A cohort analysis of subjective wellbeing and ageing: heading towards a midlife crisis
- Authors: Otterbach, Steffen , Sousa-Poza, Alfonso , Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Aging -- Social aspects Gerontology
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65401 , vital:28782 , ISBN 978086810641
- Description: In this paper, we analyse how different domains of subjective wellbeing evolve within seven years in three different cohorts born 10 years apart. On average, general life satisfaction – as well as satisfaction with leisure time, social contacts and friends, and family – declines substantially between the ages of 15 and 44, with the most significant decrease taking place at a young age (early 20s). Nevertheless, trajectories among the three cohorts differ markedly, indicating that, ceteris paribus, responses on subjective wellbeing differ greatly between cohorts born just a decade apart. The results further indicate that the two older cohorts assess family life and social contacts more favourably than the youngest cohort.
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Inequality, social comparisons and minimum income aspirations: Evidence from South Africa
- Authors: Posel, Dorrit , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions South Africa -- Social policy Economic development -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59510 , vital:27621 , ISBN 9780868106359 , DOI 10.21504/10962/59509
- Description: We investigate the formation of minimum income aspirations in South Africa, a country with high rates of poverty together with very high and rising rates of inequality. A number of empirical studies in both developed and developing countries have shown that income aspirations increase with the individual’s own income and with the income of others in their community, relationships which are explained by processes of adaptation through habituation and social comparison. However, the relationship between income aspirations and inequality has received far less empirical attention. We analyse the minimum income question (MIQ) asked in nationally representative household survey from 2008/2009 to test for evidence of aspirations failure among the poor in South Africa, and to investigate whether high levels of local inequality dampen or stimulate minimum income aspirations, and particularly among those living in poverty.
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Spatial differences in stunting and household agricultural production in South Africa:(re)-examining the links using national panel survey data
- Authors: Otterbach, Steffen , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Human growth -- South Africa Malnutrition -- South Africa Poverty -- Case studies Economic development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59522 , vital:27622 , ISBN 9780868106342 , DOI 10.21504/10962/59522
- Description: One explanation for the increasing prevalence of stunting in South Africa over the past 15 years while other development indicators have improved is that Big Food retail chains have been contributing to a low quality diet across the country, particularly in poor urban households. We thus use nationally representative longitudinal data (2008–2014) to trace 6 years of stunting’s evolution among South African children, adolescents, and young adults aged 0–19, with particular attention to how the prevalence of under-nutrition differs between urban and rural areas and how the drivers of poor nutrition vary spatially. The results of our random-effects logistic regressions on the nutritional impact of household agricultural production suggest that, conditional on household income, subsistence farming is associated with a lower probability of stunting. Even more important, although under-nutrition retains a strong spatial component, once observable differences in living standards are controlled for, the higher tendency for children in deep rural households to suffer from (severe) stunting reverses.
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The myth of a green economy and green jobs: what strategy for labour?
- Authors: Cottle, Eddie
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions South Africa -- Social policy Economic development -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59500 , vital:27620 , ISBN 9780868106106
- Description: This paper seeks to analyse the policy position of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to that of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in relation to the green economy and green jobs. It is argued that the ITUC position is consistent with the paradigm of the UNEP that the source of the ecological and jobs crisis lays within the problem of a lack of investment in appropriate alternative technologies and not that of capital accumulation and the nature of material production itself. It is further argued that both the ITUC and the UNEP’s paradigm is flawed on the basis of an assumption that technological efficiencies based upon alternative technologies will reduce the carbon footprint of countries. On the contrary this paper argues that the ITUC and UNEP failed to locate their perspective on a historical understanding of the contradiction of technological efficiencies as part of capital accumulation itself and the continuous expansion of production and secondly, that alternative energy production is still reliant of fossil fuels which will not lead to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, this paper argues that the ITUC does not have an alternative position as the notion of the ‘Just Transition’ is trapped within the existing social democratic, sustainable development paradigm which is committed to a system of capitalist growth. The paper argues that the only viable alternative is for labour to develop and struggle for an alternative eco-socialist society.
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Across developmental state and social compacting: the peculiar case of South Africa
- Authors: Fine, Ben
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions National Development Plan -- South Africa South Africa -- Social policy Economic development -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3082 , vital:20367 , ISBN 9780868106090
- Description: This paper is concerned with the shifting fortunes of the Developmental State Paradigm (DSP) and the Social Compacting Paradigm (SCP) and, with some reference to South Africa, how they do or do not have continuing presence and relevance. For each, there is a dual trajectory in terms of an evolving intellectual content, on the one hand, and an evolving set of global and national circumstances on the other. I show that both paradigms have increasingly diverged from the material realities that they are intended to confront. This is primarily because of the neglect of financialisation as the key characteristic of the past thirty years, which itself underpins neo-liberalism. Whilst, in the post-war boom, both developmentalism and neo-corporatism offered some purchase on material realities and the prospects for policymaking, this has been eroded or, more exactly, transformed by financialisation. Unless the latter is satisfactorily addressed, neither development nor compacting can be expected to succeed, or be progressive, in any meaningful sense.
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A question of inclusivity: how did average incomes change over the first fifteen years of democracy?
- Authors: Visagie, Justin
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Income -- South Africa Economic development -- South Africa Income distribution -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3071 , vital:20366 , ISBN 9780868106052
- Description: This paper attempts to assess the extent of inclusivity in post-apartheid income growth by focusing on one intuitive part of the income distribution: the actual middle (or middle-income strata). If South African macro and social policy explicitly aims to be ‘inclusive’, it is important to know how the average [median] South African income level changed over the first fifteen years of democracy. Common summary measures of economic progress such as GDP per capita may mask the standard of living experienced by the majority of the population in any particular period. Tracking the progress in the middle strata of South Africa’s income distribution provides a fresh perspective on the nature of economic progress in the country. This is against a worrying backdrop of rising income inequality post-1994 (Van der Berg and Louw, 2004; Hoogeveen and Özler, 2006; Leibbrandt et al, 2010). The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 motivates for the importance of focussing on the actual middle of the income distribution and highlights the emphasis on reducing income inequality within South African macroeconomic and social policy. Issues of comparability in the data and the choice of definition for the middle are discussed in section 3. Section 4 presents descriptive statistics relating to changes in incomes, and ends with a brief analysis of non-income measures of progress. The final section summarises the main findings and concludes.
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Labour after globalisation: old and new sources of power
- Authors: Webster, Edward
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Globalization Labor market Labor and globalization Labor and economy Labor economics Labor supply -- Effect of automation on
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3093 , vital:20368 , ISBN 9780868104867
- Description: In this paper I focus on building a conceptual framework for an understanding of the changing dynamics of labour and workers’ sources of power. I begin by identifying worker action that draws on traditional sources of structural and associational power. I then show how the emergence of new forms of labour action is drawing on both old and new sources of power. New global forms of worker power are examined, and I conclude by suggesting that the missing dimension in the three sources of power identified – structural, associational and societal – is institutional power. If these new initiatives are to be sustainable they will need to include one of labour’s traditional sources of power, institutional power. These four-fold sources of power provide the basis for a strategy of union renewal in the age of globalisation.
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Schooling inequality, higher education and the labour market: evidence from a graduate tracer study in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Rogan, Michael , Reynolds, John
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Educational equalization -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa College graduates -- Employment -- South Africa College majors -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3104 , vital:20369 , ISBN 9780868106045
- Description: This study attempts to link schooling, demographic, socio-economic and academic factors to firstchoice degree completion and labour market outcomes. More specifically, this study investigates those factors that are most directly associated with whether the degrees that university graduates obtain reflect their first qualification choices, and also examines the effects of those factors and degree types on labour market outcomes. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The next section reviews the literature on the transition from schooling to higher education in South Africa with a particular focus on programme choice, followed by the recent literature on graduate employment and unemployment, and the broad findings of the graduate tracer studies which have been conducted in South Africa to date. Section three describes the graduate tracer study design and the analysis upon which the empirical section of the paper is based. In section four, the results of the descriptive statistics and a multivariate analysis are presented in two parts. Finally, section five discusses the results and reflects on the implications for higher education in South Africa.
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The working poor in South Africa, 1997-2012
- Authors: Rogan, Michael , Reynolds, John
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Income distribution -- South Africa Working poor -- South Africa Income -- South Africa South Africa -- Social policy Public welfare -- South Africa Grants-in-aid -- South Africa Household surveys -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3115 , vital:20370 , ISBN 9780868106069
- Description: Despite the intentions of government and commitments by its social partners, South Africa continues to experience one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world and almost half of its households live below the minimum living level used by the National Planning Commission. Persistent calls for deregulation and lower wages to encourage job creation have been countered by arguments that the depth of income poverty and the extent of income inequality require consolidation and deepening of gains made by working people since 1994 and as expected in terms of international commitment to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) Decent Work Agenda. It is in this context that we undertake a closer examination of the shifts in the patterns of working poverty over the period 1997-2012. Challenges in calculating the rate of working poverty include defining the poverty line(s) to be used, and linking data on household incomes and individual employment status. We analyse data collected by Statistics South Africa through its October Household Surveys in 1997-1999 and General Household Surveys in 2004-2012, to examine trends in the rates of working poverty at various poverty lines, as well as trends in respect of employment amongst the poor, the depth of poverty, sources of income, and selected aspects of household composition. Our analysis shows that although the rate of working poverty decreased during the period under examination, 14% of workers still lived in households below the lower bound official poverty line, more than a fifth lived below the upper bound official poverty line, and more than a third of workers lived in households with just enough income to cover the minimum of their most basic needs. The poverty gap decreased for the working poor and for the poor in general, with the expansion of social grants in the early 2000s playing a role. We find that changes in the labour market over the post-apartheid period have not added appreciably to the demonstrable income effects achieved through the expansion of the social grant system. The implications of these findings for labour market regulation and social policy are briefly considered.
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Liberation Heritage Route: icon site guide
- Authors: Rhodes University. Institute of Social and Economic Reseaerch , Mqingwana, G V , Peires, Jeffrey B
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Chris Hani District Municipality -- History Chris Hani District Municipality -- Liberation Heritage Route Political activists -- South Africa -- Heritage sites Thembuland Rebellion Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 20th century Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2401 , vital:20287
- Description: Calata Route: Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality : Calata House -- Cradock Four Grave -- Flame of Hope and Liberation -- Olive Schreiner House -- Skweyiya Church -- Middleburg Three. Inkwanca Local Municipality : Heroes Park -- Nomonge Graves -- Ethiopian Church -- Old Apostolic Church -- Esigingqini -- Higher Mission School -- Stone of Remembrance. Tsolwana Local Municipality : Home Isolation Circle and Old Zola Clinic -- Assassination of Headman Thembilizwe Dywasha -- Majola Mlungwana House -- Godfrey Ngqendesha House; Ndondo Route: Emalahleni Local Municipality : Graves of Qonda Hoho and Luvuyo Lerumo -- Maqhashu Village -- Queen Nonesi -- Wycliffe Tsotsi Law Offices. Sakhisizwe Local Municipality : The Elliot Five -- Batandwa Ndondo Assassination site -- Mnxe Location -- Phumezo Nxiweni -- Traditional Leaders, Stokwe Ndlela and Gecelo. Ngcobo Local Municipality: Ngcobo Traditional Leaders -- Walter Sisulu Birthplace -- ANC Veterans -- Dr A B Xuma Birthplace -- Clarkebury Institution; Sisulu Route: Lukhanji Local Municipality : Ilinge Resettlement -- Sada Resettlement -- Mongezi Feza -- Unathi Mkefa -- Queenstown Station Shootings, 1962 -- Zibeleni Resettlement -- Queenstown Massacre -- James Cooke, Peter Botha & Ashley Wyngaard -- Bulhoek Massacre, 1921. , The struggle for liberation in South Africa goes back a number of centuries from the earliest contact between black and white; and the centuries of struggle mainly against land dispossession. The struggle moved from armed resistance to the use of non-violent means. In the early 1960s, because of white herrenvolkist intransigence, the struggle reverted to armed resistance. The struggle was largely against racism and colonialism - and can therefore be regarded as a struggle for human rights. The icons of the struggle, that is, those individuals and physical and spiritual beacons which marked the route to freedom, identified by the people themselves, compose the Chris Hani District Municipality Liberation Heritage Route (LHR). The identification process involved community participation through the organisation of meetings, under the leadership of Local Municipality Steering Committees and Community Facilitators appointed by the LM specifically to facilitate the LHR project. It was important that each Steering Committee should be chaired by the Mayor. Meetings were representative of all stakeholders, and there was provision for the co-opting of people with special skills. The whole process was informed by the democratic culture of inclusiveness so that no person or organisation could feel left out. Facilitators were guided by political and community endorsement of the Liberation Heritage Icons. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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"It takes a whole village to raise a child": youth development in Grahamstown
- Authors: Van Hees, Charlotte
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Households -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Income -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Schools -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Youth -- Employment -- South Africa Youth -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Youth -- South Africa -- Social conditions Youth -- South Africa -- Societies, etc. Youth, Black -- Employment -- South Africa Youth, Black -- South Africa -- Social conditions Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2431 , vital:20290 , ISBN 0868103691
- Description: This research report is an edited version of a thesis written by Charlotte van Hees for a Master’s degree in organisational anthropology. The degree was awarded by the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands in May 2000. The fieldwork for her thesis was carried out in the first half of 1999 when Charlotte joined the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) project team investigating development opportunities for local youth. For a town of its size Grahamstown has an exceptionally large number of development organisations and community initiatives. In short, it is the ideal setting for an organisational anthropologist. Over a six-month period Charlotte met with members of local organisations to compile a directory or, as she prefers to call it, a ‘social map’. The social map, published as ISER Research Report No. 3, sets out the manner in which local organisations are linked in their activities and services. Report No. 3 should be read in conjunction with this report. In her thesis Charlotte analyses the ideal characteristics of youth organisations and matches local examples to the ideal. On a ladder of perfection, an organisation run by youth for youth optimises youth development. Youth will benefit most if organisations join forces to offer comprehensive and coordinated services. Charlotte observed that although Grahamstown boasts a large number of organisations serving the youth, their services tend to be fragmented or overlapping. As a young outsider, Charlotte van Hees has the advantage of ‘seeing’ the local maze of organisations from a fresh vantage point. Her sizing up of the local situation has benefited from her considerable experience of youth work in the Netherlands. Apart from theoretical insights the report offers practical guidelines to enhance the success of local initiatives for youth. One recommendation, which youth volunteers might wish to adopt as their project, is to continuously update the social map. South Africa is a country experiencing rapid social change. Charlotte’s analysis is based on time- bound observations and a particular constellation of organisations. There have been major changes in the local government system since the study was written up which will inevitably affect the operations of organisations serving the youth. However, the basic lessons to be learnt from her analysis will remain valid in future and continue to serve as useful pointers for scholars and practitioners. Charlotte revisited Grahamstown briefly in April 2000 to present results to local organisations which had participated in the social mapping research. The workshop participants asked the ISER to make Charlotte’s analysis more widely available to stimulate debate and action among local youth and their organisations. It is in response to this wish that ISER has published this report. Thanks go to ISER’s publication officer, Nova de Villiers, for undertaking to edit Charlotte’s thesis for this publication. Anjanette Haller assisted with typing. Readers will appreciate their handiwork. This report is dedicated to the youth of Grahamstown. It is hoped it will revitalise their enthusiasm for personal development, and shape fresh ideas and action to make Grahamstown a better place to grow up in. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Grahamstown and its environs
- Authors: Daniel, J B M (John Benjamin McIntyre)
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Miscellanea Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Description and travel Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2601 , vital:20308 , ISBN 094998051X
- Description: The aim of this brochure is to provide a reasonably comprehensive guide to Grahamstown and its environs. The area has much to offer the person who is prepared to explore and to observe the many facets offered by the human and physical landscapes. It is hoped that the sections on the development of the town and selected historical aspects, the geology, the vegetation, the mammals and the birds will provide sufficient information for the region to be seen and appreciated as a whole, while still leaving room for new discoveries. The interrelationships between geology, altitude, vegetation and the use of the land form a valuable starting point in the study of the countryside. In the towns the buildings and the street grids often help to unravel complex aspects of growth and development. These are some of the features which can be observed on the recommended excursion routes. If the brochure contributes to a greater understanding, and therefore appreciation, of Grahamstown and its environs its purpose will have been fulfilled. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Pineapples in the Eastern Cape: a study of the farm economy and marketing patterns
- Authors: Strauss, Conrad Barend
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Pineapple industry -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope Pineapples -- Marketing Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2442 , vital:20291
- Description: The major objective of this study was to seek a better knowledge and greater understanding of the factors associated with successful pineapple farming in the Eastern Cape Region of the Union of South Africa. As no previous investigation equally representative of commercial pineapple farming patterns in the Eastern Cape has been made, this study can be regarded as a pilot survey of the labour structures, rates of production, combination of enterprises, marketing channels and the suitability of various districts in the region of study for the production of pineapples. In addition, the history of the pineapple in South Africa will be traced briefly, and the position the Union holds as a supplier of pineapples on the world market, will be investigated. The importance of the Eastern Cape as a producer of pineapples in South Africa is well known, but is also unequivocally illustrated by the information in Table 1. According to estimates made by the Division of Economics and Markets for 1955/56 season, no less than 86.5 per cent of the total acreage planted to pineapples in South Africa, was located in this area. Bathurst, East London and Albany, three of the six districts included in the estimate, were particularly prominent. Taken together, they cultivated more than three-quarters of the total area planted to pineapples in the Eastern Cape, and nearly 70 per cent of the total for South Africa. The remaining quarter of the area cultivated in the Eastern Cape was located in the districts of Peddie, Komgha and Alexandria. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Youth development in Grahamstown: a social map: a guide to organisations catering for youth development
- Authors: Van Hees, Charlotte
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Arts -- Study and teaching Associations, institutions, etc. -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Directories Community development -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Community education -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Culture -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mass media -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Public health -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Public welfare -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Schools -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Sports -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Unemployment -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Youth -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Youth -- South Africa Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Directories Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2420 , vital:20288 , ISBN 0868103640
- Description: Grahamstown is a town in the Eastern Cape with a population of approximately 110 000 of which the vast majority live in the former black township, known as Grahamstown East. Unemployment, poor housing, a high crime rate and a lack of primary facilities like toilets, electricity and water are daily facts for a large number of the inhabitants of Grahamstown East. Every day government departments, non-government organisations (NGOs) and volunteers work to improve the lives of the people. Youth merit special attention, after all “youth make the future”. The spectrum of organisations catering for youth development is broad: from local schools providing basic education to organisations like the Grahamstown Foundation trying to involve youth in national art projects. They all have one thing in common. They are all aiming to give youth a grip on their lives, to give them a future by empowering them. But what do we actually know about the youth? Where do they come from? What are their expectations and aspirations in life? What kind of leisure activities do they have? What kind of organisations do they use to get ahead in life? And what do we actually know about these organisations? How do they form their policy and activities? Which role does the government play and which role is left for the non-governmental organisations? In what ways do they work together? How do youth participate in the policy making of these organisations? The Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) of Rhodes University is working together with the Centre for Policy and Management of the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands) to find answers to these questions. A sample survey was conducted in May 1999 to compile baseline information on youth from Grahamstown East in terms of social characteristics, motivations for personal and collective development, and expectations for the future. From January until July 1999 the project team has visited organisations in Grahamstown focusing on (youth) development to identify existing youth programmes and to see how these programmes are incorporated in the town’s context. This social map is a product of this research. The research defines youth as young people living in Grahamstown East in the age category of 14 to 25 years old. This social map however also includes organisations catering for younger children, by displaying the pre-schools and organisations like Child and Family Welfare Society that focus on children up to the age of 13. The National Youth Commission defines youth development in “Youth Policy 2000” (1997) as a process whereby young men and women are able to improve their skills, talents and abilities to extend their intellectual, physical and emotional capabilities to express themselves and to live full lives. This definition is used in this research. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Experiencing space and place in Grahamstown's informal settlements
- Authors: Coetzee, Jan K , Houssay-Holzschuch, Myriam , O'Reilly, Caroline
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Black people -- housing -- South Africa -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Squatter settlements -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Squatters -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- interviews
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2623 , vital:20310 , ISBN 0868103616
- Description: In this research the relationship between people and the space they occupy will be looked at. In doing so, we shall see how people enter into a relationship with their environment in order to create out of material at their disposal, a shelter wherein they can live. By erecting a structure which serves as a house, the people involved in this project do essentially the same as other people in other parts of the world, who create a dwelling that provides protection against the climate and the elements in nature. A question to be raised, is extent their (i.e. the people involved in this project) entering into a relationship with their environment, was forced into a particular direction because of a set of political and economic factors. What are the political and economic factors which impact on the manner of building houses in the informal residential areas of Grahamstown? Traditional housing in France, for example, differs from region to region and has been shaped over long periods of time by the climate, family structures, the availability of land, modes of production, etc. One finds that large vine-growing families from the Mediterranean South of France live in fairly big villages; individual farmers of Brittany dwell in small, slate-roofed houses which are isolated among enclosed fields; pastoral communities in the Alps undertake seasonal moves up or down the slopes of the mountains and share their space during winter with their cattle. The way in which these families and/or communities have come to shape their lifeworlds, was not exposed to the same kind of determining factors as, for instance, in South Africa in general and in Grahamstown in particular. Notwithstanding political and economic determinants, it is clear that residents of informal houses in the Grahamstown area draw to a large extent from tradition with regards to the kind of shelters which they build (cf. the many mud-and-stick constructions). Similarly the settlement of people impacts on nature. Elements of the environment inform certain choices, but people interpret their natural environment and will erect shelters in terms of these interpretations. In addition there are the issues of how people orientate themselves in terms of important landmarks, what kind of representation they have of the future they are moving towards and which values do they draw from or attribute to their physical environment. The landscape surrounding people, contains and reflects cultural information. Important landmarks express aspects of life: the past, the present and the future. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Migrant labour and colonial rule in Basutoland, 1890-1930
- Authors: Kimble, Judith M
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Migrant labor -- Lesotho Markets -- Lesotho Produce trade -- Lesotho Lesotho -- Economic conditions Lesotho -- History -- To 1966 Lesotho -- Politics and government -- To 1966
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2542 , vital:20302 , ISBN 0868103594
- Description: The original Introduction to the thesis, in summary, developed three main themes (a) a close analysis of the institutional arrangements of the pre-capitalist mode of production, demonstrating its complexity; (b) a broader perspective on the legal, political, social and economic aspects of colonialism; and (c) an account of the distinctive patterns of migrant labour which resulted. First. Judy examined the cheap labour hypothesis of Wolpe (1972), which identified the policy of Segregation as ‘the key mechanism in the subcontinent for the forcible generation and reproduction of labour power on a scale and at a price required by foreign mining capital'. Although she found this a major advance from earlier views of migrant labour as simply a system whereby "men oscillate between their home in some rural area and their place of work’ (Francis Wilson, 1972b), she criticised Wolpe’s hypothesis for failing to incorporate an adequate analysis of ‘the internal forces promoting labour migrancy in Basutoland under colonial rule’, to which she paid particular attention. She did not regard migrant labour solely as ‘The outcome of ruling class policy or ruling class intention’ (Brenner, 1977:78). Nor does she accept Wolpe’s assumption that the migrant labour system was an intended effect of the strategy of mining capital; this reduced "the variety of complex historical factors’ to "the driving force of “the needs of capital”. She therefore offered ‘a more extended exploration of the political dimension of colonial rule’ and a more complex analysis of mining capital and its relationship with pre-capitalist social formations. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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West Bank land restitution claim: social history report
- Authors: Maqasho, Landiswa , Bank, Leslie , Mrawu, Busisiwe
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Colored people (South Africa) -- South Africa -- East London Africans -- South Africa -- East London Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Land settlement -- Government policy -- South Africa Mdantsane (East London) Nongqongqo (East London) West Bank location (East London)
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2691 , vital:20317 , ISBN 0868103624
- Description: Today, the west bank of the Buffalo River is a well-established industrial area. At the centre of this industrial complex is the Mercedes Benz South Africa production plant. Yet, over 40 years ago on the production site of this world reknowned motor manufacturer there was a small urban location which housed approximately 7000 African and Coloured residents. The village was known as Nongqongqo. According to Tankard (1990) it was the “original village and first official location of East London” and served primarily as a source of labour for workshops, transport and packing concerns in the East London harbour. The village, which was also known as the West Bank Location, was a stable and peaceful community that accommodated an ethnically mixed community of Xhosa, Fingoes (Mfengu), Pondos, Zulus, Sothos and so-called Coloured people. In 1965, the tranquillity of everyday life in this seaside village came to a rude and abrupt end when government bulldozers and trucks moved in to demolish the village. The inhabitants were forcibly resettled on the east bank of the Buffalo River and in the fledgling township of Mdantsane in the Ciskei. The removals were undertaken in accordance with the terms of the Bantu Administration Act No. 25 of 1945, Population Registration Act of 1950 and Group Areas Act of 1952 (cf. Booysen, 1995). The aim of this report is to investigate the social and historical circumstances that surrounded the destruction of this once vibrant seaside village. This report forms part of a process through which approximately 1400 original residents of Nongqongqo are seeking restitution for losses they incurred during this removal in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994. This report seeks to contribute to this process by contextualising the Nongqongqo removal within an historical understanding of the management of black urbanization in East London and by investigating the specific social, economic and political circumstances that led to the deproclamation of this location. However, in order to understand the impact of the removals, the article also attempts to reconstruct from oral and documentary sources a profile of the West Bank community in the years preceding the removal. Although the historical material on West Bank is sketchy, we have managed to assemble data that allows us to build up a fairly comprehensive socio-economic profile and residential arrangements in this community in 1955. This exercise in historical reconstruction, we believe, is essential for a meaningful assessment of the significance of the removals for those involved. In the final part of the article we begin to assess and aggregate the emotional, social and economic costs of the removals for the people of Nongqongqo. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Poverty in Duncan Village, East London: a qualitiative perspective
- Authors: Bank, Leslie John
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Economic conditions Urban poor -- South Africa Rural-urban migration -- South Africa -- East London East London (South Africa) -- Social conditions -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2003 , vital:20246 , ISBN 0868103209
- Description: East London is a minor coastal city with a fragile economy based largely on the food, motor and textile manufacturing sectors. Between 1945 and 1960 the economy of the city grew rapidly registering annual growth rates in excess of 10%. This growth was based on secondary industrialization in the manufacturing sector. However, since the inauguration of the homeland policy which wedged East London between two impoverished, self- governing homeland states, Transkei and Ciskei, the economy of the city has fared less well. Low annual growth rates were recorded throughout the 1970s and 1980s despite efforts by the Apartheid government to shore up the local economy by offering attractive industrial decentralization incentives in the region. The fragility of the city is not only based on its regional location, but on the absence of mineral and power sources and its distance from major metropolitan markets. Being situated in one of the poorest provinces in the country, East London's growth has always been limited by a weak local consumer market (Swilling 1987: 140). While the economic prospects for the city have recently improved with the dismantling of the homeland system and the centralization of the Eastern Cape's regional government in nearby capital of Bisho (30 minutes’ drive from East London), the city is still badly in need of major economic investment to cater for its rapidly growing population. During the past decade, there has been a massive transfer of population from rural to urban areas in the Eastern Cape generally. This occurred as a result of a softening of homeland borders in the mid-1980s, the removal of the influx control laws in 1986, as well as the deterioration of agricultural prospects in a region gripped by a crippling drought throughout the 1980s. These factors have ensured that East London became the tar-get of a sustained wave of rural-urban immigration. Dozens of new informal settlements have sprung up all over the city during the past five years, while the established townships within the city limits have become hopelessly overcrowded. The research for this project was conducted in East London's most congested township, Duncan Village. In 1995, it had a population of approximately 100 000 people. Between 1964 and 1979, Duncan Village was the target of massive forced removals. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Regional development planning in the Border-Ciskei-Transkei region: an examination of its implementation, effects and implications
- Authors: Nel, E L
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Regional planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Regional planning -- South Africa -- Transkei Regional planning -- South Africa -- Ciskei Rural development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1899 , vital:20237 , ISBN 0868103098
- Description: This paper examines the implementation and effects of regional development planning in the former Border-Ciskei-Transkei region of South Africa. State planning strategies were utilized for more than 30 years to further the ends of apartheid by trying to turn the black 'Homelands', into independent economic entities. In addition, the results of the dubious strategies applied and their implications receive particular attention. This is particularly significant in terms of the recent closure of numerous firms in the region as a result of exposure to market forces. The study aims to document and analyse what happened in the area, to detail the conclusions that can be derived from the experience and, by implication, to raise issues which future planners need to take into consideration. The experience of decades of politically-based planning of the economy led to a situation which subsidised inefficiency, encouraged exploitation and failed to leave a sustainable industrial base. Firms were drawn in by the incentives offered and not by inherent locational advantages. The weak economic linkages which resulted and the current disinvestment in the wake of the termination of incentives are an indictment against the policy. The saga of regional development in the Border-Ciskei- Transkei region vividly illustrates the need for future planners to take cognizance of key economic realities when contemplating such strategies. The new government should not repeat the mistake of attracting and subsidising industrial firms which have only tenuous links with the host economy and which require state support to operate profitably. Appropriate policies to assist the most needy remain an urgent necessity which the new government has yet to address properly. This study is based on surveys of manufacturing firms in the region which received state support, interviews with government and development agents, chambers of commerce and municipalities as well as a detailed review of published reports, academic articles and research projects. The time frame of the study extends from the early 1940s when the first attempts at regional development planning were made, through to 1993, the latest year for which data is available. This permits a broad sweep to be made of policies from the apartheid to the post-apartheid period. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Resettlement in the Border/Ciskei region of South Africa
- Authors: de Wet, Christopher J , Lujabe, Phumeza , Metele, Nosipho
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Relocation (Housing) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Relocation (Housing) -- South Africa -- Ciskei Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Population Rural population -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sada (South Africa) -- Social conditions Dongwe (South Africa) -- Social conditions Oxton (South Africa) -- Social conditions Whittlesea (South Africa) -- Social conditions Kat river (South Africa) -- History Citrus fruit industry -- South Africa Gqugesi (South Africa) -- History Fort Beaufort (South Africa) -- History Farmers -- South Africa Farmers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Upisdraai (South Africa) -- History Ilinge (South Africa) -- History Migrant labor -- South Africa Black people -- Relocation -- South Africa -- Ciskei
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2849 , vital:20335 , ISBN 0868103160
- Description: This paper presents the findings of part of a research project entitled "Population Mobility and Settlement Patterns in the Eastern Cape, 1950 to 1990", which was funded by the Human Sciences Research Council. The part of the project with which this paper is concerned, is the study of resettlement in the Border/Ciskei area of the (new) Eastern Cape Province. It involves two main foci: a) the Whittlesea district of the former Ciskei, where research was done in the resettlement area of Sada (where findings are compared with research done there in 1981) and Dongwe; and b) the Fort Beaufort area, where we looked at the two 'black spot' communities of Upisdraai and Gqugesi which were uprooted and moved to the Fort Beaufort township of Bhofolo in the 1960s, and at the establishment of black citrus farmers in the Kat River Valley in the late 1980s, on previously White owned farms which were bought out by the (then) Ciskei government. In the Conclusion, some important differences are suggested between resettlement in the Eastern Cape and in QwaQwa, one of the areas of South Africa that has been most severely affected by resettlement. Ways in which the South African material may be seen in terms of prevailing models for the analysis of resettlement, and may provide an input for the modification of these approaches, are briefly considered. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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