A study of rural self-help groups in the context of government-assisted community development: the case of Peddie, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
- Pakade-Yokwana, Nozuko zandiswa Gloria
- Authors: Pakade-Yokwana, Nozuko zandiswa Gloria
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85029215 , Rural development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85115899
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19616 , vital:43152
- Description: This study was conducted against the backdrop of growing scholarly interest in the epistemic divide between formal, institutionalised knowledge, which guide government interventions in rural community development, and local knowledge, upon which rural communities construct their social existence. The study sought to understand why, despite their resilience and cultural embeddedness in South Africa's rural communities, indigenous self-help groups (SHGs) - as a particular form of indigenous rationality - remained on the periphery of contemporary community development interventions. The study was conducted in the communities of Dabhana, Feni and Mgwanlana in Peddie (Ngqushwa Local Municipality), Eastern Cape. Three SHG variants were eselected: a funeral group (Masingcwabane), an HIV and AIDS support groups, and a financial mutual (mgalelo) – all in the context of government-assisted community development. Empirical data was collected using a mini-survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. The findings revealed that SHGs were a collective model of indigenous knowledge and social interaction, driven by the belief that through 'sharing', 'reciprocity' and 'collectivism', what would ordinarily be a heavy burden for individuals became 'lighter'. Furthermore, while the institutional framework for community development mandated collaboration between government and SHGs, this framework created a stiff, bureaucratic canvass that alienated SHGs and stifled their operations. The study also found that partnership between the government and SHGs was characterised by fear and distrust on the part of government, and reluctance on the part of SHGs. Government's distrust was premised on the "informality" and "traditionality" of SHGs, and the fear that any investment in SHGs would go to waste. On the other hand, SHGs' reluctance to make themselves amenable to partnership with government seemed like a reaction to a "faulty, culturally insensitive" institutional framework which "delegitimised" grassroots development impulses. The study concluded that there existed in the rural community development arena an epistemic, ideational and practical chasm between government-driven development praxis and age-old indigenous initiatives, and that while the weaknesses of each knowledge domain were accentuated through this divide, development would continue to elude the grassroots communities unless the two knowledge domains interacted with, and leveraged, each other. , Thesis (PhD) (Sociology) -- University of Fort Hare, 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Pakade-Yokwana, Nozuko zandiswa Gloria
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85029215 , Rural development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85115899
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19616 , vital:43152
- Description: This study was conducted against the backdrop of growing scholarly interest in the epistemic divide between formal, institutionalised knowledge, which guide government interventions in rural community development, and local knowledge, upon which rural communities construct their social existence. The study sought to understand why, despite their resilience and cultural embeddedness in South Africa's rural communities, indigenous self-help groups (SHGs) - as a particular form of indigenous rationality - remained on the periphery of contemporary community development interventions. The study was conducted in the communities of Dabhana, Feni and Mgwanlana in Peddie (Ngqushwa Local Municipality), Eastern Cape. Three SHG variants were eselected: a funeral group (Masingcwabane), an HIV and AIDS support groups, and a financial mutual (mgalelo) – all in the context of government-assisted community development. Empirical data was collected using a mini-survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. The findings revealed that SHGs were a collective model of indigenous knowledge and social interaction, driven by the belief that through 'sharing', 'reciprocity' and 'collectivism', what would ordinarily be a heavy burden for individuals became 'lighter'. Furthermore, while the institutional framework for community development mandated collaboration between government and SHGs, this framework created a stiff, bureaucratic canvass that alienated SHGs and stifled their operations. The study also found that partnership between the government and SHGs was characterised by fear and distrust on the part of government, and reluctance on the part of SHGs. Government's distrust was premised on the "informality" and "traditionality" of SHGs, and the fear that any investment in SHGs would go to waste. On the other hand, SHGs' reluctance to make themselves amenable to partnership with government seemed like a reaction to a "faulty, culturally insensitive" institutional framework which "delegitimised" grassroots development impulses. The study concluded that there existed in the rural community development arena an epistemic, ideational and practical chasm between government-driven development praxis and age-old indigenous initiatives, and that while the weaknesses of each knowledge domain were accentuated through this divide, development would continue to elude the grassroots communities unless the two knowledge domains interacted with, and leveraged, each other. , Thesis (PhD) (Sociology) -- University of Fort Hare, 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Consensus and contentions around community engagement in a South African tertiary institution :University of Fort Hare
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Administration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8306 , vital:32257
- Description: This study examines the nature and character of consensus and contentions around the discourse of community engagement in a South African university context. This is against the background of the growing body of literature that advocates for the need for universities to make their impact felt in communities in more direct ways than through teaching and research. The examination is also against the background of the assumption that the success or failure of community engagement initiatives is, in part, a function of how stakeholders agree/disagree on the meaning and purpose of community engagement. The University of Fort Hare is used as a case study. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used for qualitative data collection, whilst a survey was conducted for gathering quantitative data. The study revealed that stakeholders attach different meanings to community engagement, with those possessing power and influence acting as key decision makers. Thus powerful stakeholders (in this case, the university and donor organizations) are at the core of the decision making process, while beneficiaries are pushed to the periphery. Moreover, both the meanings and the activities within which they cohere have important implications for the way beneficiary communities perceive university-community partnerships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Administration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8306 , vital:32257
- Description: This study examines the nature and character of consensus and contentions around the discourse of community engagement in a South African university context. This is against the background of the growing body of literature that advocates for the need for universities to make their impact felt in communities in more direct ways than through teaching and research. The examination is also against the background of the assumption that the success or failure of community engagement initiatives is, in part, a function of how stakeholders agree/disagree on the meaning and purpose of community engagement. The University of Fort Hare is used as a case study. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used for qualitative data collection, whilst a survey was conducted for gathering quantitative data. The study revealed that stakeholders attach different meanings to community engagement, with those possessing power and influence acting as key decision makers. Thus powerful stakeholders (in this case, the university and donor organizations) are at the core of the decision making process, while beneficiaries are pushed to the periphery. Moreover, both the meanings and the activities within which they cohere have important implications for the way beneficiary communities perceive university-community partnerships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
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