Exploring the consequences of perceptions of the divine, and the church, in the making of self-identity: a case study of congregants from Roman Catholic and Charismatic communities in East London, South Africa
- Authors: Sundberg, Dianne
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Giddens, Anthony Catholic Church -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies Catholic Church -- Doctrines Glory of God -- Case studies Church -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies Feminist theology -- South Africa Self -- Case studies Identity (Psychology) -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3298 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003086
- Description: This thesis explores the impact and consequences of the teachings of the church, perceptions of The Divine [God] and of Mary, in the making of personal identity. In spite of secularisation and the prediction that the church would collapse in the face of modern science, recent evidence suggests that - in its various forms - religion, and belief in a higher power remain important and potentially powerful aspects in society. A foundation stone of the Christian faith is the doctrine of Imago Dei: humanity created in the image of The Divine. Although not male, The Divine is repeatedly spoken of - and addressed - in anthropomorphic masculine terms, but perceived in gender-specific stereotypical terms. Alongside The Divine - in the Roman Catholic Church - is Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is spoken of in feminine terms, but is also perceived in gender-specific stereotypical terms. Although not officially considered to be divine, Mary fulfils important needs in the life of the believer and it is in this context that her influence is evaluated. The role of the church as a community - and social institution - is also explored, based on Giddens’ theories of identity development. Belonging to a church community can provide a context for relationship, continuity, and trust. However, this potentially positive environment can have negative implications on self-identity in that restrictions on self-expression and personal choice can be as limiting as the sense of belonging is liberating. The patriarchal nature of the church is deemed to be of immense relevance. In order to establish the role of the church, The Divine, and Mary in the making of self-identity, in-depth interviews were conducted with twelve research participants belonging to Charismatic and Roman Catholic congregations, and Giddens’ criteria for self-identity development was used as the standard for evaluating participants’ personal sense of self-identity. Explored from the perspective of feminist theology, the findings of this qualitative research project suggest that it is more than gender language regarding The Divine that affects the agent’s perception of The Divine, and that the role of the church in identity formation is not uniform in its influence. It also concludes that perceptions of Mary can be influential in the development of selfidentity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Sundberg, Dianne
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Giddens, Anthony Catholic Church -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies Catholic Church -- Doctrines Glory of God -- Case studies Church -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies Feminist theology -- South Africa Self -- Case studies Identity (Psychology) -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3298 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003086
- Description: This thesis explores the impact and consequences of the teachings of the church, perceptions of The Divine [God] and of Mary, in the making of personal identity. In spite of secularisation and the prediction that the church would collapse in the face of modern science, recent evidence suggests that - in its various forms - religion, and belief in a higher power remain important and potentially powerful aspects in society. A foundation stone of the Christian faith is the doctrine of Imago Dei: humanity created in the image of The Divine. Although not male, The Divine is repeatedly spoken of - and addressed - in anthropomorphic masculine terms, but perceived in gender-specific stereotypical terms. Alongside The Divine - in the Roman Catholic Church - is Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is spoken of in feminine terms, but is also perceived in gender-specific stereotypical terms. Although not officially considered to be divine, Mary fulfils important needs in the life of the believer and it is in this context that her influence is evaluated. The role of the church as a community - and social institution - is also explored, based on Giddens’ theories of identity development. Belonging to a church community can provide a context for relationship, continuity, and trust. However, this potentially positive environment can have negative implications on self-identity in that restrictions on self-expression and personal choice can be as limiting as the sense of belonging is liberating. The patriarchal nature of the church is deemed to be of immense relevance. In order to establish the role of the church, The Divine, and Mary in the making of self-identity, in-depth interviews were conducted with twelve research participants belonging to Charismatic and Roman Catholic congregations, and Giddens’ criteria for self-identity development was used as the standard for evaluating participants’ personal sense of self-identity. Explored from the perspective of feminist theology, the findings of this qualitative research project suggest that it is more than gender language regarding The Divine that affects the agent’s perception of The Divine, and that the role of the church in identity formation is not uniform in its influence. It also concludes that perceptions of Mary can be influential in the development of selfidentity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Managerial perceptions of corporate social responsibility and social practices present at McDonalds South Africa
- Authors: Böckle, Ingrid
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Case studies , Business ethics -- South Africa -- Case studies , Management -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies , Executives -- Professional ethics -- South Africa -- Case studies , Corporate governance -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies , Business logistics -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies , McDonald's Corporation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3300 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003088
- Description: This study deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and focuses on managerial perceptions of CSR at McDonald’s South Africa (SA) and how social responsibility is translated into social practices. The key objectives of the research are: to analyse McDonald’s both internationally and locally in South Africa to establish whether CSR policies exist, then to investigate how these policies are perceived and integrated by outlet managers. Lastly to investigate what kind of social responsibility (SR) involvement, if at all, occurs at outlet level. The research site covers three regions in South Africa, which are the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. The total research sample is 38. 33 interviewees were outlet managers, who were purposively selected, and 5 additional interviews took place with: 2 McDonald’s SA Head Office representatives, 2 interviews with beneficiaries of McDonald’s SR involvement and 1 with the trade union SACCAWU. The research was carried out through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The design of this research is based on an interpretive social science approach. The aim of the research was to investigate outlet managers’ perceptions of CSR and social practices present at McDonald’s SA outlets. The key findings of the research indicate that: CSR policies at McDonald’s SA head office are not communicated sufficiently to outlet managers, SR involvement is evident, especially for initiatives focusing on children’s welfare, but far too little occurs at the outlet level. There are also too few checks on social involvement by head office and no formal reporting system is available to the outlets except through an internal magazine, called the Big Mag. There is no official CSR report at McDonald’s SA. The fact that no report exists makes this study more relevant since this research investigates matters pertaining to CSR and social practices. The overall significance of the study is that it brings to the forefront the importance of internal company and external broader regulation which is part of the greater debate of CSR. This is because the analysis of managerial perceptions and implementation of CSR shows some unwarranted discrepancies between policies and practices, locally, nationally and internationally even within the same organisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Böckle, Ingrid
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Case studies , Business ethics -- South Africa -- Case studies , Management -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies , Executives -- Professional ethics -- South Africa -- Case studies , Corporate governance -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies , Business logistics -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies , McDonald's Corporation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3300 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003088
- Description: This study deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and focuses on managerial perceptions of CSR at McDonald’s South Africa (SA) and how social responsibility is translated into social practices. The key objectives of the research are: to analyse McDonald’s both internationally and locally in South Africa to establish whether CSR policies exist, then to investigate how these policies are perceived and integrated by outlet managers. Lastly to investigate what kind of social responsibility (SR) involvement, if at all, occurs at outlet level. The research site covers three regions in South Africa, which are the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. The total research sample is 38. 33 interviewees were outlet managers, who were purposively selected, and 5 additional interviews took place with: 2 McDonald’s SA Head Office representatives, 2 interviews with beneficiaries of McDonald’s SR involvement and 1 with the trade union SACCAWU. The research was carried out through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The design of this research is based on an interpretive social science approach. The aim of the research was to investigate outlet managers’ perceptions of CSR and social practices present at McDonald’s SA outlets. The key findings of the research indicate that: CSR policies at McDonald’s SA head office are not communicated sufficiently to outlet managers, SR involvement is evident, especially for initiatives focusing on children’s welfare, but far too little occurs at the outlet level. There are also too few checks on social involvement by head office and no formal reporting system is available to the outlets except through an internal magazine, called the Big Mag. There is no official CSR report at McDonald’s SA. The fact that no report exists makes this study more relevant since this research investigates matters pertaining to CSR and social practices. The overall significance of the study is that it brings to the forefront the importance of internal company and external broader regulation which is part of the greater debate of CSR. This is because the analysis of managerial perceptions and implementation of CSR shows some unwarranted discrepancies between policies and practices, locally, nationally and internationally even within the same organisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
The role of the ward committees as an interface between local government and community: a case study of Makana Municipality
- Authors: Stuurman, Sonwabo Happyboy
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Makana Municipality Local government -- South Africa -- Case studies Local government -- South Africa -- Citizen participation Community development -- South Africa -- Case studies Political participation -- South Africa -- Case studies Democracy -- South Africa South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3292 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003080
- Description: The Ward Committee System was introduced in South Africa in 2001 as a tool to bring government closer to the people and to enhance participatory democracy. The Makana Municipality adopted the system in 2002. Previous research on local government indicates that these structures have not been effective due to the lack of resources to sustain them. This study was interested in furthering such research, using the Makana Municipality as a case study during which unstructured, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with Ward Councillors, Ward Committee Members and Grade 12 learners. The aim of the research was to investigate whether the ward committees did indeed promote the notion of participatory democracy and to what extent grass roots development has been enhanced by this structure of local government. The findings from both the respondents and the observations indicate that, in addition to the lack of resources, the underutilization of the Ward Committee System is a result of the effect of opposing political affiliations within the ward committee system, affiliations that undermine the goal of collaborative decision-making. Whereas the ward committee system is a positive idea, the findings suggest that the government is not supporting these structures by failing to equip the ward committee members with necessary capacities and skills. Therefore, if municipalities are committed to bridging the gap between local government and the community, and are keen to enhance participatory democracy, then capacity building of the ward committees and respect for their role during the decision-making process need to be taken seriously. At present, ward committee members are not influential and active in the decision-making process. In addition, the youth as prospective future ward committee members seemed disillusioned with the notion of participatory democracy, and instead have adopted the mentality that nepotism and corruption, as displayed by those in power, is the only way of governance. This research suggests that the ward committee system, intended to bring government closer to the people, may in fact not only alienate government from the people, but also the people from each other.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Stuurman, Sonwabo Happyboy
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Makana Municipality Local government -- South Africa -- Case studies Local government -- South Africa -- Citizen participation Community development -- South Africa -- Case studies Political participation -- South Africa -- Case studies Democracy -- South Africa South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3292 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003080
- Description: The Ward Committee System was introduced in South Africa in 2001 as a tool to bring government closer to the people and to enhance participatory democracy. The Makana Municipality adopted the system in 2002. Previous research on local government indicates that these structures have not been effective due to the lack of resources to sustain them. This study was interested in furthering such research, using the Makana Municipality as a case study during which unstructured, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with Ward Councillors, Ward Committee Members and Grade 12 learners. The aim of the research was to investigate whether the ward committees did indeed promote the notion of participatory democracy and to what extent grass roots development has been enhanced by this structure of local government. The findings from both the respondents and the observations indicate that, in addition to the lack of resources, the underutilization of the Ward Committee System is a result of the effect of opposing political affiliations within the ward committee system, affiliations that undermine the goal of collaborative decision-making. Whereas the ward committee system is a positive idea, the findings suggest that the government is not supporting these structures by failing to equip the ward committee members with necessary capacities and skills. Therefore, if municipalities are committed to bridging the gap between local government and the community, and are keen to enhance participatory democracy, then capacity building of the ward committees and respect for their role during the decision-making process need to be taken seriously. At present, ward committee members are not influential and active in the decision-making process. In addition, the youth as prospective future ward committee members seemed disillusioned with the notion of participatory democracy, and instead have adopted the mentality that nepotism and corruption, as displayed by those in power, is the only way of governance. This research suggests that the ward committee system, intended to bring government closer to the people, may in fact not only alienate government from the people, but also the people from each other.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
The informal sector : micro-enterprise activities and livelihoods in Makana Municipality, South Africa
- Authors: Mtero, Farai
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa , Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa , Microfinance -- South Africa , Economics -- Sociological aspects , Financial institutions -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3359 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007706 , Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa , Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa , Microfinance -- South Africa , Economics -- Sociological aspects , Financial institutions -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Description: This study examines the nature and characteristics of the informal sector within the Makana municipal area in South Africa. The focus is on the socio-economic characteristics of the informal sector operatives; operational characteristics of the microenterprises that we studied, such as longevity, employment generation, growth potential, and linkages of the informal sector with the formal sector of the economy. Extensive studies on the informal sector have been conducted in many parts of the world relative to South Africa. The key finding in most of these researches is that the informal sector is highly heterogeneous. These studies provide us with the parameters for analysing the nature and characteristics of the informal sector in the Makana Municipality. The results of the thesis show that the majority of people in Makana Municipality join the informal sector as a result of such push factors as unemployment, retrenchment and the need to survive. While there is evidence of lucrative activities amongst the surveyed enterprises, most of the informal sector micro-enterprises are concentrated in the lower segment of the sector where earnings are very low. Results from this study reveal that employment generation (beyond owner-operator) is very limited. The co-existence of a small number of remunerative activities alongside a large proportion of relatively unproductive activities is not only a sign of restricted economic potential but, most importantly, it points to the heterogeneous nature of the informal sector. Precisely, the informal sector encompasses activities which are different in terms of asset holdings, earnings, etc. From the study, it is also evident that the informal sector micro-enterprises play a crucial role in distributing goods produced in the formal sector. Evidence indicates that these micro-enterprises are Iinked to the formal sector. The idea of a 'second economy' devoid of linkages with the 'first economy' is of limited heuristic value. Thus, the 'second economy' is an extension of the first.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Mtero, Farai
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa , Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa , Microfinance -- South Africa , Economics -- Sociological aspects , Financial institutions -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3359 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007706 , Makana Municipality , Local government -- South Africa , Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa , Microfinance -- South Africa , Economics -- Sociological aspects , Financial institutions -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Description: This study examines the nature and characteristics of the informal sector within the Makana municipal area in South Africa. The focus is on the socio-economic characteristics of the informal sector operatives; operational characteristics of the microenterprises that we studied, such as longevity, employment generation, growth potential, and linkages of the informal sector with the formal sector of the economy. Extensive studies on the informal sector have been conducted in many parts of the world relative to South Africa. The key finding in most of these researches is that the informal sector is highly heterogeneous. These studies provide us with the parameters for analysing the nature and characteristics of the informal sector in the Makana Municipality. The results of the thesis show that the majority of people in Makana Municipality join the informal sector as a result of such push factors as unemployment, retrenchment and the need to survive. While there is evidence of lucrative activities amongst the surveyed enterprises, most of the informal sector micro-enterprises are concentrated in the lower segment of the sector where earnings are very low. Results from this study reveal that employment generation (beyond owner-operator) is very limited. The co-existence of a small number of remunerative activities alongside a large proportion of relatively unproductive activities is not only a sign of restricted economic potential but, most importantly, it points to the heterogeneous nature of the informal sector. Precisely, the informal sector encompasses activities which are different in terms of asset holdings, earnings, etc. From the study, it is also evident that the informal sector micro-enterprises play a crucial role in distributing goods produced in the formal sector. Evidence indicates that these micro-enterprises are Iinked to the formal sector. The idea of a 'second economy' devoid of linkages with the 'first economy' is of limited heuristic value. Thus, the 'second economy' is an extension of the first.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
The intermediary function of NGOs in HIV/AIDS responses : a case study of the Lady Frere district of the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mayekiso, Andile
- Date: 2008 , 2013-07-11
- Subjects: HIV infections -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Community organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape HIV infections -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3354 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007584
- Description: The HIV/AIDS epidemic has serious effects on society. It has been described as the biggest threat to the development of South Africa, with severe economic, social and human impact. In the Lady Frere District in the Eastern Cape Province, like in many other areas that are greatly affected by the epidemic in this country, young people are considered by the local Department of Health to be a particularly vulnerable group due to various predisposing biological, social, cultural, and economical factors. Despite the efforts that have been made to educate and encourage prevention, especially by the local Masibambane Non-governmental Organisation (MNGO) to inform these communities about the dangers of the epidemic, people's behaviour have been slow to change and the disease continues to spread. This research is conducted against the escalating HIV / AIDS pandemic in the Lady Frere District. The fundamental aim of this project is to examine the intermediary function of the MNGO in HIV/AIDS responses. The study seeks to evaluate the way in which this local NGO operates on the ground in contributing to a community's response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In other words, the thesis tries to indicate how this local NGO, in dealing with the HIV/AIDS issue, interfaces with the community and related stakeholders. It examines how young people in the Lady Frere District perceive HIV/AIDS. A literature review demonstrates that the specific aims and objectives of this project represent a fairly new area of research in South Africa. I propose in the thesis that a simple act of joining and being regularly involved in a community organisation such as the MNGO will have significant impact on individuals' health and well-being. The thesis is crying for a need to restore the notion of "ubuntu" (meaning humanity) which is fundamentally based on social capital to assist these communities to rebuild trust which is essential in people living with HIV/AIDS. Based on my assessment it seems that intermediary NGOs, like the traditional NGOs and the private sector, will have little impact in terms of changing the conditions of the poor and the marginalised people. This is because in practice, like the conventional NGOs, intermediary NGOs serve the interests of donors and national governments or those who give them financial support to continue existing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Mayekiso, Andile
- Date: 2008 , 2013-07-11
- Subjects: HIV infections -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Community organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape HIV infections -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3354 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007584
- Description: The HIV/AIDS epidemic has serious effects on society. It has been described as the biggest threat to the development of South Africa, with severe economic, social and human impact. In the Lady Frere District in the Eastern Cape Province, like in many other areas that are greatly affected by the epidemic in this country, young people are considered by the local Department of Health to be a particularly vulnerable group due to various predisposing biological, social, cultural, and economical factors. Despite the efforts that have been made to educate and encourage prevention, especially by the local Masibambane Non-governmental Organisation (MNGO) to inform these communities about the dangers of the epidemic, people's behaviour have been slow to change and the disease continues to spread. This research is conducted against the escalating HIV / AIDS pandemic in the Lady Frere District. The fundamental aim of this project is to examine the intermediary function of the MNGO in HIV/AIDS responses. The study seeks to evaluate the way in which this local NGO operates on the ground in contributing to a community's response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In other words, the thesis tries to indicate how this local NGO, in dealing with the HIV/AIDS issue, interfaces with the community and related stakeholders. It examines how young people in the Lady Frere District perceive HIV/AIDS. A literature review demonstrates that the specific aims and objectives of this project represent a fairly new area of research in South Africa. I propose in the thesis that a simple act of joining and being regularly involved in a community organisation such as the MNGO will have significant impact on individuals' health and well-being. The thesis is crying for a need to restore the notion of "ubuntu" (meaning humanity) which is fundamentally based on social capital to assist these communities to rebuild trust which is essential in people living with HIV/AIDS. Based on my assessment it seems that intermediary NGOs, like the traditional NGOs and the private sector, will have little impact in terms of changing the conditions of the poor and the marginalised people. This is because in practice, like the conventional NGOs, intermediary NGOs serve the interests of donors and national governments or those who give them financial support to continue existing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A sociological analysis of intermediary non-governmental organizations and land reform in contemporary Zimbabwe
- Authors: Helliker, Kirk David
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Non-governmental organizations -- Zimbabwe Land reform -- Zimbabwe Land use -- Zimbabwe Sociology -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3303 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003091
- Description: The thesis offers an original sociological understanding of intermediary Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the modern world. This is pursued through a study of NGOs and land reform in contemporary Zimbabwe. The prevailing literature on NGOs is marked by a sociological behaviourism that analyses NGOs in terms of external relations and the object-subject dualism. This behaviourism has both ‘structuralist’ and ‘empiricist’ trends that lead to instrumentalist and functionalist forms of argumentation. The thesis details an alternative conceptual corpus that draws upon the epistemological and theoretical insights of Marx and Weber. The epistemological reasoning of Marx involves processes of deconstruction and reconstruction. This entails conceptualizing NGOs as social forms that embody contradictory relations and, for analytical purposes, the thesis privileges the contradiction between ‘the global’ and ‘the local’. In this regard, it speaks about processes of ‘glocalization’ and ‘glocal modernities’ in which NGOs become immersed. The social field of NGOs is marked by ambiguities and tensions, and NGOs seek to ‘negotiate’ and manoeuvre their way through this field by a variety of organizational practices. Understanding these practices necessitates studying NGOs ‘from within’ and drawing specifically on Weber’s notion of ‘meaning’. These practices often entail activities that stabilize and simplify the world and work of NGOs, and this involves NGOs in prioritizing their own organizational sustainability. In handling the tension between ‘the global’ and ‘the local’, NGOs also tend to privilege global trajectories over local initiatives. The thesis illustrates these points in relation to the work of intermediary NGOs in Zimbabwe over the past ten years. Since the year 2000, a radical restructuring of agrarian relations has occurred, and this has been based upon the massive redistribution of land. In this respect, local empowering initiatives have dramatically asserted themselves against globalizing trajectories. These changes have posed serious challenges to ‘land’ NGOs, that is, NGOs involved in land reform either as advocates for reform or as rural development NGOs. The thesis shows how a range of diverse ‘land’ NGOs has ‘handled’ the heightened contradictions in their social field in ways that maintain their organizational coherence and integrity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Helliker, Kirk David
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Non-governmental organizations -- Zimbabwe Land reform -- Zimbabwe Land use -- Zimbabwe Sociology -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3303 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003091
- Description: The thesis offers an original sociological understanding of intermediary Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the modern world. This is pursued through a study of NGOs and land reform in contemporary Zimbabwe. The prevailing literature on NGOs is marked by a sociological behaviourism that analyses NGOs in terms of external relations and the object-subject dualism. This behaviourism has both ‘structuralist’ and ‘empiricist’ trends that lead to instrumentalist and functionalist forms of argumentation. The thesis details an alternative conceptual corpus that draws upon the epistemological and theoretical insights of Marx and Weber. The epistemological reasoning of Marx involves processes of deconstruction and reconstruction. This entails conceptualizing NGOs as social forms that embody contradictory relations and, for analytical purposes, the thesis privileges the contradiction between ‘the global’ and ‘the local’. In this regard, it speaks about processes of ‘glocalization’ and ‘glocal modernities’ in which NGOs become immersed. The social field of NGOs is marked by ambiguities and tensions, and NGOs seek to ‘negotiate’ and manoeuvre their way through this field by a variety of organizational practices. Understanding these practices necessitates studying NGOs ‘from within’ and drawing specifically on Weber’s notion of ‘meaning’. These practices often entail activities that stabilize and simplify the world and work of NGOs, and this involves NGOs in prioritizing their own organizational sustainability. In handling the tension between ‘the global’ and ‘the local’, NGOs also tend to privilege global trajectories over local initiatives. The thesis illustrates these points in relation to the work of intermediary NGOs in Zimbabwe over the past ten years. Since the year 2000, a radical restructuring of agrarian relations has occurred, and this has been based upon the massive redistribution of land. In this respect, local empowering initiatives have dramatically asserted themselves against globalizing trajectories. These changes have posed serious challenges to ‘land’ NGOs, that is, NGOs involved in land reform either as advocates for reform or as rural development NGOs. The thesis shows how a range of diverse ‘land’ NGOs has ‘handled’ the heightened contradictions in their social field in ways that maintain their organizational coherence and integrity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Public sector industrial relations in the context of alliance politics: the case of Makana Local Municipality, South Africa (1994-2006)
- Authors: Makwembere, Sandra
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003089 , Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This thesis is in the field of Industrial Relations. It concerns a micro-level investigation of the dynamics of public sector industrial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. It focuses on the Tripartite Alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and explores what the Alliance relationship has meant for the traditional roles of employees and their representatives on the one hand, and employers and their representatives on the other. The thesis examines the political, organisational and societal contradictions and implications for COSATU public sector union affiliates and their members in their relationship to the ANC as an ally (via the Alliance) and the context in which ANC members form part of management (in government). The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) was used as an archetype of a COSATU public sector union affiliate that engages with the State as employer at the municipal level. It is a case study of Makana Local Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) using qualitative research techniques and content analysis to derive the relevant information. The author conducted a series of in-depth interviews of key informants and observations at Makana Local Municipality were done. Based on the empirical data obtained from the investigation, the thesis argues that the traditional roles in the employment relationship at the workplace have been affected by the political alliance. Industrial relations roles have become increasingly vague especially since many within local government share ANC/SACP memberships with members of the trade union. The study also highlights that within an increasingly globalising post-apartheid environment, the Alliance provides mixture of benefits and challenges for workplace negotiations and employment relations in ways that macro-level analyses of employer-employee relationships do not always capture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Makwembere, Sandra
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003089 , Makana Municipality , South African Municipal Workers Union , African National Congress , Cosatu , South African Communist Party , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor unions -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: This thesis is in the field of Industrial Relations. It concerns a micro-level investigation of the dynamics of public sector industrial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. It focuses on the Tripartite Alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and explores what the Alliance relationship has meant for the traditional roles of employees and their representatives on the one hand, and employers and their representatives on the other. The thesis examines the political, organisational and societal contradictions and implications for COSATU public sector union affiliates and their members in their relationship to the ANC as an ally (via the Alliance) and the context in which ANC members form part of management (in government). The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) was used as an archetype of a COSATU public sector union affiliate that engages with the State as employer at the municipal level. It is a case study of Makana Local Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) using qualitative research techniques and content analysis to derive the relevant information. The author conducted a series of in-depth interviews of key informants and observations at Makana Local Municipality were done. Based on the empirical data obtained from the investigation, the thesis argues that the traditional roles in the employment relationship at the workplace have been affected by the political alliance. Industrial relations roles have become increasingly vague especially since many within local government share ANC/SACP memberships with members of the trade union. The study also highlights that within an increasingly globalising post-apartheid environment, the Alliance provides mixture of benefits and challenges for workplace negotiations and employment relations in ways that macro-level analyses of employer-employee relationships do not always capture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The role and efficacy of management in influencing the implementation of an occupational health and safety policy : a case study of DaimlerChrysler South Africa East London
- Authors: Pringle, Jessica Samantha
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-04
- Subjects: DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3355 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007589 , DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Description: The existence of an occupational health and safety policy is believed to be evidence of management accepting their occupational health and safety role in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It is accepted that this results in management ensuring the provision of a safe workplace. Despite the emphasis in legislation (the Occupational Health and Safety Act) on the need for management to implement comprehensive occupational health and safety policies, there is a lack of research on the implementation and efficacy of occupational health and safety policies in the workplace. This study investigates the efficacy with which management carries out their occupational health and safety duties and responsibilities when implementing the provisions of an occupational health and safety policy in the workplace. A number of factors are essential to the efficient performance of management in this regard. These factors include managerial commitment, practices and strategies; communication practices and structures; training initiatives and information; the extent of employee and trade union involvement; and the infrastructure of the organisation. This research study is primarily qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were the primary tool used by the researcher to collect the data. The case-study research method was employed to assist the researcher in collecting the data. The participants involved in the research were selected using the principles of strategic informant sampling and expert choice sampling. The participants consisted of a sample of management, employees and shop stewards. The research findings indicate that firstly, the presence of occupational health and safety policies, practices, strategies and systems in the workplace do not automatically result in reduced hazards, accidents or deaths in the workplace. Secondly, the participation schemes and the communication practices put in place by management are weak. The reason for their weakness is their ineffective implementation by management and use by employees and the trade union. Thirdly, management has a definite impact on the involvement, attitudes and actions of the employees and the trade union in occupational health and safety issues. Fourthly, there is an unequal partnership between management and employees as a result of the educational differences regarding occupational health and safety between them. The outcome is that management and employees are faced with numerous challenges in relation to occupational health and safety. Contributing to this challenge is a lack of sufficient resources allocated to training, resulting ultimately in the ineffective monitoring of occupational health and safety in the workplace. The existence of occupational health and safety structures and systems does not provide the essential evidence to suggest that their mere presence makes a difference to the workplace safety level. However, through more co-operation and participation by all the parties, these structures and systems have the potential to be effective. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Pringle, Jessica Samantha
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-04
- Subjects: DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3355 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007589 , DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Description: The existence of an occupational health and safety policy is believed to be evidence of management accepting their occupational health and safety role in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It is accepted that this results in management ensuring the provision of a safe workplace. Despite the emphasis in legislation (the Occupational Health and Safety Act) on the need for management to implement comprehensive occupational health and safety policies, there is a lack of research on the implementation and efficacy of occupational health and safety policies in the workplace. This study investigates the efficacy with which management carries out their occupational health and safety duties and responsibilities when implementing the provisions of an occupational health and safety policy in the workplace. A number of factors are essential to the efficient performance of management in this regard. These factors include managerial commitment, practices and strategies; communication practices and structures; training initiatives and information; the extent of employee and trade union involvement; and the infrastructure of the organisation. This research study is primarily qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were the primary tool used by the researcher to collect the data. The case-study research method was employed to assist the researcher in collecting the data. The participants involved in the research were selected using the principles of strategic informant sampling and expert choice sampling. The participants consisted of a sample of management, employees and shop stewards. The research findings indicate that firstly, the presence of occupational health and safety policies, practices, strategies and systems in the workplace do not automatically result in reduced hazards, accidents or deaths in the workplace. Secondly, the participation schemes and the communication practices put in place by management are weak. The reason for their weakness is their ineffective implementation by management and use by employees and the trade union. Thirdly, management has a definite impact on the involvement, attitudes and actions of the employees and the trade union in occupational health and safety issues. Fourthly, there is an unequal partnership between management and employees as a result of the educational differences regarding occupational health and safety between them. The outcome is that management and employees are faced with numerous challenges in relation to occupational health and safety. Contributing to this challenge is a lack of sufficient resources allocated to training, resulting ultimately in the ineffective monitoring of occupational health and safety in the workplace. The existence of occupational health and safety structures and systems does not provide the essential evidence to suggest that their mere presence makes a difference to the workplace safety level. However, through more co-operation and participation by all the parties, these structures and systems have the potential to be effective. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Women living with HIV/AIDS: a phenomenological intergenerational interpretation of their experiences
- Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Authors: Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- South Africa -- Case studies HIV positive women -- South Africa -- Case studies Poor women -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003095
- Description: This study deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS on women living in chronic poverty. The question arises: Do we focus on their HIV/AIDS stories only or do we include their other lived experiences? This phenomenological study, on two sets of three generations of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty, is an attempt at understanding the way the women experience their lifeworlds, not only their HIV/AIDS stories. One set includes a grandmother, her daughter who is living with full-blown AIDS, and her granddaughter, while the other includes a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter infected with HIV. The initial focus of the study was on the women’s HIV/AIDS narratives. However as the study progressed, especially during the interviews, it became apparent that the women’s generational poverty or chronic poverty was of greater concern to them than the HIV/AIDS that they were experiencing. Of the six participants, only one woman centred her life story on HIV/AIDS. This finding echoes other studies on HIV/AIDS among poor women: that chronic poverty is more threatening to the women than the risk or reality of AIDS. As a phenomenological researcher my aim was to focus on the participants’ own interpretations of the studied phenomenon. However, this was inadequate in accounting for the role that social structures play in shaping and informing the women’s subjective consciousness and experience. For this reason, I used feminist ideas to understand and interpret the women’s patriarchal experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Women living with HIV/AIDS: a phenomenological intergenerational interpretation of their experiences
- Authors: Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- South Africa -- Case studies HIV positive women -- South Africa -- Case studies Poor women -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003095
- Description: This study deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS on women living in chronic poverty. The question arises: Do we focus on their HIV/AIDS stories only or do we include their other lived experiences? This phenomenological study, on two sets of three generations of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty, is an attempt at understanding the way the women experience their lifeworlds, not only their HIV/AIDS stories. One set includes a grandmother, her daughter who is living with full-blown AIDS, and her granddaughter, while the other includes a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter infected with HIV. The initial focus of the study was on the women’s HIV/AIDS narratives. However as the study progressed, especially during the interviews, it became apparent that the women’s generational poverty or chronic poverty was of greater concern to them than the HIV/AIDS that they were experiencing. Of the six participants, only one woman centred her life story on HIV/AIDS. This finding echoes other studies on HIV/AIDS among poor women: that chronic poverty is more threatening to the women than the risk or reality of AIDS. As a phenomenological researcher my aim was to focus on the participants’ own interpretations of the studied phenomenon. However, this was inadequate in accounting for the role that social structures play in shaping and informing the women’s subjective consciousness and experience. For this reason, I used feminist ideas to understand and interpret the women’s patriarchal experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Between the 'sectional' and the 'national' : oil, grassroots discontent and civic discourse in Nigeria
- Authors: Akpan, Wilson Ndarake
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Petroleum industry and trade -- Nigeria Revenue -- Nigeria Nigeria -- Social conditions Nigeria -- Economic conditions Niger River Delta (Nigeria) -- Environmental conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3294 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003082
- Description: This thesis examines the social character of petroleum-related grassroots struggles in Nigeria’s oil-producing region. It does this against the background of the dominant scholarly narratives that portray the struggles as: a) a disguised pursuit of an ethnic/sectional agenda, b) a 'minority rights' project, and c) a minority province’s protest against 'selective' environmental 'victimisation' by the majority ethnic nationalities. While the dominant scholarly analyses of the struggles are based on the activities of the better known activist organisations operating in the oil region, this thesis focuses primarily on the everyday 'grammar' of discontent and lived worlds of ordinary people vis-à-vis upstream petroleum operations and petroleum resource utilisation. The aim has been to gain an understanding of the forces driving community struggles in the oil region and their wider societal significance. Examined alongside the narratives of ordinary people are the legal/institutional framework for upstream petroleum operations and the operational practices of the oil-producing companies. Using primary data obtained through ethnography, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and visual sociology, as well as relevant secondary data, the researcher constructs a discourse matrix, showing how grassroots narratives in selected oilproducing communities intersect with contemporary civic discourses in the wider Nigerian context. The thesis highlights the theoretical and policy difficulties that arise when the social basis of petroleum-related grassroots struggles and ordinary people’s narratives are explained using an essentialist idiom. It reveals, above all, the conditions under which so-called 'locale-specific' struggles in a multi-ethnic, oil-rich African country can become a campaign for the emancipation of ordinary people in the wider society. This research extends the existing knowledge on citizen mobilisation, extractive capitalism, transnational corporate behaviour, and Nigeria’s contemporary development predicament. It sheds light on some of the processes through which ordinary people are forcing upon the state a change agenda that could drive the country along a more socially sensitive development and democratisation trajectory.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Akpan, Wilson Ndarake
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Petroleum industry and trade -- Nigeria Revenue -- Nigeria Nigeria -- Social conditions Nigeria -- Economic conditions Niger River Delta (Nigeria) -- Environmental conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3294 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003082
- Description: This thesis examines the social character of petroleum-related grassroots struggles in Nigeria’s oil-producing region. It does this against the background of the dominant scholarly narratives that portray the struggles as: a) a disguised pursuit of an ethnic/sectional agenda, b) a 'minority rights' project, and c) a minority province’s protest against 'selective' environmental 'victimisation' by the majority ethnic nationalities. While the dominant scholarly analyses of the struggles are based on the activities of the better known activist organisations operating in the oil region, this thesis focuses primarily on the everyday 'grammar' of discontent and lived worlds of ordinary people vis-à-vis upstream petroleum operations and petroleum resource utilisation. The aim has been to gain an understanding of the forces driving community struggles in the oil region and their wider societal significance. Examined alongside the narratives of ordinary people are the legal/institutional framework for upstream petroleum operations and the operational practices of the oil-producing companies. Using primary data obtained through ethnography, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and visual sociology, as well as relevant secondary data, the researcher constructs a discourse matrix, showing how grassroots narratives in selected oilproducing communities intersect with contemporary civic discourses in the wider Nigerian context. The thesis highlights the theoretical and policy difficulties that arise when the social basis of petroleum-related grassroots struggles and ordinary people’s narratives are explained using an essentialist idiom. It reveals, above all, the conditions under which so-called 'locale-specific' struggles in a multi-ethnic, oil-rich African country can become a campaign for the emancipation of ordinary people in the wider society. This research extends the existing knowledge on citizen mobilisation, extractive capitalism, transnational corporate behaviour, and Nigeria’s contemporary development predicament. It sheds light on some of the processes through which ordinary people are forcing upon the state a change agenda that could drive the country along a more socially sensitive development and democratisation trajectory.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Effects of an agribusiness collapse on contract growers and their communities : a case study of Makeni Cooperative Society, Lusaka, Zambia
- Authors: Mfune, Elizabeth
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Zambia , Agricultural industries -- Zambia , Farmers -- Zambia -- Economic conditions , Cooperative societies -- Zambia , Contracts, Agricultural -- Zambia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3357 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007627 , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Zambia , Agricultural industries -- Zambia , Farmers -- Zambia -- Economic conditions , Cooperative societies -- Zambia , Contracts, Agricultural -- Zambia
- Description: This study assesses the effects of an agribusiness collapse, on the contracted growers and their surrounding communities in Lusaka Province, Zambia. In 2004, Agriflora Limited, a Trans-Zambezi Industries Limited (TZI) agribusiness in Lusaka Zambia was sold off. Agriflora Limited was one ofthe largest fresh vegetable exporters in Africa. It had contracted almost 500 small-scale farmers with 1-4 hectares of land within 50 km radius of Lusaka to grow vegetables for export. Makeni Cooperative Society was one of the targeted groups of growers. It grew baby corn, mangetout peas, and sugar snap and fine beans for export. The case study relied on both primary and secondary data. I undertook two months of ethnographic fieldwork utilising observations, in-depth interviews and informal discussions with some community members in Makeni. I also reviewed the literature on contract farming schemes (documenting both the negative and positive effects for growers) in developing countries. The case study showed that the impact of the collapse of Agriflora on the growers has been severe indeed; there has been a significant reduction in production with only a few farmers producing for export. Those that are producing are limited to one crop, baby corn. The effect on the local labour market (farm workers) has been quite drastic with a drop in employment. A new agribusiness company, York Farm, was sourced by the government for the contract growers of Makeni. York Farm has signed a procurement contract under which only sale and purchase conditions are specified. This means that, services such as extension services are no longer provided. It was also found that despite the price for baby corn at York Farm being better than what Agriflora used to offer the farmers, farmers are not producing peas which have a higher turnover than baby corn because York farm does not buy peas from the farmers. However, the farmers are hopeful that they will soon start producing peas after they pass the Eurep gap requirements. Furthermore, the farmers are still interested in contract farming as they are convinced that it can lead to higher farm incomes. While the neoliberal critique of the pre- Structural Adjustment agricultural policies was based on the need to improve rural farming income and productivity, my study shows that the contract farmers are not the "traditional" peasant farmers but retired civil servants or former public sector employees who lost their jobs during the contraction of the sector. In conclusion, my field work revealed that the collapse of Agriflora has had negative effects on the growers of MCS in terms a significant decrease in crop production, decline in farmer income, lack of technical assistance such as extension services, transportation problems (to take produce to the new market-York Farm) and reduced contraction in employment opportunities for farm workers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Mfune, Elizabeth
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Zambia , Agricultural industries -- Zambia , Farmers -- Zambia -- Economic conditions , Cooperative societies -- Zambia , Contracts, Agricultural -- Zambia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3357 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007627 , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Zambia , Agricultural industries -- Zambia , Farmers -- Zambia -- Economic conditions , Cooperative societies -- Zambia , Contracts, Agricultural -- Zambia
- Description: This study assesses the effects of an agribusiness collapse, on the contracted growers and their surrounding communities in Lusaka Province, Zambia. In 2004, Agriflora Limited, a Trans-Zambezi Industries Limited (TZI) agribusiness in Lusaka Zambia was sold off. Agriflora Limited was one ofthe largest fresh vegetable exporters in Africa. It had contracted almost 500 small-scale farmers with 1-4 hectares of land within 50 km radius of Lusaka to grow vegetables for export. Makeni Cooperative Society was one of the targeted groups of growers. It grew baby corn, mangetout peas, and sugar snap and fine beans for export. The case study relied on both primary and secondary data. I undertook two months of ethnographic fieldwork utilising observations, in-depth interviews and informal discussions with some community members in Makeni. I also reviewed the literature on contract farming schemes (documenting both the negative and positive effects for growers) in developing countries. The case study showed that the impact of the collapse of Agriflora on the growers has been severe indeed; there has been a significant reduction in production with only a few farmers producing for export. Those that are producing are limited to one crop, baby corn. The effect on the local labour market (farm workers) has been quite drastic with a drop in employment. A new agribusiness company, York Farm, was sourced by the government for the contract growers of Makeni. York Farm has signed a procurement contract under which only sale and purchase conditions are specified. This means that, services such as extension services are no longer provided. It was also found that despite the price for baby corn at York Farm being better than what Agriflora used to offer the farmers, farmers are not producing peas which have a higher turnover than baby corn because York farm does not buy peas from the farmers. However, the farmers are hopeful that they will soon start producing peas after they pass the Eurep gap requirements. Furthermore, the farmers are still interested in contract farming as they are convinced that it can lead to higher farm incomes. While the neoliberal critique of the pre- Structural Adjustment agricultural policies was based on the need to improve rural farming income and productivity, my study shows that the contract farmers are not the "traditional" peasant farmers but retired civil servants or former public sector employees who lost their jobs during the contraction of the sector. In conclusion, my field work revealed that the collapse of Agriflora has had negative effects on the growers of MCS in terms a significant decrease in crop production, decline in farmer income, lack of technical assistance such as extension services, transportation problems (to take produce to the new market-York Farm) and reduced contraction in employment opportunities for farm workers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Is land tenure a significant variable for promoting agricultural productivity in rural villages?: the case study of Nonkcampa Village in the Buffalo City Municipality, Province of the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Gqokoma, Daniel Atwell
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Buffalo City (South Africa) , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3313 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003101 , Buffalo City (South Africa) , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The research explored the causal relationship between the communal land tenure and the stagnant agricultural productivity in rural villages. It is assumed that there is covariance between the communal land tenure and the stagnant agricultural productivity. The communal land tenure deprived the villagers of the land ownership rights to mortgage their landholdings to secure agricultural credit from financial institutions, or to advance them as own contributions to obtain Government-provided grants under the ILRAD. Under such circumstances, the villagers could not raise the level of agricultural productivity. The Permit to Occupy (PTO) certificates, issued to the landholders, provided for usufruct rights only i.e. right to occupy and use an allotment. The related research was conducted at Nonkcampa village. The metatheory, “Positivism” and the quantitative paradigm were applied to collate and analyse the data. The research findings confirmed the correlation between the land tenure and the agricultural productivity, as the respondents claimed not to have had any access to agricultural inputs. Hence, the agricultural productivity on the arable land had stagnated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Gqokoma, Daniel Atwell
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Buffalo City (South Africa) , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3313 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003101 , Buffalo City (South Africa) , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The research explored the causal relationship between the communal land tenure and the stagnant agricultural productivity in rural villages. It is assumed that there is covariance between the communal land tenure and the stagnant agricultural productivity. The communal land tenure deprived the villagers of the land ownership rights to mortgage their landholdings to secure agricultural credit from financial institutions, or to advance them as own contributions to obtain Government-provided grants under the ILRAD. Under such circumstances, the villagers could not raise the level of agricultural productivity. The Permit to Occupy (PTO) certificates, issued to the landholders, provided for usufruct rights only i.e. right to occupy and use an allotment. The related research was conducted at Nonkcampa village. The metatheory, “Positivism” and the quantitative paradigm were applied to collate and analyse the data. The research findings confirmed the correlation between the land tenure and the agricultural productivity, as the respondents claimed not to have had any access to agricultural inputs. Hence, the agricultural productivity on the arable land had stagnated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Abortion: social implications for nurses conducting termination of pregnancies in East London
- Authors: Naicker, Sumithrie Sasha
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Abortion -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Abortion -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Nurses -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Liberty of conscience -- South Africa -- Nurses , Emergency contraceptives -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3396 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018254
- Description: Abortion is a highly controversial subject that has again come into the spotlight in South Africa due to the legalisation of abortion on demand in 1996. The results of various studies conducted since the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 was implemented, have indicated that abortion providers have met with a great deal of negativism and ostracism. This study focused on the implications of abortion work on nurses' social relationships with family, friends, colleagues and their communities. Recent literature was reviewed on the subject. The researcher however, found little information on this specific aspect of abortion. The study was conducted with abortion nurses from two government designated hospitals in the East London area responsible for abortion services. Thus, results cannot be generalised. This is a qualitative study that aimed at obtaining firsthand information regarding the personal experiences of abortion nurses. A non-probability sampling technique was used viz. criterion sampling. The Interview Guide Approach was used whereby in-depth, semi-structured interviewed were conducted with the guidance of a set of questions in the form of an Interview Schedule. The ten respondents were asked to share their recommendations as to possible measures that could address the challenges mentioned during their interviews. The researcher came to the conclusion that nurses' social relationships and lives are definitely impacted by abortion work. This impact is largely negative as the majority of respondents experience labelling, stigmatization and ostracism from family, friends, and their colleagues. Abortion nurses also experience a lack of social support, ambivalent feelings with regard to abortion, and a range of negative emotions ranging from stress and depression to frustration and anger. A number of repeat abortions are being done and there seems to be a general lack of contraception. The need exists for nurses to go to Value Clarification Workshops and also to get support in terms of compulsory, continuous, counselling. Separate wards should be set up for abortions whilst sex education should be included in school curriculums at both primary and secondary schools. Family planning and facts about the abortion process should also be included in these sex education programmes. Overall. the need exists for family planning initiatives to promote contraception and deter women from using abortion as a means of contraception. As this study reveals, conducting abortions has come at a great cost for the majority of nurses who lack social support and bear the brunt of anti-abortion sentiment expressed by significant others in their lives. The latter being the people who would normally be the one's they would turn to for help, counsel, support and assistance
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Naicker, Sumithrie Sasha
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Abortion -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Abortion -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Nurses -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Liberty of conscience -- South Africa -- Nurses , Emergency contraceptives -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3396 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018254
- Description: Abortion is a highly controversial subject that has again come into the spotlight in South Africa due to the legalisation of abortion on demand in 1996. The results of various studies conducted since the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 was implemented, have indicated that abortion providers have met with a great deal of negativism and ostracism. This study focused on the implications of abortion work on nurses' social relationships with family, friends, colleagues and their communities. Recent literature was reviewed on the subject. The researcher however, found little information on this specific aspect of abortion. The study was conducted with abortion nurses from two government designated hospitals in the East London area responsible for abortion services. Thus, results cannot be generalised. This is a qualitative study that aimed at obtaining firsthand information regarding the personal experiences of abortion nurses. A non-probability sampling technique was used viz. criterion sampling. The Interview Guide Approach was used whereby in-depth, semi-structured interviewed were conducted with the guidance of a set of questions in the form of an Interview Schedule. The ten respondents were asked to share their recommendations as to possible measures that could address the challenges mentioned during their interviews. The researcher came to the conclusion that nurses' social relationships and lives are definitely impacted by abortion work. This impact is largely negative as the majority of respondents experience labelling, stigmatization and ostracism from family, friends, and their colleagues. Abortion nurses also experience a lack of social support, ambivalent feelings with regard to abortion, and a range of negative emotions ranging from stress and depression to frustration and anger. A number of repeat abortions are being done and there seems to be a general lack of contraception. The need exists for nurses to go to Value Clarification Workshops and also to get support in terms of compulsory, continuous, counselling. Separate wards should be set up for abortions whilst sex education should be included in school curriculums at both primary and secondary schools. Family planning and facts about the abortion process should also be included in these sex education programmes. Overall. the need exists for family planning initiatives to promote contraception and deter women from using abortion as a means of contraception. As this study reveals, conducting abortions has come at a great cost for the majority of nurses who lack social support and bear the brunt of anti-abortion sentiment expressed by significant others in their lives. The latter being the people who would normally be the one's they would turn to for help, counsel, support and assistance
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
From labour reserve to investment opportunity: economic development planning in the Mbashe Local Municipal area in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Reynolds, John Hunter
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3353 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007490 , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Planning for economic development at the local level has become increasingly important in many countries of the world. South Africa is no exception and has had the local focus entrenched through constitutional provisions for developmental local government. This developmental approach has been intimately linked to, and influenced by, the broader legislative, policy and planning context within which the development challenges of post-Apartheid South Africa have been addressed. It has also been implemented in a context of far-reaching transformation of public institutions aimed, in the final analysis, at the effective functioning of three spheres of government. In this thesis, the Mbashe Local Municipal area is used as a case study for an examination of the linkages between economic development planning at the local, provincial and national levels. It is not a case study in the sense that an in-depth analysis of practice is undertaken; it is used rather as a lens through which the economic development planning activities of the three spheres of government are viewed. Its value as a lens lies in its location in the former Transkei, which is characterised by high levels of unemployment and poverty and low levels of service infrastructure, and in its status as one of the newly demarcated local municipalities in South Africa. Mbashe is a pilot site of the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme, which has been linked to the Eastern Cape Province's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme. It also includes one of the nodes of the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, which has, since 1998, been promoted as a vehicle for economic development in the former Transkei. Research comprised extensive documentary research, individual interviews with key role players in the Mbashe Local Municipality, the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme and the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, and a group interview with members of the Local Economic Development Sub-Committee of the Mbashe Local Municipal Council. An attempt was made to understand the complex layers of policy and planning frameworks that guide planning at the national and provincial levels and within which local level economic development is situated, and to explore the responses that have been forged by agents within the Mbashe area. Key in this endeavour has been the initiatives developed under the guidance of the Mbashe Local Economic Development Sub-Committee. It is argued that the severe resource constraints faced within Mbashe, combined with limited knowledge of and participation in larger planning and resource mobilisation frameworks, lock Local Economic Development within the top-down and investmentled approaches, rather than the more integrated approach that is promoted in terms of legislation and that is required if poverty is to be addressed successfully. The limitations on state fiscal expenditure and the market-led approach to service provision and economic development, implemented in terms of South Africa's macroeconomic framework, combined with limited synchronisation of planning cycles in which integrated development planning at the local level is privileged, leave little scope for endogenous economic development at local level. There is scope for creative engagement with the interlocking local, provincial, national and continental economies by actively shifting resources in support of integrated, endogenous approaches. Such approaches could serve as counter-narratives to the dominance of neoliberalism and allow for the establishment of local economic development practice that addresses the needs of the poor and that builds integrated local economies under the control of democratic institutions. It is only with such a shifting of approach that economic development within Mbashe will shift the structural conditions that lock it into economic dependence and poverty.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Reynolds, John Hunter
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3353 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007490 , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , Planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Planning for economic development at the local level has become increasingly important in many countries of the world. South Africa is no exception and has had the local focus entrenched through constitutional provisions for developmental local government. This developmental approach has been intimately linked to, and influenced by, the broader legislative, policy and planning context within which the development challenges of post-Apartheid South Africa have been addressed. It has also been implemented in a context of far-reaching transformation of public institutions aimed, in the final analysis, at the effective functioning of three spheres of government. In this thesis, the Mbashe Local Municipal area is used as a case study for an examination of the linkages between economic development planning at the local, provincial and national levels. It is not a case study in the sense that an in-depth analysis of practice is undertaken; it is used rather as a lens through which the economic development planning activities of the three spheres of government are viewed. Its value as a lens lies in its location in the former Transkei, which is characterised by high levels of unemployment and poverty and low levels of service infrastructure, and in its status as one of the newly demarcated local municipalities in South Africa. Mbashe is a pilot site of the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme, which has been linked to the Eastern Cape Province's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme. It also includes one of the nodes of the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, which has, since 1998, been promoted as a vehicle for economic development in the former Transkei. Research comprised extensive documentary research, individual interviews with key role players in the Mbashe Local Municipality, the Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme and the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative, and a group interview with members of the Local Economic Development Sub-Committee of the Mbashe Local Municipal Council. An attempt was made to understand the complex layers of policy and planning frameworks that guide planning at the national and provincial levels and within which local level economic development is situated, and to explore the responses that have been forged by agents within the Mbashe area. Key in this endeavour has been the initiatives developed under the guidance of the Mbashe Local Economic Development Sub-Committee. It is argued that the severe resource constraints faced within Mbashe, combined with limited knowledge of and participation in larger planning and resource mobilisation frameworks, lock Local Economic Development within the top-down and investmentled approaches, rather than the more integrated approach that is promoted in terms of legislation and that is required if poverty is to be addressed successfully. The limitations on state fiscal expenditure and the market-led approach to service provision and economic development, implemented in terms of South Africa's macroeconomic framework, combined with limited synchronisation of planning cycles in which integrated development planning at the local level is privileged, leave little scope for endogenous economic development at local level. There is scope for creative engagement with the interlocking local, provincial, national and continental economies by actively shifting resources in support of integrated, endogenous approaches. Such approaches could serve as counter-narratives to the dominance of neoliberalism and allow for the establishment of local economic development practice that addresses the needs of the poor and that builds integrated local economies under the control of democratic institutions. It is only with such a shifting of approach that economic development within Mbashe will shift the structural conditions that lock it into economic dependence and poverty.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Structures and struggles of rural local government in South Africa: the case of traditional authorities in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Ntsebeza, Lungisile
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Tribal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Political leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Tribal government -- South Africa -- History South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3304 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003092
- Description: This thesis is about the political implications of the constitutional recognition of the hereditary institution of traditional leadership in post-1994 South Africa for the democratization process in the rural areas of the former Bantustans. The thesis is organized around three related conceptual, historical and political questions. The conceptual question deals with the meaning of democracy in rural areas under the jurisdiction of traditional authorities. The historical question traces how the institution and traditional authorities have survived to the present post-colonial period. Lastly, this study investigates the political issue of why an ANC-led government came to recognize the institution. The focus of the thesis is the sphere of rural local government in the Xhalanga district, where these issues are best illustrated. The thesis argues that the institution of traditional leadership and its officials survived precisely because they were incorporated into the colonial and apartheid administrative structures in the project of indirect rule. Traditional authorities were central to the apartheid policy of retribalisation, which was essentially a form of control of Africans in the Bantustans. Rural residents engaged in fierce struggles against the imposition of rural local government structures such as the District Council and Tribal Authorities. In so far as traditional authorities were part of government structures, they could not avoid being targets in these struggles. In explaining the recognition of the institution of traditional leadership, the thesis focuses on the policies of the ANC, the majority party in the Government of National Unity, towards traditional authorities. Organisationally weak on the rural grounds, the ANC operated through what they considered to be “good/progressive/comrade chiefs”. The ANC had hoped that these traditional authorities would accept a non-political ceremonial role. However, traditional authorities have rejected this ceremonial role. Their refusal, coupled with the ANC’s ambivalence in resolving the tension imply, the study concludes, that the (political) citizenship rights of rural people are partial: they are neither citizens nor subjects.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Ntsebeza, Lungisile
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Tribal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Political leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Tribal government -- South Africa -- History South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3304 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003092
- Description: This thesis is about the political implications of the constitutional recognition of the hereditary institution of traditional leadership in post-1994 South Africa for the democratization process in the rural areas of the former Bantustans. The thesis is organized around three related conceptual, historical and political questions. The conceptual question deals with the meaning of democracy in rural areas under the jurisdiction of traditional authorities. The historical question traces how the institution and traditional authorities have survived to the present post-colonial period. Lastly, this study investigates the political issue of why an ANC-led government came to recognize the institution. The focus of the thesis is the sphere of rural local government in the Xhalanga district, where these issues are best illustrated. The thesis argues that the institution of traditional leadership and its officials survived precisely because they were incorporated into the colonial and apartheid administrative structures in the project of indirect rule. Traditional authorities were central to the apartheid policy of retribalisation, which was essentially a form of control of Africans in the Bantustans. Rural residents engaged in fierce struggles against the imposition of rural local government structures such as the District Council and Tribal Authorities. In so far as traditional authorities were part of government structures, they could not avoid being targets in these struggles. In explaining the recognition of the institution of traditional leadership, the thesis focuses on the policies of the ANC, the majority party in the Government of National Unity, towards traditional authorities. Organisationally weak on the rural grounds, the ANC operated through what they considered to be “good/progressive/comrade chiefs”. The ANC had hoped that these traditional authorities would accept a non-political ceremonial role. However, traditional authorities have rejected this ceremonial role. Their refusal, coupled with the ANC’s ambivalence in resolving the tension imply, the study concludes, that the (political) citizenship rights of rural people are partial: they are neither citizens nor subjects.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
The decline of agriculture in rural Transkei: ʺthe case of Mission Location in Butterworthʺ
- Authors: Ngcaba, Siyanda Vincent
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Agriculture -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land use -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3296 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003084 , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land use -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Description: The following dissertation sets out to investigate the decline of agriculture in Mission location at Butterworth, Transkei, using the Rehabilitation Scheme as a benchmark. The scheme was introduced in 1945 to combat soil erosion and improve agriculture in the African reserve areas, as the South African government claimed. The dissertation argues that this claim by the government served to mask the real intentions behind the scheme namely, to regiment the migrant labour system by depriving as many Africans as possible of productive land so that they were unable to fully subsist by means of agriculture. This is further shown by analysing the impact of the Rehabilitation scheme in Mission location in which a substantial number of people lost arable land as a result of the implementation of the scheme in 1945. These people were consequently denied the wherewithal to subsist by agriculture. Moreover, the efforts of the government resulted to a modernisation of agriculture by making it more cash-based- for example through the introduction of fencing, the need for tractors as a result of a decline in stock numbers (in part as a result of stock culling). Most people could hardly afford this type of agriculture and were consequently forced off the land. The dissertation concludes that indeed the decline of agriculture in Mission location can be linked to the changing agricultural and land-holding practices brought about by the government- especially the introduction of the Rehabilitation scheme.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Ngcaba, Siyanda Vincent
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Agriculture -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land use -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3296 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003084 , Agriculture -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land use -- South Africa -- Transkei , Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Description: The following dissertation sets out to investigate the decline of agriculture in Mission location at Butterworth, Transkei, using the Rehabilitation Scheme as a benchmark. The scheme was introduced in 1945 to combat soil erosion and improve agriculture in the African reserve areas, as the South African government claimed. The dissertation argues that this claim by the government served to mask the real intentions behind the scheme namely, to regiment the migrant labour system by depriving as many Africans as possible of productive land so that they were unable to fully subsist by means of agriculture. This is further shown by analysing the impact of the Rehabilitation scheme in Mission location in which a substantial number of people lost arable land as a result of the implementation of the scheme in 1945. These people were consequently denied the wherewithal to subsist by agriculture. Moreover, the efforts of the government resulted to a modernisation of agriculture by making it more cash-based- for example through the introduction of fencing, the need for tractors as a result of a decline in stock numbers (in part as a result of stock culling). Most people could hardly afford this type of agriculture and were consequently forced off the land. The dissertation concludes that indeed the decline of agriculture in Mission location can be linked to the changing agricultural and land-holding practices brought about by the government- especially the introduction of the Rehabilitation scheme.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Where the global meets the local : South African youth and their experience of global media
- Authors: Strelitz, Larry Nathan
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Mass media and youth -- South Africa Mass media -- Sociological aspects Mass media and culture -- South Africa Youth -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003078
- Description: Within the context of debates concerning the impact of global media on local youth, this study explores how a sample of South African youth responds to texts which were produced internationally, but distributed locally. Recognising the profound rootedness of media consumption in everyday life, the research examines the way these youth, differentially embedded in the South African economic and ideological formation, use these texts as part of their ongoing attempts to make sense of their lives. The study rejects the 'either/or' formulations that often accompany competing structuralist and culturalist approaches to text/audience relationships. Instead, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, it seeks to highlight the interplay between agency and structure, between individual choice and the structuring of experience by wider social and historical factors. The findings of the study point to the complex individual and social reasons that lie behind media consumption choices, and the diverse (and socially patterned) reasons why local audiences are either attracted to, or reject, global media. These and other findings, the study argues, highlight the deficiencies of the media imperialism thesis with its definitive claims for cultural homogenisation, seen as the primary, or most politically significant, effect of the globalisation of media. As such, this study should be read as a dialogue with those schools of thought that take a more unequivocal point of view on the impact of globalised media culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Strelitz, Larry Nathan
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Mass media and youth -- South Africa Mass media -- Sociological aspects Mass media and culture -- South Africa Youth -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003078
- Description: Within the context of debates concerning the impact of global media on local youth, this study explores how a sample of South African youth responds to texts which were produced internationally, but distributed locally. Recognising the profound rootedness of media consumption in everyday life, the research examines the way these youth, differentially embedded in the South African economic and ideological formation, use these texts as part of their ongoing attempts to make sense of their lives. The study rejects the 'either/or' formulations that often accompany competing structuralist and culturalist approaches to text/audience relationships. Instead, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, it seeks to highlight the interplay between agency and structure, between individual choice and the structuring of experience by wider social and historical factors. The findings of the study point to the complex individual and social reasons that lie behind media consumption choices, and the diverse (and socially patterned) reasons why local audiences are either attracted to, or reject, global media. These and other findings, the study argues, highlight the deficiencies of the media imperialism thesis with its definitive claims for cultural homogenisation, seen as the primary, or most politically significant, effect of the globalisation of media. As such, this study should be read as a dialogue with those schools of thought that take a more unequivocal point of view on the impact of globalised media culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Exploring the suitability of the evaluation criteria used in the MPT projects, by looking at hard and soft components of development programmes
- Authors: Ncapai, Wandile
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3397 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018255
- Description: The study explores the suitability of the evaluation criteria used in Microprojects Programme Trust (MPT), by looking at hard and soft components of the development programme. In this sense hard components of development refer to those components of projects that are tangible and can be physically observed and can bring material changes to the life of the community. Soft components of development refer to those components of projects that bring qualitative transformation to the life of the community, i.e. increased levels of awareness, human well-being and the empowerment process that addresses the community's abstract needs, these are not tangible and often cannot be physically observed. Midway through its contract periods MPT evaluate all projects. The purpose of these mid term evaluations is to make recommendations to MPT on future approaches and methodology for community development and operations. The mid-term evaluation also influences the distribution and allocation of resources and funding. It was therefore vital that the criteria used are subject to tests and critical analysis so as to assess their validity. The assessment of the mid-term evaluation criteria used in MPT projects has been to further determine the appropriateness or suitability of the evaluation criteria as an instrument to measure and guide the MPT community development approach in the Eastern Cape. The method used was to conduct focus group discussions so as to get an insight into the local community situation as well as to assess non-tangible improvements and changes that have occurred in the life of the community as a result of the project. The information generated was used to compare what the community believe they achieved with what the official mid-term evaluation reports indicate was assessed and achieved and that was contrasted with what the literature recommends should have been assessed. The study found that the mid-term evaluations conducted on MPT projects have no social context in which the evaluations themselves were conducted. The terms of reference and criteria were based on the programme design which was formulated and compiled by the European Union without the participation of the local South African community. The findings also indicated that projects become unsuccessful or partly successful if the "soft" components which have a bearing on social and economic realities are neglected. The thesis ends with recommendations on how the mid-term evaluations as well as MPT programme can be developed to be more responsive to the needs as identified by the communities themselves. It is strongly believed that this study will provide a valuable contribution towards increasing the ability of MPT programme to bring about both material and qualitative transformation to the I ives of the disadvantaged community of the Eastern Cape whilst ensuring that the mid-term evaluations are developed and shaped to become an appropriate instrument to measure and guide MPT programme approach to community development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Ncapai, Wandile
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3397 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018255
- Description: The study explores the suitability of the evaluation criteria used in Microprojects Programme Trust (MPT), by looking at hard and soft components of the development programme. In this sense hard components of development refer to those components of projects that are tangible and can be physically observed and can bring material changes to the life of the community. Soft components of development refer to those components of projects that bring qualitative transformation to the life of the community, i.e. increased levels of awareness, human well-being and the empowerment process that addresses the community's abstract needs, these are not tangible and often cannot be physically observed. Midway through its contract periods MPT evaluate all projects. The purpose of these mid term evaluations is to make recommendations to MPT on future approaches and methodology for community development and operations. The mid-term evaluation also influences the distribution and allocation of resources and funding. It was therefore vital that the criteria used are subject to tests and critical analysis so as to assess their validity. The assessment of the mid-term evaluation criteria used in MPT projects has been to further determine the appropriateness or suitability of the evaluation criteria as an instrument to measure and guide the MPT community development approach in the Eastern Cape. The method used was to conduct focus group discussions so as to get an insight into the local community situation as well as to assess non-tangible improvements and changes that have occurred in the life of the community as a result of the project. The information generated was used to compare what the community believe they achieved with what the official mid-term evaluation reports indicate was assessed and achieved and that was contrasted with what the literature recommends should have been assessed. The study found that the mid-term evaluations conducted on MPT projects have no social context in which the evaluations themselves were conducted. The terms of reference and criteria were based on the programme design which was formulated and compiled by the European Union without the participation of the local South African community. The findings also indicated that projects become unsuccessful or partly successful if the "soft" components which have a bearing on social and economic realities are neglected. The thesis ends with recommendations on how the mid-term evaluations as well as MPT programme can be developed to be more responsive to the needs as identified by the communities themselves. It is strongly believed that this study will provide a valuable contribution towards increasing the ability of MPT programme to bring about both material and qualitative transformation to the I ives of the disadvantaged community of the Eastern Cape whilst ensuring that the mid-term evaluations are developed and shaped to become an appropriate instrument to measure and guide MPT programme approach to community development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
The pursuit of paternal custody
- Authors: Pieterse, Johanna Tyziena
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Custody of children -- South Africa , Paternal custody -- South Africa , Divorced fathers -- South Africa , Father and child -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3398 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018266
- Description: Issues concerning children may be the most intense and emotive areas of divorce and can lead to spectacular legal battles. Social work practice revealed that it is often the father who leaves the court, stripped of his fatherhood by a court order that only grants him limited access to his own children. Some divorced fathers disengage from their children's lives but there is documented evidence of South African fathers who desire continuity in their relationships with their children after divorce. An interest in these fathers prompted this study. Fathers who challenged maternal custody were selected since it was assumed that their lived experiences would include non-custodial as well as custodial fatherhood. The study was approached from a constructivist position and was further informed by a family systems theory. South African and international literature was perused followed by an exploratory study on the relatively uncharted terrain of paternal custody. A qualitative method was used and one unstructured interview with a schedule was conducted with each of the five respondents who were selected according to non-probability purposive sampling methods. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed cross-sectionally around certain themes and categories that were extracted from the data. The most significant findings of the study which appear to resemble some earlier national and international findings, are summarised as follows: Some fathers appear to have sound motives for pursuing custody of their children. These fathers, if afforded the opportunity, find fulfilment in parenting their children whom they perceive to be happy and prosperous in their care. There are fathers in whom divorce causes clear and profound signs of distress which appear to be related to the loss of the pre-divorce father I child relationship. The feeling of powerlessness to effect the well-being of their children as they see it was emphasised. Recommendations generated from these findings relate to the elimination of gender bias from custody decisions, including fathers in therapeutic interventions with divorced families and the provision of family courts and mediation services as suggested in the White Paper for Social Welfare. Recommendations for future research are also presented.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Pieterse, Johanna Tyziena
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Custody of children -- South Africa , Paternal custody -- South Africa , Divorced fathers -- South Africa , Father and child -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3398 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018266
- Description: Issues concerning children may be the most intense and emotive areas of divorce and can lead to spectacular legal battles. Social work practice revealed that it is often the father who leaves the court, stripped of his fatherhood by a court order that only grants him limited access to his own children. Some divorced fathers disengage from their children's lives but there is documented evidence of South African fathers who desire continuity in their relationships with their children after divorce. An interest in these fathers prompted this study. Fathers who challenged maternal custody were selected since it was assumed that their lived experiences would include non-custodial as well as custodial fatherhood. The study was approached from a constructivist position and was further informed by a family systems theory. South African and international literature was perused followed by an exploratory study on the relatively uncharted terrain of paternal custody. A qualitative method was used and one unstructured interview with a schedule was conducted with each of the five respondents who were selected according to non-probability purposive sampling methods. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed cross-sectionally around certain themes and categories that were extracted from the data. The most significant findings of the study which appear to resemble some earlier national and international findings, are summarised as follows: Some fathers appear to have sound motives for pursuing custody of their children. These fathers, if afforded the opportunity, find fulfilment in parenting their children whom they perceive to be happy and prosperous in their care. There are fathers in whom divorce causes clear and profound signs of distress which appear to be related to the loss of the pre-divorce father I child relationship. The feeling of powerlessness to effect the well-being of their children as they see it was emphasised. Recommendations generated from these findings relate to the elimination of gender bias from custody decisions, including fathers in therapeutic interventions with divorced families and the provision of family courts and mediation services as suggested in the White Paper for Social Welfare. Recommendations for future research are also presented.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
A history of land tenure in the Herschel district, Transkei
- Authors: Viedge, Bronwen Elizabeth
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- History -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3338 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003808
- Description: A historical review of land tenure systems implemented in the Herschel district, Eastern Cape, South Africa and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each system in conjunction with international experience of land tenure provide guidelines as to what elements could be incorporated in the formulation of a new integrated land tenure system. These guidelines together with the information obtained from a questionnaire survey amongst the Herschel population provide the government of South Africa with a broad outline of an integrated land tenure system that could serve to link the former homelands to the land tenure system that currently operates in the rest of the country thereby removing one of the obstacles to rural development and land redistribution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Viedge, Bronwen Elizabeth
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Land tenure -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei Land tenure -- History -- Herschel -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3338 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003808
- Description: A historical review of land tenure systems implemented in the Herschel district, Eastern Cape, South Africa and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each system in conjunction with international experience of land tenure provide guidelines as to what elements could be incorporated in the formulation of a new integrated land tenure system. These guidelines together with the information obtained from a questionnaire survey amongst the Herschel population provide the government of South Africa with a broad outline of an integrated land tenure system that could serve to link the former homelands to the land tenure system that currently operates in the rest of the country thereby removing one of the obstacles to rural development and land redistribution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001