Exploring young children’s tablet-based cognitive assessment within the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality: a case study approach.
- Authors: Mdyogolo, Thandokazi
- Date: 2020-02
- Subjects: Human-computer interaction
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21070 , vital:46947
- Description: The adaptation and development of tablet-based measures are on the rise and hold promising prospects particularly for the rural South African context. However, limited research has been done on tablet-based assessment and whether it can be applied to the psychological assessment of the rural isiXhosa speaking children. For this reason the purpose of the study was to explore and describe how South African rural isiXhosa speaking children respond to a set of newly developed tablet-based items. By gathering information of this kind, the study hopes to inform and contribute to a larger national project concerned with the development of a tablet-based cognitive measure for isiXhosa speaking children. A multiple-case study design was utilized in a qualitative research paradigm. The data was collected amongst ten isiXhosa speaking children between the ages of 4 years and 5 years. The qualitative data was thematically analysed and Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) model for assessing the trustworthiness of qualitative data was applied. Findings indicate that tablet-based assessment holds promising prospects for the cognitive assessment of isiXhosa speaking children. However a number of factors were identified that influenced the rural isiXhosa speaking children’s performance on the tablet-based cognitive items. , Thesis (MSoc Sci) (Psychology) -- University of Fort Hare, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2020-02
Factors Affecting Archives and Records Management in The City of Johannesburg Municipality
- Authors: Vula, Malusi
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Records -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc. Sci (Library and Information Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18314 , vital:42251
- Description: This study sought to evaluate the factors that affect the development of archives in the City of Johannesburg Municipality. The use of old records management strategies is posing serious challenges in most African countries and it is affecting the development of archives and records. Literature shows that most municipalities in Southern African countries have not adapted advance records management strategies like Integrated records management and Cloud systems for the realization of benefits of effectiveness and efficiency in records management. The history of Johannesburg municipality and the significance of records management in terms of leveraging effective service delivery raised critical concerns over the development of archives and records management. Proper management of records is the foundation of any government needs to provide services, to fulfil its obligation of accountability towards its citizens and protect their rights. According to the continuum model, the archivists and records managers need to be involved together with information systems designers in the creation of records keeping systems. The records continuum model emphasizes advanced records management strategies and systems in order to ensure the systematic preservation, retrieval and disposal of records. As the records management systems shift from the narrow physical records management as well as imaging into the broader electronic records world there is need for the municipality to embrace more advanced records management strategies like Outsource/Cloud service and integrated records management systems. In order to get a deeper understanding of the factors that affect the development of archives and records management; this study combined both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The census method was used to select all the 80 members of the records management department in the metropolitan municipality. An in-depth interview schedule was conducted with 4 records managers in order to collect qualitative data. Questionnaires were distributed to 76 personnel in the records management department. Without an operational and effective policy in the department of records, there is no vanguard against unlawful records and archives access and corruption, which is affecting archives development and records management in the long run. The study established although email backups and archiving of files are important strategies, more effective and modern strategies like Integrated Records Management system across the entire organization and the cloud system have not been put in place. This is attributed to the lack of funding and IT expertise. The study concluded that that although training and skills development programs are being ii implemented, skills transfer is not fully taking place due to lack of; equipment, time, managerial support and post-training interventions as well monitoring and evaluation systems. The study recommends an integrated records management system, operationalization of the records management system, effective skills transfer programs, the competency-based model.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Factors influencing employee participation in employee health and wellness programmes : the case of Mdantsane Police Station
- Authors: Kwayiba, Nthabiseng Justinah
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Employee assistance programs Health behavior Motivation (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Social Work
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17127 , vital:40858
- Description: The purpose of the study was to determine the factors influencing participation in Employee Health and Wellness programmes rendered by South African Police Service. Qualitative method was used and case study design was chosen. Data was collected from twenty-two participants. Semi structured interviews was used as an instrument to collect data. Interpretivism paradigm was followed for data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that participation in EHW Programmes is indeed low at Mdantsane Accountable Police Station. Most of the participants did not show any interest in the services rendered by SAPS. Their belief systems and perceptions about EHW Programs are a contributing factor to the non-utilisation of the services. One major factor that was identified by this research was the impact police training has on the decisions police members make to participate or not to participate in EHW Programmes. SAPS is a male dominated organisation, with employees that are rooted in cultural beliefs. Some participants, especially men mentioned that it is against their culture to talk about their personal problems to strangers, referring to EHW Professionals, others believed that seeking professional help from a female professional is a sign of losing your manhood an indication that you are weak. With this kind of personal belief, the researcher is of the view that SAPS has to consider adopting a new EHW Model, a model that will be relevant to the objectives of SAPS. Engaging police officers in physical activities will be more effective in promoting participation because Police work requires that police members need more than just task competencies or technical knowledge to do their work (Turner, 2014), they need to be physically fit in order to protect themselves and the community they are serving. Engaging them in counselling and educational programmes will not increase participation since they regard such services to be meant for the weak police officers.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Faith-based organisations and social reintegration of recovering drug-addicts in South-Western Nigeria : a sociological evaluation
- Authors: Faloore, Omiyinka Olutola
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Drug addiction -- Treatment -- Religious aspects Recovering addicts -- Nigeria Religious institutions -- Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5741 , vital:29373
- Description: Against the backdrop of debates and contestations in the literature on the efficacy of interventions of Faith-based organisations (FBOs) with regard to vulnerable people, this study subjects the social reintegration programmes of three selected FBOs working with recovering drug-addicts in South-western Nigeria to a sociological scrutiny so as to understand the social character, effectiveness and local appropriateness of their programmes. Specifically, the study examined the key attributes of the social reintegration programmes offered by the selected FBOs as well as the level and extent of compliance of such programmes with the prescriptions and idealisations as enunciated in relevant global and national policies and institutional frameworks. The theoretical underpinning of this study was derived from assumptions of structural-functionalism of Durkheim and Expectancy disconfirmation theory. Adopting an exploratory approach, the study utilised a blend of survey, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, observation and document review to gather data. Survey data were collected from a random sample of 156 inmates of the social reintegration facilities of three (3) FBOs in Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states in South-West Nigeria. Qualitative data were sourced through 15 in-depth interviews, 9 key informant interviews and scientific information generated from observation and document review. The quantitative data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were processed with the use of content analysis. Findings from the study indicate that the selected FBOs have only recorded little success in terms of addressing the social needs of the inmates. For one thing, FBOs’ detoxification programme for recovering drug-addicts tilted more towards human rights violation than serve as an exercise that aided recovery. One key finding was that there was a huge disconnect between global prescriptions on social reintegration services and what the selected FBOs offered to the inmates. The study concluded from its findings that any social reintegration programmes aimed at protecting recovering drug-addicts from further social exclusion and facilitate their social inclusion in South-West Nigeria must extend beyond mere spiritual provisioning to upholding their rights to human dignity and providing opportunities and tools that address their crucial social needs in terms of housing, education, vocation and employment.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Film as an agent of cultural transmission : a study of Nollywood films
- Authors: Onyenankeya, Oluwayemisi Mary
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Video recordings--Social aspects--Nigeria Motion pictures--Africa, West Digital video--Production and direction--Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Communication
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11685 , vital:39096
- Description: The popularity and viewership of Nollywood films have expanded across African countries as well as European and American cities especially those with considerable Diaspora population. This appears to underscore the assumption that Nollywood films not only project or transmit the embedded Nigerian cultural values to audience members but also actually make appreciable impression on those audience members. This study sought to ascertain the role of Nollywood film in the transference of Nigerian cultural heritage across other cultures using students at the University of Fort Hare as a case study. This study sought to determine if audience members learn, imbibe or manifest any behavioural tendencies that can be ascribed to the influence of watching Nollywood films. Specifically the study sought to establish the aspect of Nigerian culture that Nollywood films transmit to audience members. The survey research method was used while data was analysed using descriptive statistics. In all, 400 questionnaires were distributed while 370 were returned. Results show that students who were exposed to Nollywood film could mimic some common Nigerian expressions and exclamations. A small percentage of viewers could actually speak a smattering of some Nigerian language while a few have bought or made dresses in the pattern of what they saw in the films. It could be concluded that Nollywood films do exert significant influence on the viewers in the University of Fort Hare.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Financial decision-making of fathers with social grants in Nkonkobe municipality, Eastern Cape province
- Authors: Ketani, Nolubabalo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Decision making Dependency Public welfare
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Social Work
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11773 , vital:39105
- Description: The aim of this study was to examine the role of fathers receiving social grants in family decision-making processes within households in Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape Province. The study also investigated how money from social grants is utilised by fathers, taking into consideration, the impact of such decisions on the well-being of family members. A methodological triangulation approach was adopted for data collection. One hundred and seventy questionnaires were administered to beneficiaries of social grants, selected using multi stage sampling. The data was then coded on Microsoft excel package and run using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for analysis. These yielded quantitative results which were then complemented by qualitative results obtained from 25 in-depth interviews conducted with caregivers residing with respondents. The major findings of the study revealed that most fathers earning social grants, made family decisions with their partners. Co-operative bargaining, resulting in the distribution of power in the decision-making process is relatively more prominent in most poor rural households. The effect of bargaining power emphasises the importance of gender empowerment in family decision-making processes. On the other hand, it is established that economic factors (such as income and employment status and age as a social factor) play a critical role in positioning other household members in decision-making within the family. As a result, children and unemployed household members have very limited decision power. The findings also revealed that social grants are the main source of income, if not, the only source of income in most households. Beneficiaries spend the money received on basic needs such as food, school fees, clothing and health, thus reducing hunger and suffering among beneficiaries. Therefore, social grants play a significant role in improving food security among poor households. Additionally, social grants are not only used for meeting individual needs of target groups of people in the household but for the entire needs of the household. The poverty gap been on the decline and such drop has been significant among poorest of the poor. Consequently, they impact positively beyond individual recipients and thus, strengthening intergenerational relations within poor families. Furthermore, it is established from the study that the role of male caregivers is an important one, and it is anticipated that many fathers will be involved in caregiving in the future. This is due to a variety of social demographic factors such as divorce, substance abuse, incarceration of parents, child abuse and neglect, health problems and death. Consequently, fathers receiving social grants, represent an important resource for poor households, especially for children. In a nutshell, with high incidences of poverty, coupled with HIV/AIDS epidemic, economic hardships, high rate of unemployment, absent parents and orphan crisis; the experiences and contributions of social grant earning fathers in caregiving, need to be acknowledged as they play a significant and benevolent role in well-being of family members, especially in the lives of children from vulnerable and poor homes. It is recommended that government should focus on promoting developmental policies that will contribute to poverty alleviation and reduce income inequalities in rural communities. Intervention plans should seek to develop exit programmes that capacitate households and communities to empower themselves. On the other hand, the development of support for male caregivers in private, public and community initiatives are commended to build capacity and empower fathers to cope with challenges associated with parenting.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Fraud tolerance level as a predictor of insurance claims behavior: A South African Study
- Authors: Chetty,Moonsamy Perumal
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Insurance fraud Fraud -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Criminology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17964 , vital:41999
- Description: The insurance sector as a foundation which other sectors depend on is a critical cornerstone of a well-functioning society. An insurer’s strength exists in its ability to foresee, assess, price and mitigate current and emerging risks. Despite the value that insurance brings to maintaining and sustaining society there is large scale abuse of the various insurance products on offer. The abuse is predominately committed through the submitting of either false or inflated claims which negatively impacts the entire insurance value chain from underwriting to claims processes. Insurance claims fraud is classified as opportunistic or organised. Opportunistic claims fraud consists of claims inflation or claims padding for a genuine loss while organised claims fraud involves the lodging a claim for a loss that did not occur and usually involves staging of incidents. Opportunistic fraud is the most common type of fraud experienced by insurers and presents the greatest challenge to the insurance industry. While there are challenges in accurately determining the true costs of insurance fraud; there is consensus that the costs are significant. In response to incidents of insurance fraud insurers have implemented various measures to curb fraud; these measures range from the establishment of insurance crime bureaus, creation of internal investigation teams and the employment of technology as early warning systems. These measures although useful have not been able to be very effective as insurance fraud still continues to rise. Studies indicate that consumer attitudes towards insurance fraud play an important role which must be considered when developing fraud prevention strategies. Tolerance has been identified as an important factor which influence consumer v attitudes towards insurance fraud. Previous studies found that factors such as high insurance premiums, excess payments, consumer relationship with insurers, consumer’s previous claims experience and societal acceptability of insurance fraud played a role in shaping a consumer’s tolerance level. This study was undertaken to explore the role that policyholder tolerance has on predicting claims behaviour in the South African insurance market. The study also aimed at identifying reasons which motivated policyholder’s to commit and deter them from committing insurance fraud. A further aim was to identify the common types of insurance fraud and to measure policyholders’ perceptions towards their primary insurer, the insurance industry, brokers and insurance assessors. The fraud triangle and the theory of planned behaviour were used as theories in support of this study. Primary data for this study was gather through an online self-administered questionnaire and the sample population consisted of policyholders within the shortterm insurance market. A total of 560 completed valid questionnaires were received and analysed. The study shows that respondents have low levels of tolerance for insurance fraud. Results indicated that financial pressure, greed, financial benefit and opportunity were reasons why policyholders’ committed insurance fraud in SA. Factors which deterred policyholders from committing insurance fraud included consumer integrity and honesty, fear of being caught and prosecuted and fairness and value for money. vi Respondents indicated that inflated claims were more prevalent than false claims and it was easier to submit an inflated claim than a false claim. Regarding perceptions the study shows that respondents have a more positive view of their own primary insurer than the insurance industry in general, brokers and insurance assessors. Lastly, the research identified five factors that significantly explain levels of short-term insurance fraud tolerance, namely 'Unfairness/injustice', “Have policyholders’ best interest at heart”, 'Industry relations', ‘Opportunity’ and 'Morality'. The findings of this study could be useful to insurers when developing consumer education and awareness programmes. There exists opportunities for future research regarding several aspects of insurance fraud which was not dealt with in this study.
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- Date Issued: 2020
From the lens of isiXhosa female writers: female protagonists and the use of non-conformity in challenging gender roles in the post liberation isixhosa literature
- Authors: Zeleni, Olwethu
- Date: 2022-01
- Subjects: Women in literature , Feminism and literature , Xhosa literature
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23840 , vital:60915
- Description: This dissertation explored the way women are presented in five isiXhosa literary works by female writers in post independence South Africa, with particular focus on how non-conformity is used to challenge gender roles. The study analysed two novels entitled Iqhina lomtshato (1995) by Nomlamli Mayosi and Uzenzile akakhalelwa (2016) by Yolisa Madolo, as well as four drama books titled Nyana nank’unyoko (1997) by Yoliswa Taleni, Akwaba (2004) by Thenjiswa Ntwana, Hamba nam ndipheleke and Imida (2015) by Nompumezo Buzani. Structural, Afrocentrism and African feminism were used to guide the study. The structural theory gave the researcher to review language contructs in relation to gender, African feminism and Afrocentrism gave the researcher the lenses to view gender issues within the African context, in line with the peculiar challenges that women continue to face in the content. Another important factor which is the focus of the study is the depiction of women by female writers, in order to challenge the roles that are given to women. The question that one ask then is: How do female writers lend their voices to female characters to address gender issues in society, with particular focus on gender roles? This thesis argues that the five isiXhosa female writers, who are contemporary African women writers, have noticed gender related assumptions and in their works, they are making an attempt to debunk these assumptions. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the existing debates on gender and division of labour. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-01
Gang and gang related incidents in selected correctional centres in the Eastern Cape : a behaviour analysis
- Authors: Fitz, Lincoln Gustav
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Prison gangs -- South Africa Corrections -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Prisons -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/9297 , vital:34319
- Description: Institutional gangs, also known as the numbers gangs, have become a serious threat to the effective administration of correctional facilities in South Africa. Prior the 1980s, these gangs were active only in correctional centres, but due to modern trends in criminal activity and the gangs’ extensive drug operations, they have become active within communities too. The numbers gangs have a national network that controls activities in all correctional centres across South Africa; this network operates effectively and independently of geographical areas. The numbers gangs contribute a large proportion of all disciplinary offences (e.g., assault, smuggling, escape, sodomy, etc.) that take place in South African correctional centres. The purpose of this study was to explore the social and cultural dynamics of selected correctional centres, in order to understand the extent to which institutional gangs control and manipulate the correctional environment. The study also focussed on the individual-level characteristics of inmates as a contributing factor for deviant behaviour. The social processes that manifest in institutional misconduct and violence in correctional centres have been explained in the literature according to three theoretical perspectives; namely, the importation, deprivation and situational contextual perspectives. To develop a better understanding of the phenomenon of gang activities in correctional centres, this study is grounded in the Social Structure and Social Learning theory to explore the individual, social and cultural dynamics of the centre, making reference to these three perspectives. A mixed research design, comprising both qualitative and quantitative aspects, characterised the methodology used in this study. The data informing the study consisted of primary data (observations, interviews and questionnaires) and secondary data (source documents), with 151 inmates and several centre officials in three Eastern Cape correctional centres participating. This study was substantial for several reasons. It confirmed the findings of prior studies with respect to personal and social characteristics that inmates import into correctional centres, and, in addition, it expanded the existing literature with respect to how and why inmates import their deviant behaviour into correctional centres. It further brought a new element to the field of criminology, in identifying the demographic characteristics of inmates that contribute towards institutional gang membership and violence in correctional centres. The study also expanded upon prior findings regarding risk factors associated with institutional gang membership by developing a prediction model to predict possible gang membership prior to and after incarceration. Finally, this is the first known empirical study to examine the social and cultural contexts of gang membership in correctional centres in South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Gender equity in land tenure : an assessment of the challenges faced by women in the communal land tenure system in Keiskammahoek, South Africa
- Authors: Sonkosi, Abongile
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Land tenure--South Africa--Eastern Cape Land use--South Africa--Eastern Cape Land tenure
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Rural Development
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17138 , vital:40859
- Description: Despite the importance of land to women, women however are still deprived of security of tenure as a result of the gender biased laws which at their best only protect married women and at their worst fail to protect the rights of single, widowed and divorced women. An analysis of the land reform policies in South Africa as a whole on the issue of the advancement of women through land reform reveals a number of irregularities and false promises. Many of the new policy shifts are problematic as they tend to benefit the elite and continue to leave the majority of the rural poor people particularly women in communal areas with insecure land tenure. This research study examined: 1. the nature of land relations at work in Keiskammahoek and how they impact women’s rights to land. 2. How women in Keiskammahoek view their rights to land. 3. The challenges experienced and progress made by women in claiming their land rights in Keiskamahoek. Despite the importance of land to women, women however are still deprived of security of tenure as a result of the gender biased laws which at their best only protect married women and at their worst fail to protect the rights of single, widowed and divorced women. An analysis of the land reform policies in South Africa as a whole on the issue of the advancement of women through land reform reveals a number of irregularities and false promises. Many of the new policy shifts are problematic as they tend to benefit the elite and continue to leave the majority of the rural poor people particularly women in communal areas with insecure land tenure. This research study examined: 1. the nature of land relations at work in Keiskammahoek and how they impact women’s rights to land. 2. How women in Keiskammahoek view their rights to land. 3. The challenges experienced and progress made by women in claiming their land rights in Keiskamahoek. ownership in their communities. They expressed strong views against the suppression of their voice due to patriarchal structures that govern the way they live. They further observed that a woman’s voice in the rural communities generally does not get heard and that even if women get into positions of power they fail to stand up against women’s marginalization and gender inequalities. However, the most positive finding is that the wind of change is blowing in Keiskammahoek as different categories of women - married, single, divorced, widowed etc. begin to access residential and to some limited degree, agricultural plots. They appeal to the government to support them in accessing agricultural tools including tractors, irrigation systems, seeds etc. Although the progress made so far with regard to women’s access to land is acknowledged, a great deal of work still needs to be done in order to empower women through land reform. The study makes recommendations on the implementation of land tenure policy that addresses women’s challenges in land access and ownership.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Gender oppression and possibilities of empowerment: images of women in African literature with specific reference to Mariama Ba's So long a letter, Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of motherhood and Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous conditions
- Authors: Nyanhongo, Mazvita Mollin
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa African literature -- Women authors Women -- Africa -- Literary collections
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6411 , vital:29659
- Description: This study consists of a comparative analysis of three novels by three prominent African women writers which cast light on the ways in which women are oppressed by traditional and cultural norms in three different African countries. These three primary texts also explore the ways in which African women‟s lives are affected by other issues, such as colonialism and economic factors, and this study discusses this. An analysis of these novels reveals that the interconnectedness of racial, class and gender issues exacerbates the oppression of many African women, thereby lessening the opportunities for them to attain self-realization. This study goes on to investigate whether there are possibilities of empowerment for the women in the primary texts, and examining the reasons why some women fail to transcend their situations of oppression. The primary novels will be discussed in different chapters, which explore the problems with which various women are beset, and discuss the extent to which the various women in the novels manage to attain empowerment. In conclusion, this study compares and contrasts the ways in which the women in the primary texts are oppressed and highlights the reasons why some women are able to attain empowerment, whilst others are unable to do so. It also shows that many women are beset with comparable forms of oppression, but they may choose to react to these situations differently. Over and above these issues, the study seeks to draw attention to the fact that women need to come together and contribute to the ways in which they can attain various forms ofempowerment.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Gender possibilities in the African context as explored by Mariama Ba's So long a letter, Neshani Andrea's The purple violet of Oshaantu and Sindiwe Magona's Beauty gift
- Authors: Goremusandu, Tania
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Women and literature Feminist fiction -- History and criticism Women authors, African
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6469 , vital:29739
- Description: Gender oppression has been a significant discussion to the development of gender, cultural and feminist theories. The primary focus of this study is to investigate how patriarchal traditions, colonialism, and religious oppression force women to struggle under constrictions oppositional to empowerment. Thus, the project provides a comparative analysis of three texts from different African postcolonial societies by three African female writers: Mariama Bâ, Neshani Andreas and Sindiwe Magona. The author‟s biographies and historical context of their novels will be analyzed, as well as a summary of their stories will be included in order to provide the context for gender criticism. These writer‟s work; So Long a Letter, The Purple Violet of Oshaantu and Beauty‟s Gift depict patriarchal, cultural and religious laws which exist in Senegal, Namibia and South Africa, respectively, that limit the position of women. Therefore, this study will interrogate the experience of African women as inscribed in these selected texts, uncovering the literary expressions of gender oppression as well as the possibilities of empowerment. The selected texts will be analyzed through the lens of Gender studies, African feminism and Cultural studies. From these theories, the focus of the study is on the struggles of the female characters living in patriarchal societies as well as on the idea that gender is constructed socially and culturally in the African context. In conclusion, the emergence of these renowned female African writers together with the emancipation of African countries from colonial supremacy has opened a space for women to compensate and correct the stereotyped female images in African literature and post- colonial societies. Most contemporary African writers like Buchi Emecheta, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Sindiwe Magona, Mariama Bâ and Neshani Andreas have shown that women are seeking to attain empowerment. As a result, this study can be viewed as an opportunity to highlight such experiences by continuing to interrogate the writings of African women writers and to explore their gender-based themes so as to inform and or inspire the implementation of women empowerment. It will broaden and encourage further academic discussion in the field of Cultural studies and gender criticism of women‟s literature within the African context.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Grappling with food and livelihood practices in the context of socio-ecological displacement: The case of 2014 Tokwe-Mukorsi flood victims in Chingwizi, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Food security , Households , Natural disasters -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22056 , vital:51979
- Description: This study sought to examine how the socio-ecologically displaced Tokwe-Mukorsi community in southern Zimbabwe grappled with adverse circumstances that threatened to obliterate their age-old food and livelihood practices after five years of being resettled 150km away in Chingwizi. The investigation is done against the backdrop of the dominant narrative on resilience, which often overlooks resilience outcomes associated with specific contextual experiences of socio-ecological disadvantage. The study examined the nature and character of emergent food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi, with a view to establishing how they were impacted by socio-political dynamics encountered vis-à-vis displacement, resettlement and in processes of attempting to recover. The study also examined how local narratives about the new food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi intersect with dominant resilience discourses, especially those related to climate change adaptation, sustainability and food security. A triangulated research design was utilised. It consisted of survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interview, and key informant interview. Qualitative research participants were selected based on their knowledge and experience on food and livelihood practices before and after displacement. This included the displaced flood victims that met this criterion, local leaders, government officials and local opinion leaders. The findings revealed that food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi had deteriorated over the five-year period under investigation. This was reflected in a diminution in livestock herds, crop production, income streams and average household monthly incomes. As a result, food insecurity was very high, and households were forced to rely more on donations. The displaced flood victims, however, adapted to the harsh conditions by engaging in a variety of livelihood alternatives, including food vending, buying and selling, craftwork, small livestock rearing, and migrating to neighbouring South Africa to seek employment opportunities. Nevertheless, efforts to rebuild food and livelihood practices were hampered by socio-political dynamics. This resulted in the loss of key livelihood assets, a situation aggravated by compensational injustice, contestations over land and resources by the host communities, dysfunctional social networks, and victims’ cultural ‘fixations’. The study concludes from these and other findings that achieving transformation in the form of adaptation, food security and sustainability following involuntary displacement and resettlement is more than just a question of resilience, and that displacement and resettlement are complex processes that create invidious dynamism for the stakeholders concerned. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-04
Health factors associated with traditional circumcision of adolescent males in Alice, Raymond Mhlaba local municipality, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mpateni, Aphiwe https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6823-9179
- Date: 2016-06
- Subjects: Circumcision , Penis -- Surgery http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85099485
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19726 , vital:43183
- Description: This research explored the health challenges associated with male adolescents during traditional male circumcision in Alice,Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in Eastern Cape. This researcher used the views, attitudes and perceptions of the male adolescents who recently underwent traditional male circumcision, the parents of the male adolescents, health practitioners, community leaders, traditional nurses, traditional surgeons and a member of Association of Ingcibi Namakhankatha. The research study aimed at achieving the following specific objectives: 1. to interrogate the attitudes and views of people on the health factors associated with male adolescents who undergo traditional male circumcision 2; to establish the psychological, social, emotional and behavioural impacts of health challenges experienced by male adolescents undergoing male traditional circumcision; and 3. to document the health hazards experienced by male adolescents undergoing during traditional male circumcision. This researcher espoused a qualitative research method. The study was conducted through qualitative research instruments such as in-depth interviews, focus groups interviews and key informants in collecting the data. The study utilized socio cultural theory. The smaple in this study was made up of 25 participants: five (5) traditionally circumcised youth, ten (10) health practitioners, five (5) parents, one (1) traditional surgeon, two (2) traditional nurses, one (1) community leader and one (1) member of Association of Ingcibi Namakhankatha. Non probability sampling methodology was used, specifically purposive sampling to select the participants because of their knowledge and experiences about traditional male circumcision. Data was analysed thematically. The study came with the following findings: An array of health hazard experienced associated with circumcision rite; Horror emanating from the deaths of the initiates; Possible contraction and transmission of diseases during the rite; Cultural custodians disregarding health ethos and sanitation; Traditional male circumcision becoming a forum of learning immoral behaviours; Tightening of the bandages was believed to expedite healing; Amputation of penis due to complications; Psychological and emotional state of the initiates who suffer clinical hazards; Incompetence of traditional surgeons and untrained traditional nurses compromising the health of the initiates; Parental ignorance leading to their sons falling victims of the clinical health hazards; and subjugation of women in cultural practices. The research study made the following recommendations: strengthening the monitoring and evaluation of traditional practitioners; Community engagements by training boys to prepare for traditional male circumcision; Emphasizing the role of culture as stated by section 31 of the South African constitution; bolstering the selection criteria of traditional nurses.The traditional male circumcision practice to enlist the role of women as important stakeholders because they are the mothers; and imposing strict penalties against cultural custodians operating illegal schools This researcher, therefore, hopes that all the health hazards associated with male adolescents during traditional male circumcision can be addressed and that the government and the communities need to engage one another inorder to come with ways and strategies of managing cultures. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2016
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- Date Issued: 2016-06
Hegemon and handmaiden: a neo-gramscian approach to South Africa’s position in the global political economy
- Authors: Koza, Zintle
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Hegemony
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc (Political Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18325 , vital:42252
- Description: Despite its assumed leadership of and investment in the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), South Africa has not developed its own hegemonic project and is consequently unable to exert significant influence over the ideas of the two institutions. Rooted in Antonio Gramsci’s absolute historicism, which locates decisions and actions at the level of the state within specific contexts, Robert Cox’s Method of Historical Structures (MHS) offers a framework that enables an approach informed by Critical Theory to analysing and empirically understanding the underlying factors of this situation. Utilising the three elements of the MHS, namely, material capabilities, ideas and institutions, and applying them to the context of international relations, it was found that South Africa’s choices have been informed by the global context of the post-USSR global arena it entered in 1990. The triumph of the neoliberal world order led by the United States framed the context of South Africa’s engagement with Africa and the world, with its choices informed by a composite of neoliberally defined global social relations of production and ideas that had already elicited global consent. South Africa’s organisation of material capabilities and resources was thus limited within the parameters of a neoliberal world order, and the predominance of institutions that facilitated the penetration of neoliberalism, regionally and globally. The global hegemonic order relies on surrogates for its functioning and South Africa’s subsequent domestic adherence to the hegemonic neoliberal order has been transferred to SADC and, to a limited extent, to the AU through the policies and institutional projects that South Africa has championed since 1994. Nonetheless, in the face of persistent inequality and poverty, internal contestation to this adherence has emanated from trade unions and civil society organisations. It was found that the continued and intensifying domestic contestation iii reinforces the lack of a domestic hegemonic project that could have been projected externally to SADC and the AU, so that South Africa, as a dominant peripheral state in the global world order, displays more characteristics of handmaiden than hegemon.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Hegemonic conceptualisations of contestation in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq
- Authors: Kwitshi, Aviwe
- Date: 200
- Subjects: Terrorism Insurgency
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc. Sci (Political Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18130 , vital:42235
- Description: This dissertation illustrated how the production of discourse defining ‘terrorism’ evolved after the emergence of the United States as hegemon, a position that enabled it to develop meaning narratives to arrive at discursive constructs that were selfrewarding, in that they justified its invasion of Iraq in 2003. This study was able to analyse the construction of the ‘war on terror’ discourse used about the Middle East (ME) as a result of the US hegemonic position, using both Gramsci’s analysis of discourse and Foucault’s concepts of power relations. Gramsci proposes the production of discourses through the concept of ’hegemony’. On the other hand, for Foucault (1980: 93), ‘‘relations of power cannot in themselves be established, consolidated nor implemented without the production, accumulation, circulation and functioning of a discourse’’. This study focuses on the period after World War II, drawing on events in the Middle East, in particular Iraq, and examining the influence of the US in the region during this period. In addition, this study addresses the conceptualisation of ‘terrorism’ and discourse around this phenomenon as a function of power and a generally accepted outcome of the exercise of hegemony. The study illustrates how power works through discourse based on Foucault’s conceptualisation of the relationship between power and discourse, and the hegemon’s intention of utilising its discursive power in shaping the views and actions of others.
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- Date Issued: 200
Housing delivery and empowerment in Post - Apartheid South Africa: The Case of Nkonkobe Municipality
- Authors: Chakuwamba, Kapesi Antony
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Housing -- Development , Nation-Building , Democratization
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23293 , vital:57027
- Description: The core argument in the study is that there have been little prospects of housing delivery in Nkonkobe Municipality. The obstacles for housing development in this area are embedded in the inflexibility of current policies and legacies of the colonial as well as the Apartheid era. Furthermore, the findings indicate that local as well as external sociopolitical practices such as lack of funding, unavailability of land, corruption, politicking, lack of community participation, impact of macro-economic policy, planning and lack of capacity seem to hamper the process of housing delivery. Hence, there is a need for an alternative development strategy which is adopted as the conceptual framework of this study. This is to enhance housing development in most rural areas. This conceptual framework propounds that housing provision in Nkonkobe region should be enhanced in the context of empowerment, nation-building and democratization in the post-Apartheid South Africa. The problem of housing has become a worldwide phenomenon. Compared to other countries, the number of people in need of adequate shelter has remarkably increased and in South Africa the number of people who live in substandard housing and those in desperate need of shelter is enormous. However, in the study a view of housing provision in post-Apartheid South Africa is advocated through looking at the nature of the state and its capacity to deliver quality housing service. A qualitative methodology comprising in-depth interviews and observation was employed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of the municipality in delivering quality service to its people. The ideological perspectives view historical causes and present day reasons for the perpetuation of the housing problem from different angles. A strategy based on alternative development is proposed in this study. The conceptual framework views the poor as active people engaged in the production of their own lives not passive recipients of state development projects. An underlying assumption is that housing provision is influenced by previous state forms and spatial practices. Therefore, the level of community participation could influence the success of housing development projects. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
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- Date Issued: 2009-12
Humanitarian intervention in conflict management in Africa: selected case study analysis of Sudan and Libya
- Authors: Muruviwa, Tapiwa Gladmore
- Date: 2015-04
- Subjects: Humanitarian intervention , Conflict management -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24772 , vital:63550
- Description: The study investigates the effectiveness of humanitarian intervention as a strategy in conflict management in Africa drawing from case studies in Sudan and Libya. The research utilized an interaction of both primary and secondary data sources. Primary sources used are African Union (AU) official reports, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) official reports as well as official International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) reports. Secondary sources used include journal articles, newspapers, books and other online publications. Among others, the study found out that humanitarian intervention in Sudan by the AU from 2004 until 2006 lacked the capacity and political will to effectively manage the conflict. At the same time, an analysis of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization‟s (NATO) military intervention in Libya in 2011 reveals that western-led interventions in Africa are often driven by geostrategic interests rather than the need to save people in danger. Against this backdrop, the study recommends amongst others that the AU should have a capacitated standby-force that will rapidly respond to manage conflicts in Africa. Also, UN peacekeeping operations in Africa should be coordinated by the African Union. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2015
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- Date Issued: 2015-04
Ict literacy skills and demographic factors as determinants of electronic resources use among the undergraduate students in the selected universities the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Olatoye , Oluwayemi IbukunOluwa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Electronic information resources
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16176 , vital:40675
- Description: In today’s world, information is the foundation on which every strata in society is built and established. As we are in the jet age, the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) is sine-qua-non to academic development. It is equally important to acquire skills and build capacity in ICT applications, as well as reflect on the demographic factors that determine the utilization of electronic resources among the undergraduate respondents. ICT has also evolutionalized professionalism in librarianship by providing delivery of appropriate, suitable and value-added information services in digital format. This research, therefore, investigated undergraduate students’ ICT literacy skills and demographic factors as determinants of electronic resources use, with selected tertiary institutions of learning in Eastern Cape South Africa as a case study. The study was premised on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) with the aim of appraising undergraduate students’ ICT literacy skills and demographic factors as causative elements of e-resources utilization in designated Eastern Cape universities in South Africa, as well as to unravel the impact of the theories on the adoption of technology and the perceived utilization of the electronic resources. The application of DOI, TAM and TRA theories for this study exemplifies the acceptance and usage of technological innovations by envisioned users in ICT literacy skill and electronic resources research, and these theories formed the theoretical basis to strengthen the study. The specific x objectives of the study are: To ascertain how undergraduate students in selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Eastern Cape access e-resources; to determine the level of influence of ICT literacy skills on the use of electronic resources by Undergraduate students in the selected universities; to determine the regularity levels of use and problems encountered in the use of electronic resources by Undergraduate students in the selected universities; to ascertain the contributions of demographic factors on the use of electronic resources by Undergraduate students in the selected universities; and to determine the attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate students towards the use of eresources. The approach of the study was in threefold; one, general discussion regarding ICT literacy skills of the respondents and secondly the demographic factors that determine electronic resources use of undergraduate students in the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University. Finally, ICT literacy skills and demographic factors were investigated with the applicability of TAM, DOI and TRA theories Specifically, under these theories (TAM, TRA and DOI), TAM and TRA models were used to explain behavioural intention and to envisage user acceptance of technology usage (electronic resources), and to elucidate the correlation between the respondent’s (undergraduate students) perceptions, attitudes, beliefs and ultimately system utilization. DOI was conceptualized in this study as a valued tool for appraising the effect of demographic factors on the utilization of electronic resources among the undergraduate students in their academic pursuit. The major findings of the study specifies that ICT literacy skills and demographic factors determine the use of electronic resources. Hence, it is reasoned in the thesis that ICT xi literacy and demographic factors affects the frequency of electronic resources with those, for instance, who have obtained high ICT literacy skill levels when compared to others who are yet to develop their ICT literacy skills. Further, it has been disclosed elsewhere in the study that in terms of age, the younger undergraduate students (from 21 to 30 years) utilize electronic resources more regularly than their older colleagues (those who are 30 years of age and above).The study was approached with the adoption of the mixed-method research technique. The administration of a total of 377 copies of the questionnaire to undergraduate respondents in the aforementioned HEIs, (out of which 266 copies were returned), was conducted with in-depth interview conversations comprising of ten participants, with six respondents selected in the University of Fort Hare and four respondents from Rhodes University. Data acquired from the study were processed and analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for the quantitative data. In the light of the theoretical frameworks of the study, research results established that the ICT experience of the undergraduate respondents greatly influences their proficiency levels. This hypothesized assertion was subjected to statistical validity test through regression analysis. The result depicts that the p-value is 0.49 (which means that p≤ 0.05), and interprets to mean that the hypothesis is accepted. Also, the findings of this study depicts that the utilization of electronic resources by the respondents is mostly for entertainment purposes (such as viewing online videos, listening to sport commentaries, music and video downloads, e-mail communications, chatting with other people) had the highest rankings from the component matrix analysis which were greater than 0.5. From the forgoing, this is interpreted to mean that the respondents possess excellent proficiency in ICT literacy skills as well as in the use of Microsoft packages. xii Also, in the course of the in-depth research interview, it was discovered that most of the interviewees have excellent proficiency in ICT literacy skills. Generally, gender is an essential element that determines accessibility and e-resource utilization of respondents to electronic resources through the home and from other sources. Furthermore, it was discovered that that language is not a determinant regarding respondents’ accessibility and e-resource utilization from other sources of access to respondents. The analysis of this study revealed that more males, who are within the active e-resource using age bracket of 21 to 30 years old access and utilize electronic resources through the residences than their female counterparts. This age bracket is followed in terms of access and use of e-resources through residences by the respondents that are 20 years and below. A chi-square test of independence was also performed to survey the level of correlation between age and access to E-resources. A small p-value (typically ≤ 0.05) indicates strong evidence against the null hypothesis, so you reject the null hypothesis. A large p-value (> 0.05) shows weak evidence against the null hypothesis, so you reject the null hypothesis i.e. X2 (3, N=53) = 7.82. The Pearson chi-square (p-value) generated was .294, which is construed to mean that it is insignificant. Therefore, the explanation is that age has no influence on access of respondents to electronic resources through cybercafé. In order to make ICT literacy skills more beneficial to the undergraduate students in the selected HEIs, recommendations were made in this study. Firstly, there is a need for mass enlightenment campaigns on the use and benefits of E-resources among undergraduate respondents, the building of capacity of the undergraduate students in the use of electronic resources ICT literacy skill development programmes, need for intervention programmes focusing on the application xiii of some E-resources and software where the students are ranked low. Further, it is recommended that female students need to be encouraged to use E-resources. Also, delivery and empowering of Wi-Fi services, as well as the provision of CD- ROM databases should be considered.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Identity and difference: a postcolonial analysis of Cape Malay as depicted in the literary texts from selected South African writers
- Authors: Chaudhari, Shamiega
- Date: 2009-11
- Subjects: Postcolonialism , Orientalism
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:64143
- Description: The identity of the Cape Malay is usually reduced to the submissive, the comic and the exotic dishes such as bobotie, curry and samosas. Terms like "slams","slaamaaier" and "halfnaatjie" (Roos 2003:3) were just a few of the derogatory names that was awarded to the Cape Malay. Many of these terms and identity constructions are in the South African literature immortalized. The true history, the struggle, tears and sacrifices of this community slipped by unnoticed and in silence. And today, after all this suffering, they become identity is called into question and this identity is referred to as a controversial identity. In the Western Cape this identity mainly centered around being Malay, being Coloured, Being Cape Muslim or Black Muslim. It seems as if the Cape Malay is in an intermediate identity (defined in English as "inbetweenness") are trapped, defined by their "Muslimness","Cape-ness", "Malay-ness" and "Coloured-ness". This dissertation examines the controversy of the Cape Malay identity and focus specifically on identity construction and Otherness. It emphasizes certain characteristics that people divided due to certain character traits that are different from the norm and therefore cause that they are considered the Other. The study is undertaken with the aim of establishing the authenticity of the Cape Malay identity state and how it is depicted in the works of selected South African writers. It intends to look specifically at the construction of identity through Otherness during the colonial period in Southern Africa as well as how these identities were implemented, rejected or accepted is. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
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- Date Issued: 2009-11