The nexus between territorial border controls, informal cross border trading and economic security in Zimbabwe: the case of Beitbridge Border Post
- Authors: Nare, Hilary
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Informal sector (Economics) Zimbabwe , South Africa Commerce Zimbabwe , Border security Zimbabwe , Economic security Zimbabwe , Beitbridge (Zimbabwe) , Zimbabwe Politics and government , Zimbabwe Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365977 , vital:65807 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/365977
- Description: Informal cross border trade is central to the lives of many Zimbabweans, with informal trade across the Zimbabwean-South African border being of particular importance. This entails travelling through the Beitbridge border post on the Zimbabwean side, with Zimbabwean informal traders purchasing items in South Africa for resale in Zimbabwe. In doing so, they contribute not only to their own economic security but likely to the economic security of other Zimbabweans deeply affected by the ongoing crisis in the country. Often times, when examining the lives of Zimbabwe’s informal traders, the border post is not subjected to sustained focus and analysis. Yet, border posts (like the Beitbridge border post) are complex social institutions which configure the lives and livelihoods of cross border traders in multiple ways, and which informal traders often have to negotiate their way through. In this context, this thesis provides a critical analysis of border control management at the Beitbridge border post with particular reference to the activities of Zimbabwean informal cross border traders. The Beitbridge border post, like all border posts, has multiple functions. As a territorial border post, it seeks to maintain the national sovereignty of the Zimbabwean nation- state, and it monitors and controls the movement of people and goods in both directions. Currently, it is doing so at a time when the vast majority of Zimbabweans are suffering from varying levels of economic insecurity. The extent to which these functions are performed, and the manner in which they are performed, depends fundamentally on what takes place at the Beitbridge border post. This refers to the performance of both human subjects (border control officers of various kinds) and inanimate objects (such as scanners and cameras), both of which enact agency. Combined with these is the agency of cross border traders, who are compelled to navigate their way in and through these dimensions of the border control system. The thesis examines this by drawing heavily upon Actor-Network Theory. It is based on research undertaken at Beitbridge border post, involving 50 interviews with primarily current and former border control officers as well as informal cross border traders. Findings of this study show that deficiencies in border control management and border porosity at Beitbridge have led to a flourishing of informal cross border trade and, in turn, contributed to economic security in Zimbabwe, including during the time of Covid-19. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Nare, Hilary
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Informal sector (Economics) Zimbabwe , South Africa Commerce Zimbabwe , Border security Zimbabwe , Economic security Zimbabwe , Beitbridge (Zimbabwe) , Zimbabwe Politics and government , Zimbabwe Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365977 , vital:65807 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/365977
- Description: Informal cross border trade is central to the lives of many Zimbabweans, with informal trade across the Zimbabwean-South African border being of particular importance. This entails travelling through the Beitbridge border post on the Zimbabwean side, with Zimbabwean informal traders purchasing items in South Africa for resale in Zimbabwe. In doing so, they contribute not only to their own economic security but likely to the economic security of other Zimbabweans deeply affected by the ongoing crisis in the country. Often times, when examining the lives of Zimbabwe’s informal traders, the border post is not subjected to sustained focus and analysis. Yet, border posts (like the Beitbridge border post) are complex social institutions which configure the lives and livelihoods of cross border traders in multiple ways, and which informal traders often have to negotiate their way through. In this context, this thesis provides a critical analysis of border control management at the Beitbridge border post with particular reference to the activities of Zimbabwean informal cross border traders. The Beitbridge border post, like all border posts, has multiple functions. As a territorial border post, it seeks to maintain the national sovereignty of the Zimbabwean nation- state, and it monitors and controls the movement of people and goods in both directions. Currently, it is doing so at a time when the vast majority of Zimbabweans are suffering from varying levels of economic insecurity. The extent to which these functions are performed, and the manner in which they are performed, depends fundamentally on what takes place at the Beitbridge border post. This refers to the performance of both human subjects (border control officers of various kinds) and inanimate objects (such as scanners and cameras), both of which enact agency. Combined with these is the agency of cross border traders, who are compelled to navigate their way in and through these dimensions of the border control system. The thesis examines this by drawing heavily upon Actor-Network Theory. It is based on research undertaken at Beitbridge border post, involving 50 interviews with primarily current and former border control officers as well as informal cross border traders. Findings of this study show that deficiencies in border control management and border porosity at Beitbridge have led to a flourishing of informal cross border trade and, in turn, contributed to economic security in Zimbabwe, including during the time of Covid-19. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
A systematic study of the dynamics of human communication : with special reference to systems emergent from the Action Frame of Reference
- Authors: Kapelus, Saville
- Date: 1968
- Subjects: Communication , Content analysis (Communication)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3369 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012624 , Communication , Content analysis (Communication)
- Description: "Communication" has been described as one of the busiest crossroads in the study of human behaviour. Workers in many disciplines have stressed the importance of knowledge about communication to their own work as well as contributing to the general pool of literature on the various aspects of the subject. Intro., p. 1
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1968
- Authors: Kapelus, Saville
- Date: 1968
- Subjects: Communication , Content analysis (Communication)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3369 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012624 , Communication , Content analysis (Communication)
- Description: "Communication" has been described as one of the busiest crossroads in the study of human behaviour. Workers in many disciplines have stressed the importance of knowledge about communication to their own work as well as contributing to the general pool of literature on the various aspects of the subject. Intro., p. 1
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1968
Farm level institutions in emergent communities in post fast track Zimbabwe: case of Mazowe district
- Authors: Chiweshe, Manase Kudzai
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Land reform -- Zimbabwe -- History -- 21st century Land settlement -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Social conditions -- 1980- Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3308 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003096
- Description: The thesis seeks to understand how emerging communities borne out of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe have been able to ensure social cohesion and social service provision using farm level institutions. The Fast Track Programme brought together people from diverse backgrounds into new communities in the former commercial farming areas. The formation of new communities meant that, often, there were 'stranger households'living next to each other. Since 2000, these people have been involved in various processes aimed at turning clusters of homesteads into functioning communities through farm level institutions. Fast track land reform precipitated economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe characterised by a rapidly devaluating Zimbabwean dollar, enormous inflation and high unemployment figures. This economic crisis has impacted heavily on new farmers who find it increasingly difficult to afford inputs and access loans. They have formed social networks in response to these challenges, taking the form of farm level institutions such as farm committees, irrigation committees and health committees. The study uses case studies from small-scale 'A1 farmers‘ in Mazowe district which is in Mashonaland Central Province. It employs qualitative methodologies to enable a nuanced understanding of associational life in the new communities. Through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, narratives, key informant interviews and institutional mapping the study outlines the formation, taxonomy, activities, roles, internal dynamics and social organisation of farm level institutions. The study also uses secondary data collected in 2007-08 by the Centre for Rural Development in the newly resettled areas in Mazowe. The major finding of the study is that farmers are organising in novel ways at grassroots levels to meet everyday challenges. These institutional forms however are internally weak, lacking leadership with a clear vision and they appear as if they are transitory in nature. They remain marginalised from national and global processes and isolated from critical connections to policy makers at all levels; thus A1 farmers remain voiceless and unable to have their interests addressed. Farm level institutions are at the forefront of the microeconomics of survival among these rural farmers. They are survivalist in nature and form, and this requires a major shift in focus if they are to be involved in developmental work. The institutions remain fragmented and compete amongst themselves for services from government without uniting as A1 farmers with similar interests and challenges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Farm level institutions in emergent communities in post fast track Zimbabwe: case of Mazowe district
- Authors: Chiweshe, Manase Kudzai
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Land reform -- Zimbabwe -- History -- 21st century Land settlement -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Social conditions -- 1980- Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3308 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003096
- Description: The thesis seeks to understand how emerging communities borne out of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe have been able to ensure social cohesion and social service provision using farm level institutions. The Fast Track Programme brought together people from diverse backgrounds into new communities in the former commercial farming areas. The formation of new communities meant that, often, there were 'stranger households'living next to each other. Since 2000, these people have been involved in various processes aimed at turning clusters of homesteads into functioning communities through farm level institutions. Fast track land reform precipitated economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe characterised by a rapidly devaluating Zimbabwean dollar, enormous inflation and high unemployment figures. This economic crisis has impacted heavily on new farmers who find it increasingly difficult to afford inputs and access loans. They have formed social networks in response to these challenges, taking the form of farm level institutions such as farm committees, irrigation committees and health committees. The study uses case studies from small-scale 'A1 farmers‘ in Mazowe district which is in Mashonaland Central Province. It employs qualitative methodologies to enable a nuanced understanding of associational life in the new communities. Through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, narratives, key informant interviews and institutional mapping the study outlines the formation, taxonomy, activities, roles, internal dynamics and social organisation of farm level institutions. The study also uses secondary data collected in 2007-08 by the Centre for Rural Development in the newly resettled areas in Mazowe. The major finding of the study is that farmers are organising in novel ways at grassroots levels to meet everyday challenges. These institutional forms however are internally weak, lacking leadership with a clear vision and they appear as if they are transitory in nature. They remain marginalised from national and global processes and isolated from critical connections to policy makers at all levels; thus A1 farmers remain voiceless and unable to have their interests addressed. Farm level institutions are at the forefront of the microeconomics of survival among these rural farmers. They are survivalist in nature and form, and this requires a major shift in focus if they are to be involved in developmental work. The institutions remain fragmented and compete amongst themselves for services from government without uniting as A1 farmers with similar interests and challenges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
A learning state?: a case study of the post-1994 South African welfare regime
- Mungwashu, Sthembiso Handinawangu
- Authors: Mungwashu, Sthembiso Handinawangu
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: South African Social Security Agency , South Africa -- Social policy , Poor -- South Africa , Social service -- South Africa , Public welfare -- South Africa , Social service -- Government policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3325 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003113 , South African Social Security Agency , South Africa -- Social policy , Poor -- South Africa , Social service -- South Africa , Public welfare -- South Africa , Social service -- Government policy -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis examines the processes of policymaking in South Africa, as expressed through the shifts in income maintenance policy. The thesis focuses on the processes leading to the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), as its case study. SASSA is the institutional framework for the delivery of social grants. Our intention is to test the efficacy of what we have called ‘state learning’ in the South African context. Therefore, the overall aim of the study is to assess the capacity of the ‘state to learn’ in the process of policymaking as expressed through the shifts in social grant administration and the institutional framework of social welfare in South Africa. The subsidiary goals of the research includes mapping changes in the system of social grants administration since 1994 in order to assess the sources of the shifts in its institutional framework; to assess processes and responses within the state that result in policy shifts and the extent to which these can be considered dimensions of state learning; to assess the power of ideas in the policymaking process and to assess the influence of non-state agencies/actors in policy contestation and learning processes. This is essential, because social policy, especially welfare policy research in post-apartheid South Africa, has focused on the economic value of policies and not the political processes in policymaking. For the framework of analysis the study draws on theories of learning, especially at the organizational or institutional level. We start from the perspective that policymaking and implementation cannot be reduced to a neatly ordered schema (Lamb: 1987:6). Further, that policy change and policymaking are “iterative, haphazard, and highly political processes, in which the apparently logical sequences of decision-making, may turn out to be the reverse” (Lamb, 1987:6). This is mainly because state building is a complex affair and a contested terrain; policy learning and making are neither benign nor do they involve the state working in isolation (Sabatier, 1998). To understand processes of policymaking in South Africa, we rely on content analysis of primary and secondary materials or documents and in-depth interviews with key informants involved in the policy process. The documentary sources include records of parliamentary debates, green and white papers on social welfare, ANC party documents, presidential task force reports, newspapers, magazines and court judgments. The study reveals that the establishment of SASSA lends itself to the idea of ‘state learning’. Learning is indicated in South Africa by the capacity and ability of the state to stimulate ideas, debate ideas to establish ideational matrixes as well as paradigms that have informed the development of policy, take ideas and implement them to try and solve mismatches between the intention of the state and the outcomes and the ability of the state to produce policy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Mungwashu, Sthembiso Handinawangu
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: South African Social Security Agency , South Africa -- Social policy , Poor -- South Africa , Social service -- South Africa , Public welfare -- South Africa , Social service -- Government policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3325 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003113 , South African Social Security Agency , South Africa -- Social policy , Poor -- South Africa , Social service -- South Africa , Public welfare -- South Africa , Social service -- Government policy -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis examines the processes of policymaking in South Africa, as expressed through the shifts in income maintenance policy. The thesis focuses on the processes leading to the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), as its case study. SASSA is the institutional framework for the delivery of social grants. Our intention is to test the efficacy of what we have called ‘state learning’ in the South African context. Therefore, the overall aim of the study is to assess the capacity of the ‘state to learn’ in the process of policymaking as expressed through the shifts in social grant administration and the institutional framework of social welfare in South Africa. The subsidiary goals of the research includes mapping changes in the system of social grants administration since 1994 in order to assess the sources of the shifts in its institutional framework; to assess processes and responses within the state that result in policy shifts and the extent to which these can be considered dimensions of state learning; to assess the power of ideas in the policymaking process and to assess the influence of non-state agencies/actors in policy contestation and learning processes. This is essential, because social policy, especially welfare policy research in post-apartheid South Africa, has focused on the economic value of policies and not the political processes in policymaking. For the framework of analysis the study draws on theories of learning, especially at the organizational or institutional level. We start from the perspective that policymaking and implementation cannot be reduced to a neatly ordered schema (Lamb: 1987:6). Further, that policy change and policymaking are “iterative, haphazard, and highly political processes, in which the apparently logical sequences of decision-making, may turn out to be the reverse” (Lamb, 1987:6). This is mainly because state building is a complex affair and a contested terrain; policy learning and making are neither benign nor do they involve the state working in isolation (Sabatier, 1998). To understand processes of policymaking in South Africa, we rely on content analysis of primary and secondary materials or documents and in-depth interviews with key informants involved in the policy process. The documentary sources include records of parliamentary debates, green and white papers on social welfare, ANC party documents, presidential task force reports, newspapers, magazines and court judgments. The study reveals that the establishment of SASSA lends itself to the idea of ‘state learning’. Learning is indicated in South Africa by the capacity and ability of the state to stimulate ideas, debate ideas to establish ideational matrixes as well as paradigms that have informed the development of policy, take ideas and implement them to try and solve mismatches between the intention of the state and the outcomes and the ability of the state to produce policy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Credit accessibility and rural development in the former Ciskei: an overview of Keiskammahoek
- Authors: Kimemia, Peter Njau
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Credit -- Research -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Rural development -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- Developing countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003100 , Credit -- Research -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Rural development -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- Developing countries
- Description: This study focuses on the issue of credit accessibility for the rural poor. Taking cognisance of the critical role played by innovative micro-lending mechanisms in the sphere of rural development, the study reaffirms the need to enhance access to financial services by rural communities. However, it also reveals the fact that there are numerous impediments to access to credit for the people living in parts of the Keiskammahoek District of the former Ciskei. Key among the impediments has been lack of awareness about the existence and the activities of micro-lending institutions. This has, in a large measure been blamed for many of the rural poor people's failure to approach such institutions for funding. As a result, the affected people's efforts to fully actualize themselves economically have to a certain extent been hampered. Consequently, as its core argument, this study views as crucial the need to tackle all the attendant impediments. It also suggests that as the first step, the government, NGOs as well as formal and informal lending institutions should endeavour to disseminate the requisite information on micro-financing and in enhancing the affected people's institutional capacity to effectively use credit obtained for commercially productive ventures. Without sorting out the basics first, credit extension even when easily availed may not have the desired impact. At worst, it may actually complicate the poverty situation as the people grapple with piling debts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Kimemia, Peter Njau
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Credit -- Research -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Rural development -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- Developing countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003100 , Credit -- Research -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Rural development -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Poor -- Developing countries
- Description: This study focuses on the issue of credit accessibility for the rural poor. Taking cognisance of the critical role played by innovative micro-lending mechanisms in the sphere of rural development, the study reaffirms the need to enhance access to financial services by rural communities. However, it also reveals the fact that there are numerous impediments to access to credit for the people living in parts of the Keiskammahoek District of the former Ciskei. Key among the impediments has been lack of awareness about the existence and the activities of micro-lending institutions. This has, in a large measure been blamed for many of the rural poor people's failure to approach such institutions for funding. As a result, the affected people's efforts to fully actualize themselves economically have to a certain extent been hampered. Consequently, as its core argument, this study views as crucial the need to tackle all the attendant impediments. It also suggests that as the first step, the government, NGOs as well as formal and informal lending institutions should endeavour to disseminate the requisite information on micro-financing and in enhancing the affected people's institutional capacity to effectively use credit obtained for commercially productive ventures. Without sorting out the basics first, credit extension even when easily availed may not have the desired impact. At worst, it may actually complicate the poverty situation as the people grapple with piling debts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
Illness as intersubjectivity: a sociological perspective
- Authors: Pitfield, Doreen Jennie
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Humanism , Medical care -- Sociological aspects , Intersubjectivity , Medical ethics -- Sociological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3329 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003117 , Humanism , Medical care -- Sociological aspects , Intersubjectivity , Medical ethics -- Sociological aspects
- Description: This thesis explores the historical roots of scientific medicine in an effort to highlight the lack of humanist intersubjectivity within the contemporary medical model. The study notes that contemporary medicine is overtly scientific and that its scientific framework is upheld and furthered by a medical model which draws legitimation from the irrefutability of what is referred to variously within this work, as its scientific "regime". It is shown that in terms of the humanist tradition people, not science, constitute the epicentre of meaningful experiential participation in the defining of human social reality. This, it is argued, implies a radically different ontology from other sociological perspectives on medicine. The thesis suggests that the contemporary medical model loses sight of the patient's ability to cognitively participate in the defining of illness, diagnosis and treatment in terms of his/her experience thereof , and argues that contemporary medicine, by advancing the idea that it alone has the correct and only answer to such problems, has led to a situation which promotes an overmedicalisation of society . The study gives an indication of the way in which this overmedicalisation has led to areas of human life becoming conceived of only in relation to medical expertise. In this respect it is noted that medicine has so successfully infiltrated the human consciousness (involving areas as diverse as childbirth, genetic engineering, transplant surgery and death), that decisions on health are invariably taken from a foundation of scientific legitimation which seems to exclude the patient as subject. It is argued that this way of making decisions reinforces the requirement for a scientific medical model which as it negates the human element insidiously amplifies its power over human life; thereby devaluing the very people it seeks to serve. The thesis suggests that in terms of a humanist reading of the Oath of Hippocrates, medical decisions can only be taken within a framework of experiential involvement which includes both medical expertise and lay understanding. It is indicated that when this happens, social reality functions in terms of a symbolic participation which fosters a commitment to equalise the conditions of human existence, and promotes a dialogical negotiatory process which is both intersubjectively and ongoingly produced.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
- Authors: Pitfield, Doreen Jennie
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Humanism , Medical care -- Sociological aspects , Intersubjectivity , Medical ethics -- Sociological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3329 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003117 , Humanism , Medical care -- Sociological aspects , Intersubjectivity , Medical ethics -- Sociological aspects
- Description: This thesis explores the historical roots of scientific medicine in an effort to highlight the lack of humanist intersubjectivity within the contemporary medical model. The study notes that contemporary medicine is overtly scientific and that its scientific framework is upheld and furthered by a medical model which draws legitimation from the irrefutability of what is referred to variously within this work, as its scientific "regime". It is shown that in terms of the humanist tradition people, not science, constitute the epicentre of meaningful experiential participation in the defining of human social reality. This, it is argued, implies a radically different ontology from other sociological perspectives on medicine. The thesis suggests that the contemporary medical model loses sight of the patient's ability to cognitively participate in the defining of illness, diagnosis and treatment in terms of his/her experience thereof , and argues that contemporary medicine, by advancing the idea that it alone has the correct and only answer to such problems, has led to a situation which promotes an overmedicalisation of society . The study gives an indication of the way in which this overmedicalisation has led to areas of human life becoming conceived of only in relation to medical expertise. In this respect it is noted that medicine has so successfully infiltrated the human consciousness (involving areas as diverse as childbirth, genetic engineering, transplant surgery and death), that decisions on health are invariably taken from a foundation of scientific legitimation which seems to exclude the patient as subject. It is argued that this way of making decisions reinforces the requirement for a scientific medical model which as it negates the human element insidiously amplifies its power over human life; thereby devaluing the very people it seeks to serve. The thesis suggests that in terms of a humanist reading of the Oath of Hippocrates, medical decisions can only be taken within a framework of experiential involvement which includes both medical expertise and lay understanding. It is indicated that when this happens, social reality functions in terms of a symbolic participation which fosters a commitment to equalise the conditions of human existence, and promotes a dialogical negotiatory process which is both intersubjectively and ongoingly produced.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
Transformation at Rhodes University: investigating the extent of support for the participation of students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the Institution
- Authors: Israel, Veronica
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University , Educational change -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students with disabilities -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Students with disabilities -- Services for , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62006 , vital:28095
- Description: This study is motivated by the vigorous discourse around transformation at Rhodes University and investigates the extent of support for and engagement with students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the institution. It analyses the extent to which integration is holistic at institutions of Higher Learning. Particular interest is given to the institutional culture of Rhodes University, namely whether it values and embraces diversity and is committed to inclusivity, centering the presence and voice of students with disabilities. It explores institutional responses to students with disabilities and their capacity to flourish beyond notions of access, therefore, delivering on the demand for institutional transformation. The thesis draws on the Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA), the social justice reform agenda with reference to the feminist analysis of disability, and the concept of inclusive education. The study uses a qualitative research methodology. The sample size used in the study was sufficient to highlight the challenges students with disabilities at Rhodes University face and their coping mechanisms while investigating the extent of support and active participation in the transformation discourse. The study found that the majority of the participants’ academic capabilities were influenced by their disability and impacted on their academic success. The study further revealed that there is a disjuncture between policy and practice in terms of awareness, and as such, effectiveness. While there is a supportive institutional framework, as indicated by more than 50% of the participants in the study, the recommendations ensuing from this research indicate that there are areas in which the university can improve its support mechanisms. Improving support structures is possible through establishing platforms which can be used for students to share their lived experiences and making disability a visible part of the institutional discourse on transformation. The study concludes by arguing for the application of principles of Ubuntu which demonstrate the commitment of Rhodes University in inculcating an inclusive institutional culture and understanding that disability is intersectional with social registers such as race and gender. It emphasises the recognition of the institution as a transforming one if the body that matters is the body whose presence, voice and lived experience is acknowledged and recognised.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Israel, Veronica
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University , Educational change -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students with disabilities -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Students with disabilities -- Services for , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62006 , vital:28095
- Description: This study is motivated by the vigorous discourse around transformation at Rhodes University and investigates the extent of support for and engagement with students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the institution. It analyses the extent to which integration is holistic at institutions of Higher Learning. Particular interest is given to the institutional culture of Rhodes University, namely whether it values and embraces diversity and is committed to inclusivity, centering the presence and voice of students with disabilities. It explores institutional responses to students with disabilities and their capacity to flourish beyond notions of access, therefore, delivering on the demand for institutional transformation. The thesis draws on the Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA), the social justice reform agenda with reference to the feminist analysis of disability, and the concept of inclusive education. The study uses a qualitative research methodology. The sample size used in the study was sufficient to highlight the challenges students with disabilities at Rhodes University face and their coping mechanisms while investigating the extent of support and active participation in the transformation discourse. The study found that the majority of the participants’ academic capabilities were influenced by their disability and impacted on their academic success. The study further revealed that there is a disjuncture between policy and practice in terms of awareness, and as such, effectiveness. While there is a supportive institutional framework, as indicated by more than 50% of the participants in the study, the recommendations ensuing from this research indicate that there are areas in which the university can improve its support mechanisms. Improving support structures is possible through establishing platforms which can be used for students to share their lived experiences and making disability a visible part of the institutional discourse on transformation. The study concludes by arguing for the application of principles of Ubuntu which demonstrate the commitment of Rhodes University in inculcating an inclusive institutional culture and understanding that disability is intersectional with social registers such as race and gender. It emphasises the recognition of the institution as a transforming one if the body that matters is the body whose presence, voice and lived experience is acknowledged and recognised.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Understanding ongoing support for the African National Congress amongst the urban poor in national elections in South Africa: the case of Mlungisi, Queenstown
- Authors: Makwetu, Ncebakazi
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: African National Congress , Urban poor -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Elections -- South Africa , Political campaigns -- South Africa , Political capital -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Political psychology -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Postcolonialism -- South Africa , Allegiance -- South Africa -- Queenstown
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62582 , vital:28209
- Description: The main objective of the thesis is to understand the ongoing support for the African National Congress (ANC) amongst the urban poor in national elections in South Africa with specific reference to Queenstown. The study involved 50 residents in Mlungisi in Queenstown, the vast majority of whom are shack dwellers. The use of semi-structured interviews allowed for an indepth understanding of why people vote for the ANC. The research participants have always voted for the ANC and have no intentions of voting for any other political party. Since 1994, the ANC has in the main pursued a neo-liberal project with a limited focus on redistribution. Because of this, most blacks living in urban areas continue to live under conditions of extreme poverty. The abject material conditions of people living in Mlungisi does not provide a strong basis for why they would vote almost unreservedly for the ANC. In seeking to offer an explanation, the thesis turns to theories of the post-colony, including the work of Frantz Fanon and Partha Chatterjee, as these theories provide an analysis of the character of the post-colonial state and the ways in which the government engages with its citizens. These macro-level theories are complemented by middle-level theories about voting and voting patterns in seeking to understand why Mlungisi residents vote for the ANC, raising questions of identity, loyalty and clientelism in the process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Makwetu, Ncebakazi
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: African National Congress , Urban poor -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Elections -- South Africa , Political campaigns -- South Africa , Political capital -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Political psychology -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Postcolonialism -- South Africa , Allegiance -- South Africa -- Queenstown
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62582 , vital:28209
- Description: The main objective of the thesis is to understand the ongoing support for the African National Congress (ANC) amongst the urban poor in national elections in South Africa with specific reference to Queenstown. The study involved 50 residents in Mlungisi in Queenstown, the vast majority of whom are shack dwellers. The use of semi-structured interviews allowed for an indepth understanding of why people vote for the ANC. The research participants have always voted for the ANC and have no intentions of voting for any other political party. Since 1994, the ANC has in the main pursued a neo-liberal project with a limited focus on redistribution. Because of this, most blacks living in urban areas continue to live under conditions of extreme poverty. The abject material conditions of people living in Mlungisi does not provide a strong basis for why they would vote almost unreservedly for the ANC. In seeking to offer an explanation, the thesis turns to theories of the post-colony, including the work of Frantz Fanon and Partha Chatterjee, as these theories provide an analysis of the character of the post-colonial state and the ways in which the government engages with its citizens. These macro-level theories are complemented by middle-level theories about voting and voting patterns in seeking to understand why Mlungisi residents vote for the ANC, raising questions of identity, loyalty and clientelism in the process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
A victimological study among Coloureds in the Cape Peninsula
- Authors: Strijdom, Hendrik Gert
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Victims of crimes -- South Africa -- Western Cape Colored people (South Africa) -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3342 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004582
- Description: From Introduction: Criminology developed as a reaction to the various revolutions that were occurring in the European countries during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In response to the turmoil and disorder of Western society criminologists attempted to discover the natural laws of society hoping to establish a stable social order. Crime was regarded as something that disturbed society and, therefore, had to be controlled or prevented. According to Quinney and Wildeman (1977) the development of criminology can be viewed as an ongoing attempt to explain crime in terms of established social order. They state that in the history of criminology there is, however, a lack of a clear accumulative theoretical growth and continue as follows: "No line of theoretical development can be found that leads to a well-developed body of knowledge. The study of crime is characterized by a number of divergent theoretical perspectives that exist in relative isolation from one another" (p. 38). Quinney and Wildeman (1977) distinguish five theoretical perspectives in the development of criminology namely: (I) early and classical criminological thought, (2) nineteenth-century sociological criminology, (3) nineteenth-century biological criminology, (4) twentieth-century eclectic criminology, and (5) twentieth-century sociological criminology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1983
- Authors: Strijdom, Hendrik Gert
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Victims of crimes -- South Africa -- Western Cape Colored people (South Africa) -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3342 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004582
- Description: From Introduction: Criminology developed as a reaction to the various revolutions that were occurring in the European countries during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In response to the turmoil and disorder of Western society criminologists attempted to discover the natural laws of society hoping to establish a stable social order. Crime was regarded as something that disturbed society and, therefore, had to be controlled or prevented. According to Quinney and Wildeman (1977) the development of criminology can be viewed as an ongoing attempt to explain crime in terms of established social order. They state that in the history of criminology there is, however, a lack of a clear accumulative theoretical growth and continue as follows: "No line of theoretical development can be found that leads to a well-developed body of knowledge. The study of crime is characterized by a number of divergent theoretical perspectives that exist in relative isolation from one another" (p. 38). Quinney and Wildeman (1977) distinguish five theoretical perspectives in the development of criminology namely: (I) early and classical criminological thought, (2) nineteenth-century sociological criminology, (3) nineteenth-century biological criminology, (4) twentieth-century eclectic criminology, and (5) twentieth-century sociological criminology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1983
Ownership and occupation contestations in South Africa: the case of state housing in Buffalo City Municipality, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Msindo, Esteri Makotore
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Public housing South Africa Buffalo City , Squatters South Africa Buffalo City , Occupancy (Law) South Africa , Acquisition of property South Africa Buffalo City , Right of property South Africa Buffalo City , Sociology, Urban South Africa Buffalo City , Marginality, Social South Africa Buffalo City , Human rights South Africa , Acquisition of property Moral and ethical aspects South Africa Buffalo City , Urban poor South Africa Buffalo City Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232790 , vital:50025 , DOI 10.21504/10962/232790
- Description: This thesis examines contestations around access to state-provided housing or simply state housing in South Africa, using a case study of two sites in Buffalo City Municipality, and with a particular focus on occupation without ownership through informal and illegal means. While the South African state, based on an official human rights discourse and regime, seeks to provide state housing to the urban poor, massive housing backlogs continue to exist within urban spaces. As a result, the urban poor turn to self-provisioning through the construction of informal settlements or backyard shacks, waiting at times indefinitely to be allocated a state house via the official housing waiting lists. To overcome this problem, some amongst the urban poor opt to circumvent the process by invading and illegally occupying state houses, leading to occupation without ownership. In doing so, they draw upon their own moral rights-claims to justify their actions. The thesis examines the multiple causes for occupation and ownership contestations in the two research sites as well as the different forms that these contestations take. The study is framed theoretically in terms of a sociology of human rights, identifying and analysing how moral claims to rights amongst ordinary people often come into conflict with a legal-institutional conception of rights adopted by the state. The study also draws on a diverse array of theorists whose work speaks to the manner in which ordinary citizens develop their own ways of acting contrary to state officialdom. Using interpretive sociology, the study considers the views and practices of those illegally occupying houses without ownership and those who feel victimised by these informal actions. It considers these intra-community dynamics in light of the machinations of local state powerholders at municipal level. As with interpretive sociology, then, the thesis privileges social realms of meanings, interpretations, experiences and practices of human agents. Informal state housing occupations in the Buffalo City Municipality are caused by a number of factors related to state incapacity, weak policies and poor planning, corruption, resource constraints and so on. The study vividly demonstrates the tensions arising and existing between the South African state’s legal human rights regime and locally-constructed moral-rights regimes amongst the urban poor. This tension is seen in the interrelated phenomena of ‘occupation without ownership’ and ‘ownership without occupation’, as the poor draw upon and use ordinary logics of rights for recourse. The thesis shows how diverse rights regimes lead to intra-community conflict, in particular along generational and racial lines. , Thesis (PhD) -- Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Msindo, Esteri Makotore
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Public housing South Africa Buffalo City , Squatters South Africa Buffalo City , Occupancy (Law) South Africa , Acquisition of property South Africa Buffalo City , Right of property South Africa Buffalo City , Sociology, Urban South Africa Buffalo City , Marginality, Social South Africa Buffalo City , Human rights South Africa , Acquisition of property Moral and ethical aspects South Africa Buffalo City , Urban poor South Africa Buffalo City Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232790 , vital:50025 , DOI 10.21504/10962/232790
- Description: This thesis examines contestations around access to state-provided housing or simply state housing in South Africa, using a case study of two sites in Buffalo City Municipality, and with a particular focus on occupation without ownership through informal and illegal means. While the South African state, based on an official human rights discourse and regime, seeks to provide state housing to the urban poor, massive housing backlogs continue to exist within urban spaces. As a result, the urban poor turn to self-provisioning through the construction of informal settlements or backyard shacks, waiting at times indefinitely to be allocated a state house via the official housing waiting lists. To overcome this problem, some amongst the urban poor opt to circumvent the process by invading and illegally occupying state houses, leading to occupation without ownership. In doing so, they draw upon their own moral rights-claims to justify their actions. The thesis examines the multiple causes for occupation and ownership contestations in the two research sites as well as the different forms that these contestations take. The study is framed theoretically in terms of a sociology of human rights, identifying and analysing how moral claims to rights amongst ordinary people often come into conflict with a legal-institutional conception of rights adopted by the state. The study also draws on a diverse array of theorists whose work speaks to the manner in which ordinary citizens develop their own ways of acting contrary to state officialdom. Using interpretive sociology, the study considers the views and practices of those illegally occupying houses without ownership and those who feel victimised by these informal actions. It considers these intra-community dynamics in light of the machinations of local state powerholders at municipal level. As with interpretive sociology, then, the thesis privileges social realms of meanings, interpretations, experiences and practices of human agents. Informal state housing occupations in the Buffalo City Municipality are caused by a number of factors related to state incapacity, weak policies and poor planning, corruption, resource constraints and so on. The study vividly demonstrates the tensions arising and existing between the South African state’s legal human rights regime and locally-constructed moral-rights regimes amongst the urban poor. This tension is seen in the interrelated phenomena of ‘occupation without ownership’ and ‘ownership without occupation’, as the poor draw upon and use ordinary logics of rights for recourse. The thesis shows how diverse rights regimes lead to intra-community conflict, in particular along generational and racial lines. , Thesis (PhD) -- Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
Challenging hegemony? : a provincial perspective on the limits of policy challenge in the South African state
- Authors: Reynolds, John
- Date: 2014 , 2014-06-24
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3372 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013031
- Description: This thesis provides a provincial perspective on the limits of policy challenge within the post-apartheid South African state. This perspective is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, which is one of the poorest of the nine provinces into which the national territory was divided during the constitutional negotiations prior to the landmark democratic elections of 1994. The empirical foundation for this perspective is an analysis of the process of developing the Eastern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Plan 2004-2014 (PGDP), which took place in 2002-2004. Starting with a broader theoretical discussion, followed by a brief contextual analysis of the South African economy, the structure of the post-apartheid South African state, and key growth and development policies, the more detailed engagement with the PGDP process is undertaken. Drawing on Jessop’s (2008) strategic-relational approach, this thesis argues that the PGDP process arose within a particular spatio-temporal context where new opportunities for policy challenge were possible, but that such challenge had to be negotiated on a strategically selective terrain on which that challenge was neutralised. The PGDP process unfolded as a complex dialectic of agency and a range of path-dependent institutional processes with varying temporal and spatial horizons (cf. Pierson, 2004, 2005) in which no particular outcomes were guaranteed, but in terms of which some outcomes were more likely than others. Although the organisation of state power was expressed in the content of the PGDP, that power had to be understood as fractured across a range of state and non-state institutions, but with the state as the primary site of the contingent organisation of power. The provincial sphere of government faces particular constraints with the South African state, which has implications for its policy scope and the possibilities of policy challenge, even where wider social support is achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Reynolds, John
- Date: 2014 , 2014-06-24
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3372 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013031
- Description: This thesis provides a provincial perspective on the limits of policy challenge within the post-apartheid South African state. This perspective is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, which is one of the poorest of the nine provinces into which the national territory was divided during the constitutional negotiations prior to the landmark democratic elections of 1994. The empirical foundation for this perspective is an analysis of the process of developing the Eastern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Plan 2004-2014 (PGDP), which took place in 2002-2004. Starting with a broader theoretical discussion, followed by a brief contextual analysis of the South African economy, the structure of the post-apartheid South African state, and key growth and development policies, the more detailed engagement with the PGDP process is undertaken. Drawing on Jessop’s (2008) strategic-relational approach, this thesis argues that the PGDP process arose within a particular spatio-temporal context where new opportunities for policy challenge were possible, but that such challenge had to be negotiated on a strategically selective terrain on which that challenge was neutralised. The PGDP process unfolded as a complex dialectic of agency and a range of path-dependent institutional processes with varying temporal and spatial horizons (cf. Pierson, 2004, 2005) in which no particular outcomes were guaranteed, but in terms of which some outcomes were more likely than others. Although the organisation of state power was expressed in the content of the PGDP, that power had to be understood as fractured across a range of state and non-state institutions, but with the state as the primary site of the contingent organisation of power. The provincial sphere of government faces particular constraints with the South African state, which has implications for its policy scope and the possibilities of policy challenge, even where wider social support is achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
An analytical commentary on Act No 40 (Welfare Organisations Act) of 1947 and its relation to Act No 79 (National Welfare Act) of 1965
- Authors: Barratt, Inez
- Date: 1968
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:21286 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7690
- Description: From Introduction: Act No. 40 of 1947, after nineteen years in operation has been superseded by Act No. 79 of 1965. Here an attempt will be made to establish first those conditions which, in the years preceding 1944, produced a demand, both from the general electorate, from members of the legislature and from those actively concerned with the problems of social welfare in South Africa, that appropriate legislation be promulgated to alleviate the conditions. As Act 40/1947 was drafted in an attempt to remedy antecedent conditions, so it is hoped to show that in its provisions, and their attempted execution by the organs established in terms of the Act, there may be discerned the germs of at least some of the provisions of Act 79/1965. Effects of past economic depressions as well as a more recent increased awareness of overseas conditions and thinking, coupled with the war-time atmosphere and the start of rapid industrialisation all .affected the legislation that was finally passed. The degree of unanimity amongst those who advocated control of Welfare bodies through legislation will be considered, as well as the adequacy of the means available for its enforcement. So, too, will habits of thought and action which both affected interpretation and limited co-operation on several levels, for they also are amongst the factors which, by limiting the Act's effectiveness, strengthened the demand for new legislation. Attention will also be paid to that reaction against things regarded as "foreign” which, always present in South Africa, gathered strength from the 1860's, gained expression in official quarters especially after 1948 and which, together with the policy of separate development, greatly affected activities in terms of Act 40/1947.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1968
- Authors: Barratt, Inez
- Date: 1968
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:21286 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7690
- Description: From Introduction: Act No. 40 of 1947, after nineteen years in operation has been superseded by Act No. 79 of 1965. Here an attempt will be made to establish first those conditions which, in the years preceding 1944, produced a demand, both from the general electorate, from members of the legislature and from those actively concerned with the problems of social welfare in South Africa, that appropriate legislation be promulgated to alleviate the conditions. As Act 40/1947 was drafted in an attempt to remedy antecedent conditions, so it is hoped to show that in its provisions, and their attempted execution by the organs established in terms of the Act, there may be discerned the germs of at least some of the provisions of Act 79/1965. Effects of past economic depressions as well as a more recent increased awareness of overseas conditions and thinking, coupled with the war-time atmosphere and the start of rapid industrialisation all .affected the legislation that was finally passed. The degree of unanimity amongst those who advocated control of Welfare bodies through legislation will be considered, as well as the adequacy of the means available for its enforcement. So, too, will habits of thought and action which both affected interpretation and limited co-operation on several levels, for they also are amongst the factors which, by limiting the Act's effectiveness, strengthened the demand for new legislation. Attention will also be paid to that reaction against things regarded as "foreign” which, always present in South Africa, gathered strength from the 1860's, gained expression in official quarters especially after 1948 and which, together with the policy of separate development, greatly affected activities in terms of Act 40/1947.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1968
Understanding the livelihoods of child-grant mothers in Sinathingi in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Motsetse, Matsepo Nomathemba
- Authors: Motsetse, Matsepo Nomathemba
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Welfare recipients -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Social security -- South Africa , Family policy -- South Africa , Women -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Social conditions , Women -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Economic conditions , Poverty -- South Africa , Income -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3380 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013284
- Description: The main focus of this thesis is the child support grant, as part of a broader social security system, in post-apartheid South Africa. Since the end of apartheid of 1994, the new South African government has sought to redress the racial imbalances and inequalities of the past by engaging in measures of redistribution. Central to this pursuit of redistribution has been a restructured system of social grants, of which the child support grant is the most significant. However, the post-apartheid government has adopted a largely neo-liberal macro-economic strategy such that social inequality and endemic poverty remain pervasive particularly amongst the African population, which includes the recipients of the child support grants. In adopting a sustainable livelihoods framework as the main theoretical perspective, the thesis seeks to understand the livelihoods of child support grant mothers in the face of conditions of extreme poverty. It does this through a localised study of twenty child grant mothers in Sinathingi Township in KwaZulu-Natal Province. In examining the livelihoods of these child-grant mothers, the thesis brings to the fore that mothers and their children do not exist as autonomous living units but are embedded in a broader set of social relations, including intra-household relations and relations with the fathers of the grant-children. It also demonstrates that child-grant mothers are not simply victims of structures of poverty in contemporary South Africa, but actively construct their livelihoods through a range of activities and strategies which show perseverance and ingenuity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Motsetse, Matsepo Nomathemba
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Welfare recipients -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Social security -- South Africa , Family policy -- South Africa , Women -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Social conditions , Women -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Economic conditions , Poverty -- South Africa , Income -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3380 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013284
- Description: The main focus of this thesis is the child support grant, as part of a broader social security system, in post-apartheid South Africa. Since the end of apartheid of 1994, the new South African government has sought to redress the racial imbalances and inequalities of the past by engaging in measures of redistribution. Central to this pursuit of redistribution has been a restructured system of social grants, of which the child support grant is the most significant. However, the post-apartheid government has adopted a largely neo-liberal macro-economic strategy such that social inequality and endemic poverty remain pervasive particularly amongst the African population, which includes the recipients of the child support grants. In adopting a sustainable livelihoods framework as the main theoretical perspective, the thesis seeks to understand the livelihoods of child support grant mothers in the face of conditions of extreme poverty. It does this through a localised study of twenty child grant mothers in Sinathingi Township in KwaZulu-Natal Province. In examining the livelihoods of these child-grant mothers, the thesis brings to the fore that mothers and their children do not exist as autonomous living units but are embedded in a broader set of social relations, including intra-household relations and relations with the fathers of the grant-children. It also demonstrates that child-grant mothers are not simply victims of structures of poverty in contemporary South Africa, but actively construct their livelihoods through a range of activities and strategies which show perseverance and ingenuity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A critical analysis of the Urban Food System, Urban Governance and Household Food Security in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Maphosa, Mandlenkosi
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Food security Zimbabwe Bulawayo , City planning Government policy Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban poor Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban agriculture Zimbabwe Bulawayo , COVID-19 (Disease) Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Agent (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327165 , vital:61087 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327165
- Description: Urbanisation is occurring on a massive scale globally and even more so in the less developed regions of the Global South including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Like other developing regions of the world, urbanisation in SSA is not occurring alongside a corresponding growth in urban economies. Resultantly, it is taking place in tandem with the rising scourge of urban poverty, including food insecurity. While urban food insecurity is a clear challenge in SSA, the challenge has however not been met with equal vigour in policy making and implementation circles and even in academia. Problematically, the urban food security literature often focuses on one element of the food system without giving due attention to other components of the system. Resultantly, broader systemic failures and the dynamics related to the different actors across the system-elements are missed. There has thus been recent calls to embrace urban governance in studying urban food systems, which this study does. The thesis examines the urban food system in Bulawayo (in Zimbabwe) with specific reference to urban governance and household food security to understand sociologically the complex multi-dimensional processes, structures, systems, and practices underpinning the urban food system. As a result of the complex nature of food systems, an eclectic analytical framework is employed encompassing Obeng Odoom’s DED framework, Clapp and Fuchs’ framework of power, Gaventa’s power cube and theories of everyday life derived from de Certeau and Lefebvre. Methodologically, the study is informed by a Critical Realism paradigm which accommodates the convergent mixed methods research design employed. The research strategy employed was that of a survey and case study. Key findings reveal that the Bulawayo food system, from production to consumption, is complex and is nested within broader national and international food systems. Although without a direct and explicit mandate on food security, the local authority is at the centre of urban governance processes as it employs a plethora of strategies to influence the nature of the food system. However, the study reveals that the food system is as much a construction from below through the agential activities of the urban poor. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Maphosa, Mandlenkosi
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Food security Zimbabwe Bulawayo , City planning Government policy Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban poor Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban agriculture Zimbabwe Bulawayo , COVID-19 (Disease) Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Agent (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327165 , vital:61087 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327165
- Description: Urbanisation is occurring on a massive scale globally and even more so in the less developed regions of the Global South including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Like other developing regions of the world, urbanisation in SSA is not occurring alongside a corresponding growth in urban economies. Resultantly, it is taking place in tandem with the rising scourge of urban poverty, including food insecurity. While urban food insecurity is a clear challenge in SSA, the challenge has however not been met with equal vigour in policy making and implementation circles and even in academia. Problematically, the urban food security literature often focuses on one element of the food system without giving due attention to other components of the system. Resultantly, broader systemic failures and the dynamics related to the different actors across the system-elements are missed. There has thus been recent calls to embrace urban governance in studying urban food systems, which this study does. The thesis examines the urban food system in Bulawayo (in Zimbabwe) with specific reference to urban governance and household food security to understand sociologically the complex multi-dimensional processes, structures, systems, and practices underpinning the urban food system. As a result of the complex nature of food systems, an eclectic analytical framework is employed encompassing Obeng Odoom’s DED framework, Clapp and Fuchs’ framework of power, Gaventa’s power cube and theories of everyday life derived from de Certeau and Lefebvre. Methodologically, the study is informed by a Critical Realism paradigm which accommodates the convergent mixed methods research design employed. The research strategy employed was that of a survey and case study. Key findings reveal that the Bulawayo food system, from production to consumption, is complex and is nested within broader national and international food systems. Although without a direct and explicit mandate on food security, the local authority is at the centre of urban governance processes as it employs a plethora of strategies to influence the nature of the food system. However, the study reveals that the food system is as much a construction from below through the agential activities of the urban poor. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
A sociological analysis of Rhodes University students’ understanding of depression
- Authors: Kadula, Tadala
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: College students -- South Africa -- Mental health , College students -- South Africa -- Mental health -- Case studies , Depression, Mental , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96258 , vital:31255
- Description: Using the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism, this research sought to analyse and explore how Rhodes University students, both depressed and not depressed, understand depression, and how their understanding influences their interaction with people who do suffer from depression. For the purposes of this paper, eight participants were involved in an in-depth interview process. Out of the eight participants, six of them suffered from depression while the other remaining two participants had never suffered from depression, but they were close to someone who had depression. The findings of this research varied, some understood depression as a mental disturbance, others understood it as a condition that affects your emotions, and others understood it as a multifaceted condition that is highly subjective and cannot be understood using standardized measures. The participants’ personal experience and introduction into a new environment, in this context, university, changed their understanding of depression. The change in how they understood depression correlated with the change in how they interacted with depressed people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Kadula, Tadala
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: College students -- South Africa -- Mental health , College students -- South Africa -- Mental health -- Case studies , Depression, Mental , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96258 , vital:31255
- Description: Using the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism, this research sought to analyse and explore how Rhodes University students, both depressed and not depressed, understand depression, and how their understanding influences their interaction with people who do suffer from depression. For the purposes of this paper, eight participants were involved in an in-depth interview process. Out of the eight participants, six of them suffered from depression while the other remaining two participants had never suffered from depression, but they were close to someone who had depression. The findings of this research varied, some understood depression as a mental disturbance, others understood it as a condition that affects your emotions, and others understood it as a multifaceted condition that is highly subjective and cannot be understood using standardized measures. The participants’ personal experience and introduction into a new environment, in this context, university, changed their understanding of depression. The change in how they understood depression correlated with the change in how they interacted with depressed people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
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
Sex work as a livelihood strategy in the border town of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Takawira, Wadzanai Michelle
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3801 , vital:20544
- Description: Zimbabwe is experiencing an ongoing downward spiral in its national economy, dating back to the early 1990s. The demise of the country’s formal economy has led to unprecedented growth in informal economic activities including illegal forms such as sex work. The thesis seeks to understand and explain sex work as a livelihood strategy in Zimbabwe with particular reference to the border town of Beitbridge. In understanding sex work as a livelihood strategy in Beitbridge, the thesis adopts a livelihoods framework in providing key insights into the daily lives of sex workers including the context of vulnerability in which they live and work as well as the challenges they face constantly. In addition, because of the significance of patriarchy in shaping the lives of women and specifically sex workers in Zimbabwe, the feminist theory is used as a secondary theoretical framework. The fieldwork for the study is based on informal interviews and focus group discussions with sex workers as well as observation. Diverse and interrelated themes are covered in examining the livelihoods of sex workers in Beitbridge, and these include sex worker income and expenditure, the motivations underpinning entry into sex work, the home origins of sex workers and their ongoing linkages with their areas of origin, occupational hazards such as client violence and health risks, stigma and discrimination of sex workers, and sex worker solidarity. Though the lives of the sex workers in Beitbridge are marked by precariousness and uncertainty, it is concluded that sex workers are not mere victims of their historical and social circumstances as they are actively engaged in constructing their livelihoods.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Takawira, Wadzanai Michelle
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3801 , vital:20544
- Description: Zimbabwe is experiencing an ongoing downward spiral in its national economy, dating back to the early 1990s. The demise of the country’s formal economy has led to unprecedented growth in informal economic activities including illegal forms such as sex work. The thesis seeks to understand and explain sex work as a livelihood strategy in Zimbabwe with particular reference to the border town of Beitbridge. In understanding sex work as a livelihood strategy in Beitbridge, the thesis adopts a livelihoods framework in providing key insights into the daily lives of sex workers including the context of vulnerability in which they live and work as well as the challenges they face constantly. In addition, because of the significance of patriarchy in shaping the lives of women and specifically sex workers in Zimbabwe, the feminist theory is used as a secondary theoretical framework. The fieldwork for the study is based on informal interviews and focus group discussions with sex workers as well as observation. Diverse and interrelated themes are covered in examining the livelihoods of sex workers in Beitbridge, and these include sex worker income and expenditure, the motivations underpinning entry into sex work, the home origins of sex workers and their ongoing linkages with their areas of origin, occupational hazards such as client violence and health risks, stigma and discrimination of sex workers, and sex worker solidarity. Though the lives of the sex workers in Beitbridge are marked by precariousness and uncertainty, it is concluded that sex workers are not mere victims of their historical and social circumstances as they are actively engaged in constructing their livelihoods.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
A critical analysis of agricultural innovation platforms among small-scale farmers in Hwedza communal area, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mahiya, Innocent Tonderai
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/596 , vital:19973
- Description: Agricultural research has existed for many decades at national and global levels and research-based agricultural interventions, often driven by the state, have taken place across Africa over an extended period. But, overall, these interventions have not generated the high potential and kinds of outcomes expected of them in terms of enhancing agricultural productivity amongst small-scale farmers and improving the quality of their agrarian lives. In the context of neoliberal restructuring globally, new forms of agricultural interventions have arisen which highlight the significance of more participatory methodologies in which non-governmental organisations become central. One such methodology rests on the notion of an agricultural innovation platform which involves bringing on board a diverse range of actors (or stakeholders) which function together to generate agricultural knowledge and practices suitable to the needs of a particular small-scale farming community, with the small-scale farmers expected to be key actors in the platform. Such platforms are now being implemented in specific rural sites in Zimbabwe, including in communal areas in the district of Hwedza where farming activities have for many years now being in large survivalist in character. The objective of this thesis is to critically analyse the agricultural innovation platforms in Hwedza, but not in the sense of assessing the impact of the platforms on agricultural productivity. Rather, the thesis examines the multi-faceted social interactions and relationships embodied in the innovation platform process. In pursuing this, I rely heavily – but in a critical manner – on interface analysis as set out by Norman Long. The fieldwork for the Hwedza involved an interpretative-qualitative methodology based on methods such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires and observations. The major finding of the thesis is that the agricultural innovation platforms, at least as implemented in Hwedza, do challenge top-down approaches to agricultural interventions by unlocking the possibility of multiple pathways of inclusion and particularly for small-scale farmers but that, simultaneously, they also involve processes marked by divergences, exclusions, tensions and conflicts which may undermine the legitimacy and effectiveness of the platforms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Mahiya, Innocent Tonderai
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/596 , vital:19973
- Description: Agricultural research has existed for many decades at national and global levels and research-based agricultural interventions, often driven by the state, have taken place across Africa over an extended period. But, overall, these interventions have not generated the high potential and kinds of outcomes expected of them in terms of enhancing agricultural productivity amongst small-scale farmers and improving the quality of their agrarian lives. In the context of neoliberal restructuring globally, new forms of agricultural interventions have arisen which highlight the significance of more participatory methodologies in which non-governmental organisations become central. One such methodology rests on the notion of an agricultural innovation platform which involves bringing on board a diverse range of actors (or stakeholders) which function together to generate agricultural knowledge and practices suitable to the needs of a particular small-scale farming community, with the small-scale farmers expected to be key actors in the platform. Such platforms are now being implemented in specific rural sites in Zimbabwe, including in communal areas in the district of Hwedza where farming activities have for many years now being in large survivalist in character. The objective of this thesis is to critically analyse the agricultural innovation platforms in Hwedza, but not in the sense of assessing the impact of the platforms on agricultural productivity. Rather, the thesis examines the multi-faceted social interactions and relationships embodied in the innovation platform process. In pursuing this, I rely heavily – but in a critical manner – on interface analysis as set out by Norman Long. The fieldwork for the Hwedza involved an interpretative-qualitative methodology based on methods such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires and observations. The major finding of the thesis is that the agricultural innovation platforms, at least as implemented in Hwedza, do challenge top-down approaches to agricultural interventions by unlocking the possibility of multiple pathways of inclusion and particularly for small-scale farmers but that, simultaneously, they also involve processes marked by divergences, exclusions, tensions and conflicts which may undermine the legitimacy and effectiveness of the platforms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Absenteeism in the footwear industry in South Africa
- Authors: Townsend, A C
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Absenteeism (Labor) -- South Africa , Footwear industry -- South Africa , Employees -- South Africa , South Africa -- Industries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3384 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013408
- Description: From Introduction: During the past three decades or more, the study of absenteeism in industry has been carried on in many different ways, by numerous investigators and in a wide range of industries. The purpose of such studies has varied; sometimes they have been stimulated by purely academic interest and have sought to investigate the relationship between absenteeism and various other measurable factors in the work situation such as age, race, sex, length of service and wage rates. Most studies, however, have been prompted by the urgent necessity to determine whether an absence problem existed within a specific factory, community or industry and to discover some effective means of dealing with it. Most studies have been empirical and pragmatic as has befitted their intentions. Inevitably, those who have conducted studies of the latter type have asked two questions (a) how do the absence rates emerging from this investigation compare with those from other studies and (b) are they 'normal' or 'abnormal'? In other words, does the data which has been gathered indicate the existence of an absence problem? The main purpose of this monograph is to demonstrate that the Gross Absence Rate is not an effective basis for the discovery of answers to either of these questions. It will seek, in other words, to demonstrate the truth of the following fundamental postulate: THE GROSS ABSENCE RATE IS NOT, IN ITSELF, A SUFFICIENT BASIS FOR THE COMPARISON OF THE ABSENCE BEHAVIOUR OF ONE GROUP OF WORKERS WITH THAT OF ANOTHER OR WITH A PRE-ESTABLISHED NORM, NOR IS IT AN ADEQUATE INDICATOR OF THE PRESENCE OR OTHERWISE OF AN ABSENCE PROBLEM AMONG ANY GIVEN GROUP OF WORKERS. Although this study will include some account of investigations into the relationship between absence rates and various socio-economic factors, it will do so primarily in order to seek support for the above postulate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: Townsend, A C
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Absenteeism (Labor) -- South Africa , Footwear industry -- South Africa , Employees -- South Africa , South Africa -- Industries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3384 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013408
- Description: From Introduction: During the past three decades or more, the study of absenteeism in industry has been carried on in many different ways, by numerous investigators and in a wide range of industries. The purpose of such studies has varied; sometimes they have been stimulated by purely academic interest and have sought to investigate the relationship between absenteeism and various other measurable factors in the work situation such as age, race, sex, length of service and wage rates. Most studies, however, have been prompted by the urgent necessity to determine whether an absence problem existed within a specific factory, community or industry and to discover some effective means of dealing with it. Most studies have been empirical and pragmatic as has befitted their intentions. Inevitably, those who have conducted studies of the latter type have asked two questions (a) how do the absence rates emerging from this investigation compare with those from other studies and (b) are they 'normal' or 'abnormal'? In other words, does the data which has been gathered indicate the existence of an absence problem? The main purpose of this monograph is to demonstrate that the Gross Absence Rate is not an effective basis for the discovery of answers to either of these questions. It will seek, in other words, to demonstrate the truth of the following fundamental postulate: THE GROSS ABSENCE RATE IS NOT, IN ITSELF, A SUFFICIENT BASIS FOR THE COMPARISON OF THE ABSENCE BEHAVIOUR OF ONE GROUP OF WORKERS WITH THAT OF ANOTHER OR WITH A PRE-ESTABLISHED NORM, NOR IS IT AN ADEQUATE INDICATOR OF THE PRESENCE OR OTHERWISE OF AN ABSENCE PROBLEM AMONG ANY GIVEN GROUP OF WORKERS. Although this study will include some account of investigations into the relationship between absence rates and various socio-economic factors, it will do so primarily in order to seek support for the above postulate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
The potential and reality of the Living Lab model of ICT for Development (ICT4D) in the rural development context : the case of Siyakhula Living Lab, Dwesa, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Mosuoe, Teboho Priscilla
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Siyakhula Living Lab , Information technology -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Communication in economic development -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Rural development projects -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Rural development -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Rural development -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe -- Sociological aspects , Rural development projects -- Evaluation , Social networks -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3381 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013289
- Description: This thesis explores the contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in rural development processes. Within the framework of social capital theory, and in the context of the information society, the study examines how the collaborative and innovative model of ICT for Development (ICT4D) can enhance social networks and information channels in rural communities, thereby enabling the active participation of rural community members in their own development processes. The study examines networks and information channels both within the rural communities under investigation and between these communities and other sectors in the society. The thesis studies the case of the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), an ICT4D initiative in the Mbashe Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. During the investigation, four types of networks were identified: local organisations, social institutions, collective community projects and social ties. It was found that the Living Lab has so far influenced the creation of new forms of networks through the common spaces (computer labs) which have been made available by the Living Lab. The study further showed that the use of computers has enabled other community members to partake in the wider community of online/virtual social networks, allowing them to communicate and share information with those outside their own communities. The study also showed that the Living Lab has enabled the networking of these communities with other sectors such as academia. It was, however, found that so far the existence of the Living Lab has not influenced the already existing local networks in these communities. Also, the study showed that the relationship between these rural communities and their government and industry partners as stakeholders in the Living Lab is currently ineffective. Nevertheless, this situation has a potential to change in the future as there are ICT applications which have been developed through collaboration with rural community members, which will assist in enhancing communication between these rural communities and other stakeholders. The study finally revealed that social networks do contribute to the functioning of communities by providing both monetary and social support to community members, even though, in effect, the monetary benefits are somewhat limited by a number of factors. It is revealed that the engagement of ICT could go a long way in improving social and economic activities, governance and service delivery, as well as education in these communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mosuoe, Teboho Priscilla
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Siyakhula Living Lab , Information technology -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Communication in economic development -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Rural development projects -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Rural development -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe , Rural development -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe -- Sociological aspects , Rural development projects -- Evaluation , Social networks -- South Africa -- Dwesa-Cwebe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3381 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013289
- Description: This thesis explores the contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in rural development processes. Within the framework of social capital theory, and in the context of the information society, the study examines how the collaborative and innovative model of ICT for Development (ICT4D) can enhance social networks and information channels in rural communities, thereby enabling the active participation of rural community members in their own development processes. The study examines networks and information channels both within the rural communities under investigation and between these communities and other sectors in the society. The thesis studies the case of the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), an ICT4D initiative in the Mbashe Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. During the investigation, four types of networks were identified: local organisations, social institutions, collective community projects and social ties. It was found that the Living Lab has so far influenced the creation of new forms of networks through the common spaces (computer labs) which have been made available by the Living Lab. The study further showed that the use of computers has enabled other community members to partake in the wider community of online/virtual social networks, allowing them to communicate and share information with those outside their own communities. The study also showed that the Living Lab has enabled the networking of these communities with other sectors such as academia. It was, however, found that so far the existence of the Living Lab has not influenced the already existing local networks in these communities. Also, the study showed that the relationship between these rural communities and their government and industry partners as stakeholders in the Living Lab is currently ineffective. Nevertheless, this situation has a potential to change in the future as there are ICT applications which have been developed through collaboration with rural community members, which will assist in enhancing communication between these rural communities and other stakeholders. The study finally revealed that social networks do contribute to the functioning of communities by providing both monetary and social support to community members, even though, in effect, the monetary benefits are somewhat limited by a number of factors. It is revealed that the engagement of ICT could go a long way in improving social and economic activities, governance and service delivery, as well as education in these communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014