Includes bibliographical references. / The Cape Town Talent Exchange (CTTE) is a Community Exchange System operating locally in Cape Town, while allowing national and global exchanges to take place. Trading activity occurs between members of the community through an alternative currency, Talents. There are numerous incentives driving the participation of the community members. These include various political, social, economic, environmental and philosophical motivations. It is evident, however, that the members’ desires meet through the search for an alternative space where social interactions are experienced and social values are formed through economic activity. The construction of the CTTE as an alternative economy, that re¬‐introduces this social dimension into the economic sphere contributes to the movement away from the hegemonic, capitalist economy to one of heterogeneity. There are, however, tensions that lie in the overlapping nature of these systems, restricting the alterity and autonomy of the CTTE and emphasising the power and dominance of the mainstream economy.

Small-scale fishers (SSFs) are among the most vulnerable socio-economic groups because of their high dependence on marine resource harvesting. While small-scale fisheries employ the overwhelming majority of the world's fishers and contribute substantially to the global catch, they are, on the whole, marginalised and ignored. Despite their importance in providing food security and livelihoods in coastal communities, state management authorities routinely neglect small-scale fisheries in favour of industrial fisheries. In South Africa, the exclusion of small-scale fishers is intricately linked with the oppressive policies of the apartheid government, which limited access to the fisheries for the largely Black and Coloured smallscale fishers. Changes within fisheries management practices led to the development of management tools that moved away from conventional resource-centred strategies, to management approaches that recognised the complexity of natural and ecological processes inherent within small-scale fisheries. Many of these new approaches have been embraced in South Africa's new small-scale fisheries policy. The policy represents a long line of arguably failed attempts at reforming South African fisheries undertaken by the South African government. While the policy is unique in the scale of participation by the small-scale fishers themselves it is still faced with the hurdle of implementation. The adoption of the individual rights approach embodied by the individual quota (IQ) system in the post-apartheid reforms has led to divisions within the community. Fishing rights benefited a small elite and disenfranchised many more fishers for whom fishing was a livelihood, but were excluded from the rights allocations. The new small-scale fisheries policy is widely acknowledged as progressive and carries the hope of inclusion for small-scale fishers along South Africa's coasts. After decades of disenfranchisement and individual rights allocations, the major challenge in the new policy's implementation will be dealing with the range of complex and unique communities in which the policy will be carried out. The purpose of this study was to establish a profile of the Lamberts Bay small-scale fisher groups and their perceptions regarding the new small-scale fisher policy, in order to inform the policy's implementation in Lamberts Bay.

The City of Cape Town is under increasing pressure to develop sustainable urban policies and plans to be able to mitigate and prepare for impacts of environmental change. Both city practitioners and academic researchers in Cape Town believe that one knowledge base is not sufficient to attempt to address the 'wicked problems' associated with environmental change, and that there is a need for collaboration among different knowledge types. This case study considers the value of facilitating an engaged interaction between academics and practitioners in order to co-produce knowledge that can be more relevant and useful for addressing sustainable urban planning challenges. A process of qualitative research by means of interviews with practitioners and researchers within the Cape Town Knowledge Transfer Programme revealed that a more engaged interaction between the researchers and the practitioners, who are the likely users of that research, generates more valuable knowledge and solutions for addressing sustainable urban planning challenges. This case study found that the engaged interaction was immeasurably valuable for both of the institutions, as well as the knowledge produced during the interaction, and the individuals involved in it. The results and implications for partnerships between academic researchers and city practitioners is discussed.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-113). / A lacuna is a disruption in a figurative image and impedes comprehension of the unity of the whole. It is something missing, a void, in material form and, in some cases memory. The urge to eradicate or minimize a disruption to an aesthetic whole has long been a dilemma in conservation, particularly in painting and sculpture, but also in the repair of historical buildings. Any solution must address the issue of authenticity, as repair will be an insertion into an ancient, perhaps layered artefact. The solution requires a theoretically based methodology if the aim of the conservation intervention is to conserve the value and meaning of the building or artefact. The repair of lacunae at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town has had a distinct aesthetic impact on the complex and has changed the perception of the complex. The extensive three-decade-long intervention undertaken by Gabriël Fagan Architects is a re-establishment of the Castle complex as a VOC/Dutch fortified citadel as envisioned by the Architects and reveals the issues that must be confronted in order to conserve authenticity.

This dissertation examines how cultural significance has changed through the reuse (conversion) of an existing religious building to perform a new religious function. The conversion of the former Johannesburg West Nederduitsche Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) to become the Masjid-ul-Islam is used as a vehicle for this study. The history of the Afrikaner and South African Muslim communities and their architecture is explored as well as the history of the changes to the building. The post-colonial concept of hybridity is used to understand the new identity of the building. This new identity determined as being hybrid. Concepts of memory and its use in the construction of identity are further examined with the former church being understood as a site of memory. Through the personal perceptions of significance expressed by both the mosque and church communities the change in significance is explored. It is determined that the building is the site of hybrid memory, with multiple layers of significance which have created a sense of continuity for both communities creating a sense of place and continuity in the post- Apartheid city. The building has come to be a symbol of the changes that have occurred in post-Apartheid South Africa through its layering of history, sense of inclusivity and regeneration.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-92). / This study investigates the appropriateness of conservation controls in low-income communities. The imposition of development controls is a limitation on the private rights of individuals in the interest of the public good. This is essential in order to preserve heritage resources for future generations. However, questions arise around this practice when such limitations have a direct negative effect on the daily struggle for survival that many people face. Many poor people cannot bear the cost associated with maintenance and restoration of old buildings, and this puts many heritage resources at risk. Actors within bureaucracies also have their own goals to achieve, and this also influences the way that heritage is managed in low-income areas. The central research question of this study is: Are conservation controls in lowincome communities appropriate? This question was explored within the context of Mamre, a historical mission station approximately 50 km north of Cape Town. Firstly, several descriptive scenarios around which the research question could be explored were constructed, and this was followed by an investigation of the relevant literature. A contextual analysis of Mamre was also completed in order to gain an understanding of the character and functioning of the village. The case study then focused on two incidents where heritage-related building applications were made. Several instances where values conflict emerged from the study, and these enabled the researcher to draw some conclusions on conservation in low-income communities. The study found that the concept of significance is not well understood by officials, and its application differs widely. It was also clear that the law is often applied in a well-intended but incorrect, and in fact at times illegal, manner. This study also found that mechanisms of financial support should be available in certain cases. In order to ensure effective conservation of heritage resources, the correct legal mechanisms and strong policy must be in place. This must be based on a thorough assessment of significance and it is essential that this is done with a good understanding of the context.

Sustainable surfing events are a recent phenomenon and there is little to no academic literature reflecting this development. Sustainable event management (SEM) is the integration of sustainability principles and practices into event production to produce an event that goes beyond economic longevity and fulfils important social, cultural, and environmental roles that people value. This research explores the current practices and issues surrounding the implementation of SEM into surfing events held in Hawaii, USA and in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. The thesis follows a qualitative case study approach using semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documentary evidence. Findings demonstrated that the key obstacles to implementing sustainable event management principles and practices include limited access to capital, lack of government support, resistance to change, the absence of a common vision, and a lack of education and awareness. This study revealed the importance of context in a hosting community's journey towards sustainable event production. Overcoming these obstacles requires engagement of the private sector, influence of local champions, involvement of NGOs, trusting relationships between local and external event stakeholders, access to technology and resources, and the strategic use of media to promote sustainability awareness to all event stakeholders. Based on these findings, recommendations for improving the sustainability performance of surfing events include the development of a formal policy, education and training for event staff, a media campaign focused on sustainability issues, and in-depth engagement with the local hosting community. How the enabling or inhibiting factors play out on the ground depends on the variety of factors previously highlighted. In practice, there are linkages across SEM practices and many work in concert to enhance the overall sustainability performance. Theoretically, the implications of this research lie in its contribution to a growing body of knowledge pertaining to the surfing industry's transition towards more sustainable business operations. Practically, this information can be used to inform policy, set goals, carefully examine alternatives, establish effective factors to enable SEM, and encourage sustainable decision-making and actions. Other surfing communities can learn from the experiences of the event stakeholders in Hawaii and Jeffreys Bay to improve their efforts of hosting a sustainable surfing event. Overall, this knowledge can promote a more balanced dissemination of sustainability thinking and practices within the global surfing events sector.

Organizational injustice has been a long feared and long dissected topic by many in the business world. However, there is no clear idea of what employees expect from their superior, nor how communication is impacted separately from behavior in times of injustice. Interviews with 21 employees were used to study the expectations employees have of their superiors and how fulfillment of those expectations impacts communication in the workplace. Interview data indicate that employees expect open communication, performance assistance and professional behavior. Interview data also indicates that employee communication is impacted immediately, in the midst of situations and long term, both passively and directly. Several relational and communication management techniques are suggested to assist fulfillment of psychological contracts and decrease negative impacts of organizational behavior.

This thesis investigates the effects of meteorological drought on Southern African biomes using remotely sensed rainfall and vegetation data. To achieve this objective, a review of studies on meteorological drought impact on vegetation was first provided. Secondly, we analysed pixel-wise spatio-temporal rainfall trends based on the space-time 3D rainfall cube approach and then assessed the meteorological drought impact on biomes by using Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) data. The vegetation response to drought impact (i.e. the time lag of vegetation response to drought impact) was calculated by correlating the Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at different SPEI time scales. Finally, we analysed drought impact in relation to land use and land cover using land cover data (Globcover 2009) and a novel land cover layer “village pixel” developed based on the livestock density data. The village pixel is a proxy for rural communities and provides a rare opportunity to analyse drought impact on rural communities who mostly depend on livestock and rainfed agriculture. The novelty of this study is its regionality (i.e. covering all the Southern African biomes) and the fact that all the computations were done at pixel level. The results of the Mann-Kendall trend analysis revealed a significant (P<0.05) decrease of rainfall over most parts of the biomes mainly over the Forest biome and south western parts of the region (i.e. Fynbos, Desert and Karoo biomes).An increasing rainfall trend was mainly observed over the central parts of the Southern African region mainly covering the central and western parts of the savanna biome. In assessing the drought impact on vegetation, the results showed that extreme drought impact on vegetation is mainly confined to the south western biomes. We also observed an increasing trend of seasonal VCI (1998-2017) across all biomes implying a decrease in the intensity of drought impact on vegetation. This result is of interest considering the general declining rainfall over most parts of the Southern African biomes. A plausible hypothesis to explain this is that the proportions of tree cover have been increasing over time. This phenomenon is referred to as woody encroachment. The time lag of drought impact on vegetation (i.e. vegetation response to drought impact) results showed that the biomes do not immediately respond to drought impact. The 1 to 3-month SPEI time-scale, which shows the water balance for the current and previous two months had the highest correlation between SPEI and NDVI over most parts of the arid biomes (i.e. Savanna, Grassland, Nama Karoo) and humid biome (i.e. Forest). On the contrary, the Desert, Succulent Karoo, Fynbos and Montane biome responded to drought at medium to long time scale (i.e. 6 to 24 months). The assessment of drought impact in relation to land cover and land use based on the Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in drought impact among the different land cover types. This confirmed the fact that drought impact of vegetation varies with land cover types. It is worth noting despite the fact that the evergreen forest and flooded vegetation recorded the lowest seasonal mean VCI during the 2015-2016 drought, the lowest dekadal VCI values were recorded within the rural areas “village pixels” land cover, indicating the vulnerability of rural communities to drought impact. The analysis also revealed that shrubland and grassland were least affected by drought. Whilst future drought cannot be prevented, the results of this study provides information that can be used to ensure that communities are better prepared to cope with future droughts. The results from the analysis of rainfall trends can help to map drought hot spots. / Thesis (PhD (Environment and Society))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / NRF / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / PhD (Environment and Society) / Unrestricted

The turn of this century has been characterised by a flurry of research activities taking place around the history of Mission stations and missionaries in South Africa (SA). In Venda, in the Limpopo Province of SA, research about the Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) also gained momentum. Most of the researchers working in the area relied mainly on diaries, letters, annual reports, and limited published materials written by the BMS missionaries who worked at various mission stations in the area. These researchers focused on historical, educational, and religious developments, as captured by the Berlin missionaries. Of these historical accounts, the voices of the local communities have been hushed. Most of the stories available in written sources are from the viewpoints of the missionaries. At the same time, the focus of researchers in the heritage conservation fields has been on the physical condition of heritage properties, where the intention was to arrest deterioration of material. While there is a change in thinking in the heritage field to take into consideration the involvement of relevant stakeholders, the focus is still on the challenges related to the physical condition of heritage properties. Researchers in the heritage field have come to realise that conservation cannot unify or advance with any real innovation or vision if there is a continuation to concentrate the bulk of conservation discourse on issues of physical condition. This study addresses the issue of community participation in research by responding to the following question: What is the impact of community attitudes and perspectives towards Georgenholtz Mission Station (GHMS) as a heritage resource? Various community groupings were given the responsibility of airing their views regarding the Mission station as a heritage resource. In doing so, they were able to identify and articulate the values they associate with the mission station. Without an understanding of these values, practitioners, managers, and communities would be unable to act in respect of the gradual but rapid deterioration of the same heritage resource. Because of these values, communities were able to recommend what actions would be to the benefit of all of them. The research question of this study is answered through one-on-one oral interviews the researcher conducted with respondents. These respondents are divided into four categories of communities namely the youth, Lutheran Church leadership, Ha-Luvhimbi community leaders and members of families with historic ties with the Berlin Missionary Society. Individual respondents from these community categories were asked to comment upon the history of the Berlin Missionary Society and the development of Georgenholtz Mission Station from 1877 to the present times. They were also asked to broadly identify and explain the heritage significance of Georgenholtz Mission Station. The last question they were asked relates to what communities would like to see happening with Georgenholtz moving forward. The responses that came from these respondents show that Georgenholtz Mission Station has extensive connections to Mission history in rural South Africa which assists in conveying the significance of this Mission station beyond its importance to Ha-Luvhimbi village. Communities could identify various values attached to the Mission station, including amongst others, historical, aesthetic and architectural, social and economic values that should be preserved for the benefit of current and future generations. The results from this study indicate that communities interviewed regard Georgenholtz Mission Station as their heritage resource that should be taken care of and that there are economic benefits that could be derived from the adaptive reuse of the Mission station. The study concludes by outlining recommendations for further and extended research on the subject by other researchers.