The role and efficacy of management in influencing the implementation of an occupational health and safety policy : a case study of DaimlerChrysler South Africa East London
- Authors: Pringle, Jessica Samantha
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-04
- Subjects: DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3355 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007589 , DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Description: The existence of an occupational health and safety policy is believed to be evidence of management accepting their occupational health and safety role in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It is accepted that this results in management ensuring the provision of a safe workplace. Despite the emphasis in legislation (the Occupational Health and Safety Act) on the need for management to implement comprehensive occupational health and safety policies, there is a lack of research on the implementation and efficacy of occupational health and safety policies in the workplace. This study investigates the efficacy with which management carries out their occupational health and safety duties and responsibilities when implementing the provisions of an occupational health and safety policy in the workplace. A number of factors are essential to the efficient performance of management in this regard. These factors include managerial commitment, practices and strategies; communication practices and structures; training initiatives and information; the extent of employee and trade union involvement; and the infrastructure of the organisation. This research study is primarily qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were the primary tool used by the researcher to collect the data. The case-study research method was employed to assist the researcher in collecting the data. The participants involved in the research were selected using the principles of strategic informant sampling and expert choice sampling. The participants consisted of a sample of management, employees and shop stewards. The research findings indicate that firstly, the presence of occupational health and safety policies, practices, strategies and systems in the workplace do not automatically result in reduced hazards, accidents or deaths in the workplace. Secondly, the participation schemes and the communication practices put in place by management are weak. The reason for their weakness is their ineffective implementation by management and use by employees and the trade union. Thirdly, management has a definite impact on the involvement, attitudes and actions of the employees and the trade union in occupational health and safety issues. Fourthly, there is an unequal partnership between management and employees as a result of the educational differences regarding occupational health and safety between them. The outcome is that management and employees are faced with numerous challenges in relation to occupational health and safety. Contributing to this challenge is a lack of sufficient resources allocated to training, resulting ultimately in the ineffective monitoring of occupational health and safety in the workplace. The existence of occupational health and safety structures and systems does not provide the essential evidence to suggest that their mere presence makes a difference to the workplace safety level. However, through more co-operation and participation by all the parties, these structures and systems have the potential to be effective. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Pringle, Jessica Samantha
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-04
- Subjects: DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3355 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007589 , DaimlerChrysler , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- East London -- Case studies , Industrial safety -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- Management -- South Africa , Industrial hygiene -- Management -- South Africa
- Description: The existence of an occupational health and safety policy is believed to be evidence of management accepting their occupational health and safety role in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It is accepted that this results in management ensuring the provision of a safe workplace. Despite the emphasis in legislation (the Occupational Health and Safety Act) on the need for management to implement comprehensive occupational health and safety policies, there is a lack of research on the implementation and efficacy of occupational health and safety policies in the workplace. This study investigates the efficacy with which management carries out their occupational health and safety duties and responsibilities when implementing the provisions of an occupational health and safety policy in the workplace. A number of factors are essential to the efficient performance of management in this regard. These factors include managerial commitment, practices and strategies; communication practices and structures; training initiatives and information; the extent of employee and trade union involvement; and the infrastructure of the organisation. This research study is primarily qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were the primary tool used by the researcher to collect the data. The case-study research method was employed to assist the researcher in collecting the data. The participants involved in the research were selected using the principles of strategic informant sampling and expert choice sampling. The participants consisted of a sample of management, employees and shop stewards. The research findings indicate that firstly, the presence of occupational health and safety policies, practices, strategies and systems in the workplace do not automatically result in reduced hazards, accidents or deaths in the workplace. Secondly, the participation schemes and the communication practices put in place by management are weak. The reason for their weakness is their ineffective implementation by management and use by employees and the trade union. Thirdly, management has a definite impact on the involvement, attitudes and actions of the employees and the trade union in occupational health and safety issues. Fourthly, there is an unequal partnership between management and employees as a result of the educational differences regarding occupational health and safety between them. The outcome is that management and employees are faced with numerous challenges in relation to occupational health and safety. Contributing to this challenge is a lack of sufficient resources allocated to training, resulting ultimately in the ineffective monitoring of occupational health and safety in the workplace. The existence of occupational health and safety structures and systems does not provide the essential evidence to suggest that their mere presence makes a difference to the workplace safety level. However, through more co-operation and participation by all the parties, these structures and systems have the potential to be effective. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The role of civil society in advancing education rights : the case of Gadra Education, Grahamstown, South Africa
- Authors: Msindo, Esteri Makotore
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Gadra Education (Grahamstown, South Africa) , Right to education -- South Africa , State departments of education -- South Africa , Educational change -- South Africa , Social justice -- South Africa , Civil society -- South Africa , Social contract
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3392 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016500
- Description: This thesis has identified and analysed the role of an NGO called Gadra Education in advancing education rights to the less advantaged people of Grahamstown in South Africa. Gadra Education’s role has been identified as twofold. Firstly as an educational NGO, Gadra Education’s initiatives directly impact on the lives of the less economically and socially privileged learners who, due to their previous learning environment in state schools, do not achieve academic results that ensure entry into tertiary level. Secondly its role is identified in its nature as an organisation that emerged due to the deficiencies in the state schooling system. It therefore stands de facto as a critical institution for critique of the state’s education system. The thesis concludes that without confronting the Department of Education or collaborating with it, Gadra Education offers a significant alternative approach which can potentially influence the state to improve the state schooling system. Its strategy of non-confrontation to the state, informal and non-corporatist is advantageous as an NGO that focuses on the actual provision of education. It focuses on instilling Ubuntu values of sharing and giving that are of critical significance in teaching and learning. The context of the thesis is located broadly within socio-economic rights and specifically on education rights. In South Africa where the state has not adequately met the educational obligations for the economically and socially less privileged citizens, the emergence of educational NGOs that focus on providing education to the poor is of vital importance. Although other NGOs that confront the state are important in pushing the state to deliver especially on school infrastructure, teacher deployment and other educational challenges, Gadra Education model ensures academic success for the learner. Lessons can be drawn from Gadra Education which can be potentially useful to state schools and other NGOs that seek to advance education rights to disadvantaged communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Msindo, Esteri Makotore
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Gadra Education (Grahamstown, South Africa) , Right to education -- South Africa , State departments of education -- South Africa , Educational change -- South Africa , Social justice -- South Africa , Civil society -- South Africa , Social contract
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3392 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016500
- Description: This thesis has identified and analysed the role of an NGO called Gadra Education in advancing education rights to the less advantaged people of Grahamstown in South Africa. Gadra Education’s role has been identified as twofold. Firstly as an educational NGO, Gadra Education’s initiatives directly impact on the lives of the less economically and socially privileged learners who, due to their previous learning environment in state schools, do not achieve academic results that ensure entry into tertiary level. Secondly its role is identified in its nature as an organisation that emerged due to the deficiencies in the state schooling system. It therefore stands de facto as a critical institution for critique of the state’s education system. The thesis concludes that without confronting the Department of Education or collaborating with it, Gadra Education offers a significant alternative approach which can potentially influence the state to improve the state schooling system. Its strategy of non-confrontation to the state, informal and non-corporatist is advantageous as an NGO that focuses on the actual provision of education. It focuses on instilling Ubuntu values of sharing and giving that are of critical significance in teaching and learning. The context of the thesis is located broadly within socio-economic rights and specifically on education rights. In South Africa where the state has not adequately met the educational obligations for the economically and socially less privileged citizens, the emergence of educational NGOs that focus on providing education to the poor is of vital importance. Although other NGOs that confront the state are important in pushing the state to deliver especially on school infrastructure, teacher deployment and other educational challenges, Gadra Education model ensures academic success for the learner. Lessons can be drawn from Gadra Education which can be potentially useful to state schools and other NGOs that seek to advance education rights to disadvantaged communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The role of drinking fathers in later contradictions and choices in the lives of married women
- Authors: Meyer, Jennifer Anne
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Adult children of alcoholics -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002527 , Adult children of alcoholics -- Psychology
- Description: This qualitative, interpretive research sought to elicit explanations for certain contradictions and choices in the lives of four married women who were autonomous and assertive in their careers, yet non-assertive and compliant in their married lives. Such contradictions appeared both in their projected stories and semi-structured interviews. It had been expected that these projected stories would reveal autonomy and assertiveness, in line with the white, middle-class, feminist values of the subjects, but they had not. Explanations for these apparent contradictions were attributed to the effects of being children of alcoholic fathers. While the subjects' socialisation and vulnerability to family ideology provided certain explanations for the presence of such contradictions, an object relations account of the unconscious need to resurrect an ideal father and repair the generic family provided a more probable explanation,and accounted for their traditional gender role behaviour as ideal wives in spite of their non-traditional, feminist behaviour outside of marriage.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
- Authors: Meyer, Jennifer Anne
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Adult children of alcoholics -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002527 , Adult children of alcoholics -- Psychology
- Description: This qualitative, interpretive research sought to elicit explanations for certain contradictions and choices in the lives of four married women who were autonomous and assertive in their careers, yet non-assertive and compliant in their married lives. Such contradictions appeared both in their projected stories and semi-structured interviews. It had been expected that these projected stories would reveal autonomy and assertiveness, in line with the white, middle-class, feminist values of the subjects, but they had not. Explanations for these apparent contradictions were attributed to the effects of being children of alcoholic fathers. While the subjects' socialisation and vulnerability to family ideology provided certain explanations for the presence of such contradictions, an object relations account of the unconscious need to resurrect an ideal father and repair the generic family provided a more probable explanation,and accounted for their traditional gender role behaviour as ideal wives in spite of their non-traditional, feminist behaviour outside of marriage.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
The role of the industrial social worker in corporate community relations
- Authors: Harnett, Claire F
- Date: 1993
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:21091 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6342
- Description: This research study is a qualitative investigation of the role of the industrial social worker in corporate community relations. The research study was undertaken by means of mailed questionnaires. Two different populations were utilized, namely corporations known to practice corporate social responsibility and corporations employing industrial social workers. As a background to the research, relations is defined and its Furthermore, the contribution of relations in the realization of a corporate development community traced. corporate community government-business partnership to address community social problems, is discussed. Lastly, in an attempt to demonstrate that the social worker can indeed play a role in corporate community relations, the extent to which corporate community relations goals and approaches correspond with the community organization model of social work practice, is examined. The purpose of the empirical part of the research study was to determine what form community relations has taken in South Africa and the role that the industrial social worker assumes in this regard. From the findings it appears that there is a focus on philanthropic activities and less direct corporate involvement in creating new resources. Industrial social workers involvement in this function was limited. They primarily assumed the roles of consultant and expert. Although these social workers' have laid the ground work for expansion of the industrial social worker's role, it appears that development has been more serendipitous than rationally planned. It appears from the findings that the potential does exist for industrial social workers to assist the corporation to expand its social responsibility programme, and in so doing expand their practice to include macro level intervention strategies. Based on these assumptions, it is suggested that further in-depth research is carried out to establish what strategies are being employed by industrial social workers to expand their roles, it appears that there is a need to assist the industrial social worker to adopt a rationally planned approach in order to assume a greater role in the corporation's social responsibility activities internally and externally.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
- Authors: Harnett, Claire F
- Date: 1993
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:21091 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6342
- Description: This research study is a qualitative investigation of the role of the industrial social worker in corporate community relations. The research study was undertaken by means of mailed questionnaires. Two different populations were utilized, namely corporations known to practice corporate social responsibility and corporations employing industrial social workers. As a background to the research, relations is defined and its Furthermore, the contribution of relations in the realization of a corporate development community traced. corporate community government-business partnership to address community social problems, is discussed. Lastly, in an attempt to demonstrate that the social worker can indeed play a role in corporate community relations, the extent to which corporate community relations goals and approaches correspond with the community organization model of social work practice, is examined. The purpose of the empirical part of the research study was to determine what form community relations has taken in South Africa and the role that the industrial social worker assumes in this regard. From the findings it appears that there is a focus on philanthropic activities and less direct corporate involvement in creating new resources. Industrial social workers involvement in this function was limited. They primarily assumed the roles of consultant and expert. Although these social workers' have laid the ground work for expansion of the industrial social worker's role, it appears that development has been more serendipitous than rationally planned. It appears from the findings that the potential does exist for industrial social workers to assist the corporation to expand its social responsibility programme, and in so doing expand their practice to include macro level intervention strategies. Based on these assumptions, it is suggested that further in-depth research is carried out to establish what strategies are being employed by industrial social workers to expand their roles, it appears that there is a need to assist the industrial social worker to adopt a rationally planned approach in order to assume a greater role in the corporation's social responsibility activities internally and externally.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
The role of the marriage counsellor in a Xhosa community: an exploratory-descriptive study
- Authors: Phorie, Constancia Lineo
- Date: 1990
- Subjects: Marriage counselling -- South Africa Xhosa (African people) -- Marriage customs and rites Marriage customs Family
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:686 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002011
- Description: The focus of this study is on the role the marriage counsellor should play in the Black community. This role is being placed in sharp perspective as a result of social change affecting the Black family. Problem-solving, including marriage counselling has traditionally been done by the extended family. This role of the family as a natural support system has been weakened by factors such as urbanization and Westernisation. This has prompted Black couples experiencing in particular marriage problems to make use of professional marriage counselling services from specialised and other welfare agencies. A major problem in the rendering of professional counselling services is that they are to a great extent based on Western civilization as far as basic philosophy and underlying assumptions are concerned. Thus intervention modalities used for marital problems in the Black community do not address the real needs of the people. The main objective of this study was to investigate how marriage counselling services are perceived in the Black community. It is expected that research findings would assist the helping professions make the necessary adjustments to make marriage counselling approaches more relevant to problems experienced in married life in the Black community. The study revealed that the family in the Black community is still regarded as the main problem-solver although people do go beyond the family for assistance. The nuclear family has also started to emerge in the Black community and bonds to the bigger family systems are beginning to loosen. The research findings indicated clearly that there is a need for professional marriage counselling and that services of this nature should be extended further into the Black community. A problem in this regard however is that the community will have to be educated to use these services
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1990
- Authors: Phorie, Constancia Lineo
- Date: 1990
- Subjects: Marriage counselling -- South Africa Xhosa (African people) -- Marriage customs and rites Marriage customs Family
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:686 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002011
- Description: The focus of this study is on the role the marriage counsellor should play in the Black community. This role is being placed in sharp perspective as a result of social change affecting the Black family. Problem-solving, including marriage counselling has traditionally been done by the extended family. This role of the family as a natural support system has been weakened by factors such as urbanization and Westernisation. This has prompted Black couples experiencing in particular marriage problems to make use of professional marriage counselling services from specialised and other welfare agencies. A major problem in the rendering of professional counselling services is that they are to a great extent based on Western civilization as far as basic philosophy and underlying assumptions are concerned. Thus intervention modalities used for marital problems in the Black community do not address the real needs of the people. The main objective of this study was to investigate how marriage counselling services are perceived in the Black community. It is expected that research findings would assist the helping professions make the necessary adjustments to make marriage counselling approaches more relevant to problems experienced in married life in the Black community. The study revealed that the family in the Black community is still regarded as the main problem-solver although people do go beyond the family for assistance. The nuclear family has also started to emerge in the Black community and bonds to the bigger family systems are beginning to loosen. The research findings indicated clearly that there is a need for professional marriage counselling and that services of this nature should be extended further into the Black community. A problem in this regard however is that the community will have to be educated to use these services
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1990
The selection paradox: selecting and evaluating trainee psychologists in the context of narrative theory
- Authors: Kaschula, Joanne
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Psychologists -- Training of -- South Africa , Psychology -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Psychologists -- Selection and appointment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002510 , Psychologists -- Training of -- South Africa , Psychology -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Psychologists -- Selection and appointment -- South Africa
- Description: Psychology has become an increasingly popular discipline for study in the South African context, with the number of students enrolling for courses increasing rapidly. The selection and evaluation of trainee psychologists is a complex and contested issue. With so few students reaching Masters level and the changing needs of the South African context, it becomes imperative that only the most suitable candidates are selected for entry into the field of professional psychology. This study focuses on the selection process of trainee psychologists at an institution that incorporates the narrative philosophy in both the selection and training of candidates. The question is raised, whether it is possible to utilize narrative principles in a process that is intended to judge and evaluate candidates? This presents a paradox. The paradox is illuminated in both the intentions behind the narrative questions in the application form and in the candidates' experiences of responding to these. The conclusion reached is that the narrative philosophy makes for an enriching and creative experience of the selection process for candidates but this however, does not ameliorate the negative effects of evaluation and the 'gaze'.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Kaschula, Joanne
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Psychologists -- Training of -- South Africa , Psychology -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Psychologists -- Selection and appointment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3001 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002510 , Psychologists -- Training of -- South Africa , Psychology -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Psychologists -- Selection and appointment -- South Africa
- Description: Psychology has become an increasingly popular discipline for study in the South African context, with the number of students enrolling for courses increasing rapidly. The selection and evaluation of trainee psychologists is a complex and contested issue. With so few students reaching Masters level and the changing needs of the South African context, it becomes imperative that only the most suitable candidates are selected for entry into the field of professional psychology. This study focuses on the selection process of trainee psychologists at an institution that incorporates the narrative philosophy in both the selection and training of candidates. The question is raised, whether it is possible to utilize narrative principles in a process that is intended to judge and evaluate candidates? This presents a paradox. The paradox is illuminated in both the intentions behind the narrative questions in the application form and in the candidates' experiences of responding to these. The conclusion reached is that the narrative philosophy makes for an enriching and creative experience of the selection process for candidates but this however, does not ameliorate the negative effects of evaluation and the 'gaze'.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
The structural arrangements in local government and their role in promoting community participation in basic service delivery: a case study of Emalahleni and Intsika Yethu local municipalities in the Chris Hani District Municipality area
- Authors: Nqwemeshe, Nomvuyo
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Water utilities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- Evaluation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3315 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003103
- Description: This study analyses the effectiveness of community participation in service delivery. The area of study, the Chris Ham District Municipality (CHDM), is a Water Services Authority, responsible for ensuring access to water services (water and sanitation) by all communities within its jurisdiction. There are eight local municipalities within the CHDM. The objective of this study is to determine whether systems are in place in local government to promote participation by communities in service delivery projects and whether these systems are being utilised efficiently by the role-players concerned. The role-players in this research are people who are involved in community development programmes of the municipality (municipal staff in the relevant departments of the municipalities under study, the social facilitators, civil society organisations, ward committees, ward councillors, traditional authorities as well as the representatives of communities (Project Steering Committees) who are beneficiaries of the projects under study). The projects that are under study were selected from a readily available list of CHDM capital projects that appear in the 2003/2004 financial year funding plan and are running. The findings of the study at both levels (local and district) show that the municipal environment is not conducive to promoting community participation. This is linked to factors such as the structural arrangements, whereby the offices relevant for promoting community participation are not fully occupied, which provided evidence that community participation is not prioritised. There is lack of coordination of programmes within the local government spheres as well within departments of the DM and strategies for community participation have been found to be non-effective. At project level lack of community participation is linked to the utilisation of ward committees as the only mechanism for community participation regardless of its un-equal and party biased representation. This study therefore concludes that although the systems to promote community participation are in place, they are not effective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Nqwemeshe, Nomvuyo
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Water utilities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- Evaluation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3315 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003103
- Description: This study analyses the effectiveness of community participation in service delivery. The area of study, the Chris Ham District Municipality (CHDM), is a Water Services Authority, responsible for ensuring access to water services (water and sanitation) by all communities within its jurisdiction. There are eight local municipalities within the CHDM. The objective of this study is to determine whether systems are in place in local government to promote participation by communities in service delivery projects and whether these systems are being utilised efficiently by the role-players concerned. The role-players in this research are people who are involved in community development programmes of the municipality (municipal staff in the relevant departments of the municipalities under study, the social facilitators, civil society organisations, ward committees, ward councillors, traditional authorities as well as the representatives of communities (Project Steering Committees) who are beneficiaries of the projects under study). The projects that are under study were selected from a readily available list of CHDM capital projects that appear in the 2003/2004 financial year funding plan and are running. The findings of the study at both levels (local and district) show that the municipal environment is not conducive to promoting community participation. This is linked to factors such as the structural arrangements, whereby the offices relevant for promoting community participation are not fully occupied, which provided evidence that community participation is not prioritised. There is lack of coordination of programmes within the local government spheres as well within departments of the DM and strategies for community participation have been found to be non-effective. At project level lack of community participation is linked to the utilisation of ward committees as the only mechanism for community participation regardless of its un-equal and party biased representation. This study therefore concludes that although the systems to promote community participation are in place, they are not effective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
The symbolic consumption and identity construction through luxury branded clothing among Rhodes University students
- Authors: Chinomona, Perpetua
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Group identity , Peer pressure , Brand choice -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Consumer behavior -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Consumer behavior -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Luxuries -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6853 , vital:21193
- Description: The purpose of this study is to explore how Rhodes University (RU) students construct identity through the symbolic consumption of luxury branded clothing and the role played by reference groups in the consumption behaviour. The study employed the Social Identity Theory (SIT) as a theoretical framework which explains the underpinnings of the cognitions and behaviour with the use of group processes (Trepte, 2006). The central principle of SIT lies in individuals classifying themselves and others into in-group (reference groups) and out-group social categories respectively. There has been a gap in the literature pertaining to a full understanding of the identity construction process through symbolic consumption of luxury brands in South Africa (Reed, 2002). The significance of the study is to provide a foundation for an enhanced theory of consumer behaviour in this context. This study employed a qualitative research approach. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used, and a total of 12 undergraduate and postgraduate students were interviewed. The chosen data collection method was semi-structured in-depth interviews and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that participants consume luxury branded clothing for both functional and symbolic purposes. Various factors emerged that influence the choice of the symbolic consumption behaviour such as income, buying frequency, spending patterns, perceptions and habits around retail shopping and the shopping experience. In addition, results indicated that reference groups (celebrities, family and peers) play a significant role in the symbolic consumption and construction of identity among the participants. In addition, the results also indicated that the RU participants engaged in a ‘save to spend’ technique whereby they save their pocket money so that they spend it on their favourite luxury branded clothing when they leave for the holidays. There was a common reference group that emerged from the study, namely the peer in-group. The influence of reference groups on youth consumers in South Africa may assist with marketing strategies that can be employed when targeting the Generation Y. Additionally, results indicate that luxury branded clothing have an impact on identity construction within the South African context. The respondents tie their identity to their luxury branded clothing as an indication of ‘who they are’ and as an extension of the ‘self’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Chinomona, Perpetua
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Group identity , Peer pressure , Brand choice -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Consumer behavior -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Consumer behavior -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Luxuries -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6853 , vital:21193
- Description: The purpose of this study is to explore how Rhodes University (RU) students construct identity through the symbolic consumption of luxury branded clothing and the role played by reference groups in the consumption behaviour. The study employed the Social Identity Theory (SIT) as a theoretical framework which explains the underpinnings of the cognitions and behaviour with the use of group processes (Trepte, 2006). The central principle of SIT lies in individuals classifying themselves and others into in-group (reference groups) and out-group social categories respectively. There has been a gap in the literature pertaining to a full understanding of the identity construction process through symbolic consumption of luxury brands in South Africa (Reed, 2002). The significance of the study is to provide a foundation for an enhanced theory of consumer behaviour in this context. This study employed a qualitative research approach. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used, and a total of 12 undergraduate and postgraduate students were interviewed. The chosen data collection method was semi-structured in-depth interviews and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that participants consume luxury branded clothing for both functional and symbolic purposes. Various factors emerged that influence the choice of the symbolic consumption behaviour such as income, buying frequency, spending patterns, perceptions and habits around retail shopping and the shopping experience. In addition, results indicated that reference groups (celebrities, family and peers) play a significant role in the symbolic consumption and construction of identity among the participants. In addition, the results also indicated that the RU participants engaged in a ‘save to spend’ technique whereby they save their pocket money so that they spend it on their favourite luxury branded clothing when they leave for the holidays. There was a common reference group that emerged from the study, namely the peer in-group. The influence of reference groups on youth consumers in South Africa may assist with marketing strategies that can be employed when targeting the Generation Y. Additionally, results indicate that luxury branded clothing have an impact on identity construction within the South African context. The respondents tie their identity to their luxury branded clothing as an indication of ‘who they are’ and as an extension of the ‘self’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
The transition of Rhodes University graduates into the South African labour market : a case study of the 2010 cohort
- Authors: Ntikinca, Kanyiso Lungani
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Graduate students , Labor market -- South Africa , College graduates -- Employment -- South Africa , Labor supply -- Research -- South Africa , Market segmentation -- South Africa , Employability -- South Africa , Race discrimination -- South Africa , Sex discrimination -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3395 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018198
- Description: Recent studies have shown that graduates from historically White universities (HWUs) experience better labour market outcomes than graduates from historically Black universities (HBUs). This is a result of the legacy of apartheid which promoted racial inequality in all spheres of South African society, more especially in higher education and the labour market. Post-1994, government dedicated large amounts for the restructuring of the higher education sector of South Africa in order to level out the playing field. However, graduates from HWUs still experience better labour market success than graduates from HBUs. That said, there is limited information about the labour market outcomes and experiences of graduates from a former White university (especially graduates from Rhodes University). Therefore, the central aim of this dissertation is to show that graduates from a historically White university (Rhodes University) experience varying and unequal outcomes in the South African labour market on account of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex. This study is informed by the heterodox labour market approach, which is partly inspired by the critical realist account of the labour market. As a result, this theoretical framework allowed the researcher to use the Labour Market Segmentation (LMS) theory as a tool to inform this analysis. The study has adopted a quantitative survey design and has incorporated some of the key methodological lessons learned from the collection of international graduate tracer studies. The findings from this study indicated that ‘field of study’ is a strong determiner of the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the labour market. This was visible in the persistence of a skills bias towards commerce and science graduates. Evidently, even when we controlled for race and sex, graduates from the commerce and science faculties experience better labour market outcomes than humanities graduates. This is a result of a skills biased South African economy, which has a higher demand for certain skills over others. However, the findings from this study also show evidence of pre-labour market discrimination and inequality (based on race and sex) in the supply-side institutions such as the family, schooling and university. The findings also show continuities and discontinuities of labour market discrimination (based on race and sex) in the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the South African labour market. More importantly, this dissertation indicates that Rhodes graduates experience varying outcomes in the labour market as a result of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Ntikinca, Kanyiso Lungani
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Graduate students , Labor market -- South Africa , College graduates -- Employment -- South Africa , Labor supply -- Research -- South Africa , Market segmentation -- South Africa , Employability -- South Africa , Race discrimination -- South Africa , Sex discrimination -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3395 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018198
- Description: Recent studies have shown that graduates from historically White universities (HWUs) experience better labour market outcomes than graduates from historically Black universities (HBUs). This is a result of the legacy of apartheid which promoted racial inequality in all spheres of South African society, more especially in higher education and the labour market. Post-1994, government dedicated large amounts for the restructuring of the higher education sector of South Africa in order to level out the playing field. However, graduates from HWUs still experience better labour market success than graduates from HBUs. That said, there is limited information about the labour market outcomes and experiences of graduates from a former White university (especially graduates from Rhodes University). Therefore, the central aim of this dissertation is to show that graduates from a historically White university (Rhodes University) experience varying and unequal outcomes in the South African labour market on account of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex. This study is informed by the heterodox labour market approach, which is partly inspired by the critical realist account of the labour market. As a result, this theoretical framework allowed the researcher to use the Labour Market Segmentation (LMS) theory as a tool to inform this analysis. The study has adopted a quantitative survey design and has incorporated some of the key methodological lessons learned from the collection of international graduate tracer studies. The findings from this study indicated that ‘field of study’ is a strong determiner of the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the labour market. This was visible in the persistence of a skills bias towards commerce and science graduates. Evidently, even when we controlled for race and sex, graduates from the commerce and science faculties experience better labour market outcomes than humanities graduates. This is a result of a skills biased South African economy, which has a higher demand for certain skills over others. However, the findings from this study also show evidence of pre-labour market discrimination and inequality (based on race and sex) in the supply-side institutions such as the family, schooling and university. The findings also show continuities and discontinuities of labour market discrimination (based on race and sex) in the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the South African labour market. More importantly, this dissertation indicates that Rhodes graduates experience varying outcomes in the labour market as a result of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The use of social work services in criminal matters : an exploratory study of East London attorneys
- Authors: McCoy, Lee
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Social workers -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa -- East London Social service -- South Africa -- East London Lawyers -- South Africa -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:712 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007587
- Description: This study explored the use of social work services by East London attorneys in criminal law matters. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data was saturated after 10 such interviews. In exploring the use of social work services, the study also considered the challenges and constraints experienced by lawyers in their use of expert witnesses from the Humanities generally; discussed the expectations lawyers have of expert witnesses and the presentencing reports they write and described the perceived impact of social work services on the presentation of cases in criminal matters. The focus on social work was aimed at exploring ways of increasing the use of social work as the profession of choice when attorneys call on expert witnesses. The literature revIew focussed on the individualisation of sentences, the general principles of punishment, finding an appropriate sentence, the so-called Triad of Zinn, the role of the social worker in criminal justice, the role of the legal social worker, the report, courtroom skills and the relationship between social work values and the law. Using purposive sampling of all legal firms in East London doing criminal work, ten attorneys were asked to participate in the study. A semi-structured interview based on a schedule of questions was used. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analysed thematically. After ten interviews no new data was being generated and the topic was considered saturated. Further research is needed to build on the themes that emerged. The study argues that there is a place for social work services in criminal matters. It also, however, revealed that some of the respondents had had negative experiences when dealing with social workers. There were also positive responses and a commitment to establishing a more co-operative relationship between law and social work. Based on the research findings, the most important recommendation was to develop communication between the two professions and to provide inter-disciplinary training so as to promote an understanding of the roles and expectations of all involved in the criminal law process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: McCoy, Lee
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Social workers -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa -- East London Social service -- South Africa -- East London Lawyers -- South Africa -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:712 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007587
- Description: This study explored the use of social work services by East London attorneys in criminal law matters. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data was saturated after 10 such interviews. In exploring the use of social work services, the study also considered the challenges and constraints experienced by lawyers in their use of expert witnesses from the Humanities generally; discussed the expectations lawyers have of expert witnesses and the presentencing reports they write and described the perceived impact of social work services on the presentation of cases in criminal matters. The focus on social work was aimed at exploring ways of increasing the use of social work as the profession of choice when attorneys call on expert witnesses. The literature revIew focussed on the individualisation of sentences, the general principles of punishment, finding an appropriate sentence, the so-called Triad of Zinn, the role of the social worker in criminal justice, the role of the legal social worker, the report, courtroom skills and the relationship between social work values and the law. Using purposive sampling of all legal firms in East London doing criminal work, ten attorneys were asked to participate in the study. A semi-structured interview based on a schedule of questions was used. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analysed thematically. After ten interviews no new data was being generated and the topic was considered saturated. Further research is needed to build on the themes that emerged. The study argues that there is a place for social work services in criminal matters. It also, however, revealed that some of the respondents had had negative experiences when dealing with social workers. There were also positive responses and a commitment to establishing a more co-operative relationship between law and social work. Based on the research findings, the most important recommendation was to develop communication between the two professions and to provide inter-disciplinary training so as to promote an understanding of the roles and expectations of all involved in the criminal law process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Three's a crowd: the process of triadic translation in a South African psychiatric institution
- Authors: Slabbert, Meggan
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Mental health services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Translating and interpreting -- Psychological aspects , Translating and interpreting -- Social aspects , Content analysis (Communication) , South Africa -- Languages -- Translating and interpreting , Intercultural communication -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Culture conflict -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication and culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Physician and patient -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3056 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002565 , Mental health services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Translating and interpreting -- Psychological aspects , Translating and interpreting -- Social aspects , Content analysis (Communication) , South Africa -- Languages -- Translating and interpreting , Intercultural communication -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Culture conflict -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication and culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Physician and patient -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Mental health care in South Africa has long been governed by inequalities (Foster & Swartz, 1997). During apartheid, those who did not speak English and Afrikaans could not access mental health services in the same way as those who did (Foster & Swartz, 1997). One main reason for this is the majority of mental health practitioners could not, and were not required to speak languages other than English and Afrikaans (Swartz, 1991). The South African mental health literature suggests that language and communication must be prioritised if there is to be an improvement in mental health care services for those individuals who do not speak English and Afrikaans (Bantjes, 1999; Drennan & Swartz, 1999; Swartz & Drennan, 2000; Swartz & MacGregor, 2002). Drawing on Prasad's (2002) interpretation of Gadamer's critical hermeneutic theory and utilising thematic networks analysis (Attride-Stirling, 2001), this study investigated the process of translated clinical assessment interviews within a psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape Province within South Africa. Results of the study revealed that contextual factors, issues concerning linguistic and cultural heritage, clinicians' role expectations regarding translators' role performance, as well as relational dynamics regarding individual levels of control and influence within the translation triad, all impacted on the effectiveness of communication, translation and service provision. These fmdings are supported by literature on the theory and practice of translation that identifies these issues as prominent (Robinson, 2003). Specific recommendations regarding the formalisation of translation practices within the hospital setting, as well as the familiari~ation of clinical practitioners and psychiatric nurses with the intricacies of translation processes are offered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Slabbert, Meggan
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Mental health services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Translating and interpreting -- Psychological aspects , Translating and interpreting -- Social aspects , Content analysis (Communication) , South Africa -- Languages -- Translating and interpreting , Intercultural communication -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Culture conflict -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication and culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Physician and patient -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3056 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002565 , Mental health services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Psychiatric hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Translating and interpreting -- Psychological aspects , Translating and interpreting -- Social aspects , Content analysis (Communication) , South Africa -- Languages -- Translating and interpreting , Intercultural communication -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Culture conflict -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication and culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Physician and patient -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Mental health care in South Africa has long been governed by inequalities (Foster & Swartz, 1997). During apartheid, those who did not speak English and Afrikaans could not access mental health services in the same way as those who did (Foster & Swartz, 1997). One main reason for this is the majority of mental health practitioners could not, and were not required to speak languages other than English and Afrikaans (Swartz, 1991). The South African mental health literature suggests that language and communication must be prioritised if there is to be an improvement in mental health care services for those individuals who do not speak English and Afrikaans (Bantjes, 1999; Drennan & Swartz, 1999; Swartz & Drennan, 2000; Swartz & MacGregor, 2002). Drawing on Prasad's (2002) interpretation of Gadamer's critical hermeneutic theory and utilising thematic networks analysis (Attride-Stirling, 2001), this study investigated the process of translated clinical assessment interviews within a psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape Province within South Africa. Results of the study revealed that contextual factors, issues concerning linguistic and cultural heritage, clinicians' role expectations regarding translators' role performance, as well as relational dynamics regarding individual levels of control and influence within the translation triad, all impacted on the effectiveness of communication, translation and service provision. These fmdings are supported by literature on the theory and practice of translation that identifies these issues as prominent (Robinson, 2003). Specific recommendations regarding the formalisation of translation practices within the hospital setting, as well as the familiari~ation of clinical practitioners and psychiatric nurses with the intricacies of translation processes are offered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Tourism and development : a case study of Mdumbi Backpackers and Transcape non-profit organisation
- Authors: Hitchcock, Kelly Alexandra
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mdumbi Backpackers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tourism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tourism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Planning , Backpacking -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Black people -- Employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3377 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013143
- Description: The former Transkei region of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, in common with many of the other former Bantustans, is currently facing a developmental backlog. It is one of the poorest regions of the country and is a direct product of South Africa’s history of colonisation and geopolitical nature of apartheid in which people were forcibly located onto former tribal lands, called Bantustans. Tourism is one of the few business opportunities providing employment along the former Transkei coast. The tourism industry has been identified by many worldwide as a key strategy that can lead to economic upliftment, community development and poverty relief in the developing world. The predicament however, lies in the challenge of accepting or managing the negative consequences of tourism for the potential long term benefits offered by tourism-led development. Tourism development theory reflects development theory from traditional, top-down economic-growth based models to a more wide based approach with an emphasis on bottom-up planning, meeting of basic human need and a focus on sustainable development. Consequentially new and alternative forms of tourism have emerged and can be viewed as a response to some of the negative consequences of the mass tourism-led model of economic development. Backpacker tourism is one niche of the tourism market that is providing positive local socioeconomic benefits. This thesis is presented as a case study of Mdumbi Backpackers on the former Transkei coast. Mdumbi Backpackers is a unique example of a model of tourism that is providing meaningful benefits to the people who live in this community. By going one step further with the creation of the non-profit organisation Transcape, their involvement in the community has grown significantly, encouraging positive and sustainable development in the areas of social development, education and health. Mdumbi Backpackers goes beyond the notions of locally owned and sustainable approaches and actively encourages development by setting up community organisations and initiatives in a sustainable and equitable way. This approach to tourism-led development is well suited for the needs and objectives of the community as well preserving the natural environment. This thesis presents an exemplary example from which lessons can be learned and applied to developing tourism in a sustainable and equitable way in other rural communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Hitchcock, Kelly Alexandra
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mdumbi Backpackers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tourism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tourism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Planning , Backpacking -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Black people -- Employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3377 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013143
- Description: The former Transkei region of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, in common with many of the other former Bantustans, is currently facing a developmental backlog. It is one of the poorest regions of the country and is a direct product of South Africa’s history of colonisation and geopolitical nature of apartheid in which people were forcibly located onto former tribal lands, called Bantustans. Tourism is one of the few business opportunities providing employment along the former Transkei coast. The tourism industry has been identified by many worldwide as a key strategy that can lead to economic upliftment, community development and poverty relief in the developing world. The predicament however, lies in the challenge of accepting or managing the negative consequences of tourism for the potential long term benefits offered by tourism-led development. Tourism development theory reflects development theory from traditional, top-down economic-growth based models to a more wide based approach with an emphasis on bottom-up planning, meeting of basic human need and a focus on sustainable development. Consequentially new and alternative forms of tourism have emerged and can be viewed as a response to some of the negative consequences of the mass tourism-led model of economic development. Backpacker tourism is one niche of the tourism market that is providing positive local socioeconomic benefits. This thesis is presented as a case study of Mdumbi Backpackers on the former Transkei coast. Mdumbi Backpackers is a unique example of a model of tourism that is providing meaningful benefits to the people who live in this community. By going one step further with the creation of the non-profit organisation Transcape, their involvement in the community has grown significantly, encouraging positive and sustainable development in the areas of social development, education and health. Mdumbi Backpackers goes beyond the notions of locally owned and sustainable approaches and actively encourages development by setting up community organisations and initiatives in a sustainable and equitable way. This approach to tourism-led development is well suited for the needs and objectives of the community as well preserving the natural environment. This thesis presents an exemplary example from which lessons can be learned and applied to developing tourism in a sustainable and equitable way in other rural communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Towards a gender analysis of women and development: a case study of the gender division of labour in a rural black community in South Africa
- Authors: Middleton, Susan Clare
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: Rural women -- Employment -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women in development -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa , Sex role -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Thornhill -- Merino Walk
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3326 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003114 , Rural women -- Employment -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women in development -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa , Sex role -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Thornhill -- Merino Walk
- Description: This thesis examines the topic of the position of women in rural development. This topic has become the focus of extensive international debate at theoretical and policy levels, but for historical reasons remains relatively undeveloped in South Africa. After reviewing a number of contemporary approaches, the thesis argues in favour of the "Gender and Development" approach, and applies this to a case study of the gender division of labour in a rural black community in South Africa. Chapter one reviews the variants of the "Women in Development" (WID) approaches, as well as the claims of "Global Feminism". It is argued that, although Global Feminism began as a critique of WID approaches, it is in fact similar in many respects to the contemporary "empowerment" focus within the WID tradition. Although useful, these approaches are not sufficiently explicit in their theorizing of gender relations in the context of development. Chapter 2 sets out the key elements of the "Gender and Development" approach, which emphasises the complexity of the issue of women's interests, and warns against assuming a commonality of interests amongst all women. Instead, the GAD approach demands a detailed investigation of socially constructed gender relations in specific communities, with a special focus on the gender division of labour. For GAD theorists such analysis is a requirement of development planning which seeks to advance the position of women. Chapter 3 spells out the methodological implications of the GAD approach, and develops a specific research design, influenced by GAD as well as feminist methodology, for the investigation of the gender-specific needs of women in Merino Walk, a rural black community. Chapter 4 presents a brief overview of the general context of rural women in Southern Africa, and a specific history of the Merino Walk community. Chapter 5 presents the results of the research. In the context of this thesis, the results are presented essentially as an illustration of the application of the GAD principles to a specific South African example. The conclusion draws out some of the issues which emerge from the research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1994
- Authors: Middleton, Susan Clare
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: Rural women -- Employment -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women in development -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa , Sex role -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Thornhill -- Merino Walk
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3326 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003114 , Rural women -- Employment -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women in development -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa , Sex role -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sexual division of labor -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Thornhill -- Merino Walk
- Description: This thesis examines the topic of the position of women in rural development. This topic has become the focus of extensive international debate at theoretical and policy levels, but for historical reasons remains relatively undeveloped in South Africa. After reviewing a number of contemporary approaches, the thesis argues in favour of the "Gender and Development" approach, and applies this to a case study of the gender division of labour in a rural black community in South Africa. Chapter one reviews the variants of the "Women in Development" (WID) approaches, as well as the claims of "Global Feminism". It is argued that, although Global Feminism began as a critique of WID approaches, it is in fact similar in many respects to the contemporary "empowerment" focus within the WID tradition. Although useful, these approaches are not sufficiently explicit in their theorizing of gender relations in the context of development. Chapter 2 sets out the key elements of the "Gender and Development" approach, which emphasises the complexity of the issue of women's interests, and warns against assuming a commonality of interests amongst all women. Instead, the GAD approach demands a detailed investigation of socially constructed gender relations in specific communities, with a special focus on the gender division of labour. For GAD theorists such analysis is a requirement of development planning which seeks to advance the position of women. Chapter 3 spells out the methodological implications of the GAD approach, and develops a specific research design, influenced by GAD as well as feminist methodology, for the investigation of the gender-specific needs of women in Merino Walk, a rural black community. Chapter 4 presents a brief overview of the general context of rural women in Southern Africa, and a specific history of the Merino Walk community. Chapter 5 presents the results of the research. In the context of this thesis, the results are presented essentially as an illustration of the application of the GAD principles to a specific South African example. The conclusion draws out some of the issues which emerge from the research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1994
Towards an understanding of Amayeza esiXhosa stores (African chemists): how they operate, and the services they offer in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2096 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002659 , Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: In medical anthropology there has been a tendency to dichotomize western biomedical . healtb services, on the one hand, and traditional health care practices on the other. Much attention has been focused on the comparison between these two approaches in the hope that they might be reconciled. The problem with this approach is twofold. In the first place, it has not always acknowledged the local, historic~1, political and economic contexts in which different approaches to health care have evolved and in the second place, health care services which belong to neither the western nor traditional healing spheres and which are driven by commercial interests have been almost completely neglected because they fall outside of the basic dichotomy. Amayeza stores have been a feature of South African towns and cities for many years. They mayor may not be run by Africans, but their clientele is almost exclusively African in this region. They deal in a bewildering variety of products and remedies, from untreated herbal and animal products to pharmaceuticals specially prepared for the African market, to Dutch and Indian Remedies. These stores both reflect transfonnations in indigenous perceptions of health care and, by virtue of the choices they offer, generate change. In this empirical study three stores in the Eastern Cape are selected for detailed study - two in King William's Town, the regional capital, and one in the small town of Peddie. The approach is holistic, emphasizing the social, political and economic context, the business histories and running of each shop, and, in particular, the perceptions and choices of a sample of the customers in each case. The success of the amayeza phenomenon derives from its eclecticism and syncretism. These stores impose neither a western nor a traditional model of health care on their clients, but offer them a range of choices that reflects the complex multicultural history of their own South African society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2096 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002659 , Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: In medical anthropology there has been a tendency to dichotomize western biomedical . healtb services, on the one hand, and traditional health care practices on the other. Much attention has been focused on the comparison between these two approaches in the hope that they might be reconciled. The problem with this approach is twofold. In the first place, it has not always acknowledged the local, historic~1, political and economic contexts in which different approaches to health care have evolved and in the second place, health care services which belong to neither the western nor traditional healing spheres and which are driven by commercial interests have been almost completely neglected because they fall outside of the basic dichotomy. Amayeza stores have been a feature of South African towns and cities for many years. They mayor may not be run by Africans, but their clientele is almost exclusively African in this region. They deal in a bewildering variety of products and remedies, from untreated herbal and animal products to pharmaceuticals specially prepared for the African market, to Dutch and Indian Remedies. These stores both reflect transfonnations in indigenous perceptions of health care and, by virtue of the choices they offer, generate change. In this empirical study three stores in the Eastern Cape are selected for detailed study - two in King William's Town, the regional capital, and one in the small town of Peddie. The approach is holistic, emphasizing the social, political and economic context, the business histories and running of each shop, and, in particular, the perceptions and choices of a sample of the customers in each case. The success of the amayeza phenomenon derives from its eclecticism and syncretism. These stores impose neither a western nor a traditional model of health care on their clients, but offer them a range of choices that reflects the complex multicultural history of their own South African society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
Trade union investment schemes: a blemish on the social movement unionism outlook of South African unions?
- Authors: Rubushe, Melikaya
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Labor unions -- South Africa , Labor unions and communism , Cosatu , Economic development -- South Africa , National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) , Labor unions -- Finance , Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3331 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003119 , Labor unions -- South Africa , Labor unions and communism , Cosatu , Economic development -- South Africa , National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) , Labor unions -- Finance , Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Description: South African trade unions affiliated to Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have taken advantage of the arrival of democracy and newly found opportunities available through Black Economic Empowerment to venture into the world of business by setting up their own investment companies. The declared desire behind these ventures was to break the stranglehold of white capital on the economy and to extend participation in the economic activities of the country to previously disadvantaged communities. Using the National Union of Mineworkers and the Mineworkers’ Investment Company as case studies, this dissertation seeks to determine whether unions affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) are advancing the struggle for socialism through their investment schemes. Secondly, the dissertation determines whether, in the activities of the schemes, internal democracy is preserved and strengthened. The theoretical framework of this dissertation emerges from arguments advanced by Lenin and Gramsci on the limitations of trade unions in terms of their role in the struggle against capitalism. In addition, the argument draws on the assertions by Michels regarding the proneness of trade union leadership to adopt oligarchic tendencies in their approach to leadership. Of interest is how, according to Gramsci, trade unions are prone to accepting concessions from the capitalist system that renders them ameliorative rather than transformative. Drawing from Michels’ ‘iron law of oligarchy’, the thesis examines whether there is space for ordinary members of the unions to express views on the working of the union investment companies. By looking at the extent to which the investment initiatives of the companies mirror the preferences of the ordinary members of the unions, one can determine the level of disjuncture between the two. The study relies on data collected through interviews and documentary material. Interviews provide first-hand knowledge of how respondents experience the impact of the investment schemes. This provides a balanced analysis given that documents reflect policy stances whereas interviews provide data on whether these have the stated impact. What the study shows is a clear absence of space for ordinary members to directly influence the workings of union investment companies. It is also established that, in their current form, the schemes operate more as a perpetuation of the capitalist logic than offering an alternative system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Rubushe, Melikaya
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Labor unions -- South Africa , Labor unions and communism , Cosatu , Economic development -- South Africa , National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) , Labor unions -- Finance , Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3331 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003119 , Labor unions -- South Africa , Labor unions and communism , Cosatu , Economic development -- South Africa , National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) , Labor unions -- Finance , Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Description: South African trade unions affiliated to Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have taken advantage of the arrival of democracy and newly found opportunities available through Black Economic Empowerment to venture into the world of business by setting up their own investment companies. The declared desire behind these ventures was to break the stranglehold of white capital on the economy and to extend participation in the economic activities of the country to previously disadvantaged communities. Using the National Union of Mineworkers and the Mineworkers’ Investment Company as case studies, this dissertation seeks to determine whether unions affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) are advancing the struggle for socialism through their investment schemes. Secondly, the dissertation determines whether, in the activities of the schemes, internal democracy is preserved and strengthened. The theoretical framework of this dissertation emerges from arguments advanced by Lenin and Gramsci on the limitations of trade unions in terms of their role in the struggle against capitalism. In addition, the argument draws on the assertions by Michels regarding the proneness of trade union leadership to adopt oligarchic tendencies in their approach to leadership. Of interest is how, according to Gramsci, trade unions are prone to accepting concessions from the capitalist system that renders them ameliorative rather than transformative. Drawing from Michels’ ‘iron law of oligarchy’, the thesis examines whether there is space for ordinary members of the unions to express views on the working of the union investment companies. By looking at the extent to which the investment initiatives of the companies mirror the preferences of the ordinary members of the unions, one can determine the level of disjuncture between the two. The study relies on data collected through interviews and documentary material. Interviews provide first-hand knowledge of how respondents experience the impact of the investment schemes. This provides a balanced analysis given that documents reflect policy stances whereas interviews provide data on whether these have the stated impact. What the study shows is a clear absence of space for ordinary members to directly influence the workings of union investment companies. It is also established that, in their current form, the schemes operate more as a perpetuation of the capitalist logic than offering an alternative system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Transformation at Rhodes University: investigating the extent of support for the participation of students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the Institution
- Authors: Israel, Veronica
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University , Educational change -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students with disabilities -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Students with disabilities -- Services for , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62006 , vital:28095
- Description: This study is motivated by the vigorous discourse around transformation at Rhodes University and investigates the extent of support for and engagement with students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the institution. It analyses the extent to which integration is holistic at institutions of Higher Learning. Particular interest is given to the institutional culture of Rhodes University, namely whether it values and embraces diversity and is committed to inclusivity, centering the presence and voice of students with disabilities. It explores institutional responses to students with disabilities and their capacity to flourish beyond notions of access, therefore, delivering on the demand for institutional transformation. The thesis draws on the Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA), the social justice reform agenda with reference to the feminist analysis of disability, and the concept of inclusive education. The study uses a qualitative research methodology. The sample size used in the study was sufficient to highlight the challenges students with disabilities at Rhodes University face and their coping mechanisms while investigating the extent of support and active participation in the transformation discourse. The study found that the majority of the participants’ academic capabilities were influenced by their disability and impacted on their academic success. The study further revealed that there is a disjuncture between policy and practice in terms of awareness, and as such, effectiveness. While there is a supportive institutional framework, as indicated by more than 50% of the participants in the study, the recommendations ensuing from this research indicate that there are areas in which the university can improve its support mechanisms. Improving support structures is possible through establishing platforms which can be used for students to share their lived experiences and making disability a visible part of the institutional discourse on transformation. The study concludes by arguing for the application of principles of Ubuntu which demonstrate the commitment of Rhodes University in inculcating an inclusive institutional culture and understanding that disability is intersectional with social registers such as race and gender. It emphasises the recognition of the institution as a transforming one if the body that matters is the body whose presence, voice and lived experience is acknowledged and recognised.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Israel, Veronica
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University , Educational change -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students with disabilities -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Students with disabilities -- Services for , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62006 , vital:28095
- Description: This study is motivated by the vigorous discourse around transformation at Rhodes University and investigates the extent of support for and engagement with students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the institution. It analyses the extent to which integration is holistic at institutions of Higher Learning. Particular interest is given to the institutional culture of Rhodes University, namely whether it values and embraces diversity and is committed to inclusivity, centering the presence and voice of students with disabilities. It explores institutional responses to students with disabilities and their capacity to flourish beyond notions of access, therefore, delivering on the demand for institutional transformation. The thesis draws on the Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA), the social justice reform agenda with reference to the feminist analysis of disability, and the concept of inclusive education. The study uses a qualitative research methodology. The sample size used in the study was sufficient to highlight the challenges students with disabilities at Rhodes University face and their coping mechanisms while investigating the extent of support and active participation in the transformation discourse. The study found that the majority of the participants’ academic capabilities were influenced by their disability and impacted on their academic success. The study further revealed that there is a disjuncture between policy and practice in terms of awareness, and as such, effectiveness. While there is a supportive institutional framework, as indicated by more than 50% of the participants in the study, the recommendations ensuing from this research indicate that there are areas in which the university can improve its support mechanisms. Improving support structures is possible through establishing platforms which can be used for students to share their lived experiences and making disability a visible part of the institutional discourse on transformation. The study concludes by arguing for the application of principles of Ubuntu which demonstrate the commitment of Rhodes University in inculcating an inclusive institutional culture and understanding that disability is intersectional with social registers such as race and gender. It emphasises the recognition of the institution as a transforming one if the body that matters is the body whose presence, voice and lived experience is acknowledged and recognised.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Trends in mobilisation and unionisation in South Africa and Germany: a comparative analysis
- Authors: Whiteley, Julianne Beverley
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Industrial mobilization -- South Africa , Labor unions -- South Africa , Industrial mobilization -- Germany , Labor unions -- Germany , South Africa -- Economic conditions , Germany -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3332 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003125 , Industrial mobilization -- South Africa , Labor unions -- South Africa , Industrial mobilization -- Germany , Labor unions -- Germany , South Africa -- Economic conditions , Germany -- Economic conditions
- Description: The purpose of this study is to investigate long-term trends in the union membership of South Africa and Germany, and to highlight trends in unionisation in both of these countries over a period of time. The long-term aspect of this study differentiates it from more detailed specific studies concerned with the individual fortunes of confederations or unions. The changing fortunes of trade unions have been associated with changes in work organisation, the influence of institutional pressures, or long term changes in the economic cycle. All these factors may, of course, shape and be shaped by each other. From a comparative perspective this dissertation determines whether the fortunes of unions are ultimately a product of the long waves of an economic cycle, or if other factors, such as variations in union/state relations, changes in the forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market, impact upon union membership and mobilisation. It is hoped that the comparison of a transitional and an advanced economy may shed new light on the causes of union growth and decline, and the impact of specific social, legal and cultural variables thereon. The theoretical frame of reference for this study emerged from literature pertaining to union growth and decline. This literature discusses the historical, economic and sectoral challenges that confront the identity of unions and their ability to mobilise membership within contemporary labour markets. The entire study relies heavily on primary data collected from a wide range of sources in both countries. This method facilitates the comparison and cross-checking of information, which ensures a full and balanced study. A synthesis of the facts obtained led to certain suggestions relating to the areas in which both South African and German labour organisations could adapt their agenda and interests to the changing nature of the employment market in order to avert membership decline. The methodology of this research draws from Skopol’s work which argues that social studies ought to be grounded in historical experience in order to make sense out of specific social events that occur today. The research design utilises an initial comparative historical-political analysis of the emergence of unionism in South Africa and Germany, so as to establish those factors which have, in the past, affected union growth and decline in both countries. Thereafter, the impact of contemporary economic and sectoral trends that reoccur in the South African and German labour markets are examined and compared, in order to establish their influence on the growth or decline of union membership in both countries in the future. This study consists of four sections. The first section comprises a historical dimension that uses Valenzuela’s work relating to the political nature of labour movements to establish those factors which, in the past, have affected union growth and decline. This is done to determine whether the type of insertion of labour movements into historical national political processes, and the links formed between trade unions and political parties influences membership growth or decline. The following three sections deal with the present challenges that may affect the unions in the future. Section Two deals with factors of economic recession (namely, poverty and unemployment) which confront trade unions in the 1990s. Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation is applied to determine if recessive socio-economic factors can account for the strength of decline of unions, as opposed to union mobilisation being purely linked to transitions between long waves of the economy as Kelly suggests. The relevance of these theories to the rise and decline of unionism in South Africa and Germany is compared and contrasted. The third section determines whether changes to more flexible forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market can account for the contrasting strength of the South African labour movement and the decline of the German labour movement today. The way in which these issues impact negatively upon union strength in South Africa and Germany in the 1990s is compared and contrasted, again using Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation. The final section establishes whether or not the roles adopted by the South African and German labour movements during their confrontation with labour repressive regimes impacts upon their ability to attract union membership today, despite the constraints imposed upon unions by prevailing economic and structural uncertainties. Therefore the historicity of the South African and German labour movements, (based upon the findings of the first part of this study), is referred back to. At the same time, the reactions of the South African and German labour movements to prevailing economic and structural realities, (as examined in the second part of this research) are re-examined. Three conclusions are reached. Firstly, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, all labour organisations are capable of adjusting to the adverse changes taking place in contemporary employment markets if they prove willing to advance and defend the interests of all who work, including those in the informal sector. If unions continue to neglect the informal labour market, they run the risk of being transposed by social movements that are antagonistic to trade unions or new expressions of the workforce’s latent collectivism. Secondly, in successfully playing a social movement role that led to the downfall of Apartheid in 1994, the South African labour movement has evolved as an energetic body with a dimension of recumbent militancy that attempts to adapt its identity to the changing nature of the employment market. This enables the South African labour movement to continue to attract membership despite the prevailing economic uncertainties. In contrast, forced co-operation and consensus within the German industrial relations arena since World War Two has resulted in a less dynamic union movement that lacks initiative in adapting to the changing nature of the employment market. The result is a decline in unionism. Finally, the fortunes of unions are not, as Kelly suggests, purely a product of economic cycles. Political climates can also influence mobilisation, as has occurred in both South Africa and Germany. This implies that mobilisation is not only activated by the economic dissatisfaction of a union movement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Whiteley, Julianne Beverley
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Industrial mobilization -- South Africa , Labor unions -- South Africa , Industrial mobilization -- Germany , Labor unions -- Germany , South Africa -- Economic conditions , Germany -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3332 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003125 , Industrial mobilization -- South Africa , Labor unions -- South Africa , Industrial mobilization -- Germany , Labor unions -- Germany , South Africa -- Economic conditions , Germany -- Economic conditions
- Description: The purpose of this study is to investigate long-term trends in the union membership of South Africa and Germany, and to highlight trends in unionisation in both of these countries over a period of time. The long-term aspect of this study differentiates it from more detailed specific studies concerned with the individual fortunes of confederations or unions. The changing fortunes of trade unions have been associated with changes in work organisation, the influence of institutional pressures, or long term changes in the economic cycle. All these factors may, of course, shape and be shaped by each other. From a comparative perspective this dissertation determines whether the fortunes of unions are ultimately a product of the long waves of an economic cycle, or if other factors, such as variations in union/state relations, changes in the forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market, impact upon union membership and mobilisation. It is hoped that the comparison of a transitional and an advanced economy may shed new light on the causes of union growth and decline, and the impact of specific social, legal and cultural variables thereon. The theoretical frame of reference for this study emerged from literature pertaining to union growth and decline. This literature discusses the historical, economic and sectoral challenges that confront the identity of unions and their ability to mobilise membership within contemporary labour markets. The entire study relies heavily on primary data collected from a wide range of sources in both countries. This method facilitates the comparison and cross-checking of information, which ensures a full and balanced study. A synthesis of the facts obtained led to certain suggestions relating to the areas in which both South African and German labour organisations could adapt their agenda and interests to the changing nature of the employment market in order to avert membership decline. The methodology of this research draws from Skopol’s work which argues that social studies ought to be grounded in historical experience in order to make sense out of specific social events that occur today. The research design utilises an initial comparative historical-political analysis of the emergence of unionism in South Africa and Germany, so as to establish those factors which have, in the past, affected union growth and decline in both countries. Thereafter, the impact of contemporary economic and sectoral trends that reoccur in the South African and German labour markets are examined and compared, in order to establish their influence on the growth or decline of union membership in both countries in the future. This study consists of four sections. The first section comprises a historical dimension that uses Valenzuela’s work relating to the political nature of labour movements to establish those factors which, in the past, have affected union growth and decline. This is done to determine whether the type of insertion of labour movements into historical national political processes, and the links formed between trade unions and political parties influences membership growth or decline. The following three sections deal with the present challenges that may affect the unions in the future. Section Two deals with factors of economic recession (namely, poverty and unemployment) which confront trade unions in the 1990s. Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation is applied to determine if recessive socio-economic factors can account for the strength of decline of unions, as opposed to union mobilisation being purely linked to transitions between long waves of the economy as Kelly suggests. The relevance of these theories to the rise and decline of unionism in South Africa and Germany is compared and contrasted. The third section determines whether changes to more flexible forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market can account for the contrasting strength of the South African labour movement and the decline of the German labour movement today. The way in which these issues impact negatively upon union strength in South Africa and Germany in the 1990s is compared and contrasted, again using Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation. The final section establishes whether or not the roles adopted by the South African and German labour movements during their confrontation with labour repressive regimes impacts upon their ability to attract union membership today, despite the constraints imposed upon unions by prevailing economic and structural uncertainties. Therefore the historicity of the South African and German labour movements, (based upon the findings of the first part of this study), is referred back to. At the same time, the reactions of the South African and German labour movements to prevailing economic and structural realities, (as examined in the second part of this research) are re-examined. Three conclusions are reached. Firstly, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, all labour organisations are capable of adjusting to the adverse changes taking place in contemporary employment markets if they prove willing to advance and defend the interests of all who work, including those in the informal sector. If unions continue to neglect the informal labour market, they run the risk of being transposed by social movements that are antagonistic to trade unions or new expressions of the workforce’s latent collectivism. Secondly, in successfully playing a social movement role that led to the downfall of Apartheid in 1994, the South African labour movement has evolved as an energetic body with a dimension of recumbent militancy that attempts to adapt its identity to the changing nature of the employment market. This enables the South African labour movement to continue to attract membership despite the prevailing economic uncertainties. In contrast, forced co-operation and consensus within the German industrial relations arena since World War Two has resulted in a less dynamic union movement that lacks initiative in adapting to the changing nature of the employment market. The result is a decline in unionism. Finally, the fortunes of unions are not, as Kelly suggests, purely a product of economic cycles. Political climates can also influence mobilisation, as has occurred in both South Africa and Germany. This implies that mobilisation is not only activated by the economic dissatisfaction of a union movement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
Understanding development aid and state autonomy : the case of European Union budget support to Mozambique
- Authors: Ndlovu, Ana Admiração
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Economic assistance, European -- Mozambique , Economic development -- Mozambique , Mozambique -- Economic conditions , Autonomy , Budget -- Mozambique
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3378 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013218
- Description: Post-colonial states in Africa continue to pursue nation-building and socio-economic development. This process is taking place with the sustained support of global agencies in terms of development cooperation, assistance and aid. Insofar as an endogenous development path which speaks to national priorities can be formulated and implemented by post-colonial states, their relationship with these agencies raises serious questions about such a path if the relationship entails dependence and indeed subordination of post-colonial states. This raises important questions about state autonomy under post-colonial conditions and the possibility of autonomy being compromised. In this light, the thesis examines European Union budget support to Mozambique and, in particular, the relationship between EU budget support and Mozambique state autonomy in pursuing national development. This is particularly pertinent given the massive dependence of the Mozambican state on foreign funding (notably EU funding) with specific regard to the national budget. Despite the broad claims existing in the prevailing literature that nation-state autonomy is seriously undermined in and through the international development system, the thesis argues against reductionist arguments that simply posit post-colonial states as mere instruments of global forces. This system, including European Union budget support, does indeed set the conditions of existence for post-colonial states such as Mozambique. But autonomy is necessarily relative and is subject to different forms and degrees. Ultimately, it is through empirical investigation that the specific form and degree of autonomy can be pinpointed and understood. The thesis contributes to this endeavour and suggests that the relationship between European budget support and Mozambican state autonomy is more complex and tension-riddled than the prevailing literature would seem to suggest.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Ndlovu, Ana Admiração
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Economic assistance, European -- Mozambique , Economic development -- Mozambique , Mozambique -- Economic conditions , Autonomy , Budget -- Mozambique
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3378 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013218
- Description: Post-colonial states in Africa continue to pursue nation-building and socio-economic development. This process is taking place with the sustained support of global agencies in terms of development cooperation, assistance and aid. Insofar as an endogenous development path which speaks to national priorities can be formulated and implemented by post-colonial states, their relationship with these agencies raises serious questions about such a path if the relationship entails dependence and indeed subordination of post-colonial states. This raises important questions about state autonomy under post-colonial conditions and the possibility of autonomy being compromised. In this light, the thesis examines European Union budget support to Mozambique and, in particular, the relationship between EU budget support and Mozambique state autonomy in pursuing national development. This is particularly pertinent given the massive dependence of the Mozambican state on foreign funding (notably EU funding) with specific regard to the national budget. Despite the broad claims existing in the prevailing literature that nation-state autonomy is seriously undermined in and through the international development system, the thesis argues against reductionist arguments that simply posit post-colonial states as mere instruments of global forces. This system, including European Union budget support, does indeed set the conditions of existence for post-colonial states such as Mozambique. But autonomy is necessarily relative and is subject to different forms and degrees. Ultimately, it is through empirical investigation that the specific form and degree of autonomy can be pinpointed and understood. The thesis contributes to this endeavour and suggests that the relationship between European budget support and Mozambican state autonomy is more complex and tension-riddled than the prevailing literature would seem to suggest.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Understanding livelihood strategies of urban women traders : a case of Magaba, Harare in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Chirau, Takunda John
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Street vendors -- Zimbabwe -- Harare Women -- Zimbabwe -- Harare -- Social conditions Women -- Zimbabwe -- Harare -- Economic conditions Urban poor -- Zimbabwe -- Harare
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3335 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003742
- Description: This thesis seeks to understand and analyze the livelihood strategies of urban women traders at Magaba in Harare (Zimbabwe) in the context of the contemporary economic and political crisis. The crisis emerged in the 1990s with the introduction of a structural adjustment programme and deepened further with the fast track land reform programme initiated by the Zimbabwean government in the year 2000. The crisis has involved a down-sizing of the Zimbabwean economy and a massive rise in the rate of unemployment in the formal economy. Consequently urban life became increasingly unbearable for poor blacks and informal economic activities blossomed and started to make a significant contribution to household income and livelihoods. The role of women in the informal economy was particularly pronounced. Theoretically, the thesis is underpinned by the sustainable livelihoods framework. In examining the vulnerability context of the Magaba women traders and the institutional interventions which complicate the lives and livelihoods of these traders, I identify and unpack their diverse livelihood activities and strategies and the resources (or assets) they deploy in constructing urban livelihoods. Though their livelihood portfolios complement any earnings from formal employment by household members and though they contribute to their household’s sustenance, there are a number of daily challenges which they face in their trading activities and which they seek to counteract through a range of often ingenious coping mechanisms. The thesis is important for a number of reasons. It fills an important empirical gap in the study of Magaba market specifically, it brings to the fore the gendered character of the informal trading activities in urban Zimbabwe, and it deploys the livelihoods framework in a manner which is sensitive to both structure and agency.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Chirau, Takunda John
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Street vendors -- Zimbabwe -- Harare Women -- Zimbabwe -- Harare -- Social conditions Women -- Zimbabwe -- Harare -- Economic conditions Urban poor -- Zimbabwe -- Harare
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3335 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003742
- Description: This thesis seeks to understand and analyze the livelihood strategies of urban women traders at Magaba in Harare (Zimbabwe) in the context of the contemporary economic and political crisis. The crisis emerged in the 1990s with the introduction of a structural adjustment programme and deepened further with the fast track land reform programme initiated by the Zimbabwean government in the year 2000. The crisis has involved a down-sizing of the Zimbabwean economy and a massive rise in the rate of unemployment in the formal economy. Consequently urban life became increasingly unbearable for poor blacks and informal economic activities blossomed and started to make a significant contribution to household income and livelihoods. The role of women in the informal economy was particularly pronounced. Theoretically, the thesis is underpinned by the sustainable livelihoods framework. In examining the vulnerability context of the Magaba women traders and the institutional interventions which complicate the lives and livelihoods of these traders, I identify and unpack their diverse livelihood activities and strategies and the resources (or assets) they deploy in constructing urban livelihoods. Though their livelihood portfolios complement any earnings from formal employment by household members and though they contribute to their household’s sustenance, there are a number of daily challenges which they face in their trading activities and which they seek to counteract through a range of often ingenious coping mechanisms. The thesis is important for a number of reasons. It fills an important empirical gap in the study of Magaba market specifically, it brings to the fore the gendered character of the informal trading activities in urban Zimbabwe, and it deploys the livelihoods framework in a manner which is sensitive to both structure and agency.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Understanding ongoing support for the African National Congress amongst the urban poor in national elections in South Africa: the case of Mlungisi, Queenstown
- Authors: Makwetu, Ncebakazi
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: African National Congress , Urban poor -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Elections -- South Africa , Political campaigns -- South Africa , Political capital -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Political psychology -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Postcolonialism -- South Africa , Allegiance -- South Africa -- Queenstown
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62582 , vital:28209
- Description: The main objective of the thesis is to understand the ongoing support for the African National Congress (ANC) amongst the urban poor in national elections in South Africa with specific reference to Queenstown. The study involved 50 residents in Mlungisi in Queenstown, the vast majority of whom are shack dwellers. The use of semi-structured interviews allowed for an indepth understanding of why people vote for the ANC. The research participants have always voted for the ANC and have no intentions of voting for any other political party. Since 1994, the ANC has in the main pursued a neo-liberal project with a limited focus on redistribution. Because of this, most blacks living in urban areas continue to live under conditions of extreme poverty. The abject material conditions of people living in Mlungisi does not provide a strong basis for why they would vote almost unreservedly for the ANC. In seeking to offer an explanation, the thesis turns to theories of the post-colony, including the work of Frantz Fanon and Partha Chatterjee, as these theories provide an analysis of the character of the post-colonial state and the ways in which the government engages with its citizens. These macro-level theories are complemented by middle-level theories about voting and voting patterns in seeking to understand why Mlungisi residents vote for the ANC, raising questions of identity, loyalty and clientelism in the process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Makwetu, Ncebakazi
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: African National Congress , Urban poor -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Elections -- South Africa , Political campaigns -- South Africa , Political capital -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Political psychology -- South Africa -- Queenstown , Postcolonialism -- South Africa , Allegiance -- South Africa -- Queenstown
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62582 , vital:28209
- Description: The main objective of the thesis is to understand the ongoing support for the African National Congress (ANC) amongst the urban poor in national elections in South Africa with specific reference to Queenstown. The study involved 50 residents in Mlungisi in Queenstown, the vast majority of whom are shack dwellers. The use of semi-structured interviews allowed for an indepth understanding of why people vote for the ANC. The research participants have always voted for the ANC and have no intentions of voting for any other political party. Since 1994, the ANC has in the main pursued a neo-liberal project with a limited focus on redistribution. Because of this, most blacks living in urban areas continue to live under conditions of extreme poverty. The abject material conditions of people living in Mlungisi does not provide a strong basis for why they would vote almost unreservedly for the ANC. In seeking to offer an explanation, the thesis turns to theories of the post-colony, including the work of Frantz Fanon and Partha Chatterjee, as these theories provide an analysis of the character of the post-colonial state and the ways in which the government engages with its citizens. These macro-level theories are complemented by middle-level theories about voting and voting patterns in seeking to understand why Mlungisi residents vote for the ANC, raising questions of identity, loyalty and clientelism in the process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018