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Power in Africa: a comparison of selected South African and Nigerian dystopian fiction

  • Authors: Simelane, Smangaliso
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Dystopias in literature , Africa -- In literature , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Nigerian fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Beukes, Lauren -- Moxyland , Herne, Lily -- Deadlands , Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, 1967- The Sympathetic Undertaker and Other Dreams , Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, 1967- The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148171 , vital:38716
  • Description: Dystopias have frequently been explored in literature to better understand the present and imagine the effects of certain elements of society if taken to a logical extreme. In this way, dystopian fiction can act as both cautionary tales and a form of social commentary. This can be explored within the context of African dystopian fiction where power is a recurring theme, highlighting the anxiety and turbulent history several countries on the continent continue to face. To demonstrate this, I compare selected South African and Nigerian Dystopian texts. With regards to South Africa, I analyse novels by South African science fiction authors Lauren Beukes and Lily Herne, namely Moxyland (2008) and Deadlands (2011) respectively, to investigate how South Africa’s past under Apartheid shapes the segregated societies presented. Nigerian dystopian texts by Biyi Bandele-Thomas, namely The Sympathetic Undertaker And Other Dreams (1993) and The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond (1992), are discussed with regards to the way Nigeria’s colonial past and several military juntas have contributed to the kinds of corruption that are depicted. I argue that all four texts warn of the dangers of power, albeit in ways that pertain specifically to their countries of origin. With regards to the South African texts, readers are shown the ways in which those in power can manipulate the desire to survive to keep those they subjugate dependent and, consequently, obedient through what Judith Butler terms ‘passionate attachments’. In the case of the Nigerian dystopias, I argue that Bandele-Thomas’s texts warn of tyranny and effects of the corruption that result from misused power strategies. While the dire settings of dystopian fiction may be grim enough, on their own, to motivate change in the real world, this may not be enough to prevent the texts from becoming pessimistic and fatalistic outlooks. Hence, I seek to understand how the selected novels maintain hope and, consequently, convince readers that the depicted dystopias are ones that can be avoided. Typically, dystopian literature fosters hope by setting the narratives in the future, giving readers hope that they may take steps today to protect their societies from becoming like the damned worlds described by dystopian authors. However, the selected texts are not set in the future. Hence, I explore three literary techniques that might foster hope within the selected African dystopian texts in lieu of temporal distancing. They are, namely: identification with the protagonist, defamiliarization and cognitive estrangement.
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Re-adjustment of masculinities and sexualities amongst first year male students at Rhodes University in the wake of the residence Consent Talk’s programme

  • Authors: Ntisana, Thulani
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Communication in higher education - South Africa -- Makhanda , Rape in universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Masculinity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Social life and customs -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Sexual behavior -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Conduct of life -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Men -- Identity , Male domination (Social structure) , Patriarchy -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Social problems -- South Africa , Consent Talks , #RUreferencelist
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148956 , vital:38790
  • Description: This study seeks to understand how Rhodes University first-year male students adjusted and re-adjusted their masculinities and sexualities in light of the Consent Talk programme offered by the university, the aim of which is to liberate masculinities and femininities from patriarchal and dominant discourses. In the past 26 years, South Africa has seen an increase in academic research establishing causal links between boys, men, masculinities and a number of social ills such as the HIV/AIDs epidemic, violence against women, substance abuse, homophobia, gender-based violence and a lower pass rate amongst boys. This in turn inspired an increase in interventions seeking to involve boys and men in order to identify and address their role in combating gender based violence. These various forms of social deviances that have been linked to masculinity have indicated that young men's masculinity is in crisis and as a result needs great attention in order to address the social issues linked to them. Institutions of higher learning have proven to be microcosms of the larger society. Universities have become highly sexualised spaces; coercive sexual practices in heterosexual relationships are a norm, young women don't feel safe and have lost confidence in universities addressing their concerns. With the emergence of the #RUreferencelist in 2016, the spotlight fell on Rhodes University; young women challenged the rape culture and sexual assaults on campus. In 2016, staff members who are well-informed and educated on issues of gender, sexuality and rape initiated discussions with students in their residences; these discussions were later to be called the Consent Talks. This research makes use of Pierre Bourdieu’s critical theory in understanding how young men negotiate their masculinity within the field of higher education, at Rhodes University. Bourdieu’s three main concepts, field, habitus and capital are used to describe how young men negotiate their masculinity and how the field of gender intersects with the field of higher education. A qualitative paradigm has been employed. The study has collected data through the use of in-depth interviews to get a richer insight into the participants’ perspectives. There were 15 interviews conducted in total for this study, 14 were with first year male students, and one with a senior official of the University. The data was analysed through a qualitative thematic analysis. The findings of the research reveal that some of the participants were exposed to patriarchal and dominant forms of masculinity when growing up. However, most of the participants revealed they were also exposed to alternative masculinities. These were either taught or learnt at home, from family members, circumcision school, church or peers in society. Both the dominant and alternative masculinities were revealed in the discourses of what it means to be a man and in how the young men performed their masculinities. Furthermore, one of the major themes that emerged was that most of the young men in the study were raised by single mothers with mothers playing a significant role in encouraging healthy masculinities. The findings went on to reveal that families (mothers, fathers, older siblings and culture) play a role in socialising and shaping healthy masculinities. The acceptance or rejection of either dominant or alternative masculinities was influenced by an exposure to an environment that either encouraged or shunned either dominant or alternative masculinities. The findings further unveils that different societies are strongly identified with their own definitions of what it means to be a man and are not open to other definitions of masculinity. Moreover, most of the participants accepted the content of what was taught in the Consent Talks; however sought healthy participation, interaction and inclusion of female students. Lastly, the study has also revealed that knowledge of the consequences of breaking (the law) university’s policy does affect some change of behaviour in potential perpetrators.
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Red and other short stories

  • Authors: Harrison, Francis J
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141583 , vital:37987
  • Description: Part A: Thesis (Creative Work);Part B: Portfolio. Final submission for the degree of Master of Arts in Creative Writing (MACW).
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Relevant knowledge: content analysis of research conducted by South African psychology masters students (2008-2012

  • Authors: Whitehead, Tracey
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Psychology -- Research -- South Africa , Psychology -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Psychology students -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167683 , vital:41503
  • Description: In South Africa, Psychology has had a chequered past mainly due to its role in the justification of apartheid policies. Due to apartheid's socio-economic injustices, confidence in the applicability of psychological knowledge to South Africa's social problems was insufficient. Psychologists attempted to raise consciousness of the social relevance of psychology by contributing relevant knowledge and being reactive to social inequalities and related psychosocial issues affecting South Africa. This study aimed to conduct a content analysis of trends in research produced by Psychology Masters' students in the fields of Clinical, Counselling and Research psychology over a period of 5 years (2008-2012). The corpus of data was then compared with the key issues raised in the United Nations Development Programme's South Africa human development report (2003), along with a focus on articles published by Macleod (2004) and Macleod and Howell (2013). It emerged that Empirical Qualitative studies, based on post-modern frameworks, as well as HIV/AIDS, Knowledge Production, Assessment and Measurement and Programme development and evaluation, dominated psychological research. Participants were mainly urban, middle class adults living in the 3 wealthiest provinces. University students were the most popular participant group. While it is encouraging that students were attempting to engage with psychosocial issues, the limited number of key social issues addressed, the under-representation of certain sectors of the South African population, as well as the impact of socioeconomic status on well-being requires greater attention at Masters' level to ensure Psychology's psychosocial relevance.
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Reliving it through pen

  • Authors: Chidi, Tsosheletso
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: South African fiction (English) , Northern Sotho poetry
  • Language: English , Northern Sotho
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163566 , vital:41049
  • Description: This document consists of two parts: PART A: English Half Thesis (Creative Work) PART B: Dual Language Portfolio (Sepedi and English). This thesis focuses on witnessing the trauma of rape, inability to move on, denial and attempt to forget, it draws attention also to emotional abuse in a place called home, death and place. My work is influenced by Carolyn Fourche’s anthology, Against Forgetting: Poetry of Witness, Adam Bradley and Andrew Dubois’s The Anthology of the Rap, as well as Lesego Rampolokeng poem “Welcome to New Consciousness”.
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Reporting drought: framing an anthropogenic natural disaster in the South African mainstream publication, City Press, over three years (2015-2018)

  • Authors: Matyobeni, Thandiwe
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: City Press , City Press -- Criticism, Textual , Droughts -- South Africa , Mass media and the environment -- South Africa , Climatic changes in mass media -- South Africa , Press -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143179 , vital:38208
  • Description: This study interrogates how the ongoing anthropogenic drought, declared a disaster in five South African provinces in 2015, has been represented by mainstream news media. The news media enables public participation which is vital to climate action and the regulation of harmful neoliberal practices that fuel climate change and are thus necessary to provide information about climate change and to support political interventions. Despite the gravity of the drought crisis, there is a severe lack of public opinion about it and the complex weather patterns to which it is attributed. This study thus investigates how the drought has been framed by mainstream news media in South Africa, confining itself to a single title, the City Press. To analyse representations of drought in the City Press, this study adopts a Foucauldian approach to discourse which considers representations as meaning constructed through language. The knowledge perpetuated in news texts is thus frequently perceived as the ‘truth’ about the drought. This knowledge is imbued with power as those in positions of authority determine what is articulated as truth. Through various institutional practices, journalists limit what is said about the drought, framing it in particular ways and privileging particular voices. What the public learns about the drought (and in turn, climate change) is thus limited by the norms and routines of the journalistic regime and the corporate nature of ownership. Notably, the City Press operates within the neoliberal economic order to which climate change is attributed. This study is located within the Cultural Studies and Journalism Studies paradigms and is further informed by a qualitative methodology and two methods of textual analysis, that is, thematic analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis. The sampling process produced a database of 26 news texts published by the City Press between the years 2015 to 2018. Five texts were purposively selected for an in-depth analysis based on a broad thematic analysis as reasonably representative of the discourses that recur. Although the City Press positions itself as a critical purveyor of political information, only three themes recur in the texts. These themes position drought in relation to the agricultural economy and urban infrastructure; foreground the voices of corporate entities; while the climate science behind weather patterns is inadequately interpreted. Any discussion of climate change and alternatives to mainstream economic practices is almost entirely omitted.
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Reporting on home: how journalists from rural Botswana experience covering rural development while working at the Botswana Daily News

  • Authors: Lekoma, Bame Dirakano
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Botswana -- In mass media , Journalists -- Botswana , Rural development -- Botswana
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146566 , vital:38537
  • Description: The study investigates how journalists working for state media in Botswana experience reporting on development in rural communities. It is observed that many of these journalists are members of the rural communities they report on and therefore have personal knowledge of them. Furthermore, it describes how even though Botswana is often praised for its developmental achievements, the country continues to be characterized by social inequality. The study then articulates a theoretical framework designed to engage with the normative guidelines that inform journalistic practice within the Botswana media landscape. It draws, for this purpose, on normative theories of the press. It is concluded that the Botswana media landscape is representative of an authoritarian, polarised pluralised media system in which journalists work under strict control of the state. The empirical component of the study draws on this framework by conducting life history interviews of journalists working at the Botswana Daily News. It examines what such journalists know from personal experience about development from rural Botswana and how such knowledge impacts on their engagement with the processes of reporting for the paper. It is concluded that journalists working for this paper have a deep commitment to representing the interests of rural communities. However, they remain constrained in their ability to act on this commitment, in context of the guidelines for reporting that frame their institutional context.
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Resisting the ‘Native Informant’ trope in examples of African Diaspora art and literature

  • Authors: Nuen, Tinika
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/131657 , vital:36708
  • Description: This thesis draws attention to the existence of the ‘native informant’ trope in the African Diaspora. It argues that a strong emphasis towards studying diasporic groups in relation to their African origin revives, consequently, the colonial politics that underpin the continent as an unknown mythical place. In response to this issue, I introduce multidisciplinary case studies that highlight various artists and authors who resist and challenge the diasporic individual as the ‘native informant’. Their works reinterpret and redefine the relationship between African communities, their connection to the continent and their experiences of living abroad. Analysing the exhibitions Looking Both Ways, Africa Remix and Flow, I investigate their visual art discourses that interpret diasporic artists and their works as cultural embodiments of their African background. As a result, the three art shows marginalise other potential readings to view diasporic experiences. This thesis introduces three resistant themes that reconceive the diasporic person’s relationship to the African Diaspora based on language, spatial interaction and self-identification opposed to a geographic tie. The first theme (language) references Victor Ekpuk’s drawings and Isidore Okpewho’s novel Call Me By My Rightful Name to suggest a language based diasporic experience. The second theme (spatial interaction) looks at Emeka Ogboh’s sound installations and Teju Cole’s novel Open City. Both works examine a diasporic individual’s conflicted engagement with her place of origin. The third theme (self-identification) considers the individual-community relationship in Wura-Natasha Ogunji’s performance art and Chika Unigwe’s novel On Black Sisters’ Street. Each of these visual-literary pairs focus on various components that shape the African diasporic lifestyle. My research re-interprets the continent’s significance in the diaspora from a geographic construct to a socio-spiritual connection to a community. Firstly, it outlines the persistent issue of a colonial residue in Africa’s definition as a physical-cultural space, and secondly, it offers three alternative discourses to read diasporic identities outside a geographic framework. I argue that belonging is a social individual-collective effort rather than an anchor to a tangible environment.
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Rethinking corporate social responsibility in the mining industry: focusing on recipients’ perspectives

  • Authors: Hlatshwayo, Thina M
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Case studies , Mining industries -- Social aspects-- South Africa , Sustainable developmenet -- Social aspects -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141711 , vital:37998
  • Description: Views on the importance of companies engaging in CSR initiatives have been debated widely and critics of the concept continue to argue both locally and globally. The objective of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the recipients’ perspectives on their involvement in CSR projects implemented in their community by a chosen mining company and the successes and challenges of the project. A qualitative research approach was used for the study. Using nonprobability purpose sampling, a total of 15 participants from Lusikisiki were selected for the study. The data obtained was analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The results of the study were discussed based on the three research questions of the study which focused on recipients’ perspectives on their involvement in the projects and their perceptions on the successes and challenges of the projects. The study found that the chosen mining company made a significant contribution towards developing the community. Furthermore, the study found that recipients’ involvement in the projects enabled them to realize their assets in one of the projects as a result of the shift in approach by the organisation as the project progressed (Needs Based Approach to ABCD Approach). In addition, the study found that the successes of the projects changed the recipients’ perceptions of themselves and enabled them to actively engage in transforming their lives. However, the projects did face many challenges and recipients posited that more still needs to be done by organisations to develop communities and ensure that projects remain sustainable long after their partnership has dissolved.
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Rhodes University students’ experiences of living as students on National'Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding

Satire in J.J. R. Jolobe's literary works : a critique in relation to contemporary South Africa

  • Authors: Benayo, Xolela
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Jolobe, James J. R. , Xhosa literature -- History and criticism , Xhosa poetry -- History and criticism , Humor in literature , Xhosa literature -- Humor , Xhosa language
  • Language: English , Xhosa
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161762 , vital:40667
  • Description: J.J.R. Jolobe is regarded as one of the individuals who made a valuable contribution to the development of isiXhosa literature through his works, notably in his poetry (Ilitha, Umyezo; Jolobe 1936). His poetry ranges from abstract subjects to more philosophical matters. This study is aimed at decoding the manner in which he employs satire to conscientise African people of the then horrible situation that they were facing. With that said, poetry will not be the only work that this thesis analyses in the process of evaluating Jolobe’s satire; his essays will also be examined (Amavo; Jolobe 1940). Based on the writings of various authors specialising in the subject, satire has been deemed to be a style of literary writing, one which involves invective satire. For the researcher, that statement will be rebutted, as it will be argued that the mode of satire need not be wholly invective. Jolobe’s light-hearted satire not only showcases the amusing side of his writings, but also indicates the seriousness with which they were intended. Themes covered in Jolobe’s satire have inspired the researcher to evaluate these literary texts in relation to modern contexts, especially when it comes to the relationship between the lines of the author’s experience and the public. With that said, the social role of satire is something that one cannot deny. One could therefore say that there is an urgent need for African satirists to face the existing social and economic reality as authentically as possible. The voice of a satirist should also echo the voice of their society as a whole. Satirical study in post-colonial Africa, in South Africa in particular, is useful due to the idea that the works of the likes of Jolobe may diminish in significance due to neo-colonialism. In fact, this is the point which is considered in this study of Jolobe’s satire. This study also examines stages afforded to the development of satire in Africa, especially in the post-colonial era. The purpose is to identify the effects of satire that are related to socio-political as well as religious factors. These factors are often seen as those that play a vital role is one’s personal morals, and those that are meant to shape the whole community. Jolobe addresses imperialism and the class struggle, which speaks to the society’s loyalties regarding the mobilization toward realizing the dream of being independent. This speaks to the works analysed, revealing protests against oppression and exploitation by imperialists; such works show how inhumane people could be against those who they deem to be beneath their standards. Researchers like Mahlasela (1973), Sirayi (1985), Kwetana (2000) and Khumalo (2015) are amongst those who have made it a point to study Jolobe to ensure that these works are kept alive, along with their significance. Other prospective researchers can follow suite in researching the great Jolobe. In ensuring that the aims of this study come to light, the researcher will be using socialist realism as a way of seeing that the works of Jolobe are realistic in nature. With that said, there will be an exploration of allegoric satire. Satiric allegory will be evaluated with regard to the view that it represents a unique slant on satire, whereby it deems satire to be more than just a supportive method of literary criticism. This allows the researcher to hold the view that satire should not be a restrictive framework when dealing with African literature. Satire as a modern form of criticism can be viewed as having an element of humanism, which would result in the satirist doing all he can to make sure that what is satirized is not isolated from the struggle of the community. It is for the above-mentioned reasons that we see a big challenge in the future development of satiric discourse in African literature.
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Shoutfighting and other fiction

The catchup games: a novella

  • Authors: Nstumpa, Siya
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: South African fiction (English)
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167222 , vital:41448
  • Description: Creative work portfolio.
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The digital rhetoric of addressing rape culture: “official” and “unofficial” arguments at Rhodes University

  • Authors: Jones, Megaera
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Rape in universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Universities and colleges -- Administration -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Communication in higher education - South Africa -- Makhanda
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142621 , vital:38096
  • Description: South Africa is overwhelmed with high levels of sexual violence and institutions of higher education in South Africa are not exempt from this. How higher education stakeholders have responded to the call to address rape culture on campuses has been at the centre of much attention, especially publicly on online communicative spaces. Drawing on contemporary rhetorical theories, informed by a feminist poststructuralist perspective, this study sought to explore how constituents at Rhodes University were discussing how rape culture should (and should not be) addressed on campus. Using a rhetorical analysis, this study collected and analysed online public data from ‘official’ (institutionally sanctioned) and ‘unofficial’ (institutionally independent) communication platforms, following the 2016 rape culture student-led protest at Rhodes University. In analysing and interpreting the data from the ‘official’ sites, four major themes of discussion were evident. These rhetors argued that rape culture is a societal issue, requiring collective responsibility and effort in countering it, and that any approach to do so must abide by the bounds of the law. The University’s commitment, and continued investment to address rape culture on campus were repeatedly stated; as well as, the use of external ‘supportive’ messages that bolstered the reputation, efforts, and actions of the institution. On the ‘unofficial’ sites six broad patterns of discussion were evident. These ‘unofficial’ rhetors embodied the rape culture on campus, perceiving its effects as threatening to the physical body, which led to the adoption of the argument that rape culture needs to be ‘fought’ through physical action and support. Narrow law and order approaches were contested, and the need for a victim-centred approaches were prioritised. Additionally, doubt and suspicion were cast onto the institutional management/leadership, and the University (management/leadership body) were perceived as having ‘failed’ to address rape culture adequality. Considering this ‘failure’, a divisive rhetoric argued that the ‘fight’ against rape culture should continue, despite, and separate from, the institutional body. These findings revealed how the divisive positions these various stakeholders took created a volatile climate between University management/leadership, staff, and student. I argue that such division will continue to undermine any meaningful efforts to counter rape culture on the University campus; underscoring the difficulty, and ambiguity, that comes with attempting to address rape culture on higher education campuses. This necessitates how important it will be for scholars to research, and continue researching, the ways in which a rape culture, and the various approaches which attempt to counter it, are understood.
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The frightened

  • Authors: Msimang, Lethokuhle
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144004 , vital:38302
  • Description: My novella tells the coming of age story of a young woman battling the trauma of objectification. It explores the intimate relationship between a woman and a man, the young and the old, and the camaraderie between women. Having spent the greater part of her youth in various parts of the world, my protagonist faces the stark reality of returning home to her native country. This triggers an angst which causes her to leap between lived experiences and memories. An elegy on how difficult it is to love while dragging the long shadow of shame, it uses short prose and prose poetry to reveal the intimacies and intricacies of self hate and clandestine romances, and to unravel the complexities of memory and forgetting. Built from non linear fragments it seeks to refuse cliches regarding love and to question easy assumptions around gender, family and the innocence of youth. I draw inspiration from Vita Sackville West’s’ All Passion Spent , which eloquently portrays the placid and flickering thoughts of an old woman taking leave from the frivolity of youth. I’m similarly inspired by the sincerity and confessional aspects of Virginia Woolf and French poet and photographer Alix Roubaud ’s journals and Van Gogh’s letters, as well as Lydia Yuknavitch, Max Porter and Elena Ferante’s autobiographical fiction. I also draw from J’Lyn Chapman’s chapbook A Thing of Shreds and Patches and finally Dostoevky’s Notes from Underground , for their blurring of life and writing, and their exploration of grief and death as a lingering thought, together with the oppressive urge to create. In addition I’m inspired by the poetry of a new generation of South African female writers like Vangile Gatsho.
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The impact of the minimum wage on poverty and industrial relations in the hospitality industry in Grahamstown, South Africa

  • Authors: Maqubela, Zikisa
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Hospitality industry -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Minimum wage -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Poverty -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Wages -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Service industries workers -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Industrial relations -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/118685 , vital:34658
  • Description: This dissertation endeavours to unpack and understand the impact of the minimum wage on the hospitality industry with a specific focus on Grahamstown. The areas of impact that are of immediate interest were the impact on poverty and industrial relations. In operationalising this research, a qualitative research approach was adopted. The overall design of the study was a case study in a bid to ensure deeper insights may be extracted from semi-structured interviews that were then thematically analysed. Theoretically, the study was guided by the understanding of citizenship as articulated by Mamdani as well as Keynesian theory. The central theme when exploring the minimum wage in relation to poverty is that the minimum wage that is currently paid is enough to aid workers and their families in escaping abject poverty, however, it does not go far enough to further ensure that they totally escape poverty as measured by the Upper Bound Poverty Line. The inadequacy of the minimum wage in ensuring that people are pushed out of poverty would then mean that their claims to citizenship are compromised and the quality of life they can access is often below what would be readily accepted of a citizen of South Africa. Lifestyle entrepreneurs offer an alternative approach to doing business that can see higher pay as further entrench claims to citizenship. The central case around industrial relations is that the impact of the minimum wage is indeterminate for two reasons. Broadly speaking, the impact would need to be reviewed at a macro-level and not simply within the impacted sectors. This is the various interconnected value chains that could feel indirect impacts at the initiation of a minimum wage. Further, the impact such changes has to individual firms is also indeterminate as employers have a range of choices that they can adopt in absorbing the impact of a minimum wage, which may include simply increasing the price the end consumer pays or retrenching some staff members. However, the choice that employers would make in this context is not predetermined but rather would vary between firms due to the very specifics of each firm.
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The Islamic Bloc at the United Nations Human Rights Council

  • Authors: Rist, Duncan Graham
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: United Nations Human Rights Council , Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , International relations , International relations -- Moral and ethical aspects , Political leadership -- Moral and ethical aspects , Power (Social sciences) -- United States , Human rights -- International cooperation , Liberalism -- International cooperation
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142759 , vital:38114
  • Description: Uncertainty as to the future of the liberal international order and the position of the United States within an international system in which it is not the hegemon remains a topic of debate amongst scholars of International Relations (Acharya: 2017; Duncombe and Dunne: 2018; Ikenberry: 2009, 2011, 2014; Nye: 2012 and Monteiro: 2011/2012). Fukuyama’s (1989: 4) “end of history” has not happened and a resurgence of populist leaders within established liberal democratic countries has contributed to a rapid decline of moral and ethical leadership and has further compromised the future of the liberal international order (Duncombe and Dunne, 2018: 27). As the relative power of the United States declines and the future of the liberal international order becomes increasingly uncertain, support for its future must be sought from outside the West (Duncombe and Dunne, 2018: 25 and Ikenberry: 2009). This thesis seeks to locate where potential non-Western support for the future liberal international order may be found. It does so through an analysis of how Islamic states who are part of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation vote on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The OIC has a significant presence at the UNHRC and can influence the direction of the liberal international human rights regime. The evidence examined in this research project suggests that the future liberal international order and human rights regime can indeed expect some form of cooperation from the OIC. However, the OIC, and by extension Islamic states, would likely offer more support at least for human rights, if a more common understanding were to be found.
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The long road to Rhodes University: narratives of African first-generation students whose mothers are/were domestic workers

  • Authors: Mapele, Nomonde
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Household employees -- Children -- South Africa , Women household employees , Rhodes University -- Students , Black people -- Education (Higher) -- South Africa , Students, Black -- South Africa -- Personal narratives , First-generation college students
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150530 , vital:38982
  • Description: First-generation African students contend with psychosocial, structural, educational background and financial struggles to gain access to university. The first-generation students exercised their available resources and power, agency and acquired skills to negotiate their journey and entrance to university. They had to figure out for themselves how to navigate a daunting and complex path to university without relying on the knowledge and informative engagement with previous older familial generations who had the experience of attending university. They are a testimony of a generation of young people who have the resilience and grit to compensate for the structural deficits they have and experienced through their disadvantaged educational systems and their financially disadvantaged backgrounds. Although one would expect that teachers would automatically be the first encounter a high school student has of acquiring information on how to gain access to university, many of the previously disadvantaged school teachers are simply too inundated with work to be able to facilitate this process. First-generation students found themselves mostly having to look beyond the parameters of the classroom to acquire these resources. Following a qualitative approach of narrative enquiry, five African students with life experience of being first-generation Rhodes University students whose mothers were or are domestic workers, narrated their personal stories. A first-generation student’s agency, negotiation and navigation through obstacles, struggles and setbacks in the backdrop of having mothers who were/are domestic workers who socialised their children in a specific ideology to value and pursue education are the foundations for this narrative enquiry. This research provides a framework for investigating the concept of adequate and appropriate university preparedness to address the inadequate resources that previously disadvantaged schools have in terms of preparing their students to compete (in often times with more advantaged students) to gain access to university. These first-generation students did not come from educational environments where career counselling or aptitude tests are done to better equip them for entrance into university and appropriate subject and degree choice. Several common traits emerged that give perspective to the narrative of the journey that first-generation students’ had to endure and overcome to gain access to university.
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The meanings selected Rhodes University student-fans of hip-hop make of the gendered scenarios portrayed in designated South African commercial hip-hop music videos

  • Authors: Mtengwa, Tamuka Phumelela Msawenkosi Misheck
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Hip-hop -- South Africa , Misogyny -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap (Music) -- South Africa , Rap (Music) -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Hip-hop -- Influence , Violence in music , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Rape culture -- South Africa , Rap music fans-- South Africa -- Makhanda , Misogyny in music , #RapeCultureMustFall , #RUReferenceList
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148305 , vital:38728
  • Description: Hip-hop is frequently linked to misogyny and other forms of violence. This link, in many instances, is often presented outside of a critical understanding of complex underlying societal and gender dynamics. South Africa’s high rates of violence against women make it necessary to understand how hip-hop videos interact with society, as hip-hop, in its commercial form, has become a growing music genre in South Africa. Rhodes University, which has a notable student following of hip-hop, has experienced concerning levels of gender-based tensions as evidenced by the rise of the “fallist” movement’s #RapeCultureMustFall, #RUReferenceList and the suicide of Khensani Maseko, at the instigation of an alleged incident of rape, perpetrated by her boyfriend and fellow student. It is therefore of interest to investigate how a select group of Rhodes University student-fans of hip-hop make meaning out of selected South African commercial hip-hop music videos. The hip-hop music videos chosen for the study, hence Pitbull Terrier (Die Antwoord), Pearl Thusi (Emtee), Dlala ka yona (L’Tido), All eyes on me (AKA featuring Burna Boy, Da L.E.S and JR) and Ragga Ragga (Gemini Major featuring Casper Nyovest, Riky Rick and Nadia Nakai), were selected on the strength of their popularity and uniquely gendered scenarios. This study draws on qualitative research methods, thus qualitative thematic content analysis, focus group and in-depth interviews. The study establishes that despite gender being a contentious issue at Rhodes University, students make meaning out of the gendered portrayals based on their own experiences, socialisation, cultural values and level of submission to the discourse of hip-hop. This study seeks to understand how selected student-fans of hip-hop read the gendered portrayals of the music videos, based on their own experiences, socialisation, cultural values, and level of submission to the discourse of hip-hop.
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The political thought of Thomas Sankara and its contemporary relevance

  • Authors: Kabwato, Levison M
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Sankara, Thomas , Sankara, Thomas -- Influence , Burkina Faso -- Politics and government -- 1960-1987 , Cabral, Amílcar, 1924-1973 , Fanon, Frantz, 1925-1961 , Nkrumah, Kwame, 1909-1972
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146556 , vital:38536
  • Description: On 4 August 1983, a thirty-three year-old army captain seized power in Burkina Faso and embarked on what can be described a revolutionary journey. Over the next four years, until his assassination in 1987 the government, led by Captain Thomas Sankara, attempted to redeem Burkina Faso from the clutches of neo-colonialism. Through popular mobilisation and organisation, infrastructure (schools, hospitals, bridges) was built, millions of children were vaccinated and diseases such as river blindness were eliminated. Women, long-subjugated by patriarchal systems took up space and led their own initiatives in freedom, including holding senior roles in the public service. On the international stage, practical solidarity was extended to countries either fighting or threatened by neo-colonialism despite the fact that Burkina Faso was poor and was itself threatened by France and her lackeys. What Sankara inherited in August 1983, twenty-three years after Burkina Faso’s independence, was a fragile neo-colonial state which was not allowed by dominant imperialist interests to set an example of what true independence means. So, in just four years, it was all over. Sankara was assassinated by his comrades and the revolutionary project he had led came to a halt. The tragedy of Sankara was the tragedy of all those attempts at revolution which occur before mass movements have had the opportunity to develop and organise themselves independently of the state. Despite this, it is apparent today that Sankara has been influential on current political movements and parties in Africa, from Burkina Faso to South Africa. One of these political movements is the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in South Africa. This half-thesis is an investigation of Sankara’s political thought. It also examines the extent to which his answers to questions of nationalism and pan-Africanism both matched and differed from his predecessors. To accomplish the latter, a brief but critical analysis of the writings of Amílcar Cabral, Frantz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah is made.
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