A social capital analysis of citizen participation and service delivery in metropolitan government in Zimbabwe: the case of Glenview, Harare since 2013
- Authors: Sachikonye, Tafadzwa I
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Municipal services -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Local government -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Public administration -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Citizen particpation -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Local government --Citizen participation -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Harare (Zimbabwe). City Council
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96236 , vital:31253
- Description: Significant challenges exist in contemporary Zimbabwe with regard to urban government, including with specific reference to citizenship participation and service delivery capacities. One of the crucial factors considered in the existing literature when examining urban government is the extent to which the central government intrudes in the affairs of urban government. This is particularly important given that, in recent years, many urban governments have been controlled by the main opposition party in the country. In this context, the thesis offers a critical examination of urban government in contemporary Zimbabwe by focusing on urban government in Harare (the capital) and, even more specifically, on the high-density, low-income area of Glenview. Harare is one of two metropolitan urban areas in Zimbabwe, along with Bulawayo, and is governed by the Harare City Council. While the central state’s relationship with urban governments (including Harare) in Zimbabwe is important, and is examined in this thesis, the primary concern is how this and other factors affect citizenship participation and service delivery in Harare. In pursuing this, the thesis draws upon social capital theory (including questions around trust and networks) to facilitate a critical analysis of urban government, citizenship participation and service delivery in Harare and Glenview specifically. The fieldwork for this thesis involved a qualitative research methodology, including informal interviews with relevant local stakeholders in Harare and associated documents. The thesis concludes that localised political, social and other contextual factors in Harare undercut the prospects for meaningful citizenship participation (with forms of social exclusion existing) and that this has negative implications for effective and efficient service delivery mechanisms.
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Popular politics in the rural Western Cape, South Africa: a case study of Ruiterbos
- Authors: Ghedi Alasow, Jonis
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa -- Cape Town , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Land tenure -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Land use, Rural -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96165 , vital:31246
- Description: This thesis argues that the philosophical foundations upon which human beings have been engaged have, across various schools of thought, made the mistake of presuming that some people are more modern than others. This suggestion is refuted throughout this thesis. To do this, intellectual traditions that take the fundamental rationality of all human beings as an indispensable starting point are engaged to argue for the need to acknowledge that everyone in the ‘now’ is indeed, of the ‘now’. This thesis connects these debates about modernity, rationality and humanity to the contemporary discussions around rural politics with particular reference to Ruiterbos in the Western Cape province of South Africa. By means of detailed empirical and ethnographic research, this thesis illustrates the issues around which people in Ruiterbos are politicised. Via this case study, the a priori assumption that rural politics will necessarily manifest itself only with respect to questions of land and agrarian reform or labour relations is complicated. The two issues around which people in Ruiterbos, during the time of this research, seem to be politicised – housing and education – are surfaced throughout this thesis. The thesis argues that the findings in this case study call for an expansion of the issues that are traditionally considered when the question of rural politics is raised. The often historicist approach that limits the possibilities for politics in rural areas should be suspended for an approach that takes popular politics and political agents in rural areas seriously. The thesis finally argues that the conclusions that are reached with respect to questions of modernity and rural politics ought to be adopted to allow for more detailed and thorough explanations of popular politics in places like Ruiterbos.
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Understanding the experiences of Zimbabwean students as foreign students at South African universities: the case of Rhodes University
- Authors: Daki, Andile Lebohang
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , Zimbabwean college students -- South Africa , Zimbabwean college students -- South Africa -- Conduct of life , Zimbabwean college students -- South Africa -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96225 , vital:31252
- Description: This thesis seeks to understand the cultural and social experiences of black Zimbabwean students, as foreign students, at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. It examines the ways in which black Zimbabwean students negotiate the cultural, social and institutional milieu of Rhodes University, which is a former white English-medium university. In doing so, the thesis draws upon Interface theory because, once entering the university space, these students interpret the space and simultaneously negotiate their way in and through this space along cultural and social interfaces. The fieldwork for the thesis involved in-depth interviews with eighteen black Zimbabwean students at the university, stratified in terms of both gender and year of study. A focus on gender facilitated an understanding of possible differences between male and female Zimbabwean students in terms of social and cultural experiences; while a consideration of year of study allowed for an examination of possible shifts in negotiation over time, from first year to Master’s level. The findings demonstrate a range of challenges faced by black Zimbabwean students while at Rhodes University, some of which arise from differences between Zimbabwean and South African society. At the same time, there are considerable differences amongst black Zimbabwean students in relation to the manner in which negotiation took place. While some students negotiate the space through active socialising and assimilating into the local world and lives of South African students as well as the university’s institutional culture, other students negotiate the space through isolation and alienation. Overall, with regard to adjusting to the world of Rhodes and South Africa, students pursued different routes which, in the end, made sense to them.
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A gender based analysis of the Amalima Programme in empowering married women within households in rural Gwanda, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Sibanda, Patience
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Non-governmental organizations Zimbabwe Matabeleland South Province , Power (Social sciences) Zimbabwe Matabeleland South Province , Women Zimbabwe Social conditions , Women's rights Zimbabwe , Patriarchy Zimbabwe Matabeleland South Province
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63682 , vital:28470
- Description: Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have occupied a prominent role in the socio-economic development of rural areas of Zimbabwe since the time of the country’s independence in 1980, including a focus on improving the conditions and status of women in communal areas. These NGOs adopt a participatory methodology in their development programmes and projects, as they try to ensure that the active participation of women in rural development facilitates women’s access to resources and the realisation of their rights. These initiatives are important given the pronounced system of patriarchy which exists in communal areas. In the context of local patriarchies, NGOs also often claim that they empower women. This thesis focuses on the work of one particular NGO programme, namely the Amalima programme, with a particular focus on three wards in the communal areas in Gwanda, Zimbabwe. From a gendered perspective concerned with questions of women’s empowerment, the main objective of the thesis is to provide a critical analysis of the Amalima programme with particular reference to married women in Gwanda. Based on original fieldwork (including interviews with men, women and NGO practitioners), the thesis concludes that the outcomes of the Amalima programme in empowering married women in Gwanda are uneven and that, overall, the local system of patriarchy (including at household level) remains largely intact.
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The power of mysticism: understanding political support for President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Manzira, Rufaro Coucou Annette
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mysticism -- Psychology , Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980- , Mugabe, Robert Gabriel, 1924-2019 , Allegiance -- Zimbabwe , Political capital -- Zimbabwe , Political psychology -- Zimbabwe , ZANU-PF (Organization : Zimbabwe) , Apotheosis , Zimbabwe -- Kings and rulers -- Religious aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63693 , vital:28472
- Description: Significant debate exists within Zimbabwean studies about the basis for which people support on an ongoing basis the ruling Zimbabweans African National Union- Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) under the leadership of Robert Mugabe. In academic literature, the party and state president (Mugabe) is typically seen as an oppressor such that any support for Mugabe is understood based on compulsion rather than consent. Genuine support for the ruling party though implies that Mugabe is a liberator. In drawing upon Zimbabwean academic literature which seeks to understand why Mugabe might be understood as a liberator, this thesis seeks to provide an innovative sociological analysis focusing on the mysticism surrounding the person and ruler-ship of Mugabe. The mysticism portrays Mugabe as being blessed by the ancestors and spirits, as having divine and sage-like qualities, as speaking for the bones of the dead heroes, and as acting as a modern day national chief who cares for his national subjects and defends his chiefdom against enemies from within or without. This portrait of Mugabe resonates with many Zimbabweans as it speaks to their everyday experiences and their longings for nation-building and national belonging. Hence, it should not be strictly understood as a ruling party ideology foisted upon citizens as a means of political deception. This is explored through interviews with a small number of ZANU-PF supporters.
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