The 2014 national general elections were characterised by a cloud of scandal hanging over the ANC, and the ANC president Jacob Zuma. The biggest and darkest cloud was the Nkandla scandal. Owing to a reported R246 million spent by the state to refurbish his private home, the president stood accused of wasteful expenditure and financial irregularity. In a country reeling from the continued effects of apartheid, which include high unemployment and poverty, the scandal was a bombshell. According to a vocal and often adversarial mainstream media sphere, the ANC went into those elections with an albatross around its neck. The dominant thought was that the ruling party would suffer a heavy loss of votes. This outcome did not materialise. The ANC lost a marginal share of its previous vote. Mainstream media and civil society were confounded. What had happened? Why had poor black South Africans continued to vote for a party that was obviously in breach of the constitutional order? Against the mismatch between what was predicted or purported and the outcome, this study investigates how young people in the township of Joza, Grahamstown, interpreted one of the biggest political scandals in South Africa’s fledgling democracy. Using a combination of subaltern studies, counter public sphere and audience study, the research looks into the interpretation of a mainstream media scandal that was supposed to diminish the chances of the ANC retaining power, but, instead, barely dented its majority. Through a combination of interviews and participant observation, the study found that young people in the township of Joza demonstrated that they chose to ignore the messages about the corruption of the ANC. The data suggests that they did so, not because of overt racial solidarity, but due to the fact that in a context of high inequality, and continued limitations on economic emancipation, the party shone brightly as a vehicle for economic development. Overall, the study argues that the seemingly dubious undertaking to continue with the ANC is a calculated decision that makes sense when viewed within a given socio-economic context.

Global research shows that media owners tend to influence the editorial direction of their newspapers. Such influence generally tends to be in line with the media owner’s economic and / or political interests. Naturally, this is a challenge because media is regarded as the fourth estate and is supposed to be an objective yet effective channel for the citizenry to make informed decisions about their world. The study seeks to find out if the owners of four daily newspapers in South Africa, based on their political proximity; may have influenced their newspapers to be biased in favour or against any of the three biggest political parties contesting the 2016 Local Government Elections. This study is an exploratory and descriptive content analysis based on an Agenda Setting theoretic framework – supported by framing analysis and game framing. Findings reveal the correlation between the media owner’s interests and the biased reporting within their respective newspaper. This suggests that although media may not be directly or explicitly forced to adopt a specific ideology, it can be argued that political relations with media owners can influence editorial decisions. Therefore, it can be inferred that media owners of The New Age, The Citizen and The Star influenced editorial content of their newspapers during the 2016 local government elections. Given the findings of this study and the elections scheduled for 2019 in South Africa, it is important for more political communication studies to be conducted in order to establish guidelines for unbiased news reporting across all media – including newspapers. Alternatively, to compel media owners to declare their bias towards and against specific political parties in each news content, upfront. Particularly important during election period, is the need for each media (including newspapers) to have an independent editor – potentially one from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to ensure that each piece of content produced is validated as bias or impartial. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Science)

Since the 1950s modernization theory predicted within the Third World a trajectory for social evolution and development mirroring perceived social and developmental evolution in Western societies since the 17th Century. Despite this theory being much discredited in both Western societies and the developing world; this theory still forms the basis for much analysis and policy formulation within post-1990 South Africa. This thesis looks at various aspects of urban black South Africans' existence and concludes that African tradition has found a place within an urban existence due to it's flexibility in dealing with peoples' daily challenges. An urban existence can thus no-longer be thought of as supplanting tradition in favour of western influences, but rather as bringing about a mixture of western and traditional influences - with positive and negative theoretical and practical developmental consequences / Development Studies / M.A.

In South Africa, the right to protest is under constant threat as a result of the state response. Increasing cases of forceful policing and sometimes unlawful procedural prohibitions of protest attest to this. This study aims to firstly describe this situation through securitisation theory, essentially arguing that South Africa has become a securitised state. It also aims to understand how this is sustained by the state and why the state needs to use a securitised response to maintain power. Interviews were conducted with members of different communities and organisations. Their responses helped to illustrate the frustration of the right to protest or brutal policing during a protest. This provided primary evidence to support the claims of the study. The research shows that claims to protest are being delegitimised under the guise of security as protestors are being constructed as threats to the state. This is further substantiated by looking at how the reorganisation and remililtarisation of the South African Police perpetuates the criminalisation of protestors which necessitates a forceful response from the state. Furthermore, it shows that there is a distinct relationship between the prohibition of protest and the recent increase in ‘violent’ protests which legitimate forceful policing thereby creating a state sustained cycle of violence. The larger implication of this treatment is that these protestors are treated as non- citizens who are definitively excluded from participating in governance. In understanding why this is taking place, it is clear that a securtitised response is an attempt to maintain power by dispelling any threats to power, a response which is seen to have a long history in the African National Congress (ANC) when examining the politics of the ANC during exile. Maintaining power in this way distracts from the larger agenda of the state, which this thesis argues, is to mask the unraveling of the ANC’s hegemony and inability to maintain national unity. In other words, the increasing dissatisfaction of some of the citizenry which has manifested through protest greatly undermines the legitimacy of the government to provide for its people.

This thesis proposes that the ministry of Dr Beyers Naudé to the victims of oppression during the apartheid rule in South Africa had a missionary dimension. It argues that the credibility of the Christian faith was challenged by the victims of oppression, as a result of the way in which it was used as a supportive tool for oppression. Through his ministry, Beyers Naudé succeeded in communicating the Christian faith in a special way to the victims of oppression. This led to a change of mind for the victims of oppression with regard to their negative attitude to the Christian faith. This study further resulted in the development of a comprehensive mission (communication) strategy to the victims of oppression. The argument is that there is another form of post-1994 victims of oppression in South Africa made out of those who feel left out by government poverty alleviation, economic development and service delivery programmes. The inability of government to strike a balance between the rich and the poor as well as corruption will always yield the ‘disadvantaged’ section of society who may feel ‘oppressed’, neglected and left out in favour of the few who have ‘connections’ at higher levels of government. These victims’ response will be characterized by anger which results into protest actions similar to those seen during the time of the ministry of Beyers Naudé. The question posed in this study is ‘how to minister to angry people who feel left out by government?’ In order to respond to this challenge and to equip ministers of religion and other interested people, a comprehensive mission (communication) strategy to victims of oppression was therefore developed based on the example of Beyers Naudé. The main question posed in this study around the reason for the success of Beyers Naudé’s ministry is “what ‘muthi’ did he use to win the hearts, love and support of the victims of oppression?” In order to answer this question, there is a three step approach that has been followed. Firstly I looked at factors that made him or influenced his making i.e. his life from his birth to his ‘conversion’, South African political landscape divided into two periods (1940-1963 and 1963-1994) as well as Faith Based Organisations’ response to apartheid. Secondly, I looked at his actual ministry to the victims of oppression from 1963 to 1994. I divided his ministry between the categories of centripetal and centrifugal patterns of mission. Thirdly a comprehensive mission (communication) strategy to the victims of oppression was developed, based on his contribution to a positive Christian witness. In the concluding chapter, I made some proposals for a way-forward in terms of areas for further study which were triggered by this research. The best statement for concluding this study, indicating the commitment of Beyers Naudé for God’s mission and how this was misunderstood by his church (the DRC) was taken from Mokgoebo (2009) who states: Beyers Naudé was a prophet of his time. As the saying goes, ‘the prophet is never respected at his own home’. His witness will remain long after we have gone, as a White man who was grasped by the powerful message of the Kingdom of God, of justice and reconciliation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

Between 45-57% of South Africans are estimated to be engulfed by poverty. In an attempt to identify policy instruments that could help change this status quo, the various strategies that have been implemented in countries (e.g. China, Vietnam and Uganda) that are known to have been relatively successful in reducing poverty are reviewed. In the process, this dissertation discusses the literature regarding poverty, with a particular emphasis on the definition, measurement and determinants thereof. Furthermore, South Africa's anti-poverty strategies are discussed. It turns out that these have met limited success. This is largely due to insufficient pro-poor economic growth, weak implementation/administration at the municipal level, slow asset redistribution, high income/wealth inequality, low job generation rate by SMME's, high HIV/AIDS infection rate, public corruption and inadequate monitoring of poverty. Therefore, if meaningful progress towards poverty reduction is to be achieved, the government needs to deal with the foregoing constraints accordingly. / Economics / M.Comm. (Economics)

Between 45-57% of South Africans are estimated to be engulfed by poverty. In an attempt to identify policy instruments that could help change this status quo, the various strategies that have been implemented in countries (e.g. China, Vietnam and Uganda) that are known to have been relatively successful in reducing poverty are reviewed. In the process, this dissertation discusses the literature regarding poverty, with a particular emphasis on the definition, measurement and determinants thereof. Furthermore, South Africa's anti-poverty strategies are discussed. It turns out that these have met limited success. This is largely due to insufficient pro-poor economic growth, weak implementation/administration at the municipal level, slow asset redistribution, high income/wealth inequality, low job generation rate by SMME's, high HIV/AIDS infection rate, public corruption and inadequate monitoring of poverty. Therefore, if meaningful progress towards poverty reduction is to be achieved, the government needs to deal with the foregoing constraints accordingly. / Economics / M.Comm. (Economics)

INTIMIDATION AS A FACTOR IN THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE OF SOUTH AFRICA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BELA BELA (WARMBATHS): AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE The cultural revitalisation or adjustment model of Anthony Wallace provides a basis for interpreting religious, political and other revitalisation movements. This study focuses on political revitalisation movements. Participation in the activities of revitalisation movements does not always occur voluntarily. Leaders of such movements apply techniques and methods of intimidation enforcing change and participation. In South Africa, political revitalisation was inter alia brought about by the ANC as political liberation movement who used methods of violent and non-violent intimidation to force people, regardless of their ethnic affiliation, to support the movement and enforce political change. The ANC inter alia used charactersitic cultural phenomena and components of Bantu-speakers as resources for intimidation to ensure unanimity, participation and ultimately to achieve political liberation. Cultural components that were exploited included communality, group solidarity, administration of justice, songs and dances. / INTIMIDASIE AS 'N FAKTOR IN DIE VRYHEIDSTRYD IN SUID-AFRIKA MET SPESIALE VERWYSING NA BELA BELA (WARMBAD): 'N ANTROPOLOGIESE PERSPEK.TIEF Kulturele vernuwmg ts 'n universele verskynsel. Anthony Wallace se model van kulturele vernuwing of -aanpassing bied 'n raamwerk vir die verduideliking en interpretasie van die fases waardeur kulturele vernuwingsbewegings van 'n godsdienstige, politieke of ander aard ontwikkel. In hierdie studie word daar uitsluitlik gefokus op vernuwingsbewegings van 'n politieke aard. Aangesien deelname aan die aktiwiteite van kulturele vernuwings- en aanpassingsbewegings nie noodwendig vrywillig geskied nie, het leiers van hierdie bewegings gebruik gemaak van tegnieke en metodes van intimidasie om deelname en vernuwing op die massas af te dwing. In SuidAfrika is politieke vernuwing onder andere teweeggebring deur die ANC as politieke bevrydingsbeweging. Die ANC het gebruik gemaak van gewelddadige (harde of direkte) sowel as nie-geweldadige (sagte of indirekte) intimidasie om mense, ongeag hulle etniese aanhorigheid, te dwing om die beweging se oogmerke aktief te ondersteun om politieke verandering te weeg te bring. As dee! van die strategie om deur intimidasie mense tot deelname aan massa-aksies soos optogte, betogings en massa-vergaderings te dwing, het die ANC gebruik gemaak van bepaalde kultuur verskynsels en -komponente wat eie is aan die lewensbeskouinge en lewenswyse van Bantoe-sprekendes. Kultuurkomponente wat suksesvol benut is deur die leiers en lede van bevrydingsbewegings omvat, onder andere verskynsels soos kommunaliteit, groep solidariteit, die regspraak, liedere en danse. Hierdie kultuurkomponente en verskynsels is verander en aangepas om ten eerste eenheid en deelname te bewerkstellig en te verseker en uiteindelik om die hoofdoelwit van politieke bevryding te bereik. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)

INTIMIDATION AS A FACTOR IN THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE OF SOUTH AFRICA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BELA BELA (WARMBATHS): AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE The cultural revitalisation or adjustment model of Anthony Wallace provides a basis for interpreting religious, political and other revitalisation movements. This study focuses on political revitalisation movements. Participation in the activities of revitalisation movements does not always occur voluntarily. Leaders of such movements apply techniques and methods of intimidation enforcing change and participation. In South Africa, political revitalisation was inter alia brought about by the ANC as political liberation movement who used methods of violent and non-violent intimidation to force people, regardless of their ethnic affiliation, to support the movement and enforce political change. The ANC inter alia used charactersitic cultural phenomena and components of Bantu-speakers as resources for intimidation to ensure unanimity, participation and ultimately to achieve political liberation. Cultural components that were exploited included communality, group solidarity, administration of justice, songs and dances. / INTIMIDASIE AS 'N FAKTOR IN DIE VRYHEIDSTRYD IN SUID-AFRIKA MET SPESIALE VERWYSING NA BELA BELA (WARMBAD): 'N ANTROPOLOGIESE PERSPEK.TIEF Kulturele vernuwmg ts 'n universele verskynsel. Anthony Wallace se model van kulturele vernuwing of -aanpassing bied 'n raamwerk vir die verduideliking en interpretasie van die fases waardeur kulturele vernuwingsbewegings van 'n godsdienstige, politieke of ander aard ontwikkel. In hierdie studie word daar uitsluitlik gefokus op vernuwingsbewegings van 'n politieke aard. Aangesien deelname aan die aktiwiteite van kulturele vernuwings- en aanpassingsbewegings nie noodwendig vrywillig geskied nie, het leiers van hierdie bewegings gebruik gemaak van tegnieke en metodes van intimidasie om deelname en vernuwing op die massas af te dwing. In SuidAfrika is politieke vernuwing onder andere teweeggebring deur die ANC as politieke bevrydingsbeweging. Die ANC het gebruik gemaak van gewelddadige (harde of direkte) sowel as nie-geweldadige (sagte of indirekte) intimidasie om mense, ongeag hulle etniese aanhorigheid, te dwing om die beweging se oogmerke aktief te ondersteun om politieke verandering te weeg te bring. As dee! van die strategie om deur intimidasie mense tot deelname aan massa-aksies soos optogte, betogings en massa-vergaderings te dwing, het die ANC gebruik gemaak van bepaalde kultuur verskynsels en -komponente wat eie is aan die lewensbeskouinge en lewenswyse van Bantoe-sprekendes. Kultuurkomponente wat suksesvol benut is deur die leiers en lede van bevrydingsbewegings omvat, onder andere verskynsels soos kommunaliteit, groep solidariteit, die regspraak, liedere en danse. Hierdie kultuurkomponente en verskynsels is verander en aangepas om ten eerste eenheid en deelname te bewerkstellig en te verseker en uiteindelik om die hoofdoelwit van politieke bevryding te bereik. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)