Rural women‘s land rights in South Africa remain secondary in spite of laws founded on a constitution that promotes gender equality. Patriarchal customary laws prevail and women‘s land rights and use security are inextricably linked to their relationships with their male relatives. Rural women are key producers of agricultural products due to historical and continued male outward migration, which has led to a feminisation of agriculture. Although women farm the land, their land use security is poor and can be further threatened by divorce or widowhood. Given that most vulnerable women are based in rural communal South Africa, how can their land rights be secured under the customary law framework? While the statutory law framework seems to provide a solution, it is less applicable in rural areas where customary law and traditional practices prevail. If statutory law cannot be superimposed on the existing customary law framework, how can women‘s land use be further secured to support their household food security efforts? What kind of framework can be introduced to strengthen women‘s land use security? A study was conducted in rural Limpopo Province to explore this complex and yet important question. A mixed methods approach comprising interview style questionnaires with a mixture of closed and open-ended questions, coupled with focus group discussions and observation was employed. Qualitative data from the focus group discussions and open-ended questions was analysed for common themes using content analysis. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS to establish descriptive data, frequencies and establish the relationships between variables. Results of the analyses were used for building blocks to develop a land rights framework that is more gender sensitive and secures the rights of the actual land users. Women‘s land rights were largely confirmed to be secondary and land use security was linked to the continued relationship to male relatives through marriage and natural blood lines. From these findings, a gender sensitive framework that enables and improves land-based food security efforts has been proposed. / Thesis (M.Sc.Agric.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the nature, extent and impact of multiple land uses on the agricultural landscape in Stellenbosch as manifestation of a post-productivist mode of agricultural change. The research objectives included the provision of a thorough literature review of post-productivism; mapping the spatial distribution of farm-based activities on wine farms within the Stellenbosch area; the compilation of a land-use map of the area that will investigate the extent of multiple land-use diversification; an analysis of the locational relationship between farm-based activities and a range of land-use changes in GIS; mapping the municipal properties and land use on each; the provision of a typology of post-productivist, non-agricultural land consumption practices; and conducting a representatively sampled survey among farm owners/managers who have not followed the trend of multiple land-use practices. Data were collected from questionnaires completed by the owners of wine farms within the Stellenbosch area; by differentiating each land cover type by the changes that took place over the period 1993 to 2010; and from long-term lease agreements of Stellenbosch municipal properties and the land use of each property. An overall increase in the presentation of alternative features/facilities can be observed in the Stellenbosch area. According to the information obtained from the questionnaires, conferences and weddings seems to be the most popular alternatives to primary farming. The research findings indicate that tourism-related functions/facilities on farms lead to a much needed alternative source of income for farmers. The changes in land cover observed over time can be linked to the process of post-productivism, which is aimed primarily at minimising the harmful effects of intensive farming techniques on the environment. In cases where land cover has decreased drastically, especially plantations, these areas have been transformed into natural vegetation. The Stellenbosch Municipality is strict on compliance with policies, as failure to do so can have harmful effects on the environment. These policies include the Land Use Planning Ordinance 15 of 1985 (Western Cape, 1985); the Municipal Asset Transfer Regulations of 2008 (Western Cape, 2008); the Western Cape Provincial Spatial Development Framework of 2009 (Western Cape, 2009); the Provincial Urban Edge Guidelines of 2005; and the policy on the management of Stellenbosch Municipality’s immovable property of 2012. The municipality also is strict on the fact that the property may only be used for the purpose for which it was zoned. Failure to comply with these rules can lead to the termination of the contract between the municipality and the farmer, without any compensation from the municipality. Recommendations for future research include some development opportunities and marketing strategies for farm-based tourism; suggestions regarding the municipal responsibilities towards the commonages; as well as suggestions regarding the management of changes in rural land use change. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om ondersoek in te stel na die aard, omvang en impak van veelvoudige grondgebruike op die landbou-landskap van Stellenbosch as ’n manifestasie van die postproduktivistiese modus van landbouverandering. Die navorsingsdoelwitte het die volgende ingesluit: die voorsiening van 'n deeglike literatuuroorsig oor postproduktivisme; kartering van die ruimtelike verspreiding van plaas-gebaseerde aktiwiteite op wynplase in die Stellenbosch-omgewing; samestelling van 'n grondgebruikskaart van die gebied wat die omvang van die diversifisering van veelvuldige grondgebruike ondersoek; analise van die liggingsverhouding tussen plaas-gebaseerde aktiwiteite en 'n verskeidenheid van grondgebruikveranderinge in GIS; kartering van die munisipale eiendomme en grondgebruik op elke eiendom; verskaffing van 'n tipologie van die postproduktivistiese, nie-landbou verbruikspraktyke; en die uitvoering van 'n verteenwoordigende opname onder plaaseienaars/bestuurders wat nie die tendens van meervoudige grondgebruike volg nie. Data is ingesamel deur middel van vraelyste wat deur eienaars van wynplase in die Stellenbosch-omgewing voltooi is; deur onderskeid te tref tussen verskillende soorte grondbedekking deur te fokus op die veranderinge wat van 1993 tot 2010 plaasgevind het; asook ’n ondersoek van langtermyn huurkontrakte van munisipale eiendomme op Stellenbosch en die grondgebruik van elke eiendom. In die Stellenbosch-omgewing was daar 'n algehele toename in die aanbieding van alternatiewe funksies/fasiliteite. Volgens die vraelyste blyk konferensies en troues die gewildste alternatief tot primêre boerdery te wees. Die navorsingsbevindinge dui daarop dat toerisme en verwante funksies/fasiliteite op plase 'n noodsaaklike alternatiewe bron van inkomste vir die boere verskaf. Die veranderinge in die grondbedekking wat oor tyd waargeneem is, kan gekoppel word aan die proses van postproduktivisme, aangesien die proses daarop fokus om die skadelike uitwerking van intensiewe boerderytegnieke op die omgewing te verminder. In gevalle waar grondbedekking drasties afgeneem het, veral van plantasies, is hierdie gebiede gewoonlik in natuurlike plantegroei omskep. Die Munisipaliteit van Stellenbosch is streng oor die nakoming van beleide, aangesien versuim ʼn skadelike uitwerking op die omgewing kan hê. Hierdie beleide sluit in die Grondgebruikbeplanning Ordonnansie 15 van 1985; Munisipale Bate Oordrag Regulasies van 2008; die Wes-Kaapse Provinsiale Ruimtelike Ontwikkelings Raamwerk van 2009; die Provinsiale ‘Stedelike Randgebied’ Riglyne van 2005; asook die beleid op die bestuur van die Stellenbosch Munisipaliteit se vaste eiendom van 2012. Die munisipaliteit is ook streng oor die feit dat eiendomme slegs gebruik mag word vir die doel waarvoor dit gesoneer is. Versuim om hieraan te voldoen kan lei tot die beëindiging van die kontrak tussen die Munisipaliteit en die boer, sonder enige vergoeding vanaf die munisipaliteit. Voorstelle vir toekomstige navorsing sluit in 'n paar ontwikkelingsgeleenthede en bemarkingstrategieë vir plaas-gebaseerde toerisme, voorstelle ten opsigte van die munisipale verantwoordelikhede teenoor meentgronde, asook voorstelle gerig op die bestuur van verandering in landelike grondgebruik.

Multi-standard classrooms are a distinctive feature of many South African farm schools. This study adopts an ethnographic approach in order to explore how classroom life in one particular Eastern Cape multistandard farm school classroom is shaped by a set of circumstances which influence the nature of teaching and learning in that classroom. The research focuses on the extent to which the difficulties associated with teaching a multi-standard class dictate the teacher's approach to lesson planning and style of teaching and how the resultant pattern of interaction influences language learning within a second language context. Data from a variety of sources, obtained primarily through classroom observations, interviews and questionnaires, is presented. Findings tend to indicate that the demands made on the teachers and pupils in terms of large, multi-standard classes, second language medium of instruction and lack of teaching aids, encourages the use of rote learning techniques which are not conducive to language learning. The pattern of interaction that predominates is a teacher-led series of questions and prompts followed by a chorus response from the pupils. This pattern tends to undermine the communicative aspects of language learning by reducing natural interaction and results in pupil passivity as language learners.

Water is an indispensible and yet a difficult resource to be renewed, thus water scarcity has become one of the major challenges faced worldwide, with the Southern regions of Africa being the most impacted and affected, especially the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa where rural communities depend on receiving waterbodies that are often negatively impacted by wastewater final effluents. This present study was conducted between August and December 2010 to assess the physicochemical and microbial qualities of the final effluents of peri-urban and rural communities based wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern Cape Province. The physicochemical parameters were determined on site and in the laboratory, while bacteriological qualities were determined using culture based techniques. The virological qualities were determined by molecular methods using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the target RNA virus and the conventional polymerase chain reaction for the target DNA virus. For both wastewater treatment plants, the physicochemical parameters ranged as follows: chemical oxygen demand (5.95-45 mg/L); total dissolved solids (114.5-187.0 mg/L); salinity (0.12-0.20 psu); temperature (14.2-25.7oC); pH (6.0-7.6); nitrate and nitrites (1.55-6.7 mg/L and 0.023-1.15 mg/L respectively); biological oxygen demand (3.5-7.8 mg/L); turbidity (1.49-6.98 NTU); and chlorine residual (0-2.97 mg/L). Feacal indicator bacteria counts ranged as follows: feacal coliforms (0-1.25×104 cfu/100 ml); total coliforms (0-3.95×104 cfu/100 ml); and enterococci (0-5.0×103 cfu/100 ml). xviii Seventy five percent of the rural community based plant and 80 percent of the peri-urban community based plant were positive for coxsackie A virus, while hepatitis A virus was detected in all the rural community based plant 80 percent of the peri-urban community based plant. This study suggests the need for intervention by appropriate regulatory agencies to ensure regular monitoring of the qualities of final effluents of wastewater treatment facilities in the Eastern Cape Province and ensure compliance to established guidelines.

Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) can be defined as collaboration between governments, development partners and civil society. It promotes coordination of various donor funded programmes to align with a common sector vision. In the case of South Africa, a water sector SWAP was introduced in 2000. Funds were directed to municipalities that were providing water known as Water Services Authorities (WSAs). This study examines the impact of the SWAP on tangible water delivery issues in Ukhahlamba District Municipality, Eastern Cape. The literature reviewed focuses on rural development in South Africa, and abroad. The quantitative aspect of the research considered various sources including primary data from municipal records of water services provision. Interviews were held with community members, municipal and provincial government officials. Analysis of information from these sources indicates some aspects of water delivery were positive and some negative. Recommendations for improvement and further research are made in the last chapter. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Rural primary schools have got an immense role to play regarding the educational foundation for the subsequent phases of schooling. In ensuring that an extremely solid foundation is laid. the creation and maintenance of a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes extremely very important in this category of schools. It is the primary task of the primary school principal to ensure that quality teaching and learning is taking place in her/his school. I Iowever, in ensuring that a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes a reality in their schools, principals cannot work in isolation but, in collaboration with other potential stakeholders. A variety of factors like good management on the part of principals to good commitment and involvement on the part of other stakeholders like educators, learners, parents. community, business people and the government. lead to teaching and learning of a very high and acceptable standard. The purpose of this research project was to investigate how principals of rural primary schools create and maintain a culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes of this investigation could assist rural primary school principals in their attempts towards ensuring a positive culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes could also assist other stakeholders as to how best can they assist rural primary school principals in making schools centers for a positive culture of teaching and learning. The methodology of research for this investigation is quantitative. The questionnaire was used as a tool for empirical data collection. This research project has revealed several mechanisms that arc utilized by rural primary school principals in creating and maintain a culture ofteaching and learning. It also emerged from thi s study that in creating and maintaining COLT in schools, rural primary school principals encounter some problems that need the undivided attention of every education stakeholder. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Although South African teachers have ample opportunities for professional development (PD), weak results of learners show that these opportunities have had a limited effect on the development of the Mathematics teachers’ instructional skills. The improvement of the teaching of Mathematics is regarded as a solution to learners’ poor performance, because teachers play a key role in the improvement of pupils’ learning. In the light of this, a Mathematics PD programme implemented in a province of South Africa was evaluated and served as a case study. The aim of this evaluation was to probe the quality of the programme since it had been suggested that improving the quality of teaching can be achieved by offering effective PD programmes. Thus, the evaluation was done in an attempt to establish the academic value of the intervention. The investigated programme – which was implemented in a rural and under-resourced setting – focused on FET Mathematics teachers and used mentoring and workshops as its key intervention implementers. Five teachers were involved in this programme. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, mentoring and workshop reports, the results of learners, and pre- and post-test results of the participants. The evaluation of the PD programme revealed the following: that the workshops addressed the participants’ content knowledge gap to a limited degree; that mentoring was able to assist with the individual classroom-related needs of the participants, and that the community of practice formed in the workshops helped the participants to develop by means of working together on lesson preparation, micro-teaching, and content knowledge exercises. Other findings revealed that the duration of the workshops were adequate, however their intensity was insufficient to effectively address the participants’ needs, and that the workshops were carefully planned, given that the same topics were repeated. The mentor teachers and other facilitators encountered challenges relating to the long intervals between the mentoring sessions, the limited post-lesson-observation discussion time, the significant distances between the involved schools and the heavy teaching load of the participants. Nevertheless, recommendations on improving the effectiveness of future PD programmes included careful selection of the dosage of interventions, site-based mentoring, to incentivise participants of PD programmes, alleviating the teaching load of overburdened participants and the creation of conducive environments in rural areas for the formation of communities of practice. / Mathematics Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (Mathematics Education))

Providing adequate sanitation facilities for the poor remains one of the major challenges in all developing countries. In South Africa, an estimated 11,7% of the schools are without sanitation. The South African government has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that all South Africans have access to adequate sanitation. When sanitation systems fail, or are inadequate, the impact of the health of the community, on the health of others and the negative impact on the environment can be extremely serious. In rural South African schools, many Enviro-Ioo toilets are available today. They are designed to suit a variety of water scarce areas and where there is a high risk of contamination of ground water resources. It is important to realize that any Enviro-Ioo system programme requires an education programme to ensure that the principles of use and maintenance are clearly understood by the user group. Their maintenance requires more responsibility and commitment by users. This study is an interpretive case study that indicates how sanitation in a rural Ramashobohle High School in Polokwane municipality was managed through an EcoSchools Sanitation Community of Practice, and how this developed action competence for sanitation management in the school. The study established that the earlier practice and knowledge of the Ramashobohle Eco-Schools community of practice exercised in maintaining Enviro-Ioo systems was inadequate; unhealthy and unsafe according to the data generated through focus group interviews, observations, interviews, action plan, workshops and reflection interviews. The data generated also indicates that the Eco-Schools community of practice was not committed to maintaining sanitation in their school because they were not sharing sanitation knowledge; they were not communicating and not updating one another concerning Enviro-Ioo systems maintenance as they had no adequate knowledge as to how to maintain the facilities; and the school management was also not supportive and was not taking responsibility. The study shows how this situation was turned around as an Eco-Schools Sanitation Community of Practice focussed on developing action competence in the school community. It provides a case based example of how knowledge and action competence, supported by an Eco-Schools Community of Practice, can find and implement solutions to inadequate sanitation management practices in rural schools, and shows how members of the school community can be engaged in learning how to manage and maintain school sanitation systems through a participatory process that develops action competence. The study points to important dimensions of developing action competence, such as providing knowledge and demonstrations, inviting experts to the school, involving learners in observations and monitoring and in ensuring that adequate facilities are available. In particular, a workshop conducted by Enviro-Ioo consultants, organised and supported by the Eco-Schools Sanitation COP, together with a follow up action plan, provided the main impetus for changes in practice in the school and served to support action competence development. Finally the study provides research findings and recommendations for further research.

Municipal commonage in South Africa offers previously disadvantaged, landless residents access to both direct ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that provide additional income options and indirect social and cultural services. Given that EGS production is a function of ecosystem health, it is imperative that commonage land be managed to maximize current local benefit streams while ensuring future options through the maintenance of natural ecosystem functions. The payments for ecosystem services (PES) model potentially offers an opportunity for contributing to local economic development while providing fiscal incentives for environmentally sustainable natural resource management. PES depends on the demonstration of quantifiable changes in EGS delivery due to improvement in or maintenance of high ecosystem health that are a verifiable result of modifications in management behavior. This thesis therefore compared spatial variations in (i) ecosystem health and (ii) nine direct and indirect EGS values derived from natural resources on the Bathurst municipal commonage and neighboring Waters Meeting Nature Reserve (NR) to explore how different land use intensities affect ecosystem health and the resulting provision of EGS. The results indicate that the total economic value of annually produced EGS on the study site is nearly R 9.8 million (US$ 1.2 million), with a standing stock of natural capital worth some R 28 million (US$ 3.4 million). Nearly 45% of the total annual production is attributed to Waters Meeting NR, with roughly 34% from the low use zone of the commonage and the remaining 22% from the high use zone. Of the total annual production value on the study site, roughly 59% is derived from indirect (non-consumptive) uses of wildlife for the study site as a whole, though this proportion varies from 25% in the high use zone of the commonage to 94% on Waters Meeting NR. The two largest annual production values on the study site derive from ecotourism (R 3.5 million, US$ 0.4 million) and livestock production (R 2.6 million, US$ 0.3 million), suggesting that while increased production of indirect EGS could generate significant additional revenues, especially on Waters Meeting NR and in the low use zone of the commonage, direct (consumptive) EGS will likely remain an important component of land use on the commonage. A PES project to support the adoption of silvo-pastoral practices could provide positive incentives for improved land use practices on the commonage and potentially be financed by conservation-friendly residents of the Kowie River catchment and/or increased ecotourism revenues from Waters Meeting NR. Allowing carefully designed and monitored local access to natural resources within Waters Meeting NR could also reduce pressure on commonage resources. Together, these approaches could lead to a more sustainable subtropical thicket landscape and ensure that critical natural resources remain available to support local livelihoods in the long-term.

M.A. (Geography) / In the last century, the establishment of protected areas has become an important part of managing South Africa’s wilderness and wildlife. The notion of untouched protected areas is becoming contested in a time when developing nations are seeking to improve quality of life for their citizens. With the promulgation of the NEM: PAA of 2003, resource sharing with local rural communities has become an important policy guideline for protected area management authorities. An example of a protected area where management has sought to facilitate resource access in neighbouring rural communities is Mkuze Game Reserve (MGR), now part of the greater Isimangaliso Wetland Park. This study uses a mixed methods approach to combine local rainfall records, census archives, and remotely sensed data with qualitative interview data in order to investigate spatial, social and quantitative aspects of anthropogenic land-cover change between 1979 and 2008. If the proposed balance between development and conservation is to be achieved in this ecologically diverse locale, a deeper understanding of contextual relationships between human activity and environmental change will be vital. Results showed that while rainfall was cyclic, natural land-cover decreased consistently in densely populated rural areas. In contrast, protected areas such as MGR showed little change in land-cover indicating that human activity and cattle have a significant impact on the land surface in the Mkuze Region. While many local residents in the rural communities living adjacent to MGR recognise their role in the achievement of development-conservation objectives, a history of exclusion from MGR has left a legacy of negative perceptions towards MGR in these communities. In order to mitigate natural land-cover loss, local communities must have positive perceptions about MGR and become involved in its management. Useful inferences have been made from the results regarding the management of human population and activities around the borders of protected areas in South Africa.