No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

What is the role of a port? It is a place that handles ships and cargo with operational efficiency. For this reason, ports must be seen as elements in value-driven chain systems or in value chain constellations. They deliver value to shippers and to third party service providers; customer segmentation and targeting is on the basis of a clearly specified value for itself and for the chain in which it is embedded. Ports no longer operate in an insulated environment. They face the same competitive forces that companies in other industries experience. There is rivalry among existing competitors, continuing threat of new entrants, potential for global substitutes, presence of powerful customers and powerful supplies. Since the early 1980s, moves to rapidly liberalise trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) have strongly influenced policy makers in many developing countries in their thinking about this challenge. Openness to international market forces and competition was expected to allow those countries to alter both the pace and the pattern of their participation in international trade, thereby overcoming balance-ofpayments problems and accelerating growth, to catch up with industrial countries. Today, the Port of Durban is the clear African leader in total container throughput. In the world port league for 2000 established by Containerisation International Yearbook 2001, Durban was in 44th position. The Port of Durban is an important gateway with regards to general cargo flows especially since the port's goal is to become a hub port in the Southern Africa. It has great economic value for the city and the country at large. It can be seen that the poor economic and operational efficiency of the port leads to poor overall economic growth for the nation. It is therefore desirable to ensure that the terminal is always operating at optimum operating efficiency with the required infrastructure and capacity in place. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

Much debate has been raging in development discourse about the role of the state in development economics. Neo liberal theorists call for the state to remove itself from the process and leave markets to determine the direction of economic development. The challenge to this theory was reinforced by the success of the East Asian counties in encouraging economic development through a process which involved extensive state intervention. The process of globalisation has added a new dimension to this debate where states are increasingly feeling the need to take steps to protect their economies from the negative impacts of globalisation and take other steps so that the positive rewards can be reaped. The debate of this interaction between the state and economic forces is evident on all levels of governance, from the national to the local. Theorists such as Stone, Molotch, Logan and Stoker have researched this question on the local level in cities in the United States. They found that there is extensive interaction between political and economic bodies for the economic development of urban spaces. Specifically, these two major groups are represented by an elite grouping of individuals who play an important role in the planning and implementing of development initiatives. This study attempts to examine this relationship of the economic elite and political elite in the city of Durban. This is particularly relevant in the context of the critical need for economic development in the city and the mandate that the city is given by national legislation to promote such development. The study furthermore examines the extent to which the role players in this interaction are part of the post-Apartheid 'new' elite, or if the interactive process is still dominated by the 'old' white elite. The interactions were found to be limited to a 'project' basis which did not reflect a coalition in terms of the sharing of strategic decision making and planning. Furthermore, this process is dominated by the traditional white, corporate elite, although non-white individuals do have key roles in this process. There is however, a stark absence of a new non-white elite in the city who could emerge as an important force in encouraging development initiatives which will contribute to the economic development of the city. However, projects are been implemented that are being driven by individuals who are members of a economic or political elite grouping. These projects are based on a trickle down approach where the growth is presumed to filter down and positively affect the poorer members of Durban. There is a real possibility however, as various theorist have warned, that such projects currently being implemented by the elite in the city, might have limited positive benefits for the poor in the city , and could in fact have long term detrimental implications. / Thesis (M.Dev. Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The main aim of this study is to provide a social geography of one of the less privileged communities in South Africa. The township of Merebank, about 15 km west of Durban was chosen as the study area.In order to assess social well being of residents conventional social indicators relating primarily to economic well being were used. Furthermore,access to opportunities was evaluated to determine social well being in a broader context. All aspects of quality of life cannot bemeasured in monetary terms alone and the degree of access a person may have to an amenity or service may often be a far more meaningful measure of social well being. The study also provides useful information about socio-economic conditions in Merebank, attitudes of residents, and positive and negative features of the residential environment. A number of recommendations are suggested which if implemented by planners, can help amelioriate problems and improve the quality of life in Merebank. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1983.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1989.

Poor urban learners' long walks to school and the influence on their school activities. My study is about poor urban learners who walk long distances to school. I explore how their school trip affects their participation in school activities - co-curricular and extra curricula activities, and their understandings about the educational implications. The purpose of this study is two-fold: to understand poor urban learners' school trips through their own voices; and to reflect on the school management implications of the findings. In a case study of one school located in the Cato Manor redevelopment area of Durban, I explore Grade 10 learners' accounts of their walks to and from school and how this affects their early morning and afternoon school activities and what they understand might be the reasons and consequences in their futures. My findings are that poor urban learners encounter security risks daily on their way to school and they use various strategies to navigate those risks; learners experience unsympathetic and negative responses from some staff relating to their long walks to reach school; and the learners say that school regimes rather than the long distances they walk are jeopardising their educational aspirations. At the outset my theoretical perspective was that the school trip is an obtacle to poor urban learners' education capabilities. However my conclusion is that some school regimes are unresponsive to poor urban learners' needs and may obstruct the educational opportunities for learners to better their futures more than does their walking long distances to school. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2012.

In June 1959 there were widespread riots and disturbances in the Durban African area of Cato Manor. The fundamental causes were socio-economic; arising from such factors as poor living conditions and widespread poverty. But it was the exhaustive beer-raids on illegal stills that provided a flashpoint. It was illegal for Africans to brew their own beer; instead they were obliged to purchase it from the municipal beer-halls - the money then being used for the development and administration of African facilities, (l) Amongst the inhabitants of Cato Manor and particularly amongst women who traditionally brewed the beer, this caused much dissatisfaction. However, discontent was prevented from reaching breaking -point by the police strategy of ignoring illegal brewing as long as amounts did not exceed more than k to 8 gallons, and also by only carrying out very perfunctory raids. (2) Another dimension was added to the beer-hall issue in the form of complaints by women that this was not the traditional way of doing things. They said that men should obtain beer from their women instead of frequenting the beer halls, and more importantly, by patronising the beer-halls, men were depriving their women of what little money they could have paid them. (3) In this complaint centering around the fact that an element of traditional life was being disrupted, is contained another issue of basic importance to the Natal riots in general. The policies of the government as implemented by the Durban Corporation in the case of Cato Manor meant the fragmentation of a traditional and still important social order. The economic function of the women of Cato Manor, and ass will be seen later, of most Natal women was being removed. In addition to basic deprivation it was this factor that can to a large extent be seen as the reason for the intensity and militancy of the women's attacks on the beer-halls and on Corporation property. Cato Manor was an area unique among the locations and townships of Durban. Its inhabitants had moved there in the years just after the war without any official sanction. Cato Manor was unplanned, and as a result of its spontaneous creation far less controlled and policed than any of the townships set up as a result of government planning. Because of this freedom Cato Manor was a haven for all those who were illegally in the urban areas, or whose livelihood contravened the multitude of rules and regulations governing the lives of Africans. Cato Manor's large population of shebeen queens owed its existence to this lack of control. (4) In 1958 there had been considerable discontent and unrest in Cato Manor over the attempt to implement shack-removal schemes, thereby clearing the slum and transferring much of its population to the new township of Kwa Mashu. At Kwa Mashu where rents were higher and which was also less centrally situated than Cato Manor, there was far more rigid control. Removals would have in effect meant that. Cato Manor's large illegal population, including the shebeen Queens and petty traders, would have been deprived of their livelihoods or endorsed out of the urban areas. (5) It was in this context that threats of a Typhoid epidemic in June 1959 caused the Durban Corporation to decide to radically increase and improve sanitation measures in Cato Manor, and to eliminate any conditions conducive to the breeding of flies. The refusal of the inhabitants of Cato Manor to do away with the large quantities of illegal liquor negated the health measures taken by the authorities. Finally, municipal labourers were ordered to enter Cato Manor and destroy all stills. The resentment aroused by this action caused a large group of women to march on the Booth Road Beerhall on June 17th whereupon they chased out the male customers and destroyed the beer. (6) The rioting spread rapidly to other Durban beerhalls and a large proportion of the Corporations property was destroyed. In addition, a successful beer boycott was launched. In Cato Manor violence had subsided by the beginning of July at which time it had already spread to such areas as Verulam and Umbumbulu. Six weeks after the initial rioting essential services had not yet been restored fully in Cato Manor. By the beginning of August unrest was rife in many of Natal's smaller towns as well as a large section of the rural areas.

No description available.

Most low cost housing beneficiaries either work in the informal sector with little income to meet all their basic needs, or do not work at all. They live in poverty because many of them are unskilled, unemployed, poorly represented economically, politically and socially. Hence the new South African Housing Policy is said to be enabling the housing environment to play a more meaningful role in job creation and employment sustainability. This is said to be achieved through skills transfer and giving support to small businesses which are geared towards more labour intensive opportunities. Job creation, in the context of this study, means training ,and the use of housing beneficiaries in housing construction. The provision of skills enhances beneficiaries to engage in self-employment programmes. Sustainability, on the other hand, looks at the use of dwelling units for small business purposes, the proximity of housing projects in relation to areas of employment, and the transfer of skills from place to place when required. After conducting a survey of 98 beneficiaries, the study revealed a lack of an effective mechanism for job creation and employment sustainability within greenfields housing projects. In order to provide both guidelines and recommendations for the effective implementation of housing projects, this dissertation assesses the extent to which greenfields housing projects have been able to create and sustain employment opportunities for housing beneficiaries. Case studies used to assess this aspect are Wiggins uMkhumbane in Cato Manor and Westrich in Newlands West. This study outlines failures and successes in the manner in which the above mentioned housing projects were implemented in relation to the creation and sustainability of income generating activities. This dissertation is structured as follows: The first chapter introduces the research problem, research question hypothesis, and the research method used to conduct the study. The second chapter provides both the conceptual framework and the literature review for the topic being investigated. International, national and local case studies are used to support the flow of the argument. Chapter three introduces the geographical and historical background of case studies in which the study was conducted. This historical background is linked to the topic of study to help to understand the phenomenon of employment. Chapter four deals with the presentation and analysis of data collected. The conclusion drawn from the findings and recommendations are found in chapter five. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

This thesis presents a case study of women working in the informal sector in the Warwick Avenue Triangle of Durban. It documents and analyses the ways in which twenty women experience and contribute to recent changes in the urban informal sector. The women in this study are seen as knowledgeable agents who actively participate in their changing social and spatial worlds. In order to do this structuration theory, as a general philosophy of society, has been drawn on and linked to substantiative bodies of theory on the informal sector and feminist theory in geography. Field methods, appropriate to the investigation of meanings the informal sector were employed. The data collected was qualitatively interpreted in the light of the theory. The thesis concludes with a summary of the main findings and suggestions are made for policy and areas of future research on women in the informal sector. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.