M.A. (Demographics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The original publication is available at http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/Organisations/Demography/SA_Journal_of_Demography/SAJD/Volume%208/SAJDem_2000_8_1_Bekker.pdf

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor Of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Zululand, 2017 / For over a century, cross border movement of people has been on-going between Nigeria and South Africa. Nigerians started immigrating to South Africa as early as 1905, and South African white Missionaries from the Dutch Reformed Church, on the invitation of the Sudan United Mission, for evangelical work. The missionaries from South Africa were assigned the Benue region of Nigeria for missionary evangelical work. By 1911, they were at Sai a Tiv village where they established the first mission station. These missionaries introduced modern education based on western civilisation to the area and introduced new seedlings that led to the transformation of agriculture in the Benue region. They also introduced modern medical practice that eradicated leprosy and other diseases that were rampant and brought in modern architecture to the Benue region. They established the NKST church which is widely spread among the Tiv and across central Nigeria. The study discusses the role of Nigeria in undermining the apartheid regime from 1960, which also coincided with the Sharpeville massacre. Nigeria spent its resources in the fight against apartheid. In doing that, Nigeria did not only engage apartheid South Africa alone but used the instrument of diplomatic relation in canvassing support on the international scale through the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the formation of the OAU which was largely funded by the Nigerian government. This research reveals Nigeria’s role in the de-colonisation process of not only apartheid South Africa but also the entire Southern African region. The study analyses the patterns of migration between the two countries and examine the implication of this migration on the socio-political and economic relationship since 1960. Relying on a qualitative methodology, the study uses the principle of saturation to interview participants; it also relies on archival records in addition to current literature on the phenomenon. The study used the Push pull and transnational migration theory for analysis. This study argues that although the migration phenomenon existed for over a century, the two countries are still engaged in frosty relationship expressed through xenophobic violence, drug trafficking, and human rights abuses. It also argues that the fundamental reason for this xenophobic attack can be traced in South Africa’s apartheid history, which left a society where black South Africans were separated from each other, and that the South African blacks came out of apartheid as landless poor peasants. Although the instrument of power lies in their hands, the economy is still largely controlled by the white minorities. The study concludes with a clarion call on the Nigerian and South African governments to reawaken Pan-Africanism that the continent is known for and to reinvigorate the African Ubuntu which seeks the welfare of an African brotherhood - that Africa is better together than disunited. Africa should work more on factors that unite them rather than on what divide them. In unity, the continent’s hopes for integration in economic, political and diplomatic relations will be realised.

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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2015. / The aim of this study was to model internal migration in South Africa using the 2011 Census data. The net-internal migration was modelled in the district municipalities of South Africa using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). In this study, the following global and local modelling techniques were used, Gravity, Poisson, Negative Binomial (NB), Gamma, and GWR model (local model). Poisson and NB failed to fit the migration data, while the Gamma model managed to fit the data reasonably well. The GWR model performed better than OLS regression in modelling net-internal migration in district municipalities of South Africa. The results from these models revealed that there was a strong relationship between internal migration and economic variables, as well as living conditions and demographic variables. The Monte Carlo significance test results showed that the parameters of the white population vary significantly across space. The results of the study signal that the differences in social and economic disparities in the district municipalities of South Africa are the drivers of internal migration.

This dissertation examines the impacts of climate- and environment-related stress on migration from other sub-Saharan African countries to South Africa, which is a prominent destination for migrants. It describes the factors and processes that influenced migration decisions and provides insights into the experiences of these individuals before, during, and after migration. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with migrants from several sub-Saharan African countries now residing in South Africa’s Gauteng province, as well as key informants with expertise on migration, climate change, and environmental problems in Africa. Additional information was gathered from secondary material, such as reports, grey literature, and academic publications. The principle finding is that, although climatic and environmental stresses are not the primary drivers for migration to South Africa, they play a clear contributing role, both directly and indirectly. The direct contributions included drought, land degradation, floods, and erratic rainfall. Such environmental drivers for migration did not occur in isolation, instead, they were found to frequently intersect with various economic, political, social, and demographic drivers. Indirect contributions were largely through negative impacts on economic and political factors that became direct drivers for migration. Whether people respond to these adverse conditions by migrating depends on a number of factors that can be divided into three areas: intervening obstacles and facilitators of migration, personal and household characteristics, and expectations of the destination. Although some migrants in the re-search sample had experienced improvements in their quality of life since they had migrated to South Africa, the majority of migrants indicated that their lives were still characterised by insecurity, precariousness, and hopelessness. / Dissertation (MSocSci (Development Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Anthropology and Archaeology / MSocSci (Development Studies) / Unrestricted

M.A. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities (Forced Migration Studies), 2012 / Background: This research investigates the psychosocial needs of cross-border unaccompanied minors (UAMs) within urban Johannesburg, a city that attracts nearly half of all the cross-border migrant population in South Africa (Landau and Gindrey, 2008). The focus of the research is dual; firstly, it explores what the prime psychosocial needs of UAMs are by eliciting them from the UAMs themselves via participatory research workshops. South Africa, by law, has an obligation to all UAMs to provide for them. By ascertaining these needs, this study reveals discrepancies between existing psychosocial programmes designed and provided by the government or service providers and the needs of the UAM. Secondly, the research examines how UAMs are trying to satisfy their psychosocial needs. Identifying the psychosocial needs of UAMs and their coping mechanisms gives us a better understanding of the nature of the issues UAMs face, as well as their subjective perception of and priority they place on those issues. This can consequently contribute (a) to providing constructive suggestions on designing psychosocial programmes by governmental, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and non-profit organisations (NPOs) and (b) valuable input to further research on livelihood-seeking UAMs, a group that is currently under-represented in cross-border UAM studies, unlike asylum seeking or refugee UAMs. Aims: The aim of this study is to understand the psychosocial needs of UAMs and how they are meeting those needs in Johannesburg. This will provide insights on the nature of the psychosocial needs of UAMs that will ultimately be helpful both to government agencies as well as NGOs and NPOs responsible for programme planning, legislation, and execution of policies regarding cross-border UAMs. Finally, the study aims to draw attention to livelihood-seeking UAMs and to encourage further research on this particular group of UAMs. Therefore my research question is: what are the psychosocial needs of cross-border UAMs in Johannesburg? Methods: In this study, a qualitative research approach is used with the aim of uncovering the psychosocial needs of cross-border UAMs. This was done by using participatory action research and a visual methodology. The data was elicited via two participatory workshops, the first with 36 cross-border minors participants and the second with 12 cross-border UAM participants. This was followed by a series of group discussions after the workshops. Afterwards, a comparison between the participants’ visual inputs with their narratives and responses allowed me to extrapolate their psychosocial needs and ways in which they meet those needs. Adding to the study, 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with service providers from various organisations, both non-governmental and governmental. Finally, the data was compiled from both the cross-border UAM s and service providers to answer the research question and objectives. Conclusion: This research identifies and discusses the following psychosocial needs of crossborder UAMs: family, a care-giver, documentation, fitting-in with their South African peers, security, schooling, better life quality (economic and social advancement), counselling, and playing. The four themes in bold text represent psychosocial needs, which continue to be unmet or unfulfilled by service providers current responses. Although the basic (ontological) needs of cross-border UAMs seem to be met (i.e., food, housing, clothing), psychosocial needs - those needed for emotional well-being - are undermined because service providers do not see them as fundamental as basic needs. One conclusion from my study is that NGOs can better cater to UAMs’ psychosocial needs due to their flexible infrastructure that can accommodate personalisation and prompt redesigning of programmes offered, in contradistinction to the recalcitrant governmental infrastructure. Currently service providers, such as governmental departments, NGOs and NPOs use the law (such as the Children’s Act (2008)), regulations or psychosocial programmes to aid cross-border UAMs, but these laws and programmes are manufactured for either homogenous groups or very specific groups such as refugees and asylum seekers. However, there are persisting gaps in the services available. These gaps are due to the varied nature of psychosocial needs that each ‘child’ has to meet, which is also contingent on their own background and personality. Under the Children’s Act (2008), minors are categorised as a homogeneous group and therefore individual needs are overlooked. Organisations both governmental and non-governmental have tried to incorporate child friendly practices, although in most of the interviews it was mentioned that policy, such as the Children’s Act (2008), is not necessarily ‘child’ or ‘family’ friendly. Overall this research indicates that NGOs and NPOs are well-equipped to cater to the psychosocial needs of UAMs, such as school, family reunification and basic needs. Certain psychosocial needs, however, such as ‘fitting-in’, are still unmet. In these cases, UAMs resort to catering to their own needs (lke living on the street in selfappointed families), relying on service providers for emotional support and/or basic needs.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / Refer to document

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo -- 2016. / Refer to document

This study explored the perceptions of beneficiaries of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) with regard to the role that RDP houses play socially, psychologically, and physically in the lives of occupants after moving from an informal settlement into RDP houses. Given that the said housing programme targets disadvantaged people, it was important to understand their own perceptions of these houses. The study also explored the perceptions of government officials in regard to their experiences relating to RDP houses. A case study approach was adopted and Bronfenbrenner‟s ecological theory of human development was used as the theoretical framework to guide this study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with two groups of participants. First, Group A comprised three RDP participants who lived in an informal settlement before relocation to their RDP houses. Second, Group B comprised three participants from the national, provincial and local offices of the governmental human settlements departments respectively. Data were analysed and four main themes as well as the subthemes emerged from the analysis. The four main themes are the bolstered sense of psychological well-being; access to basic services, amenities, and benefits of an improved infrastructure; pride of ownership; and ownership as a form of personal economic development or empowerment. Findings suggested that the participants reflected expressions of joy, a sense of permanence, a feeling of being home, hope for the future, and an absence of worry. These meanings and interpretation of home ownership reflect how the participants identify with their RDP houses and how pleased they are to own a house. Basic services enhance their overall quality of life in relation to their psychological, physical and social well-being. Interestingly, access to socio-economic services and amenities such as connected water and electricity inside The Experience of Moving from an Informal Settlement to a Secure Stable Home 4 the houses, the availability of schools and clinics, transport services, and a habitable environment, were found to play an important role in the lives of the participants. However, factors which hamper the success of RDP housing and compound the hopelessness of living in an informal settlement as well as the problems that RDP home owners encounter, which restrain their pride of ownership are: ambivalence over restrictions or limitations imposed by building regulations, the size of the houses, the poor quality construction, and envy at improvements made to subsequent RDP houses. In conclusion, the findings add to a greater theoretical understanding of the factors contributing to human development and the factors that impede the effectiveness of the housing programme. These factors draw attention to a number of important issues regarding RDP housing, which may assist housing practitioners, and in particular, policy developers, in developing policy that may be more useful in meeting the needs of the people. This could enhance the existing housing programme as well as alert the housing practitioners to existing shortcomings and offer them the opportunity to become acquainted therewith. These factors that impede RDP ownership suggest a need for the government and other relevant stakeholders to engage in the issues that prevent the successful implementation of the housing programme thereby maximising the effectiveness of the housing programme, primarily in order to strive to improve the lives of previously disadvantaged people. / Social Work / MA SS (Psychology)