Includes abstract.~Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-82). / Civil society in South Africa is generally celebrated as a space for action to promote social justice, either through organisations that play the role of “watchdog” or through mobilisation by the poor themselves around their own concerns. However, civil society can reflect and reproduce many of the pathologies and injustices of the wider society. Sometimes it works to benefit a specific ethnic group or political group, and also reflects some unsatisfactory aspects of culture to which the constituents of civil society belong. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative analyses show that the associational activities and social movements in Cape Town reflect some kind of pathologies or injustices of the wider society. Sometimes it works to benefit a specific ethnic group or political group, and also reflects some unsatisfactory aspects of culture to which the constituents of civil society belong. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative analyses show that the associational activities and social movements in Cape Town reflect some kind of pathologies or injustices of the wider society.

Volunteer tourism has become a popular phenomenon worldwide and questions have been raised about the work that international volunteers do in Third World countries. Scholars have debated the possibility of a cross-cultural ‘misunderstanding’ developing between international volunteers and local community members. This research is based on the idea that there can be a possibility for cross-cultural understanding to take place. This thesis aims to gain better insight into the role that volunteer tourism organisations (VTOs) play in fostering cross-cultural understanding between the volunteers and the local community members that they work with. A framework suggested by tourism expert Eliza Raymond (2007) was used to assess how exactly organisations play a part in encouraging this type of understanding. The research focuses on two VTOs, Projects Abroad and Coaching for Hope as case studies. Both these organisations are involved in the facilitation of development programmes in disadvantaged communities in Cape Town.

This dissertation explores the spatial mismatch hypothesis in Cape Town; in particular its mechanisms, how they interact with lower-skilled workers in the labour market, and what role social networks play. The spatial mismatch hypothesis suggests that a significant distance between residential areas and centres of employment (1) leads to a lengthy and expensive commute which makes the job search in economic centres more difficult, (2) reduces the amount of information about job opportunities that is available to lower-skilled workers, and (3) reduces the effectiveness of using one's social network as a means to find out about work opportunities. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with lower-skilled workers and employers, this research attempts to offer insights into the mechanisms of the spatial mismatch hypothesis and challenge the assumption that a causal relationship exists between spatial mismatch and the suggested consequences put forward by a literature that is dominated by quantitative studies. Rather than measuring the spatial mismatch, this research is intended to provide possible ways in which the spatial mismatch functions. It does not set out to prove anything in either a qualitative or quantitative way, but rather highlight the gaps in the current interpretation of the spatial mismatch hypothesis in order to gain a better understanding of its mechanisms.

This study investigates the contribution of the Girinka Programme, a pro-poor growth programme in Rwanda, to poverty reduction. Recent studies have placed increasing emphasis on the contribution of pro-poor growth to poverty reduction and have argued that pro-poor growth has the potential to reduce poverty more effectively than economic growth. Poverty, for this study, is measured based on the following indicators of poverty derived from the United Nations (1998) definition of poverty: nutrition, access to health care services, access to water, education, and access to credit. Income or the lack thereof, is not the sole determinant of poverty, and is not “the sum total of human life” (United Nations Development Programme, 1990), therefore relying solely on quantitative measurements of poverty that are based on income can paint an incomplete picture of the reality on the ground. Therefore, since poverty is multidimensional, this study uses a multidimensional approach to its analysis and goes beyond the quantitative aspects of poverty. Qualitative research methods were used for this study, and fieldwork was conducted in Kayonza District, located in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. In-depth interviews were held with beneficiaries and prospective beneficiaries of the Girinka Programme in order to determine the programme’s contribution to a meaningful reduction in poverty. In addition, interviews were held with Girinka local and national programme officials. Secondary data in the form of programme documents was also collected, reviewed and analysed.

Earlier studies conducted in South Africa suggest that negative attitudes towards immigrants are widespread and driven by resource strain, issues around national identity, and the process of ‘othering’. This study uses data from the fifth wave of the Cape Area Panel Study, with a representative sample of young adults (n=2915), in order to explore attitudes towards immigrants in Cape Town. Using a series of vignettes, that is, descriptions of situations in which the details are varied systematically, the researcher examines the extent to which the nationality and individual circumstances of immigrants affect support for deportation or the legitimacy of illegal direct action against them.

Includes bibliographical references. / With the end of apartheid, many South Africans were anticipating improved living conditions and a better quality of life. Instead, over fifteen years later, many still reside in informal settlements, waiting for their government to rectify decades of inequality and injustice. The housing backlog continues to grow as planners reevaluate prior housing development plans and launch new housing strategies. At the same time, the vibrant activist community, which took root during the oppressive apartheid years, rallies around the struggles of the impoverished using a variety of tactics to advocate for policies which may close the widening economic gap. This paper examines the N2 Gateway Project in Cape Town, South Africa, a pilot project of nation’s new Breaking New Ground housing strategy, and the ways in which civil society has engaged with the project. Though this pilot has been plagued with delays, missed targets, and growing opposition, it is still intended to serve as a model for other projects and impacts housing development across the country.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / This study aimed to investigate the disjunctions and convergences between key stakeholder groups' perceptions of a public participatory relationship between The City of Cape Town Municipality and the Blikkiesdorp community. The key instruments for this research were semi-structured interviews, observation periods and documentary sources which included The White Paper on Local Government (1998), The Batho Pele Handbook (2009) and the National Policy Framework of Public Participation (2007). This analysis was conducted on a single case study in order to gain in-depth information about key stakeholder perceptions.

No description available.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-98). / Worldwide, nature conservation paradigms have changed markedly since the turn of the 19th century. These changes have affected the way that conservation has been practiced in the eastern lowveld of South Africa. At the same time sociopolitical conditions in South Africa have also undergone enormous shifts which have affected the distribution of rural people and land use practices in the rural lowveld. This study examines private nature conservation and its relationship to local rural people in the lowveld using Londolozi Private Game Reserve as a case study. Various methods of data collection were used. These included focus group interviews with local rural people, a survey questionnaire with lodge staff, informal interviews with land owners, and visits to rural homes and schools. In addition the author drew on eight years of work and research experience on private game reserves in and around the study area. The application of fortress conservation in the lowveld resulted in the removal of black people from Crown and privately owned land, land that they were living on. They were removed to the western borders of the current Sabi Sand Wildtuin (SSW). This complete exclusion of local people from the conservation land in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and SSW remained the status quo until Londolozi, in 1976 and almost at least a decade before the rest of the conservation world began to engage with local black people on its borders. Londolozi paid particular attention to the rural staff working at the lodge. In the 1990's fortress conservation was replaced with community conservation approaches which sought to use market-based strategies to demonstrate the value of conservation to rural people bordering conservation areas. Londolozi retracted from its essentially bottom-up approach and implemented a number of infrastructural, management devised, top-down community projects in the local areas. It did this through the Conservation Corporation Africa (CC Africa) Rural Investment Fund. These projects, although more obvious to the wider community outside the reserve, were inefficient and wasted money in some cases. In 2007, Londolozi returned to focussing on individual rural staff members rather than on infrastructural community development projects. The effect has been very positive for the 200 or so rural staff at Londolozi, but the wider community outside the fences sees little benefit or point to this approach. The community lodged a number of land claims on the SSW and Londolozi. The merits of the only gazetted claim on Londolozi would seem to be tenuous at best.

In mineral-rich countries, large-scale extractive industry projects often offer mixed blessings. On one hand, mining royalties and taxes provide funds that amplify state coffers allowing for investments in infrastructure, social services and community development. In addition, jobs are created and local enterprises find new opportunities to provide goods and services to transnational companies spearheading the projects, enhancing livelihoods and contributing towards economic growth. On the other hand, large revenues from the mining sector may create opportunities for corruption, undermining public transparency and accountability from public officials. Furthermore, mining booms may hamper productivity and competitiveness in other industries through real exchange rate appreciation. Mining also has hazardous environmental effects often exposing surrounding communities to long-term health risks. The fairly recent large-scale extractive industry projects in central and northern Mozambique are not exempt from some the above-mentioned factors, particularly in the booming coal mining town of Moatize. The current study examines the impact of mining operations by Brazilian mining company Vale on the living conditions of resettled communities in the district of Moatize. The study focuses on the period from 2010 to 2013, which corresponds to the first stage of active exploration of coal in Moatize and the first years of integration of the resettled families in their recently built community. The Moatize Coal Reserve in Mozambique is deemed to be the largest reserve of untapped coal in the world (Audu, Ribeiro, Scott, & Taniguchi, 2006). The world’s largest mining companies, accompanied by a massive crowd of investors and fortune-seekers, are flooding the country with prospects for astronomical profits in the mining industry. In addition to coal, the country possesses over 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (Verma, 2012). Other lucrative natural resources in Mozambique include gold, rubies and tantalum. These latest discoveries undeniably position Mozambique as a resource-rich country.