Conversations, turn-taking, and dialogue: an analysis of the political deliberations of Zimbabwean citizens on the @263Chat Twitter handle
- Authors: Ncube, Meli Mthabisi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4510 , vital:20684
- Description: The micro-blogging site Twitter, and the social networking site Facebook, are playing a key role in facilitating active political expression in the form of demonstrations against high rates of unemployment, poverty, rampant government repression and corruption. Twitter use in Zimbabwe is very vibrant and it even has its own name, ‘Zwitter.’ Zimbabwe has a closed legacy news media which are highly restricted, and most of the major news outlets are controlled by the state. Another limiting factor to any meaningful practice of deliberative democracy through the media and town hall debates is the intolerance of the ruling party ZANU-PF in dealing with dissenting voices. Thus in Zimbabwean politics, it can be argued that the internet has liberated political debates that have been suppressed and digital media is central to political and social deliberation. This study examines whether there are conversations, turn-taking, and dialogues-all features of deliberations- on the @263Chat Twitter platform which is used as a case study. Qualitative content analysis and interviewing were used to collect the data. The preliminary results of the research show that citizen-led engagements, which are facilitated by @263Chat, have brought to the fore the covert potential of social media platforms to drive political participation and deliberation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Ncube, Meli Mthabisi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4510 , vital:20684
- Description: The micro-blogging site Twitter, and the social networking site Facebook, are playing a key role in facilitating active political expression in the form of demonstrations against high rates of unemployment, poverty, rampant government repression and corruption. Twitter use in Zimbabwe is very vibrant and it even has its own name, ‘Zwitter.’ Zimbabwe has a closed legacy news media which are highly restricted, and most of the major news outlets are controlled by the state. Another limiting factor to any meaningful practice of deliberative democracy through the media and town hall debates is the intolerance of the ruling party ZANU-PF in dealing with dissenting voices. Thus in Zimbabwean politics, it can be argued that the internet has liberated political debates that have been suppressed and digital media is central to political and social deliberation. This study examines whether there are conversations, turn-taking, and dialogues-all features of deliberations- on the @263Chat Twitter platform which is used as a case study. Qualitative content analysis and interviewing were used to collect the data. The preliminary results of the research show that citizen-led engagements, which are facilitated by @263Chat, have brought to the fore the covert potential of social media platforms to drive political participation and deliberation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Dance as a tool for emotional well-being
- Authors: Conchar, Lauren
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Dance therapy , Well-being , Happiness , Adolescent psychology , Dance -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats , Dance -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats , Dance -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats -- Case studies , Community development, Urban -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5129 , vital:20779
- Description: Dance has numerous benefits for emotional well-being. For young people specifically it can serve as a prosocial activity where they can engage in a purposeful activity, in a safe space with consistent boundaries and discipline, while surrounded by peers, teachers and positive role models. Recreational spaces that allow young people to feel safe and express themselves is especially important in low socioeconomic areas where there are limited resources and exposure to heightened levels of crime as young people may be less likely to engage in negative behaviours when they have access to alternative, positive activities. This research aimed to explore the lived experiences of a group of young people who participate in dance classes at a community dance project in the Western Cape. The sample group consisted of four young people between the ages of 16 and 20. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants and the interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three major themes emerged from the data, namely 1) My exposure to dance - The impact of context, 2) What motivates me to continue attending classes - The fulfilment of the three basic psychological needs, and 3) How does dance make me feel - The experience of emotional well-being through dance. The discussion of the findings yielded many similarities between the experiences of the participants and the relevant literature. Further, it appears that all four participants experience the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness) at the centre. This may serve as a motivator to continue attending classes as well as contribute to sustained eudaimonic wellbeing. Recommendations include further studies being conducted with groups of young people engaging in dance projects in different socioeconomic contexts and in different parts of South Africa. This could give us a more rounded understanding of how people young people experience dance class and how it contributes to emotional well-being. Further research could also be conducted with recreational projects that offer other activities in under-resourced areas in order to better inform the development of such recreational activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Conchar, Lauren
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Dance therapy , Well-being , Happiness , Adolescent psychology , Dance -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats , Dance -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats , Dance -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats -- Case studies , Community development, Urban -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Cape Flats -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5129 , vital:20779
- Description: Dance has numerous benefits for emotional well-being. For young people specifically it can serve as a prosocial activity where they can engage in a purposeful activity, in a safe space with consistent boundaries and discipline, while surrounded by peers, teachers and positive role models. Recreational spaces that allow young people to feel safe and express themselves is especially important in low socioeconomic areas where there are limited resources and exposure to heightened levels of crime as young people may be less likely to engage in negative behaviours when they have access to alternative, positive activities. This research aimed to explore the lived experiences of a group of young people who participate in dance classes at a community dance project in the Western Cape. The sample group consisted of four young people between the ages of 16 and 20. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants and the interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three major themes emerged from the data, namely 1) My exposure to dance - The impact of context, 2) What motivates me to continue attending classes - The fulfilment of the three basic psychological needs, and 3) How does dance make me feel - The experience of emotional well-being through dance. The discussion of the findings yielded many similarities between the experiences of the participants and the relevant literature. Further, it appears that all four participants experience the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness) at the centre. This may serve as a motivator to continue attending classes as well as contribute to sustained eudaimonic wellbeing. Recommendations include further studies being conducted with groups of young people engaging in dance projects in different socioeconomic contexts and in different parts of South Africa. This could give us a more rounded understanding of how people young people experience dance class and how it contributes to emotional well-being. Further research could also be conducted with recreational projects that offer other activities in under-resourced areas in order to better inform the development of such recreational activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Deriving norms for learners in the disadvantaged schools of the peri-urban areas of the Eastern Cape: the case of the Vassiliou Mathematics Proficiency Test (VASSI)
- Masango, Siphesihle Polkadot
- Authors: Masango, Siphesihle Polkadot
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: VASSI Mathematics Proficiency Test , Mathematical ability -- Testing -- South Africa , Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa , Children with social disabilities -- Education -- South Africa , Children with social disabilities -- Education -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/49929 , vital:25943
- Description: This study builds on South African cross-cultural research which highlights the need for careful stratification of normative samples for quality of education and geographical location. The aim of the present study was to produce an expanded set of preliminary norms for learners in the disadvantaged schools of the peri-urban areas of the Eastern Cape, Grahamstown, on the Vassiliou Mathematics Foundation Phase Test (VASSI) and Vassiliou Mathematics Proficiency Test (VASSI), respectively. The test was administered to Grade 1-6 learners in four different schools all within Joza location, Grahamstown. For the learners’ convenience the tests were translated into isiXhosa, the translations were provided together with the original English questions. Archival data collected by honours students was also incorporated in this study. The total number of participants was N=724 which was comprised of 147 grade 1s, 123 grade 2s, 117 grade 3s, 128 grade 4s, 113 grade 5s and 96 grade 6s. Norm-referenced criterion was used in analysing the data. The results of this study are in accordance with those purporting the low performance of disadvantaged learners on the school subject, mathematics. Stanines for the various grades (Grade 1 to 6) were calculated and are presented in the study. This study has demonstrated that although gender, language and other ethnic variables have an impact on mathematics performance, quality of education and socioeconomic status have a significant effect. Further research is needed on the effect of quality of education and socioeconomic status on learners in disadvantaged schools on this test in particular.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Masango, Siphesihle Polkadot
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: VASSI Mathematics Proficiency Test , Mathematical ability -- Testing -- South Africa , Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa , Children with social disabilities -- Education -- South Africa , Children with social disabilities -- Education -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/49929 , vital:25943
- Description: This study builds on South African cross-cultural research which highlights the need for careful stratification of normative samples for quality of education and geographical location. The aim of the present study was to produce an expanded set of preliminary norms for learners in the disadvantaged schools of the peri-urban areas of the Eastern Cape, Grahamstown, on the Vassiliou Mathematics Foundation Phase Test (VASSI) and Vassiliou Mathematics Proficiency Test (VASSI), respectively. The test was administered to Grade 1-6 learners in four different schools all within Joza location, Grahamstown. For the learners’ convenience the tests were translated into isiXhosa, the translations were provided together with the original English questions. Archival data collected by honours students was also incorporated in this study. The total number of participants was N=724 which was comprised of 147 grade 1s, 123 grade 2s, 117 grade 3s, 128 grade 4s, 113 grade 5s and 96 grade 6s. Norm-referenced criterion was used in analysing the data. The results of this study are in accordance with those purporting the low performance of disadvantaged learners on the school subject, mathematics. Stanines for the various grades (Grade 1 to 6) were calculated and are presented in the study. This study has demonstrated that although gender, language and other ethnic variables have an impact on mathematics performance, quality of education and socioeconomic status have a significant effect. Further research is needed on the effect of quality of education and socioeconomic status on learners in disadvantaged schools on this test in particular.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Emancipatory politics and the Mpondo revolts
- Authors: Bruchhausen, Sarah
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Pondo Revolt, South Africa, 1960-1963 , South Africa -- History -- 20th century , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5093 , vital:20765
- Description: This thesis aims to offer a revised view of the Mpondo revolts. The central theoretical concept of the thesis is that of emancipatory politics. Drawing predominantly on archival sources the primary concern of the thesis is to expose and interrogate certain aspects of this historical moment of popular politics which can be seen as emancipatory. In particular the notions of egalitarianism and universal human dignity will be analysed in relation to the popular political subjectivities, formations and praxes of the Mpondo revolts. In so doing this thesis attempts to make a meaningful contribution to present day debates concerning alternative theories of human emancipation by showing what emancipatory politics looked like historically and in practise within the context of the Mpondo revolts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bruchhausen, Sarah
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Pondo Revolt, South Africa, 1960-1963 , South Africa -- History -- 20th century , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5093 , vital:20765
- Description: This thesis aims to offer a revised view of the Mpondo revolts. The central theoretical concept of the thesis is that of emancipatory politics. Drawing predominantly on archival sources the primary concern of the thesis is to expose and interrogate certain aspects of this historical moment of popular politics which can be seen as emancipatory. In particular the notions of egalitarianism and universal human dignity will be analysed in relation to the popular political subjectivities, formations and praxes of the Mpondo revolts. In so doing this thesis attempts to make a meaningful contribution to present day debates concerning alternative theories of human emancipation by showing what emancipatory politics looked like historically and in practise within the context of the Mpondo revolts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Emathunjini omhlaba kuhlala abantu
- Authors: Moya, Mlandeli Wellington
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Short stories, Xhosa
- Language: Xhosa , English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7235 , vital:21231
- Description: My short stories are about the circumstances in which black gold miners in Welkom in the 1980s and 1990s found themselves. These mineworkers - I was one of them - made up a large, uneducated segment of personnel because our work required strength and good health only. We came from all over the African continent. The places we had to live in were like jails or military barracks, sometimes with twenty or more of us sharing a single room. Because of these conditions, we shared our pains, and the pains of wives, children and relatives of those who were killed or disabled by their work, the repatriation of those who lost their capacity to continue working because of accidents and work, and work-related illnesses. We did not share the same language, and so we had to learn Fanakalo, the language of South African mine workers. My stories show how pain and happiness rub shoulders with each other in the miners' life, because besides the dangerous work there was also cultural entertainment, religious practices, robbery by tsotsis, and many prostitutes. The book Buzani Kubawo by Witness K. Tamsanqa has been an important influence on my writing. Other influences have been L.L. Sebe's Ucamngco and P.T. Mtuze's Alitshoni Lingaphumi. , La mabali angeemeko zabembi-migodi baseWelkom phaya kwiminyaka ephakathi koo-1980 noo-1990. Aba basebenzi, endandingomnye wabo, babeliqela elivisayo elingafundanga — bezingca ngamandla. Sasiphuma mbombo zonke zeli lase-Afrika. Indawo esasihlala kuyo ibifana nqwa nezisele zentolongo okanye izindlu zasemkhosini. Amashumi amabini amadoda elala ndlwini - nye. Ngenxa yaloo meko sachubelana amabali ngeemeko zobomi bethu, ngabafazi nabantwana, nezizalwane, nangeengozi esasingena kuzo nokugoduswa kwabo bagulayo. Kwathi kuba sasithetha iilwimi ngeelwimi safundiswa isiFanakalo. Amabali am abonisa iintlungu ezayame kulonwabo kuloo meko yasemigodini kuba yayikho nemidlalo nemigcobo ezonwabisayo ngokweentlanga ngeentlanga. Sasikwajongene nootsotsi kunye neentwazana ezithengisa ngemizimba. Ababhali abathe banefuthe ekubhaleni kwam baquka aba: uW.K. Thamsanqa ngencwadi yakhe ethi "Buzani kubawo," uP.T. Mtuze ngeyakhe ethi "Alitshoni Lingaphumi," kunye no L.L. Sebe ngencwadi yakhe ethi "Ucamngco."
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Moya, Mlandeli Wellington
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Short stories, Xhosa
- Language: Xhosa , English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7235 , vital:21231
- Description: My short stories are about the circumstances in which black gold miners in Welkom in the 1980s and 1990s found themselves. These mineworkers - I was one of them - made up a large, uneducated segment of personnel because our work required strength and good health only. We came from all over the African continent. The places we had to live in were like jails or military barracks, sometimes with twenty or more of us sharing a single room. Because of these conditions, we shared our pains, and the pains of wives, children and relatives of those who were killed or disabled by their work, the repatriation of those who lost their capacity to continue working because of accidents and work, and work-related illnesses. We did not share the same language, and so we had to learn Fanakalo, the language of South African mine workers. My stories show how pain and happiness rub shoulders with each other in the miners' life, because besides the dangerous work there was also cultural entertainment, religious practices, robbery by tsotsis, and many prostitutes. The book Buzani Kubawo by Witness K. Tamsanqa has been an important influence on my writing. Other influences have been L.L. Sebe's Ucamngco and P.T. Mtuze's Alitshoni Lingaphumi. , La mabali angeemeko zabembi-migodi baseWelkom phaya kwiminyaka ephakathi koo-1980 noo-1990. Aba basebenzi, endandingomnye wabo, babeliqela elivisayo elingafundanga — bezingca ngamandla. Sasiphuma mbombo zonke zeli lase-Afrika. Indawo esasihlala kuyo ibifana nqwa nezisele zentolongo okanye izindlu zasemkhosini. Amashumi amabini amadoda elala ndlwini - nye. Ngenxa yaloo meko sachubelana amabali ngeemeko zobomi bethu, ngabafazi nabantwana, nezizalwane, nangeengozi esasingena kuzo nokugoduswa kwabo bagulayo. Kwathi kuba sasithetha iilwimi ngeelwimi safundiswa isiFanakalo. Amabali am abonisa iintlungu ezayame kulonwabo kuloo meko yasemigodini kuba yayikho nemidlalo nemigcobo ezonwabisayo ngokweentlanga ngeentlanga. Sasikwajongene nootsotsi kunye neentwazana ezithengisa ngemizimba. Ababhali abathe banefuthe ekubhaleni kwam baquka aba: uW.K. Thamsanqa ngencwadi yakhe ethi "Buzani kubawo," uP.T. Mtuze ngeyakhe ethi "Alitshoni Lingaphumi," kunye no L.L. Sebe ngencwadi yakhe ethi "Ucamngco."
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Evictions, migrations and epidemiology in Gokwe during the colonial era
- Authors: Mudzimu, Asa
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6946 , vital:21203
- Description: Gokwe, being infested with tsetse and mosquito was seen as a ‘diseased’ environment by the Europeans. Thus, colonial anti-disease campaigns were introduced during the first decade of the 20th century. Initially, the campaigns sought to address economic challenges in the colony as they involved African relocations for the benefit of the Europeans. However, this study argues that these anti-disease campaigns were modified with time and space. The key thrust of the paper is to examine the imbrication between evictions, migrations and disease control in the context of colonial public health system. Apartfrom examining the development of Western medical practices in Gokwe the dissertation explores how this colonial public health system coalesced or clashed with African worldviews. Gokwe matters as a ‘frontier’ society in many senses. Given colonial efforts to occupy Gokwe and the influx of new evictees and migrants in the 1960s, the study depicts Gokwe as a frontier. The study sees evictions and displacements as programmes tailored to arrest tsetse and the associated diseases in the Zambezi Valley.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mudzimu, Asa
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6946 , vital:21203
- Description: Gokwe, being infested with tsetse and mosquito was seen as a ‘diseased’ environment by the Europeans. Thus, colonial anti-disease campaigns were introduced during the first decade of the 20th century. Initially, the campaigns sought to address economic challenges in the colony as they involved African relocations for the benefit of the Europeans. However, this study argues that these anti-disease campaigns were modified with time and space. The key thrust of the paper is to examine the imbrication between evictions, migrations and disease control in the context of colonial public health system. Apartfrom examining the development of Western medical practices in Gokwe the dissertation explores how this colonial public health system coalesced or clashed with African worldviews. Gokwe matters as a ‘frontier’ society in many senses. Given colonial efforts to occupy Gokwe and the influx of new evictees and migrants in the 1960s, the study depicts Gokwe as a frontier. The study sees evictions and displacements as programmes tailored to arrest tsetse and the associated diseases in the Zambezi Valley.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Experiences of having an adult sibling with a mental illness: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
- Authors: Flannigan, Raylene
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mental illness -- Public opinion -- South Africa , Mentally ill -- Deinstitutionalization , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6309 , vital:21088
- Description: Mental illness has a significant impact on the life of an individual, however not only on the individual but on the family as well. A considerable amount of research has been carried out regarding the experiences of family members internationally. However, in South Africa (SA) there is inadequate information regarding the experiences of families, especially adult siblings, of individuals with a mental illness. Specifically, there is a lack of research investigating individuals’ perceptions of their brother or sister’s mental illness as well as how this affects the sibling relationship. It is for this reason that the current study aimed at exploring the lived experiences of ‘black1’ isiXhosa speaking individuals who have a sibling with a mental illness. The study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as its qualitative approach. A sample of five participants between the ages of 20-50 years was selected through purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were utilised and were transcribed and analysed based on the IPA framework. The analysis of the participants’ transcripts provided three master themes, which are supported by subordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) experiencing the sibling as a burden post diagnosis, 2) positive experiences from the sibling’s mental illness, 3) participant’s experiences of their sibling’s treatment and the mental health care system. Participants experienced financial burden as well as the burden of caregiving as a result of their sibling’s mental illness; these are understood as being subjective and objective burdens. While no change was experienced within the sibling relationship, the siblings’ mental illness was experienced as affecting the sibling relationship due to the socioeconomic status of the participants and stigma. The findings support and expand on the growing knowledge of adult sibling relationships and mental illness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Flannigan, Raylene
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mental illness -- Public opinion -- South Africa , Mentally ill -- Deinstitutionalization , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6309 , vital:21088
- Description: Mental illness has a significant impact on the life of an individual, however not only on the individual but on the family as well. A considerable amount of research has been carried out regarding the experiences of family members internationally. However, in South Africa (SA) there is inadequate information regarding the experiences of families, especially adult siblings, of individuals with a mental illness. Specifically, there is a lack of research investigating individuals’ perceptions of their brother or sister’s mental illness as well as how this affects the sibling relationship. It is for this reason that the current study aimed at exploring the lived experiences of ‘black1’ isiXhosa speaking individuals who have a sibling with a mental illness. The study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as its qualitative approach. A sample of five participants between the ages of 20-50 years was selected through purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were utilised and were transcribed and analysed based on the IPA framework. The analysis of the participants’ transcripts provided three master themes, which are supported by subordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) experiencing the sibling as a burden post diagnosis, 2) positive experiences from the sibling’s mental illness, 3) participant’s experiences of their sibling’s treatment and the mental health care system. Participants experienced financial burden as well as the burden of caregiving as a result of their sibling’s mental illness; these are understood as being subjective and objective burdens. While no change was experienced within the sibling relationship, the siblings’ mental illness was experienced as affecting the sibling relationship due to the socioeconomic status of the participants and stigma. The findings support and expand on the growing knowledge of adult sibling relationships and mental illness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Experiences of pet loss in the South African context
- Authors: Lowen, Kathleen Louise
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Pet loss -- Psychological aspects , Pet loss -- South Africa -- Case studies , Pets -- Death , Pet ownders -- Psychology , Human-animal relationships -- Psychological aspects , Grief
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4326 , vital:20649
- Description: In this research the experience of pet loss in relation to the intensity of grief and the repression of that grief due to societal restrictions was studied in a South African sample of 12 pet owners who had experienced the loss of a pet within 24 months prior to the study. A pilot study was conducted in order to refine the semi-structured interview schedule. Participants were asked about their pets, their experience of pet loss in relation to their feelings before and after the loss and whether they felt they could openly grieve around friends and family. The findings indicated that the intensity of grief experienced by the participants was influenced both by the intensity of their Bond with the pet and the repression of their grief due to assumed social sanctions surrounding mourning the loss of a pet. The findings from the study clearly indicate the necessity for pet loss counselling, however it was clear that societal views surrounding pet loss are shifting, thus allowing pet owners to mourn their loss more openly with family and friends. This indicates a decrease in cases of disenfranchised and complicated grief. Furthermore the impact of pet loss necessitates the social legitimation and acknowledgment of the significance of pet loss in contemporary society as these relationships with pets are an increasingly prominent feature both within and as an alternative to familial systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Lowen, Kathleen Louise
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Pet loss -- Psychological aspects , Pet loss -- South Africa -- Case studies , Pets -- Death , Pet ownders -- Psychology , Human-animal relationships -- Psychological aspects , Grief
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4326 , vital:20649
- Description: In this research the experience of pet loss in relation to the intensity of grief and the repression of that grief due to societal restrictions was studied in a South African sample of 12 pet owners who had experienced the loss of a pet within 24 months prior to the study. A pilot study was conducted in order to refine the semi-structured interview schedule. Participants were asked about their pets, their experience of pet loss in relation to their feelings before and after the loss and whether they felt they could openly grieve around friends and family. The findings indicated that the intensity of grief experienced by the participants was influenced both by the intensity of their Bond with the pet and the repression of their grief due to assumed social sanctions surrounding mourning the loss of a pet. The findings from the study clearly indicate the necessity for pet loss counselling, however it was clear that societal views surrounding pet loss are shifting, thus allowing pet owners to mourn their loss more openly with family and friends. This indicates a decrease in cases of disenfranchised and complicated grief. Furthermore the impact of pet loss necessitates the social legitimation and acknowledgment of the significance of pet loss in contemporary society as these relationships with pets are an increasingly prominent feature both within and as an alternative to familial systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Exploring attitudes and perceptions about the knowledge acquisition process and experiences of Ngangelizwe youth graduates in the Eastern Cape to understand the significance of their education: a Freirean approach
- Authors: Bango, Yanda Tamsanqeleka
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Freire, Paulo, 1921-1997 , Education -- Sociological aspects -- South Africa -- Mthatha , College graduates, Black -- South Africa -- Mthatha -- Attitudes , College graduates, Black -- South Africa -- Mthatha -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4277 , vital:20642
- Description: Education is a critical phenomenon which cannot be ignored as its effects cut across all spheres of life, especially the social and economic aspects. In the particular case of South Africa, education has been a serious issue of concern for a very long time and after the transition process took place in 1994 it became a priority on all agendas of governance. Expanding on the already existing debate about education in South Africa, this thesis specifically explores attitudes and perceptions about the knowledge acquisition process and experiences of Ngangelizwe youth graduates to understand the significance of education in their lives. As Freire wrote about the phenomenon of education from the point of view of the oppressed and marginalized in society, his theory explains and aids as a tool for careful analysis in this case. Moreover, considering that at the centre of Freire’s world view was the belief that humans have an ontological vocation to become more fully human, the youth graduates of Ngangelizwe became a good case as they live under conditions that one would regard as dehumanizing and oppressive. The youth graduates’ actions and attitudes would therefore guide and provide indication as to whether their education, both from academic spaces and the community, has empowered them to challenge the dehumanizing and oppressive nature of the dominant culture as a means to becoming fully human in their life and time, particularly in their community of Ngangelizwe. While the general finding has been that the participants’ education portrays both elements of banking and problem-posing education, it was also discovered that it all depends on the level and forces of education that the participants receive their inspiration from. This is due to the fact that education is not one dimensional, it begins from the moment one is born up until he or she no longer exists on earth. Therefore, education does not belong to one group of people; everyone has the ability to educate in as much as he or she has the ability to be educated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bango, Yanda Tamsanqeleka
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Freire, Paulo, 1921-1997 , Education -- Sociological aspects -- South Africa -- Mthatha , College graduates, Black -- South Africa -- Mthatha -- Attitudes , College graduates, Black -- South Africa -- Mthatha -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4277 , vital:20642
- Description: Education is a critical phenomenon which cannot be ignored as its effects cut across all spheres of life, especially the social and economic aspects. In the particular case of South Africa, education has been a serious issue of concern for a very long time and after the transition process took place in 1994 it became a priority on all agendas of governance. Expanding on the already existing debate about education in South Africa, this thesis specifically explores attitudes and perceptions about the knowledge acquisition process and experiences of Ngangelizwe youth graduates to understand the significance of education in their lives. As Freire wrote about the phenomenon of education from the point of view of the oppressed and marginalized in society, his theory explains and aids as a tool for careful analysis in this case. Moreover, considering that at the centre of Freire’s world view was the belief that humans have an ontological vocation to become more fully human, the youth graduates of Ngangelizwe became a good case as they live under conditions that one would regard as dehumanizing and oppressive. The youth graduates’ actions and attitudes would therefore guide and provide indication as to whether their education, both from academic spaces and the community, has empowered them to challenge the dehumanizing and oppressive nature of the dominant culture as a means to becoming fully human in their life and time, particularly in their community of Ngangelizwe. While the general finding has been that the participants’ education portrays both elements of banking and problem-posing education, it was also discovered that it all depends on the level and forces of education that the participants receive their inspiration from. This is due to the fact that education is not one dimensional, it begins from the moment one is born up until he or she no longer exists on earth. Therefore, education does not belong to one group of people; everyone has the ability to educate in as much as he or she has the ability to be educated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Generating shared interpretive resources in the mathematics classroom: using philosophy of mathematics to teach mathematics better
- Authors: De Lange, Laura
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching , Mathematics -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4293 , vital:20645
- Description: Every student has a unique mathematical lived experience: a unique amalgamation of ideas about mathematics, exposure to mathematical concepts and feelings about mathematics. A student's unique set of circumstances means that not every explanatory account of mathematics will cohere with her previous experiences. For an explanation to have explanatory potential, it must provide an account which coheres with the other beliefs a student has about mathematics. If an explanation has no such coherence, it will not be recognisable as an explanation of the phenomenon of mathematics for the student. Our explanatory accounts of mathematics and mathematical knowledge are our philosophies of mathematics. Different philosophies of mathematics will better explain different sets of mathematical lived experiences. In this thesis I will argue that students should be exposed to a multiplicity of philosophies of mathematics so that they can endorse the philosophy of mathematics which has the most explanatory potential for their particular set of mathematical lived experiences. I argue that this will improve student understanding of mathematics. The claims inherent in any given philosophy of mathematics, when combined with other stereotypes or prejudices, can work to unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups, such as poor, black or female students, from mathematical participation. If we want to avoid reinforcing and reinscribing prejudicial claims about people in the mathematics classroom, we need to be aware of how a certain philosophy of mathematics can exclude certain students. In this thesis I will be defending the idea that, as mathematics educators, we should diversify the way we see mathematics so that we decrease this exclusion from mathematics. In order to diversify the way in which we see mathematics so as to decrease unjust exclusion, members of subordinated groups should be encouraged to share their mathematical experiences in a space sensitive to the power dynamics present in the mathematics classroom. These accounts can then be combined with existing philosophies of mathematics to create new ways of making sense of mathematics which do not unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: De Lange, Laura
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching , Mathematics -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4293 , vital:20645
- Description: Every student has a unique mathematical lived experience: a unique amalgamation of ideas about mathematics, exposure to mathematical concepts and feelings about mathematics. A student's unique set of circumstances means that not every explanatory account of mathematics will cohere with her previous experiences. For an explanation to have explanatory potential, it must provide an account which coheres with the other beliefs a student has about mathematics. If an explanation has no such coherence, it will not be recognisable as an explanation of the phenomenon of mathematics for the student. Our explanatory accounts of mathematics and mathematical knowledge are our philosophies of mathematics. Different philosophies of mathematics will better explain different sets of mathematical lived experiences. In this thesis I will argue that students should be exposed to a multiplicity of philosophies of mathematics so that they can endorse the philosophy of mathematics which has the most explanatory potential for their particular set of mathematical lived experiences. I argue that this will improve student understanding of mathematics. The claims inherent in any given philosophy of mathematics, when combined with other stereotypes or prejudices, can work to unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups, such as poor, black or female students, from mathematical participation. If we want to avoid reinforcing and reinscribing prejudicial claims about people in the mathematics classroom, we need to be aware of how a certain philosophy of mathematics can exclude certain students. In this thesis I will be defending the idea that, as mathematics educators, we should diversify the way we see mathematics so that we decrease this exclusion from mathematics. In order to diversify the way in which we see mathematics so as to decrease unjust exclusion, members of subordinated groups should be encouraged to share their mathematical experiences in a space sensitive to the power dynamics present in the mathematics classroom. These accounts can then be combined with existing philosophies of mathematics to create new ways of making sense of mathematics which do not unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Happiness is somebody’s name
- Authors: Jijana, Thabo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7268 , vital:21237
- Description: This collection of loosely interlinked short stories is a “book of imaginary beings”. It draws its influence from amaXhosa history, religion and mythology. Written in a fluid blend of isiXhosa and English, the stories make use of innovative forms and an inventive, pared-down language to create new and strange perspectives on our past, present and future. Ranging in length from brief mini-sagas to longer vignettes, the collection touches on such diverse subjects as the lore and superstitions surrounding the mythical being of tokoloshe, sorcery in the black community, and other fantastical elements of amaXhosa folklore. Literary influences include the Syrian writer Osama Olamar, whose writing about inanimate and everyday objects is both interesting and rare; Amos Tutuola, whose appropriation of Yoruba mythology I have learned much from; the Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar who has the facility to articulate the fantastical in a straightforward narrative; and Taban Lo Liyong, the Ugandan writer, whose fabulist work has served as stimulus for many of these stories.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Jijana, Thabo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7268 , vital:21237
- Description: This collection of loosely interlinked short stories is a “book of imaginary beings”. It draws its influence from amaXhosa history, religion and mythology. Written in a fluid blend of isiXhosa and English, the stories make use of innovative forms and an inventive, pared-down language to create new and strange perspectives on our past, present and future. Ranging in length from brief mini-sagas to longer vignettes, the collection touches on such diverse subjects as the lore and superstitions surrounding the mythical being of tokoloshe, sorcery in the black community, and other fantastical elements of amaXhosa folklore. Literary influences include the Syrian writer Osama Olamar, whose writing about inanimate and everyday objects is both interesting and rare; Amos Tutuola, whose appropriation of Yoruba mythology I have learned much from; the Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar who has the facility to articulate the fantastical in a straightforward narrative; and Taban Lo Liyong, the Ugandan writer, whose fabulist work has served as stimulus for many of these stories.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Homecoming
- Authors: Mazwai, Nontsikelelo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164930 , vital:41185
- Description: Thesis (MA)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages, 2017
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mazwai, Nontsikelelo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164930 , vital:41185
- Description: Thesis (MA)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages, 2017
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
I did not die
- Authors: Mzamo, Tebello
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7246 , vital:21232
- Description: My novella is about a mine worker and his family. Set in both Lesotho and South Africa, it engages the effects of migrant labour on families in post-apartheid South Africa. Told through the eyes of the different family members, the narrative uses shifting points of view and moves fluidly through time to present an intimate but complex view of the lives of ordinary working class people. It incorporates witchcraft and ghosts to reveal the blurred lines between the realms of life and death. This collection is inspired by my own father who is a former mine worker. I am influenced by Joyce Carol Oates and Chibundu Onuzo's darkly realistic style, Veronique Tadjo’s explorations of migration and death, the family chronicles of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. I am also inspired by female fantasy and horror writers such as those collected in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s anthology, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mzamo, Tebello
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7246 , vital:21232
- Description: My novella is about a mine worker and his family. Set in both Lesotho and South Africa, it engages the effects of migrant labour on families in post-apartheid South Africa. Told through the eyes of the different family members, the narrative uses shifting points of view and moves fluidly through time to present an intimate but complex view of the lives of ordinary working class people. It incorporates witchcraft and ghosts to reveal the blurred lines between the realms of life and death. This collection is inspired by my own father who is a former mine worker. I am influenced by Joyce Carol Oates and Chibundu Onuzo's darkly realistic style, Veronique Tadjo’s explorations of migration and death, the family chronicles of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. I am also inspired by female fantasy and horror writers such as those collected in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s anthology, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
I want to believe there is a girl here under the table
- Authors: Asfour, Fouad-Martin
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7190 , vital:21227
- Description: Written in non-linear fragments, my thesis is what Audre Lorde in her novel Zami calls a "biomythography" - the weaving together of myth, history and biography in epic narrative form, a style of composition that represents all the ways in which we perceive the world. Using repetition and shifting memories, I draw from my bicultural upbringing in Offenbach, a city in Germany populated mostly by migrants, as well as my experience of working in art and culture internationally, travelling and living in different countries. Interrogating objects, buildings, family photographs, books and movies, and listening to the silences of the unvoiced, I upset and play with experiences of othering, assumptions and expectations about identity and ask questions about home, belonging and migration, mother tongue and translation. I draw inspiration from Korean American artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's use of texts, documents and images to explore dislocation and memory, as well as authors who engage language, translation and belonging such as Mikhail Shishkin, Yoko Tawada, Gloria Anzaldua and Mohammed Khair-Eddine.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Asfour, Fouad-Martin
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7190 , vital:21227
- Description: Written in non-linear fragments, my thesis is what Audre Lorde in her novel Zami calls a "biomythography" - the weaving together of myth, history and biography in epic narrative form, a style of composition that represents all the ways in which we perceive the world. Using repetition and shifting memories, I draw from my bicultural upbringing in Offenbach, a city in Germany populated mostly by migrants, as well as my experience of working in art and culture internationally, travelling and living in different countries. Interrogating objects, buildings, family photographs, books and movies, and listening to the silences of the unvoiced, I upset and play with experiences of othering, assumptions and expectations about identity and ask questions about home, belonging and migration, mother tongue and translation. I draw inspiration from Korean American artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's use of texts, documents and images to explore dislocation and memory, as well as authors who engage language, translation and belonging such as Mikhail Shishkin, Yoko Tawada, Gloria Anzaldua and Mohammed Khair-Eddine.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Jah Hills
- Authors: Slasha, Unathi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7157 , vital:21222
- Description: Jah Hills is alone in Kwaf Indoda bush, waiting for elders to come, burn ibhuma and deliver him home. Two weeks before he departs from his initiation period, he is seduced by igqwirha. When he fails to satisfy her appetite, he gets ‘abducted and turned into isithunzela. One night, he narrowly escapes and finds his way back. But the experience at home is gruesome; they drive him away and want his death. My novel is fast paced, accumulating speed as it proceeds. It is formally experimental, drawing on forms that have gone before and trying to usher in a new manner of writing and looking at the world. It is told through the eyes of isithunzela that Jah Hills has become. It makes use of Nguni folklore, reimagined and subverted so it fits the character’s unearthly vision. Certain characters and moments from Nguni folktales are borrowed and appear throughout the text. Stylistically I draw extensively from the work of Sony Lab’ou Tansi, Taban Lo Liyong, Dambudzo Marechera, D.O. Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Slasha, Unathi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7157 , vital:21222
- Description: Jah Hills is alone in Kwaf Indoda bush, waiting for elders to come, burn ibhuma and deliver him home. Two weeks before he departs from his initiation period, he is seduced by igqwirha. When he fails to satisfy her appetite, he gets ‘abducted and turned into isithunzela. One night, he narrowly escapes and finds his way back. But the experience at home is gruesome; they drive him away and want his death. My novel is fast paced, accumulating speed as it proceeds. It is formally experimental, drawing on forms that have gone before and trying to usher in a new manner of writing and looking at the world. It is told through the eyes of isithunzela that Jah Hills has become. It makes use of Nguni folklore, reimagined and subverted so it fits the character’s unearthly vision. Certain characters and moments from Nguni folktales are borrowed and appear throughout the text. Stylistically I draw extensively from the work of Sony Lab’ou Tansi, Taban Lo Liyong, Dambudzo Marechera, D.O. Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Land, Church, Forced Removals and Community on Klipfontein Farm in the District of Alexandria, Eastern Cape c. 1872 - 1979
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, GJW
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Janse van Rensburg family , Klipfontein Farm (Alexandria, South Africa) , Alexandria (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- Religion , Colored people (South Africa) -- Relocation , Black people -- Relocation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Family farms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Church history -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- Law and legilstion -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161315 , vital:40615
- Description: This thesis is a case study of how church, land and dispossession of land has influenced identity formation of a coloured community in the Eastern Province, namely the Klipfontein community. Coloured history in the Eastern Province has largely been neglected. This study attempts to rectify such a lack of in-depth enquiry as it may lead to misinterpretations that may influence contemporary politics and identity formation. Through research based on primary sources, it is evident that the social landscape of Klipfontein Farm and the relationships between that community and surrounding black African and white communities have largely been shaped by the stipulations contained in the joint will of the community’s ancestors: Dirk and Sarah Janse van Rensburg. The land devolved into a trust and has been administered by trustees since the death of the first spouse in 1877. By keeping the land in a trust, it enabled the descendants to continue to live on the farm in perpetuity, without the risk of being forced off the land via financial restraints or racially-based legislation. But the usufructuaries could also never fully utilise Klipfontein as an agricultural concern due to a combination of a lack of equipment and skill, and the provisions of the will. These complications inevitably led to inter-familial disputes and tension. Before 1939 there had already been three court cases dealing with the interpretations of the Will. In that same year the Supreme Court ordered that tracts of the land, including a part of Boesmansriviermond village, be sold in order to pay off arrear rates and taxes. Although the responsibility for these sales lay with the trustees, the community has been suspicious of the usufructuaries ever since. A key element of the Klipfontein identity is their religion. The church legitimises their right to the farm - against those who wish to take that right away. Their claim to occupation is couched in scriptural discourse, viewing Klipfontein as 'their Garden of Eden' that God gave to the stamvader, Dirk Janse van Rensburg. This seemed to have been partially successful for the Klipfontein community in staving off harassment by authorities. It also caused friction between the community and the black African residents. Some usufructuaries and family members felt that such right was exclusively given to the coloured community and so they became increasingly annoyed by the black Africans who settled there. Other usufructuaries did not share this feeling. They allowed evicted black African farm labourers to settle on certain portions of Klipfontein until the late 1970s. The black African population rapidly increased due to misinformation and evictions from neighbouring farms. This only further exacerbated the inter-familial conflict between usufructuaries, flaring tensions between the black Africans and their reluctant hosts as well as animosity from the white community towards Klipfontein. In 1979, after a series of court cases, a decision was made to remove all the African settlers by force and relocate most of them to the ‘homeland’ of Ciskei. The rest, who were of ‘working-age’ were left behind in a ‘temporary emergency camp’ on the outskirts of Kenton-on-Sea. The effects of these removals still impact the relationships between the different racial groups in the area to this day.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, GJW
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Janse van Rensburg family , Klipfontein Farm (Alexandria, South Africa) , Alexandria (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- Religion , Colored people (South Africa) -- Relocation , Black people -- Relocation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Family farms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Church history -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- Law and legilstion -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161315 , vital:40615
- Description: This thesis is a case study of how church, land and dispossession of land has influenced identity formation of a coloured community in the Eastern Province, namely the Klipfontein community. Coloured history in the Eastern Province has largely been neglected. This study attempts to rectify such a lack of in-depth enquiry as it may lead to misinterpretations that may influence contemporary politics and identity formation. Through research based on primary sources, it is evident that the social landscape of Klipfontein Farm and the relationships between that community and surrounding black African and white communities have largely been shaped by the stipulations contained in the joint will of the community’s ancestors: Dirk and Sarah Janse van Rensburg. The land devolved into a trust and has been administered by trustees since the death of the first spouse in 1877. By keeping the land in a trust, it enabled the descendants to continue to live on the farm in perpetuity, without the risk of being forced off the land via financial restraints or racially-based legislation. But the usufructuaries could also never fully utilise Klipfontein as an agricultural concern due to a combination of a lack of equipment and skill, and the provisions of the will. These complications inevitably led to inter-familial disputes and tension. Before 1939 there had already been three court cases dealing with the interpretations of the Will. In that same year the Supreme Court ordered that tracts of the land, including a part of Boesmansriviermond village, be sold in order to pay off arrear rates and taxes. Although the responsibility for these sales lay with the trustees, the community has been suspicious of the usufructuaries ever since. A key element of the Klipfontein identity is their religion. The church legitimises their right to the farm - against those who wish to take that right away. Their claim to occupation is couched in scriptural discourse, viewing Klipfontein as 'their Garden of Eden' that God gave to the stamvader, Dirk Janse van Rensburg. This seemed to have been partially successful for the Klipfontein community in staving off harassment by authorities. It also caused friction between the community and the black African residents. Some usufructuaries and family members felt that such right was exclusively given to the coloured community and so they became increasingly annoyed by the black Africans who settled there. Other usufructuaries did not share this feeling. They allowed evicted black African farm labourers to settle on certain portions of Klipfontein until the late 1970s. The black African population rapidly increased due to misinformation and evictions from neighbouring farms. This only further exacerbated the inter-familial conflict between usufructuaries, flaring tensions between the black Africans and their reluctant hosts as well as animosity from the white community towards Klipfontein. In 1979, after a series of court cases, a decision was made to remove all the African settlers by force and relocate most of them to the ‘homeland’ of Ciskei. The rest, who were of ‘working-age’ were left behind in a ‘temporary emergency camp’ on the outskirts of Kenton-on-Sea. The effects of these removals still impact the relationships between the different racial groups in the area to this day.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Language and access in the public healthcare system in South Africa with a particular focus on primary public health facilities in Grahamstown and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mhlauli, Nonceba
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Health literacy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Patient education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Health literacy -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56692 , vital:26817
- Description: The right to language and the right to healthcare services are human rights which are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Section 6 (5) of the Constitution and Section 1.3 (b) and (e) of the Eastern Cape Provincial Language Policy provide protection against unfair discrimination on the grounds of language; while sections 30 and 31 (1) of the Constitution refer to people’s rights in terms of cultural, religious and linguistic participation. Section 27 (a) states that ‘everyone has the right to access to healthcare services’. In accordance with the Constitution, in 2011 the National Department of Health passed a Policy on Language Services. This policy aims to facilitate equitable access to government services and information, as well as respect for language rights as spelled out in the Constitution. The Policy on Language Services further aims to promote multilingualism in the National Department of Health and to allow people to access information in a language of their choice, understand important messages and the language necessary for informed and participatory decision making (Department of Health 2011:1). Given the above policy and Constitutional provisions as far as policy commitment is concerned, the crucial issue remains the implementation of such policy to ensure that the right to access to health and language are realised. The study provides an analysis of the Policy on Language Services 2011 as it relates to language rights and the delivery of health services, focusing on the roll out and implementation process and the public awareness of the policy. This study primarily focuses on the role language plays in accessing public healthcare in primary healthcare facilities in the Grahamstown and Cofimvaba. The study looked at communication between patient and healthcare providers and whether healthcare services were provided in the language of the patient or the language the patient knows best. This study further assessed indications of patients’ comprehension of information such as medical instructions on packaged medicine, comprehension of posters, pamphlets and health education sessions in order to fully participate in the process of their health status. The data of this research was collected from healthcare providers and patients in primary healthcare facilities in Grahamstown and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape. The research methods used was in-depth interviews, non-participant observations as well as content analysis such as sign/direction posts, medical labels and information boards. These methods were used to determine whether language plays a role in accessing quality healthcare services in these facilities. The research found that the lack of implementation of language and health policy resulted in the perpetuation of language barriers in the healthcare sector. The study therefore argues that adequate healthcare can only be provided if and when healthcare providers and patients are able to communicate with each other in the language they know best or feel most comfortable in. Thus meaning the implementation of the current Constitutional and policy provisions is crucial to language and access to healthcare services.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mhlauli, Nonceba
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Health literacy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Patient education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Health literacy -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56692 , vital:26817
- Description: The right to language and the right to healthcare services are human rights which are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Section 6 (5) of the Constitution and Section 1.3 (b) and (e) of the Eastern Cape Provincial Language Policy provide protection against unfair discrimination on the grounds of language; while sections 30 and 31 (1) of the Constitution refer to people’s rights in terms of cultural, religious and linguistic participation. Section 27 (a) states that ‘everyone has the right to access to healthcare services’. In accordance with the Constitution, in 2011 the National Department of Health passed a Policy on Language Services. This policy aims to facilitate equitable access to government services and information, as well as respect for language rights as spelled out in the Constitution. The Policy on Language Services further aims to promote multilingualism in the National Department of Health and to allow people to access information in a language of their choice, understand important messages and the language necessary for informed and participatory decision making (Department of Health 2011:1). Given the above policy and Constitutional provisions as far as policy commitment is concerned, the crucial issue remains the implementation of such policy to ensure that the right to access to health and language are realised. The study provides an analysis of the Policy on Language Services 2011 as it relates to language rights and the delivery of health services, focusing on the roll out and implementation process and the public awareness of the policy. This study primarily focuses on the role language plays in accessing public healthcare in primary healthcare facilities in the Grahamstown and Cofimvaba. The study looked at communication between patient and healthcare providers and whether healthcare services were provided in the language of the patient or the language the patient knows best. This study further assessed indications of patients’ comprehension of information such as medical instructions on packaged medicine, comprehension of posters, pamphlets and health education sessions in order to fully participate in the process of their health status. The data of this research was collected from healthcare providers and patients in primary healthcare facilities in Grahamstown and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape. The research methods used was in-depth interviews, non-participant observations as well as content analysis such as sign/direction posts, medical labels and information boards. These methods were used to determine whether language plays a role in accessing quality healthcare services in these facilities. The research found that the lack of implementation of language and health policy resulted in the perpetuation of language barriers in the healthcare sector. The study therefore argues that adequate healthcare can only be provided if and when healthcare providers and patients are able to communicate with each other in the language they know best or feel most comfortable in. Thus meaning the implementation of the current Constitutional and policy provisions is crucial to language and access to healthcare services.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Lizalise Idinga Lakho [Honour Thy Promise]: The Methodist Church Women’s Manyano, the Bifurcated Public Sphere, Divine Strength, Ubufazi and Motherhood in Post-Apartheid South Africa
- Authors: Ngcobozi, Lihle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17717 , vital:22271
- Description: This study examines the socio-political role of the Christian church based women’s Manyano organisations in post-apartheid South Africa. Specifically, the study examines the ways in which the women’s Manyano organisations offer black women a site for the performance of citizenship. The study is based on life history interviews conducted with seventeen members of the Methodist Church Women’s Manyano of the Lamontville Circuit in Kwa-Zulu Natal. The study shows that dominant literature on Manyano women is primarily located in the historiography of the formation of Manyano groups within the historical development of the black church from the moment of missionary contact in South Africa. This literature shows that the missionaries used the coming together of black women in the church to promote ideas of devout domesticity that are based on Anglophone Victorian womanhood. This literature also shows that the structural constraints of colonisation and apartheid transformed the black church into a counterpublic space which focused largely on the liberation of the black majority from political, economic, and social exclusion from the colonial and apartheid public sphere. These constraints also transformed the role of women’s Manyano organisations to become an important space from which black women came to resist and defeat apartheid. This study shows that this historical framing of women’s Manyano groups has shaped their role in post-apartheid South Africa. Located in the African feminist theory, the study argues that Manyano women’s publicness is not limited to gendered expressions of the public and private sphere. Instead, Manyano women demonstrate that their publicness in post-apartheid South Africa ought to be understood through a combination of the varied identities that they straddle, such as those of a politically and culturally defined womanhood and communally based motherhood, which express their understanding and performance of citizenship. The thesis, therefore, argues that the contemporary role and functioning of Manyanos is located within both the hegemonic public sphere that is granted by the civil liberties of the new South Africa, and the historical black bifurcated counterpublic -which combined offer black women the ability to devise strategies to confront present-day socioeconomic challenges such as structural poverty that shapes the lives of the majority of black women in post-apartheid South Africa. The study contributes, therefore, to the reconstruction of the concept of the public sphere through the use of Manyano women’s dynamic position in post-apartheid South Africa. It shows that the dualist nature of Manyano women’s position and identity allows for a multifaceted approach in the understanding of citizenship for Manyano women today. Furthermore, and importantly, the study shows that the complex roles that Manyano women navigate within the different spheres complicate the interpretations of womanhood and motherhood as understood in dominant (white western) feminist theory in ways that often lead to the delegitimisation and erasure of Manyano women’s contributions to ideas about post-apartheid feminisms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Ngcobozi, Lihle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17717 , vital:22271
- Description: This study examines the socio-political role of the Christian church based women’s Manyano organisations in post-apartheid South Africa. Specifically, the study examines the ways in which the women’s Manyano organisations offer black women a site for the performance of citizenship. The study is based on life history interviews conducted with seventeen members of the Methodist Church Women’s Manyano of the Lamontville Circuit in Kwa-Zulu Natal. The study shows that dominant literature on Manyano women is primarily located in the historiography of the formation of Manyano groups within the historical development of the black church from the moment of missionary contact in South Africa. This literature shows that the missionaries used the coming together of black women in the church to promote ideas of devout domesticity that are based on Anglophone Victorian womanhood. This literature also shows that the structural constraints of colonisation and apartheid transformed the black church into a counterpublic space which focused largely on the liberation of the black majority from political, economic, and social exclusion from the colonial and apartheid public sphere. These constraints also transformed the role of women’s Manyano organisations to become an important space from which black women came to resist and defeat apartheid. This study shows that this historical framing of women’s Manyano groups has shaped their role in post-apartheid South Africa. Located in the African feminist theory, the study argues that Manyano women’s publicness is not limited to gendered expressions of the public and private sphere. Instead, Manyano women demonstrate that their publicness in post-apartheid South Africa ought to be understood through a combination of the varied identities that they straddle, such as those of a politically and culturally defined womanhood and communally based motherhood, which express their understanding and performance of citizenship. The thesis, therefore, argues that the contemporary role and functioning of Manyanos is located within both the hegemonic public sphere that is granted by the civil liberties of the new South Africa, and the historical black bifurcated counterpublic -which combined offer black women the ability to devise strategies to confront present-day socioeconomic challenges such as structural poverty that shapes the lives of the majority of black women in post-apartheid South Africa. The study contributes, therefore, to the reconstruction of the concept of the public sphere through the use of Manyano women’s dynamic position in post-apartheid South Africa. It shows that the dualist nature of Manyano women’s position and identity allows for a multifaceted approach in the understanding of citizenship for Manyano women today. Furthermore, and importantly, the study shows that the complex roles that Manyano women navigate within the different spheres complicate the interpretations of womanhood and motherhood as understood in dominant (white western) feminist theory in ways that often lead to the delegitimisation and erasure of Manyano women’s contributions to ideas about post-apartheid feminisms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Lurking or listening? an ethnographic study of online and offline student political participation through the #MustFall protests at Rhodes University
- Authors: Govender, Carissa Jade
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: #Feesmustfall , #Rhodesmustfall , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa , Political participation -- South Africa , Online social networks -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35123 , vital:24330
- Description: The way media is created and consumed plays an important role in political participation as it provides information, guides thinking and allows citizens to make informed political choices. It can also interrogate the status quo and challenge existing systems or power relations. This thesis discusses the use of social media by Rhodes University students in the context of the 2015 #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa. This thesis interrogates the concept of slacktivism, a term used to describe online or digital activism which is considered to be less active and not as effective as physical activism. Furthermore, the thesis acknowledges that even when digital political participation is recognised, the emphasis and value is placed on those who speak and create content. The thesis examines the notion of participation and what counts as active citizenship. In particular, the majority of social media users who merely lurk and never contribute to content creation or online discussions are further investigated. The qualitative methodological approach used for this thesis involved three parts which looked at student activity on Facebook, student engagement offline, and how students made sense of their online and offline involvement. Firstly, a cyberethnographic investigation was done in order to understand the cyber world in which students are present. Thereafter, a participant observation was carried out to immerse myself in the offline spaces that students engaged in politically, to get a better sense of how their online presence influenced or supplemented their offline activity. Finally, individual interviews were carried out with lurkers to determine why they did not participate in traditional ways, both online and offline. The findings suggest that lurkers are in fact doing more than just being passively present. The high levels of attention paid to content posted by others on social media, as well as the way that the content influences their offline lives suggest that the choice to lurk is far more active than assumed. Students are consciously deciding to lurk for a multitude of reasons, one of which is for the opportunity to learn. Social media is a fast developing; increasingly used form of communication and how political communication across social media platforms is framed affects what we consider to be active engagement. By using theories of listening and emotion talk, the thesis provides new ways of understanding lurking by Rhodes University students on social media, which in turn can lead to better listening, better understanding and greater political participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Govender, Carissa Jade
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: #Feesmustfall , #Rhodesmustfall , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa , Political participation -- South Africa , Online social networks -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35123 , vital:24330
- Description: The way media is created and consumed plays an important role in political participation as it provides information, guides thinking and allows citizens to make informed political choices. It can also interrogate the status quo and challenge existing systems or power relations. This thesis discusses the use of social media by Rhodes University students in the context of the 2015 #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa. This thesis interrogates the concept of slacktivism, a term used to describe online or digital activism which is considered to be less active and not as effective as physical activism. Furthermore, the thesis acknowledges that even when digital political participation is recognised, the emphasis and value is placed on those who speak and create content. The thesis examines the notion of participation and what counts as active citizenship. In particular, the majority of social media users who merely lurk and never contribute to content creation or online discussions are further investigated. The qualitative methodological approach used for this thesis involved three parts which looked at student activity on Facebook, student engagement offline, and how students made sense of their online and offline involvement. Firstly, a cyberethnographic investigation was done in order to understand the cyber world in which students are present. Thereafter, a participant observation was carried out to immerse myself in the offline spaces that students engaged in politically, to get a better sense of how their online presence influenced or supplemented their offline activity. Finally, individual interviews were carried out with lurkers to determine why they did not participate in traditional ways, both online and offline. The findings suggest that lurkers are in fact doing more than just being passively present. The high levels of attention paid to content posted by others on social media, as well as the way that the content influences their offline lives suggest that the choice to lurk is far more active than assumed. Students are consciously deciding to lurk for a multitude of reasons, one of which is for the opportunity to learn. Social media is a fast developing; increasingly used form of communication and how political communication across social media platforms is framed affects what we consider to be active engagement. By using theories of listening and emotion talk, the thesis provides new ways of understanding lurking by Rhodes University students on social media, which in turn can lead to better listening, better understanding and greater political participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Maimed bodies in George R.R. Martin’s A song of ice and fire
- Authors: Goodenough, Amy Caroline
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Martin, George R. R. -- Song of ice and fire , Violence in literature , Fantasy fiction -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7301 , vital:21240
- Description: George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, has joined franchises like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings at the forefront of popular culture. Unlike other popular fantasy franchises, however, Song is notably ‘gritty’ - inspired as much by the realism of historical fiction as it is by its fantastical predecessors. The novels focus on a massive struggle for power, and that struggle is a famously bloody one: the violence of the novel’s medieval-inspired world and of medieval warfare, is placed front and center. This thesis argues that Song portrays this excessive violence with a view to more than mere sensation. The body is central to Martin’s text, and since power is the object of Martin’s characters, he depicts the way in which power interacts with the body with sophistication. The use of capital and corporal punishment is foregrounded frequently in the text, and presented as central to the process of ruling, but horrifying in its potential for injustice. For all that these acts of maiming - public execution, public torture - may be presented as ceremonies of justice, Martin makes it evident that they are in fact rituals of power. The spectacular display of maimed bodies occurs frequently - so frequently that it is clearly ordinary to Martin’s characters - and nearly always with a view to creating a perception of power. Heads are spiked on castle walls, gibbets hung in town squares, and slaves crucified on road-signs, and these all speak not of the criminality of the victims, but of the power of those doing the punishing. While such displays may be successful, they usually signal weakness to the reader: Martin writes numerous characters whose acts of violence come as misplaced reactions to their own vulnerability. This dynamic comes to the fore most powerfully in the absurd performances of violence by Theon Greyjoy, and, later, in his torture by Ramsay Bolton.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Goodenough, Amy Caroline
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Martin, George R. R. -- Song of ice and fire , Violence in literature , Fantasy fiction -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7301 , vital:21240
- Description: George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, has joined franchises like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings at the forefront of popular culture. Unlike other popular fantasy franchises, however, Song is notably ‘gritty’ - inspired as much by the realism of historical fiction as it is by its fantastical predecessors. The novels focus on a massive struggle for power, and that struggle is a famously bloody one: the violence of the novel’s medieval-inspired world and of medieval warfare, is placed front and center. This thesis argues that Song portrays this excessive violence with a view to more than mere sensation. The body is central to Martin’s text, and since power is the object of Martin’s characters, he depicts the way in which power interacts with the body with sophistication. The use of capital and corporal punishment is foregrounded frequently in the text, and presented as central to the process of ruling, but horrifying in its potential for injustice. For all that these acts of maiming - public execution, public torture - may be presented as ceremonies of justice, Martin makes it evident that they are in fact rituals of power. The spectacular display of maimed bodies occurs frequently - so frequently that it is clearly ordinary to Martin’s characters - and nearly always with a view to creating a perception of power. Heads are spiked on castle walls, gibbets hung in town squares, and slaves crucified on road-signs, and these all speak not of the criminality of the victims, but of the power of those doing the punishing. While such displays may be successful, they usually signal weakness to the reader: Martin writes numerous characters whose acts of violence come as misplaced reactions to their own vulnerability. This dynamic comes to the fore most powerfully in the absurd performances of violence by Theon Greyjoy, and, later, in his torture by Ramsay Bolton.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017