An analysis of quota conflicts in the fishing industry of the Western Cape: the plight of the small scale fisher sector from 1994 to the present day
- Authors: Green, Michael Anthony
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Small-scale fisheries -- South Africa Fishery policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18838 , vital:28736
- Description: This treatise tracks the sequence of events that took place within the South African Fishing Industry post 1994, and focuses specifically on the plight of the small scale artisanal fisher sector, which operates in the in-shore and near-shore coastal waters of the Western and Southern Cape. In exploring this area of conflict, it focuses on the attempts of this sector to gain official recognition, sanction and inclusion in the country’s statutory framework. It is an intensive investigation into the activities of the various role players, being this fisher sector, various fishing bodies, the government and business, and through personal interactions with these stakeholders, a diverse set of perceptions and perspectives is detailed. Through the use of Participlan methodology, utilised in one-on-one interactions as well as focus group workshops, issues relating to the past, present and future are surfaced, leading to what the different entities believe to be a collective way forward. The dissertation concludes that there is a need for the three entities as defined, to communicate on a formalised basis in order to progress issues relating to the management, protection and sustainability of the in-shore and near-shore fish resources. It shows further that there is a desire and willingness across all these sectors to share ideas and thoughts in a structured environment to establish a common ground and to create a solution to resolve this conflict scenario. Specifically, the study illustrates that the small-scale artisanal fisher sector is a justifiable participant in the fishing industry, warranting recognition and inclusion as a distinct entity in the country’s Marine Living Resources Act.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An exploration of conflict related to land holding entities in the South African land reform process
- Authors: Georghiades, George
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Land reform -- South Africa Land tenure -- South Africa , Conflict management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15600 , vital:28275
- Description: This evaluative study aims to identify and analyse conflicts within the South African land reform process that have manifested within Communal Property Institutions, and so doing, devising and providing a mechanism that will assist conflict practitioners to approach these conflicts in an informed manner. It further intends to provide for an approach in order to restore social justice to the land reform process, and so doing, suggesting resolution mechanisms to assist in the process for the reasons that this restoration of land rights was originally intended. This study further seeks to investigate the causes, actions and consequences of protagonistic land claimants and beneficiaries within the land reform process, who have created conflict within their communal property institutions, at the expense of those beneficiaries who are subsequently deprived of their land rights. According to Coate and Rosati (1988), human needs are a powerful source of explanation of human behaviour and social interaction. All individuals have needs that they strive to satisfy, either by using a system of “acting on the fringes” or acting as a reformist or revolutionary. Given this condition, social systems must be responsive to individual needs, or be subject to instability and forced change, possibly through violence or conflict). Humans need a number of essentials to survive. According to the renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow and the conflict scholar John Burton, these essentials go beyond just food, water, and shelter. They include both physical and non-physical elements needed for human growth and development, as well as all those things humans are innately driven to attain. For Maslow, needs are hierarchical in nature. That is, each need has a specific ranking or order of obtainment. Maslow's needs pyramid starts with the basic items of food, water, and shelter. These are followed by the need for safety and security, then belonging or love, self-esteem, and finally, personal fulfilment (Rothman J, 1997). Burton and other needs theorists who have adopted Maslow's ideas to conflict theory, however, perceive human needs in a different way, being rather as an emergent collection of human development essentials (Burton J, 1990). Furthermore, they contend needs do not have a hierarchical order. Rather, needs are sought simultaneously in an intense and relentless manner (Rothman J, 1997). Needs theorists' list of human essentials include safety, a sense of belonging (love), self esteem, personal fulfilment,identity, cultural security, freedom, distributive justice, and participation. The South African land restoration process relies largely on the Constitution of South Africa (1996), with the preamble thereof as its tenets. The three land reform programmes that emanate from the Constitution are the Land Redistribution Programme, the Land Tenure Reform programme, and the Land Restitution programme, which have been used in this study as the point of departure from which deviations are measured and analysed. A number of Communal property Institutions have been considered, the findings of which have been evaluated, investigated and analysed, in order to achieve the aims of this study.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An investigation of the functional responsibilities of the municipal councillors at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality during the Implementation of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP)
- Authors: Nkombela, Lizwi Eric
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Municipal officials and employees -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Local government -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20132 , vital:29129
- Description: The study is undertaken to investigate the functional responsibilities of the municipal councillors at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality during the implementation of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). It aims to examine the experiences and perceptions that ward councillors have of their representative and participatory roles, including the support provided by the local government during the implementation of the IDP at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. In the statement of the problem, the researcher has provided the basis and the rationale for this study. This study is undertaken against the backdrop of protest on service delivery as the current local government system struggles to effectively provide basic services to communities, as well as attend to their economic and social development needs. There are various factors that contribute to effective governance of local government, however, for the sake of this research not all of them will be studied by the researcher. The researcher has indicated some of the limitations in this study and will only focus on the ward councillors and their functional responsibilities at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. The contextualization of this study is premised on the existing theoretical, legislative and conceptual views that apply to functional responsibilities of the municipal councillors and these were drawn from various sources to quantitatively obtain the data for this study. The study also explains the research design and methodology applied to elicit information from a sample of 31 ward councillors of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. The quantitative data which was received through questionnaires was presented, analysed and discussed by the researcher. The researcher used the frequency distribution and percentage in order to draw up the conclusions and recommendations. The quantitative data revealed to a greater extent a positive response from the 31 ward councillors regarding their experiences and perceptions of their representative and participatory roles and their understanding of the support provided by the local government during the implementation of the IDP at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Challenges in distribution of old age pensions in Lesotho
- Authors: Sejanamane, Nkhahle Daniel
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Old age pensions -- Lesotho Aging -- Economic aspects -- Lesotho , Defined contribution pension plans -- Lesotho Retirement income -- Lesotho
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20477 , vital:29293
- Description: The research set out to explore the nature of challenges in distribution of old age pensions in Lesotho. Poor institutional capacity failed the implementing agency, the Department of Pensions; to set up competent administrative structures to run run the pensions effectively and efficiently. A number of challenges have been identified, some of which were: inadequate supervision of the paying officers, fraud by workers and community agents, missing funds, insufficient resources, inadequate administrative capacity, overworked employees, faulty targeting, soft and discriminatory approach to non-compliance with rules and multiple use of identity documents by recipients. On the other hand, a number of opportunities have been identified to counteract the challenges. The main recommendation of the study was the engagement of mobile phone-based money transfer facilities to transfer the old age pensions from the government to the recipients. The Department of Pensions should make use of baseline database like information from civil registration agency like the Ministry of Home Affairs to confirm the validity of the pension recipients. Other recommendations included moving the division of old age pensions from the Pensions Department to the Ministry of Social Development which is the controlling body for other forms of social grants in Lesotho. The Ministry of Social Development is regarded as well equipped with qualified staff and facilities to deal with vulnerable people like the elderly.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Conflict between local government and civil society pertaining to sanitation in South Africa
- Authors: De Ujfalussy, Andrea Benedicta
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Sanitation -- South Africa -- Politics and government Conflict management -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14939 , vital:27911
- Description: This study seeks to determine whether the conflict between the City of Cape Town (CCT) and the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is resulting in positive or negative outcomes from the perspective of the residents concerned. In principle, engagement, between civil society and local government should lead to an improvement in terms of the meeting of needs or wants for those communities whose interests are being contested, or at the very least an improved understanding of the plans and challenges faced by both. Further, the engagement and/or conflict between local government and civil society, if positive, should ideally lead to greater understanding between all stakeholders and the strengthening of relations between them government, civil society and the relevant community interests. The motivation of this study is to explore the unanswered issues such as, whether the SJC has gone beyond the use of acceptable tactics associated with responsible and effective civil society actors and whether it would be justified if they have; if the SJC’s actions have resulted in an actual improvement in the accelerated realization of the socio-economic rights of the communities whose interests they purport to represent; whether the communities ‘represented’ by the SJC see them as their effective advocate for the interests and concerns ; if the issue of sanitation is the primary issue for the residents concerned as claimed by the SJC; if the residents of the communities concerned feel the same animosity to the CCT that the SJC does.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Credit risk management in development finance institutions and SMME sustainability
- Authors: Derrocks, Velda Charmaine
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Credit -- Management Business enterprises -- Finance , Small business -- Finance
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14862 , vital:27884
- Description: Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) make a significant contribution to the South African Economy. Regardless of size, these businesses have the ability to create employment, make a generous contribution to tax collections, uplift communities and serve as a beacon of hope for those trapped in the cycle of poverty and unemployment. However, SMMEs lack access to much-needed financial resources that are critical for their growth. Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) aim to bridge the gap between the SMME’s financial needs and the development of the respective SMME businesses, by providing funding to entrepreneurs with potentially viable businesses and ideas. Debt funding to these SMMEs are based on sound commercial lending principles that take various non-quantitative variables into account. The sustainability of SMMEs is a primary concern to all participants in the economy, as it is known that SMME failure rates are high Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact that the credit risk management practices of DFIs have on the sustainability of SMMEs, by examining a case study of a typical DFI. An electronic questionnaire survey was considered as an appropriate measurement method for this study. The targeted population of the study included SMMEs in the Eastern Cape that are Trust for Urban Housing (TUHF) clients and 23 SMMEs were identified as part of the study sampling frame. A total number of 14 questionnaires were returned out of the 23 targeted SMMEs - giving a response rate of 61%. The quantitative data was processed using the STATISTICA program, leading to appropriate descriptive statistical analyses. In order to better understand the impact of credit risk management practices on the sustainability of SMMEs, a hypothesis was formulated and linear regression analysis was used to establish the statistical significance of certain credit risk principles and sustainability characteristics. The results of the empirical study revealed that credit risk management practises do impact on the sustainability of SMMEs. Further, by testing the hypothesis, it was also revealed that certain sustainability variables are regarded as more important than others.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Donor funds and economic dependence: an investigation of community-driven development in the Eastern Cape, Chris Hani District Municipality
- Authors: Roto, Khanyile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Economic assistance -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Flow of funds -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 21st century South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/19982 , vital:29017
- Description: This research focused mainly on the progress of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-driven development projects (CDDs) in assisting the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) community. The research identified the main types of CDDs that are found in the CHDM as agricultural, caregivers, manufacturing, tourism, performing arts, and education services. Thirty-eight NGOs participated in this project with two participants representing each NGO. These NGOs were looked at from a thematic perspective. Three main themes emerged, namely; a) the quality of life in CHDM or specifically in the areas of operation of the NGOs, b) operations of the NGOs where the name and main objectives CDDs were identified, and c) challenges, funding and impact of the CDDs. This research set out to ask the following questions: What is the nature and origin of projects operational in Chris Hani District? What is the impact and sustainability of donor-aided projects on CDD in the Chris Hani District? Can NGO projects be sustained without donor aid? Are there any alternative forms of funding apart from donor funds? To answer these questions, a number of qualitative methods and techniques were used to collect and analyse data. These included focus group discussions with project beneficiaries, observations of projects, activities and individual project participants, and key informant interviews with different categories of respondents depending on their roles and level of involvement in the implementation of projects as well as their experience in the implementation of donor-aided programmes. These discussions were guided by different interview schedules with respective respondents. Random and snowball sampling methods were used to choose the respondents as well as groups that participated in the study. The research also focused on assessing the survivability of donor-aided NGO projects if the donor funds were discontinued for any reason. It sought to determine the continuity and feasibility of developmental projects and their impact on the socio- economic welfare of the rural poor in the Chris Hani District without donations. This research found evidence indicating that, by and large, NGOs in the Chris Hani District play a crucial role in CDD. Be that as it may, this research established that on average, 98 per cent of NGOs had been economically and socially affected by the donor-funded projects. It was established that, on average, the donor dependency ratio was 74 per cent. It was also seen that most donor-funded projects could only survive for 12 days if the funding was withdrawn. However, this hypothetical withdrawal of funds does not cause much concern because of the security found in the funding types of the NGOs in the Chris Hani District. In practical terms, these community-driven projects are likely to continue for decades ceteris paribus.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Economic development in the Eastern Cape: a case study of agricultural projects
- Authors: Dyalo, Nolutho
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Agricultural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15589 , vital:28274
- Description: This study seeks to evaluate economic development in the Eastern Cape Province, with a special focus on the agricultural sector. It focuses on the role that Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) play in stimulating economic development. To achieve this, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) was considered as a case study in assessing DFI’s support to the agricultural sector in the province. The study will also look into the corporation’s adherence to the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) and its strategic programmes. The study examines how the agricultural initiatives financed by ECDC contribute to economic development in the province. It will also assess whether those agricultural projects may impact the local communities through poverty alleviation. In order to address the research problem and to achieve the research objectives, available literature and empirical work related to the relationship between financial system development and economic development was reviewed. The research revealed that the role played by the ECDC with regard to Agricultural Projects has not been entirely effective to add value to economic development in the province, mainly caused by the lack of non – financial support by skilled people from the corporation, after limited funding was made available. From the investigation, the findings indicate that the effective mplementation of these projects require strengthened capacity, which requires more skilled officials from the corporation to assist the agricultural enterprises in managing the projects; and more funding that will assist the projects to reach sustainability.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Exploring HIV and AIDS workplace programmes in the tourism industry of Nelson Mandela Bay
- Authors: Mahlangeni, Iviwe
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention and control -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Prevention and control -- South Africa , Tourism -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay , Health Programmes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/9197 , vital:26473
- Description: The aim of this study was to explore and describe HIV and AIDS workplace programmes and policies (WPPs) in the tourism industry of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) in South Africa. This study adopted a quantitative and qualitative approach, in other words, a mixed approach. The reason for using more than one method of inquiry was to obtain a deeper understanding of the tourism industry of NMBM in terms of examined behaviour, and of the meaning of occurrences in the industry. To gather qualitative data concerning HIV and AIDS programmes, key informant stakeholders in the tourism industry at global, national, provincial, and local levels were identified to conduct in-depth interviews. These respondents were selected using the non-probability sampling method of quota sampling. This is a type of stratified sampling in which the selection of the strata within the sample is not random, but rather is typically left to the discretion of the interviewer (Wienclaw, 2015). One respondent for each level of the industry was selected, resulting in four key informant stakeholders participating in the qualitative research component of this study. The initial criterion for participation in the quantitative portion for this study was that tourism businesses based in NMBM must be able to produce robust evidence of HIV and AIDS WPPs. The researcher selected the probability sampling method of stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. This technique considers the known characteristics of the population (Wienclaw, 2015). A database of tourism businesses was obtained from the local tourism organisation, who are members of the governing body for local tourism. This database was cleaned, to eliminate any data that did not meet the participation criterion for the study. Ten per cent of the total number of businesses in the cleaned database were sampled. The simplest approach to sampling is to merely randomly select from the population by, for example, having a computer choose names at random from a list, or by selecting names from a hat (Wienclaw, 2015). Therefore, every fifth business listed on the sampled database was selected to participate. Unfortunately, surveys tend to have notoriously low return rates, and people are frequently reluctant to give out information over the phone. This was also the case for most of the tourism businesses in the sample. When emailed or telephoned, they refused to participate for various reasons. Some stated that HIV does not affect their business; others reported that their businesses were too small and therefore they could not afford to implement these programmes. Some businesses were hearing about the WPP for the very first time, while several others responded with simple disinterest in participating. The findings of the study are that although tourism is viewed as an important industry that contributes to the economy, tourism businesses do not include any intervention programmes with which to respond to the threat of HIV and AIDS to their businesses. Additionally, there is neither leadership nor support from any level of the tourism industry, to create a conducive environment for the adoption of HIV and AIDS WPPs by tourism businesses. The primary reason for the lack of uptake of these programmes is ignorance across cascading levels of the tourism industry, which includes tourism businesses. Additionally, a number of perceived barriers, such as size of business, are cited as the reasons why tourism workplaces in the NMBM fail to participate in HIV and AIDS WPPs. It is anticipated that this study will create further awareness of HIV and AIDS WPPs, in an industry that seems to have limited knowledge about such programmes. This study will also provide guidance regarding the requirements to implement effective HIV and AIDS WPPs.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Financial sustainability mechanisms for local NGOs in the Gauteng province, South Africa
- Authors: Manzere, Bogadi Patricia
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Gauteng -- Finance Nonprofit organizations -- South Africa -- Gauteng -- Finance , Nonprofit organizations -- South Africa -- Gauteng -- Management Finance, Public -- South Africa -- Gauteng
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18562 , vital:28682
- Description: The role of NGOs has been widely recognised in eradicating poverty and creating sustainable development in communities. Governments and private corporations view them as complementary partners in enhancing the livelihoods of people. In order to survive, NGOs need to be financially sustainable to carry out their missions. Their existence is, however, threatened by the current economic and political climate. In South Africa, the recent global economic recession and the country’s recovery from the apartheid system since 1994 have both had a negative impact in funding financial flow to NGOs. Compounded by the growing demand for new NGOs, evidence shows that there is fierce competition between NGOs for the same funding and, since NGOs by nature do not produce commercial outputs, they are limited to pursue funding opportunities made available through donations. This study explored the issues of financial sustainability within local NGOs in the Gauteng Province. The aim was to build mechanisms that could be put in place to monitor organisational financial sustainability over time. The study used a qualitative methodology and the researcher adopted an exploratory design to gain insight and meaning into the issues faced by NGOs. A sample of ten members from local NGOs in the Gauteng Province was identified and data was collected through key informant interviews and questionnaires. The study found that the majority of NGOs face difficulties in achieving financial sustainability over the long-term. The results indicated that funding in the sector is shrinking, with very few NGOs surviving through endowments. Their major challenges in raising funds are due to area limitations, competition within the sector, lack of skills, staff shortage and visibility. They optimise available opportunities but also acknowledge that they are not implementing other fundraising strategies that could be effective in raising funds. Evidence also showed that these NGOs are meeting the requirements of good financial management practices, which could improve their likelihood to achieve financial sustainability. The research recommends that NGOs need to be empowered to negotiate restrictions under the grants, raise endowments through income-generating activities, manage stakeholder relationships and cost any future funding prospects for key decision making that is likely to have an impact on the structure and the strategic direction of an organisation.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Fiscal, deficit, inflation, money supply and exchange rate in South Africa
- Authors: Tala, Lavisa
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: nflation (Finance) -- South Africa Foreign exchange rates -- South Africa , Money supply -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23261 , vital:30502
- Description: This study empirically investigates the relationship between fiscal deficit, inflation, M3 money supply and the exchange rate in South Africa. The study makes use of quarterly macroeconomic time-series data sets comprising 84 observations, covering the period from 1994Q1 to 2015Q4. The unit root tests conducted employed the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests. The results reveal that the variables become stationary at first difference. The Johansen co-integration technique suggests that there is at least one co-integrating equation among the variables. The results of the Engle-Granger approach, which is residual based, show that the residuals are stationary, thus validating the existence of a long-run relationship between the model variables. The study carried out a Granger causality test. The results indicate that there is a strong Granger causal relationship between the variables (IF) and (FD). Another strong causal relationship emerges between inflation and money supply. The ECM model was employed to identify the speed of adjustment as a response to the departures from the long-run equilibrium path. The estimated coefficient of the ECM error term has the required sign and is statistically significant at the five per cent level of significance. The error term indicates a quick convergence to equilibrium. The study concludes that the dependent variable (FD) is jointly caused by all the independent variables in the long-run. The results of the variance decomposition of the variable (FD) to innovations resulting from IF, MS and RER indicate that own shocks remain the dominant source of total fluctuations in the forecast error of the variables. The findings of the study are efficient and reliable as the estimated model passed all the major diagnostic tests. By implication the findings suggest that the estimated model show high goodness of fit and is thus reliable for policy making. The study recommends a fiscal adjustment that will enhance economic growth. Additionally, a fiscal policy that will aim at identifying and mitigating other possible leakages that narrow the tax base should be considered.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Funding and governance of cooperatives: a case study of Magwa and Majola tea estates in the Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Velani, Chuma
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Cooperative societies -- Finance -- Law and legislation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14411 , vital:27585
- Description: The purpose of this research study is to assess the funding and governance models utilised in the operations of cooperatives, with specific reference to Magwa and Majola Tea Estates in the Eastern Cape. Luyt (2008) observes that poverty levels in South Africa remain high, and have not been greatly reduced since 1994. There is general agreement amongst Eastern Cape communities that more than two decades after apartheid has ended, nearly half of South Africa’s population continue to live in poverty. A common understanding, is that cooperatives are geared and established to address poverty, address both social and economic development, even though they also emphasise a social focus, they are expected to be operated on sound business principles.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Official development assistance as a means to poverty alleviation: evidence from Cameroon
- Authors: Anong, Moussa Moses
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Economic development -- Cameroon , Community development -- Cameroon Cameroon -- Economic aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13800 , vital:27309
- Description: Despite the increased popularity of development aid flows from rich nations to poorer ones in the form of Official Development Assistance (ODA), rampant poverty still prevails in the recipient nations. This perhaps explains the lingering debate on the effectiveness of ODA in curbing poverty. Based on Cameroon, this study aims to ascertain if ODA can be relied upon as a tool to fight poverty. The researcher seeks to determine if ODA disbursed to Cameroon has resulted in poverty alleviation among the impoverished from 1980 to 2014, be it directly or indirectly. To this effect, the first research question looks at what the possible causes of poverty in Cameroon are. The second research question dwells on the pattern of ODA to Cameroon over the study period from 1980 to 2014. The final research question seeks to determine the Cameroonian poverty levels over the same period. The definition of poverty in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI) and its three poverty determinants as utilized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is adopted as a theoretical base for this research. These determinants of poverty are life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. While the literature review is utilised to outline the on-going debate on the effects of ODA on economic growth and poverty alleviation, it equally provides possible causes of poverty in Cameroon. These include the prevalence of factors such as poor governance, the swindling of public funds without fear, the normalisation of bribes in return for public services, the lack of decentralized administrative and civil services, and the disproportionate distribution of state earnings. Meanwhile, secondary published data sourced from reputable multilateral bodies is used to determine the trend of ODA to Cameroon over the period from 1980 to 2014. This is then correlated with poverty figures over the same period as expressed by the three human development factors or poverty determinants. The research adopts a quantitative approach as correlations and regressions of obtained secondary data are made used of. The results of the correlations reveal that ODA may not be relied upon as a tool for alleviating poverty in Cameroon due to the statistically insignificant relationships it seems to display with all three poverty determinants. The regression results show on the one hand that ODA has insignificant relationships with life expectancy at birth and mean years of schooling, while on the other hand, ODA and GNI per capita display an inverse relationship that is judged to be statistically significant. High ODA figures can therefore be associated with lower GNI per capita values in Cameroon, based on this study. This means that ODA can be assumed to negatively affect the real income of Cameroonians. A reduction in real income might equally lead to a reduced potential to afford basic necessities like healthcare, schooling and housing. As these essentials are not provided for free in Cameroon, this reduced real income may further be held responsible for an overall deterioration of the quality of life. Based on the above findings, the researcher recommends that aid recipient governments put in place supportive systems and strong institutions that are void of corruption and unnecessary bureaucracy so as to better benefit from foreign aid inflows. African countries like Cameroon also need to develop their internal resources and use them to finance and promote their own growth instead of rely on donor funding with diminishing returns. Likewise, the government needs to improve its level of human development through diverting more funds towards developing and facilitating the poor’s access to the country’s education, healthcare, road network and basic amenities like water and sanitation. Finally, inflows in the form of loans rather than grants can better be utilized to promote positive economic growth. While loans are mostly diverted to productive activities, grants may promote dependency, rent-seeking behaviour and bureaucracy. This study is one of the few that relies on country-level data. Most existing studies on foreign aid and its related effects on poverty alleviation were conducted using cross-country data.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Preventive diplomacy and conflict provention in Africa
- Authors: Mandela, Siyabulela
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Diplomatic negotiations in international disputes Conflict management -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13435 , vital:27185
- Description: South Africa‟s participation in international peace missions is guided by the White Paper of 1998 and premised specifically on the country‟s foreign policy objectives based on its vision of “a better South Africa, a better Africa and a better world”. South Africa recognises itself as an integral part of the African continent and therefore sees its national interests as being intrinsically linked to Africa‟s stability, unity and prosperity. Since 1994, South Africa has placed itself at the forefront of Africa's peace and security endeavours, trying to transform itself from international villain during apartheid years to Pan-Africanist peacemaker. The country has played an instrumental role in both shaping and setting the normative agenda of the African Union and Southern African Development Community. South Africa‟s participation in conflict resolution and peace missions in Africa is informed by an understanding of the nexus that exists between peace, security and sustainable development. This research focuses on South Africa‟s diplomatic and peacekeeping engagement in Lesotho, covering the constitutional and electoral crises from 1994 - 2015 constitutional crisis. The author shows the importance and way forward to resolve conflicts before they become escalated and deadly. The study calls for a „timely‟ reaction to disputes and conflicts on the African continent via preventive diplomacy, conflict provention and addressing of underlying issues that give rise to disputes and conflict.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Satisfaction levels of visitors at the Tsitsikamma National Park
- Authors: Maluwa, Lutendo Obed
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Tourism -- Research -- South Africa Consumer behavior -- South Africa , Customer relations -- South Africa National parks and reserves -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18058 , vital:28569
- Description: The literature reviews on tourist satisfaction revealed that a satisfied tourist leads to positive word of mouth recommendation to friends and family, loyalty (return visits), competitive advantage and long-term profitability and sustainability. These favourable benefits resulting from satisfaction are necessary for any destination to survive in the competitive tourism industry. South African National Parks (SANParks) manages all 21 national parks in South Africa, with the TNP being the third in terms of visitor numbers and income generated from tourism products. Data captured from visitors to the TNP was used to achieve the goal and objective of this study. This goal was achieved by conducting a questionnaire survey at Storm’s River rest camp within the TNP from 01 May to 31 July 2015. A total of 120 questionnaires were completed and included in further analysis. The aim of this research was to determine the relationship between satisfaction, service and travel motivations of the visitors to the TNP. The statistical test was used to determine whether or not visitors’ expectations were met. This was also used to determine the relationship between travel behaviour, travel motives, and service satisfaction of the visitors to the TNP. Park management can use these results as tools to ensure that the product offered guarantees visitors’ satisfaction and therefore contributes to long-term park sustainability. Therefore, park management is able to obtain the ideal tourist experience by not only focusing on the travel motives but also on the quality of service delivered at the park. The results showed that park management needs to become aware of what the visitor sees as important factors for a memorable visitor experience and they can adapt certain aspects to improve the visitor’s experience. Park management can therefore improve their services and products as well as the quality thereof by knowing what the tourists see as important when visiting a national park to obtain a memorable experience, which will lead to positive word of mouth sharing, loyalty, increased revenue and sustainability of the TNP.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The challenges of banks in financing SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Msimanga, Dumisile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Small business -- Finance , Business enterprises -- Zimbabwe -- Harare -- Finance Credit -- Zimbabwe -- Harare Entrepreneurship -- Zimbabwe -- Harare
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14058 , vital:27412
- Description: This research is a diagnosis of the supply side of SME (small and medium enterprises) credit. Its objectives are to determine the current level of bank lending to SMEs to validate the financing gap, to explore the strategies and mechanisms employed by banks to provide tailor-made lending for SMEs and finally to conclude by identifying some of the key challenges the banks face in their quest to lend to SMEs. This, then, culminated in some recommendations for increasing bank funding to SMEs. This study employed a deductive qualitative research.. The research used a non-probability, purposive/judgmental sampling method to choose the heads of bank SME units to include in the research. There are twelve banks with dedicated SME units, out of a total of 18. The researcher carried out in-depth face to face interviews using semi-structured questions. The qualitative data was coded, deductively analysed and conclusions drawn and incorporated into a report. Banks’ most outstanding challenges in dealing with SMEs in terms of information asymmetry, an unsupportive business environment, poor quality of SME clients and inflexible regulatory requirements.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The disciplinarisation and professionalisation of development finance in South Africa
- Authors: Dobbin, Jeremy
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Finance -- South Africa Economic development -- South Africa , Finance -- Developing countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15270 , vital:28198
- Description: It has not been previously argued whether development finance can or should be regarded as a distinguishable academic discipline in its own right. The main objective of this study was to create an in-depth understanding of the current perceptions and misconceptions of development finance within the South African financial sector, which have not been formally captured or analysed previously. The research is important in determining the magnitude of contemporary interest in, and the emphasis of, development finance as a means of developing society. Furthermore, public perception influences the funding of future development finance research, the emerging theoretical framework and disciplinarity, access to education and training in the subject area, the level of student participation and enrolment in development finance courses and qualifications, as well as the supply of skilled practitioners. To accomplish the research objectives, an extensive literature review was conducted so as to provide a theoretical framework for the empirical study. Subsequently, self-administrable questionnaires were distributed to a non-probabilistic convenience sample of 319 individuals who have decision-making experience within the South African financial sector. Thirty-one respondents completed the questionnaire and the results were examined by means of non-probabilistic frequency distribution and qualitative analysis, where appropriate. Pervasive disagreement was found to exist among the respondents regarding a number of key issues, including the definition and characteristics of development finance, in addition to its pedagogy, professionalisation, and disciplinarity. A substantial majority of respondents agreed that there is a shortage of development finance experts in South Africa and that local universities should begin to offer students an undergraduate degree majoring in development finance specifically. It is recommended that in order for future development finance research, pedagogy, and practice to be more meaningful, greater conceptual clarity and more consistent usage of terminology and subject boundaries should be employed by stakeholders.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The economic impact of special economic zones: the case of Zimbabwe
- Authors: Murota, Richard
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Economic zoning -- Zimbabwe , Export processing zones -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/19354 , vital:28857
- Description: his study seeks to establish the impact of SEZs in Zimbabwe. Precisely, the study intends to establish whether the creation of economic zones resulted in increase in exports and attracting foreign direct investment. The study used times series data covering the period from 1995 to 2010. Using a conceptual framework adopted from Wang (2009), regression analysis of data using tax as the indicator of incentives was carried out. Firstly, data was transformed into natural logarithms for removal of data asymmetries given the wide variations of some of the variables. The data were subjected to ADF and PP tests for stationarity. The result showed that variables closely follow the normal distribution, a condition necessary for econometric modelling of time series data. The Johansen test was used to check for co-integration and validated that variables were not co-integrated. Analysis of the data revealed that tax incentives had an insignificant impact on both exports and FDIs in Zimbabwe, implying that SEZs did not have any positive effect on exports or FDI. The impulse response and variation decomposition tests were carried out to check responses of exports and FDI to shocks in taxes showed insignificant responses. The empirical results validated that there was no significant relationship between incentives and exports. This means that exports did not increase as expected. Based on these research findings, it can be concluded that special economic zones in Zimbabwe do not have an impact on exports. Regarding FDIs, the empirical results validated that the tax incentives placed on the scheme had an insignificant relationship with FDI inflows. This means that FDI inflows did not increase because of the introduction of the EPZ scheme. Similarly, based on these research findings, it can be concluded that special economic zones’ incentives do not support significant inflows of FDI into Zimbabwe. As Zimbabwe is re-introducing the SEZ scheme it is recommended that the country should enact investor friendly laws, reduce bureaucracy, create an enabling economic environment and exploit its comparative advantages if it is to optimize on the initiative.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The influence of microfinance institutions on small, medium and micro-enterprises in South Africa
- Authors: Baloyi, Norman Tinyiko
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Microfinance -- South Africa Small business -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/17459 , vital:28342
- Description: South Africa, with its establishment of the National Department of Small Business Development, in 2014, made its intentions known for wanting to create a conducive environment by developing and supporting small businesses and cooperatives through financial and non-financial provisions. Nevertheless, there is still a high failure rate of Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs), many of them failing on their first year due to various challenges and circumstances, one of which is lack of access to finances. Banks have been and still are unwilling to provide SMMEs with loans due to SMMEs’ having high-risk levels of failure rates. This gap gives an opportunity to micro-finance institutions (MFIs) to provide financial support to the SMMEs, which comes with the challenge of properly screening the SMMEs and the possible risk of non-payment. The big question is whether MFIs are willing to support SMMEs and whether SMMEs are interested in obtaining support from MFIs. If so, what are the roles, functions and influence of MFIs towards the SMMEs? This study was undertaken to examine the impact and effectiveness of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in discharging their duties and responsibilities towards SMMEs in South Africa, by first considering the nature, challenges and scope of SMMEs as well as the nature and extent, risks, credit ratings, impact assessment and regulations that affect the products and services of MFIs. Both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used in this study. It was found that most SMMEs are making use of the products and services of MFIs. MFIs have been found to provide different reasons for supporting SMMEs, which were also measured and assessed against the previous study, and similar trends were found.The study further found the following: 65% of SMMEs needed microfinance assistance/support from MFIs, 54% of SMMEs were satisfied with the services rendered by MFIs, 35% of MFIs reached out to SMMEs, and 67% of SMMEs preferred formal and registered MFIs for financing of their business activities. The types of risks that most MFIs are faced with were found to be loan repayments from SMMEs, providing smaller loans in order to cater for multiple clients, client dropouts, financial regression, switching of clients, clients engaged with multiple competing MFIs, and making use of informal and unregistered MFIs. Natural disasters such as floods was found to be the least type of a risk. Most SMMEs (approximately 82%) have alluded to the use of informal and unregistered MFIs, due to the convenience of getting support, where there is no screening of the applications, in spite of higher loan interest rates. About 61% of MFIs happen to have a formal screening process of the loan application, which comprises mainly credit checks. No thorough vetting process is done on the clients. Some MFIs (approximately 39%) do not have criteria for assessing whether to fund or not to fund microenterprises, and this is a huge risk, as these MFIs are exposing themselves to non-repayment vulnerabilities by the SMMEs. About 63% of the MFIs were not aware of most of the rules and regulations that affect MFIs, which gives an indication that there is a lack of awareness, education and training.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The influence of tourist attractions on students' preferences to study at NMMU
- Authors: Bailey, Jade
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Tourism -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Students, Foreign -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18232 , vital:28606
- Description: Despite decades of public action by civil society, tourism education has been neglected by policy makers. This is mainly due to the fact that tourism practitioners have not yet developed strategies based on the needs of the communities. The apartheid system created an environment that continues to marginalise those living in poverty-stricken areas with no basic infrastructure. These areas are characterised by the absence of adequate tourism education, training and awareness of opportunities. In fact, tourism education is offered only at a limited number of public and private institutions even though government acknowledges that tourism education is a key element in growing the economy of a country. This study argues that there are many factors that influence the demand for international education. These are push and pull factors that motivate students to travel and study abroad. Push factors are factors that „push‟ tourists toward a particular destination and pull factors are those that „pull‟ tourists toward a destination. The former factors are the needs of the tourists and the latter determine whether or not the needs of the tourists will be met. The primary objective of the study was to obtain a better understanding of tourism and its connection to international education in an effort to attract more students and as a result cause a growth in the tourism industry. The study was based on three research objectives: The first objective was to determine what influences international students to come to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in terms of tourism attractions and activities. The second was to identify the different expectations that international students have about Port Elizabeth. The third objective was to determine the role of NMMU in attracting international students to select it as their primary host university. The main finding of the first objective is that there are push and pull factors which influence international students to come to NMMU. Students participate in individual or group activities such as entertainment, cultural activities, sporting events, sightseeing or shopping and study. Their travel is closely associated with their needs and related to the image of a destination. In terms of the second objective the main finding is that the dynamic, changing environment of Port Elizabeth influences their individual needs and aspirations. Their expectations are based on the motivation factor which stems from a need (a semester abroad and working out where it is best to do this). The decision starts with the collection of information on the various options and ends with the assessment of the traveling experience. The economic, political and technological environments all have an influence on the student needs and the decision made. The main finding in terms of the third objective is that the NMMU Office for International Education has to be creative and innovative in its marketing of the university, the city and the country in order to attract international students. In addition, NMMU must uphold and expand new competencies to continue to be a competitive study abroad destination for international students worldwide. The attractiveness of NMMU can be improved by increasing the marketing material that is being sent out to attract international students and by increasing the destination marketing strategies used by the NMMU Office for International Education.
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- Date Issued: 2017