groups who suspect the road is associated with controversial titanium mining and its anticipated socio-ecological disasters in the region. Drawing from this conundrum, this study explores intersections of the diverse perceptions of stakeholders on infrastructural provisioning for development purposes in a historically deprived area in South Africa. Using a qualitative research approach in the form of face-to-face interviews with the participants, focus group discussions, secondary data review and observations, the study found that the diverse perceptions of risk and vulnerability have divided the stakeholders into those who support and those who oppose the road project. Most importantly, the study has also found that although there is deep-seated resentment towards the road project among certain grassroots groups, the general view shared among the study communities is nuanced. In other words, there is no ‘hardline collective opposition’ against the road project among local communities. Drawing from these findings, the study recommends that land audit need to be conducted prior to the commencement of infrastructure projects in order to highlight possible tenure blockages. In addition, the study recommends that it is critical for developers and policy makers to recognize the significance of cultural spaces and sacred places for community cultural health. These factors are critical to weigh against the proposed infrastructure developments as they sometimes outweigh the benefits. The study was anchored on the cultural theory of risk perception, which helped to explore the complex interactions between different actors on infrastructural development and environmental policy discourse. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-08
- Authors: Mambiravana, Tafadzwa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7543-2989
- Date: 2022-08
- Subjects: Infrastructure (Economics) , Roads -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23910 , vital:61293
- Description: The construction of the N2 Toll Road in the Wild Coast has been lauded for its ‘developmental agenda’, as the government envisages, this 550 km road project linking Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces will act as a game changer to the socio-economic status of the region in a manner beneficial to local people and the nation in general. However, the road project has equally been criticised by several local communities and environmental advocacy groups who suspect the road is associated with controversial titanium mining and its anticipated socio-ecological disasters in the region. Drawing from this conundrum, this study explores intersections of the diverse perceptions of stakeholders on infrastructural provisioning for development purposes in a historically deprived area in South Africa. Using a qualitative research approach in the form of face-to-face interviews with the participants, focus group discussions, secondary data review and observations, the study found that the diverse perceptions of risk and vulnerability have divided the stakeholders into those who support and those who oppose the road project. Most importantly, the study has also found that although there is deep-seated resentment towards the road project among certain grassroots groups, the general view shared among the study communities is nuanced. In other words, there is no ‘hardline collective opposition’ against the road project among local communities. Drawing from these findings, the study recommends that land audit need to be conducted prior to the commencement of infrastructure projects in order to highlight possible tenure blockages. In addition, the study recommends that it is critical for developers and policy makers to recognize the significance of cultural spaces and sacred places for community cultural health. These factors are critical to weigh against the proposed infrastructure developments as they sometimes outweigh the benefits. The study was anchored on the cultural theory of risk perception, which helped to explore the complex interactions between different actors on infrastructural development and environmental policy discourse. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-08
The impact of public libraries as a transformative factor in human development in the Buffalo City Municipalities
- Ndlovu, Sheron https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4601-9789
- Authors: Ndlovu, Sheron https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4601-9789
- Date: 2022-08
- Subjects: Public libraries , Libraries and society
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23947 , vital:61993
- Description: This study investigated the impact of public libraries as a transformative factor in human development in the Buffalo City Municipalities. Literature revealed that although libraries play a significant role to their clientele, there seems to be challenges of service delivery in public libraries and these are largely due to funding issues. This has led to a general public negative perception that public libraries underperform which may not be necessarily a true reflection of public libraries. The role of the libraries in as far as the transformative factor in human development may be unclear, therefore, the researcher wants to determine the extent of the transformation factor in human development. The study was guided by the following objectives to: examine the impact of public library to its community or patrons in the Buffalo city libraries, find determine whether the library personnel understand their role in transforming the human development, determine the strategies used by public libraries that are transforming the human factor and to establish how the library patrons perceive the role of the public libraries in transforming their lives. A mixed methods approach was used as the research method. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were combined while simple random sampling was adopted to have a wide range of perspectives from library users. Library staff were purposively selected for interviews. A total of 31 people were interviewed, with 6 librarians and 25 library patrons. Out of 250 questionnaires administered, 220 were returned. The study was informed by the Service quality theory (SERVQUAL), Human Capital Theory and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOIT). The DOIT theory was deemed suitable in this kind of research that deals with transformation and development as patrons adopted and adapted to new ideas and practices. The Service Quality theory was useful in this study because it included variables that the researcher felt were most significant for transformation and development to take place in a public library setting. The HCT theory denotes that education and training leads to greater productivity, and it translates into economic returns like high wages and increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This theory was relevant in this study because public libraries have an informative role to play as part of its roles as well as an educational role to play to the lives of the people who use the library. When people read at libraries, they are educated. They also improve their literacy levels through reading. Public libraries provide community members with services that are free of charge or cheaper and this helps the library patrons to save economically and transform as well. This process of servicing the needs of patrons is beneficial and continuous. In addition, the findings of this study revealed that library personnel understand their roles and those roles in turn transform the human development, although this is not really conclusive that they understand their roles in the transformation process. They ensure that the library patrons get the services they require and in some instances the library personnel even go beyond their normal duties. However, it must be noted that from the findings the main obstacles hindering libraries to effectively transforming the human development is the issue of funding and insufficient resources, Libraries have assisted in educational investment to the community members through many programmes offered in the public libraries and this assists in educational improvement and productivity in many spheres of life. The study also revealed that the public libraries provide spaces where patrons can hold meetings, discuss study related topics as well as individual studying spaces although, more space is required to avoid overcrowding. Through a number of strategies employed which are also attractive to the library patrons, public libraries transform the human development. Patrons perceive public libraries as extremely useful in transforming their lives as they indicated that the public library transform their lives in many aspects such as providing them with the information they require, learning opportunities, access to gateways of information like the internet and manual books, bridging that poverty gap and provision of literacy skills to the library patrons. It was concluded that public libraries transform the lives of the people in the communities that they serve in different aspects with the different roles and services that they offer to their patronage. In addition, a number of strategies are employed by public libraries so as to attract people into public libraries as well as to fulfil their primary mandate. In their pursuit to employ these strategies, public libraries transform the human development. Librarians with their duties assist the public yet it is unclear if they are fully aware of the role they play in transforming people’s lives. Despite some of the bad attitude exhibited by the librarians, a larger percentage of the librarians display a good attitude when carrying out their duties and assisting the library patrons. Librarians go beyond the call of duty in assisting the patrons and this in turn transform the human development. The researcher made some recommendations as per the findings of the study and these recommendations entail continuous training of the library personnel post their formal qualifications, strengthened collaboration and communication by the three spheres of Government so that the libraries may be better governed, constant awareness drives about public libraries and stable internet connectivity so that access maybe improved. The researcher also recommended the use of social media platforms for communication purposes and announcements as people are now attracted to social media platforms and they can be accessed by most of the library community. A proposed model was developed, and the proposed model is the RPPPP hierarchical model for transformative public libraries. This model was proposed also based on the findings of the research. For a public library to be transformative it must have resources, personnel, patrons, physical space and policies in place hence, the name RPPPP model. RPPPP denotes Resources, patrons, personnel, policy and physical space. Resources are primary to the functioning of any public library, highly skilled personnel as well as patrons as they are the recipients of the public library services, policy is also important so as to give guidance and direction on the issues of governance. In order to adequately serve the needs of the patrons, enough space is needed. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-08
- Authors: Ndlovu, Sheron https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4601-9789
- Date: 2022-08
- Subjects: Public libraries , Libraries and society
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23947 , vital:61993
- Description: This study investigated the impact of public libraries as a transformative factor in human development in the Buffalo City Municipalities. Literature revealed that although libraries play a significant role to their clientele, there seems to be challenges of service delivery in public libraries and these are largely due to funding issues. This has led to a general public negative perception that public libraries underperform which may not be necessarily a true reflection of public libraries. The role of the libraries in as far as the transformative factor in human development may be unclear, therefore, the researcher wants to determine the extent of the transformation factor in human development. The study was guided by the following objectives to: examine the impact of public library to its community or patrons in the Buffalo city libraries, find determine whether the library personnel understand their role in transforming the human development, determine the strategies used by public libraries that are transforming the human factor and to establish how the library patrons perceive the role of the public libraries in transforming their lives. A mixed methods approach was used as the research method. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were combined while simple random sampling was adopted to have a wide range of perspectives from library users. Library staff were purposively selected for interviews. A total of 31 people were interviewed, with 6 librarians and 25 library patrons. Out of 250 questionnaires administered, 220 were returned. The study was informed by the Service quality theory (SERVQUAL), Human Capital Theory and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOIT). The DOIT theory was deemed suitable in this kind of research that deals with transformation and development as patrons adopted and adapted to new ideas and practices. The Service Quality theory was useful in this study because it included variables that the researcher felt were most significant for transformation and development to take place in a public library setting. The HCT theory denotes that education and training leads to greater productivity, and it translates into economic returns like high wages and increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This theory was relevant in this study because public libraries have an informative role to play as part of its roles as well as an educational role to play to the lives of the people who use the library. When people read at libraries, they are educated. They also improve their literacy levels through reading. Public libraries provide community members with services that are free of charge or cheaper and this helps the library patrons to save economically and transform as well. This process of servicing the needs of patrons is beneficial and continuous. In addition, the findings of this study revealed that library personnel understand their roles and those roles in turn transform the human development, although this is not really conclusive that they understand their roles in the transformation process. They ensure that the library patrons get the services they require and in some instances the library personnel even go beyond their normal duties. However, it must be noted that from the findings the main obstacles hindering libraries to effectively transforming the human development is the issue of funding and insufficient resources, Libraries have assisted in educational investment to the community members through many programmes offered in the public libraries and this assists in educational improvement and productivity in many spheres of life. The study also revealed that the public libraries provide spaces where patrons can hold meetings, discuss study related topics as well as individual studying spaces although, more space is required to avoid overcrowding. Through a number of strategies employed which are also attractive to the library patrons, public libraries transform the human development. Patrons perceive public libraries as extremely useful in transforming their lives as they indicated that the public library transform their lives in many aspects such as providing them with the information they require, learning opportunities, access to gateways of information like the internet and manual books, bridging that poverty gap and provision of literacy skills to the library patrons. It was concluded that public libraries transform the lives of the people in the communities that they serve in different aspects with the different roles and services that they offer to their patronage. In addition, a number of strategies are employed by public libraries so as to attract people into public libraries as well as to fulfil their primary mandate. In their pursuit to employ these strategies, public libraries transform the human development. Librarians with their duties assist the public yet it is unclear if they are fully aware of the role they play in transforming people’s lives. Despite some of the bad attitude exhibited by the librarians, a larger percentage of the librarians display a good attitude when carrying out their duties and assisting the library patrons. Librarians go beyond the call of duty in assisting the patrons and this in turn transform the human development. The researcher made some recommendations as per the findings of the study and these recommendations entail continuous training of the library personnel post their formal qualifications, strengthened collaboration and communication by the three spheres of Government so that the libraries may be better governed, constant awareness drives about public libraries and stable internet connectivity so that access maybe improved. The researcher also recommended the use of social media platforms for communication purposes and announcements as people are now attracted to social media platforms and they can be accessed by most of the library community. A proposed model was developed, and the proposed model is the RPPPP hierarchical model for transformative public libraries. This model was proposed also based on the findings of the research. For a public library to be transformative it must have resources, personnel, patrons, physical space and policies in place hence, the name RPPPP model. RPPPP denotes Resources, patrons, personnel, policy and physical space. Resources are primary to the functioning of any public library, highly skilled personnel as well as patrons as they are the recipients of the public library services, policy is also important so as to give guidance and direction on the issues of governance. In order to adequately serve the needs of the patrons, enough space is needed. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-08
Grappling with food and livelihood practices in the context of socio-ecological displacement: The case of 2014 Tokwe-Mukorsi flood victims in Chingwizi, Zimbabwe
- Mudefi, Elmon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Food security , Households , Natural disasters -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22056 , vital:51979
- Description: This study sought to examine how the socio-ecologically displaced Tokwe-Mukorsi community in southern Zimbabwe grappled with adverse circumstances that threatened to obliterate their age-old food and livelihood practices after five years of being resettled 150km away in Chingwizi. The investigation is done against the backdrop of the dominant narrative on resilience, which often overlooks resilience outcomes associated with specific contextual experiences of socio-ecological disadvantage. The study examined the nature and character of emergent food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi, with a view to establishing how they were impacted by socio-political dynamics encountered vis-à-vis displacement, resettlement and in processes of attempting to recover. The study also examined how local narratives about the new food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi intersect with dominant resilience discourses, especially those related to climate change adaptation, sustainability and food security. A triangulated research design was utilised. It consisted of survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interview, and key informant interview. Qualitative research participants were selected based on their knowledge and experience on food and livelihood practices before and after displacement. This included the displaced flood victims that met this criterion, local leaders, government officials and local opinion leaders. The findings revealed that food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi had deteriorated over the five-year period under investigation. This was reflected in a diminution in livestock herds, crop production, income streams and average household monthly incomes. As a result, food insecurity was very high, and households were forced to rely more on donations. The displaced flood victims, however, adapted to the harsh conditions by engaging in a variety of livelihood alternatives, including food vending, buying and selling, craftwork, small livestock rearing, and migrating to neighbouring South Africa to seek employment opportunities. Nevertheless, efforts to rebuild food and livelihood practices were hampered by socio-political dynamics. This resulted in the loss of key livelihood assets, a situation aggravated by compensational injustice, contestations over land and resources by the host communities, dysfunctional social networks, and victims’ cultural ‘fixations’. The study concludes from these and other findings that achieving transformation in the form of adaptation, food security and sustainability following involuntary displacement and resettlement is more than just a question of resilience, and that displacement and resettlement are complex processes that create invidious dynamism for the stakeholders concerned. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Food security , Households , Natural disasters -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22056 , vital:51979
- Description: This study sought to examine how the socio-ecologically displaced Tokwe-Mukorsi community in southern Zimbabwe grappled with adverse circumstances that threatened to obliterate their age-old food and livelihood practices after five years of being resettled 150km away in Chingwizi. The investigation is done against the backdrop of the dominant narrative on resilience, which often overlooks resilience outcomes associated with specific contextual experiences of socio-ecological disadvantage. The study examined the nature and character of emergent food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi, with a view to establishing how they were impacted by socio-political dynamics encountered vis-à-vis displacement, resettlement and in processes of attempting to recover. The study also examined how local narratives about the new food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi intersect with dominant resilience discourses, especially those related to climate change adaptation, sustainability and food security. A triangulated research design was utilised. It consisted of survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interview, and key informant interview. Qualitative research participants were selected based on their knowledge and experience on food and livelihood practices before and after displacement. This included the displaced flood victims that met this criterion, local leaders, government officials and local opinion leaders. The findings revealed that food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi had deteriorated over the five-year period under investigation. This was reflected in a diminution in livestock herds, crop production, income streams and average household monthly incomes. As a result, food insecurity was very high, and households were forced to rely more on donations. The displaced flood victims, however, adapted to the harsh conditions by engaging in a variety of livelihood alternatives, including food vending, buying and selling, craftwork, small livestock rearing, and migrating to neighbouring South Africa to seek employment opportunities. Nevertheless, efforts to rebuild food and livelihood practices were hampered by socio-political dynamics. This resulted in the loss of key livelihood assets, a situation aggravated by compensational injustice, contestations over land and resources by the host communities, dysfunctional social networks, and victims’ cultural ‘fixations’. The study concludes from these and other findings that achieving transformation in the form of adaptation, food security and sustainability following involuntary displacement and resettlement is more than just a question of resilience, and that displacement and resettlement are complex processes that create invidious dynamism for the stakeholders concerned. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
The perceived success of selected therapy programmes on mitigating the relapses of patients with substance use disorders in Gauteng, South Africa
- Authors: Chatikobo, Nyasha
- Date: 2021-12
- Subjects: Substance abuse -- Treatment , Psychotherapy
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21860 , vital:51833
- Description: This study aimed at evaluating the perceived success of selected therapy programs in mitigating the relapse of patients with substance use disorders at two selected rehabilitation centres in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The methodology used for this study was a mixed-method approach, although more emphasis was on qualitative methods. The qualitative data was collected from four focus groups, and 6 in-depth interviews from key informants. The quantitative data was collected using questionnaires that were completed by 100 primary carers of discharged patients from the selected drug treatment centres. The main findings of the study showed that substance use disorder is a complex disease that requires several factors to be considered to avoid any relapses. The study showed that rehabilitation centres are hugely contributing to efforts of solving substance use in Gauteng and South Africa as a whole. These rehabilitation centres offered various treatment programs to individuals who suffer from substance use disorders. The findings also indicated that the selected therapy programmes at the rehabilitation centres met their objectives. However, some of the programmes were successful in mitigating the relapses of patients recovering from addiction to a lesser extent. The study also found out that the number of individuals who relapse is relatively high, however, the study did not dive into the depth of the causing factors. This may be room for future studies. Findings further indicated that the rehabilitation centres lacked in the application of a holistic approach to addiction treatment, even though there were several treatment programs offered. The issue of exorbitant residential fees in private rehabilitation facilities was also highlighted by the data collected. The research concluded by suggesting several recommendations such as research to improve policy for substance use with a focus on the human rights approach to the drug problem. Recommendations to the Department of Social Development which is responsible for the rehabilitation centres in South Africa. To ensure that all centres that are registered for offering treatment for substance use disorder be mandated to use a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach, diversifying and individualizing treatments for better outcomes. Lastly, recommendations were suggested to the social work practice, to support rehabilitation facilities by providing continuous specialized training to their social workers. Recommendations to social work training and curriculum to include in-depth substance use disorders during education, training, and field placements, for best practice amongst new social work practitioners placed in rehabilitation centres. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-12
- Authors: Chatikobo, Nyasha
- Date: 2021-12
- Subjects: Substance abuse -- Treatment , Psychotherapy
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21860 , vital:51833
- Description: This study aimed at evaluating the perceived success of selected therapy programs in mitigating the relapse of patients with substance use disorders at two selected rehabilitation centres in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The methodology used for this study was a mixed-method approach, although more emphasis was on qualitative methods. The qualitative data was collected from four focus groups, and 6 in-depth interviews from key informants. The quantitative data was collected using questionnaires that were completed by 100 primary carers of discharged patients from the selected drug treatment centres. The main findings of the study showed that substance use disorder is a complex disease that requires several factors to be considered to avoid any relapses. The study showed that rehabilitation centres are hugely contributing to efforts of solving substance use in Gauteng and South Africa as a whole. These rehabilitation centres offered various treatment programs to individuals who suffer from substance use disorders. The findings also indicated that the selected therapy programmes at the rehabilitation centres met their objectives. However, some of the programmes were successful in mitigating the relapses of patients recovering from addiction to a lesser extent. The study also found out that the number of individuals who relapse is relatively high, however, the study did not dive into the depth of the causing factors. This may be room for future studies. Findings further indicated that the rehabilitation centres lacked in the application of a holistic approach to addiction treatment, even though there were several treatment programs offered. The issue of exorbitant residential fees in private rehabilitation facilities was also highlighted by the data collected. The research concluded by suggesting several recommendations such as research to improve policy for substance use with a focus on the human rights approach to the drug problem. Recommendations to the Department of Social Development which is responsible for the rehabilitation centres in South Africa. To ensure that all centres that are registered for offering treatment for substance use disorder be mandated to use a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach, diversifying and individualizing treatments for better outcomes. Lastly, recommendations were suggested to the social work practice, to support rehabilitation facilities by providing continuous specialized training to their social workers. Recommendations to social work training and curriculum to include in-depth substance use disorders during education, training, and field placements, for best practice amongst new social work practitioners placed in rehabilitation centres. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-12
A comparative appraisal of access and quality of sexual and reproductive health services for gays and lesbians in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) and Pretoria (South Africa)
- Authors: Jasi, Phineas
- Date: 2021-11
- Subjects: Reproductive health , Sexual health
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21959 , vital:51854
- Description: This study investigated the extent to which gays and lesbians access quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Pretoria and Bulawayo. The study also examines the facilitators and barriers for accessing the same services. Theoretically, the study was grounded in the Health Belief Model (Hochbaum, 1958, modified by Rosenstock, 1974 and Siddiqui, 2016). To answer the research questions, a mixed methods approach was applied involving both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. A total of 30 key informant interviews, eight focus group discussions and 387 questionnaires were administered using purposive, time location and snowball sampling approaches in the two cities. The study found that the most commonly available sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services were contraceptive services, sexually transmitted infections (STI) services and Human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) services. The services were provided at public health facilities, drop-in centres and through outreach activities operated by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The least available services that gays and lesbians required as part of a comprehensive package were access to information, education and communications (IEC) materials and mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS). Several service providers were not adhering to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for provision of comprehensive services for key populations including gays and lesbians. Critical gaps noted included the absence of key populations-only service hours, lack of options for clinicians to attend to them, presence of a stigma and discrimination free environment and provision of comprehensive package of services under one roof. Most of the referral facilities had limited drugs, equipment and supplies for cancer screening and they had no HIV prevention, sex change, in-vitro fertilization, and sterilization services and procedures. The quality of physical facilities and SRH services in both cities did not meet the expectations of gays and lesbians, acting as a barrier to their health seeking behaviour. Stigma and discrimination from healthcare workers was a huge barrier affecting access across all public health facilities. The acts of stigmatisation and discrimination affected the perceptions that gays and lesbians had regarding the quality of the services and compromised access of the same. In view of these health system challenges, the study recommends that there is need for public authorities in both cities to address the bottlenecks and barriers affecting access to SRH services and products such as lubricants, affordable quality condoms, dental dams and latex gloves while reinforcing the facilitating factors promoting access. Healthcare workers need further training on how to provide comprehensive services for gays and lesbians according to the WHO guidelines. Public health authorities in Bulawayo and Pretoria should build upon the identified factors which facilitated the access to SRH services and use of products such as condoms and lubricants. These factors require strengthening of community-based organizations and networks that work directly with gays and lesbians in both Bulawayo and Pretoria. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-11
- Authors: Jasi, Phineas
- Date: 2021-11
- Subjects: Reproductive health , Sexual health
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21959 , vital:51854
- Description: This study investigated the extent to which gays and lesbians access quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Pretoria and Bulawayo. The study also examines the facilitators and barriers for accessing the same services. Theoretically, the study was grounded in the Health Belief Model (Hochbaum, 1958, modified by Rosenstock, 1974 and Siddiqui, 2016). To answer the research questions, a mixed methods approach was applied involving both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. A total of 30 key informant interviews, eight focus group discussions and 387 questionnaires were administered using purposive, time location and snowball sampling approaches in the two cities. The study found that the most commonly available sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services were contraceptive services, sexually transmitted infections (STI) services and Human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) services. The services were provided at public health facilities, drop-in centres and through outreach activities operated by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The least available services that gays and lesbians required as part of a comprehensive package were access to information, education and communications (IEC) materials and mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS). Several service providers were not adhering to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for provision of comprehensive services for key populations including gays and lesbians. Critical gaps noted included the absence of key populations-only service hours, lack of options for clinicians to attend to them, presence of a stigma and discrimination free environment and provision of comprehensive package of services under one roof. Most of the referral facilities had limited drugs, equipment and supplies for cancer screening and they had no HIV prevention, sex change, in-vitro fertilization, and sterilization services and procedures. The quality of physical facilities and SRH services in both cities did not meet the expectations of gays and lesbians, acting as a barrier to their health seeking behaviour. Stigma and discrimination from healthcare workers was a huge barrier affecting access across all public health facilities. The acts of stigmatisation and discrimination affected the perceptions that gays and lesbians had regarding the quality of the services and compromised access of the same. In view of these health system challenges, the study recommends that there is need for public authorities in both cities to address the bottlenecks and barriers affecting access to SRH services and products such as lubricants, affordable quality condoms, dental dams and latex gloves while reinforcing the facilitating factors promoting access. Healthcare workers need further training on how to provide comprehensive services for gays and lesbians according to the WHO guidelines. Public health authorities in Bulawayo and Pretoria should build upon the identified factors which facilitated the access to SRH services and use of products such as condoms and lubricants. These factors require strengthening of community-based organizations and networks that work directly with gays and lesbians in both Bulawayo and Pretoria. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-11
Impact of press freedom on reportage of corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas industry : a comparative content analysis of four Nigerian Newspapers
- Ayodeji-Falade, Monisola Bolajoko
- Authors: Ayodeji-Falade, Monisola Bolajoko
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Newspapers -- Nigeria , Freedom of the press , Mass media -- Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21805 , vital:51787
- Description: A free press is pivotal to eradication of corruption in the society as the press remains the most powerful channel of communication that cut across all publics. Thus, this study seeks to evaluate the impact of press freedom on reportage of corruption in the oil and gas industry through a content analysis of four Nigerian newspapers (The Punch, Vanguard, Guardian and Nigerian Tribune). The study adopted a mixed research method involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative data were collected and analysed through content analysis of the selected newspapers while the qualitative data collected through interview of the respective newspaper correspondents were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that 534 stories were published on corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas sector by all the newspapers within the study period (July 2018-June 2019), with the Punch having the highest magnitude of stories (n = 196, 36.70percent) while Nigerian Tribune had the highest number of stories reported on its front and back pages (n = 143, 92.25percent). However, Guardian had the highest number of full-paged stories (n = 15, 20percent) whereas the Punch and Nigerian Tribune adopted the widest range of publication formats with news being the most dominant format employed by all the dailies (n = 462, 86.52percent). Although, all the newspapers employed more episodic frame (n = 432, 80.89percent) than thematic frame (n = 93,17.41percent), framing analysis revealed oil theft, vandalism, alleged-fraud, environmental consequences and economic consequences as the major frames used in the coverage of stories on corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Thematic analysis showed that the newspaper correspondents did not have access to adequate information on corruption in the sector while journalists in the country are still being subjected to intimidation, arrest and imprisonment. These findings suggest that the selected newspapers gave prominence to reportage of corruption in the oil and gas sector in country, which implies that the newspapers are fulfilling their agenda-setting roles and social responsibility in the society. Nevertheless, the level of press freedom in Nigeria has partly affected the reportage of corruption in the oil and gas sector of the country as this has restricted the use of investigative reporting occasioned by the lack of access to classified information on corruption and envisaged harm by potential sources and journalists. Nevertheless, this study proposes an anticorruption-media model, which focuses on the significance of the media as an anticorruption agent in a developing country. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
- Authors: Ayodeji-Falade, Monisola Bolajoko
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Newspapers -- Nigeria , Freedom of the press , Mass media -- Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21805 , vital:51787
- Description: A free press is pivotal to eradication of corruption in the society as the press remains the most powerful channel of communication that cut across all publics. Thus, this study seeks to evaluate the impact of press freedom on reportage of corruption in the oil and gas industry through a content analysis of four Nigerian newspapers (The Punch, Vanguard, Guardian and Nigerian Tribune). The study adopted a mixed research method involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative data were collected and analysed through content analysis of the selected newspapers while the qualitative data collected through interview of the respective newspaper correspondents were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that 534 stories were published on corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas sector by all the newspapers within the study period (July 2018-June 2019), with the Punch having the highest magnitude of stories (n = 196, 36.70percent) while Nigerian Tribune had the highest number of stories reported on its front and back pages (n = 143, 92.25percent). However, Guardian had the highest number of full-paged stories (n = 15, 20percent) whereas the Punch and Nigerian Tribune adopted the widest range of publication formats with news being the most dominant format employed by all the dailies (n = 462, 86.52percent). Although, all the newspapers employed more episodic frame (n = 432, 80.89percent) than thematic frame (n = 93,17.41percent), framing analysis revealed oil theft, vandalism, alleged-fraud, environmental consequences and economic consequences as the major frames used in the coverage of stories on corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Thematic analysis showed that the newspaper correspondents did not have access to adequate information on corruption in the sector while journalists in the country are still being subjected to intimidation, arrest and imprisonment. These findings suggest that the selected newspapers gave prominence to reportage of corruption in the oil and gas sector in country, which implies that the newspapers are fulfilling their agenda-setting roles and social responsibility in the society. Nevertheless, the level of press freedom in Nigeria has partly affected the reportage of corruption in the oil and gas sector of the country as this has restricted the use of investigative reporting occasioned by the lack of access to classified information on corruption and envisaged harm by potential sources and journalists. Nevertheless, this study proposes an anticorruption-media model, which focuses on the significance of the media as an anticorruption agent in a developing country. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
Access to justice for female victims of crime: a study of girls and women with disabilities in Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe
- Authors: Shumba, Nyaradzo Dorcas
- Date: 2021-09
- Subjects: Criminal justice, Administration of -- Zimbabwe , Women -- Crimes against , Victims of crimes
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22176 , vital:51994
- Description: This thesis utilized a thematic content analysis, looked at how significant barriers affect Mashonaland Central girls and women living with disabilities as victims of crime from accessing justice. Zimbabwe is an optimal case to apply this study, due to its contradictory legislation and evidence of high rate of human rights violations. Mashonaland Central Province is an ideal case study due to the extant records that indicate that it has the highest incidences of violence against women. This study is therefore based in a Victimological epoch with the aim to fill the research gap in acknowledging the process of accessing justice as an important step for protecting and promoting human right. By analyzing interviews conducted with 3 different women aged 18-65 and 3 girls living with disability who were under the age of 18, through the theoretical framework of basic human rights theory and victim dynamics, this thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge, with suggestions of how these barriers which are inclusive of societal and cultural structures tend to affect the respondents’ everyday lives and in a most pertinent manner towards their right to access justice. This thesis is also governed by the perspectives of key actors in the judicial process including but not limited to the Victim Friendly Unit. The theoretical framework is also operationalized into themes and criteria, which are then applied to analyze the conducted interviews. The emerging findings illuminate that there is a discrepancy between government policy surrounding girls and women living with disabilities and the practical experiences of the respondents. The respondents experienced a lack of accessibility to basic rights such as health care, the law, and to sex education – which are all rights ensured by government policy. Identified consequences included: discouragement in seeking justice due to fears of cultural and social stigma, discouragement in reporting crimes, and receiving adequate support, as well as information from secondhand sources. This study therefore concludes lack of access to justice is a violation of security of person, human dignity and rights to health and life to women and girls living with disability. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-09
- Authors: Shumba, Nyaradzo Dorcas
- Date: 2021-09
- Subjects: Criminal justice, Administration of -- Zimbabwe , Women -- Crimes against , Victims of crimes
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22176 , vital:51994
- Description: This thesis utilized a thematic content analysis, looked at how significant barriers affect Mashonaland Central girls and women living with disabilities as victims of crime from accessing justice. Zimbabwe is an optimal case to apply this study, due to its contradictory legislation and evidence of high rate of human rights violations. Mashonaland Central Province is an ideal case study due to the extant records that indicate that it has the highest incidences of violence against women. This study is therefore based in a Victimological epoch with the aim to fill the research gap in acknowledging the process of accessing justice as an important step for protecting and promoting human right. By analyzing interviews conducted with 3 different women aged 18-65 and 3 girls living with disability who were under the age of 18, through the theoretical framework of basic human rights theory and victim dynamics, this thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge, with suggestions of how these barriers which are inclusive of societal and cultural structures tend to affect the respondents’ everyday lives and in a most pertinent manner towards their right to access justice. This thesis is also governed by the perspectives of key actors in the judicial process including but not limited to the Victim Friendly Unit. The theoretical framework is also operationalized into themes and criteria, which are then applied to analyze the conducted interviews. The emerging findings illuminate that there is a discrepancy between government policy surrounding girls and women living with disabilities and the practical experiences of the respondents. The respondents experienced a lack of accessibility to basic rights such as health care, the law, and to sex education – which are all rights ensured by government policy. Identified consequences included: discouragement in seeking justice due to fears of cultural and social stigma, discouragement in reporting crimes, and receiving adequate support, as well as information from secondhand sources. This study therefore concludes lack of access to justice is a violation of security of person, human dignity and rights to health and life to women and girls living with disability. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-09
Conflict-induced displacement: a study of risk and support for the older refugees in South Africa
- Yusuf, Mohammed Sanusi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6871-0186
- Authors: Yusuf, Mohammed Sanusi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6871-0186
- Date: 2021-09
- Subjects: Migration, Internal , Displacement (Psychology) , Refugees -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22231 , vital:52001
- Description: With the exponential rise in conflict scenarios globally, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in foreign countries continues to grow. Although there has been several international efforts and conventions aimed at alleviating the global refugee crisis, the international community has not found a sustainable answer to this knotty problem. In Africa, with some of the worst conflict situations, the scourge of social displacement resulting in migrations have caused different levels of risks and vulnerability for the refugees, as well as capacity constraints for the host communities, governments of host countries and non-governmental bodies working with refugees. In South Africa, with one of the highest numbers of refugees in Africa, especially those coming from African countries, contention for socio-economic space and cultural differences occasionally result in violence between refugees and local people. For the older refugees, the level of risk exposure and hardship have generated interests for both scholars and officials. This thesis explores the risks and support systems for older refugees in South Africa, with specific focus on the Eastern Cape province. Various stakeholders (such as government, NGOs, host communities and the older refugees) in refugee management in South Africa have argued differently on ‘how best’ to manage older refugees in the country. Using qualitative data gathered from refugee communities in the Eastern Cape province and documentary analysis, the study found that the experiences of older refugees in the Eastern Cape province are nuanced. The dominant narrative on the experiences of older refugees indicate peaceful coexistence and resilient organic community support systems, with minor conflicts – often associated with contestations for scarce economic opportunities. Although the study focuses on one province of South Africa, this finding challenges the often-overgeneralised perception of South Africa as ‘xenophobic’. It unpacks the hidden resilient social systems and networks of relationships that bind local populations and the refugees, especially the older ones. In the search for national, regional and global answers on the best way to manage refugee crisis, this study provides insights into community-level structures and dynamics that would benefit policymaking at the national and international levels , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-09
- Authors: Yusuf, Mohammed Sanusi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6871-0186
- Date: 2021-09
- Subjects: Migration, Internal , Displacement (Psychology) , Refugees -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22231 , vital:52001
- Description: With the exponential rise in conflict scenarios globally, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in foreign countries continues to grow. Although there has been several international efforts and conventions aimed at alleviating the global refugee crisis, the international community has not found a sustainable answer to this knotty problem. In Africa, with some of the worst conflict situations, the scourge of social displacement resulting in migrations have caused different levels of risks and vulnerability for the refugees, as well as capacity constraints for the host communities, governments of host countries and non-governmental bodies working with refugees. In South Africa, with one of the highest numbers of refugees in Africa, especially those coming from African countries, contention for socio-economic space and cultural differences occasionally result in violence between refugees and local people. For the older refugees, the level of risk exposure and hardship have generated interests for both scholars and officials. This thesis explores the risks and support systems for older refugees in South Africa, with specific focus on the Eastern Cape province. Various stakeholders (such as government, NGOs, host communities and the older refugees) in refugee management in South Africa have argued differently on ‘how best’ to manage older refugees in the country. Using qualitative data gathered from refugee communities in the Eastern Cape province and documentary analysis, the study found that the experiences of older refugees in the Eastern Cape province are nuanced. The dominant narrative on the experiences of older refugees indicate peaceful coexistence and resilient organic community support systems, with minor conflicts – often associated with contestations for scarce economic opportunities. Although the study focuses on one province of South Africa, this finding challenges the often-overgeneralised perception of South Africa as ‘xenophobic’. It unpacks the hidden resilient social systems and networks of relationships that bind local populations and the refugees, especially the older ones. In the search for national, regional and global answers on the best way to manage refugee crisis, this study provides insights into community-level structures and dynamics that would benefit policymaking at the national and international levels , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-09
The escalation of gender war within post-colonial South African society: an interrogation of beauty’s gift by Sindiwe Magona, happiness is a four-letter word by Cynthia Jele and black widow society by Angela Makholwa
- Authors: Goremusandu, Tania
- Date: 2021-09
- Subjects: Women and literature -- Africa , Women in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21927 , vital:51843
- Description: The critical analysis of gender war in the African context is not a new venture but it is rather a significant discussion to the development of gender and feminist theories. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the limitations to empowerment that African women face at the hands of a post-colonial patriarchal society like South Africa, exacerbated by the oppression and subjugation employed by patriarchal and cultural norms. Thus, the research provides a comparative analysis of three contemporary novels by award winning South African women writers in African literature: Sindiwe Magona, Cynthia Jele and Angela Makholwa. These three dedicated women writers examine the different ways in which African patriarchy and culture oppress professional, educated women. Their work portray gender and / or female oppression and the stereotypes experienced by African women in the context of post-colonial, heavily patriarchal South African society. Therefore, this study interrogates the experience of South African women, as explored in the texts, revealing the literary expressions of gender oppression as well as the possibilities of empowerment. In addition, the texts are analysed through the lens of the Feminist literary criticism theory, Gender studies and African feminism. Through the examination offered by these theories, the study focuses on the experiences of South African women, as expressed by the female characters in the selected texts, through a critical analysis of female oppression and resistance and on the idea that gender is constructed socially and culturally in the African context. As this project reveals, the problem arising within post-colonial South African society is that women are still oppressed and are seen as passive and submissive. As a result, patriarchal perspectives combined with women’s economic dependence on men, make reaching self-actualization a challenging and even terrifying experience, and is often impossible for most women to achieve. Thus, there is a need to understand the experiences of these women so that effective and culturally sensitive interventions can be implemented. The emergence of these renowned female South African writers together with the emancipation of African countries from colonial supremacy has opened a space for women to compensate for and correct the stereotyped female images in African literature and in post-colonial societies. Most contemporary African writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Neshani Andreas, Sindiwe Magona, Cynthia Jele and Angela Makholwa have shown that women are seeking empowerment and liberation. Therefore, this study seeks to highlight such experiences through its critical interrogation of the writings of selected South African women writers and the exploration of their gender-based themes in order to inform and or inspire women empowerment. It is intended to broaden and encourage further academic discussion in the fields of Feminism literary criticism, Gender studies and African feminism as well as women’s literature within the African context. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-09
- Authors: Goremusandu, Tania
- Date: 2021-09
- Subjects: Women and literature -- Africa , Women in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21927 , vital:51843
- Description: The critical analysis of gender war in the African context is not a new venture but it is rather a significant discussion to the development of gender and feminist theories. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the limitations to empowerment that African women face at the hands of a post-colonial patriarchal society like South Africa, exacerbated by the oppression and subjugation employed by patriarchal and cultural norms. Thus, the research provides a comparative analysis of three contemporary novels by award winning South African women writers in African literature: Sindiwe Magona, Cynthia Jele and Angela Makholwa. These three dedicated women writers examine the different ways in which African patriarchy and culture oppress professional, educated women. Their work portray gender and / or female oppression and the stereotypes experienced by African women in the context of post-colonial, heavily patriarchal South African society. Therefore, this study interrogates the experience of South African women, as explored in the texts, revealing the literary expressions of gender oppression as well as the possibilities of empowerment. In addition, the texts are analysed through the lens of the Feminist literary criticism theory, Gender studies and African feminism. Through the examination offered by these theories, the study focuses on the experiences of South African women, as expressed by the female characters in the selected texts, through a critical analysis of female oppression and resistance and on the idea that gender is constructed socially and culturally in the African context. As this project reveals, the problem arising within post-colonial South African society is that women are still oppressed and are seen as passive and submissive. As a result, patriarchal perspectives combined with women’s economic dependence on men, make reaching self-actualization a challenging and even terrifying experience, and is often impossible for most women to achieve. Thus, there is a need to understand the experiences of these women so that effective and culturally sensitive interventions can be implemented. The emergence of these renowned female South African writers together with the emancipation of African countries from colonial supremacy has opened a space for women to compensate for and correct the stereotyped female images in African literature and in post-colonial societies. Most contemporary African writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Neshani Andreas, Sindiwe Magona, Cynthia Jele and Angela Makholwa have shown that women are seeking empowerment and liberation. Therefore, this study seeks to highlight such experiences through its critical interrogation of the writings of selected South African women writers and the exploration of their gender-based themes in order to inform and or inspire women empowerment. It is intended to broaden and encourage further academic discussion in the fields of Feminism literary criticism, Gender studies and African feminism as well as women’s literature within the African context. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-09
Analysis of challenges facing police retirees in the Eastern Cape of South Africa: development of adjustment programme for police retirees to the community
- Authors: Kwayiba, Nthabiseng Justina
- Date: 2021-07
- Subjects: Police -- Retirement , Police -- Pensions , Retirement income
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21977 , vital:51865
- Description: The purpose of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by police retirees of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and to contribute towards the establishment of a post-retirement programme that would assist retirees to experience satisfaction in retirement. Upon retirement, police officers leave a job of personified authority and responsibility and become civilians. Throughout their career, police officers work under strenuous shifts, exposure to violence and witness gruesome incidents. In some cases, they facilitate the arrest of their neighbours and even family members in conflict with the law. How they adjust in the communities when they retire has never been investigated in the Eastern Cape, a research gap this study intended to address. A qualitative research methodology and a case study design was adopted. The data were collected from 21 participants. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used as methods of data collection. The interpretivism paradigm informed data analysis process. The life course theory was used as a theoretical framework for this study. The findings of this study revealed that police retirees experience challenges that are different from other public servants and the South African Police Service (SAPS) does not have programmes to prepare employees for retirement. The study established that most of the retirees had not yet adjusted to retirement because of the challenges they faced. Among the unique challenges that they experience are psychological challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) emanating from their daily exposure to gruesome incidents, violence and working under strenuous shifts. The study also revealed that the retirees experienced broken social support system (family), social rejection by their previous employer (SAPS), and the communities they are retiring in. Therefore, as a result of rejection they relocate and start a new life somewhere else, where they suffer loneliness. Neglect by the employer (SAPS) made them feel useless and unappreciated. It was also established that the handing back of police equipment and uniforms makes them feel a sense of loss of power and authority, which makes them feel unsafe. The feeling of insecurity become more intense when the people they arrested threaten revenge on them when they are on retirement. The study recommends commitment from different stakeholders to assist employees in SAPS to experience a smooth and rewarding transition towards retirement. These include a pre-retirement planning programme that will engage employees ten years before retirement and require the employer’s commitment, a transition programme, that will engage retirees during retirement and require commitment from the police medical aid (POLMED) and community policing forum involvement. Finally, the establishment of social support system in the post-retirement programme is required for the extension of employee health and wellness (EHW) services. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-07
- Authors: Kwayiba, Nthabiseng Justina
- Date: 2021-07
- Subjects: Police -- Retirement , Police -- Pensions , Retirement income
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21977 , vital:51865
- Description: The purpose of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by police retirees of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and to contribute towards the establishment of a post-retirement programme that would assist retirees to experience satisfaction in retirement. Upon retirement, police officers leave a job of personified authority and responsibility and become civilians. Throughout their career, police officers work under strenuous shifts, exposure to violence and witness gruesome incidents. In some cases, they facilitate the arrest of their neighbours and even family members in conflict with the law. How they adjust in the communities when they retire has never been investigated in the Eastern Cape, a research gap this study intended to address. A qualitative research methodology and a case study design was adopted. The data were collected from 21 participants. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used as methods of data collection. The interpretivism paradigm informed data analysis process. The life course theory was used as a theoretical framework for this study. The findings of this study revealed that police retirees experience challenges that are different from other public servants and the South African Police Service (SAPS) does not have programmes to prepare employees for retirement. The study established that most of the retirees had not yet adjusted to retirement because of the challenges they faced. Among the unique challenges that they experience are psychological challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) emanating from their daily exposure to gruesome incidents, violence and working under strenuous shifts. The study also revealed that the retirees experienced broken social support system (family), social rejection by their previous employer (SAPS), and the communities they are retiring in. Therefore, as a result of rejection they relocate and start a new life somewhere else, where they suffer loneliness. Neglect by the employer (SAPS) made them feel useless and unappreciated. It was also established that the handing back of police equipment and uniforms makes them feel a sense of loss of power and authority, which makes them feel unsafe. The feeling of insecurity become more intense when the people they arrested threaten revenge on them when they are on retirement. The study recommends commitment from different stakeholders to assist employees in SAPS to experience a smooth and rewarding transition towards retirement. These include a pre-retirement planning programme that will engage employees ten years before retirement and require the employer’s commitment, a transition programme, that will engage retirees during retirement and require commitment from the police medical aid (POLMED) and community policing forum involvement. Finally, the establishment of social support system in the post-retirement programme is required for the extension of employee health and wellness (EHW) services. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-07
Portrayals of masculinity in selected Nigerian plays
- Authors: Onuoha, Beatrice Nwawuloke
- Date: 2021-06
- Subjects: Masculinity in literature , Nigeria -- In literature
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22131 , vital:51985
- Description: This work critically interrogates the portrayal of masculinity in plays written by both male and female Nigerian playwrights. Selected plays (three from each author) of Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Tess Onwueme and Tracie Utoh-Ezeajugh were studied in order to proffer answers to certain critical questions, some of which include determining whether the way male playwrights construct the psychosocial temperament of lead male characters differs from how such is depicted in the works of female authors. The study also sought to ascertain how the concept of masculinity has evolved through the careers of three generations of playwriting in Nigeria. While evaluating the differences that exist in the portrayal of masculinity in the male lead characters in the works of selected male playwrights when compared to those of their female counterparts, the study equally examines the portrayals of male identities in the selected texts. It also evaluates the notion of masculinity shift among the three generations of Nigerian playwrights with a view to ascertaining how textual portrayals of characters and events reflect the changing values that are held about male identities in different Nigerian societies. In executing these objectives, the study adopts a qualitative method, and then eclectically employs Raewyn Connell’s (1995) Theory of Masculinity, Judith Butler’s (1990) Theory of Performativity, and Louis Athan Althusser’s (1970) Idea of Interpellation as the Theoretical Framework to guide the analysis and interpretation of the selected texts. Furthermore, the study follows a constructivist model that involves several stages including the identification of the selected plays as the main texts, a perusal of the plays, review of the literature on gender portrayals in the plays, and a critiquing of the portrayal of masculinity in them. The findings of the analysis reveal that masculinity is a conditional, provisional and elusive subject. It is created in a certain socio-cultural and historical context and evolves according to situations. The studied texts demonstrate the artistic agency of women in constructing men’s masculinity. They imply that masculinity and femininity are like Siamese twins in the building of a peaceful, strong, and new nation. Moreover, the playwrights under study divulge that power is the key factor in (de)constructing and (re)defining of masculinity of men. Through their plays, the dramatists challenge and attempt to change the stereotypical constructs of men, dismantle the traditional gender roles and propose a new way of envisioning gender, where hegemonic principles can be nullified. It is therefore the submission of this work that Soyinka, Osofisan, Onwueme and Utoh-Ezeajugh do not affirm the social construct of masculinity but rather interrogate them. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-06
- Authors: Onuoha, Beatrice Nwawuloke
- Date: 2021-06
- Subjects: Masculinity in literature , Nigeria -- In literature
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22131 , vital:51985
- Description: This work critically interrogates the portrayal of masculinity in plays written by both male and female Nigerian playwrights. Selected plays (three from each author) of Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Tess Onwueme and Tracie Utoh-Ezeajugh were studied in order to proffer answers to certain critical questions, some of which include determining whether the way male playwrights construct the psychosocial temperament of lead male characters differs from how such is depicted in the works of female authors. The study also sought to ascertain how the concept of masculinity has evolved through the careers of three generations of playwriting in Nigeria. While evaluating the differences that exist in the portrayal of masculinity in the male lead characters in the works of selected male playwrights when compared to those of their female counterparts, the study equally examines the portrayals of male identities in the selected texts. It also evaluates the notion of masculinity shift among the three generations of Nigerian playwrights with a view to ascertaining how textual portrayals of characters and events reflect the changing values that are held about male identities in different Nigerian societies. In executing these objectives, the study adopts a qualitative method, and then eclectically employs Raewyn Connell’s (1995) Theory of Masculinity, Judith Butler’s (1990) Theory of Performativity, and Louis Athan Althusser’s (1970) Idea of Interpellation as the Theoretical Framework to guide the analysis and interpretation of the selected texts. Furthermore, the study follows a constructivist model that involves several stages including the identification of the selected plays as the main texts, a perusal of the plays, review of the literature on gender portrayals in the plays, and a critiquing of the portrayal of masculinity in them. The findings of the analysis reveal that masculinity is a conditional, provisional and elusive subject. It is created in a certain socio-cultural and historical context and evolves according to situations. The studied texts demonstrate the artistic agency of women in constructing men’s masculinity. They imply that masculinity and femininity are like Siamese twins in the building of a peaceful, strong, and new nation. Moreover, the playwrights under study divulge that power is the key factor in (de)constructing and (re)defining of masculinity of men. Through their plays, the dramatists challenge and attempt to change the stereotypical constructs of men, dismantle the traditional gender roles and propose a new way of envisioning gender, where hegemonic principles can be nullified. It is therefore the submission of this work that Soyinka, Osofisan, Onwueme and Utoh-Ezeajugh do not affirm the social construct of masculinity but rather interrogate them. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-06