Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Emerging global trends towards sustainable development have placed emphasis on the need to create sustainable food value chains. Many food value chains are becoming weakened through their reliance on eco-systems that are deteriorating. Furthermore, while food systems are under threat, global food consumption is on the rise. The conundrum seems inescapable. Humanity’s food supply methods have moved on from hunter-gatherer characteristics apart from the exception of the fishing industry. The current generation may be the last to witness the wide-spread practice of fishing. Aquaculture, and in particular fish-farming, has begun to show much potential as a method of producing sustainable sources of protein. Whether this can be utilized in the South African context is a challenge that needs to be verified. This research, presented as two articles, explores the potential for the development of the fish-farming sector in South Africa, and recommends suitable species. Although there is some literature on how fish-farming may have a place in South Africa’s sustainability quest, it is scarce. This research aims to enhance the literature base on fish-farming in South Africa, as well as provide further evidence on what the true potential is for fish-farming in South Africa. This was done through a series of primary and secondary data collection methods that allow for a thorough analysis of fish-farming in South Africa and the species involved. The analysis revealed that the fish-farming sector and the cultivatable species in South Africa are met with an array of opportunities and challenges. Overcoming these challenges will open the doors to exploit the opportunities available. / AFRIKAANS OPSOMMING: Opkomende globale tendense weerspieël dat dit noodsaaklik is dat klem gelê moet word op volhoubare ontwikkeling en dat dit van uitterste belang is om volhoubare voedsel waardekettings te skep. Verskeie voedsel waardekettings raak verswak deur hul afhanklikheid van eko-stelsels wat vernietig word. Verder, terwyl voedsel stelsels bedreig word, is globale verbruik van voedsel besig om te verhoog. Dié raaisel lyk onvermydelik. Mensdom se huidige voedselvoorraad metodes het aansienlik ontwikkel van dié van die jagter-versamelaars, met die uitsondering van die visbedryf. Die huidige generasie mag die laaste wees, wat die wyd verspreide praktyk van visvang beoefen, om daarvan te getuig. Akwakultuur, in besonder vis-boerdery, het begin om potensiaal te wys as 'n volhoubare bron in die vervaardiging van proteïen. Of dit in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks gebruik kan word, is 'n uitdaging wat geverifieer moet word. Hierdie navorsing, wat aangebied word as twee tydskrifartikels, ondersoek die potensiaal vir die ontwikkeling van vis-boerdery in Suid-Afrika, en beveel ook gepaste spesies aan. Alhoewel daar sommige artikels is oor hoe vis-boerdery kan in pas in Suid-Afrika se soeke na volhoubaarheid, is dit skaars te vinde. Die navorsing beoog om die literatuur basis van vis-boerdery in Suid-Afrika op te skerp, en ter selfde tyd verdere bewys te gee oor die ware potensiaal van vis-boerdery in Suid-Afrika. Dit was gedoen deur 'n reeks van primêre en sekondêre data-insameling metodes wat voorsiening maak vir 'n deeglike ontleding van visboerdery in Suid -Afrika en die spesies betrokke. Die ontleding het getoon dat die vis-boerdery bedryf en die aankweek spesies in Suid-Afrika verskeie geleenthede en uitdagings in die gesig staar. Oorwinning van hierdie uitdagings sal dit moontlik maak om die beskikbare geleenthede te ontgin.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / The main purpose of this research paper is to reveal the importance of rural development with the aim of making municipalities the main drivers of rural development - this in an effort to stimulate and increase economic participation for rural people. The study seeks to understand the intervention by municipalities in accelerating rural development, how municipalities are currently implementing and funding development programmes to improve the lives of rural people. Rural development has been a key strategy to develop the lives of rural people in many countries around the globe. The concept has somewhat been paired in other countries with the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In the new South Africa, the rural development concept has been revived through the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which intended to eliminate the inequality that was brought by the apartheid system. Many other programmes of development or rather, rural development, were introduced to bridge the gap between the poverty-stricken areas/individual and those who have access to resources for the betterment of their lives. The signs of poverty are, however, still visible in many parts of South Africa, with insignificant signs of improved lives, mostly for rural areas, regardless of the programmes that have been initiated by government since the democratic elections took place in 1994. Thus, the effectiveness of rural development policies and implementation of associated programmes are still questionable. Municipalities are mandated to implement the rural development programmes by default, as they are closer to beneficiaries and communities on the ground. Thus, enabling municipalities to steer these development programmes is a good bottom-up approach to development as opposed to national level undertaking to implement these programmes from the top. However, municipalities have also proved to have their challenges, including challenges of sourcing funding, which then make the drive and implementation of these development ideas difficult to carry out. The study reveals that funding of rural services or anything that is rural in nature, has become very difficult. Thus, this study investigated how municipalities strive to raise funding for rural development in an effort to improve rural people’s lives. The related factor that has been investigated is the capabilities and capacity of municipalities to implement the development programmes. The study also explored the current development situation on how municipalities have been able to carry out the development mandates and what has been the impact of rural development programmes/policies since they have been developed to breach the gap of inequality in the country. Indication by municipalities is that most of their funding is from the government through the Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG) and Equitable Share. However, this funding does not necessarily encompass funding for rural development programmes but rather is for normal capital expenditure, operational expenditure to enable basic service delivery projects, such as water and electricity. The results have indicated that rural development projects are not specifically or necessarily budgeted for, but they are dealt with on a case-by-case basis or as and when rural development ideas are thought of. Regarding the institutional capacity of municipalities, most of the municipalities within the sample (72%) indicated that there is lack of adequate and skilled labour to address the challenges and priorities of rural development. The above challenges have led to municipalities realising a minimal impact for rural development and the inability to prove and point out in any way, the improvement of rural people’s lives. Perhaps some of this depends on how municipalities and communities understand rural development. The study revealed that most municipalities understand rural development as improvement of rural people’s lives and understood rural development as the provision of rural services and infrastructure. This thought is correct regarding rural development, however, the challenges of minimal impact experienced by municipalities could be linked to the limited funding that is being provided for rural development. The consensus is that funding of rural development has been minimal and there has to be more interaction to ensure it is as a priority like other programmes planned and budgeted for by government. There is a need for municipalities to be properly capacitated with skills and technical assistance to take forward the rural development mandate. In the process, municipalities should be able to allocate funds provided either by government or by private sector institutions to avoid rural development projects being funded by chance. To reduce the poverty lines that are visible in most rural areas, rural communities also need to be given training to allow them the mobility to grow those rural development programmes being introduced by government and municipalities, thus sustaining their lives in the long term. Collaboration is of importance, thus different stakeholders should be involved to assist municipalities in accelerating the rural development agenda.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African government continues to provide post-settlement support to emerging farmers, with the objective of improving productivity through targeted funding or conditional grants. The Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), which came into effect in 2004, provides funding targeted at supporting emerging farmers. CASP has six pillars, of which this study focused on one, which is capacity building and training. The study investigated the assessment of the impact of training on the projects’ beneficiaries who had benefited from the CASP pillar of training and capacity building in the Limpopo Province. The methodology applied was the difference-in-difference technique. Projects that benefited from funding were regarded as the treatment group and those that did not benefit from the programme were regarded as the control group. The justification for the research was that while the government had financed CASP through fiscal allocation since 2004, because CASP is a conditional grant, there was a need to review the programme, focusing on establishing whether the budget allocation had achieved its intended objectives during this time. The objectives of the study were to measure whether there had been an improvement in the beneficiaries’ income levels. It focused on the status of the projects prior to the beneficiaries receiving training and benefiting from capacity building, and what the status was after receiving training through the programme, with the key determinant being an increase in income levels. Not all funded projects had benefited from the particular pillar investigated here. The selection of the beneficiaries to be trained was based on a skills audit which treated the groups as homogeneous, which was found to be inappropriate because of the differences in the prior skills, education levels and the specific interests of individuals. The findings were that there was variation in the increase of income levels. There was a positive relationship between training and reported increase in income levels in some projects, and a negative relationship between training and income levels for other projects. It was interesting that income levels increased for projects that had benefited from the CASP pillar of training and capacity building when the projects were analysed as a group, but when projects were analysed individually, it was revealed that there was a marginal decrease in income levels. There should be a shift in policy. The focus on training and capacity building should be a priority and should occur prior to the projects receiving infrastructure support. The 10% of the total CASP budget allocated for training and capacity building needs to be reviewed, taking into account that low skills levels continue to be the main reason why projects are not sustainable. There is also a need to review the impact of training. The type of training offered should not be generic for all projects, it should be differentiated to suit the both the people and the commodities concerned and should be more biased towards entrepreneurship, as this would enable emerging farmers to grow their business units and realise increased income levels.

The MOZAL aluminium smelter in Maputo is the largest-ever foreign direct investment in Mozambique. South Africa&rsquo / s state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) owns 24% shares in MOZAL and the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and Eskom provided road and power supply infrastructure to ensure the success of the smelter. BHP Billiton is the majority shareholder, the other being Mitsubishi. MOZAL is the flagship of South Africa&rsquo / s foreign policy for regional integration in southern Africa and economic reconstruction in Mozambique: a practical manifestation of the African Renaissance. This thesis is a case study of MOZAL as an example of cross-border industrial development and its implications for development in Mozambique. Using an eclectic multidisciplinary Critical Global Political Economy (critical GPE) theoretical framework, a survey of relevant literature and a series of selected open interviews, it examines how development based on the assumptions of industrialisation and neo-modernisation espoused by the governments and private sector champions of MOZAL impact on class, gender, environmental and social justice in Mozambique. The research identifies the socio-economic development dimensions of MOZAL for Mozambique and how the cost and benefits are distributed among the various social groups and actors directly and/or indirectly involved with the MOZAL aluminium smelter. The main findings are that MOZAL as a private sector FDI project is a qualified success. On the positive side, it contributes to economic growth. However, the benefits to Mozambique are exaggerated and are not broadly distributed. On the negative side, it contributes to increasing the economic dependence of Mozambique on the South African economy. Instead of narrowing the development gap, the smelter has contributed to increased differentiation between companies in South Africa and Mozambique and, within Mozambique, between the Northern and Southern regions, as well as among MOZAL employees and the majority of the population in Maputo. The implications are that the development benefits from foreign direct investment cross-border industrial development projects may, at least in the short-term, lead to uneven regional integration and development enjoyed by a few.

South Africa has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world, and the government has attempted to redress extensive material, social and political deprivation. It has been confronted by the tension between the need for rapid delivery of essential services and the aspiration for people-centred development. Limited resources and insufficient capacity have led the state to contract out service provision to the private sector. There has also been a shift toward self-sufficiency which has placed pressure on service users to manage their own development. 'Public-private Partnerships' have come to be a common feature of many development projects. These partnerships must be understood in relation to prevailing conditions within South Africa. Extensive poverty, social turbulence, an unaccountable state bureaucracy particularly in local government, and vested interests which do not support the goals of redistribution envisaged in the constitution all exist. Public-private partnerships are relatively new to South Africa. Four issues were raised about these relationships: Will they lead to the promotion of efficient and effective service delivery? Do they promote good governance? Is there a specific role for NGOs in public-private partnerships and finally what are the conditions for genuine participation by local communities within public-private partnerships? A study of public-private partnerships in the water sector, involved in the Community Water Supply and Sanitation Programme was undertaken. A variety of research methods, notably formal and semi-formal interviews and focus group discussions were employed to explore these relationships. Fieldwork was conducted between November 1998 and January 1999. The research involved familiarisation with new South African policy legislation which is set to alter the entire institutional environment. The study also drew upon international literature in order to assess the influence of global changes upon the water sector in South Africa, and also to locate the forms of water service provision within broader theoretical contexts. The key organisations which were investigated, and those which played a role in the Community Water Supply and Sanitation Programme were: the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry; the Mvula Trust, a large national non government organisation (NGO); various water committees supported by the Mvula Trust; and the Build, Operate, Train and Transfer (BOTT) consortia, which are joint ventures between the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), private firms and the Mvula Trust. Turning first to the question of the efficiency and effectiveness of public-private partnerships in service delivery, the findings of this study reveal that there are gaps in service delivery in the water sector which are not being filled by public-private partnerships. Poor performance by project managers, cases of exploitation by project and training agents of community organisations, and insufficient accountability (especially on the BOTT projects) towards the water users, are widely in evidence. Key leadership and managerial functions within these ventures are missing. The findings of the study reinforce the need for the state to play an active role in managing and leading public-private partnerships. The second issue concerning the relationship between public-private partnerships and good governance, reflects confusion in state priorities. The Water Services Act stipulates the importance of local government managing water service provision. Yet public-private partnerships currently bypass this level of governance. Turning to the third issue of the role for NGOs in public-private partnerships, it could be argued that like other NGOs in South Africa Mvula has to deal with various contradictions. In many ways it operates as a parastatal, not as an NGO. Mvula is dependent on the state for funding, the recent funding crisis has highlighted the dangers of such reliance upon the state, and Mvula can be criticised for being short sighted and too trusting. It has also meant that Mvula has had to adopt DWAF's policy objectives which differ markedly from those of the Trust. At another level, though, Mvula's ability to introduce innovative approaches to water service delivery and to influence policy on water service delivery proves that there are ways in which state and non-state actors can engage in useful relationships. The debate about participation has also been woven into the discussion about public-private partnerships. The basis for public-private partnerships in South Africa has been that local communities would manage their own development processes. Radical participation has been entrenched both in the constitution of SA and in the goals of the RDP. Yet none of the actors (even the Mvula Trust) promote radical participation. At best a watered down version based on community consultation was applied, although in numerous projects participation was token. For the foreseeable future participation will remain a central element of service delivery. Service providers will have to allocate more resources and time toward supporting community organisations to manage their own development. This in tum will increase the costs of service delivery. In the long term these functions should be handed over to local government, in order that rural dwellers may concentrate on their livelihoods. The most critical project in the next ten to fifteen years will be to build strong local government. The biggest challenge will be to change the organisational mindset of these presently conservative and weak structures. A theme, which has underpinned this dissertation, has been the debate between efficiency and equity. Questions remain as to whether it was possible to reconcile these perhaps conflicting goals. In essence: was it possible for public-private partnerships to deliver basic services, both speedily and by redistributing resources to the poorest. This research has found that public-private partnerships in the water sector have failed to excel with either of these goals. The Mvula trust is concerned with the participation of the poorest, yet these projects are much slower than the services provided by the BOTT consortia. The BOTT consortia are able to undertake rapid service delivery although there is limited involvement by local communities, which in turn threatens the long-term sustainability of the BOTT projects. The lessons to be learnt from this case study are that privatisation and the contracting out of state services need to be accompanied by the simultaneous development of strong institutions. These include NGOs, CBOs, private contractors and local and national state institutions. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

The integration and interoperability of autonomous and heterogeneous electronic government (e-government) systems of government departments and agencies for a seamless services delivery to citizens through one-stop e-government portals remain challenging issues in egovernment development. In recent years, Semantic Web technologies have emerged as promising solutions to these problems. Semantic Web technologies base on ontology allow the description and specification of electronic services (e-services), making it easy to compose, match, map and merge e-services and facilitate their semantic integration and interoperability. However, a unified and comprehensive methodology that provides structured guidelines for the semantic-driven planning and implementation of e-government systems does not exist yet. This study presents a methodology framework for the semantic-driven development of future e-government systems. The features of maturity models, software engineering and Semantic Web domains are investigated and employed to draw and specify the methodology framework. Thereafter, the semantic content of the methodology framework is further specified using ontology building methodology and Semantic Web ontology languages and platforms. The study would be useful to e-government developers, particularly those of developing countries where there is little or no practice of semantic content development in e-government processes as well as where little progress has been made towards the development of one-stop e-government portals for seamless services delivery to citizens. Part of the study would also be of interest to novice Semantic Web developers who might use it as a starting point for further investigations. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

A research report submitted to the faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public and Development Management) March 2015 / The citizen science approach has a role to play in the restoration of river health in catchments affected by pollution. Everyone can become involved in monitoring the health of a river, dam, estuary or wetland closest to them. In KwaZulu-Natal, uMngeni and Msunduzi Catchments, voluntary participation in river health initiatives has been adopted by schools, conservancies, NGOs and catchment management forums. The purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of the use of miniSASS, a simplified South African Scoring System (SASS) tool for monitoring river health in uMngeni and Msunduzi Catchments over the past 15 years. A qualitative exploratory and descriptive study was undertaken through semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. The researcher managed to purposively select a sample of ten participants, mainly the active users of the miniSASS citizen science tool in the identified catchments. The finding of the study is that miniSASS is perceived and experienced as a valuable community-based educational tool in Msunduzi and uMngeni catchment which has led to local government authorities to respond faster in solving incidents of industrial pollution; address poorly maintained water infrastructure and fix the leaking sewers contaminating freshwater. The study recommends that a further investigation be made on the economic value of citizen science contribution in KwaZulu-Natal since there were indications that it has already benefited some of the accommodation businesses who appreciated the change in the nearby streams.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renata Leatriz de Campos Temps.pdf: 996731 bytes, checksum: 86cf4010348552daf4761769d274bb92 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-05-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study consists in a field survey, followed by a bibliographical research, having the intention to examine the dialectical resistance x quit and its implication in the lives of those affected by construction of Mauá Hydroelectric Power Plant. Therefore, the main goal is to present the operation process of the construction of Mauá Hydroelectric Power Plant, the impacts and how the affected community understands all changes that have happened in their lives. This study has supported by the Categories of Analysis of Historical Materialism Dialectical. The research process was based on initially in the bibliographic searching on the subject, and after that focus on the live history of the involved people and subsequent analysis of the data. This dissertation allows alleging that while the capitalistic logic mediate the relationship between companies and affected there is the necessity to must think and project development models where these relationships become more human and less unequal / O presente trabalho consiste em uma pesquisa de campo seguida de um levantamento teórico-bibliográfico, com o intuito de analisar a dialética resistência x desistência e suas implicações na vida dos atingidos pela construção da usina hidrelétrica de Mauá. Para tanto, tem como principal objetivo apresentar o modo de funcionamento do processo de construção da Usina hidrelétrica de Mauá, os impactos gerados e como a população atingida decodifica todas as mudanças que ocorrem em suas vidas. Para tal compreensão do fenômeno estudado fez-se uso das categorias de análise do Materialismo Histórico Dialético. O processo investigativo baseou-se inicialmente no levantamento bibliográfico sobre o tema para, em seguida, focar a história de vida dos sujeitos envolvidos e, posteriormente, analisar os dados levantados. Este estudo permite afirmar que, enquanto a lógica capitalista mediar as relações existentes entre empresas e atingidos, há que se pensar e projetar modelos de desenvolvimento nos quais essas relações tornem-se mais humanas e menos desiguais

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:12:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2007 Edson Vanda Pereira dos Santos.pdf: 533174 bytes, checksum: 5cb3ae7cec0de8cdb0a28cf90a2b0f97 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-30 / Anchored in the speech of the "environmental " ethics and of the " maintainable " development, a variety of international agencies settled in the Amazonian with the objective of contributing, starting from projects of philanthropic " stamp ", in the development of communities extrativistas. In local level, they create spaces of electric outlet of decision that, a priori, they place the affected communities as main actors in the implantation of autonomous and endogenous " models " of development. Analyzing the community participation in the Programa Biodiversidade Brasil-It?lia / I Project Cazumb?-Iracema (Acre) starting from the operacionaliza??o of indicators of democratic governan?a, we identified strong evidences that the democratic participation of the community local leaderships in the centers decis?rios of the Programa Biodiversidade Brasil-It?lia it is only part of your rhetoric. The conclusion the one that we arrived is that, in the ambit of the Program, the practice of the democratic governan?a doesn't exist. The research has as study area the Reserva Extrativista Cazumb?-Iracema, located in the municipal districts of Sena Madureira and Manuel Urbano, State of Acre. / Ancorados no discurso da ?tica ambiental e do desenvolvimento sustent?vel , uma variedade de ag?ncias internacionais se instalou na Amaz?nia com o objetivo de contribuir, a partir de projetos de cunho filantr?pico , no desenvolvimento de comunidades extrativistas. Em n?vel local, criam espa?os de tomada de decis?o que, a priori, colocam as comunidades afetadas como atores principais na implanta??o de modelos aut?nomos e end?genos de desenvolvimento. Analisando a participa??o comunit?ria no Programa Biodiversidade Brasil-It?lia / Projeto Cazumb?-Iracema (Acre) a partir da operacionaliza??o de indicadores de governan?a democr?tica, identificamos fortes evid?ncias de que a participa??o democr?tica das lideran?as locais comunit?rias nos centros decis?rios do Programa Biodiversidade Brasil-It?lia faz parte somente da sua ret?rica. A conclus?o a que chegamos ? de que, no ?mbito do Programa, n?o existe a pr?tica da governan?a democr?tica. A pesquisa tem como ?rea de estudo a Reserva Extrativista Cazumb?-Iracema, localizada nos munic?pios de Sena Madureira e Manuel Urbano, Estado do Acre.