D.Arch., Faculty of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, 1953

This research project investigates black cognitive structuring of their residential environment in the Grahamstown location. A clinical psychological method (repertory grid method) was used to elicit the construct systems of residents. The associative construct theory formulated by Kelly (1955) was used in interpreting the data set from the liberal perspective. The radical perspective demonstrated an alternative interpretation. A focus of the study centres around the possible implications of this type of research for planning action. The results showed that the repertory grid did appear to accurately reflect people's construing systems regarding their circumstances and behaviour. However, Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Theory proved inadequate as a theory of explanation as to why people construed in the manner they did. To enhance this explanation, the marxist approach to the theory of knowledge was investigated.

As a result of apartheid’s history, the current South African government was initially faced with two major challenges in the development of sustainable human settlement in urban areas: delivering the quantity of houses needed to reduce the massive housing backlog (notably in black townships) and overcoming the problem of racially-based spatial separation inherited from the apartheid era. To rectify the legacies of apartheid, the state has sought to pursue a massive housing programme in urban areas for poor urban blacks. In doing so, though, it has worked within the confines of the racially-segregated South African city and has adopted a macro-economic policy with a pronounced neo-liberal thrust. This thesis examines the South African state’s housing programme with reference to questions about social sustainability and specifically sustainable human settlements. It does so by highlighting social capital and the different forms it takes, notably bonding, binding and linking capitals. This is pursued through a case study of a small area of a black township in Grahamstown called Hlalani. The case focuses on the lived experiences of Hlalani residents and their intra-household and inter-household relations as well as their linkages with local state structures. It is concluded that social capital is weak and incipient in Hlalani and that Hlalani could not, by any definition or measurement of the term, be labeled as a sustainable human settlement.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 131-135. / by David Peter Daniels. / M.C.P.

This thesis examines the emergence and development of the African working class in Durban between 1959 and 1985. It begins with an analysis of Durban's economy, which significantly changed .the lives of Africans. It shows how, during an era of economic boom, of intensive state repres•ion and unparalleled social engineering, the state intervened in the shaping of the African community and created the oppressive setting of the African working class, which was to pose the greatest challenge to the established order. The forced removals of the underclasses to the newly established apartheid townships during the late 1950s and early 1960s had a profound influence on the social and political history of this working class. Once African trade unions had been crippled and formal oppositional politics crushed, South African industrial relations enjoyed relative "peace" which was disturbed by the covert forms of worker resistance. In the 1970s the economic position of Durban's African working class was rather tenuous, as earnings had remained static since the 1960s despite the booming economy. Because of this, urban workers felt social and economic pressures from both apartheid and capitalism and responded in a way that shocked both employers and the government. In January 1973 Durban was rocked by strikes, which broke the silence of the 1960s when the South African Congress of Trade Unions declined and the African National Congress and Pan-African Congress were banned. The outbreak of the 1973 Durban strikes marked a new beginning in the labour history and industrial relations of Durban and South Africa in general. A new blend of African independent trade unions emerged with their distinctive style of organisation. They focused on factory-based issues which reaped benefits for the workers in the long-run and managed to sustain pressure from both the state and employers. During this period, however, the African working class paid a high price, enduring miserable conditions, earning wages below the poverty line, experiencing a breakdown in family structure, and living with crime and violence, police repression and the criminalisation of much social and economic life. By 1985, these unions had established themselves so firmly that the state regarded them as a serious challenge. Indeed, the making of Durban's African working class was no easy task and its history shows suffering, change, mobility and accomplishment. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History)

Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand / AC 2018

This thesis examines the emergence and development of the African working class in Durban between 1959 and 1985. It begins with an analysis of Durban's economy, which significantly changed .the lives of Africans. It shows how, during an era of economic boom, of intensive state repres•ion and unparalleled social engineering, the state intervened in the shaping of the African community and created the oppressive setting of the African working class, which was to pose the greatest challenge to the established order. The forced removals of the underclasses to the newly established apartheid townships during the late 1950s and early 1960s had a profound influence on the social and political history of this working class. Once African trade unions had been crippled and formal oppositional politics crushed, South African industrial relations enjoyed relative "peace" which was disturbed by the covert forms of worker resistance. In the 1970s the economic position of Durban's African working class was rather tenuous, as earnings had remained static since the 1960s despite the booming economy. Because of this, urban workers felt social and economic pressures from both apartheid and capitalism and responded in a way that shocked both employers and the government. In January 1973 Durban was rocked by strikes, which broke the silence of the 1960s when the South African Congress of Trade Unions declined and the African National Congress and Pan-African Congress were banned. The outbreak of the 1973 Durban strikes marked a new beginning in the labour history and industrial relations of Durban and South Africa in general. A new blend of African independent trade unions emerged with their distinctive style of organisation. They focused on factory-based issues which reaped benefits for the workers in the long-run and managed to sustain pressure from both the state and employers. During this period, however, the African working class paid a high price, enduring miserable conditions, earning wages below the poverty line, experiencing a breakdown in family structure, and living with crime and violence, police repression and the criminalisation of much social and economic life. By 1985, these unions had established themselves so firmly that the state regarded them as a serious challenge. Indeed, the making of Durban's African working class was no easy task and its history shows suffering, change, mobility and accomplishment. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History)

M.A. / Urbanization is a common feature worldwide and is even more prevalent in modern societies. This has brought tremendous changes to all known social structures. Third world countries, including South Africa, usually lack the capacity to effectively accommodate the influx from rural areas. A shortage of houses is the main reason for informal settlements being erected on the outskirts of these cities. Informal settlements are expanding almost daily. This can either be contributed to the insufficient infrastructures provided by third world cities or the influx of people from surrounding areas. There is a definite difference between the problems experienced by people living within the formal and informal parts of a city. The different type of problems experience by people living in different type of settlements has a direct influence on the survival of households in different settlements. Although previous studies have been conducted to determine the household structures in informal settlements, none have helped to give an understanding of the survival methods used by these settlements. Knowledge of their survival methods is needed to help support and develop these settlements. This study is therefore aimed at determining how these mostly unemployed and homeless people survive, considering their limited resources. A qualitative study was conducted, in the form of unstructured interviews, with the heads of twenty one households in Mandela informal settlement near Daveyton. Only twenty of the interviews were used for the purpose of this study. The main areas of investigation were: the biographical information of the households to determine whether different survival skills are used by certain household types, means to earn an income, the problems experienced with domestic services, and how different households solve these problems. In this study no indication could be found that there are links between the household structure, survival methods and problem solving skills of different households in the Mandela area. The normal household structures, such as nuclear family, single- and extended households, were found in Mandela. In this sample, most nuclear families consist of between two and six family members. Amount the respondents most working members of these households are employed in the informal sector. The respondents income range from 8500.00 to 81000.00 monthly. In this study is was found that households with no income rely heavily on family and friends for support. Most households in this study have running water, electricity, removal of refuse and sewerage systems in place. Most of the respondents in this study believe that these services are commodities. Except for their complaint about the costs involved, the respondents have no problems with the services. Households in study seem to have adapted to their circumstances and cope without amenities though people living in formal settlements would not. This, however, does not mean that they do not have the need for these services. After the study was conducted to find out whether the household that were interviewed in this study, use different type of strategies to survive in Mandela the findings indicated that there are perhaps no clear-cut survival strategies between different household types. Therefore the researcher argued that, perhaps living in an informal settlement is in itself a strategy of survival. This, however, needs to be further investigated.

Bibliography: pages 344-361. / In this thesis I outline the history of Nyanga up to 1970. Diverse aspects are covered, including location politics, women's protests, rent arrears and boycotts, and gangsterism. There is a special focus on housing issues, for they were related to most facets of location life and demonstrated the contradictions within apartheid policy. Four themes are followed throughout the thesis. First, the extent to which the state achieved control of the African urban population is assessed, particularly in terms of its housing and influx control policies. I argue that the formulation and implementation of policies were influenced minimally by pressures "from below", and that central and local authorities achieved extensive control over the lives of urban Africans. Nevertheless, government officials did not succeed in curbing African urbanisation or controlling the residential movement of urban Africans, as witnessed by the high number of "illegal" Africans and consistently high tenancy turnover. A second topic that threads its way through the thesis is the role of African constables and clerks in Nyanga. I show that residents working with the location administration were attracted particularly to the material benefits of collaboration. Utilising their linguistic skills and knowledge of location inhabitants, they extracted money and sexual favours from Nyanga residents and were given first priority in the allocation of Old Location houses. They did not, however, form an identifiable social group as they came from diverse occupational and educational backgrounds and did not associate closely with one another. A third theme is the differential impact of apartheid laws on African women. I outline the laws that applied to urban African women and describe the actual process by which they were expelled from the Cape Peninsula. Arising from this, the changing nature and scope of women's demonstrations in Nyanga is described. My research shows that the protests of the early 1950s, which were small, infrequent, and centred on local issues, broadened in the late 1950s to include the application of pass laws to African women. The reasons for the change are shown to be both political and material in nature, with their origin in the forced removals from Peninsula shack settlements. Fourthly, I have concentrated on spatial dynamics at various points. There were significant differences in physical space between Mau-Mau and the Old Location, which contributed to the social distance between the two neighbourhoods. During the massive "black spot" clearance campaign of the 1950s, the authorities succeeded in gaining spatial control over Africans by forcing them into segregated, fenced locations where entry and exit was monitored. To counteract this, residents asserted their control over the transit camp by constructing shacks in such a way as to impede raiding pass officials and make administrative surveillance of their lives difficult. The contradictory effects of placing contract workers in accommodation next to families are also examined: on the one hand, there was considerable socialising and cooperation between the two groups; on the other, much friction developed over the relationships between women in the married quarters and men in the hostels.

M.A. (Social Work) / Poverty is perceived by various authors to bea challenge in African countries, including South Africa. O’Brien and Mazibuko (1998, p. 140) state that poverty “is characterised by a host of factors, including under-nutrition, unemployment, illiteracy, and unequal and poor access to health, housing, education and decision-making resources”. The above-mentioned authors state that these factors both result from and perpetuate poverty. According to Rogerson (1996), the effects of poverty are seen more among the black communities, and there is more poverty in the informal settlements compared to other residential areas. After 1994, one of the South African government’s key priorities was to eradicate poverty and the focus was on the improvement of the standard of living and quality of life for all South Africans. Various strategies and policies were then introduced in order to alleviate poverty, one of them beingthe introduction of social assistance (Ellis, 2011, pp. 63-72). According to Triegaardt and Patel (2005), social security in the developing countries, including South Africa, is very important for poverty reduction and ensuring a basic minimum standard of living for the people. The above-mentioned authors also emphasise that there is a need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of social assistance as this will help to ascertainif the programme is making any contribution to the lives of the people and to help keep up with the changing environment. This study focused on the contribution of social grants to alleviating poverty in an informal settlement. The research study aimed to assess the beneficiaries’ perspectives on the contribution of social grants to alleviating poverty in an informal settlement. Some of the objectives of the study were to explore the perspectives of social grant beneficiaries in Angelo informal settlement on the role of social grants in their lives and to describe how social grant beneficiaries in Angelo informal settlement understand the impact of social grants on their poverty-stricken conditions. This qualitative study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. Ten individual semistructured interviews were conducted in the Angelo informal settlement using an interview schedule. Themes were used to categorise and analyse data. The findings indicated that social grants play a great role in alleviating poverty in an informal...