This research was conducted with the intention of accomplishing effective property management (PM) in order for public sector properties in South Africa (SA) SA to fulfil more remarkably, public sector property stakeholders’ requirements. In particular, this study was concluded within a South African municipal environment with the specific purpose of alleviating South African municipalities from problems associated with overall poor operational performance, dissatisfied public sector property stakeholders, and inadequacies in competitiveness and global alignment. The primary objective of this study was to develop a performance model deemed necessary for the effective management of public sector properties in SA. This was achieved by developing a performance model for effective management of public sector properties, a model to systematically monitor, measure and control current expectations and changes within a public sector property management function. Herewith, performance model for effective management of public sector properties in South Africa. At the time of conducting this study, there was no conceptual model developed for performance management of public sector properties. In order to develop the performance model, the conceptual model identified key elements that included: 1) obsolescence and strategic factors; 2) global alignment; 3) finance and cost control; 4) PESTEL impact; 5) transformation and sustainability; 6) leadership and governance; and 7) monitoring, measurement and control as influences that directly impact a perceived successful management of public sector properties in SA. The study also took the form of a quantitative research project that included a formal survey of the identified population sample. The main statistical procedure employed was Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Originally, the study offered 24 hypotheses; however, only 11 hypotheses could be confirmed by SEM measurement. Therefore, through SEM, the significance of the relationships between variables could be tested. Appropriate quantitative data were collected from public and private South African Built Environment professionals, students and other academics. The research made use of snowball sampling through questionnaires, with a sample size of 171. It is anticipated that findings of this study will be acknowledged by public sector PM in an effort to resolve PM problems through the incorporation of pertinent recommendations. Likewise, since the performance model for effective management of public sector properties was not extant prior to this study, this research is cutting-edge and therefore pioneering to PM, especially within the public sector.

M.Tech. (Interior Design) / Commissioned public buildings in post-apartheid South Africa exhibit a synergy between local craft and contemporary design in their interiors. Tasked with the design of buildings representative of a democratic South Africa, architects looked to the surrounding communities, recognizing and incorporating local craft skills and products into their designs. The buildings selected as examples for this study are the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature (2001) in Nelspruit, the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature (2003) in Kimberley, and the Constitutional Court (2004) in Johannesburg. These have been selected as they are the three buildings commissioned after 1994 by the democratically elected South African government. This research aims to determine how national identity has been communicated and represented in the interior design of these public buildings, through the inclusion of local craft. As key public buildinqs of this time there has been considerable research done based on these examples in the field of architecture, notably by the authors Freschi (2006,2007) and Noble (2011), however, no research has been done in the field of interior design. By taking an interpretivist approach, this qualitative study seeks to find meaning and deeper understanding. Data was collected in transcribed interviews, observations in the field as well as a literature review. Qualitative content analysis was used to initiate a comparison between the interior design of the buildings. Through the use of crystallization as a methodology it attempts to offer a thickly described interpretation of three public interiors undertaken in the development of a national design identity. This study could be of interest to interior design students, interior design and architectural professionals undertaking similar projects and government departments interested in this field.

In 1994 the new government introduced a subsidy scheme where the beneficiaries are provided with houses through housing projects. The houses have been vastly criticised for being small and poorly built. The sites provided are perceived to be small. The recreational facilities are perceived to be non existent and educational facilities scarce. The places where the projects are, is perceived to be far away from job opportunities. A sample of 200 beneficiaries was drawn from 1024 beneficiaries residing in the housing project in the area of France, Edendale in Pietermaritzburg, Phases 1 and 11. In this study, the respondents were composed of 32.9% males and 67.1% females. The respondent’s age group who participated in this project was 3.9% between 0-21 years, 28.9% between 22-35 years, 34.2% between 36-45 years, 16.4% between 46-55 years, and 11.8% between 55- 65 years and 4.6% did not reveal their age status. 80.9%, indicated they were owners of the houses, 6.6% indicated that they were not and those that did not reply are 12.5%. The study is descriptive in nature and explored the extent to which the beneficiaries were happy with their houses. The study explored the perceptions on the size of the sites, the small starter houses, the sanitation provided and the location of the houses. The findings suggest that the provision of sustainable housing in South Africa is still a challenge. The houses are still located far from the places of work and they are so small and there is overcrowding. The sizes of the sites are small and the sanitation provided unacceptable. The recreational facilities are nonexistent. Beneficiaries expressed dissatisfaction with the educational facilities. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2012.

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / Contested territories have strongly contributed to the displacement of people worldwide, resulting in the loss of the right to belong. Considering the boundaries of belonging in Mayfair, a marginalised social landscape in Johannesburg, this architectural response to a social and urban investigation will ascertain whether and how architecture can respond to the global issue of xenophobia. Johannesburg as uitvalgrond has, since its founding, offered migrants opportunities for meaningful participation and self-actualisation. This reiterates the idea that the city’s in-between spaces often allow for a new realisation or actualisation of identity. The author argues that space-and-place-making and identity are intrinsically linked - the one enforcing, defining or denying the Other. The dissertation conceptualizes how architecture can acknowledge Mayfair residents’ unique and evolving post-national identity as a marginalised community in an young democracy. The study suggests how architecture can give form to contemporary African public space that contributes to a sense of belonging for both the Self and the Other in Mayfair. The methods used in this study are: observation through site visits, drawing, on-site interviews and film; mapping boundaries and edges defining various ethnic territories, open space network (utilised and unutilised), mobility, nodes and landmarks, actual land use as opposed to zoned land use and experiential observations; correspondence and discussions, making use of official databases to research historic maps and photographs; examining precedents, and applying all of the above into an appropriate architectural model. Each chapter concludes with a reflection extracting the most important notions from that chapter to be taken into the next section. This dissertation interrogates the importance and the role of architecture and public open space in Johannesburg by exploring new ways of thinking, doing and making in Johannesburg’s present, changing urban condition.

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / Alexandra's Far East Bank, formerly an apartheid buffer zone, is caught up in a reactive process by government to provide both housing and public transport. This process has resulted in a segregated relationship between the Marlboro Gautrain Station and the adjacent Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing scheme. The station is completely cut off from the immediate community by a perimeter fence with 24-hour security. This further entrenches the division between the Gautrain commuters and surrounding community. This forced physical relationship sets up an opportunity to design and create a space that aims to straddle the current socioeconomic gap. After on-site investigation and research, a This project would be the first catalytic response to the City of Johannesburg’s Regional Spatial Development Framework (RSDF) for Region E (CoJ 2009/10: 149). The