An assessment of the impact of local economic development on urban poverty alleviation: a case of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
- Authors: Mbeba, Roland D
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- Services for -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11424 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/548 , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- Services for -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Local Economic Development has in recent years, gained wide spread acceptance, as a locality-based response to economic challenges. It is now firmly on the agenda of many national and local government and key international agencies. Adopting a desk study approach, reviewing extensive literature on LED, the study sought to establish the impact of LED strategy employed by Buffalo City Municipality, and assess the extent to which it has alleviated poverty. The study shows that the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) LED strategy has limited impact on poverty alleviation due to a myriad of factors, which reinforce and interact with each other thereby limiting development and trapping residents in poverty. The thesis argues that there is significant room for a paradigm shift from predominantly pro-growth to pro-poor LED, and the need to adopt a comprehensive LED strategy that seeks to include of both pro-growth and pro-poor strategies. Both cannot operate without the other in the bid to promote development in Buffalo City, mainly with Agriculture, Tourism, and SMME having significant potential to bring about local economic development. Moreover, the promotion of Private-Public Partnerships play an integral role in the socio-economic development of Buffalo City, and more so the participation of local people is even more fundamental, which will give them the opportunity to take charge of their own development. Therefore, the study suggests a new LED agenda, which is pro-poor, holistic, and moves away from ‘piecemeal’ project based LED activities, and adopts comprehensive economic programmes so that LED has significant impact on poverty alleviation.
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Impact of access to free basic electricity on households' poverty in Buffalo City Municipality in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mvondo, Jephthe M
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Household surveys -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Quality of life -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Electric utilities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11419 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/280 , Household surveys -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Quality of life -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Electric utilities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The study was premised on the truism that men have historically served in higher echelons of organizational management structures and women are under-represented. The principal objective was to explore the constraints faced by women in accessing higher leadership and senior management positions in public, private and non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe. This study adopted the triangulation method, that is, qualitative and quantitative approaches. These mixed research methods, were upgraded by the feminist research methodologies, thereby making a contribution in the field of research. The study found out that the constraints that mostly hinder women from accessing leadership and senior management positions in public, private and NGOs were cultural practices, which represent levels of power and control that in turn hinder reforms; and women's socialisation into feminised roles. The study also found out that in most organisations, most females work under male leadership, and this traditional organisational culture, needs to be deconstructed and reversed in order to achieve gender equality. The study recommended for a human centric and integrated organizational management strategy for public, private and NGOs in Zimbabwe. The adoption of a human centric and integrated management approach should aim at gender equity and reduce women's under-representation. A human centred organizational culture has to be practiced, that would create organisational ethos that guide organizational management. An integrated organizational management approach should integrate all systems and processes into one complete framework, enabling people to work as a single unit, unified by organizational goals, shared vision and common values. The system should depend on a balanced mix of the masculine and feminine attributes. The approach should put its weight towards adoption of measures to attract, advance and empower women so as to benefit from their qualifications, experience and talent in a highly competitive environment.
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A critical perspective of national norms and standards of school funding in Eastern Cape East London District
- Authors: Mamatu, Ntombizonke Lydia
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Education and state -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa -- Finance , School management and organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Public schools -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11413 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/303 , Education and state -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa -- Finance , School management and organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Public schools -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Education policies remain a contested terrain in both the social and political environments. They are not neutral instruments and are used both to maintain the existing social order and also to promote varying kinds of change or mobility. The South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996) hereafter SASA, which is the source of all policies that regulate school issues in South Africa promotes democratic methods of school governing and education provisioning that favours the previously disadvantaged groups. The NNSSF is one of the policies of SASA that makes schooling accessible to the poor through school fee exemptions while attempting to close the gap between the rich and the poor through differentiated school funding created according to researched poverty levels and standardized target lists. This has been designed to fulfil one of the essential human rights of man- education that has been entrenched in the Bill of Rights of the Republic of South Africa Constitution, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) hereafter, Constitution. Thus, the study’s objective is to evaluate the implementation of the NNSSF policy in public schools focussing on school fee exemptions. The extent to which poor parents and learners are given school fee exemptions as they are supposed to according to the policy will be indicators of whether the NNSSF is justly or unjustly implemented in public schools. Learners are the recipients of the right to education. Parents are given the responsibility to fund the education of their children. However, for poor parents to fulfil that they need advice and assistance from the teachers and SGBs to be able to access the school fee exemptions while they have a right to just administrative action and to human dignity in dealing with them. SGBs and teachers have to create a favourable environment for the just implementation of the NNSSF by advising and xiii assisting deserving parents and learners to access school fee exemptions so that the right to education is fulfilled. The duty of in loco parentis and acting in the best interest of the child enforce teachers to do everything possible to ensure that learners access education. EDOs are supposed to guide, monitor and supervise the implementation of the policy while legal bodies should assist parents and learners to demand their right when it is violated through litigation. The study used the method of survey which is quantitative and interviews which are qualitative. Questionnaires and interview schedules were tools used to collect data that was analysed through statistical methods and represented in the form of tables and pie-charts. Various significant findings were made that had a bearing on the implementation of the NNSSF policy in public schools, most important to note is that some learners who have the right to education are aware of this right but do not know how to ensure that it is not violated. Parents are not given the opportunity to decide whether school fees should be charged in their schools. Above that they are not given the advice they need to be able to access school fee exemptions. Some teachers think that by advising and assisting learners and parents they will be buying cheap popularity- showing ignorance. EDOs do not know how schools implement the NNSSF, they are not involved in anyway. Thus the study views the implementation of NNSSF policy in public schools as unjust and recommends that SGBs and teachers need to be educated, guided and monitored by the EDOs on the policy and its implementation. They in turn will have to educate parents and learners so that they are able to access school fee exemptions thereby receiving education – their right.
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An assessment of the child support grant as a poverty alleviation intervention in South Africa: the case of Mdantsane township in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mase, Blossom Bukelwa
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Child support -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Child welfare -- South Africa , Child support -- Government policy -- South Africa , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Children -- Services for -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11412 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/299 , Child support -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Child welfare -- South Africa , Child support -- Government policy -- South Africa , Poverty -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Children -- Services for -- South Africa
- Description: There were different kinds of imbalances that were created by the past regime in which race and colour were determining factors in terms of access to state welfare. The State Maintance Grant was one of the state welfare interventions where African women did not even know how or where to access the grant. When the Child Support Grant was introduced in 1998 it gave hope to the vulnerable section of the society, the children. The CSG is one of the poverty alleviation programs introduced by the government to target the poverty stricken children of South Africa. This is a means tested program which not all children are to benefit but a certain portion of the society. There are special conditions attached to the grant which require to be fulfilled. These conditions require the child to be fed, clothed, immunized, school needs be paid, and have proper accommodation. This study made use of the Mdantsane Township which is 25 km away from East London city centre as a case study to determine whether the CSG has managed to achieve its objective of relieving poverty among children, given the conditions of poverty and unemployment in Mdantsane. The findings of this study indicate that the people of Mdantsane are still in poverty and the most affected sections remain the children. The respondents indicate that the people are unemployed as a result the CSG seems to be the source of livelihood in these households leaving the children at a disadvantage as the grant is intended for x their own needs. Therefore there is a need to investigate whether the CSG has any impact on the lives of these children. Also since Eastern Cape is known to be one of the poorest provinces, it is important to investigate whether the CSG has become the source of livelihood in some households.
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