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The ushering in of the new democratic government came with high expectations from all South Africans in terms of how development processes were to unfold. The previous system had made it virtually impossible for people on the ground to be informed of all developments within areas where they lived. This resulted in great suspicions on the part of communities as they only saw things just happening, in many instances such activities had no direct impact on their lives. The new government, as elected by the people, had to address this matter in order to ensure that all development processes had a meaning to the daily lives of ordinary South Africans. This assumes that for development to be meaningful, such development should be based on a realistic understanding of the needs of the people. Such needs can only be determined through a process of consultation, and in that process communication between government, other development agencies and communities is vital. Institutions of local government have been seen as critical pillars in the process of uplifting the standards of living of people in South Africa, and therefore this sphere of government is critical for government to be seen as making a positive contribution to people's daily livelihoods. The ability of this sphere of government to address the needs of local people is therefore dependent upon the extent to which communication with residents would be prioritised, and the level at which communities would be accorded an opportunity to make contributions to local development initiatives. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Office Management and Technology)-Durban Institute of Technology, 2004 v, 105 leaves / This topic was initiated because of love of community development and information communication application by the researcher. It was further strengthened by taking part during the International Wowen University (Ifu) practice in 2000. The main theme of the study was Information Age. Ifu is well known as the virtual university, which is based in Germany at the University of Hamburg. The researcher, together with eight other women from different countries, designed and developed a model for community development by using ICTs. The model can be used as a basic guide for similar projects. The work, therefore in this thesis is based on personal experiences shared experiences, and research as well as by reading others experiences. This study provides ideas for potential community development by using Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in rural areas with special reference to Ward Three of Durban Metro. The results of the study confirmed the saying “If you can’t beat them join them”. This study reported on research conducted in two different rural areas known as Bamshela and Ward Three. The results from the first area Bamshela, illustrated the way forward for Ward Three. Since the ICTs center exists in Bamshela the author received more information about the centre’s utilisation than its establishment. The focus on the second area emphasises the necessity, awareness and participation in community development. The three specifics focuses on whether there is a need for the ICTs centre for community development. Further more the study focused on areas where ICTs played prominent roles, such as in policy making, education, globalisation, ICTs, community development and participation of community members in community development projects.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture,Building and Planning, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 371-401).

Contrary to earlier beliefs and media theories such as the hypodermic needle or magic bullet, the audience of public communication is not a passive homogenous mass that easily succumbs to media influence. The audience is active, that is, it makes an effort to interpret media content. Depending on predisposing cultural, political, religious, or economic factors the audience makes different meanings from media texts. Media messages are not wholly controlled by producers, although the producers have their preferred and expected readings. Using qualitative research techniques associated with ethnographic and cultural studies (notably focus group discussions), this study sought to explore the meanings rural people in Malawi make out of human rights and gender messages broadcast on radio and through music. Interpreted against Stuart Hall's (1974b) Encoding and Decoding model, the study concludes that while rural communities understand and appreciate the new sociopolitical discourse, they take a negotiated stance because they have their own doubts and fears. They fear losing their cultural identity. Additionally, men, in particular, negotiate the messages because they fear losing their social power over land, property and family.

MPM / Oliver Reginald Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / Community participation is a concept which is meant to ensure that community members are an integral part of processes that determine their destination in relation to their development needs. It is a means of empowering people by developing their skills and abilities to enable them to negotiate and make appropriate decisions for their development. Community participation, however, is not without its challenges. In most development projects initiated by local municipalities and other government departments, community participation appears to be an afterthought. In this regard, the study aimed to investigate challenges of community participation in Tickyline. The research methods used for this study were both qualitative and quantitative and data was collected from twenty-two (22) research participants using open-ended interviews and questionnaires. Data was analysed using thematic method and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Findings The study revealed that majority of the participants do not participate in development projects because some meetings are arranged during odd times, particularly during the initial phases of the projects. The study further revealed that these challenges of participation are influenced by officials who take decisions on behalf of communities as they regard the participants as less capable of taking independent decisions regarding their own projects. It was found that community projects are literally imposed to the communities and therefore, participation and community involvement is very minimal which consequently collapses the projects. Recommendations Consequent to the findings, it is recommended that community leaders should make community meetings open to all community members. There should be regular community gatherings to discuss issues affecting the community; and there should be inclusion of community members in every phase of projects by municipal and government members to ensure maximum participation in relation to development projects. The officials should regard the participants as important stakeholders in the development of the projects in the area. Community members should be literally made ii sole beneficiaries of development projects from the inception to the hand-over phase. By so doing, they will be able to sustain both themselves and the development projects within their area. / NRF

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Information and Communications Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Existing literature indicates that the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKSs) in the school curriculum have the potential to increase academic performance. However, formal education is still unable to integrate ICTs into the teaching and learning of school subjects, especially, those that are related to IKSs. This research therefore aims to construct a model of the factors shaping learners’ perceptions on the usefulness of ICTs for the teaching and learning of IKSs. This aim is sub-divided into four research objectives: (a) to identify appropriate technology diffusion theories for the investigation of the factors shaping learners’ perceptions on the usefulness of ICTs for the teaching and learning of IKSs, (b) to construct a theoretical model of the factors shaping learners’ perceptions on the usefulness of ICTs for the teaching and learning of IKSs, (c) to perform an empirical confirmation of the above announced theoretical model of the factors shaping the perceptions of learners on the usefulness of ICTs for the teaching and learning of IKSs, and (d) to suggest new ideas for future research on learners’ perceptions on the usefulness of ICTs for the teaching and learning of IKSs. A review of existing literature on eLearning adoption by students and learners was conducted in order to achieve objectives a, b, and d. As for objective c, it was achieved through the survey of 115 Hospitality studies learners from the ILembe and UMgungundlovu municipality districts in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of South Africa. The study’s findings can be summarized as follows: (a) The Technology Adoption Model (TAM) is the backbone of the model designed by this study on the factors affecting learners’ perceptions of the usefulness of ICTs for the teaching and learning of IKSs; (b) Learners’ perceived usefulness of ICTs is hypothetically affected by the following factors: demographics, computer self-efficacy, trust in ICTs, and level of conscientiousness, (c) All these factors were empirically confirmed through a survey conducted by the current study, except that the only validated demographics were : school location, cell phone access, class grade and preferred subject; (d) This research recommends further investigation on the factors affecting learners’ perceived usefulness of ICTs for the teaching and learning of IKSs, mainly because of the insufficient literature on this subject. / M

This research has examined how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can promote healthy eating habits amongst African Americans in low-income neighborhoods, a population that faces disproportionately high rates of diet-related health problems. In this dissertation, I describe the formative research I conducted to obtain system design guidelines and how I used those guidelines to develop two applications: EatWell and Community Mosaic. I also describe the results of the in-depth field studies I conducted to evaluate each application. Both EatWell and Community Mosaic incorporate the cultural construct of collectivism, a social orientation in which interdependence and communal responsibility are valued over individual goals and independence. As researchers have generally characterized the African American culture as collectivistic and argued for the value of designing collectivistic health interventions for this population, I examined the implications of taking such an approach to designing health promotion technologies. EatWell and Community Mosaic are collectivistic because they empower users to care for the health of their local community by helping others learn practical, locally-relevant healthy eating strategies. I discuss the results of my formative fieldwork and system evaluations, which characterize the value, challenge and nuances of developing community-based health information sharing systems for specific cultural contexts. By focusing on health disparities issues and the community social unit, I extend previous health technology research within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). In particular, my results describe 1) a set of characteristics that help make shared material useful and engaging, 2) how accessing this information affects how people view the feasibility of eating well in their local context, 3) the way in which sharing information actually benefits the contributor by catalyzing personal behavior reflection, analysis and modification and 4) how sharing information and seeing that information's impact on others can help to build individuals' capacity to be a community health advocate. In addition, my work shows how examining cultural generalizations such as collectivism is not a straightforward process but one that requires careful investigation and appreciation for the way in which such generalizations are (or are not) manifested in the lives of individual people. I further contribute to HCI by presenting a set of important considerations that researchers should make when designing and evaluating community-based health systems. I conclude this dissertation by outlining directions for future HCI research that incorporates an understanding of the relationship between culture and health and that attempts to address health disparities in the developed world.

Typescript (Photocopy) / Bibliography: leaves 424-443 / 2 v. (xvi, 528 p.) : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Architecture and Planning, 1990

The study took a qualitative approach to the analysis of the effect of the politics-administrative interface on municipal service delivery. It was a case study of the Mnquma local municipality in the Eastern Cape Province. The researcher developed a keen interest in researching on the topic because the political infighting and clashes between politicians and administrators of the municipality have caused a public outcry for the root causes of the infighting to be effectively addressed and redressed. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of the study will help, reshape public policy implementation, service delivery and fostering of mutual cooperative relations between politicians and administrators both at local government level and any other sphere of government in South Africa. The study, is categorized into five chronological chapters, with chapter one (introduction and background), chapter two (literature review), chapter three (research design and methodology), chapter four (data analysis, interpretation and presentation) and chapter five (conclusions and recommendations). The researcher used a sample size of 40 respondents who were selected using snowball sampling, a non-random sampling design spread accordingly over both politicians and administrators. Data collection was made possible through an open-ended questionnaire, interviews, observations and documentary analysis. Various reports and media statements were also used to augment this empirical study. The study also used an in-depth qualitative data analysis technique which was descriptive in nature and the study made numerous deductions and findings based on the collected and collated data. Findings of the study were, inter alia, too much politicization of the public sector, interference between politicians and administrators into each other’s affairs and vice versa and adverse effects of cadre deployment which are damaging service delivery. The study made numerous recommendations which included, inter alia, training and development of administrators and politicians on their respective roles and responsibilities, enforcement of the politics-administrative interface as a mutually beneficial approach to service delivery, need for proper interpretation of Acts and policy documents and the enforcing of section 139 interventions into municipalities.