Mbonalelo kha vhurangaphanda ha vhafumakadzi: young Vhavenḓa women’s views on their traditional leadership roles historically and post-1994
- Authors: Nengwekhulu, Omphulusa
- Date: 2025-04-25
- Subjects: Chiefdoms South Africa , South Africa Politics and government 1994- , Colonialism , Apartheid South Africa , Primogeniture South Africa , Patriarchy South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478427 , vital:78186
- Description: This is a qualitative research study that examines how young Vhavenḓa women in post-apartheid South Africa views different traditional leadership roles that Vhavenḓa women have historically played and continue to play in Venḓa society. Therefore, the research question that this Master of Arts (MA) research study sought to research is the following: How do young, 21st-century Vhavenḓa women view the traditional leadership roles historically and currently held by Vhavenḓa women in Vhavenḓa society? To grapple with this research question, this study employed a combination of purposive and snowball sampling strategies to recruit seven research participants. Research participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach, which allowed the researcher to build rapport with research participants. Data was manually coded into five themes, namely: 1) The Role of Makhadzi in Traditional Leadership Among the Venḓa Community, 2) The Role of Vhakoma in Traditional Leadership Among the Venḓa Community, 3) The Role of Vhakololo in Traditional Leadership Among the Venḓa Community, 4) The customary practice of male primogeniture and how it contradicts the South African Constitution post-1994, and 5) The socialisation process that puts boys and men on a leadership pedestal. The data was then analysed and discussed in Chapters Four and Five through an Africana Womanist theoretical framework. An important finding in this study is that makhadzi, the father’s sister and also a woman who is a custodian of traditional leadership, is the traditional role that all the participants recognised as the leadership role that Vhavenḓa women have historically played and continue to play. Another role identified by participants as significant within the Venḓa leadership structure is Vhakoma, the Queen Mother and the chief's mother. However, there was limited familiarity with the role of Vhakololo, the royal members or people born into the royal family, as only one participant identified it as a leadership role traditionally occupied by Vhavenḓa women. Research participants suggested that colonial modernity contributes to a lack of knowledge about their culture. Another important finding of this study is that in post-1994 South Africa, there has been a tension between customary practices such as male primogeniture and the South African Constitution. Consequently, some women leaders have used the courts to challenge this practice. Ultimately, this study contributes to the discourse about women’s empowerment and the dismantling of patriarchal structures that undermine women's potential as leaders in the Venḓa context. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-25
- Authors: Nengwekhulu, Omphulusa
- Date: 2025-04-25
- Subjects: Chiefdoms South Africa , South Africa Politics and government 1994- , Colonialism , Apartheid South Africa , Primogeniture South Africa , Patriarchy South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478427 , vital:78186
- Description: This is a qualitative research study that examines how young Vhavenḓa women in post-apartheid South Africa views different traditional leadership roles that Vhavenḓa women have historically played and continue to play in Venḓa society. Therefore, the research question that this Master of Arts (MA) research study sought to research is the following: How do young, 21st-century Vhavenḓa women view the traditional leadership roles historically and currently held by Vhavenḓa women in Vhavenḓa society? To grapple with this research question, this study employed a combination of purposive and snowball sampling strategies to recruit seven research participants. Research participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach, which allowed the researcher to build rapport with research participants. Data was manually coded into five themes, namely: 1) The Role of Makhadzi in Traditional Leadership Among the Venḓa Community, 2) The Role of Vhakoma in Traditional Leadership Among the Venḓa Community, 3) The Role of Vhakololo in Traditional Leadership Among the Venḓa Community, 4) The customary practice of male primogeniture and how it contradicts the South African Constitution post-1994, and 5) The socialisation process that puts boys and men on a leadership pedestal. The data was then analysed and discussed in Chapters Four and Five through an Africana Womanist theoretical framework. An important finding in this study is that makhadzi, the father’s sister and also a woman who is a custodian of traditional leadership, is the traditional role that all the participants recognised as the leadership role that Vhavenḓa women have historically played and continue to play. Another role identified by participants as significant within the Venḓa leadership structure is Vhakoma, the Queen Mother and the chief's mother. However, there was limited familiarity with the role of Vhakololo, the royal members or people born into the royal family, as only one participant identified it as a leadership role traditionally occupied by Vhavenḓa women. Research participants suggested that colonial modernity contributes to a lack of knowledge about their culture. Another important finding of this study is that in post-1994 South Africa, there has been a tension between customary practices such as male primogeniture and the South African Constitution. Consequently, some women leaders have used the courts to challenge this practice. Ultimately, this study contributes to the discourse about women’s empowerment and the dismantling of patriarchal structures that undermine women's potential as leaders in the Venḓa context. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-25
Changing lenses: the problems and potential of liberalism in South Africa
- Authors: Songelwa, Chuma
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Mills, Charles W (Charles Wade) , The Racial Contract , Liberalism South Africa , South Africa Politics and government 1994- , Political culture South Africa , Imperialism South Africa , Post-apartheid era South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425283 , vital:72226
- Description: This thesis explores liberal and hybrid approaches to peacebuilding and their decisiveness in building sustainable peace in Sierra Leone. Contemporary peacebuilding interventions have been dominated by liberal peacebuilding, also known as liberal state-building. Post-conflict states have been transforming to replicate liberal states due to assumptions of liberal states being more peaceful and less likely to fall into conflict again than non-liberal states. There is growing criticism regarding the effectiveness of this approach as its initiatives have not always translated to sustainable peace. This failure is attributed to its minimal inclusion or exclusion of local actors in the peacebuilding process as well as its application of standardised approaches in complex contexts. In response to these shortfalls, international peacebuilding scholars propose an alternative approach that would combine the liberal and the local to produce a hybrid peace, which is inclusive and context-specific. This thesis tests the decisiveness of these approaches by examining the successful peacebuilding process in Sierra Leone. It then concludes that the peacebuilding interventions of Sierra Leone demonstrate how liberal peacebuilding initiatives have little or limited success when conducted without the inclusion of local actors. However, when local actors are included in the peace-building process to make meaningful contributions (hybrid peacebuilding), peacebuilding initiatives can have a much larger impact on society. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
- Authors: Songelwa, Chuma
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Mills, Charles W (Charles Wade) , The Racial Contract , Liberalism South Africa , South Africa Politics and government 1994- , Political culture South Africa , Imperialism South Africa , Post-apartheid era South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425283 , vital:72226
- Description: This thesis explores liberal and hybrid approaches to peacebuilding and their decisiveness in building sustainable peace in Sierra Leone. Contemporary peacebuilding interventions have been dominated by liberal peacebuilding, also known as liberal state-building. Post-conflict states have been transforming to replicate liberal states due to assumptions of liberal states being more peaceful and less likely to fall into conflict again than non-liberal states. There is growing criticism regarding the effectiveness of this approach as its initiatives have not always translated to sustainable peace. This failure is attributed to its minimal inclusion or exclusion of local actors in the peacebuilding process as well as its application of standardised approaches in complex contexts. In response to these shortfalls, international peacebuilding scholars propose an alternative approach that would combine the liberal and the local to produce a hybrid peace, which is inclusive and context-specific. This thesis tests the decisiveness of these approaches by examining the successful peacebuilding process in Sierra Leone. It then concludes that the peacebuilding interventions of Sierra Leone demonstrate how liberal peacebuilding initiatives have little or limited success when conducted without the inclusion of local actors. However, when local actors are included in the peace-building process to make meaningful contributions (hybrid peacebuilding), peacebuilding initiatives can have a much larger impact on society. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
Student protests in South African universities with specific reference to Rhodes University (1970-1994)
- Authors: Gillam, Katherine Elaine
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Student movements South Africa Makhanda History , Students Political activity South Africa Makhanda , College students, Black Political activity South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes Must Fall , FeesMustFall , South Africa Politics and government 1994- , Democratic transition
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178457 , vital:42941
- Description: This thesis is about student protest at Rhodes University from 1970- 1994 It examines how student protests mirrored broader political and economic contexts in this period. Further this thesis also investigates the changes in student protest over the years. As democracy drew closer, student protests at Rhodes became less apparent. This thesis consults numerous sources which include books, articles, archives and extensive interviews. A significant aspect of this work is that the research on the Black Students Movement at Rhodes University has not been explored in detail, particularly in scholarly works. This thesis therefore contributes to the historiography of black student politics at a historically white university. It also explores the period of democratic transition in South Africa, where secondary issues such as gender and access came to the forefront of student protests. As democracy drew closer, student protests became infrequent on campus due to the changes anticipated under the newly elected democratic government. Despite sparse protests, black students remained sceptical of the democratic transition. The thesis uncovers that many issues were left unresolved which later resurfaced under the 2015 and 2016 #RhodesMustFall, #FeesMustFall and #RUReferenceList protests. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Gillam, Katherine Elaine
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Student movements South Africa Makhanda History , Students Political activity South Africa Makhanda , College students, Black Political activity South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes Must Fall , FeesMustFall , South Africa Politics and government 1994- , Democratic transition
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178457 , vital:42941
- Description: This thesis is about student protest at Rhodes University from 1970- 1994 It examines how student protests mirrored broader political and economic contexts in this period. Further this thesis also investigates the changes in student protest over the years. As democracy drew closer, student protests at Rhodes became less apparent. This thesis consults numerous sources which include books, articles, archives and extensive interviews. A significant aspect of this work is that the research on the Black Students Movement at Rhodes University has not been explored in detail, particularly in scholarly works. This thesis therefore contributes to the historiography of black student politics at a historically white university. It also explores the period of democratic transition in South Africa, where secondary issues such as gender and access came to the forefront of student protests. As democracy drew closer, student protests became infrequent on campus due to the changes anticipated under the newly elected democratic government. Despite sparse protests, black students remained sceptical of the democratic transition. The thesis uncovers that many issues were left unresolved which later resurfaced under the 2015 and 2016 #RhodesMustFall, #FeesMustFall and #RUReferenceList protests. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
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