Community development and sustainable livelihoods: the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm cattle farming co-operative, South Africa
- Authors: Mnwana, Zandile
- Date: 2021-12
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa , Agriculture, Cooperative -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/54925 , vital:48481
- Description: In the South African context, co-operatives are mostly established to ease the impact of unemployment and poverty, particularly in rural communities. The Kruisfontein Cattle Farming Co-operative is no different, as it was formed by a group of farmers who were looking into converting their herd from that of a poor genetic quality, low-value breed to a superior quality breed. These farmers were all facing similar challenges prior to forming the co-operative and they hoped that through working together they would be able to overcome some of the challenges they faced and thus become a successful co-operative that can compete with established farmers. The Jeffery’s Bay Wind Farm carried a mandate from the Department of Energy, through the REIPPP, to ensure that a portion of its profits is redirected to assist communities that are within a 50km radius of the JBWF. The Kruisfontein Cattle Farming Co-operative became part of the programme and the JBWF’s project manager became the person responsible for the smooth running of the programme. However, research conducted in this field has revealed that in most cases project managers in the renewable energy sector encounter challenges when implementing community development initiatives and they may lack an in-depth understanding of what community or social development entails, as it might not necessarily be an area of expertise for them. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how the Kruisfontein Cattle Farming Co-operative has influenced the livelihoods of the beneficiaries. The theories that were adopted and deemed applicable to this study included the traditional modernisation theory, dependency theory and sustainable development. The study employed a qualitative approach and a case study research design. The study made use of primary data collected through semi-structured interviews and documents, and an interview schedule was employed to carry out the interviews. In terms of sampling, the researcher made use of convenience sampling, which is a form of non-probability sampling. All the members of the Kruisfontein Cattle Farming Co-operative, which was the entire population of the study, were interviewed, thus making the sample type a census. The study explored how the Kruisfontein Cattle Farming Co-operative has influenced the livelihoods of the beneficiaries and revealed that since the involvement of the JBWF, the co-operative has recorded several achievements such as fencing around the grazing land and cattle kraal as well as calves of a superior breed that will enable the beneficiaries to receive good prices when selling their cattle. However, the co-operative is faced with challenges associated with weak livelihood assets, as the asset pentagon illustrated that the beneficiaries have moderate access to physical, human and social capital, while their natural capital is low, and their financial capital is significantly low. An overreliance on nature-based activities as a livelihood strategy is also a challenge facing the co-operative. Lastly, notwithstanding the abovementioned challenges, it can be concluded that the Kruisfontein Cattle Farming Co-operative has had a positive influence on the livelihoods of the beneficiaries, as they indicated that they experienced reduced vulnerability through the fenced grazing land and anticipated an improvement in their financial capital status through the increased income they would receive from selling cattle of a superior breed. , Thesis (MADS) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-12
An evaluation of the impact of communication on service delivery and customer satisfaction in selected municipalities, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Tyembile, Sandiso
- Date: 2015-01
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa , Human services , Political participation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/26270 , vital:65226
- Description: Local government has a legal obligation and a political responsibility to ensure regular and effective communication with the community. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 1996 and other statutory enactments all impose an obligation on local government communicators and require high levels of transparency, accountability, openness, participatory democracy and direct communication with the communities to improve service delivery and the lives of all. However, this study was to assess the impact of communication on service delivery and customer satisfaction in the selected municipalities in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The research involved the collection of qualitative and quantitative data through simple random and convenience samplings. The data were collected using survey questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews at two municipalities namely; Lukhanji local municipality and Intsika Yethu local municipality. Subsequently, data were analysed using descriptive and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and through thematic analysis. The findings of this study showed that municipal executive, management, supervisors and the citizens or customers value communication in government because it gives support to service delivery and most of the communication programmes are effective. Nevertheless, the findings showed that a lot still needs to be done to improve municipal communication and also ensure more direct engagements and feedback with the communities. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2015
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- Date Issued: 2015-01
Trade unions, community organisation and politics: a local case study on the East Rand
- Authors: Holdt, K von
- Date: 19--?
- Subjects: Labour unions -- South Africa , Labour unions -- Political activity -- South Africa , Community development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73269 , vital:30171
- Description: This dissertation sets out as a challenge to two trends in the analysis of the trade union movement. The first trend implies that there is no fundamental difference in political strategy between the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) which was formed in 1985 and included amongst others all the FOSATU affiliates. Swilling for instance writes that the unions established in the 1970s "shunned distinctions between economic and political issues and stridently challenged state policies" (Swilling, 1987: 2). Maree too implies that the involvement of the industrial unions in community and political struggles in the mid-1980s was not incompatible with their earlier position (1987: 10).
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- Date Issued: 19--?