A framework to guide development through ICT in rural areas in South Africa
- Mamba, Malungelo Siphiwosami Njinga
- Authors: Mamba, Malungelo Siphiwosami Njinga
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Information technology -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Telecommunication -- South Africa , Information services industry -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Information services -- Government policy -- South Africa , Communication policy -- South Africa , Communication planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom (Information Systems)
- Identifier: vital:11137 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007024 , Information technology -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Telecommunication -- South Africa , Information services industry -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Information services -- Government policy -- South Africa , Communication policy -- South Africa , Communication planning -- South Africa
- Description: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is widely regarded as a key tool for bringing about development to people who live in underserved areas. Technologies such as mobile phones and Wi-Fi are seen as advantageous because they can be made available to poor places without the cost of building extensive physical infrastructure. However, researchers argue that ICTs have failed to live up to their potential in the context of development. Researchers point out developing countries lack frameworks to guide them through the implementation of ICTs in this context. The objective of this study is to come up with a framework that can be used in rural areas in South Africa to implement ICT projects. The researcher interviewed individuals who have been directly involved in an ICT initiative in a rural setting in the Eastern Cape Province to learn from their experiences. The researcher also studied publications that have been produced from these initiatives in order to gain a richer understanding. The findings of the study show that participants share similar views about how ICT projects should be approached and implemented in rural areas in South Africa. The views are grouped according to similarity into themes and discussed in detail in the study. From these themes a framework that can help implement ICT projects in rural areas is developed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Mamba, Malungelo Siphiwosami Njinga
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Information technology -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Telecommunication -- South Africa , Information services industry -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Information services -- Government policy -- South Africa , Communication policy -- South Africa , Communication planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom (Information Systems)
- Identifier: vital:11137 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007024 , Information technology -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Telecommunication -- South Africa , Information services industry -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Information services -- Government policy -- South Africa , Communication policy -- South Africa , Communication planning -- South Africa
- Description: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is widely regarded as a key tool for bringing about development to people who live in underserved areas. Technologies such as mobile phones and Wi-Fi are seen as advantageous because they can be made available to poor places without the cost of building extensive physical infrastructure. However, researchers argue that ICTs have failed to live up to their potential in the context of development. Researchers point out developing countries lack frameworks to guide them through the implementation of ICTs in this context. The objective of this study is to come up with a framework that can be used in rural areas in South Africa to implement ICT projects. The researcher interviewed individuals who have been directly involved in an ICT initiative in a rural setting in the Eastern Cape Province to learn from their experiences. The researcher also studied publications that have been produced from these initiatives in order to gain a richer understanding. The findings of the study show that participants share similar views about how ICT projects should be approached and implemented in rural areas in South Africa. The views are grouped according to similarity into themes and discussed in detail in the study. From these themes a framework that can help implement ICT projects in rural areas is developed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Managing the conflict between social and economic value : the case of the Amadlelo Project
- Authors: Ngcaba, Yandisa
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Social entrepreneurship -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Social responsibility of business -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8858 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020151
- Description: The objective of the study was to investigate the role that social entrepreneurship can play in rural economic development. This objective was achieved by answering the following secondary research questions: How do for-profit social ventures create social value? How sustainable are the for-profit social venture projects in rural areas? What are the challenges facing for-profit social ventures in scaling up their projects? What metrics can be used to monitor and measure social ventures? What are the leadership traits of social entrepreneurs? The point of departure in resolving the objective of this study was to do an analysis of the available literature relevant to the research. The literature review covered was on rural development and social entrepreneurship. Rural development literature covered issues specific to rural development such as the history of rural development in South Africa, land redistribution and restitution and food security, amongst others. Social entrepreneurship literature dealt with the following issues: charity organisations, corporate social responsibility, for-profit social ventures and social capital, amongst others. The researcher used a multiple case study method to resolve the objective of the research. It was conducted with five projects of Amadlelo Agri in the Eastern Cape. An empirical and qualitative study was conducted with forty one employees and six senior managers of Amadlelo Agri respectively in order to test the theory. The results of the empirical and qualitative study were compared to the reviewed literature in order to ascertain whether Amadlelo Agri complied with the findings of the literature review. The research concludes that for-profit social ventures can play a very important role in rural development by turning latent community assets into profitable businesses for the benefit of the community; reducing unemployment and poverty; bringing financial and other resources needed in rural communities and by providing skills development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Ngcaba, Yandisa
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Social entrepreneurship -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Social responsibility of business -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8858 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020151
- Description: The objective of the study was to investigate the role that social entrepreneurship can play in rural economic development. This objective was achieved by answering the following secondary research questions: How do for-profit social ventures create social value? How sustainable are the for-profit social venture projects in rural areas? What are the challenges facing for-profit social ventures in scaling up their projects? What metrics can be used to monitor and measure social ventures? What are the leadership traits of social entrepreneurs? The point of departure in resolving the objective of this study was to do an analysis of the available literature relevant to the research. The literature review covered was on rural development and social entrepreneurship. Rural development literature covered issues specific to rural development such as the history of rural development in South Africa, land redistribution and restitution and food security, amongst others. Social entrepreneurship literature dealt with the following issues: charity organisations, corporate social responsibility, for-profit social ventures and social capital, amongst others. The researcher used a multiple case study method to resolve the objective of the research. It was conducted with five projects of Amadlelo Agri in the Eastern Cape. An empirical and qualitative study was conducted with forty one employees and six senior managers of Amadlelo Agri respectively in order to test the theory. The results of the empirical and qualitative study were compared to the reviewed literature in order to ascertain whether Amadlelo Agri complied with the findings of the literature review. The research concludes that for-profit social ventures can play a very important role in rural development by turning latent community assets into profitable businesses for the benefit of the community; reducing unemployment and poverty; bringing financial and other resources needed in rural communities and by providing skills development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Participation and paradoxes: community control of mineral wealth in South Africa's Royal Bafokeng and Bakgatla Ba Kgafela communities
- Authors: Mnwana, Sonwabile Comfords
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa , Natural resources -- Co-management -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Mining corporations -- South Africa , Platinum mines and mining -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Social Sciences)
- Identifier: vital:11952 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/526 , Political participation -- South Africa , Natural resources -- Co-management -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Mining corporations -- South Africa , Platinum mines and mining -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- South Africa
- Description: Resource control as a form of community participation in the mineral economy has gained much recognition. One prevailing argument is that direct control of natural resources by local communities is an important precondition for equitable utilisation of the natural resource wealth, peaceful co-existence between mining corporations and indigenous communities, and congenial relations between local communities and the state. Studies have also shown that the absence of direct community control of mineral wealth remains a major factor in the communal resistance and socio-political conflict witnessed in the natural resource-endowed regions of countries such as Nigeria, Ecuador, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, little is known about mineral resource control at the community level. Does community control necessarily translate to equity? How does local involvement in the mobilisation of mining royalties benefit different segments of the community? Indeed, how do different segments of the community “control” the wealth? What is the specific model adopted to engender broad-based community participation in the utilisation of mineral wealth – and does it matter? These theoretical and practical questions were the impetus for undertaking this study in the Royal Bafokeng and Bakgatla Ba Kgafela – two platinum-rich ‘traditional’ communities in South Africa’s North West Province that have significant control over platinum resources in their territories. Utilising ethnographic data collected in the two study communities in 2008 and 2009, the thesis examines the character of community participation in platinum wealth utilisation; specifically, the conditions under which community participation promotes or hinders sustainable community development. The analysis uses a “three-dimensional participation ladder” conceptual scheme, based in part on Sherry Arnstein’s (1969) “ladder of citizen participation” and subsequent typologies of participation. Among the key findings of the thesis are that despite observed benefits, the interface of resource wealth and community development is fraught with tokenistic participation, elite-targeted grassroots anger, and local tensions – all linked to the contradictory nature of participation. The thesis further reveals that in some instances the challenge of platinum wealth-engendered community development tends to undermine existing customary and democratic spaces for participation, and that this is exacerbated by community-level issues such as poverty and inequality. The findings of the study compel a shift of analytical focus from conflict as an epiphenomenon of collective community exclusion and deprivation (as in the case of many natural-rich countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere), to conflict as also resulting from collective community inclusion (in natural resource utilisation). At the policy level, the study generates insights that will, hopefully, assist mineral resource-endowed countries, such as South Africa, in dealing with the challenge of developing appropriate policy frameworks for regulating business and social partnerships between local communities and mining corporations, and within resource-rich communities themselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Mnwana, Sonwabile Comfords
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa , Natural resources -- Co-management -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Mining corporations -- South Africa , Platinum mines and mining -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Social Sciences)
- Identifier: vital:11952 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/526 , Political participation -- South Africa , Natural resources -- Co-management -- South Africa , Rural development -- South Africa , Mining corporations -- South Africa , Platinum mines and mining -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- South Africa
- Description: Resource control as a form of community participation in the mineral economy has gained much recognition. One prevailing argument is that direct control of natural resources by local communities is an important precondition for equitable utilisation of the natural resource wealth, peaceful co-existence between mining corporations and indigenous communities, and congenial relations between local communities and the state. Studies have also shown that the absence of direct community control of mineral wealth remains a major factor in the communal resistance and socio-political conflict witnessed in the natural resource-endowed regions of countries such as Nigeria, Ecuador, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, little is known about mineral resource control at the community level. Does community control necessarily translate to equity? How does local involvement in the mobilisation of mining royalties benefit different segments of the community? Indeed, how do different segments of the community “control” the wealth? What is the specific model adopted to engender broad-based community participation in the utilisation of mineral wealth – and does it matter? These theoretical and practical questions were the impetus for undertaking this study in the Royal Bafokeng and Bakgatla Ba Kgafela – two platinum-rich ‘traditional’ communities in South Africa’s North West Province that have significant control over platinum resources in their territories. Utilising ethnographic data collected in the two study communities in 2008 and 2009, the thesis examines the character of community participation in platinum wealth utilisation; specifically, the conditions under which community participation promotes or hinders sustainable community development. The analysis uses a “three-dimensional participation ladder” conceptual scheme, based in part on Sherry Arnstein’s (1969) “ladder of citizen participation” and subsequent typologies of participation. Among the key findings of the thesis are that despite observed benefits, the interface of resource wealth and community development is fraught with tokenistic participation, elite-targeted grassroots anger, and local tensions – all linked to the contradictory nature of participation. The thesis further reveals that in some instances the challenge of platinum wealth-engendered community development tends to undermine existing customary and democratic spaces for participation, and that this is exacerbated by community-level issues such as poverty and inequality. The findings of the study compel a shift of analytical focus from conflict as an epiphenomenon of collective community exclusion and deprivation (as in the case of many natural-rich countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere), to conflict as also resulting from collective community inclusion (in natural resource utilisation). At the policy level, the study generates insights that will, hopefully, assist mineral resource-endowed countries, such as South Africa, in dealing with the challenge of developing appropriate policy frameworks for regulating business and social partnerships between local communities and mining corporations, and within resource-rich communities themselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
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