Magister Artium - MA / This minithesis provides an ethnographic account of the life world of older people in the community of Belhar in the Cape Peninsula, which was historically categorised as a 'coloured' community during the implementation of the Group Areas Act. By content analysing newspaper articles published in the early 1980s and specifically during the implementation of the Group Areas Act I found that many of the residents reported that they lived in fear of their lives, in what was once known as a 'prestige suburb'. At the present time the community of Belhar is an intensely gang-infested area. From preliminary research done by myself at a senior citizen centre in Belhar, the high incidence of violence was a recurring theme throughout discussions with older people. In fact when I posed the question Why do you come to the centre five days a week? to a group of older people they answered without hesitation It is unsafe for an older person to be alone during the day. Answers like these to many of the questions that I posed would almost always be followed with Things were better then. It also was apparent that the older people in this community remember (or perhaps reconstruct) the past in the context of their present living situation. This became the leading theme in my study and is also the background against which I had formulated my research questions. However this study not only focused on the impact of the high incidence of violence on the community of older people but also essentially looked at elderly residents; everyday lived experiences in Belhar. The research sample consisted of twenty elderly residents and four key informants. The latter provided mainly infrastructural data on the community. Primary data was collected by using ethnographic techniques of inquiry which included participant observation and unstructured interviews. Results revealed that older people occupy a liminal space both in the community and in their households. I also found that the elderly stroke victim is twice silenced and marginalized due to the constraints brought on by their chronic illness and their status as an older person in the community. / South Africa

Die geskiedenis van die Ned. Geref. Kerk (NGK) draai sedert 1960 om twee belangrike hoofmomente - die publikasie van twee beleid-stukke: Ras, Volk en Nasie (RVN) 1974 en Kerk en Samelewing (KES) 1986. Na afloop van die historiese Cottesloe-beraad in 1960 is die NGK met kritieke vrae rondom die rassekwessie gekonfronteer. Vir 14 jaar het die kerk via verskillende sinodes met hierdie vraagstuk geworstel voordat 'n antwoord in 1974 gereed was: Ras, Volk en Nasie en Volkereverhoudinge in die lig van die Skrif. Binne sowel as buite Suid-Afrika het die kerk hom egter vasgeloop teen geweldige kritiek op hierdie standpunt. Dit was teen 1979 duidelik dat die kerk hom in 'n doodloopstraat bevind het. Dit was egter nie alleen die kritiek op sy beleid wat die kerk weer laat dink het nie. Vanaf 1980 tot 1982 het vier belangrike gebeurtnisse plaasgevind wat soos impulse op die kerk ingewerk het. Dit was die Hervormingsdaggetuienis, die Ope Brief, die Vergadering van die Wêreldbond van Gereformeerde Kerke in Ottawa en die aanvaarding van 'n Belhar-belydenis deur die Ned. Geref. Sendingkerk. Hierdie gebeure het met woord en daad gehelp dat die kerk in 1982 ‘n historiese besluit kon neem, naamlik om RVN te hersien. Na vier jaar van hernude Skrifstudie en diskussie het 'n konsepverslag in 1986 voor die Algemene Sinode gedien, waar dit aanvaar is onder die titel: Kerk en Samelewing - 'n Getuienis van die Ned. Geref. Kerk. Oop kerkdeure, oop lidmaatskap, en die veroordeling van apartheid as sonde het duidelik getoon dat die kerk 'n totaal nuwe koers ingeslaan het - met tragiese gevolge! Die beroering wat binne die kerk losgebars het, het binne maande in omvang gegroei, en op 27 Junie 1987 het 'n groep lidmate van die kerk weggebreek om die Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk te stig. Hierdie gebeure en die stigting van die Ned. Geref. Bond het die NGK by die eerste kruispad op sy nuut ingeslane weg gebring! / Thesis (DD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Church History and Church Policy / Unrestricted

The writing of this thesis was inspired by a chance remark I had with a friend from the Dutch Reformed Church. I had made the point that having been through such a difficult time of apartheid in South Africa we shall not cross the same river twice. His response to me was that it may be true but cautioned that we needed to be careful not to cross a different river the same wrong way. It was then that I decided on a hypothesis that the Kairos Document could still be a guide to the present day events in a new democratic dispensation. I then embarked on a study to revisit the Kairos Document to research whether it could assist the Church once more as it grappled with the question of how to relate to this new government that has been elected by the majority of the people of South Africa. The rationale behind all this was twofold: one, fighting apartheid was a hard struggle but clear-cut, it was the apartheid enemy as represented by an easily identifiable National Party and a compliant church, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC); two, the temptation to repeat what the DRC did during apartheid was highly likely. The Church today needs to learn from past mistakes so as not to repeat them. The DRC had an opportunity to positively shape events in South Africa but chose to take the wrong path of leading the State into the disastrous policy of apartheid. The thesis traces a brief history of the Dutch Reformed Church and how it had failed the entire Church and the country by promoting State Theology, as described by the Kairos Document. Profuse source documents on the history of the DRC have already been written and from which I got my information. Among the writers on the history of the DRC were Cecil Ngcokovane and Colleen Ryan who wrote Demons of Apartheid and Beyers Naude: Pilgrimage of Faith respectively, and who gave excellently researched material on the history of the DRC in respect of the rise and fall of apartheid. My research led me to another insight, namely, that there were also other Afrikaner prophets apart from Beyers Naude who suffered greatly within the DRC, and that they have gone mainly unnoticed. What followed was the history of the Church with its fight against apartheid. The leading light in the fight was the leadership of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) with its programmes. There were other strong organisations such as the Black Sash whose work was invaluable, but these did not fall within my scope of research. In addition to my own knowledge of and experience within the SACC, as Director of Faith and Mission, and before this having been Organising Secretary of the Western Province Council of Churches (WPCC), my observer-participant status had been greatly enhanced. For further information I used the South African History Archives (SAHA) at the Cullinan Library, Witwatersand University, for my primary sources, and other relevant books and documents written by SACC stalwart and theologian, Wolfram Kistner, by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and by Bernard Spong who was for years in the Communications department of the SACC. I traced briefly the history of the struggle for liberation in South Africa from the general perspective, especially from 1912 when the African National Congress was started through to the Pan African Congress’ 1960 march which led to the Sharpeville shootings, to the efforts of the Black Consciousness Movement from 1968 to the 1976 Students Uprising until the advent of the new South Africa. The oppressed people of South Africa did a lot to revive pride among themselves as a downtrodden people with many efforts from a number of initiatives. The Trade Unions, COSATU in particular, also shook the foundations of apartheid in an effective targeting of the economic situation and big business. The thesis shows how South Africans attacked apartheid from different angles. The production of the Kairos Document seemed to overshadow a number of other efforts that had been undertaken by the Church and yet the KD was a comment on the lackluster contribution of the Church with a view to making it true to its calling. There had been a series of initiatives, including many other publications, which tried to challenge the apartheid government to change its ways. The government then always responded with more repressive laws. Among the series of attempts at destroying apartheid was the establishment of the Wilgespruiit Fellowship Centre to promote friendship and training against a government policy that thrived on racial separation. After the Sharpeville massacre there was the Cottesloe Consultation in 1960 which was sponsored by the World Council of Churches, another church body that was very active in its support for the victims of apartheid. There was also the Christian Institute which became so reputable that it got banned by the government. The Message to the People of South Africa in 1968 made some inroads in terms of raising the level of the debate among white people especially. Many white people at that time enjoyed the insulation against the sufferings of the black masses which they enjoyed through the policy of isolation. The Belhar Confession in 1982 shook the DRC because it contained elements which were directly in opposition to the teachings of the DRC regarding the separation of races. Other catalysts towards change were the Soweto Students’ Uprisings against Afrikaans as a language of instruction at schools in line with Bantu Education. There were also rent boycotts and boycotts of businesses to force the government to change. By the early eighties repression had escalated so much that a group of Christian activists met, first in Cape Town and then in Johannesburg, to chart what is now known as the Kairos Document (Speckman and Kaufmann 2001:18ff). My research dealt with the three types of theologies as expounded by the KD: State Theology, Church Theology and Prophetic Theology. Again my participant-observer position was activated because I became the next Director of the Institute of Contextual Theology (ICT) and have understood the KD’s importance in the broader history of the Church. The literature I have used had to do with liberation and hope as found in writers such as Moltmann, Jacques Ellul, and liberation theologians such as Albert Nolan, Church and State theologians such as Charles Villa-Vicencio and John de Gruchy and many others. In my research I analysed the situation in the Church today as exposed by interviews and questionnaires with those who had been involved with the KD before, plus a social analysis gleaned from the media and from discussions and relevant writings. The result of my research is that there are principles and ideas contained in the KD and that the three theologies will be applicable for a long time to come. The context has changed remarkably but the Church needs to develop itself to be able to meet a different challenge. The Church can still fall into the same trap as the DRC did during the time of apartheid by doing the reverse and opting out of issues, and by not assisting the government and the country to mobilise its forces to work towards nation building. Furthermore, the Church needs to work more with other religions across the board to fight against the ills within the country which know no borders. I maintain again, as I say in my conclusion, that there is still more to be done in this field of the Research I have undertaken and my intention here is to awaken debate again towards a healthy Church-State relationship with the Church constantly being aware of the imperative preferential option for the poor and oppressed. There is another added kind of “poor and oppressed”. How is the Church going to deal with those who have become poor by the quality of a life of the poverty of consumerism and materialism plus the oppression of a greedy lifestyle. The Church dare not ignore its mandate. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

The original publication is available at http://www.ve.org.za / Reconciliation in a divided society, like the South African one, is in dire need of a new moral discourse and praxis. This article argues that this moral discourse must also be conducted on an often forgotten level, namely in the worshipping praxis of the Church. The article describes the renewed interest of ethicists and liturgists in the relationship between liturgy and ethics and especially the role of rituals. The article then focuses on the renewal of basic Christian rituals like preaching and sacraments, prayer and praise to serve this much needed moral discourse. / Publishers' Version

Magister Artium - MA / The study explores the negotiation of identities through linguistic innovations such as codeswitching, code-mixing and differing language choices in different domains of home and school in Belhar. The focus is to examine how languages are used to negotiate class, age, generational, socio-economic, etc differences in selected schools and homes in the community of Belhar. The specific study objectives include the following: 1. To find out the linguistic options and identities (including hybrid identities), that are available to the Belhar community. 2. To explore how Afrikaans and English (and other languages) are used as linguistic resources in the community of Belhar. The Belvue Primary school was used as a vehicle to gain access to the families in Belhar which were used as case studies. The data was collected by observing learners in the classroom, interviewing educators, interviewing parents and observing linguistic practices in the homes/families of selected learners. Using poststructuralist coupled with the social constructionist approach the study is a clear departure from studies and paradigms current in vogue in South Africa, which have linked language and ethnic identity in unambiguous ways. These paradigms also see ethnic identity as fixed and communities as homogenous and language as having a one-to-one correlation with identity. However, these studies do not consider that identities are constructed and negotiated during interaction with others. In this regard it was found that individuals in the community of Belhar constantly construct and negotiate identity using language as central to the identity behaviour. Thus ultimately their language and identity cannot be described as pro-English or pro- Afrikaans.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The Republic of South Africa is faced with an extremely problematic high rate of poverty, shortages of skills and youth unemployment. This phenomenon is amongst blacks (predominantly African and coloured). This thesis therefore, argues that job creation is a very important measure to address youth unemployment and related socio-economic problems though; the majority of youth in South Africa have been classified as unskilled, uneducated and unemployable. The implementation of skills development programmes remains a huge problem. It has been also assumed that youth development programme have been inaccurately interpreted. TheYouth development is an evolutionary development in which all young people are engaged in attempting to build skills, and competencies, to meet their social needs and for the development of the community (Pittman 1993: 3). It is in this regard that the researcher selected Belhar in the Western Cape as a setting to investigate the problematic mentioned above. Although the 2011 census report stated that people living in the area of Belhar have access to electricity, refuse removal, water and sanitation, up to now poverty and youth unemployment remain alarming in this community. The study indicates that there is a youth development policy existing on paper at all levels of South African governments however its implementation remains a major problem. The research is exploratory in nature and uses qualitative techniques of inquiry. The researcher also uses secondary data such as conference papers and the City of Cape Town’s budget documents as a form of gathering information for analysis. The study explores the present youth programme and local government’s capacity in the surrounding community of Belhar. The data collected during this study through interviews, reveals that the youth programme is in existence in Belhar, however there is incapacity and lack of cooperation between the councilors, Belhar youth leaders and the City of Cape Town’s Municipality. The study further reveals that since ever the youth programme started in December 2013 under the leadership of the Belhar councilors, there were only two beneficiaries from the “youth” of that entire community who got employment after attendance for skills training. The finding further indicates that the programme mostly did not achieve its goals.

Discussions with members of the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa in Ohrigstad, illustrate the possibilities of ubuntu language in dealing with misunderstanding and distrust. This research utilises a narrative approach, based on a postmodern epistemology and pastoral practical theology that explores ubuntu language as a helpful discourse. It engages the context of these two churches in Ohrigstad and investigates experiences and challenges within the local community. The local experiences are described against the broader history of the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, which the Ohrigstad churches are imbedded in. Individual narrative research conversations with church members in Ohrigstad display a longstanding relationship with stories of trust and distrust. This culminates into a group discussion that explores the role of ubuntu language - and at times the lack thereof - in the concrete relationship between these two faith communities as an expression of recent South African history. The conversations offer local knowledge which displays both unique outcomes by strengthening identity, unleashing potential, celebrating diversity, awakening solidarity, revealing humanity, bolstering responsibility and enhancing Christianity, and it also deconstructs oppressive discourses including race and otherness, rich and poor, and language. The research offers an approach to deal with distrust and misunderstanding on grass roots level, using insights gained from ubuntu language. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

Thesis (D. Th.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Christian confessions are frequently seen as Christian documents that have nothing to do with the subject of politics. This study endeavours to investigate the relationship between Christian confessions and politics, looking particularly at how the relationship between them has been construed in the theology of Karl Barth, the Barmen Declaration and the Belhar Confession. It concludes that a relationship between confession and politics is unavoidable, yet this relationship is only best comprehended when one looks at it in a confessional manner. A ‘confessional manner’ of reading Karl Barth’s theology is explained. Issues such as the primacy of the Word of God, the church as the subject of theology, the public witness of Christ to the world, the political context in which this theology takes place, as well as the ethical implications which emanates from this theology characterises confessional theology. The usage of the concept “confession” is informed by Barth’s observation that as Christians we are obliged to speak about God, but we are human beings and therefore cannot speak about God in an manner that suggest that God is fully comprehensible. By confining itself not merely to his monumental work – the Church Dogmatics – but also to Barth’s preceding and succeeding works, this research is able to render a detailed illustration of how Barth viewed the relationship of confessions to politics. Chapter 1 establishes the confessional nature of his theology. This chapter traces the most influential people and events that shaped the confessional nature of Barth’s theology. These include Luther, Kant, the Blumhardts, as well as Calvin and the Reformed theology in particular. Chapter 2 investigates whether Barth was true to his 1925 understanding of what constituted a Reformed confession when he was confronted with the need to confess in 1934. The historicity of the Barmen Theological Declaration is explored to illustrate that Barth continued to view theology in a confessional manner. Chapter 3 deals with Barth’s Church Dogmatics, illustrating that Barth never wanted his work to be seen as a complete event, but preferred to see it as a process. It argues that contrary to the 1930s where Barth’s theology insisted on the essence of confessional theology, the entire Church Dogmatics (especially the parts that proceeds the era indicated) should be read as confessional theology. Chapter 4 deals with the Belhar Confession that was adopted in South African in 1986. Admitting that the Belhar Confession was influenced by the theology of Barth, the characteristics of confessional theology are also explored in this Confession. It is argued that many have failed to see the Belhar Confession’s call for embodiment, because they have interpreted this Confession without regard for the new church order. Finally, it is argued that the confessional nature of Belhar allows this Confession to contribute positively to the current democratic dispensation in South Africa. It is admitted that the Belhar Confession is a confession of its time and. It is also argued that a confessional theology can be a suitable theological alternative that can contribute to the current theological deliberations. Additionally a confessional theology can provide a platform of discussing ways in which theology and politics, which remain intertwined, can both exist side by side, without the one dictating to the other. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Christelike belydenisse word dikwels beskou as Christelike verklarings wat geen verband met die politiek het nie. Gevolglik is daar 'n neiging om hierdie dokumente bloot te sien as teologies maar nie polities nie. Hierdie navorsing bespreek dié siening, maar voer aan dat, hoewel hierdie dokumente nie as sodanig polities is nie, ons tog nie die politieke kontekste waaruit hulle voortspruit, kan ignoreer nie. Twee belydenisse word gebruik om hierdie punt te illustreer, naamlik die Barmen Teologiese Verklaring (1934) in Nazi-Duitsland, en die Belharbelydenis (1986) gedurende die apartheidsregering in Suid-Afrika. Die gevolgtrekking van hierdie studie is dat daar in die teologie van Karl Barth én die Belhar Belydenis 'n onvermydelike verhouding tussen die Christelike belydenis en politiek bestaan. Die woord ”belydenis” word hier in verband gebring met Barth se interpretasie van die opdrag om oor God te praat uit hoofde van ons Christelike oortuigings, en ons onvermoë om oor God te praat weens ons menslike feilbaarheid. Hiervolgens is belydende teologie gekant teen neigings om oor God te praat op 'n manier wat voorgee dat God in sy volheid aan ons bekend is. Vyf opsigtelike kenmerke in die teologie van Barth word ondersoek. Hierdie kenmerke illustreer die mate waartoe teologie en politiek aan mekaar verwant is, en dat politiek altyd in Barth se teologie geïmpliseer word. Die studie voer ook aan dat Barth se teologie relevant is omdat dit probeer om die Woord op 'n ander manier te interpreteer na aanleiding van die spesifieke konteks waarbinne daar oor God gepraat word. Die studie beweer verder dat Barth se hele teologie as belydende teologie gelees moet word. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat belydende teologie verskil van “konfessionalisme” en altyd die beliggaming van dít wat bely word, impliseer. Deur hierdie kenmerke van belydende teologie in die teologie van Barth waar te neem, word daar besef dat sy teologie steeds ‘n deurslaggewende rol in ander teologiese kontekste speel. Om hierdie rede word daar aangevoer dat die Belharbelydenis grootliks deur die teologie van Barth beïnvloed is. Die debat oor die Belharbelydenis bring ook belangrike vrae oor die teologiese situasie in Suid-Afrika na vore. Ten slotte word daar aangevoer dat belydende teologie 'n nuttige teologie is wat teologie in die algemeen kan beskerm teen die kloue van “geteologiseerde politiek”. Hierdie teologie kan dus steeds 'n konstruktiewe bydrae tot die huidige teologiese debatte in 'n demokratiese Suid-Afrika lewer.

The Coloured community of Southern Africa, just like other ethnic groups, has been shaped by many factors (politics, economy, secularization, etc.). This ‘otherness’ also caused God to be regarded in a unique way – his role in this world, his involvement in this community and, finally, what his church should look like and how it should function. The crux of this mini dissertation is to look specifically at this unique image of God. I humbly apologize for my use of classification and I do not want to revert to the former dispensation, but it is of the utmost importance for matters such as church union that colour and opinions be discussed. The story of the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa between 1976 and 2005 has been followed in greater detail both with a church historical and autobiographical approach. Some perspectives on the future of this church are provided. / Dissertation (MDiv (Church History))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / For many decades, the World Health Organisation had highlighted the growing importance of chronic non-communicable diseases in developed and developing countries, with an increase in lifestyle-related diseases. Physical inactivity has been identified as one of the risk factors, in addition to other leading risk factors like diet, and the use of tobacco and alcohol, contributing to the occurrence of non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancers, obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Based on the researcher's observations while living in Belhar community for more then ten years, it was hypothesized that the level of physical inactivity among adolescents could become a public health problem in the future if not addressed immediately. / South Africa