Rural communities have limited access to health information which is made available on the internet. This is due to poor infrastructure (i.e., lack of clinics or Internet access) and that gives them problems in accessing information within the domain of health. The availability of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in a rural community can provide the community with a number of beneficial solutions to their problems as they maximize the potential of knowledge sharing and delivery. This research seeks to make use of ICTs deployed in the community of Dwesa, in order to contribute to improving the health standards of the community. It seeks to accomplish this by carrying out an investigation and literature review with the aim of understanding health knowledge sharing dynamics in the context of marginalized communities. The knowledge acquired will then be used in the development and implementation of a semantic web-based e-Health portal as part of the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL) project. This portal will share and deliver western medical knowledge, traditional knowledge and indigenous knowledge. This research seeks to make use of a combination of Free and/or Open Sources Software in developing the portal to make it affordable to the community.

Traditional leadership is a contested field in social and political environments. The new, democratic government has created an environment that accommodates the existence of traditional leadership by introducing policies that guide their functioning. The White Paper on Traditional Leadership of 2003 spells out the roles and responsibilities of traditional leaders. This document when used with the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 2003 may minimise the existing tensions between the traditional leaders and the democratically elected councillors. The White Paper on Traditional Leadership of 2003 has been designed accordingly with the Bill of Rights. Equality and prevention of unfair discrimination, has been entrenched in the Bill of Rights of the Republic of South Africa. Traditional leaders, therefore, do have a space in the governance of South Africa. They are expected to participate in development programmes and in promoting service delivery. This study used the method of a case study. It is a qualitative study. Questionnaires and interviews are tools used to collect data. Various observations and findings were made with proposed recommendations. Most important to note is that, the traditional leaders are aware of the White Paper on Traditional Leadership but do not know what to do about it. This reveals that there is a gap between practice and policy. is the recommendation of the study that, the officials from Local Government and Traditional Affairs and those from the municipalities workshop and mentor the traditional leaders as well as the democratically elected councillors. Such a practice could minimise if not eliminate the tensions that result in poor service delivery.

Resource control as a form of community participation in the mineral economy has gained much recognition. One prevailing argument is that direct control of natural resources by local communities is an important precondition for equitable utilisation of the natural resource wealth, peaceful co-existence between mining corporations and indigenous communities, and congenial relations between local communities and the state. Studies have also shown that the absence of direct community control of mineral wealth remains a major factor in the communal resistance and socio-political conflict witnessed in the natural resource-endowed regions of countries such as Nigeria, Ecuador, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, little is known about mineral resource control at the community level. Does community control necessarily translate to equity? How does local involvement in the mobilisation of mining royalties benefit different segments of the community? Indeed, how do different segments of the community “control” the wealth? What is the specific model adopted to engender broad-based community participation in the utilisation of mineral wealth – and does it matter? These theoretical and practical questions were the impetus for undertaking this study in the Royal Bafokeng and Bakgatla Ba Kgafela – two platinum-rich ‘traditional’ communities in South Africa’s North West Province that have significant control over platinum resources in their territories. Utilising ethnographic data collected in the two study communities in 2008 and 2009, the thesis examines the character of community participation in platinum wealth utilisation; specifically, the conditions under which community participation promotes or hinders sustainable community development. The analysis uses a “three-dimensional participation ladder” conceptual scheme, based in part on Sherry Arnstein’s (1969) “ladder of citizen participation” and subsequent typologies of participation. Among the key findings of the thesis are that despite observed benefits, the interface of resource wealth and community development is fraught with tokenistic participation, elite-targeted grassroots anger, and local tensions – all linked to the contradictory nature of participation. The thesis further reveals that in some instances the challenge of platinum wealth-engendered community development tends to undermine existing customary and democratic spaces for participation, and that this is exacerbated by community-level issues such as poverty and inequality. The findings of the study compel a shift of analytical focus from conflict as an epiphenomenon of collective community exclusion and deprivation (as in the case of many natural-rich countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere), to conflict as also resulting from collective community inclusion (in natural resource utilisation). At the policy level, the study generates insights that will, hopefully, assist mineral resource-endowed countries, such as South Africa, in dealing with the challenge of developing appropriate policy frameworks for regulating business and social partnerships between local communities and mining corporations, and within resource-rich communities themselves.

This study investigates the impact of ICTs for agricultural development in the Alice rural community. The rationale for carrying out the study has to do with the limited access to ICTs by farmers residing in this rural community which in turn affects their productivity and increase in the volume of agricultural production. The core argument of the study is that the use of ICTs has positive spinoffs on agricultural development which leads to improvement in the quality and quantity of agricultural production. Conversely lack of access to ICTs can result in inability to enhance agricultural productivity in rural areas such as Alice. Furthermore, it is argued herein that technological information devices such as ICTs are essential communication and information tools; and as such, should be regarded as useful communication media for disseminating relevant agricultural information to farmers residing in rural communities. In conducting this study theoretical frameworks such as Rogers’ diffusion of innovation and development theories encompassing both the participatory approach and development support communication were presented and argued for as approaches suitable for the study. Triangulations of research methods, such as, qualitative and quantitative methods, were utilized for the collection of data for this study. As is common practice, the triangulation method was used in cross checking and supplementing data/information collected through the utilization of each of the methods. Interviews and questionnaires were used as data collection tools for this study owing to their ability to generate clear and precise responses or answers to the questions posed. The key findings of the study show that the limited access to ICTs in the Alice rural community was caused by factors such as low level of literacy, age and language barriers which in turn affected the adoption of ICTs amongst the Alice farmers. Amongst the recommendations emanating from this study is the idea that the adoption of ICTs for agricultural information can be fast-tracked through the implementation of telecentres/kiosk and information centers for easy access to information and communication services in the rural community.

Community food gardens are regarded as a means through which rural households can improve their livelihoods. This study explores the contribution of community food gardens (CFG) to livelihoods in the Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality in the Limpopo province. The objectives of this study are, firstly to explore the reason behind CFG participation and the reasons behind the participating possibility. Secondly, the study seeks to identify the socio-economic factors influencing the participation of households in CFG and lastly to determine the influence of CFG and other socio-economic variables on household food security status (HFSS). Descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe the socio-economic characteristics and the reasons behind CFG participation and the reasons behind the participating possibility. The binary logistic regression model was used to analyse the determinants of household participation in community food gardens as well as the contribution of CFG to HFSS on Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 21. Through a structured questionnaire, data was collected from a sample of 180 households which was obtained using multistage sampling. Descriptive results on the characteristics of sampled households revealed that there are high levels of food security in the area with 70% being food secure of which around 42.2% are CFG participants and 30% are food insecure. Furthermore the descriptive statistical analysis indicated that participation of households in CFG is mainly to obtain a source of food among the CFG participants and to generate income amongst the non-participants. On the basis of descriptive analysis, this study concludes that source of food and income generation respectively are the main reasons behind CFG participation and the possibilities of becoming a participant. Therefore the study accepts the research hypothesis stating that “There are social and economic reasons behind household participation and the possibilities of participating in CFG”. Binary results for the determinants of CFG participation revealed that socio-economic variables such as household size, farm income, household monthly income, land size, household perception, marital status, agricultural training and homestead gardening significantly influence household decisions to participate in CFG. This is an implication that socio-economic variables tested in this study are significantly influential to the household decision to participate in CFG, leading to the acceptance of the first hypothesis which states that “Socioeconomic factors determine the community food garden ownership or participation”. The results of the contribution made by CFG to HFSS showed that socioeconomic variables such as gender, age, household size, farm income, educational level, household monthly income, marital status, information access, formal employment status and CFG involvement significantly affect household food security status in the study area. The result indicates a positive contribution to HFSS and implies that socio-economic variables tested in this study have a significant influence on HFSS, leading to the acceptance of the second hypothesis which states that “Community food gardens have a positive effect on food security status of household in Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality Limpopo province.” Therefore it is relevant to concluded that in the area of Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality, social economic factors plays a vital role in the participation of households in CFG as well as improving the state household food security status.

The development of electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the most visible business use of the World Wide Web. The primary goal of an e-commerce site is to sell goods and services online. This project deals with developing an e-commerce platform for marginalized communities of the Eastern Cape region, South Africa. An online “shopping mall” to support the marketing of art and crafts from disadvantaged communities is presented, with Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP (LAMP) as the development environment. Free and Open Source Software has been chosen to develop the virtual shopping mall system because the use of Open Source allows easy localization and extensions to the system developed and long term sustainability, as the source code is available. Also, it might start a “virtuous” circle, whereby young members of the communities hosting art and craft makers become involved in maintenance, and then production, of software systems. One important design constraint from the e-commerce platform presented in this thesis is the possibility for the art and craft makers to manage their shops directly, from the initial loading of their wares to the day-to-day maintenance, such as changes of price or items. The user requirement elicitation and initial field testing were conducted in Dwesa, an area on the wild coast, South Africa. The system currently comprising two shops is live at the time of writing this thesis at www.dwesa.com.

The introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for rural development in rural marginalized societies is vastly growing. However, the success of developing and deploying ICT related services is still in question as influential factors such as adaptability, scalability, sustainability, and usability have great effect on the rate of growth of ICTs in rural environments. The problem is that these ICT services should be maintained and sustained by the targeted communities. The main cause for rural marginalization is the fact that some communities situated in rural settings are educationally challenged and computer illiterate or semiliterate in comparison with urban communities. An ICT for development (ICT4D) intervention in the form of an e-Commerce platform that targets the social and economic growth of rural marginalized communities has been developed and field tested at Dwesa, a rural community located on the Wild Coast of the former homeland of Transkei in the Eastern Cape Province. The e-Commerce platform is known as “buy at Dwesa” and can be visited at this URL, http://www.dwesa.com. The aim of the e-Commerce platform is to motivate small entrepreneurs in rural areas to market their products and themselves to the global market as they lack the skills and resources for marketing their art and crafts. Virtual stores are created for a small group of entrepreneurs who will maintain and sustain the stores on their own. These entrepreneurs are often elderly women with limited education and little to no computer literacy - meaning that sustaining the stores may prove difficult for them. In this research we discuss the re-design and re-development of the virtual shop-owner interfaces of the e-Commerce platform to make them more culturally and linguistically localized. The virtual shops allow shop-owners to upload their artifacts to advertise and sell on the customer’s end of the e-Commerce platform. For multilingual and multicultural communities, adoption of the software interfaces to the user’s cultural and linguistic needs and modes of expression is important as failure to do so may reduce the level of benefits of e-Commerce initiatives.

M.A. / The success of participation in research for development depends upon its ability to change power relations in the development setting. The central problem adressed by this study is the question whether participatory methodologies are able to change power relations. A case study is made of the Tshikonelo irrigation scheme of the Agricultural Corporation of Venda, now called the Agricultural and Rural Development Corporation (Pty) Ltd. This case study identifies obstacles relevant to developmental interventions which cast a critical light upon the claims of participatory methodologies. The following methodologies are discussed: Action Research, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), and the Actor-oriented perspective on rural development. The origin of the methodologies that use participation in research is located in the use of social scientific knowledge for development. Consequently, the use of social scientific knowledge is fundamental to the realisation of Participatory Development. This relationship problematises the role of social scientific knowledge for the development process, as social scientific knowledge for development cannot be limited to the context of the development project, and its ability to critique development efforts should be primary. Action Research is relevant to intervention if collaboration with other similar projects is possible. The focal point of this methodology is the degree to which Apartheid and the accompanying strategy of "Separate Development" continues to affect the lives and activities of the farmers involved in the Tshikonelo project. In this respect, it can be used to disseminate alternative agricultural techniques. This approach is important as it can bring about changes in the agricultural establishment. PRA is a positive contribution to the field by virtue of the innovative way in which it approaches development problems. The efficacy of PRA, however, depends upon factors that are external to the project context, such as the receptivity of the agricultural and development establishment to the participation of small farmers in the research process. Problems with PRA are highlighted which run parallel to the problematics of the use of social scientific knowledge for the development process. The strength of the Actor-oriented perspective lies mainly in the possibility of exposing the hidden power relations and dynamics of the irrigation project. As such, it has a unique and important role to play vis-à-vis the other methodologies, with regard to intervention in this project. A debate is constructed between the methodologies in question, covering the following: The degree of homogeneity of target groups; the "vision" of what participatory development should be like; and the identity of the community that has to validate the knowledge under discussion. "Participation" as paradigm for development should be refined in terms of these issues if it is to address deeper methodological problems. It can be seen as a methodological innovation as the community that is responsible for the final validation of knowledge is strange compared to the scientific community. The strategy of participation in development promotes the interests of the participants in two ways. Within the arrangement of how research is done, it promotes the interests of the participants before those of the individual scientist, and it is capable of promoting the interests of marginalised groups in terms of the present political economy. Participatory development is strongly influenced by those participating in the development process and is by no means an easy solution providing a more justifiable establishment.

M.A. / The modern day approach towards community development is to facilitate a community-driven and self-sustaining development process. Development is a process by which the members of a society increase their personal and institutional capacities, mobilise and manage resources, produce sustainable and justly distribute improvements in their quality of life consistent with their aspirations. The reasons why farm workers in commercial agricultural communities are becoming involved in their own development; what motivates them; and the capacities they need to remain involved; are some of the areas that this study addresses. This study focuses on the labour-extensive and labour-intensive farming communities in the Boland/Swartland regions of the Western Cape Province. A purposeful non-probability sample was taken from five labourextensive and five labour-intensive commercial farming communities within a fifty kilometre radius of Wellington. Focus groups as method were used to interview the specifically selected respondents. Qualitative data was collected according to a participatory research method and a visualization technique was utilized to record the data. Some of the important results of this study indicate that the commercial farmer has to take an interest as an important resource and partner in the development of the farm worker's communties. The farmworker's communities are seeking support from the new democratic structures, the Transitional Rural Councils, to assist them with their development efforts. The process of developing ownership and taking responsability for one's own development, needs to be strengthened by including the farmworkers in the decision-taking process on farms regarding community development through structures like farm-forums or farm-committees.

Dissertation submitted in full compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2012 / The dissertation focuses on the implementation of strategies and programmes that are aimed at boosting local economic development at Sobonakhona Makhanya Traditional Area by the EThekwini Municipality. Sobonakhona Makhanya Traditional Area is one of the three main traditional/rural areas making up the Greater Umbumbulu Area, which is situated some 20 kilometres south-west of the Durban Central District. Each of these traditional/rural areas is ruled by its own Traditional Leader. The Sobonakhona Area is made up of areas that can be described as deep rural and peri-urban. For the purpose of this study a municipality and a local government are treated as the same entity. The implementation of these strategies in the deep rural Sobonakhona Area has, however, so far proven to be more challenging than it was initially conceived. This can be partly attributed to the following factors, firstly; before 1994, all matters related to rural economic development initiatives in South Africa fell under the jurisdiction of either the provincial governments or national line ministries or homeland governments – not municipalities. Secondly, between 1994 and 2002, all strategies/programmes that were aimed at boosting economic development were, through the national government’s previous SMME strategy, carried out at national level by the Department of Trade and Industry and its affiliated agencies. Thirdly, the 2000 demarcation of municipal boundaries saw a number of rural areas being incorporated under some municipalities that had jurisdiction over urban areas only, and this created an additional service delivery challenge for these municipalities. Whilst these municipalities were still baffled by how to accommodate/incorporate the rural areas under their programmes, the national government, in 2002, introduced a new SMME strategy (replacing the previous SMME strategy) that required municipalities to effect economic development at local government level. This also presented its own challenge as very few of these municipalities had experience and/or knowledge in the formulation and implementation of local economic development programmes/strategies. This dissertation therefore seeks to uncover the challenges that the EThekwini Municipality faces as it attempts to implement its economic development strategies and programmes for its rural areas in particular, with Sobonakhona Area being the area of focus. The EThekwini Municipality is one of those municipalities that previously had no rural areas under its control. Chapter One of the dissertation introduces the topic of the study together with the relevant background to the study. Chapter Two discusses the research methodology used in an attempt to unravel the study’s research problem. Chapter Three discusses literature review on implementation of strategies and programmes aimed at boosting economic development in rural areas. Chapter Four outlines both the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government and the EThekwini Municipality’s strategies and programmes that are thought would promote economic development in the province and in the EThekwini region respectively. Results uncovered by this study are discussed in Chapter Five. Chapter Six concludes the study by presenting recommendations on how to improve implementation efforts. / M