Magister Artium - MA / There is a high prevalence of sexual risk behaviour among adolescent females in South Africa. As such several intervention programmes are being offered by government, non-profit organisations and the private sector. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand adolescent females’ experiences and perceptions regarding adolescent sexual risk behaviour after their involvement in a youth development programme, offered by the Department of Social Development, in a selected community in the Eastern Cape, South Arica. As such a combination of an exploratory and descriptive design was employed, using a feminist approach to contextualise the phenomenon under investigation. Fifteen females between 18 and 25 years who participated in the YOLO programme participated in the study. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, and thematic data analysis yielded five themes and several subthemes. The findings indicate that adolescents engage in risky sexual behaviours from a very early age. The beneficial impact of the YOLO programme, its contribution towards improved decision making, reduced sexual risk behaviours and awareness of the influence of peer pressure are key findings. Recommendations for policy, social work practice and further research are offered. These include the need for research that addresses sexual risk behaviours in pre-adolescence. Improved insight into how to target sexual risk behaviours during pre-adolescence are regarded as a significant preventative measure. Moreover, government and policy makers should conduct more rigorous evaluations of youth development programmes focused on reducing risky sexual behaviour. Ethical clearance was granted by the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee, at the University of the Western Cape, and the Department of Social Development in the Eastern Cape.

South Africa and Zimbabwe are both well endowed with mineral resources. Both countries share a history of colonization by white settlers with Zimbabwe getting its independence in 1980, followed by South Africa in 1994. Like most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, they rely on their natural resources for sustenance. In their case, the mining industry has therefore contributed significantly to their development. This study has illustrated the different mineral legislation and regulatory mechanisms in place for managing this important sector. In addition, to its mining and mineral legislation, South Africa has developed the Mining Charter and its associated regulations, to regulate its mining industry. A comparative analysis of the mineral rights and tenure has been in the two jurisdictions has been made. Zimbabwe’s mineral regime has been found to be lagging behind not only South Africa, but to most of the region’s regimes. Issues of adhering to the rule of law and respecting international laws and covenants have been highlighted especially in the case of Zimbabwe. Black economic empowerment programmes in the two countries were discussed, with Zimbabwe again coming short. Recommendations for Zimbabwe following South Africa’s example were proffered. The same applies to environmental issues and sustainable development, Zimbabwe need to follow a more coherent path. Harmonisation of mineral regimes within the SADC region was recommended. Further recommendations to achieve this goal were put forward. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted