Changes and continuities over time in the cultural significance of the Nyaminyami water spirit among the BaTonga people of northwestern Zimbabwe
- Authors: Matanzima, Joshua
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Water spirits -- Zimbabwe , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe -- Religion , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe -- Rites and ceremonies , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe -- Social life and customs , Mythology, Tsonga , Mythology, Zimbabwean , Nyaminyami (Spirit)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94189 , vital:31015
- Description: Research attests that beliefs in water spirits are an integral part of cultures of many indigenous communities across the globe. These water spirits play significant political, religious and socio-economic roles for the people concerned. However, the functions of water spirits are not constant, but change over time, especially when the people believing in water spirits undergo drastic socio- economic processes of change. It is in this context that this thesis traces the cultural significance over time, of the Nyaminyami water spirit, among some BaTonga people, living in the immediate vicinity of the Kariba gorge area, in north-western Zimbabwe. While previous studies document the existence of beliefs in Nyaminyami, none of these has systematically traced the historical significance of Nyaminyami, in terms of changes and continuities over time. Thus, this thesis makes a valuable contribution to knowledge with regards to the history and religion of the BaTonga people. The thesis argues that Nyaminyami‘s cultural significance or functions evolved over time, due to numerous socio- economic and political processes of change. The major changes that significantly influenced the practices relating to Nyaminyami include colonialism, Kariba dam construction and resettlement, the migration after resettlement in the 1960s and 1970s, the independence of Zimbabwe, and the alienation of the Kariba waterscape from the BaTonga. To be able to arrive at specific findings and conclusions, the thesis is underpinned by theories about resettlement, approaches to water divinities, and theories of religion and social change. The thesis has five ethnographic chapters that focus on specific time periods, illustrating the major socio- economic changes of each epoch, and showing how these changes impacted upon practices and beliefs relating to Nyaminyami. The thesis also documents how Nyaminyami beliefs are variedly distributed along different social variables that include gender, age, income and geographical location. In order to achieve the findings presented, the thesis utilized ethnographic evidence obtained from semi- structured interviews, participant observation, anthropology of extraordinary experience, document review and archival research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Matanzima, Joshua
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Water spirits -- Zimbabwe , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe -- Religion , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe -- Rites and ceremonies , Tsonga (African people) -- Zimbabwe -- Social life and customs , Mythology, Tsonga , Mythology, Zimbabwean , Nyaminyami (Spirit)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94189 , vital:31015
- Description: Research attests that beliefs in water spirits are an integral part of cultures of many indigenous communities across the globe. These water spirits play significant political, religious and socio-economic roles for the people concerned. However, the functions of water spirits are not constant, but change over time, especially when the people believing in water spirits undergo drastic socio- economic processes of change. It is in this context that this thesis traces the cultural significance over time, of the Nyaminyami water spirit, among some BaTonga people, living in the immediate vicinity of the Kariba gorge area, in north-western Zimbabwe. While previous studies document the existence of beliefs in Nyaminyami, none of these has systematically traced the historical significance of Nyaminyami, in terms of changes and continuities over time. Thus, this thesis makes a valuable contribution to knowledge with regards to the history and religion of the BaTonga people. The thesis argues that Nyaminyami‘s cultural significance or functions evolved over time, due to numerous socio- economic and political processes of change. The major changes that significantly influenced the practices relating to Nyaminyami include colonialism, Kariba dam construction and resettlement, the migration after resettlement in the 1960s and 1970s, the independence of Zimbabwe, and the alienation of the Kariba waterscape from the BaTonga. To be able to arrive at specific findings and conclusions, the thesis is underpinned by theories about resettlement, approaches to water divinities, and theories of religion and social change. The thesis has five ethnographic chapters that focus on specific time periods, illustrating the major socio- economic changes of each epoch, and showing how these changes impacted upon practices and beliefs relating to Nyaminyami. The thesis also documents how Nyaminyami beliefs are variedly distributed along different social variables that include gender, age, income and geographical location. In order to achieve the findings presented, the thesis utilized ethnographic evidence obtained from semi- structured interviews, participant observation, anthropology of extraordinary experience, document review and archival research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Changing gender roles: challenges and strategies of female headship in Motherwell
- Authors: Kadaluka, Gloria Thamo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Gender roles
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44541 , vital:38138
- Description: For decades, research has examined men’s perceptions of the changing gender roles, highlighting the masculinity crisis and challenges men encounter due to the decreasing male provider role. Yet, studies have not explored women’s perceptions about these changing roles, which have consequentially enabled them to become female-headed households (FHHs). Part of the problem is that in theory, FHHs have indeed been classified as the poorest of the poor. Nevertheless in practice, governments have neglected efforts to support this group. In South Africa, research on challenges of FHHs is quantitative and portrays an overgeneralised image of poverty in FHHs. This study set out to develop a better understanding of how women make sense of the changing roles, in an attempt to investigate the processes through which women assume their headship status and to examine their challenges and strategies as FHHs. Using a qualitative research design in the form of a case study with a phenomenological study orientation, the study identified 40 female participants and the data was collected using in-depth interviews. Data was analysed through inductive thematic analysis. Findings indicated that female headship occurs through an identifiable process and most women were never married, divorced, separated or widowed. Thus, single motherhood is by choice, because it is a choice for independence. The significant obstacle hindering social progress is that women support the changing gender roles, while at the same time utilising linguistic repertoires to hold on to traditional gender role beliefs that reinforce patriarchy. Their also challenges manifested in a similar behavioral fashion, suggesting the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Poor education, sex for jobs, feminisation of labour, teenage pregnancies, burden of care, dependency burden, discrimination, absence of fathers and inability to balance work and family, are challenges that put FHHs under a sustained attack. These findings indicate that despite being poor, women do not view themselves as victims of poverty. They exercise urgency through forging social capital, salaries and child support grants. However, women are stuck in a poverty trap because their relations of exchange are limited to those women who are equally poor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Kadaluka, Gloria Thamo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Gender roles
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44541 , vital:38138
- Description: For decades, research has examined men’s perceptions of the changing gender roles, highlighting the masculinity crisis and challenges men encounter due to the decreasing male provider role. Yet, studies have not explored women’s perceptions about these changing roles, which have consequentially enabled them to become female-headed households (FHHs). Part of the problem is that in theory, FHHs have indeed been classified as the poorest of the poor. Nevertheless in practice, governments have neglected efforts to support this group. In South Africa, research on challenges of FHHs is quantitative and portrays an overgeneralised image of poverty in FHHs. This study set out to develop a better understanding of how women make sense of the changing roles, in an attempt to investigate the processes through which women assume their headship status and to examine their challenges and strategies as FHHs. Using a qualitative research design in the form of a case study with a phenomenological study orientation, the study identified 40 female participants and the data was collected using in-depth interviews. Data was analysed through inductive thematic analysis. Findings indicated that female headship occurs through an identifiable process and most women were never married, divorced, separated or widowed. Thus, single motherhood is by choice, because it is a choice for independence. The significant obstacle hindering social progress is that women support the changing gender roles, while at the same time utilising linguistic repertoires to hold on to traditional gender role beliefs that reinforce patriarchy. Their also challenges manifested in a similar behavioral fashion, suggesting the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Poor education, sex for jobs, feminisation of labour, teenage pregnancies, burden of care, dependency burden, discrimination, absence of fathers and inability to balance work and family, are challenges that put FHHs under a sustained attack. These findings indicate that despite being poor, women do not view themselves as victims of poverty. They exercise urgency through forging social capital, salaries and child support grants. However, women are stuck in a poverty trap because their relations of exchange are limited to those women who are equally poor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Clinical psychologists’ perceptions of the phenomenon of schizophrenia in a psychiatric setting in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Hamman, Colette
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Schizophrenia -- Diagnosis -- South Africa , Schizophrenia -- Treatment -- South Africa , Schizophrenics -- Rehabilitation -- South Africa , Schizophrenics -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71398 , vital:29845
- Description: Numerous international and South African scholars are critical of the dominant research on the phenomenon of schizophrenia. Rather than refuting dominant biomedical psychiatric conceptualisations of schizophrenia, there is a call for incorporating a focus on the psychology of the person diagnosed with schizophrenia. In South Africa, the integration of the psychosocial components of psychotic experiences into the understanding and treatment of psychosis are still neglected in biomedically-focused psychiatric settings. In relation to this call, the role of clinical psychologists working within these settings seems pertinent. Against this background, this study aimed to explore and describe the perceptions of clinical psychologists, working in a psychiatric setting in South Africa, in relation to the phenomenon of schizophrenia. Informed by a social constructionist theoretical framework, this study utilised a qualitative research design and a semi-structured interview schedule. In-depth, individual interviews were conducted with three clinical psychologists and the transcribed interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. From the data, perceptions were identified as largely polarised in relation to the phenomenon of schizophrenia. These polarised perceptions included: Physical impact of schizophrenia versus social impact of schizophrenia; rehabilitation of schizophrenia versus recovery within schizophrenia; diagnostic frameworks as useful versus diagnostic frameworks as limiting; and institutionally-defined identity versus self-defined identity. In terms of these polarised perceptions, an overarching theme of the medicalisation versus the demedicalisation of schizophrenia was identified. Therefore, the perceptions of clinical psychologists in this study were largely polarised towards either a medicalisation of the phenomenon of schizophrenia or a demedicalisation of it. However, perceptions were also identified that evidenced an integration of the two sides of the polarities, and a holding of tension between seemingly incompatible or incongruent frameworks. The participants perceived psychologists as positioned in the middle ground between the medicalisation and demedicalisation of schizophrenia in a biomedical psychiatric setting. In response to the call for a focus on the psychology of the person diagnosed with schizophrenia, the findings support both the value and the need for an “integration of polarised perceptions”, “holding of the tension”, and “middle ground positioning” of clinicians between medicalised and demedicalised aspects of the phenomenon of schizophrenia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Hamman, Colette
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Schizophrenia -- Diagnosis -- South Africa , Schizophrenia -- Treatment -- South Africa , Schizophrenics -- Rehabilitation -- South Africa , Schizophrenics -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71398 , vital:29845
- Description: Numerous international and South African scholars are critical of the dominant research on the phenomenon of schizophrenia. Rather than refuting dominant biomedical psychiatric conceptualisations of schizophrenia, there is a call for incorporating a focus on the psychology of the person diagnosed with schizophrenia. In South Africa, the integration of the psychosocial components of psychotic experiences into the understanding and treatment of psychosis are still neglected in biomedically-focused psychiatric settings. In relation to this call, the role of clinical psychologists working within these settings seems pertinent. Against this background, this study aimed to explore and describe the perceptions of clinical psychologists, working in a psychiatric setting in South Africa, in relation to the phenomenon of schizophrenia. Informed by a social constructionist theoretical framework, this study utilised a qualitative research design and a semi-structured interview schedule. In-depth, individual interviews were conducted with three clinical psychologists and the transcribed interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. From the data, perceptions were identified as largely polarised in relation to the phenomenon of schizophrenia. These polarised perceptions included: Physical impact of schizophrenia versus social impact of schizophrenia; rehabilitation of schizophrenia versus recovery within schizophrenia; diagnostic frameworks as useful versus diagnostic frameworks as limiting; and institutionally-defined identity versus self-defined identity. In terms of these polarised perceptions, an overarching theme of the medicalisation versus the demedicalisation of schizophrenia was identified. Therefore, the perceptions of clinical psychologists in this study were largely polarised towards either a medicalisation of the phenomenon of schizophrenia or a demedicalisation of it. However, perceptions were also identified that evidenced an integration of the two sides of the polarities, and a holding of tension between seemingly incompatible or incongruent frameworks. The participants perceived psychologists as positioned in the middle ground between the medicalisation and demedicalisation of schizophrenia in a biomedical psychiatric setting. In response to the call for a focus on the psychology of the person diagnosed with schizophrenia, the findings support both the value and the need for an “integration of polarised perceptions”, “holding of the tension”, and “middle ground positioning” of clinicians between medicalised and demedicalised aspects of the phenomenon of schizophrenia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Communicating in/from the Cave: a communication for development/social change project aimed at enhancing communication, action and learning within the science cave, a learner-led Grade 10 science club in a public school in Makhanda
- Authors: Bombi, Thandi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Communication in science -- South Africa , Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Communication in science -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Student centered learning -- South Africa , Student centered learning-- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96837 , vital:31330
- Description: This research seeks to design, execute and reflect on a process where the principles and techniques of Communication for Development and Social Change are applied to enhance, support and develop qualitative changes within a learner-led Grade 10 science club at a public school in Makhanda. It draws and reflects on an ethnographic action research (Tacchi et al 2003) cycle proposed to explore the club’s communicative ecology (Foth & Hearn 2007) and resources, and understand how these have the potential to encourage the expression of voice (Couldry 2010: 580) and participation (Carpentier, 2011) in the members of the club. The research then attempts to understand the kind of communication, action and learning that takes place as well as the ways in which the framework is able to support the club (or not). The research uses an ethnographic narrative, told from the perspective of the researcher informed by field notes, interviews and participant reflections written during the intervention. This narrative, alongside an analytical summery of the club’s complex communicative ecology, tells the story of a club building confidence within a closed group and using that to connect with a wider public, articulating its needs, resources and potential supporting stakeholders for the club’s future development. The club is able to share its achievements with a community of peers and uses the platform of Facebook, to communicate with and inspire other like-minded people with an interest in science and their community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bombi, Thandi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Communication in science -- South Africa , Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Communication in science -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Student centered learning -- South Africa , Student centered learning-- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96837 , vital:31330
- Description: This research seeks to design, execute and reflect on a process where the principles and techniques of Communication for Development and Social Change are applied to enhance, support and develop qualitative changes within a learner-led Grade 10 science club at a public school in Makhanda. It draws and reflects on an ethnographic action research (Tacchi et al 2003) cycle proposed to explore the club’s communicative ecology (Foth & Hearn 2007) and resources, and understand how these have the potential to encourage the expression of voice (Couldry 2010: 580) and participation (Carpentier, 2011) in the members of the club. The research then attempts to understand the kind of communication, action and learning that takes place as well as the ways in which the framework is able to support the club (or not). The research uses an ethnographic narrative, told from the perspective of the researcher informed by field notes, interviews and participant reflections written during the intervention. This narrative, alongside an analytical summery of the club’s complex communicative ecology, tells the story of a club building confidence within a closed group and using that to connect with a wider public, articulating its needs, resources and potential supporting stakeholders for the club’s future development. The club is able to share its achievements with a community of peers and uses the platform of Facebook, to communicate with and inspire other like-minded people with an interest in science and their community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Comparison of leg dominance and fatigue state on lower extremity kinematics during cutting manoeuvres in male soccer players
- Authors: Nienaber, Madeleine
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Human mechanics , Kinematics Kinesiology Sports injuries Soccer players -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42880 , vital:36702
- Description: Soccer is one of the most popular sports played in South Africa and around the world. Soccer is a high intensity, semi-contact sport which is associated with an increased prevalence of injuries, especially to the lower extremities. Central and neuromuscular fatigue is believed to cause changes to kinetic and kinematic patterns of soccer players which may increase the risk for injuries, specifically related to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). To investigate the effects of fatigue on knee joint kinematics during the stance phase of a cutting manoeuvre of the dominant and non-dominant legs. A quantitative approach, more specifically, an experimental study design was adopte and a quasi-experimental study design was selected. A ‘within-participants post-test only design’ was used, which is also known as a ‘repeated measures design’ because all participants were ‘repeatedly’ measured under each experimental condition. Due to the non-randomization of the quasi-experimental design, non-probability sampling was utilized to sample the population group for the proposed study. A total of 13 male soccer players volunteered for the study. The participants had the following characteristics (mean ± SD): age 22.15 ± 2.77 years; height 169.64 ± 5.75 cm and weight 64.60 ± 7.04 kg. Non-significant differences within hip joint kinematics were observed between the dominant and non-dominant legs in a non-fatigued state in all three planes of motion (F = 0.61, p = 0.55). Similar kinematic characteristics were observed for the knee joint (F = 1.25, p = 0.48) and the ankle joint (F = 3.33, p = 0.64). Non-significant differences were also observed during the fatigued state in all three planes of motion for the hip joints (F = 8.98, p = 0.72), knee joints (F = 5.21, p = 0.41) and ankle joints (F = 0.21, p = 0.12). Peak vertical forces were however significantly different between the fatigued state compared to the non-fatigued state during the cutting manoeuvre (F = 23.51, p = 0.035), thereby indicating that neuromuscular fatigue may influence landing forces on impact during a directional change. The effect of leg dominance did not have a statistically significant impact on any kinematic measures as well as the interactions between fatigue and non-fatigue trials were also not observed for any of the kinematic parameters. Several initial contact and peak stance–phase lower limb-joint rotations were influenced by fatigue during the execution of the sub-maximal 60° cutting manoeuvre. The main effect of fatigue produced an increase in knee internal rotation and hip abduction and a decrease in peak knee abduction angles compared to non-fatigue, but they were not statistically significant. Significant differences were found between dominant and non-dominant legs as well as between fatigue and non-fatigue with ankle pronation (p=0.007) and ankle external rotation (p=0.033). Knee abduction angle during cutting (p=0.061) also showed an effect even though not statistically significant. The purpose was to examine the combined effects of leg dominance and fatigue on lower-limb biomechanics during a sub-maximal 60° cutting manoeuvre. The conclusion of the present study related to limb dominance was that no statistically significant differences were evident for any of the dependent variables (limb dominance; fatigue state) related to the independent variables (i.e. joint [hip, knee, ankle], contact time, ground reaction however, between-subject fatigue variations that is large enough could negatively impact the biomechanical data comparisons. Future research should target specific locations of fatigue within a general fatigue paradigm and develop standardized tasks to achieve this.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Nienaber, Madeleine
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Human mechanics , Kinematics Kinesiology Sports injuries Soccer players -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42880 , vital:36702
- Description: Soccer is one of the most popular sports played in South Africa and around the world. Soccer is a high intensity, semi-contact sport which is associated with an increased prevalence of injuries, especially to the lower extremities. Central and neuromuscular fatigue is believed to cause changes to kinetic and kinematic patterns of soccer players which may increase the risk for injuries, specifically related to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). To investigate the effects of fatigue on knee joint kinematics during the stance phase of a cutting manoeuvre of the dominant and non-dominant legs. A quantitative approach, more specifically, an experimental study design was adopte and a quasi-experimental study design was selected. A ‘within-participants post-test only design’ was used, which is also known as a ‘repeated measures design’ because all participants were ‘repeatedly’ measured under each experimental condition. Due to the non-randomization of the quasi-experimental design, non-probability sampling was utilized to sample the population group for the proposed study. A total of 13 male soccer players volunteered for the study. The participants had the following characteristics (mean ± SD): age 22.15 ± 2.77 years; height 169.64 ± 5.75 cm and weight 64.60 ± 7.04 kg. Non-significant differences within hip joint kinematics were observed between the dominant and non-dominant legs in a non-fatigued state in all three planes of motion (F = 0.61, p = 0.55). Similar kinematic characteristics were observed for the knee joint (F = 1.25, p = 0.48) and the ankle joint (F = 3.33, p = 0.64). Non-significant differences were also observed during the fatigued state in all three planes of motion for the hip joints (F = 8.98, p = 0.72), knee joints (F = 5.21, p = 0.41) and ankle joints (F = 0.21, p = 0.12). Peak vertical forces were however significantly different between the fatigued state compared to the non-fatigued state during the cutting manoeuvre (F = 23.51, p = 0.035), thereby indicating that neuromuscular fatigue may influence landing forces on impact during a directional change. The effect of leg dominance did not have a statistically significant impact on any kinematic measures as well as the interactions between fatigue and non-fatigue trials were also not observed for any of the kinematic parameters. Several initial contact and peak stance–phase lower limb-joint rotations were influenced by fatigue during the execution of the sub-maximal 60° cutting manoeuvre. The main effect of fatigue produced an increase in knee internal rotation and hip abduction and a decrease in peak knee abduction angles compared to non-fatigue, but they were not statistically significant. Significant differences were found between dominant and non-dominant legs as well as between fatigue and non-fatigue with ankle pronation (p=0.007) and ankle external rotation (p=0.033). Knee abduction angle during cutting (p=0.061) also showed an effect even though not statistically significant. The purpose was to examine the combined effects of leg dominance and fatigue on lower-limb biomechanics during a sub-maximal 60° cutting manoeuvre. The conclusion of the present study related to limb dominance was that no statistically significant differences were evident for any of the dependent variables (limb dominance; fatigue state) related to the independent variables (i.e. joint [hip, knee, ankle], contact time, ground reaction however, between-subject fatigue variations that is large enough could negatively impact the biomechanical data comparisons. Future research should target specific locations of fatigue within a general fatigue paradigm and develop standardized tasks to achieve this.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Contribution of the Coega development corporation to small enterprise growth in Nelson Mandela Bay
- Authors: Nakimbugwe, Norris Linda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Coega Development Corporation , Small business -- Growth -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Small business -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42913 , vital:36705
- Description: This study seeks to investigate the contribution of the Coega Development Corporation to Small Enterprise growth in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Current discourse regarding IDZs suggests that their establishment is an engine to economic growth through the attraction of both domestic and foreign investments, as well as the promotion of exports through incentive packages for IDZ companies. While, the attraction of larger FDI corporations may be significant to the growth of the local economy, it can also be a barrier to Small Enterprise Growth due to the influx of larger corporations into the market although the synergetic co-existence of both the larger corporations and the local SMEs is crucial to the overall welfare of economy. With these potential challenges in mind research investigated into the contribution of the Coega IDZ project to the growth of local Small Enterprises in Nelson Mandela Bay. The study adopted a quantitative research design and self-administered questionnaires which were used for data collection from information rich respondents. Overall, findings of this study indicate that the Coega Development Corporation has to some extent contributed to small enterprise growth through its infrastructure projects, some of its existing labour regulations and also through the development of human capital skills of individuals within the small enterprises. These findings were in agreement with some of those from the literature review in the study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Nakimbugwe, Norris Linda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Coega Development Corporation , Small business -- Growth -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Small business -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42913 , vital:36705
- Description: This study seeks to investigate the contribution of the Coega Development Corporation to Small Enterprise growth in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Current discourse regarding IDZs suggests that their establishment is an engine to economic growth through the attraction of both domestic and foreign investments, as well as the promotion of exports through incentive packages for IDZ companies. While, the attraction of larger FDI corporations may be significant to the growth of the local economy, it can also be a barrier to Small Enterprise Growth due to the influx of larger corporations into the market although the synergetic co-existence of both the larger corporations and the local SMEs is crucial to the overall welfare of economy. With these potential challenges in mind research investigated into the contribution of the Coega IDZ project to the growth of local Small Enterprises in Nelson Mandela Bay. The study adopted a quantitative research design and self-administered questionnaires which were used for data collection from information rich respondents. Overall, findings of this study indicate that the Coega Development Corporation has to some extent contributed to small enterprise growth through its infrastructure projects, some of its existing labour regulations and also through the development of human capital skills of individuals within the small enterprises. These findings were in agreement with some of those from the literature review in the study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Discursive psychological analysis on the construction and performance of identity through rights talk on social media related to #FeesMustFall
- Authors: Mashaba, Tumelo Thabo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Identity , Right to education , Human rights , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , College students -- Political activity -- South Africa , College students -- Attitudes -- South Africa , College students, Black -- Psychology -- South Africa , College students, Black -- Attitudes -- South Africa , College students -- Psychology -- South Africa , Student protestors -- Attitudes -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Internet and activisim -- South Africa , Internet in political campaigns -- South Africa , Higher education and state -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96668 , vital:31306
- Description: #FeesMustFall emerged at the end of 2015 after an announcement that tuitions would increase. The student protests occurred across higher education institutions within the country in which mass shutdowns were initiated, there was the presence of violence and the use of social media. The protests occurred in 2016 but experienced a shift in tone in terms of the violence present in the protests. The research sought to unpack how identity was constructed and performed through rights talk in regards to #FeesMustFall on social media. The methodology worked from a social constructionist perspective where the research consisted of a discursive psychological analytical approach to the texts presented. The discursive repertoires that were identified were: emotions repertoire; struggle repertoire; apartheid repertoire; racial repertoire; and rights repertoire. The subject positions revealed through the repertoires indicated that protesters and supporters constructed and performed their identity in particular ways. They were positioned as black; working class; victims who are enacting a sense of agency; denied their rights; have moral authority and are a parallel to the protesters under apartheid. The repertoire of struggle, racial and apartheid all link with each other. The rights repertoire is the foundation and the emotions repertoire is the tone of the student protests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mashaba, Tumelo Thabo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Identity , Right to education , Human rights , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , College students -- Political activity -- South Africa , College students -- Attitudes -- South Africa , College students, Black -- Psychology -- South Africa , College students, Black -- Attitudes -- South Africa , College students -- Psychology -- South Africa , Student protestors -- Attitudes -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Internet and activisim -- South Africa , Internet in political campaigns -- South Africa , Higher education and state -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96668 , vital:31306
- Description: #FeesMustFall emerged at the end of 2015 after an announcement that tuitions would increase. The student protests occurred across higher education institutions within the country in which mass shutdowns were initiated, there was the presence of violence and the use of social media. The protests occurred in 2016 but experienced a shift in tone in terms of the violence present in the protests. The research sought to unpack how identity was constructed and performed through rights talk in regards to #FeesMustFall on social media. The methodology worked from a social constructionist perspective where the research consisted of a discursive psychological analytical approach to the texts presented. The discursive repertoires that were identified were: emotions repertoire; struggle repertoire; apartheid repertoire; racial repertoire; and rights repertoire. The subject positions revealed through the repertoires indicated that protesters and supporters constructed and performed their identity in particular ways. They were positioned as black; working class; victims who are enacting a sense of agency; denied their rights; have moral authority and are a parallel to the protesters under apartheid. The repertoire of struggle, racial and apartheid all link with each other. The rights repertoire is the foundation and the emotions repertoire is the tone of the student protests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Disrupting the familiar family in postcolonial literature
- Authors: Laubscher, Emma Kate
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Postcolonialism in literature , Families -- Fiction , Interpersonal relations in literature , Families in literature , Gender identity in literature , Gappah, Petina, 1971- -- Criticism and interpretation , Enright, Anne, 1962- -- Criticism and interpretation , Owuor, Yvonne Adhiambo
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/153757 , vital:39516
- Description: Anne Enright’s The Green Road, Petina Gappah’s The Book of Memory and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust offer various disruptive representations that challenge the normative family, and allow for an excavation of the potency and pervasiveness of the notion of family as an organising social principle, in a postcolonial context. Through these novels’ depictions of unorthodox families, it becomes possible to unpack the metaphorical architecture that underpins the normative family – by which I mean that social formation which enables and relies upon gender binaries, heteronormative constructions of sexuality and exclusionary racial structures. Additionally, I will attempt to examine the role that the normative family plays in shaping the subject, and determining its avenues of association, through encountering the disruptive possibilities portrayed in Gappah, Owuor and Enright’s works. My analysis is concerned with how the family orientates the subject in particular ways that regulate and delimit the subject’s means of relating to herself, those who surround her and the historic and mnemonic pasts in which she is embedded. In representing alternate kinship structures, these novels expand the aesthetic and imaginative landscape of the family and allow for new forms of relation to emerge. These transgressive and radical ways of being, knowing and loving have disruptive consequences for those social formations which are structured by, and draw on, the family – in particular the nation state. This reworking of the nation state, as well as the destabilisation of the relations between nations states, provides new avenues for inhabiting the postcolonial world. In particular, my reading argues that representations of the unfamiliar family offer different ways of receiving and relating to the self, others, and the past within a social order ruptured by the violent legacies of colonisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Laubscher, Emma Kate
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Postcolonialism in literature , Families -- Fiction , Interpersonal relations in literature , Families in literature , Gender identity in literature , Gappah, Petina, 1971- -- Criticism and interpretation , Enright, Anne, 1962- -- Criticism and interpretation , Owuor, Yvonne Adhiambo
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/153757 , vital:39516
- Description: Anne Enright’s The Green Road, Petina Gappah’s The Book of Memory and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust offer various disruptive representations that challenge the normative family, and allow for an excavation of the potency and pervasiveness of the notion of family as an organising social principle, in a postcolonial context. Through these novels’ depictions of unorthodox families, it becomes possible to unpack the metaphorical architecture that underpins the normative family – by which I mean that social formation which enables and relies upon gender binaries, heteronormative constructions of sexuality and exclusionary racial structures. Additionally, I will attempt to examine the role that the normative family plays in shaping the subject, and determining its avenues of association, through encountering the disruptive possibilities portrayed in Gappah, Owuor and Enright’s works. My analysis is concerned with how the family orientates the subject in particular ways that regulate and delimit the subject’s means of relating to herself, those who surround her and the historic and mnemonic pasts in which she is embedded. In representing alternate kinship structures, these novels expand the aesthetic and imaginative landscape of the family and allow for new forms of relation to emerge. These transgressive and radical ways of being, knowing and loving have disruptive consequences for those social formations which are structured by, and draw on, the family – in particular the nation state. This reworking of the nation state, as well as the destabilisation of the relations between nations states, provides new avenues for inhabiting the postcolonial world. In particular, my reading argues that representations of the unfamiliar family offer different ways of receiving and relating to the self, others, and the past within a social order ruptured by the violent legacies of colonisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Effect of a physical activity intervention on the physical fitness of primary schoolchildren in disadvantaged communities in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Joubert, Nandi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Physical fitness -- Research , Physical fitness for children Exercise for children Health behavior in children Child development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39962 , vital:35602
- Description: Physical activity is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, and schools are ideal settings for promoting activity and wellness. Only half of South African children meet global activity recommendations and overweightness and obesity remain a growing challenge. Disadvantaged communities are at even greater risk, as environmental- and socioeconomic challenges further influence children’s health and activity levels. This study investigated the effect of a physical activity intervention on the following health-related physical fitness parameters of primary schoolchildren: cardiorespiratory fitness, upper- and lower body strength, lower body flexibility, and body composition. More specifically the objectives were to describe and compare the intervention and control groups, at baseline, mid- and post intervene. A cluster randomised controlled trial determined the effect of the intervention. Testing was phased in three cross sectional surveys, baseline, mid and post-intervention. The study sample consisted of 157 children, aged 8-12 years, from two primary schools in the township of Motherwell, Port Elizabeth. The physical activity intervention consisted of two intervention periods, each 10-weeks in duration, and included physical education lessons, move-to-music dance classes, in-class physical activity breaks, and physical activity ‘homework’. Furthermore, a low-cost physical activity-friendly school environment was created with play structures, painted games, and the upgrade of sporting facilities and equipment. The intervention was shown to have significant positive effects on the number of laps ran (p < 0.05), indicating cardiorespiratory fitness, and handgrip strength (p < 0.001), an indicator of upper body musculature strength. No significant effects were found for lower body musculature strength (p > 0.05), lower body flexibility (p > 0.05) or body mass index (p > 0.05). Schoolchildren’s level of health-related physical fitness should be regularly assessed, and effective interventions should be implemented and monitored to ensure that children meet recommended activity and fitness standards. Physical education in South African schools is currently compromised, with children having low levels of in-school activity and high levels of sedentary behaviour. The majority of physical activity and health-related physical fitness measures are poor, with even lower scores for girls and children from lower socioeconomic areas. Interventions are thus essential and should focus on extended durations and higher activity intensities in order to achieve health enhancing benefits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Joubert, Nandi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Physical fitness -- Research , Physical fitness for children Exercise for children Health behavior in children Child development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39962 , vital:35602
- Description: Physical activity is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, and schools are ideal settings for promoting activity and wellness. Only half of South African children meet global activity recommendations and overweightness and obesity remain a growing challenge. Disadvantaged communities are at even greater risk, as environmental- and socioeconomic challenges further influence children’s health and activity levels. This study investigated the effect of a physical activity intervention on the following health-related physical fitness parameters of primary schoolchildren: cardiorespiratory fitness, upper- and lower body strength, lower body flexibility, and body composition. More specifically the objectives were to describe and compare the intervention and control groups, at baseline, mid- and post intervene. A cluster randomised controlled trial determined the effect of the intervention. Testing was phased in three cross sectional surveys, baseline, mid and post-intervention. The study sample consisted of 157 children, aged 8-12 years, from two primary schools in the township of Motherwell, Port Elizabeth. The physical activity intervention consisted of two intervention periods, each 10-weeks in duration, and included physical education lessons, move-to-music dance classes, in-class physical activity breaks, and physical activity ‘homework’. Furthermore, a low-cost physical activity-friendly school environment was created with play structures, painted games, and the upgrade of sporting facilities and equipment. The intervention was shown to have significant positive effects on the number of laps ran (p < 0.05), indicating cardiorespiratory fitness, and handgrip strength (p < 0.001), an indicator of upper body musculature strength. No significant effects were found for lower body musculature strength (p > 0.05), lower body flexibility (p > 0.05) or body mass index (p > 0.05). Schoolchildren’s level of health-related physical fitness should be regularly assessed, and effective interventions should be implemented and monitored to ensure that children meet recommended activity and fitness standards. Physical education in South African schools is currently compromised, with children having low levels of in-school activity and high levels of sedentary behaviour. The majority of physical activity and health-related physical fitness measures are poor, with even lower scores for girls and children from lower socioeconomic areas. Interventions are thus essential and should focus on extended durations and higher activity intensities in order to achieve health enhancing benefits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Effect of a web-based visual skills training programme on the visual performance of rugby players
- van Rensburg, Justine Jansen
- Authors: van Rensburg, Justine Jansen
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rugby football -- South Africa -- Physiological aspects , Physical education and training Performance Sports -- Physiological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42273 , vital:36641
- Description: With ever increasing important expectations being placed on professional sportsmen and women and, with the main emphasis on winning at all costs, the role of how vision can contribute to sports performance has been under the spotlight in the last few decades. While sport vision programmes can potentially play a vital role in improving sports performance, the efficacy of visual skills training on performance, however, has not been convincingly demonstrated and therefore is still debatable. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a web-based visual skills training programme on the visual skills performance of NMU Varsity Cup rugby players. The specific visual skills included accommodation, saccadic eye movement, reaction time and peripheral awareness. The study was quasi-experimental in nature and utilized a quantitative approach. A total number of 23 participants that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study by means of purposive sampling. Optometric assessments, on the advice of an optometrist, were conducted to ensure “normal” vision among the participants included in the study. A systematic procedure was employed based on the pre-test to allocate the 23 participants to either a control group (CG) (n=8), an experimental group one (EG1) (n=9) and an experimental group two (EG2) (n=6). The two experimental groups underwent four weeks of visual skills training with the EG1 receiving the web-based visual skills training and EG2 receiving the dynamic visual skills training. The tests used consisted of the Hart Near Far Rock Chart, a Saccadic eye movement chart, simple reaction time and choice reaction time as well as the Batak Pro (Accumulator test). Pre- and post-test scores showed some differences but no statistically significant (p<0.05) differences were found between the three groups for any of the tests conducted. Overall the experimental groups produced larger (non-significant) either pre- to post-test mean differences or post-test results than the control group for six of the seven tests implemented. The findings of this study using a web-based visual skills training programme presented no statistically significant improvements nor better results than the dynamic visual skill training programme in respect of visual skill performance of NMU Varsity rugby players.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: van Rensburg, Justine Jansen
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rugby football -- South Africa -- Physiological aspects , Physical education and training Performance Sports -- Physiological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42273 , vital:36641
- Description: With ever increasing important expectations being placed on professional sportsmen and women and, with the main emphasis on winning at all costs, the role of how vision can contribute to sports performance has been under the spotlight in the last few decades. While sport vision programmes can potentially play a vital role in improving sports performance, the efficacy of visual skills training on performance, however, has not been convincingly demonstrated and therefore is still debatable. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a web-based visual skills training programme on the visual skills performance of NMU Varsity Cup rugby players. The specific visual skills included accommodation, saccadic eye movement, reaction time and peripheral awareness. The study was quasi-experimental in nature and utilized a quantitative approach. A total number of 23 participants that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study by means of purposive sampling. Optometric assessments, on the advice of an optometrist, were conducted to ensure “normal” vision among the participants included in the study. A systematic procedure was employed based on the pre-test to allocate the 23 participants to either a control group (CG) (n=8), an experimental group one (EG1) (n=9) and an experimental group two (EG2) (n=6). The two experimental groups underwent four weeks of visual skills training with the EG1 receiving the web-based visual skills training and EG2 receiving the dynamic visual skills training. The tests used consisted of the Hart Near Far Rock Chart, a Saccadic eye movement chart, simple reaction time and choice reaction time as well as the Batak Pro (Accumulator test). Pre- and post-test scores showed some differences but no statistically significant (p<0.05) differences were found between the three groups for any of the tests conducted. Overall the experimental groups produced larger (non-significant) either pre- to post-test mean differences or post-test results than the control group for six of the seven tests implemented. The findings of this study using a web-based visual skills training programme presented no statistically significant improvements nor better results than the dynamic visual skill training programme in respect of visual skill performance of NMU Varsity rugby players.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Effect of school-based interventions on attention and academic performance of primary schoolchildren from lower socioeconomic communities in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Adams, Larissa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Academic achievement -- South Africa , Exercise -- Physiological aspects Physical education for children Physical education and training
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42085 , vital:36624
- Description: Health benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA) have been widely established. Regular PA is not only associated with improved physical and psychological well-being, but also with improved brain function and cognition, thereby enhancing academic performance (AP). Despite these benefits, decreasing levels of PA and increasing levels of overweight and obesity exist world-wide, making childhood physical inactivity a global concern. Research suggests children who meet the recommended PA guidelines of 60-minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity attain substantially higher academic grades. Schools provide ideal settings for PA promotion due to the substantial amount of time children spend at school. However, in many countries, including South Africa (SA), Physical Education (PE) programmes have been reduced and replaced with other subjects to increase AP. Furthermore, a scarcity of water, limited accessibility to improved sanitation and lack of personal hygiene at home and in school substantially contributes to the burden of preventable childhood diseases. These hygiene-related illnesses augment the cycle of poverty and disease through its detrimental effect on children’s school attendance, academic performance and productivity. Studies also show that obesity, poor nutrition and food insufficiency affect children’s school achievement. Hence, the school environment plays an essential role in improving children’s health, since many teaching opportunities about important health and nutrition practices are provided. The primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of various combinations of school-based interventions on the attention and AP of primary schoolchildren from disadvantaged communities in Port Elizabeth. Overall, 857 schoolchildren (n = 434 boys and n = 423 girls, aged 8 – 13 years) participated in the study. A 10-week cluster randomised controlled trial using four experimental and four control schools was conducted. Setting-specific interventions incorporated PA, health and hygiene education and nutrition components. The d2 Test of Attention measured selective visual attention and concentration with outcome measures of the percentage of errors, total performance and concentration performance. End of year school results were used to assess AP. Post-intervention and pre- to post-intervention differences between the inter-school comparisons revealed mixed results for the attention and AP measurements, therefore, no conclusions could be drawn regarding the assessed variables. Intervention group comparisons at post-intervention indicated that the PA intervention group achieved a statistically significant improvement (p < .05 and d > 0.8) for AP, when compared with the non-PA intervention group. No significant differences were found for AP in relation to intervention group comparisons for the health and hygiene education and nutrition intervention groups. Similarly, the intervention group comparisons revealed no significant differences regarding attention for post-intervention and pre- to post-intervention differences. Findings suggest that a school-based PA intervention can positively affect children’s AP. The current study emphasises the necessity of PA and reinforces the importance of PE in the school curriculum. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that PE regains its rightful place and be actively taught within the school curriculum.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Adams, Larissa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Academic achievement -- South Africa , Exercise -- Physiological aspects Physical education for children Physical education and training
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42085 , vital:36624
- Description: Health benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA) have been widely established. Regular PA is not only associated with improved physical and psychological well-being, but also with improved brain function and cognition, thereby enhancing academic performance (AP). Despite these benefits, decreasing levels of PA and increasing levels of overweight and obesity exist world-wide, making childhood physical inactivity a global concern. Research suggests children who meet the recommended PA guidelines of 60-minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity attain substantially higher academic grades. Schools provide ideal settings for PA promotion due to the substantial amount of time children spend at school. However, in many countries, including South Africa (SA), Physical Education (PE) programmes have been reduced and replaced with other subjects to increase AP. Furthermore, a scarcity of water, limited accessibility to improved sanitation and lack of personal hygiene at home and in school substantially contributes to the burden of preventable childhood diseases. These hygiene-related illnesses augment the cycle of poverty and disease through its detrimental effect on children’s school attendance, academic performance and productivity. Studies also show that obesity, poor nutrition and food insufficiency affect children’s school achievement. Hence, the school environment plays an essential role in improving children’s health, since many teaching opportunities about important health and nutrition practices are provided. The primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of various combinations of school-based interventions on the attention and AP of primary schoolchildren from disadvantaged communities in Port Elizabeth. Overall, 857 schoolchildren (n = 434 boys and n = 423 girls, aged 8 – 13 years) participated in the study. A 10-week cluster randomised controlled trial using four experimental and four control schools was conducted. Setting-specific interventions incorporated PA, health and hygiene education and nutrition components. The d2 Test of Attention measured selective visual attention and concentration with outcome measures of the percentage of errors, total performance and concentration performance. End of year school results were used to assess AP. Post-intervention and pre- to post-intervention differences between the inter-school comparisons revealed mixed results for the attention and AP measurements, therefore, no conclusions could be drawn regarding the assessed variables. Intervention group comparisons at post-intervention indicated that the PA intervention group achieved a statistically significant improvement (p < .05 and d > 0.8) for AP, when compared with the non-PA intervention group. No significant differences were found for AP in relation to intervention group comparisons for the health and hygiene education and nutrition intervention groups. Similarly, the intervention group comparisons revealed no significant differences regarding attention for post-intervention and pre- to post-intervention differences. Findings suggest that a school-based PA intervention can positively affect children’s AP. The current study emphasises the necessity of PA and reinforces the importance of PE in the school curriculum. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that PE regains its rightful place and be actively taught within the school curriculum.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Effectiveness of rural development programmes in marginalized rural areas: Umzimvubu Local Municipality
- Authors: Mndela, Ntandokazi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41043 , vital:36285
- Description: Rural development projects (RDPs) present a means to develop communities while providing employment for community members in marginalised rural areas (MRAs). This study investigated the efficacy of RDPs by focussing on a target RDP in the Umzimvubu local municipality. In the area under investigation, a community development project was established by the community members with the aid of the government. The project witnessed a gradual death over time. This study investigated the reasons for failure of the community development project with the objective of determining the efficacy of RDP as a means to emancipate marginalised rural communities, and to provide guidelines that could be used in initiating and maintaining the sustainable operation of future rural community development projects. The study was conducted through a descriptive research approach. Questionnaires were employed to collect information. The study revealed that poor project management and monitoring and a lack of community participation, community input in decision-making, participation of young people and continued technical and financial support from the government were the major challenges confronting this community development projects in MRAs. Furthermore, the study revealed that the impacts of RDPs were more prominent at a micro-level, as beneficiaries were mostly the people directly associated with the project. The study concluded by prescribing a set of guidelines that could be adopted in starting and running RDPs in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mndela, Ntandokazi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41043 , vital:36285
- Description: Rural development projects (RDPs) present a means to develop communities while providing employment for community members in marginalised rural areas (MRAs). This study investigated the efficacy of RDPs by focussing on a target RDP in the Umzimvubu local municipality. In the area under investigation, a community development project was established by the community members with the aid of the government. The project witnessed a gradual death over time. This study investigated the reasons for failure of the community development project with the objective of determining the efficacy of RDP as a means to emancipate marginalised rural communities, and to provide guidelines that could be used in initiating and maintaining the sustainable operation of future rural community development projects. The study was conducted through a descriptive research approach. Questionnaires were employed to collect information. The study revealed that poor project management and monitoring and a lack of community participation, community input in decision-making, participation of young people and continued technical and financial support from the government were the major challenges confronting this community development projects in MRAs. Furthermore, the study revealed that the impacts of RDPs were more prominent at a micro-level, as beneficiaries were mostly the people directly associated with the project. The study concluded by prescribing a set of guidelines that could be adopted in starting and running RDPs in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Ekhakhamela
- Authors: Machi, Nolwazi Fortunate
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa poetry
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76332 , vital:30549
- Description: My collection of isiZulu poems is based on my rural and traditional upbringing. It draws on language and customs which have shaped and defined me as a woman born in the South of KwaZulu-Natal. I write about how I have to conform to both a rural life and an urban one that forms my second world. I find myself having to switch between these lives, which benefits me a lot, and I feel a responsibility to bring hope to young people especially from the rural side, that nothing is wrong with being who and where they are. My writing is influenced by authors such as Nazim Hikmet, Mafika Gwala, and Mazisi Kunene who encourages black writers to write about their own customs and stories rather than embracing ‘western civilization’ and foreign languages. I also like the contemporary subjects and the humour in Dr Nakanjani Sibiya’s work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Machi, Nolwazi Fortunate
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa poetry
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76332 , vital:30549
- Description: My collection of isiZulu poems is based on my rural and traditional upbringing. It draws on language and customs which have shaped and defined me as a woman born in the South of KwaZulu-Natal. I write about how I have to conform to both a rural life and an urban one that forms my second world. I find myself having to switch between these lives, which benefits me a lot, and I feel a responsibility to bring hope to young people especially from the rural side, that nothing is wrong with being who and where they are. My writing is influenced by authors such as Nazim Hikmet, Mafika Gwala, and Mazisi Kunene who encourages black writers to write about their own customs and stories rather than embracing ‘western civilization’ and foreign languages. I also like the contemporary subjects and the humour in Dr Nakanjani Sibiya’s work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Empire in Lusaka: hip-hop, young men and masculinity in an African city
- Authors: Mulolani, Happy
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Empire (Television program : 2015) -- Influence , Hip-hop -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Young men -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Young men -- Psychology -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Young men -- Social conditions -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Rap musicians -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Masculinity -- Zambia -- Lusaka
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92650 , vital:30736
- Description: This study examines young Zambian men who are aspiring hip hop artists in Lusaka and the meanings they make of the representations of masculinity in Empire, a popular US television drama. Broadcast locally via satellite on the South African cable network, DStv, Empire narrates the story of a family of powerful men as they battle for the control of Empire, a successful hip-hop label. Of significance is how the programme’s representations of masculinity resonate with the young men’s own ideas of masculinity within a highly patriarchal and conservative urban African space. The young male hip-hop artists encounter their everyday experiences in a context of a range of socio-economic challenges within the urban space of Lusaka which presents them with very limited economic opportunities and resources. Underpinned by a constructivist approach, this reception study explores how these young male artists encounter their everyday experiences in the city and how its structural constraints are navigated through hip-hop, a highly popular local cultural form. The male artists’ reactions to the programme are dependent on their socio-economic location and the types of skills and resources they draw on in order to traverse their everyday experience of city life which concurrently is perceived as exclusionary and as impacting on their livelihoods and aspirations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mulolani, Happy
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Empire (Television program : 2015) -- Influence , Hip-hop -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Young men -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Young men -- Psychology -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Young men -- Social conditions -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Rap musicians -- Zambia -- Lusaka , Masculinity -- Zambia -- Lusaka
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92650 , vital:30736
- Description: This study examines young Zambian men who are aspiring hip hop artists in Lusaka and the meanings they make of the representations of masculinity in Empire, a popular US television drama. Broadcast locally via satellite on the South African cable network, DStv, Empire narrates the story of a family of powerful men as they battle for the control of Empire, a successful hip-hop label. Of significance is how the programme’s representations of masculinity resonate with the young men’s own ideas of masculinity within a highly patriarchal and conservative urban African space. The young male hip-hop artists encounter their everyday experiences in a context of a range of socio-economic challenges within the urban space of Lusaka which presents them with very limited economic opportunities and resources. Underpinned by a constructivist approach, this reception study explores how these young male artists encounter their everyday experiences in the city and how its structural constraints are navigated through hip-hop, a highly popular local cultural form. The male artists’ reactions to the programme are dependent on their socio-economic location and the types of skills and resources they draw on in order to traverse their everyday experience of city life which concurrently is perceived as exclusionary and as impacting on their livelihoods and aspirations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Evaluating the benefits of the extended public works programme in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
- Authors: Lindani-Beni, Bulelwa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Public service employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Job creation -- South Africa -- Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Public works -- South Africa -- Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40555 , vital:36182
- Description: Public Works Programmes (PWPs) are interventions implemented by the government to overcome the high levels of unemployment and to provide the poor with salaries so that they can meet their basic needs. This was done in response to the United Nations (UN) call to meet the sustainable development goals adopted in 2015. The study defines PWPs and gives an overview of the categories of the intervention programmes. Different countries use the PWPs for different aims from poverty reduction, response to economic shocks and guaranteed employment. Most of the countries, like South Africa, use these programmes as a temporary relief. Unemployment remains a challenge in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) and the municipality has always been unsuccessful in reaching the targets expected in job creation. The study compares the South African Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) with the two other international programmes, India and Malawi. The analysis of the three phases of the South African EPWP since its inception in 2004 is done in this study. The paper analysed the BCMM’s EPWP projects in the Eastern Cape where there is a high level of unemployment and a high degree of rural-urban migration. An overview of the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) and India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) is also presented in this study. The researcher analysed documents and desktop reviews for the study. The available information such as the programme strategic plans, logical frameworks, policy documents, implementation reports, academic journals and media reports were consulted for this study. The study highlighted challenges in the South African EPWP which contributes towards the inefficiency of the programme in reducing the high levels of unemployment in the BCMM. The researcher provided recommendations that may improve the effectiveness of the public works programme in South Africa. One recommendation is the development of a Management Information System for EPWP that can assist the government in monitoring and evaluating the whole programme in the different departments and municipalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Lindani-Beni, Bulelwa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Public service employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa -- Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Job creation -- South Africa -- Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Public works -- South Africa -- Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40555 , vital:36182
- Description: Public Works Programmes (PWPs) are interventions implemented by the government to overcome the high levels of unemployment and to provide the poor with salaries so that they can meet their basic needs. This was done in response to the United Nations (UN) call to meet the sustainable development goals adopted in 2015. The study defines PWPs and gives an overview of the categories of the intervention programmes. Different countries use the PWPs for different aims from poverty reduction, response to economic shocks and guaranteed employment. Most of the countries, like South Africa, use these programmes as a temporary relief. Unemployment remains a challenge in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) and the municipality has always been unsuccessful in reaching the targets expected in job creation. The study compares the South African Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) with the two other international programmes, India and Malawi. The analysis of the three phases of the South African EPWP since its inception in 2004 is done in this study. The paper analysed the BCMM’s EPWP projects in the Eastern Cape where there is a high level of unemployment and a high degree of rural-urban migration. An overview of the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) and India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) is also presented in this study. The researcher analysed documents and desktop reviews for the study. The available information such as the programme strategic plans, logical frameworks, policy documents, implementation reports, academic journals and media reports were consulted for this study. The study highlighted challenges in the South African EPWP which contributes towards the inefficiency of the programme in reducing the high levels of unemployment in the BCMM. The researcher provided recommendations that may improve the effectiveness of the public works programme in South Africa. One recommendation is the development of a Management Information System for EPWP that can assist the government in monitoring and evaluating the whole programme in the different departments and municipalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Examining the position of black South African accents in English in Drama Departments within institutions in the Western Cape Province: a case study
- Authors: Seekoe, Leanetse Thato
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: English language
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16397 , vital:40716
- Description: This dissertation examines the treatment and perceptions of black South African accents in English in the drama departments of specific institutions of higher learning in the Western Cape Province. The researcher is concerned with the handling of African native cultural identities in the curriculum policy of Drama Departments in higher education institutions in the Western Cape Province. Although the focus of the research is on the institutions that are based in the Western Cape Province, the subjects that are being discussed are representatives of black people in South Africa as a whole. To portray the issue of accents appropriately, the examination does often refer to language as a relatable concept. In the literature of this dissertation, there is ample support for the claim that language differences and disagreements in South Africa are due to the historical and socio-political stance of the European native. After examining the topic of power and social control, the study points out that the native is rarely in control of the interests of the European descendent. Thus, the relationship between the two is immediately assumed before it has even been established. For the purpose of this discussion, ambiguity is appreciated when intimacy between cultures evolves for the greater good. However, it is disregarded when individual voices are diluted into neutral or standard representations of a language. And so the act of reducing black South African accents in English to mirror that of the Euro-American culture robs the natives of their individuality and imprisons them into cultural assimilation. Ultimately, this study intends to identify different groups of black South Africans who speak English with accents. For clarity has divided into two separate groups namely privileged and unprivileged. Accents that are appreciated by white South African English speakers are considered to be privileged, while accents that carry the undertones of any mother-tongue language are recognised in this research study as unprivileged. The study wishes to present this phenomenon as a social issue that will negatively affect the growth of indigenous participation in performance spaces in the Western Cape which the study assumes as the context for the research. The implication of the study is to potentially eliminate issues of inferiority to those black South African accents that have been regarded as less valuable to dramatic performances in the Western Cape, to the extent that platforms of dramatic performances will broaden in order for black South African accents to be prioritised with relevant usage
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Seekoe, Leanetse Thato
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: English language
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16397 , vital:40716
- Description: This dissertation examines the treatment and perceptions of black South African accents in English in the drama departments of specific institutions of higher learning in the Western Cape Province. The researcher is concerned with the handling of African native cultural identities in the curriculum policy of Drama Departments in higher education institutions in the Western Cape Province. Although the focus of the research is on the institutions that are based in the Western Cape Province, the subjects that are being discussed are representatives of black people in South Africa as a whole. To portray the issue of accents appropriately, the examination does often refer to language as a relatable concept. In the literature of this dissertation, there is ample support for the claim that language differences and disagreements in South Africa are due to the historical and socio-political stance of the European native. After examining the topic of power and social control, the study points out that the native is rarely in control of the interests of the European descendent. Thus, the relationship between the two is immediately assumed before it has even been established. For the purpose of this discussion, ambiguity is appreciated when intimacy between cultures evolves for the greater good. However, it is disregarded when individual voices are diluted into neutral or standard representations of a language. And so the act of reducing black South African accents in English to mirror that of the Euro-American culture robs the natives of their individuality and imprisons them into cultural assimilation. Ultimately, this study intends to identify different groups of black South Africans who speak English with accents. For clarity has divided into two separate groups namely privileged and unprivileged. Accents that are appreciated by white South African English speakers are considered to be privileged, while accents that carry the undertones of any mother-tongue language are recognised in this research study as unprivileged. The study wishes to present this phenomenon as a social issue that will negatively affect the growth of indigenous participation in performance spaces in the Western Cape which the study assumes as the context for the research. The implication of the study is to potentially eliminate issues of inferiority to those black South African accents that have been regarded as less valuable to dramatic performances in the Western Cape, to the extent that platforms of dramatic performances will broaden in order for black South African accents to be prioritised with relevant usage
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Expectations and experiences of talent management across South Africa and the effect on retention
- Authors: Du Randt, Jean
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Employee retention -- South Africa , Employee selection Manpower planning Personnel management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39556 , vital:35290
- Description: The “war on talent” is intensifying and effective talent management strategies are imperative for business success. This study explores the expectations and experiences of talent management strategies amongst employees across South Africa and their impact on retention. The literature review covers the constructs of talent management, working environment, rewards, leadership, race, age and gender as well as retention. A quantitative survey approach with comparative studies was adopted. A snowball convenience sampling method was used with links to an on-line questionnaire e-mailed to potential respondents. A total of 711 useable responses were received. Statistical analysis included factor analysis, Cronbach alpha reliability testing, mean factor scores, paired samplet-tests, Pearson’s correlations, T-tests and ANOVAs. The study found that leadership was the factor rated as most important followed by working environment and development. Respondents reported significant differences between expectations and employer ratings on all factors, with cash rewards being the greatest source of dissatisfaction. Experiences of work environment, leadership and development indicated stronger correlations to retention than cash rewards. Women, millennials and non-whites demonstrated the highest retention risks. A significant negative correlation was found between the respondents’ reported experience of leadership, work environment and development and the importance they attached to cash rewards. The study supports Hertzberg’s classification of cash rewards as a hygiene factor and Alderfer’s ERG theory’s concept of frustration-regression. This has significant implications for the focus of talent and retention strategies, and it is proposed that improving the quality of leadership, work environments and development opportunities will decrease the current over-reliance on monetary rewards as a retention tool.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Du Randt, Jean
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Employee retention -- South Africa , Employee selection Manpower planning Personnel management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39556 , vital:35290
- Description: The “war on talent” is intensifying and effective talent management strategies are imperative for business success. This study explores the expectations and experiences of talent management strategies amongst employees across South Africa and their impact on retention. The literature review covers the constructs of talent management, working environment, rewards, leadership, race, age and gender as well as retention. A quantitative survey approach with comparative studies was adopted. A snowball convenience sampling method was used with links to an on-line questionnaire e-mailed to potential respondents. A total of 711 useable responses were received. Statistical analysis included factor analysis, Cronbach alpha reliability testing, mean factor scores, paired samplet-tests, Pearson’s correlations, T-tests and ANOVAs. The study found that leadership was the factor rated as most important followed by working environment and development. Respondents reported significant differences between expectations and employer ratings on all factors, with cash rewards being the greatest source of dissatisfaction. Experiences of work environment, leadership and development indicated stronger correlations to retention than cash rewards. Women, millennials and non-whites demonstrated the highest retention risks. A significant negative correlation was found between the respondents’ reported experience of leadership, work environment and development and the importance they attached to cash rewards. The study supports Hertzberg’s classification of cash rewards as a hygiene factor and Alderfer’s ERG theory’s concept of frustration-regression. This has significant implications for the focus of talent and retention strategies, and it is proposed that improving the quality of leadership, work environments and development opportunities will decrease the current over-reliance on monetary rewards as a retention tool.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Experiences of judicial officers’ inclusion of victim impact reports during the criminal justice process
- Authors: Phillips, Adelette
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Victims of crimes , Social service -- Research Social service -- Admnistration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45064 , vital:38230
- Description: Judicial officers have a responsibility to bring about a victim-centred approach within the criminal justice system. Victims’ participation is promoted through inclusion of victim impact evidence; however, challenges are experienced in the criminal justice system. Victim impact reports, as an option to provide this evidence, are selectively requested by judicial officers. Underpinned by the General Theory of Victimology, this study explored the experiences of judicial officers’ inclusion of victim impact reports during the criminal justice process. Highlighting the factors that motivate the inclusion of these reports during the criminal justice process. This qualitative study employed an exploratory, descriptive, contextual design. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select magistrates and prosecutors to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. Data collected was analysed using thematic data analysis and various data verification strategies were used to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Judicial officers had positive and negative experiences of including victim impact reports. Most judicial officers are positively inclined to include victim impact reports as they provide insight into the harm or impact of the crime. This study contributed to a greater understanding of the internal and external factors that motivate judicial officers to include victim impact reports during the criminal justice process. The findings revealed that the lack of specialised victim services and victim service social workers are barriers to judicial officers embracing a victim-centred approach through the inclusion of victim impact reports. Victim services legislation must address the lack of victim services providers and acknowledge the statutory obligation of victim service social workers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Phillips, Adelette
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Victims of crimes , Social service -- Research Social service -- Admnistration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45064 , vital:38230
- Description: Judicial officers have a responsibility to bring about a victim-centred approach within the criminal justice system. Victims’ participation is promoted through inclusion of victim impact evidence; however, challenges are experienced in the criminal justice system. Victim impact reports, as an option to provide this evidence, are selectively requested by judicial officers. Underpinned by the General Theory of Victimology, this study explored the experiences of judicial officers’ inclusion of victim impact reports during the criminal justice process. Highlighting the factors that motivate the inclusion of these reports during the criminal justice process. This qualitative study employed an exploratory, descriptive, contextual design. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select magistrates and prosecutors to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. Data collected was analysed using thematic data analysis and various data verification strategies were used to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Judicial officers had positive and negative experiences of including victim impact reports. Most judicial officers are positively inclined to include victim impact reports as they provide insight into the harm or impact of the crime. This study contributed to a greater understanding of the internal and external factors that motivate judicial officers to include victim impact reports during the criminal justice process. The findings revealed that the lack of specialised victim services and victim service social workers are barriers to judicial officers embracing a victim-centred approach through the inclusion of victim impact reports. Victim services legislation must address the lack of victim services providers and acknowledge the statutory obligation of victim service social workers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Experiences of psychologists working with female childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors
- Ntshangase, Nandisile Elaine
- Authors: Ntshangase, Nandisile Elaine
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Adult child sexual abuse victims -- Counseling of , Child sexual abuse , Sexually abused children , Psychologists , Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42694 , vital:36681
- Description: Clients who experienced childhood sexual abuse may interact with psychologists in compelling ways. By virtue of the symptoms and personality implications, for instance, strong patterns of borderline and histrionic personality functioning, have been linked to the history of sexual abuse. Implicit to this, is that it is likely that the client will challenge the therapist with regards to both the theoretical approach taken, as well as the therapeutic style adopted. In addition, such clients are likely to project their need for a therapeutic interaction that is both genuine, empathic and at the same time, flexible. In light of this, it is not uncommon for healthcare practitioners to consider such clients as “difficult” in some way or the other. This could impact the psychologist as well, increasing the risk of psychologist stress, frustration and burnout. This study explored South African psychologists’ experiences working therapeutically with female clients who experienced sexual abuse during childhood. The focus was on understanding how the psychologists theoretically understood and practically worked with these clients. A qualitative approach was used and interviews with psychologists practising in the Eastern Cape of South Africa were conducted. The transcripts of the semi-structured interviews were thematically analysed. The thematic analysis yielded three themes, namely, 1) challenges experienced by psychologists; 2) preferred approaches to therapy and 3) coping skills utilized. The study applied the ethical principles concerned with trustworthiness, credibility and reliability.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ntshangase, Nandisile Elaine
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Adult child sexual abuse victims -- Counseling of , Child sexual abuse , Sexually abused children , Psychologists , Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42694 , vital:36681
- Description: Clients who experienced childhood sexual abuse may interact with psychologists in compelling ways. By virtue of the symptoms and personality implications, for instance, strong patterns of borderline and histrionic personality functioning, have been linked to the history of sexual abuse. Implicit to this, is that it is likely that the client will challenge the therapist with regards to both the theoretical approach taken, as well as the therapeutic style adopted. In addition, such clients are likely to project their need for a therapeutic interaction that is both genuine, empathic and at the same time, flexible. In light of this, it is not uncommon for healthcare practitioners to consider such clients as “difficult” in some way or the other. This could impact the psychologist as well, increasing the risk of psychologist stress, frustration and burnout. This study explored South African psychologists’ experiences working therapeutically with female clients who experienced sexual abuse during childhood. The focus was on understanding how the psychologists theoretically understood and practically worked with these clients. A qualitative approach was used and interviews with psychologists practising in the Eastern Cape of South Africa were conducted. The transcripts of the semi-structured interviews were thematically analysed. The thematic analysis yielded three themes, namely, 1) challenges experienced by psychologists; 2) preferred approaches to therapy and 3) coping skills utilized. The study applied the ethical principles concerned with trustworthiness, credibility and reliability.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Exploring cultural understandings of traumatic stress among the Amaxhosa traditional healers in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mlonyeni, Makhi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Herbalists -- Psychological aspects Herbalists -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45042 , vital:38228
- Description: Psychology is an essentially Eurocentric discipline. In a world that is becoming progressively aware, tolerant and accepting of differences among people, there is growing interest to challenge and amend psychological constructs that are unfairly generalized universally. Literature abounds with appeals for more research to be conducted on nonwestern cultures so that scholars can be at a better position to ‘decolonise’ the PTSD diagnosis as they will then have an improved understanding of understudied non-western societies. The Eastern Cape province of South Africa is home to the AmaXhosa tribe, the second largest ethnic group in the country. This study seeks to explore indigenous understandings and coping strategies of these people in regards to traumatic exposure. This is done through gaining insights of AmaXhosa traditional healers- Amagqirha (Diviners) and AmaXhwele (Herbalists). A sample of eight participants is sourced from Grahamstown (Makhanda) and the rural areas of Peddie (Ngqushwa). Through the use of two case studies that are presented and open ended follow up questions, the traditional healers relate their perspectives on how they interpret symptoms of psychological trauma and the strategies they employ to facilitate coping/healing of their clients in their context. It was discovered that traditional healers perceived traumatic events as phenomena that befalls only those that are spiritually vulnerable, either due to strained relationships with their ancestors, bewitchment by an enemy or jealous person or simply torment by a wandering wicked spirit. Rituals and practices of how to combat this vulnerability are then outlined.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mlonyeni, Makhi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Herbalists -- Psychological aspects Herbalists -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45042 , vital:38228
- Description: Psychology is an essentially Eurocentric discipline. In a world that is becoming progressively aware, tolerant and accepting of differences among people, there is growing interest to challenge and amend psychological constructs that are unfairly generalized universally. Literature abounds with appeals for more research to be conducted on nonwestern cultures so that scholars can be at a better position to ‘decolonise’ the PTSD diagnosis as they will then have an improved understanding of understudied non-western societies. The Eastern Cape province of South Africa is home to the AmaXhosa tribe, the second largest ethnic group in the country. This study seeks to explore indigenous understandings and coping strategies of these people in regards to traumatic exposure. This is done through gaining insights of AmaXhosa traditional healers- Amagqirha (Diviners) and AmaXhwele (Herbalists). A sample of eight participants is sourced from Grahamstown (Makhanda) and the rural areas of Peddie (Ngqushwa). Through the use of two case studies that are presented and open ended follow up questions, the traditional healers relate their perspectives on how they interpret symptoms of psychological trauma and the strategies they employ to facilitate coping/healing of their clients in their context. It was discovered that traditional healers perceived traumatic events as phenomena that befalls only those that are spiritually vulnerable, either due to strained relationships with their ancestors, bewitchment by an enemy or jealous person or simply torment by a wandering wicked spirit. Rituals and practices of how to combat this vulnerability are then outlined.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019