This thesis is an investigation of the call centre labour process focusing on both the way work is organised and experienced by the operators and the management of employee relations inside a local government workplace – The City of Johannesburg (COJ) Call Centre. The City of Johannesburg is used to understand labour process dynamics in local government. Johannesburg was recently named the ‘World’s Second Most Inspiring City’ (by Global City Index, 2014) possessing economic and political influence within and around South Africa. Johannesburg is the economic hub of the country, contributing nine per cent to the South African GDP. But it needs to be emphasised that the focus of this thesis is on the labour process rather than the City of Johannesburg. The nature of work in the COJ local government call centre involves answering calls about water, electricity, refuse removal, accounts and other general municipal services. The government’s objective was to have a more customer centred service delivery plan in compliance with the Batho Pele (People first) framework (RSA, 1997, White Paper on Local Government). This resulted in a shift in the government ‘mantra’ and philosophy from viewing Johannesburg residents as customers rather than citizens. This shift from public administration to New Public Management (NPM) has meant the introduction of private sector business principles into public services. This seeks to improve organisational and individual performance to enhance service delivery within South African municipalities. This is also meant to promote responsive and performance management culture. The study uses Labour Process Theory set out in Labour and Monopoly Capital (LMC-1974) by Harry Braverman to argue for the need to contextualise the labour process debate within the socio-political understanding of work in South Africa. In developing the argument about the narrow analysis of public sector call centres based on economic lines I have reviewed literature on call centres which is influenced by Michel Foucault and Harry Braverman to understand the public sector call centre labour process. Inspired by Adesina (2002) and Mafeje (1981) this study uses a ‘complementarity’ approach to knowledge. This means the local context tends to complement the global trends though not without contradictions within the local context. The case study approach was used for in-depth analysis of the local context through different methods (semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observations and survey questionnaires) to collect data from different stakeholders within the City of Johannesburg between 2010 and 2013. The concept of a ‘(dis)connecting city’ is fitting for the COJ as this city connects the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa to the world through its commerce and political influence. Based on the challenges experienced in this local government call centre I attempt to show the the politicised nature of the public sector call centre labour process. I use the differential power relations in the frontline between customer and Joburg connect workers to illustrate this point. The lack of emphasis on the politicised nature of public sector call centres within literature is informed by the de-contextualised nature of these call centres. In the end, I argue that public sector call centre labour process is multilayered, contradictory and complicated because of these workers’ role as citizens, customers, community members and service providers from a politicised community environment.

This study investigated and evaluated the success and impact of the foodstuff package intervention that is offered by SOS Children’s Villages to households affected by HIV and AIDS. The study population comprised households who were involved in the food parcel distribution intervention, those affected by HIV and AIDS, those individuals who were able to talk freely about their lives as full participants and recipients of food parcels, and those aged 18 years and older. This study determined how food parcel intervention promotes self-sufficiency post-intervention. This was determined by interviewing recipients of food parcels from 2010 to 2018. The food parcel dissemination has been a core intervention to families affected by HIV and AIDS, but yielded very little progress towards assisting people to reach self-reliance. The aim of the study was to gain an understanding of the food parcel intervention using a qualitative research design. This study focused only on families affected by HIV and AIDS, including young people aged eighteen years and above. The study was based on a purposive sampling method with in-depth and focus group interviews as a means of collecting data. The results and implications of this study are discussed in depth in this research report. Essentially, the findings of this study could inform the development of policies and strategies to be considered for possible implementation by NGO’s and government in supporting family units affected by HIV and AIDS. / Sociology / M.A. (Social and Behavioural Studies in HIV and AIDS)

Women constitute the largest proportion of the rural adult South African population. The rural areas host women with the lowest levels of education and skills training in the country. The lack of basic education and skills has resulted in many of them being marginalised, rejected and discriminated against, unemployed and living in poverty. These social problems have serious negative effects on them and their families, which is why the educational provision of Adult and Community Education and Training in South Africa is a significant tool for their socio-economic advancement. This educational provision is aimed at empowering adults in general, and rural women in particular, with the necessary livelihood skills to lead productive lives and consequently the study sought to investigate the socio-economic lives of rural women through skills training for poverty reduction in the Mthatha area of South Africa. A qualitative research approach and an exploratory design were employed for the study. A sample of 35 participants, comprising 20 female learners, 4 educators, and 7 former learners were in addition to 4 learners selected for a focus group discussion. Other instruments with which data were collected constituted in-depth individual interviews and documentary analysis. The theories underpinning the study are Maslow‘s theory of motivation, empowerment theory and critical pedagogy. Among others, the findings revealed the absence of adequate resources with which to empower rural women and consequently the study recommends that Adult and Community Education and Training providers include programmes that can up-skill rural women based at community learning centres in an effort to enhance their economic development. Community learning centres must be fully resourced in terms of facilities and appropriate learning tools to render Adult and Community Education and Training a beneficial educational intervention for these rurally based women. / Educational Studies / Ph. D. (Socio-Education)

This study aims to draw on some of the ethical guidelines enshrined in the South African Press Code (SAPC 2007:10). This SAPC states that “the press shall be obliged to report news truthfully, accurately, fairly and in a balanced manner, without any intentional or negligent departure from the facts”. This insight is used in order to analyse the way in which the 2008 xenophobic attacks were reported in South Africa by the Sowetan and Daily Sun newspapers. Overall, the findings show that the two newspapers adhered to the South African Press Code (2007), and were ethical in their 2008 news reports. This specifically contradicts the dominant perception of most mainstream newspaper readers, who thought that, the Daily Sun is just a tabloid newspaper which “represents the lowest standard of journalism” (Wasserman 2012:1), because of its sensational crime and sex stories. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

The purpose of the study was to locate the informal hiring sites for day labourers in Tshwane, to determine the approximate number of day labourers, to describe the nature of socio-economic activities taking place at the sites, and to make recommendations to address needs that have been identified. The research approach and methodology was exploratory, descriptive, quantitative and qualitative. In terms of the findings, 80 informal hiring sites were identified in Tshwane with approximately 3032 day labourers standing at the sites. Case studies were done on three sites and it was found that they were hazardous and lacked basic facilities such as shelter and toilets. Employer-employee interactions were also found to be haphazard and sometimes manipulative and exploitative. It is recommended that intervention programmes should be implemented which could include the provision of basic facilities, skills development, job search assistance and access to comprehensive social services. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Science - Mental Health)

No abstract available / Social Work / M. A. (Social Work)

A study was conducted to explore the impact on change which a process of participatory research has on capacity building for the general assistants within the Northern Province in terms of the mission statement of the Office on the Status of Women between July 1997 and September 1998. The mission of the office is as follows: " ... to establish mechanisms and procedures that will move the province towards gender equality, thereby empowering women to have equal access to opportunities and resources which will enhance their quality of life". The target group for Office on the Status of Women is women within the government service irrespective of race and socio-political status. These general assistants were said to be the "left behind" group when issues affecting women like National and International Women's Days are celebrated. Themes of concern were identified and addressed. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

The main question of this research which focuses on the role of the Old Testament in the South African context is: If reread from an African liberationist perspective in the context of land redistribution and socio-economic justice in South Africa, could the Israelite Jubilee legislation in Leviticus 25:8-55 offer liberating and empowering possibilities for the poor in South Africa? Methodologically, both the historical-critical method and the African liberationist approach are employed in the present study. The exegesis of Leviticus 25:8-55 in which the historical-critical method is employed lays the foundation for the contextualisation of the issues arising from the exegesis. Furthermore, within the African liberationist framework, the South African context served as a lens to interpret Leviticus 25:8-55. Significantly, this study shows the misuse of power on the part of the rich élites to confiscate productive land from the poor Israelites in the pre-exilic setting. Not only were the rich élites elevated at the expense of the poor, the Levites were equally favoured economically in the Babylonian period. In post-exilic Yehud, of significance is the fact that the Jews were faced with the challenge of loss of land, indebtedness and poverty. The striking parallels between the contexts from which the text of Leviticus 25:8-55 emerged and the context of the modern reader of the Bible in South Africa are shown. It is revealed that African-South Africans who lost their productive land during the colonial and apartheid eras continue to experience indebtedness and poverty. At the same time, the political élites contribute to the present disproportionate benefits from land ownership and socio-economic injustice in the country. Like the context of Leviticus 25:8-55, in South Africa, the rich continue to be richer while many African-South Africans are trapped in the poverty cycle. In the end, it is argued that when re-read from an African liberationist perspective and in the context of the land redistribution and socio-economic justice discourse, Leviticus 25:8-55 can contribute positively to the redress of inequality and consequently to poverty alleviation in South Africa. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies (Old Testament))

The de-industrialisation process that was a common feature of North America and Western Europe in the 1970s, through into the 1980s has become an observable feature in African countries and South Africa in particular in the last two decades. Globally, hard hit areas include those associated with the early Industrial Revolution characterised by mass production and the agglomeration of iron and steel, coal and textile industries. General changes in the global market, especially the falling demand for extractive heavy minerals like coal and gold have also affected many countries region and localities. In the case of South Mrica, the previous high economic dependence on mined minerals like coal and gold has resulted in many once prosperous mining regions of the country being reduced to a shadow of their former selves. The worst affected areas in South Africa are those of the Klerksdorp Goldfields in the North West Province and Free State Goldfields, with the latter alone losing 100,000 jobs during the 1990s. This trend has also been acute in the coal-mining industry of the KwaZulu-Natal province since the late 1970s. The firms that had grown in the shadow of the major mining company supplyipg machinery, or who processed the semi-manufactured product are also severely affected by the closing down and restructuring in the mining and iron industries. These industries have often been forced to close down because of a break in the vital connections they developed with these mining industries. Such localised economic crisis has encouraged the universal trend towards the devolution of developmental responsibilities to the local governments and other local stakeholders to - empower them to respond to these changes. This study investigated the local economic initiatives which have been undertaken in the three municipalities of north-western KwaZulu Natal i.e. Utrecht, Dundee and Dannhauser to respond to the closures which have taken place in the mining industry of this region, which used to be among the most prosperous coal mining regions of South Africa. Using their new developmental mandate the local governments, in partnership with the communities and other external interveners have tried to respond to these localised economic crisis and also indirectly to the general poverty and underdevelopment, which characterises this region of KwaZulu-Natal. The effects of apartheid policies, and previous discriminatory rural development policies in, particular, and the Regional Industrial Development policy, which was intensively applied in the 1980s by the pre-1994 government regime, have further compounded the magnitude of the challenge. The lack of capacity in some municipalities has constrained successful implementation of Local Economic Development has led to some communities acting alone to face their situation with or without external intervention.

[Preface]:In 1862 Grahamstown acquired the dignity, pride and responsibility of full municipal status by its own Act of Incorporation. Ibis Act marked the consolidation of Grahamstown's era of local government by its vigorous and far-sighted Municipal Board of Commissioners, which was established in 1837 and has been examined in depth in K.S. Hunt's thesis on Grahamstown municipal government up to 1862. Clearly, the year 1862 is the logical beginning for a further study of Grahamstown's changing position in the Eastern Cape and its development in the practice of local government during the crucial decades of the 1860's and 1870's. But the choice of 1882 to mark the end of this thesis is in some ways arbitrary. 1882 does not appear to be a turning point, a year of major significance in either the history of Grahamstown or of the Colony as a whole. Besides the convenient time-span of twenty years, there are various factors which, taken together, explain why 1882 is a useful date of demarcation from which to take stock and review Grahamstown's economic, political, social and municipal position after two vital decades in its history. In the civic sphere,the opening of Grahamstown's Town Hall made tangible,in solid Victorian design,a long held ambition of the City Councillors. Buildings, in Victorian attitudes, throughout the British Empire, were regarded as very important civic symbols. One can learn much of Grahamstown Victorian attitudes from the lengthy process of attaining a Town Hall. A much more elaborate ceremony surrounded the opening of the Jubilee Tower, an occasion for assessing the influence of Grahamstown's Settler heritage on the development of the town. Municipal problems concerning finance, water and "native" locations remained thorny questions as they had throughout the period 1862-32. Generally 1882 was a year of transition for Grahamstown and the Colony as a whole. Economically it appeared to start prosperously but 1882 actually marked the beginning of a severe depression which lasted until 1386. It is important to consider how Grahamstown’s economic development relates to the overall economic picture of the Cape Colony at this juncture. Though ostrich feather prices remained high in 1882, the ensuing depression was caused partly by the rapid overexpansion of the industry but most important of all, by a reaction to an inflated era of confidence during the diamond boom years of the 1870's and their consequent easy Bank credit plus intense speculation. Politically 1882 also appeared a year of transition. How to maintain the uneasy peace after the Basuto war remained a constant challenge to Scanlen's ministry. The beginnings of active party conflict in the workings of responsible government were evident only in embryo. The rapid growth of the Afrikaner Bond was to change this. Specifically in relation to the practice of local government in the Cape Colony, the General Municipal Act No. 45 was passed during the Parliamentary session of 1882, enabling any town to seek incorporation. The query is raised as to how far the modus vivendi of the Grahamstown municipality helped frame the clauses of this general Municipal enabling Act. For these various reasons, as well as the additional one that twenty years was found to offer a manageable research unit, 1882 has been decided on as the limit of this thesis. This thesis aims, through a careful examination of Grahamstown's economic, political but particularly civic development, to determine and trace the nature of the Grahamstown community's response to the challenge of the gradual isolation of the 1860's and 1870's. Grahamstown's civic history provides fascinating insights into the structure of the entire community and its attitudes and values. Study has been made of the following major primary sources for the history of Grahamstown 1862-1882: the Grahamstown Municipality records, complete except for incoming letters and housed in the Cape Archives, und the Grahamstown newspapers for the period. The most prolific as well us the most valuable newspaper source of the period is The Grahamstown Journal, a newspaper with a tradition firmly bound up with the formulation of frontier as well as Grahamstown thought, kingpin of the network built up by the successors of Robert Godlonton, the "architect of frontier opinion". It has to be treated with caution as a source because of this very bias. The Council Minutes themselves, meticulously recorded in the Town Clerk's copperplate Victorian script, are scrupulously objective, recording blandly proposers, seconders and fates of motions. What might appear the bare bones of a detailed study of the municipal records yet reflects the economic climate of the town, political opinions, class and race attitudes, civic pride, concepts of public health and charity. The newspapers are a vital addition to the Municipal records themselves. The weekly meetings received faithful, accurate and very copious coverage from press-representatives present at every ordinary meeting. Indeed these reports give a vivid immediacy to the meetings and reveal opinions, pressure groups and lines of conflict within the Council, on issues important and trivial. These, at times lively and enlivening, sometimes stormy meetings, are reported with an authenticity which makes one suspect that often words of speeches were given verbatim - personalities of the Councillors certainly emerge distinctly. Full newspaper coverage is also given to the meetings of the Albany Divisional Council. The annual reports of the Civil Commissioners and Resident Magistrates, which appear in the Parliamentary Blue Books of the period, provide some valuable economic comment on the vicissitudes of life in the eastern frontier districts from 1862-1882. Such information builds useful background for a study of Grahamstown's economic and social development. Efforts have been made to locate probable sources of family papers of one of the most influential Grahamstown families of the period, the Wood family, but to no avail. If any exist they would without doubt have given interesting insight into the business connections of leading Grahamstown men and possibly given an indication of how far civic and political connections linked with religious and family influences in Victorian Grahamstown. Jim's Journal, manuscript in Cory Library, is a record of letters sent home to England by James Butler, while on a visit to the Cape,1876-79 for his health. He provides illuminating glimpses into the day to day life of Grahamstown from a Quaker viewpoint. Taken together, these sources provide considerable insights into the life and times of Grahamstown in the second half of the nineteenth Century. A municipal study examines an area in its totality: it encompasses a study of minutiae within the context of general trends. This fact alone suggests that there are many sources on the history of Grahamstown which have not yet been discovered, but this assessment is submitted on the basis of a thorough study of those which are currently available.