History has proven time and time again that conflict is an inevitable aspect of any given society. The seemingly long-standing nature of conflicts in Africa has been changing over time and these conflicts have been either inter-state or intra-state. However, sometimes intrastate wars have escalated into regional conflicts. These scenarios can be seen in the Great Lakes region of Africa where you have the civil war of 1996-7 and the rebellion, which began in 1998 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the DRC there have been at least four stages of conflict. The first is against the Belgians and secondly, the civil strife of the early 1960s. Third, is the civil strife against Mobutu and fourthly, currently against Kabila. The expanding nature of conflict is characterised by power struggles, politicisation of ethnicity, and the impact of external forces. It is noted that the expanding nature of conflict calls for a change in the methods of conflict management and resolution. Initially conflicts were resolved through military intervention. but with the complexity of African wars it has become apparent that peaceful methods are more prudent. With reference to Africa it can be assumed that conflicts need to be increasingly resolved through political means, such as the use of the diplomatic process. The conflict in Chad between 1968 and 1984 is a good example in which military intervention was used but failed, giving way to mediation and negotiation through the use of diplomacy. Both the DRC and Chadian conflicts are similar because they witnessed the influence of external forces (neighbouring countries and non-African states such as France and the US) and African states attempting to find solutions to their own problems. The conflict in the DRC provides a unique example of the changing nature of intra-state conflict in Africa. Thus, the study aims to trace the characteristics of conflict in the DRC and attempts made at conflict management and resolution. The study uses the period bet ween 1996 and 1999 because it highlights this change in the nature and character of conflict.

Memoria (licenciado en ciencias jurídicas y sociales) / La noción de pluralismo ha tenido una amplia recepción no solo en la literatura especializada en filosofía, sino que en la mayoría de las disciplinas que reflexionan sobre lo humano. Desde el último cuarto del siglo XX, una afirmación estándar en los ámbitos filosófico y jurídico es recalcar que es indispensable la aceptación y valoración de la diversidad humana. Aunque no siempre es claro qué exactamente se reclama, pero sí es incontrovertible su necesidad. Asimismo, el debate político cotidiano se nutre de este concepto, emplazando al ordenamiento jurídico a reconocer las distintas identidades que forman parte de la sociedad contemporánea, situada en contextos complejos de interacción y desarrollo cultural. Pocos autores reconocen sus sospechas frente a la valoración de la diversidad humana, pero no han despejado la oscuridad conceptual que aqueja al término pluralismo. En lo que sigue, intentaré desarrollar parte de los antecedentes que sirvieron de fundamento al entendimiento del pluralismo en la primera década del siglo XXI. Circunscribiré mi investigación a las contribuciones al pluralismo en las obras de sir Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) y sir P. F. Strawson (1919-2006); los dos pensadores de la Universidad de Oxford que alcanzaron mayor repercusión y prestigio internacional durante el siglo XX, como representantes de la tradición analítica en filosofía. Esta elección descansa en razones tanto de corte conceptual como institucional. Conceptuales, pues existe un parecido de familia que comparten sus posiciones en su rechazo al privilegio epistémico del pensamiento monista de la ciencia defendido desde principios del siglo XIX y su celebración de la diversidad de lo humano, como un aspecto normativamente deseable para nuestra civilización. Por el otro lado, mi formación académica en filosofía se inició en torno a tradición filosófica anglosajona, gozando del privilegio de estudiar con un heredero directo de sir P. F. Strawson, y cuya reflexión ha tenido por foco la legitimidad filosófica de las distintas formas en que se manifiesta la diversidad de lo humano. / Elaborada en el marco del Proyecto de Investigación FONDECYT Nº 1050348 “Pluralismo, igualdad jurídica y diversidad valorativa”.

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Black South Africans have been exposed to an unequal and divided education system. It has been expected that the basis for an equitable education system would be laid in the post apartheid period. In this thesis I have provided an analysis of education policy development in South Africa between May 1994 and mid-1997. My main aim has beento understand the policy vision that the post apartheid state has enacted as the basisfor educational reconstruction.The conceptual framework of this thesis is located in the academic fields of Education and Development and Policy Sociology. I have focused on the interaction between the broad delimitations set by the structural, economic and political dimensions in society on the one hand, and the political and policy dynamics that have given education policy its specific meaning on the other hand. The role of the government in enacting a specific policy vision has been at the centre of my analysis.The government has effected a conservative vision with the adoption of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) macroeconomic strategy. GEAR has targeted the development of an export-based global economy along post fordist lines. Predicated upon an emphasis on fiscal discipline, the dominant policy orientation has supported equity but without an emphasis on redress. This approach has not provided the necessary basis for education reconstruction. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and Outcomes-based education (OBE) embody a definite '/ision in terms of which education policy would be aligned with economic development. This vision is based on the false assumption that education should playa fundamental role in producing the sophisticated labour demands of a globally competitive economy. The logic of both GEAR and the NQF is internally inconsistent and the relationship between these two policy frameworks is unsustainable. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / Generally the Courts have a discretion to impose sentence. Violent crime was rampant in South Africa. The response of the legislature in dealing with crime was to enact legislation in 1997 like sections 51 to 53 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 which prescribe severe mandatory sentences for a large number of serious offences like murder, rape and armed robbery. This legislation come into effect on 1 May 1998 and was to have effect for two years. The President could with the concurrence of Parliament by proclamation extend its operation for one year, that was in fact done. The latest extension of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 was for a further two years making the minimum sentence provisions valid until 30 April 2005. The Courts did not like these mandatory sentences because of the limitation it places on judicial discretion and dealt with this legislation that limited their judicial discretion restrictively in order to defend their sentencing discretion. Although the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 105 of 1997 was held not to be unconstitutional the Courts stll sought to give it a narrow interpretation. This research paper include an outline of the Criminal Law Amendment Act; the Constitutional challenges that were brought against the Criminal Law Amendment Act; the judicial interpretation of the Criminal Law Amendment Act as well as the applicability of the Criminal Law Amendment Act to District Courts and juvenile ovenders; the procedural requirements that must be complied with in the Criminal Law Amendment Act and its consequences if not complied with. This paper examined how the Courts defined substantial and compelling circumstances, the approaches adopted by the Courts and when deviation from the Criminal Law Amendment Act can take place. It also include the challenges posed by mandatory minimum sentence legislation as well as recommendations for the improved implementation of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. / South Africa

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / In this thesis I explore dispute resolution mechanisms within the context of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 62 of 1997 (ESTA) and more generally the extent to which the law and the court can be used to effect social change. I examine dispute resolution processes that parties to farm tenure utilise towards exercising their land rights. I give practical demonstrations of how parties on farms utilised processes to resolve eviction and burial disputes on farms in Limpopo province, South Africa. I focus on four case studies from farm dweller cases from Vhembe district, two evictions and two burials. The thesis compares and contrasts the cases settled through out of court settlements with those decided through the court processes. It is based on case files kept at the Nkuzi Development Association (Nkuzi) Elim office and follow up interviews with farm occupiers as well as court judgments on cases that were decided in court. I argue that decisions on choosing appropriate dispute resolution processes are determined by the parties’ economic position and the availability of land reform support Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and lawyers. The findings drawn from the case studies show that ESTA dispute resolution mechanisms do not give choices to the parties in deciding how best to resolve tenure disputes they face, rather, they are forced to approach the courts. Parties to farm tenure disputes face challenges in using mediation and arbitration processes due to a lack of support from the relevant government agencies. These challenges ultimately deprive parties in disputes from making effective choices when deciding on a dispute resolution process that is appropriate for the dispute they are confronted with. This study concludes that ESTA is limited when offering necessary choices to the farm parties in disputes. The findings of this study point to the need for amendment of ESTA to provide parties in farm disputes with a choice of using mediation or arbitration processes directly as an alternative for those who do not want to resolve the dispute in court. In addition, an amendment should include the negotiation process and make the use of negotiation, mediation and arbitration compulsory for parties to first exhaust their use before approaching the court.

Legislation regulating minimum sentences in South Africa was re-introduced by sections 51 to 53 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 which came into operation on 1 May 1998. These provisions were regarded as a temporary measure to be effective for two years, where after they were extended from time to time. After they had been extended for several times, section 51 was rendered permanent on 31 December 2007 by the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Amendment Act 38 of 2007. At the same time sections 52 and 53 were repealed by the same Act. Minimum sentence legislation was the result of a call by the community for heavier penalties and for the offenders to serve more realistic terms of imprisonment. There was also a general dissatisfaction about the perceived leniency of sentences imposed by the courts for serious crimes. During 1996 and in the wake of these concerns the Minister of Justice requested the South African Law Reform Commission to investigate all aspects of sentencing in South Africa. A Project Committee chaired by a judge of the High Court was appointed and it operated from the late 1996 to March 1998. Minimum sentences for certain serious crimes were one of the options to be investigated by the Project Committee. Consequent to this the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 was promulgated with effect from 1 May 1998. The legislature intended this Act to defer criminal activity, to avoid disparities in sentencing and to deal harshly with perpetrators of serious offences. The subsequent amendments to the Act included the granting of jurisdiction to the Regional court to pass life imprisonment, an automatic right of appeal against life imprisonment in respect of a juvenile accused and identification of circumstances that do not constitute substantial and compelling circumstances. Judicial discretion and departure from prescribed minimum sentences had initially presented a problem regarding its interpretation in a variety of cases in our courts. Eventually our courts came up with a clear interpretation of the meaning of the phrase substantial and compelling circumstances. This research project will analyze the provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 with regard to minimum sentences for certain serious offences. In the process case law and other literature will be discussed regarding the interpretation of minimum sentence provisions in the Act. Recommendations for legislation which will cover the aspect of sentencing on a wider scale are made.

This thesis considers the theme of suffering and its resolution in the novels of Jack Kerouac, Leonard Cohen, and William Burroughs, three avant-garde contemporary writers. It discusses most of their work in a general way, with reference to the theme of suffering; and it also analyses in a much more detailed manner the Subterraneans by Kerouac, The Favorite Game and Beautiful Losers by Cohen, and Naked Lunch by Burroughs. Cohen envisions man as a suffering being who experiences his pain in many different ways. He criticizes the old ritual patterns in which suffering once took its form - the pattern of religion which teaches man that suffering is good, and History which teaches that the cycle of civilization operates only in terms of the torturer and his victim. He rejects, too, the contemporary form of pop art which ignores the fact that suffering is a very real and overwhelming part of man. Having lost the old ritual patterns of suffering, man feels alienated from his own personal pain. Through the magic of good art, Cohen feels, man can regain entrance to his own being, for by experiencing another's suffering in art, he can regain his own awareness of suffering. If we misinterpret or misuse our own pain, we become one of Cohen's 'losers,' for we lose the core of our being to false ritual. Cohen believes the ancient notion that suffering deepens character, and he argues that man, through an understanding of his own pain, becomes a richer and better person, more capable of recognizing the magic which exists along with pain. For magic does exist with pain, and in art we gain a momentary entrance into this world of magic. Through the investigation of self and the uniqueness of self, man comes to recognize the uniqueness and magic of all. The artist takes on the role of prophet visionary showing all men that "magic is afoot." Jack Kerouac suffered a different form of pain - a pain which originated in his desperate search for innocence. His Catholic heritage taught him that the world of mind and spirit could see God, while the physical body was the realm of the sinful and guilty. His life became a quest in search of an innocence in which man could, transcend his guilt and shame and become beatific. Kerouac named the entire beat generation beatific, but he could not evade his feeling of guilt and shame within his own life, and he fluctuated throughout life between ecstatic idealism and hopeless despair. His strong mother fixation was a major cause for the split between his sense of idealism and the life of the physical body - and his mother became associated in his mind with those aspects of consciousness he considered 'ideal.' Yet Kerouac also longed for freedom and individuality, realms of experience outside his mother's hold. He expressed his life within his art, showing his tension and anguish from the pull of these two forms of experience. Kerouac's final interpretation of suffering paralleled the Catholic vision, for art became, in his life, a means of personal confession and penance. William Burroughs' despair is expressed through fear and rage, and a figurative comparison with 'paranoia' defines the range of his suffering fairly closely. Burroughs fears persecution from society which controls man through his need, fearing especially the implosive and depersonalizing forces of society which threaten to degrade and annihilate man. Man's own body takes part in this social degradation, for it is man's body which succumbs to addictive need. Burroughs strives to preserve his sense of inner reality and freedom at all costs. He purges his own personal sense of fear through his art, and art becomes, in his use of it, a social act of exorcism. He shouts the unspeakable and becomes a priest in a cultural purification rite; he shows the absurdity of man's reality in the form of comedy and dream and these become the source of his release. He defends himself against social control by his ability to exaggerate the power of society to the point of the grotesque, and art becomes the written form of his protest. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Most analysts study leadership succession in communist states as a "crisis" which ensues after the death of a dominant leader. This study takes an alternative approach. It is a survey of provisions for leadership succession in the People's Republic, of China. This involves a comparison of the strategies and motivations of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping in providing for their own succession. Deng Xiaoping's more extensive provisions for leadership succession during the CCP's transition towards a more institutionalized one-party bureaucratic rule are likely to be more durable than Mao's provisions in the earlier period. Nevertheless, guarantees of smooth and regularized succession, especially of protégés promoted on the basis of personal ties within the leadership core, may be impossible to obtain. Mao's provisions were aimed largely at what he saw as a probable, but deplorable, bureaucratic future of the PRC. Deng, on the other hand, perceives an element of opportunity in the succession process. He has tried to provide leadership that will, in his estimation, be better able to bring about China's modernization. In both leaders' provisions for succession, the elevation to the status of "heir apparent" of individuals has been a political liability to those individuals, especially when their promotion is perceived to be based largely on personal ties to the dominant leader. This liability becomes more pronounced in a period of bureaucratic, collective leadership. Because of his shifting policy preferences, his status as charismatic leader, and the ambitious nature of his protégés, Mao Zedong was unsuccessful in providing for his own succession. Deng Xiaoping, on the other hand, has been successful in cultivating a reserve of young, well-educated cadres. These provisions, because they are extensive and exist in a more subdued, consensus-oriented political environment, may well be Deng's most enduring legacy. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate