This research study addresses the problem of whether local government can afford free basic water in rural areas. To achieve this objective a comprehensive literature study was performed, which included: · Lessons in water sector approaches from international experience and how these experiences compare with the South African situation. 1.The current basic water supply legislation in South Africa and how this legislation affects the subsidy arrangements and the financing of free basic water. 2.The operation and maintenance cost and the benefits of effective operation and maintenance of water supply schemes. A model was developed that could estimate the cost of rural water supply per household per month from the operation and maintenance data that was collected over a period of twenty-two months from a water supply scheme. As part of the provision of free basic water, a nine-step flow chart was developed to determine rural water operation and maintenance subsidy and a free basic water policy to help local government make informed decisions. The model was tested on different water supply schemes to verify the accuracy of the models estimation of the cost of rural water supply per household per month. The information obtained from the literature and from the test of the model resulted in various recommendations and conclusions.

The post-apartheid South African Constitution guarantees the children of this country “the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public education institutions where that education is reasonably practicable” (The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, Section 29 (2)) (Juta’s Statutes 2003). Yet ten years into the new dispensation nothing significant has been done to alter a situation in which the majority of children are obliged to access their basic education largely through the medium of a second or even a third language — English. In contravention of both the intentions and the specific provisions of numerous legislative measures and policy statements, Government has made no serious or effective attempt to promote the use of any language other than English in South African schools nor to encourage language practices most conducive to the cognitive development and academic success of millions of non-English speaking pupils. To make matters worse, most of the children who enter the school system with very little knowledge of English and are expected to make an abrupt transition to that language as a medium of instruction after a totally inadequate three years are from impoverished households and communities still suffering the gravest effects of the discrimination and oppression of apartheid. They are often underprepared and seriously disadvantaged by their background circumstances when they enter the culturally strange and intimidating western-style education system. To heap on top of these disadvantages the burden of language practices in the classroom that hinder rather than facilitate their access to education is indefensible. When Macdonald asks, “ Are our children still swimming up the waterfall?” (Macdonald 2002: 111) she is not exaggerating. In these circumstances and if ineffective language teaching and inadequate use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction can be shown to bar effective access to basic education of an acceptable standard, there are far more serious and far-reaching implications in terms of human rights than just the right to choice of language medium. Linguistic research into medium of instruction has tended to be isolated from evaluative legal approaches to minority language rights, children’s rights, education rights or other fundamental human rights. Insufficient attention has been given to the interrelationship between the various rights and the importance of local conditions and circumstances in any assessment of their relative weight and enforceability. Human rights cannot be seen out of context, and theory from various disciplines, such as politics, economics and linguistics may be invaluable in forming a fresh perspective on the right to mother tongue education and, indeed, to basic education in general. The principle of non-discrimination in education is generally recognised, to be sure, as is the importance of ensuring access to and quality of education (Strydom 1992/93:139), but the dependence of these factors on the most appropriate medium of instruction within the education system does not merit much attention in the literature. The right to basic education tends to be seen as separate from any possible right to choice of medium of instruction and the latter often merely as a question of convenience or preference, at best a qualified right (Oosthuizen and Rossouw 2001: 666), dependent on feasibility, numbers and available finance (Motata and Lemmer 2002: 111). In fact, the case for regarding the right to mother tongue education as a strong positive right in many contexts and countries does not appear yet to have been made. This study is theoretical in nature and constitutes an attempt to fill this gap by examining the findings and views of experts from various disciplines within the framework of current thinking on human rights issues. The development of a coherent framework within which to view the right to mother tongue education and government obligations in connection therewith might be of some value to policy makers in their efforts to plan improvements within the education system. The synthesis and possibly, to a limited extent, the development of theory from the relevant disciplines will be undertaken by means of a survey of the relevant literature, an analysis of not only local but also international legislation and policy documents and the weighing and balancing of conflicting evidence and contrasting viewpoints. Sources and contributions in each area will be discussed under the headings outlined in Chapter 3. First, however, I should like to provide an overview of the educational, political and economic context in which mother tongue education must be considered.

This paper examines British Columbia's residency requirement on social assistance implemented by the NDP government on December 1, 1995. The policy created a three-month waiting period for newcomers to the province before they could apply for social assistance. Because it violated ;the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP), the residency requirement put the BC government at risk of losing, through federal penalty, many millions of dollars more than the intended savings. To explain the BC government's decision-making, I use a rational choice nested games approach. I argue that the residency requirement policy produced two sets of interactions in two separate policy arenas. In the principal arena, the British Columbia Social Services Ministry negotiated with the federal Department of Human Resources Development (HRD). The negotiations centred on the possibility of federal concessions in- exchange for BC withdrawing the residency requirement. In the secondary arena, the federal Department of Finance was consulting with its provincial counterparts regarding the' long-term funding formula for the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) set to replace CAP on April 1, 1996. Social Services interacted with the federal Department of Finance to influence the outcome of the funding decision. I propose that the BC government risked minimal resources in the primary arena to gain substantially higher payoffs from the CHST funding formula. The government linked these two arenas through a 'trade-off strategy that allowed them to apply the political pressure and communication generated by the residency requirement and negotiations with HRD to the Finance arena. This enabled them to. increase the possibility of a favourable payoff in that arena. I find that the rational, choice approach produces an explanation that reflected the government's actual decision-making more closely than other theoretical approaches. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

In recent years, proponents of 'green and clean fuel' have argued that the costs of overreliance on fossil fuels could be reduced through transition to biofuels such as bio-ethanol. Global biofuel discourses suggest that any transition to biofuel invariably results in significant benefits, including energy independence, job creation, development of agro-industrial centres at local level and high revenue generations for the state with minimum negative impacts on the environment. With many risks and costs associated with traditional 'dirty' fuels, it is likely that many countries, particularly African countries, will move towards the 'green and clean fuel' alternative. However, until recently research has arguably paid limited attention to the local livelihood impacts related to land acquisition for biofuel development or the policy frameworks required to maximise biofuel benefits. With regards to biofuel benefits, some recent studies suggest that the much bandied potential for greater tax revenue, lowered fuel costs and wealth distribution from biofuel production have all been perverted with relatively little payoff in wage labour opportunities in return (e.g. Richardson, 2010; Wilkinson and Herrera, 2010). Based on work done in Chisumbanje communal lands of Zimbabwe (Thondhlana, 2015), this policy brief highlights the local livelihood impacts of biofuel development and discusses policy implications of the findings. By highlighting the justifications of biofuel development at any cost by the state, the study sheds some light on the conflicts between state interests and local livelihood needs.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

D. Litt. et Phil. / The primary hypothesis postulated in this thesis reads The power of states in the postmodern age of knowledge is commensurate with their intelligence capabilities ', and is utilised in addressing the problem of state power and intelligence in an age of knowledge. It is argued that the contemporary era wherein states, individuals and other entities practice their existence is fundamentally different to that of historical precedent. In effect this era can be characterised as being an age of knowledge which has superceded the former information age. Sophisticated knowledge based technologies both informational and distributional are shown to be the catalysts which have facilitated the transformation to the age of knowledge, bringing about in effect a 'new world information order'. Information and intelligence are the metaphorical passengers and product ofthe use of knowledge based technologies and associated communication processes. They represent the raison d 'etre of such technologies, in effect spurring on their development. Intelligence, being a user-specific type of information designed to provide the recipient with context and opportunity with respect to a specific problem or situation, is shown in this thesis to be a fundamental resource for the making of both decisions and subsequently policy in, and for, government. It is demonstrated that the impact of intelligence on decision- and policymaking makes it a primary determinant of state power in an age of knowledge. The efficient management of information and intelligence does, and can, therefore impact upon the relative power of the state at both inter- and intranational levels. Consequently, the aforementioned primary hypothesis presented in the thesis is validated as it is clearly demonstrated that the power of states in the postmodern age of knowledge is in effect commensurate with their intelligence capabilities. The solution provided in this thesis in addressing the aforementioned problem lies in the need for recognition of the role and influence that information and intelligence have on state power in the age of knowledge. In addition, in order to exploit the power of information and intelligence it is necessary to regard it as being fundamental to information management at all levels, and for all functions, of government. This can, however, only be achieved by means of the development of a national information and intelligence strategy. A key aspect of such a strategy would be the utilisation of private sector resources for intelligence, specifically in the context of open source intelligence, a situation made possible by the 'new realities' which are characteristic of the age of knowledge. (Cf. Afrikaanse sinopsis op volgende bladsy.)

There is an estimated 16 million housing units shortfall in Nigeria and the government cannot meet the housing needs of Nigerians because of budgetary constraints and other competing needs. It is important to note that the leaders have failed on numerous occasions to tackle the key challenges associated with a lack of infrastructure development. The emphasis has been placed on the individual homeowners fulfilling all their own requirements. The aim of this research is to develop a framework that will aid sustainable housing delivery in Lagos one of the most challenged areas of Nigeria. A clearer picture of the housing environment in Lagos was documented based on critical literature reviews, analysis of the reasons why there is a deficiency in housing and its infrastructure delivery. The aim of the researcher was following the identification of the challenges to draw up a framework that would assist the relevant stakeholders namely the householders, developers and government in overcoming these and delivering further sustainable housing. The research was completed using a mixed method including qualitative and quantitative means of acquiring necessary information in the form of a detailed literature review followed by a questionnaire survey of 500 household respondents. A total of 496 sets of data were collected through the questionnaire survey and analysed using SPSS, Excel and selected statistical methods. Validation of the framework was done using focus group discussions with stakeholders. Interviews with key housing and government personnel were also held including an analysis of 5 case studies. The key findings are that 1) the market economy approach along with flexible, efficient economic instruments are key factors in enabling the construction industry to positively respond to sustainable development in terms of resource efficiencies and environmental protection in a developing economy like Nigeria. 2) The social and political barriers cannot be overcome without a meeting of wills amongst the stakeholders. 3) There needs to be transparency and the desire to achieve the objective so the monitors will be effective to counteract dissatisfied individuals that will come out of the bureaucratic woodwork. 4) There needs to be an urban redesign driven by stakeholders keen to see government policy align with sustainable housing objectives. Key recommendations from this research are that: 1) The government should partner with the private sector to provide enough homes for Nigerians. 2) The government should henceforth concentrate in outlining good policy framework for the sector providing much needed infrastructural and financial support that will encourage sustainability and systematic development of housing in the country. The framework developed in this research is envisaged to be contributory in road mapping the way and identifying key attributes and strategy for delivering sustainable housing in Lagos, Nigeria.

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