ABSTRACT South Africa faces increasing levels of disaster risk. The country and citizens are exposed to a wide range of weather hazards, including drought, cyclones and severe storms that can trigger widespread hardship and devastation. The country’s extensive coastline and proximity to shipping routes present further numerous marine and coastal threats. Despite ongoing progress to extend essential services to poor urban and rural communities, large numbers of people live in conditions of chronic disaster vulnerability. They are located-in underserved, ecologically fragile or marginal areas, where they face recurrent natural and other threats that range from drought to repeated informal settlement fires. Several literature on Disaster Risk Management identifies a number of risk factors that people can be exposed to. These include: · Proximity/exposure: people who occupy or, for their livelihoods depend on areas of high hazard’s risk, · Capacities and resources: people who have limited means and capacity to mobilise them in order to increase their defences against hazard and · Disadvantaged or marginalized people: people who are vulnerable due to gender, race, ethnicity and class. The assessment and evaluation of risk to a range of hazards therefore becomes a necessity as it provides a sound basis for planning and for allocation of financial and other resources, as well as designing interventions and future mitigation activities. Valid and systematic information on disasters and their impacts has, however, not been widely available within local development programmes. More often, information pertaining to disaster risks is not available, and where it is, it is in fragmentary bits usually derived from different sources and stored in different formats. These data shortcomings have been to the obvious detriment of effective relief and mitigation, both at international, national and local municipal levels. Alexandra Township, located to the north of Johannesburg is facing a problem of a usable and comprehensive disaster data inventory. In this research report, an initial disaster inventory for Alexandra Township has been undertaken. Available data on disasters that have occurred in Alexandra Township for over the decade (1991-Aug 2005) are collected. These data are drawn from various sources including newspaper clippings, community- based records, data from the Red Cross, data from the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and others. The beginning of such an information gathering system is a basic requirement for a coherent disaster programme. While in no way as rigorous as the data capturing methods and systems as those adopted in LA RED, South America or in MANDISA (University of Cape Town), where the disaster capturing data systems are more advanced, this report begins to illustrate some of the preliminary results that can be used to begin to develop an effective data management system for Alexandra Township. Such data also should be able to determine the detection of trends, that can begin to inform a more systematic and rigorous identification of complex disaster risks in urban settings. Some of these preliminary trends are profiled in this report.

Student Number : 9900639H - MA research report - School of Dramatic Art - Faculty of Humanities / This report is concerned with analysing the cinematic representations of the ‘township space’ and its articulation of black masculinity in two post apartheid South African films – Wooden Camera directed by Ntshaveni Wa Luruli and Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood. I argue that the ‘township space’ has become a fetishised cinematic trope in post-apartheid South African filmmaking. Cinematic representation’s of the space of the township articulates the performance of black identity associated with criminality, excessive violence and deviancy relegating the black experience to one of ‘otherness’. In this report I argue that the ‘Cinematic Township’ predetermines a black identity that appears to be shot through a colonial lens, or from an ‘outsider’s point-of-view’. This space developed on the fringes of major cities was developed - through Afrikaner Nationalist Ideologies - as a ‘port’ into major cities. The township was constructed through a process of ‘othering’ and is often represented as the manageable part of modernity for ‘black identity’. Cinematically there appears to be a ‘fixing’ or ‘freezing’ of an authentic black experience within the ‘township space’ that essentialises black identity and the black experience. Apart from analysing the cinematic representations of the ‘township space’ and the manner in which space determines sexuality and identity, this report speaks to issues of representation and who can claim the rights to representation in post-apartheid South Africa (Thiong’o, 2000 and Axel, 1999). The South African filmmaking landscape is unique because of the interesting mix of ‘white’ and ‘black’ filmmakers. This raises questions about ‘Racialised Africanness’ and what are the implications for ‘African whiteness’? These are important issues in relation to the South African post-apartheid body politic and the role of the filmmaker in post-apartheid South African cinema. In this paper I suggest that the cinematic township is representative of the fetishisation of the ‘township space’ in the imagination and representations of post-apartheid filmmakers. The ‘township space’ has transcended its political memory and appears to be invested with nostalgia and myth-making.

Magister Artium - MA / My creative writing full master’s thesis, entitled Townships, Shacks and Suburbs, is a collection of poems that explores the role played by place in shaping identity. Poems in this collection seek to examine the interplay between identity and place, particularly the influence that environmental settings or contexts have in shaping how individuals define who they are. The theme of place is divided into three environmental contexts, namely the township, the rural context and the urban context. The poet navigates between these three environmental contexts, observing how each influences the way people define who they are and also how they identify with that particular environmental context. This definition of self, which forms part of identity, encompasses the day-to-day life, emotions, struggles, memories and a variety of other aspects that are linked to place and are inherent in identity-formation. The observation of how identity is shaped by place includes the poet and extends to people around him. This collection of poems can be viewed as a man’s attempt at finding out who he is, by exploring the history of his life, as well as reflecting on the intricacies of growing up or being exposed to a variety of environmental settings. It can also be viewed as an attempt at learning who people around him are and how their identities are shaped by the place(s) they live in.

The schools located in many township and rural areas of South Africa struggle to provide a high standard of education because many of the inhabitants of these areas are very poor and there is thus a lack of the funding required for the necessary educational equipment. The Afri Twin project, started by Jayne Martin from the UK, addresses this problem. The project is collaboration between a British school, a South African town/city school, and a school from a poor township or rural community in South Africa. This article reports on a research project that made use of a qualitative case study approach, to focus on the collaboration between Wellacre Technology College, Ferrum High School, and Siyalungelwa High School as part of the Afri Twin project. The objectives of the research project are to determine the benefits of the Afri Twin project for the schools involved; to investigate the unique interaction between Wellacre, Ferrum, and Siyalungelwa; and to determine the cultural enrichment of learners and the multi-cultural interaction between the three schools. Data was collected through focus group interviews, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires. Data analysis led to the emergence of four major themes with categories and subcategories. The conclusion underlined the cultural tolerance that is established through the Afri Twin project, as well as the importance of financial support for promoting an improved learning environment. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Slumturism är ett begrepp som används för guidade turer som reser till fattiga områden. Slumturism finns på flera ställen i världen, bland annat i Sydafrikas townships, där specialsydda resor tar turister till det segregerade områdena vid namn townships. Kritiken är delad och säger att företagen oftast är utomstående där pengarna inte genererar tillbaka till samhället och invånarna blir förödmjukade av turister. Arrangörerna säger däremot att de informerar turisterna om hur verkligheten ser ut och att turismen ger arbetstillfällen. Studien fokuserar på lokalinvånarna och townshipturism i Sydafrika. Studiens syfte är att beskriva huruvida slumturism hjälper eller stjälper lokalinvånarna och forskningsfrågan lyder, hur påverkas townships och dess befolkning av slumturism? Studien använder en empirisk metod där material har samlats in under en fältstudie i Sydafrika. Företag, resenärer och lokalinvånare har intervjuats för att få en bredare bild av problemet. Resultatet visar att turismen i townships bidrar med både positiva och negativa effekter. Turismen ger inte några större positiva ekonomiska effekter från de flesta företagen utan det står turister och lokalbefolkningen för. Turismen skapar arbete men få företag är lokala. De sociokulturella effekterna visar att lite interaktion förs mellan turist och lokalbefolkningen och den sociala bärförmågan kan hotas men turismen har också skapat en möjlighet för lokalbefolkningen i Sydafrika att komma närmare varandra.

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Abstract Rural tourism can not only benefit the local economy, rural development and environmental improvement, but also concretes rural dwellers¡¦ identities and senses of belonging. Therefore, rural tourism is regarded as an important policy for rural development and local regeneration in Europe, United States, and Japan. Rural tourism is recently released in many countrified regions in Taiwan by combining community identities and taking advantages of special local resources to attract tourists. Among these cases, some successfully achieved the goal of regenerating local development, but some failed and resulted in ¡§creative destructions¡¨. The extremely different results are the motivations of this study. This paper explores the essential elements for developing rural tourism and the purpose of sustainable development strategies. This research takes Dashu Township as the case. Through in-deep interviews, observation, and documental analysis, I collected documental information and viewpoints and suggestions of participators that related to rural tourism. I, according to overall interview results which were assisted with references from documents and correlative information, blueprinted the rural tourism development strategy for Dashu Township. My conclusion of the development of Dashu Township¡¦s rural tourism strategy is divided into four parts according to governmental mechanism, tourist resources, tourist service, and operation and management. I. Governmental mechanism: Setting up a favorable rural tourism environment under government¡¦s support and driving can bring about communities¡¦ mutual connection and create local consensus to arouse inhabitants¡¦ identities and participation. The government can also integrate tourist resources with participators. II. Tourist resources: Tourist resources can be discussed in three dimensions which are conserving natural resources to develop ecotourism, activating art activities to develop cultural tourism, or boosting up industrial resources and passing down industrial culture. III. Tourist service: Tourist service can be improved by planning sound travel schedule, operating accommodations, promoting local dishes, improving transportation equipment and public facilities, and providing detail information for the travelers. IV. Operation and management: Developing delicate products with local features and marketing them creatively. Strengthening human resource training and enhancing the ability of maintenance and management. In accordance with the study discussion and conclusion, the main suggestion for Dashu Town ship to set up rural tourism policy including the following parts which are formulating the development plan and putting administration in practice, insisting on local specialties and local-identity, cooperating with cities in order to reach sustainable value, operating in small scale to fulfill each group¡¦s needs, selecting a particular scenic point and developing profound tourism to form clusters effects in the future , and returning to basic construction to create high quality surrounding.

One shall not ignore the health, public sanitation and social problems due to excessive drinking. This is particularly serious in aboriginal people; the seriousness has caught attention of governments around the world. In Taiwan, we have policies asking aboriginal people to control drinking. However, the results are not satisfactory. The research focuses on the drinking control policy with good results in Namaxia Township in Kaohsiung County. The research evaluates the policy, Love of Maya, through quantified and qualitative studies in light of social psychology and public policies to understand the effective execution mechanism of Love of Maya¡XDrinking Control Program, in Namaxia Township in Kaohsiung County and meaning of public policy. To effectively correct and solve excessive drinking problem among aboriginal people has become an urgent issue now.

The schools located in many township and rural areas of South Africa struggle to provide a high standard of education because many of the inhabitants of these areas are very poor and there is thus a lack of the funding required for the necessary educational equipment. The Afri Twin project, started by Jayne Martin from the UK, addresses this problem. The project is collaboration between a British school, a South African town/city school, and a school from a poor township or rural community in South Africa. This article reports on a research project that made use of a qualitative case study approach, to focus on the collaboration between Wellacre Technology College, Ferrum High School, and Siyalungelwa High School as part of the Afri Twin project. The objectives of the research project are to determine the benefits of the Afri Twin project for the schools involved; to investigate the unique interaction between Wellacre, Ferrum, and Siyalungelwa; and to determine the cultural enrichment of learners and the multi-cultural interaction between the three schools. Data was collected through focus group interviews, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires. Data analysis led to the emergence of four major themes with categories and subcategories. The conclusion underlined the cultural tolerance that is established through the Afri Twin project, as well as the importance of financial support for promoting an improved learning environment. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The schools located in many township and rural areas of South Africa struggle to provide a high standard of education because many of the inhabitants of these areas are very poor and there is thus a lack of the funding required for the necessary educational equipment. The Afri Twin project, started by Jayne Martin from the UK, addresses this problem. The project is collaboration between a British school, a South African town/city school, and a school from a poor township or rural community in South Africa. This article reports on a research project that made use of a qualitative case study approach, to focus on the collaboration between Wellacre Technology College, Ferrum High School, and Siyalungelwa High School as part of the Afri Twin project. The objectives of the research project are to determine the benefits of the Afri Twin project for the schools involved; to investigate the unique interaction between Wellacre, Ferrum, and Siyalungelwa; and to determine the cultural enrichment of learners and the multi-cultural interaction between the three schools. Data was collected through focus group interviews, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires. Data analysis led to the emergence of four major themes with categories and subcategories. The conclusion underlined the cultural tolerance that is established through the Afri Twin project, as well as the importance of financial support for promoting an improved learning environment. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.