Participation dynamics in the management of protected areas: the case of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and its adjacent communities, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Nyamahono, James Donald https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1391-9126
- Authors: Nyamahono, James Donald https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1391-9126
- Date: 2023-03
- Subjects: Protected areas , Natural resources conservation areas -- South Africa , National protected areas systems
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27358 , vital:66947
- Description: In many parts of the developing world, participation in the management of ‘protected areas’ is among the most tangible indices of how the rural population encounters formal conservation policies, strategies and ideologies. However, some scholars have argued that the sharing of the burdens and benefits of participation is devoid of equity. While some analysts have emphasised the imperative of multi-stakeholder participation in nature conservation, citing this as a crucial socio-ecological investment, others have highlighted the inherent contradictions in the process, describing it as an avenue for manipulation, tokenism and exploitation. This study is located in this debate and focuses on narratives around the participation of different stakeholders in the management of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and its adjacent communities in the rural Wild-Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The researcher notes that research on the degrees and participation dynamics among various role players involved in the management of protected areas in South Africa, Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in particular is limited. Against this background, this study contributes to ongoing discussions on protected area management in South Africa but seeks to expand this discussion by interrogating the nature and degrees of participation within the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve - to deepen intellectual understanding on the significant role played by protected areas in engendering participatory democracy, equity, justice as well as meeting the needs of marginalised communities. Primary data for the thesis were collected using in-depth and key-informant interviews with officials from government institutions and parastatals, politicians and traditional authority figures. Focus group discussions were held with ‘youth’ participants as well as ‘elders’ in the Reserve’s adjacent communities. An analysis of policy and other government documents sought to outline the institutional attributes of protected areas management in South Africa and the underpinning ideas. A thematic analysis of the corpus of empirical information helped to show how these institutional attributes inhere in Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve as well as the epistemic challenge these attributes pose vis-à-vis indigenous ecological ideas and practices in the adjacent ‘indigenous’ communities. The study revealed that participation is perceived differently by various stakeholders due to multiple, mutually contradictory impulses. While institutional stakeholders attached great importance to the structural role of institutional frameworks, hence the vigorous reliance on formal conservation strategies, narratives from community members drew attention to ‘equity deficits’. The study also found that while the selected Reserve may have fostered cooperation between government and the adjacent communities, conflict and distrust ran deep between these stakeholders. From these and other findings, the study concluded that ecological participation in the study area was characterised by clusters of stakeholders who regard one another as ‘epistemic outsiders’ and related to one another as such, with practical consequences – especially for the long-term sustainability of the Reserve. In the main, the thesis rests on the argument that in the face of epistemic differences, dominance and marginalisation could become a defining feature of protected area management that cannot be readily resolved through the mere process of participation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03
- Authors: Nyamahono, James Donald https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1391-9126
- Date: 2023-03
- Subjects: Protected areas , Natural resources conservation areas -- South Africa , National protected areas systems
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27358 , vital:66947
- Description: In many parts of the developing world, participation in the management of ‘protected areas’ is among the most tangible indices of how the rural population encounters formal conservation policies, strategies and ideologies. However, some scholars have argued that the sharing of the burdens and benefits of participation is devoid of equity. While some analysts have emphasised the imperative of multi-stakeholder participation in nature conservation, citing this as a crucial socio-ecological investment, others have highlighted the inherent contradictions in the process, describing it as an avenue for manipulation, tokenism and exploitation. This study is located in this debate and focuses on narratives around the participation of different stakeholders in the management of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and its adjacent communities in the rural Wild-Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The researcher notes that research on the degrees and participation dynamics among various role players involved in the management of protected areas in South Africa, Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in particular is limited. Against this background, this study contributes to ongoing discussions on protected area management in South Africa but seeks to expand this discussion by interrogating the nature and degrees of participation within the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve - to deepen intellectual understanding on the significant role played by protected areas in engendering participatory democracy, equity, justice as well as meeting the needs of marginalised communities. Primary data for the thesis were collected using in-depth and key-informant interviews with officials from government institutions and parastatals, politicians and traditional authority figures. Focus group discussions were held with ‘youth’ participants as well as ‘elders’ in the Reserve’s adjacent communities. An analysis of policy and other government documents sought to outline the institutional attributes of protected areas management in South Africa and the underpinning ideas. A thematic analysis of the corpus of empirical information helped to show how these institutional attributes inhere in Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve as well as the epistemic challenge these attributes pose vis-à-vis indigenous ecological ideas and practices in the adjacent ‘indigenous’ communities. The study revealed that participation is perceived differently by various stakeholders due to multiple, mutually contradictory impulses. While institutional stakeholders attached great importance to the structural role of institutional frameworks, hence the vigorous reliance on formal conservation strategies, narratives from community members drew attention to ‘equity deficits’. The study also found that while the selected Reserve may have fostered cooperation between government and the adjacent communities, conflict and distrust ran deep between these stakeholders. From these and other findings, the study concluded that ecological participation in the study area was characterised by clusters of stakeholders who regard one another as ‘epistemic outsiders’ and related to one another as such, with practical consequences – especially for the long-term sustainability of the Reserve. In the main, the thesis rests on the argument that in the face of epistemic differences, dominance and marginalisation could become a defining feature of protected area management that cannot be readily resolved through the mere process of participation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03
Grappling with food and livelihood practices in the context of socio-ecological displacement: The case of 2014 Tokwe-Mukorsi flood victims in Chingwizi, Zimbabwe
- Mudefi, Elmon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Food security , Households , Natural disasters -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22056 , vital:51979
- Description: This study sought to examine how the socio-ecologically displaced Tokwe-Mukorsi community in southern Zimbabwe grappled with adverse circumstances that threatened to obliterate their age-old food and livelihood practices after five years of being resettled 150km away in Chingwizi. The investigation is done against the backdrop of the dominant narrative on resilience, which often overlooks resilience outcomes associated with specific contextual experiences of socio-ecological disadvantage. The study examined the nature and character of emergent food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi, with a view to establishing how they were impacted by socio-political dynamics encountered vis-à-vis displacement, resettlement and in processes of attempting to recover. The study also examined how local narratives about the new food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi intersect with dominant resilience discourses, especially those related to climate change adaptation, sustainability and food security. A triangulated research design was utilised. It consisted of survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interview, and key informant interview. Qualitative research participants were selected based on their knowledge and experience on food and livelihood practices before and after displacement. This included the displaced flood victims that met this criterion, local leaders, government officials and local opinion leaders. The findings revealed that food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi had deteriorated over the five-year period under investigation. This was reflected in a diminution in livestock herds, crop production, income streams and average household monthly incomes. As a result, food insecurity was very high, and households were forced to rely more on donations. The displaced flood victims, however, adapted to the harsh conditions by engaging in a variety of livelihood alternatives, including food vending, buying and selling, craftwork, small livestock rearing, and migrating to neighbouring South Africa to seek employment opportunities. Nevertheless, efforts to rebuild food and livelihood practices were hampered by socio-political dynamics. This resulted in the loss of key livelihood assets, a situation aggravated by compensational injustice, contestations over land and resources by the host communities, dysfunctional social networks, and victims’ cultural ‘fixations’. The study concludes from these and other findings that achieving transformation in the form of adaptation, food security and sustainability following involuntary displacement and resettlement is more than just a question of resilience, and that displacement and resettlement are complex processes that create invidious dynamism for the stakeholders concerned. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Food security , Households , Natural disasters -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22056 , vital:51979
- Description: This study sought to examine how the socio-ecologically displaced Tokwe-Mukorsi community in southern Zimbabwe grappled with adverse circumstances that threatened to obliterate their age-old food and livelihood practices after five years of being resettled 150km away in Chingwizi. The investigation is done against the backdrop of the dominant narrative on resilience, which often overlooks resilience outcomes associated with specific contextual experiences of socio-ecological disadvantage. The study examined the nature and character of emergent food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi, with a view to establishing how they were impacted by socio-political dynamics encountered vis-à-vis displacement, resettlement and in processes of attempting to recover. The study also examined how local narratives about the new food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi intersect with dominant resilience discourses, especially those related to climate change adaptation, sustainability and food security. A triangulated research design was utilised. It consisted of survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interview, and key informant interview. Qualitative research participants were selected based on their knowledge and experience on food and livelihood practices before and after displacement. This included the displaced flood victims that met this criterion, local leaders, government officials and local opinion leaders. The findings revealed that food and livelihood practices in Chingwizi had deteriorated over the five-year period under investigation. This was reflected in a diminution in livestock herds, crop production, income streams and average household monthly incomes. As a result, food insecurity was very high, and households were forced to rely more on donations. The displaced flood victims, however, adapted to the harsh conditions by engaging in a variety of livelihood alternatives, including food vending, buying and selling, craftwork, small livestock rearing, and migrating to neighbouring South Africa to seek employment opportunities. Nevertheless, efforts to rebuild food and livelihood practices were hampered by socio-political dynamics. This resulted in the loss of key livelihood assets, a situation aggravated by compensational injustice, contestations over land and resources by the host communities, dysfunctional social networks, and victims’ cultural ‘fixations’. The study concludes from these and other findings that achieving transformation in the form of adaptation, food security and sustainability following involuntary displacement and resettlement is more than just a question of resilience, and that displacement and resettlement are complex processes that create invidious dynamism for the stakeholders concerned. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04
Cross-Border Migration, Social Cohesion and African Continental Integration: Perspectives of African Immigrants and South African Nationals in Gauteng, South Africa
- Authors: Maseng, Jonathan Oshupeng
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Migration -- Africa Emigration and immigration Social integration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Sociology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8855 , vital:33673
- Description: Using the Sunnyside suburb of South Africa’s capital city of Pretoria as a case study, this study sought to gather, analyse and engage the perspectives, narratives and idealisations of African migrants and South African nationals in Gauteng province on cross-border migration, social cohesion and African continental integration. The goal was to interrogate the dominant discourse and assumption in migration scholarship that contact between nationals and immigrants is inherently conflict-inducing. The study adopted a qualitative methodology, with in-depth interviews, “street ethnography”, expert interviews and document analysis as the main sources of primary data. Overall, 85 in-depth interviews were conducted with immigrants and nationals of different occupational, gender and class backgrounds. The study found, among other things, that while many respondents expressed negative sentiments with regard to how cross-border migration affected their experience of social cohesion and idealisations about African continental integration, the relations between African immigrants and South African nationals in the study area were overwhelmingly congenial. This was even when there was no policy-oriented action by government to promote these positive relations. Respondents attributed this congeniality to, among other things, the fact that most small immigrant businesses depended on a predominantly South African clientele, while South African nationals in the study area saw such businesses as filling a crucial gap in their immediate socio-economic environments. Importantly, service provider-client relations served as “enhancers” of social cohesion in the study area. On the other hand, the relative dominance of immigrants in the small business sector in the study area served as a “threat” to social cohesion. From these findings, the study concluded that, contact between immigrants and nationals was not necessarily inherently conflict-inducing, and that social cohesion also rested on the logic of mutual dependence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Maseng, Jonathan Oshupeng
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Migration -- Africa Emigration and immigration Social integration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Sociology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8855 , vital:33673
- Description: Using the Sunnyside suburb of South Africa’s capital city of Pretoria as a case study, this study sought to gather, analyse and engage the perspectives, narratives and idealisations of African migrants and South African nationals in Gauteng province on cross-border migration, social cohesion and African continental integration. The goal was to interrogate the dominant discourse and assumption in migration scholarship that contact between nationals and immigrants is inherently conflict-inducing. The study adopted a qualitative methodology, with in-depth interviews, “street ethnography”, expert interviews and document analysis as the main sources of primary data. Overall, 85 in-depth interviews were conducted with immigrants and nationals of different occupational, gender and class backgrounds. The study found, among other things, that while many respondents expressed negative sentiments with regard to how cross-border migration affected their experience of social cohesion and idealisations about African continental integration, the relations between African immigrants and South African nationals in the study area were overwhelmingly congenial. This was even when there was no policy-oriented action by government to promote these positive relations. Respondents attributed this congeniality to, among other things, the fact that most small immigrant businesses depended on a predominantly South African clientele, while South African nationals in the study area saw such businesses as filling a crucial gap in their immediate socio-economic environments. Importantly, service provider-client relations served as “enhancers” of social cohesion in the study area. On the other hand, the relative dominance of immigrants in the small business sector in the study area served as a “threat” to social cohesion. From these findings, the study concluded that, contact between immigrants and nationals was not necessarily inherently conflict-inducing, and that social cohesion also rested on the logic of mutual dependence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Skilled Migrants and Remittances in a Development Context: A Social Value Analysis of Skills and Home Remittances among Zimbabweans living in East London, South Africa
- Authors: Mafuso, Leo Tsakata
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Migration Emigrant remittances Migrant labor
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Sociology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8840 , vital:33672
- Description: Against the backdrop of a growing orthodoxy that places the issue of home remittances by a country’s emigrant citizens at the centre of national and international development, this study presents a social value analysis of skills and home remittances in the Zimbabwean context. The study unveils the narratives of skilled Zimbabwean citizens living and working in East London, South Africa, with specific regard to the extent to which the revenues gained by the Zimbabwean economy through home remittances offset the skills lost by the same economy through the emigration of its skilled citizens. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with data drawn from a survey of 158 skilled Zimbabweans, three key informant interviews (with officers of immigration stakeholder organisations) and one focus group discussion. The study found that an overwhelming majority of survey respondents regularly remitted money home, and believed that such remittances helped them to fulfil filial and other familial obligations, besides being vital to the Zimbabwean economy as a whole. They emphasised, however, that the total value of home remittances, though substantial in monetary terms, was miniscule when compared to the skills the country had lost as a result of migration. Respondents expressed the view that home remittances could not substitute for the skills lost by a country and that the proper utilisation of, and compensation for, their skills at home would develop their country faster. The study thus cuts through the dominant discourse on the developmental significance of home remittances and provides insights into the importance of skilled professionals in the Zimbabwean context, and the developmental consequences of seeing them simply as “remitters” of foreign exchange. By privileging the perspectives of skilled migrants, the study highlights how skilled professionals see themselves and their role within the migration-development debate. This therefore was a study of the migration-remittance-development nexus as though the migrant mattered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mafuso, Leo Tsakata
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Migration Emigrant remittances Migrant labor
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Sociology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8840 , vital:33672
- Description: Against the backdrop of a growing orthodoxy that places the issue of home remittances by a country’s emigrant citizens at the centre of national and international development, this study presents a social value analysis of skills and home remittances in the Zimbabwean context. The study unveils the narratives of skilled Zimbabwean citizens living and working in East London, South Africa, with specific regard to the extent to which the revenues gained by the Zimbabwean economy through home remittances offset the skills lost by the same economy through the emigration of its skilled citizens. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with data drawn from a survey of 158 skilled Zimbabweans, three key informant interviews (with officers of immigration stakeholder organisations) and one focus group discussion. The study found that an overwhelming majority of survey respondents regularly remitted money home, and believed that such remittances helped them to fulfil filial and other familial obligations, besides being vital to the Zimbabwean economy as a whole. They emphasised, however, that the total value of home remittances, though substantial in monetary terms, was miniscule when compared to the skills the country had lost as a result of migration. Respondents expressed the view that home remittances could not substitute for the skills lost by a country and that the proper utilisation of, and compensation for, their skills at home would develop their country faster. The study thus cuts through the dominant discourse on the developmental significance of home remittances and provides insights into the importance of skilled professionals in the Zimbabwean context, and the developmental consequences of seeing them simply as “remitters” of foreign exchange. By privileging the perspectives of skilled migrants, the study highlights how skilled professionals see themselves and their role within the migration-development debate. This therefore was a study of the migration-remittance-development nexus as though the migrant mattered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Commerce powered by 'National culture'? : an assessment of "Wear Local" campaigns as tools for reinvigorating the textile and clothing industries in Ghana and South Africa
- Authors: Darku, Esther Naa Dodua
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Textile industry -- Economic aspects -- Ghana Textile industry -- Economic aspects -- South Africa Sustainable development -- Ghana , Sustainable development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2172 , vital:27619
- Description: This study examines the use of ‘cultural’ imagery and messaging as a tool to revitalise crucial national industries. Specifically, it examines the use of Wear Local campaigns in Ghana and South Africa as strategies to rejuvenate their textile industries and to make them viable in an increasingly competitive global market. Conceptualising Wear Local campaigns as possessing both cultural and economic imperatives, this study highlights how both factors contribute to making products of Buy Local campaigns marketable by showing their importance as both cultural and economic products. Using a descriptive-evaluative design, the study adopted a triangulated research approach comprising a survey, key informant interviews and document analysis. Survey questionnaires were administered to a total sample of 308 respondents in Ghana and South Africa. The qualitative phase of the study involved 10 key informant interviews (comprising textile labour unions, clothing designers, and government officials in both countries) and document/documentary research. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while the qualitative data were analysed using interpretive approaches, such as content analysis. The results indicate significant uses of national cultural elements in the campaign messaging in both Ghana and South Africa, as well as notable differences in the ways in which these campaigns resonated with consumers in the two countries. For instance, cultural differences accounted for high popularity of the campaign in Ghana and low popularity in South Africa. Following from these findings, the study concludes that the discourse on Buy Local and Wear Local, and the use of national culture in commerce, must go beyond the question of efficacy to examine the conditions under which these campaigns can become an effective economic/market tool. The study makes an important contribution to the existing knowledge on national culture, national economy and globalisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Darku, Esther Naa Dodua
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Textile industry -- Economic aspects -- Ghana Textile industry -- Economic aspects -- South Africa Sustainable development -- Ghana , Sustainable development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2172 , vital:27619
- Description: This study examines the use of ‘cultural’ imagery and messaging as a tool to revitalise crucial national industries. Specifically, it examines the use of Wear Local campaigns in Ghana and South Africa as strategies to rejuvenate their textile industries and to make them viable in an increasingly competitive global market. Conceptualising Wear Local campaigns as possessing both cultural and economic imperatives, this study highlights how both factors contribute to making products of Buy Local campaigns marketable by showing their importance as both cultural and economic products. Using a descriptive-evaluative design, the study adopted a triangulated research approach comprising a survey, key informant interviews and document analysis. Survey questionnaires were administered to a total sample of 308 respondents in Ghana and South Africa. The qualitative phase of the study involved 10 key informant interviews (comprising textile labour unions, clothing designers, and government officials in both countries) and document/documentary research. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while the qualitative data were analysed using interpretive approaches, such as content analysis. The results indicate significant uses of national cultural elements in the campaign messaging in both Ghana and South Africa, as well as notable differences in the ways in which these campaigns resonated with consumers in the two countries. For instance, cultural differences accounted for high popularity of the campaign in Ghana and low popularity in South Africa. Following from these findings, the study concludes that the discourse on Buy Local and Wear Local, and the use of national culture in commerce, must go beyond the question of efficacy to examine the conditions under which these campaigns can become an effective economic/market tool. The study makes an important contribution to the existing knowledge on national culture, national economy and globalisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Community capacity-building in question? : finding a "missing" variable in the integrated development planning process in Berlin, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Solani, M
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6458 , vital:29730
- Description: This study explored the measures adopted by Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality for capacity building of rural community members to participate effectively in the Integrated Developmental Planning (IDP) process. Focus was on the rural areas of Berlin. Existing studies suggest that, due to low literacy levels and lack of knowledge and understanding about local government issues and the benefits of participation, rural residents have little knowledge of their rights, roles and responsibilities in the IDP process, and do not know the structures designed to enhance participation. The present study was conducted against this backdrop. A mixed-methods research approach was employed, utilising quantitative and qualitative research techniques. A survey was conducted with members of four rural villages in Berlin in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Questionnaires, with open and close-ended questions, were utilised, while in-depth interviews were conducted with IDP officials at Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. The findings show that, while the Municipality did have community capacity-building measures in place; these were more about building the capacity of local government councillors and other local government officials and not rural community members. Whereas the municipality believed the capacity building of councillors would translate to building the capacity of rural community members, capacity building of rural community members did not happen. Community members appeared not to understand the IDP process, an indication that whatever capacity-building measures were targeted at them had no real effect in terms of engendering meaningful participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Solani, M
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6458 , vital:29730
- Description: This study explored the measures adopted by Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality for capacity building of rural community members to participate effectively in the Integrated Developmental Planning (IDP) process. Focus was on the rural areas of Berlin. Existing studies suggest that, due to low literacy levels and lack of knowledge and understanding about local government issues and the benefits of participation, rural residents have little knowledge of their rights, roles and responsibilities in the IDP process, and do not know the structures designed to enhance participation. The present study was conducted against this backdrop. A mixed-methods research approach was employed, utilising quantitative and qualitative research techniques. A survey was conducted with members of four rural villages in Berlin in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Questionnaires, with open and close-ended questions, were utilised, while in-depth interviews were conducted with IDP officials at Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. The findings show that, while the Municipality did have community capacity-building measures in place; these were more about building the capacity of local government councillors and other local government officials and not rural community members. Whereas the municipality believed the capacity building of councillors would translate to building the capacity of rural community members, capacity building of rural community members did not happen. Community members appeared not to understand the IDP process, an indication that whatever capacity-building measures were targeted at them had no real effect in terms of engendering meaningful participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Faith-based organisations and social reintegration of recovering drug-addicts in South-Western Nigeria : a sociological evaluation
- Authors: Faloore, Omiyinka Olutola
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Drug addiction -- Treatment -- Religious aspects Recovering addicts -- Nigeria Religious institutions -- Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5741 , vital:29373
- Description: Against the backdrop of debates and contestations in the literature on the efficacy of interventions of Faith-based organisations (FBOs) with regard to vulnerable people, this study subjects the social reintegration programmes of three selected FBOs working with recovering drug-addicts in South-western Nigeria to a sociological scrutiny so as to understand the social character, effectiveness and local appropriateness of their programmes. Specifically, the study examined the key attributes of the social reintegration programmes offered by the selected FBOs as well as the level and extent of compliance of such programmes with the prescriptions and idealisations as enunciated in relevant global and national policies and institutional frameworks. The theoretical underpinning of this study was derived from assumptions of structural-functionalism of Durkheim and Expectancy disconfirmation theory. Adopting an exploratory approach, the study utilised a blend of survey, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, observation and document review to gather data. Survey data were collected from a random sample of 156 inmates of the social reintegration facilities of three (3) FBOs in Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states in South-West Nigeria. Qualitative data were sourced through 15 in-depth interviews, 9 key informant interviews and scientific information generated from observation and document review. The quantitative data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were processed with the use of content analysis. Findings from the study indicate that the selected FBOs have only recorded little success in terms of addressing the social needs of the inmates. For one thing, FBOs’ detoxification programme for recovering drug-addicts tilted more towards human rights violation than serve as an exercise that aided recovery. One key finding was that there was a huge disconnect between global prescriptions on social reintegration services and what the selected FBOs offered to the inmates. The study concluded from its findings that any social reintegration programmes aimed at protecting recovering drug-addicts from further social exclusion and facilitate their social inclusion in South-West Nigeria must extend beyond mere spiritual provisioning to upholding their rights to human dignity and providing opportunities and tools that address their crucial social needs in terms of housing, education, vocation and employment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Faloore, Omiyinka Olutola
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Drug addiction -- Treatment -- Religious aspects Recovering addicts -- Nigeria Religious institutions -- Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5741 , vital:29373
- Description: Against the backdrop of debates and contestations in the literature on the efficacy of interventions of Faith-based organisations (FBOs) with regard to vulnerable people, this study subjects the social reintegration programmes of three selected FBOs working with recovering drug-addicts in South-western Nigeria to a sociological scrutiny so as to understand the social character, effectiveness and local appropriateness of their programmes. Specifically, the study examined the key attributes of the social reintegration programmes offered by the selected FBOs as well as the level and extent of compliance of such programmes with the prescriptions and idealisations as enunciated in relevant global and national policies and institutional frameworks. The theoretical underpinning of this study was derived from assumptions of structural-functionalism of Durkheim and Expectancy disconfirmation theory. Adopting an exploratory approach, the study utilised a blend of survey, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, observation and document review to gather data. Survey data were collected from a random sample of 156 inmates of the social reintegration facilities of three (3) FBOs in Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states in South-West Nigeria. Qualitative data were sourced through 15 in-depth interviews, 9 key informant interviews and scientific information generated from observation and document review. The quantitative data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were processed with the use of content analysis. Findings from the study indicate that the selected FBOs have only recorded little success in terms of addressing the social needs of the inmates. For one thing, FBOs’ detoxification programme for recovering drug-addicts tilted more towards human rights violation than serve as an exercise that aided recovery. One key finding was that there was a huge disconnect between global prescriptions on social reintegration services and what the selected FBOs offered to the inmates. The study concluded from its findings that any social reintegration programmes aimed at protecting recovering drug-addicts from further social exclusion and facilitate their social inclusion in South-West Nigeria must extend beyond mere spiritual provisioning to upholding their rights to human dignity and providing opportunities and tools that address their crucial social needs in terms of housing, education, vocation and employment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Third sector intervention and sustainable development : an evaluation of selected non-governmental organization supported projects in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Moyo, Thokozani Patience
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5774 , vital:29389
- Description: This study evaluates the impact of Third Sector- supported rural development projects in three rural communities of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It focusses on how interventions driven by this sector – denoted by, among others, local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) - impact the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor. This is against the background of an established discourse that views NGOs as effective agents in the alleviation of poverty. The thesis contends that praise for the Third Sector is driven mostly by advocacy than based on systematic scientific evidence of the real impact of NGO-sponsored rural development interventions. Rural agricultural development projects supported by two Eastern Cape-based NGOs (the one a local NGO, and the other international) were selected for the study. A mini survey was conducted in the communities where the projects are located. Survey data were complemented by qualitative data obtained through focus groups, semi-structured and in-depth interviews as well as key informant interviews. The study found that whereas the projects had been established by the state later went moribund, they were resuscitated by the NGOs through a largely ‘bottom-up’ model of rural development intermediation. In other words, the interventions were resuscitated through a relatively robust prior engagement with project beneficiaries. As a result, while originally lacking a meaningful sense of local empowerment, ownership, and commitment, the projects had become revived and now played an important role in the livelihoods of some community members – even though social grants remained the primary and main source of income for those community members. Even so, the narratives of community members revealed what may be termed a ‘transformation paradox’ in the way the projects were implemented. The NGOs seemed to have replaced one kind of lop-sidedness in rural development (the exclusion of women) with another (the exclusion of men), by focussing on community projects that were ‘culturally’ deemed as ’women jobs’. In this way, the interventions appeared like a systematic attempt to do away with the ‘feminisation of rural poverty’ and entrench the ‘feminisation of rural development interventions’. The study concludes from these and other findings, that the key to understanding the significance and impact of Third Sector-supported development interventions in the rural arena – especially in the Eastern Cape context – is to go beyond the proliferation of NGOs and NGO-supported projects – and the broad sweep of advocacy that underpins it – and pay equally robust attention to systematically studying how these projects resonate at the grassroots, especially from a beneficiary perspective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Moyo, Thokozani Patience
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5774 , vital:29389
- Description: This study evaluates the impact of Third Sector- supported rural development projects in three rural communities of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It focusses on how interventions driven by this sector – denoted by, among others, local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) - impact the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor. This is against the background of an established discourse that views NGOs as effective agents in the alleviation of poverty. The thesis contends that praise for the Third Sector is driven mostly by advocacy than based on systematic scientific evidence of the real impact of NGO-sponsored rural development interventions. Rural agricultural development projects supported by two Eastern Cape-based NGOs (the one a local NGO, and the other international) were selected for the study. A mini survey was conducted in the communities where the projects are located. Survey data were complemented by qualitative data obtained through focus groups, semi-structured and in-depth interviews as well as key informant interviews. The study found that whereas the projects had been established by the state later went moribund, they were resuscitated by the NGOs through a largely ‘bottom-up’ model of rural development intermediation. In other words, the interventions were resuscitated through a relatively robust prior engagement with project beneficiaries. As a result, while originally lacking a meaningful sense of local empowerment, ownership, and commitment, the projects had become revived and now played an important role in the livelihoods of some community members – even though social grants remained the primary and main source of income for those community members. Even so, the narratives of community members revealed what may be termed a ‘transformation paradox’ in the way the projects were implemented. The NGOs seemed to have replaced one kind of lop-sidedness in rural development (the exclusion of women) with another (the exclusion of men), by focussing on community projects that were ‘culturally’ deemed as ’women jobs’. In this way, the interventions appeared like a systematic attempt to do away with the ‘feminisation of rural poverty’ and entrench the ‘feminisation of rural development interventions’. The study concludes from these and other findings, that the key to understanding the significance and impact of Third Sector-supported development interventions in the rural arena – especially in the Eastern Cape context – is to go beyond the proliferation of NGOs and NGO-supported projects – and the broad sweep of advocacy that underpins it – and pay equally robust attention to systematically studying how these projects resonate at the grassroots, especially from a beneficiary perspective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Women and volunteerism in environmental management : a case study of wildlife and environment society of South Africa (WESSA), East London, South Africa
- Authors: Nyamahono, James Donald
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Environmental management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Sociology
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15100 , vital:40175
- Description: The literature on community participation in development processes has established a high level of consensus around the fact that the sharing of the burdens and benefits of participation is devoid of equality or equity. While some have emphasised the imperative of participation, others have highlighted the inherent contradictions in the process, describing it as an avenue for manipulation and exploitation. Still some have questioned the usefulness of the broad-based grassroots participation. This study is located within this debate and focuses on female volunteers‘ involvement in coastal protection in East London, South Africa. A survey was carried out with 100 unemployed women volunteering under a major environmental protection non-governmental organisation in addition to key-informants within the study organisation. The female volunteers‘ motives and their overall perspectives on their participation as volunteers were uncovered using the Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI) questionnaire, while in-depth interviews were conducted with key officials of the study organisation to access their perspectives on why institutional stakeholders engage women as volunteers in environmental management. The findings revealed that voluntary environmental participation was driven by multiple, but contradictory, impulses. While the volunteers attached great importance to environmental management, hence, their involvement, factors such as age, educational background, employment status, income level, dependency, population group membership, social ties and other psycho-social dynamics played a role in their decision to work as volunteers. The data also revealed a crucial shared sentiment among the volunteers: they all felt people in the higher echelons of the organisation were unfairly ―profiting‖ from their unpaid labour. When these perspectives were analysed against the views of the officials of the study organisation, the contradictions of voluntary environmental participation became stark. The study concludes from the findings that in the crucial arena of environmental participation, participation is not the same thing as voluntary environmental participation, and voluntary environmental participation is not the same thing as voluntary environmental participation by women.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Nyamahono, James Donald
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Environmental management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Sociology
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15100 , vital:40175
- Description: The literature on community participation in development processes has established a high level of consensus around the fact that the sharing of the burdens and benefits of participation is devoid of equality or equity. While some have emphasised the imperative of participation, others have highlighted the inherent contradictions in the process, describing it as an avenue for manipulation and exploitation. Still some have questioned the usefulness of the broad-based grassroots participation. This study is located within this debate and focuses on female volunteers‘ involvement in coastal protection in East London, South Africa. A survey was carried out with 100 unemployed women volunteering under a major environmental protection non-governmental organisation in addition to key-informants within the study organisation. The female volunteers‘ motives and their overall perspectives on their participation as volunteers were uncovered using the Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI) questionnaire, while in-depth interviews were conducted with key officials of the study organisation to access their perspectives on why institutional stakeholders engage women as volunteers in environmental management. The findings revealed that voluntary environmental participation was driven by multiple, but contradictory, impulses. While the volunteers attached great importance to environmental management, hence, their involvement, factors such as age, educational background, employment status, income level, dependency, population group membership, social ties and other psycho-social dynamics played a role in their decision to work as volunteers. The data also revealed a crucial shared sentiment among the volunteers: they all felt people in the higher echelons of the organisation were unfairly ―profiting‖ from their unpaid labour. When these perspectives were analysed against the views of the officials of the study organisation, the contradictions of voluntary environmental participation became stark. The study concludes from the findings that in the crucial arena of environmental participation, participation is not the same thing as voluntary environmental participation, and voluntary environmental participation is not the same thing as voluntary environmental participation by women.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Between"culture" and "Cruelty"narratives of widows on land dispossession in Gqadu administrative area, Mbashe Municipality , Eastern Cape
- Authors: Baleka, Zola
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Widows -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Land tenure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Right of property -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Degree
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5083 , vital:29057
- Description: This study highlights the cultural underpinnings of specific indulgences pertaining to land ownership with reference to widowhood in the rural Eastern Cape. The study does this by examining the narratives of widows about their experiences of land dispossession in Nqadu Administrative Area. Nqadu Administrative Area is a rural community in Mbhashe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study focuses on widows’ experiences relating to the cultural practices of the community regarding land ownership. A qualitative, case study design was adopted. To uncover the widows’ narratives, the study utilised in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, with a sample of 50 widows. Further empirical data were obtained from four members of the municipal Land Committees, two Ward Councillors, four Traditional Leaders and two officials from the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, using in-depth and key informant interviews. The study found that widows were vulnerable to land ownership violations and dispossessions, and that these violations were perpetrated by community members, particularly relatives of deceased husbands. Low levels of education and fear of antagonising clan relatives played a vital role in preventing widows from fighting for their legal rights. The failure of widows to fight for their rights increased their chances of being heavily exposed to dispossession of their land rights. Cultural practices within the communities catalysed abusive practices against widows, particularly against those whose marriage was not ‘recognised’ due to various stated reasons. The study also revealed that widows who had married as second wives and those who did not bear children experienced egregious abuses. Another finding was that men from Nqadu Administrative Area were given priority during the allocation of land, based on cultural and traditional practices, and were given land of their own choice depending on availability. The study thus highlights the impact of cultural practices and the ways in which these became instruments of gender abuse, despite the existence of laws designed to prevent specific social cruelties.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Baleka, Zola
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Widows -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Land tenure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Right of property -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , Degree
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5083 , vital:29057
- Description: This study highlights the cultural underpinnings of specific indulgences pertaining to land ownership with reference to widowhood in the rural Eastern Cape. The study does this by examining the narratives of widows about their experiences of land dispossession in Nqadu Administrative Area. Nqadu Administrative Area is a rural community in Mbhashe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study focuses on widows’ experiences relating to the cultural practices of the community regarding land ownership. A qualitative, case study design was adopted. To uncover the widows’ narratives, the study utilised in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, with a sample of 50 widows. Further empirical data were obtained from four members of the municipal Land Committees, two Ward Councillors, four Traditional Leaders and two officials from the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, using in-depth and key informant interviews. The study found that widows were vulnerable to land ownership violations and dispossessions, and that these violations were perpetrated by community members, particularly relatives of deceased husbands. Low levels of education and fear of antagonising clan relatives played a vital role in preventing widows from fighting for their legal rights. The failure of widows to fight for their rights increased their chances of being heavily exposed to dispossession of their land rights. Cultural practices within the communities catalysed abusive practices against widows, particularly against those whose marriage was not ‘recognised’ due to various stated reasons. The study also revealed that widows who had married as second wives and those who did not bear children experienced egregious abuses. Another finding was that men from Nqadu Administrative Area were given priority during the allocation of land, based on cultural and traditional practices, and were given land of their own choice depending on availability. The study thus highlights the impact of cultural practices and the ways in which these became instruments of gender abuse, despite the existence of laws designed to prevent specific social cruelties.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
An appraisal of community-based childcare practices in rural Malawi: The case of Malili Traditional Authority Area, Lilongwe District.
- Authors: Alufandika,Dina
- Date: 2012-11
- Subjects: Tribal government , Child Welfare
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23259 , vital:56857
- Description: The government of Malawi established the community based childcare (CBCC) programme with the aim of addressing early childhood problems and achieve national development in the long run. The CBCC programme, as one of the approaches to early childhood development (ECD), is guided by the national early childhood development policy. It promotes some practices that somehow deviate from the traditional childcare ways that communities have always known. Experience has shown that programmes that have elements of conflict with commonly held beliefs are bound to meet with resistance in society. The study employed a mini survey, focus group discussion, observation and document review to understand how the CBCC childcare practices in Malili intersect with commonly held beliefs about childcare as well as how they reflect on the national ECD policy. The study also focused on understanding the perceptions of community members on the CBCC programme. The study revealed that while some aspects of CBCC delivery conform to commonly held beliefs about childcare in the area under study, others diverge from such beliefs. Such convergence and divergence appear to be in line with the propositions of transformalist globalisation theory- one of the perspectives adopted for the study. The study also found that care practices at CBCC are not a true reflection of the national ECD policy as community members’ perceptions, poor community participation, poverty and lack of caregiver training in ECD contribute towards poor quality of care in CBCC, contrary to what is defined in the national ECD policy. The study also found that while both CBCC caregivers and sampled community members perceived the quality of care at the centers as poor, caregivers had a more positive perception towards the CBCC than community members. The study indicated that CBCC are centres of desperation for low economic status communities. Findings from the research have revealed that cultural values and commonly held beliefs, and exposure to new knowledge through globalisation play a role in determining childcare practices as well as perceptions towards them. In this sense the study has indicated that meanings that communities attach to development interventions influence their actions and perceptions towards it. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012-11
- Authors: Alufandika,Dina
- Date: 2012-11
- Subjects: Tribal government , Child Welfare
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23259 , vital:56857
- Description: The government of Malawi established the community based childcare (CBCC) programme with the aim of addressing early childhood problems and achieve national development in the long run. The CBCC programme, as one of the approaches to early childhood development (ECD), is guided by the national early childhood development policy. It promotes some practices that somehow deviate from the traditional childcare ways that communities have always known. Experience has shown that programmes that have elements of conflict with commonly held beliefs are bound to meet with resistance in society. The study employed a mini survey, focus group discussion, observation and document review to understand how the CBCC childcare practices in Malili intersect with commonly held beliefs about childcare as well as how they reflect on the national ECD policy. The study also focused on understanding the perceptions of community members on the CBCC programme. The study revealed that while some aspects of CBCC delivery conform to commonly held beliefs about childcare in the area under study, others diverge from such beliefs. Such convergence and divergence appear to be in line with the propositions of transformalist globalisation theory- one of the perspectives adopted for the study. The study also found that care practices at CBCC are not a true reflection of the national ECD policy as community members’ perceptions, poor community participation, poverty and lack of caregiver training in ECD contribute towards poor quality of care in CBCC, contrary to what is defined in the national ECD policy. The study also found that while both CBCC caregivers and sampled community members perceived the quality of care at the centers as poor, caregivers had a more positive perception towards the CBCC than community members. The study indicated that CBCC are centres of desperation for low economic status communities. Findings from the research have revealed that cultural values and commonly held beliefs, and exposure to new knowledge through globalisation play a role in determining childcare practices as well as perceptions towards them. In this sense the study has indicated that meanings that communities attach to development interventions influence their actions and perceptions towards it. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012-11
Consensus and contentions around community engagement in a South African tertiary institution: University of Fort Hare
- Mudefi, Elmon (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432)
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432)
- Date: 2011-02
- Subjects: Community and college , Education Higher
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23487 , vital:57937
- Description: This study examines the nature and character of consensus and contentions around the discourse of community engagement in a South African university context. This is against the background of the growing body of literature that advocates for the need for universities to make their impact felt in communities in more direct ways than through teaching and research. The examination is also against the background of the assumption that the success or failure of community engagement initiatives is, in part, a function of how stakeholders agree/disagree on the meaning and purpose of community engagement. The University of Fort Hare is used as a case study. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used for qualitative data collection, whilst a survey was conducted for gathering quantitative data. The study revealed that stakeholders attach different meanings to community engagement, with those possessing power and influence acting as key decision makers. Thus powerful stakeholders (in this case, the university and donor organizations) are at the core of the decision making process, while beneficiaries are pushed to the periphery. Moreover, both the meanings and the activities within which they cohere have important implications for the way beneficiary communities perceive university-community partnerships. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2011
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011-02
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3448-5432)
- Date: 2011-02
- Subjects: Community and college , Education Higher
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23487 , vital:57937
- Description: This study examines the nature and character of consensus and contentions around the discourse of community engagement in a South African university context. This is against the background of the growing body of literature that advocates for the need for universities to make their impact felt in communities in more direct ways than through teaching and research. The examination is also against the background of the assumption that the success or failure of community engagement initiatives is, in part, a function of how stakeholders agree/disagree on the meaning and purpose of community engagement. The University of Fort Hare is used as a case study. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used for qualitative data collection, whilst a survey was conducted for gathering quantitative data. The study revealed that stakeholders attach different meanings to community engagement, with those possessing power and influence acting as key decision makers. Thus powerful stakeholders (in this case, the university and donor organizations) are at the core of the decision making process, while beneficiaries are pushed to the periphery. Moreover, both the meanings and the activities within which they cohere have important implications for the way beneficiary communities perceive university-community partnerships. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2011
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011-02
A study of rural self-help groups in the context of government-assisted community development: the case of Peddie, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
- Pakade-Yokwana, Nozuko zandiswa Gloria
- Authors: Pakade-Yokwana, Nozuko zandiswa Gloria
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85029215 , Rural development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85115899
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19616 , vital:43152
- Description: This study was conducted against the backdrop of growing scholarly interest in the epistemic divide between formal, institutionalised knowledge, which guide government interventions in rural community development, and local knowledge, upon which rural communities construct their social existence. The study sought to understand why, despite their resilience and cultural embeddedness in South Africa's rural communities, indigenous self-help groups (SHGs) - as a particular form of indigenous rationality - remained on the periphery of contemporary community development interventions. The study was conducted in the communities of Dabhana, Feni and Mgwanlana in Peddie (Ngqushwa Local Municipality), Eastern Cape. Three SHG variants were eselected: a funeral group (Masingcwabane), an HIV and AIDS support groups, and a financial mutual (mgalelo) – all in the context of government-assisted community development. Empirical data was collected using a mini-survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. The findings revealed that SHGs were a collective model of indigenous knowledge and social interaction, driven by the belief that through 'sharing', 'reciprocity' and 'collectivism', what would ordinarily be a heavy burden for individuals became 'lighter'. Furthermore, while the institutional framework for community development mandated collaboration between government and SHGs, this framework created a stiff, bureaucratic canvass that alienated SHGs and stifled their operations. The study also found that partnership between the government and SHGs was characterised by fear and distrust on the part of government, and reluctance on the part of SHGs. Government's distrust was premised on the "informality" and "traditionality" of SHGs, and the fear that any investment in SHGs would go to waste. On the other hand, SHGs' reluctance to make themselves amenable to partnership with government seemed like a reaction to a "faulty, culturally insensitive" institutional framework which "delegitimised" grassroots development impulses. The study concluded that there existed in the rural community development arena an epistemic, ideational and practical chasm between government-driven development praxis and age-old indigenous initiatives, and that while the weaknesses of each knowledge domain were accentuated through this divide, development would continue to elude the grassroots communities unless the two knowledge domains interacted with, and leveraged, each other. , Thesis (PhD) (Sociology) -- University of Fort Hare, 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Pakade-Yokwana, Nozuko zandiswa Gloria
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85029215 , Rural development http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85115899
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19616 , vital:43152
- Description: This study was conducted against the backdrop of growing scholarly interest in the epistemic divide between formal, institutionalised knowledge, which guide government interventions in rural community development, and local knowledge, upon which rural communities construct their social existence. The study sought to understand why, despite their resilience and cultural embeddedness in South Africa's rural communities, indigenous self-help groups (SHGs) - as a particular form of indigenous rationality - remained on the periphery of contemporary community development interventions. The study was conducted in the communities of Dabhana, Feni and Mgwanlana in Peddie (Ngqushwa Local Municipality), Eastern Cape. Three SHG variants were eselected: a funeral group (Masingcwabane), an HIV and AIDS support groups, and a financial mutual (mgalelo) – all in the context of government-assisted community development. Empirical data was collected using a mini-survey, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. The findings revealed that SHGs were a collective model of indigenous knowledge and social interaction, driven by the belief that through 'sharing', 'reciprocity' and 'collectivism', what would ordinarily be a heavy burden for individuals became 'lighter'. Furthermore, while the institutional framework for community development mandated collaboration between government and SHGs, this framework created a stiff, bureaucratic canvass that alienated SHGs and stifled their operations. The study also found that partnership between the government and SHGs was characterised by fear and distrust on the part of government, and reluctance on the part of SHGs. Government's distrust was premised on the "informality" and "traditionality" of SHGs, and the fear that any investment in SHGs would go to waste. On the other hand, SHGs' reluctance to make themselves amenable to partnership with government seemed like a reaction to a "faulty, culturally insensitive" institutional framework which "delegitimised" grassroots development impulses. The study concluded that there existed in the rural community development arena an epistemic, ideational and practical chasm between government-driven development praxis and age-old indigenous initiatives, and that while the weaknesses of each knowledge domain were accentuated through this divide, development would continue to elude the grassroots communities unless the two knowledge domains interacted with, and leveraged, each other. , Thesis (PhD) (Sociology) -- University of Fort Hare, 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Consensus and contentions around community engagement in a South African tertiary institution :University of Fort Hare
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Administration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8306 , vital:32257
- Description: This study examines the nature and character of consensus and contentions around the discourse of community engagement in a South African university context. This is against the background of the growing body of literature that advocates for the need for universities to make their impact felt in communities in more direct ways than through teaching and research. The examination is also against the background of the assumption that the success or failure of community engagement initiatives is, in part, a function of how stakeholders agree/disagree on the meaning and purpose of community engagement. The University of Fort Hare is used as a case study. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used for qualitative data collection, whilst a survey was conducted for gathering quantitative data. The study revealed that stakeholders attach different meanings to community engagement, with those possessing power and influence acting as key decision makers. Thus powerful stakeholders (in this case, the university and donor organizations) are at the core of the decision making process, while beneficiaries are pushed to the periphery. Moreover, both the meanings and the activities within which they cohere have important implications for the way beneficiary communities perceive university-community partnerships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Mudefi, Elmon
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Administration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8306 , vital:32257
- Description: This study examines the nature and character of consensus and contentions around the discourse of community engagement in a South African university context. This is against the background of the growing body of literature that advocates for the need for universities to make their impact felt in communities in more direct ways than through teaching and research. The examination is also against the background of the assumption that the success or failure of community engagement initiatives is, in part, a function of how stakeholders agree/disagree on the meaning and purpose of community engagement. The University of Fort Hare is used as a case study. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used for qualitative data collection, whilst a survey was conducted for gathering quantitative data. The study revealed that stakeholders attach different meanings to community engagement, with those possessing power and influence acting as key decision makers. Thus powerful stakeholders (in this case, the university and donor organizations) are at the core of the decision making process, while beneficiaries are pushed to the periphery. Moreover, both the meanings and the activities within which they cohere have important implications for the way beneficiary communities perceive university-community partnerships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
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