Thesis (M.Sc. (Environmental Science)) - Rhodes University, 2009.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Talking about community development is not an easy task because it is a broad term employed by academics, civic leaders, governments, concerned citizens, faith-based organisations and simply people with an interest in the well-being of others. Each of these groups may have their own interpretation of what they perceive community development to be. Currently many new voices speak out in favour of the upliftment of the marginalised, the periphery segment of the population. In government circles, we see an array of community development initiatives (of which integrated development planning is but one), aimed at empowering individuals to effect change in their own communities. The underlying principle is that within any community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used creatively, can be channelled into collective action to achieve the desired goals to benefit the community. Unfortunately, the majority of people who belong to the poorer segment of the population are still unable to access the full potential of these initiatives. Poverty and its many faces are still rampant, and the people feeling it most acutely are those living in “small towns”. The first part of this study attempts to address community development in one such small town; the Baviaans Municipal Area. It seeks to “give voice” to the people, in order for them to take charge of their own development as Chapter 4 attempts to show. The study also allows “small town” communities to break through the academic rhetoric of poverty to voice their own understanding of this social ill (Chapter 3). In this chapter ordinary people “unlearn to not speak”. The second segment of this dissertation builds on the empirical findings of the first segment by exploring how community development challenges the church to be church. It acknowledges the fact that the church has a long history as a pioneer in social involvement; and that the church, unlike any other “civil institution”, enjoys credibility and trust from the majority of people on the globe. This assumption strengthens the hypothesis that the church can be a reliable, worthy and valued catalyst for community development within the social development paradigm. This dissertation consciously avoids the naivety of ignoring the challenges that accompany this premise. Whilst Chapter 5 acknowledges the ceaseless involvement of the church in the development domain, Chapter 6 unpacks the theological impact of these challenges on the practical daily life and essence of the church. It seeks to demonstrate theologically what it means to be church in our day and age. Against the background of the preceding chapters, and mindful of the fact that no study can claim absolutism, Chapter 7 concludes this study by making some practical suggestions and recommendations that could be helpful for local government, the church and those with an interest in community development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit is nie maklik om oor gemeenskapsontwikkeling te praat nie want dit is ‘n wye term wat gebruik word deur akademici, gemeenskapsleiers, besorgde landsburgers, godsdiensgroepe, en ook deur mense wat bloot belang stel in die welsyn van hul medemens. Al hierdie groepe het moontlik hul eie persepsie van wat gemeenskapsontwikkeling is of behoort te wees. Tans is daar baie nuwe stemme wat hul uitspreek ten gunste van die opheffing van die gemarginaliseerde mense op die grense van die samelewing. Uit regeringskringe kom daar ‘n rits van inisiatiewe (waarvan geïntegreerde ontwikkeling slegs een is) wat gemeenskapsontwikkeling ten doel het en inividue wil bemagtig ten einde verandering in hulle gemeenskap te bewerkstellig. Die onderliggende prinsiep is dat daar in elke gemeenskap ‘n skat van kennis en ondervinding is wat, indien dit op ‘n kreatiewe wyse aangewend word, gekanaliseer kan word in kollektiewe aksie ten einde die gewenste doel te kan bereik: om tot voordeel van die gemeenskap te wees. Ongelukkig het die meerderheid van die mense wat tot die armer segment van die bevolking behoort nog steeds nie toegang tot die volle potensiaal van hierdie inisiatiewe nie. Armoede in al sy gestaltes is nog steeds wydverspreid, en die mense wat dit die ergste ondervind, is diegene wat in “klein dorpe” woon. Die eerste deel van hierdie studie probeer om gemeenskapsontwikkeling in so ‘n dorpsomgewing, die Baviaans Munisipale Gebied aan te spreek. Dit poog om die mense se “stem” te laat hoor, ten einde dit vir hulle moontlik te maak om in beheer te wees van hulle eie ontwikkeling. Dit word in Hoofstuk 4 geïllustreer. Die studie gee ook ‘n geleentheid aan mense in klein dorpies om die akademiese retoriek rondom armoede te verbreek en hulle stemme te laat hoor betreffende hierdie sosiale euwel (Hoofstuk 3). In hierdie hoofstuk leer gewone mense om “op te hou om nie te praat nie”. Die tweede segment van hierdie verhandeling bou voort op die empiriese bevindinge van die eerste segment, deur na te speur hoe gemeenskapsontwikkeling die kerk uitgedaag het om kerk te wees. Dit gee erkenning aan die feit dat die kerk ‘n lang geskiedenis as pionier in sosiale betrokkenheid het, asook die feit dat die kerk, anders as sommige ander gemeenskaps-instellings, geloofwaardigheid en vertroue geniet in die oë van die meerderheid van mense . Hierdie aanvaarding versterk die hipotese dat die kerk ‘n betroubare, waardige en waardevolle katalis vir gemeenskapsontwikkeling binne die sosiale ontwikkelingsparadigma kan wees. Dit sou naief wees om die uitdagings wat deel van die premis (uitgangspunt) is, te ignoreer, en hierdie verhandeling vermy dit doelbewus. Hoofstuk 5 gee erkenning aan die onophoudelike betrokkenheid van die kerk in die ontwikkelingsdomein. Hoofstuk 6 verwys na die teologiese impak van hierdie uitdagings op die praktiese daaglikse lewe en essensie van die kerk. Dit poog om in teologiese terme te wys wat dit deesdae beteken om kerk te wees. Teen die agtergrond van die voorafgaande hoofstukke, en bewus van die feit dat geen studie op absolutisme aanspraak kan maak nie, word hierdie studie afgesluit deur Hoofstuk 7, met ‘n paar praktiese voorstelle en aanbevelings betreffende wat van nut mag wees vir plaaslike regering, die kerk, en almal vir wie gemeenskapsontwikkeling belangrik is.

The semi-arid forms of subtropical thicket in the Eastern and Western Cape have been heavily degraded through unsustainable pastoralism over the last century or more. The degraded areas exhibit a significant loss of above-ground and belowground carbon stocks, and consequently provide an opportunity for restoration through the formal and informal carbon markets. A prerequisite for the attainment of carbon credits is to ensure sound carbon stock baselines prior to effecting restoration. I report on the carbon stocks (including sub-pools) for a number of intact subtropical thicket types, as well as the differentials between the intact and degraded states (including the sub-pools). Total carbon stocks (TCS in t C ha⁻¹) for intact vegetation (to a soil depth 0–25 cm), ranged from 87.73±6.51 to 70.64±17.24. For degraded vegetation (including old lands), TCS (t C ha⁻¹) ranged from 34.05±3.61 to 21.03±2.70. For all vegetation types, the differentials in TCS along the degradation gradient (0–25 cm) are highly significant and strengthen the possibility for carbon credit financing to catalyse the restoration of the degraded semi-arid subtropical thickets. This study has shown a mean loss of 57.23 t C ha⁻¹ in Baviaanskloof spekboom thickets, when measured to a soil depth of 25 cm. Portulacaria afra is a key species within the semi-arid subtropical thickets, being a canopy dominant and a driver of soil nutrient status, but has been largely lost from the degraded landscapes. Degraded semi-arid subtropical thicket vegetation lacks regeneration via seedling recruitment; restoration therefore requires the manual replanting of P. afra using cut truncheons. Survivorship trials were undertaken infield in 2005 to establish restoration protocols for P. afra, with survivorship being recorded in 2006 and 2008. Overall survivorship for all treatments was found to be 43.2±2.8% in 2006, dropping to 35.8±2.7% in 2008. Planting posture (flat or upright) showed the most significant results of all the factors tested in 2006 and 2008. Micro-damming also influenced survivorship in that micro-damming was associated with marginally higher survivorship (47.4 ±2.0% with damming vs. 39.1±1.5% without damming in 2006, and 39.3±1.9% vs. 32.3±1.5% in 2008). Higher planting density only showed a significant positive impact on survivorship in 2008. Neither stem diameter nor clumping significantly affected degree of survival. A key finding in the study has been the non-static nature of P. afra truncheon survivorship, even after being well established (three years since planting). The results from the study will guide the restoration protocols for the restoration of degraded subtropical thickets, where P. afra requires replanting.