Thesis (M. Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The provision of basic water services delivery to all South African citizens is one of the huge challenges for the local government and it is at the coalface of service delivery. The objective of the study was to determine the factors that influence water service delivery challenges in the local municipality of Makhuduthamaga, in Sekhukhune District Municipality. The statement of the problem, therefore, provided the foundation within which the aims of the study are explained. The significance of this research cannot be over-emphasised, especially against the backdrop that local government is the third sphere of government and is in the front line of service delivery. This study aimed at investigating the water service delivery challenges in the municipality of Makhuduthamaga in Sekhukhune District, Limpopo province. This research was necessitated by the lack of water in Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality. It is evident that there are several challenges in the delivery of water services in the local sphere, however, for the sake of this research only one municipality was selected as a case study. The study employed a qualitative case study research design to collect data from participants who were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The study participants included the local community representatives and the municipal officials responsible for water services in the municipality and the water resources available in the locality such as the Vergelegen, Nkadimeng and De Hoop dams. The finding shows that the available water sources are not adequate to cater for all the residents of the municipality; hence this affects the water delivery efforts of the municipality significantly. As a result, local residents have expressed their dissatisfaction through violent service delivery protests in different wards of the municipality. The study further reveals that the municipality has been facing serious water services challenges over several years. The issue emanates from the water sources which are dried up, illegal connections, incomplete projects by contractors, financial constraints, and poor maintenance planning. The main challenge here is the lack of water sources, poor maintenance, lack of skills and expertise from the employees in the water department, insufficient budget to relieve the water crisis in the municipality and the district at large. The municipality has implemented all the interventions, such as public participation to vi encourage communities to use water sparingly, to pay for services of the municipality for the sake of revenue enhancement and have drilled more boreholes to augment the water services to the communities. This study recommends that the municipality should prioritise their budgeting and align this to the community needs, hiring the correct personnel with relevant skills and expertise in the water related function. Also, the municipality needs to work on the turnaround time for the maintenance of pump stations and fixing of leaking water pipes. They should penalise all the illegally connected households so that they can curb all the recurring illegal connections. The other issue is to improve communications with the communities with relevant stakeholders to ensure that everyone is informed in case of water cuts due to maintenance or cleaning of water reservoirs.

The study focused primarily on the socio-economic benefit(s) of land reform beneficiaries with regard to food security. The study further investigated the socio-economic impact of selected land reform projects in the Limpopo Province which is also very critical for many parts of South Africa. Apart from the traditional output based evaluation of land reform projects, the study managed to identify key significant variables that could be the focus in reforming land reform projects in the future. The study also highlights variables that could contribute positively or negatively to the attainment of socio-economic deliverables of the objectives of land reform. The conclusive data for the study was obtained from 170 beneficiaries of the land reform programme. Beneficiaries have benefited from Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD) and Settlement Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG) sub-programmes of land reform in the area of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality within the Greater Sekhukhune District Local Municipality. The Multinomial Logic Model (MLM) was regarded as the best model for data analysis and was used to analyse the degree of contribution of socio-economic factors to food security among beneficiaries of LRAD and SLAG. Three categories were selected to determine the level of beneficiaries satisfaction with food security, namely; 1) None; 2) Moderate and 3) High. Dependent variables selected were 1) Number of beneficiaries, 2) Gender, 3) Farm size/ha, 4) Enterprise, 5) Land reform sub programme, 6) Proximity to the project, 7) Decision, 8) Knowledge, 9) Skills, 10) Training, 11) participation in Development organisation, 12) Sustaining production, and 13) Sustaining financial obligation. The study indicated that the participation of beneficiaries in decision making could contribute positively to the attainment of food security. A positive relationship with food security was determined and confirmed the study hypothesis. Knowledge was also found to have a significant relationship with the attainment of household food security. Knowledge was again found linked to training of beneficiaries which in general was inadequate. The study further revealed that almost all beneficiaries were failing to maintain production and financial obligations. Contrary to the hypothesis, enterprise was not found to be significant to the attainment of beneficiaries’ household food security. v The study concluded that land reform is still relevant to food security in the area. It was also concluded that there is a need to develop a comprehensive agricultural development plan to advance the objective of the land reform programme. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.Sc. (Agriculture)

This study has assessed the welfare shocks and household food Insecurity in Ephraim Mogale and Greater Tubatse municipalities of Sekhukhune district, Limpopo Province in South Africa. The study identified shocks affecting livelihood at household level and also analysed the food insecurity status of households. The study is restricted only to two local municipalities out of five municipalities in Sekhukhune district. Structured questionnaire was administered for data collection. A total of 200 households were involved in the study with 100 households selected from each municipality. Within each municipality several villages were selected for survey through stratified random sampling selection. Data was collected between 10th July and 22nd September 2014. All response from the questionnaires was tabulated and processed with the use of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) programme. Three analytical tools were used to achieve the objectives of the study such as, Descriptive statistics, Household Food Insecurity Assessment Scale (HFIAS) and Linear regression model. Majority of households experience different form of shocks in their households. Increase in food prices, high level of livestock disease, drought, death of a household member and chronic illness such as Diabetes, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis are the most important shocks experienced. Approximately 22.2% of households were characterized as being food secure, 32.2% as mildly food insecure, 34.2% as moderately food insecure while 11.4% are severely food insecure. The main determinants of food security from the sample survey were education, unskilled wage labour, grants, pension and disability funds whereby high-level of livestock diseases, illness or accidental loss, death of a household member tends to expose households to higher risk of food insecurity. Policy recommendations are made on promoting education in the rural areas. High priority should be given to industrialization in the district which will in turn boost the rate of employment and also add to the economic growth. Policy measures should be made in supporting people and organizations on how to respond to shocks and stresses experienced in their communities. / Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

The study focused primarily on the socio-economic benefit(s) of land reform beneficiaries with regard to food security. The study further investigated the socio-economic impact of selected land reform projects in the Limpopo Province which is also very critical for many parts of South Africa. Apart from the traditional output based evaluation of land reform projects, the study managed to identify key significant variables that could be the focus in reforming land reform projects in the future. The study also highlights variables that could contribute positively or negatively to the attainment of socio-economic deliverables of the objectives of land reform. The conclusive data for the study was obtained from 170 beneficiaries of the land reform programme. Beneficiaries have benefited from Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD) and Settlement Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG) sub-programmes of land reform in the area of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality within the Greater Sekhukhune District Local Municipality. The Multinomial Logic Model (MLM) was regarded as the best model for data analysis and was used to analyse the degree of contribution of socio-economic factors to food security among beneficiaries of LRAD and SLAG. Three categories were selected to determine the level of beneficiaries satisfaction with food security, namely; 1) None; 2) Moderate and 3) High. Dependent variables selected were 1) Number of beneficiaries, 2) Gender, 3) Farm size/ha, 4) Enterprise, 5) Land reform sub programme, 6) Proximity to the project, 7) Decision, 8) Knowledge, 9) Skills, 10) Training, 11) participation in Development organisation, 12) Sustaining production, and 13) Sustaining financial obligation. The study indicated that the participation of beneficiaries in decision making could contribute positively to the attainment of food security. A positive relationship with food security was determined and confirmed the study hypothesis. Knowledge was also found to have a significant relationship with the attainment of household food security. Knowledge was again found linked to training of beneficiaries which in general was inadequate. The study further revealed that almost all beneficiaries were failing to maintain production and financial obligations. Contrary to the hypothesis, enterprise was not found to be significant to the attainment of beneficiaries’ household food security. v The study concluded that land reform is still relevant to food security in the area. It was also concluded that there is a need to develop a comprehensive agricultural development plan to advance the objective of the land reform programme. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.Sc. (Agriculture)

MENVSC / Department of Ecology and Resource Management / Certain communities in Sekhukhune area are known to be practicing geophagia. Existing standard questionnaires as adopted to generate data on human geophagia included aspects on demography, socio-economics, cultural, ecological, physico-chemical aspects, indigenous knowledge and health effects of geophagic consumers. These data were gathered through distribution of questionnaires to 200 geophagic participants, of which 135 were from Ga-Nchabeleng Village and 65 from Mphanama Village. Both the Villages were based in the rural settlements in Sekhukhune area. In this study the behaviour of geophagic individuals was investigated and cytotoxicity of plant remains consumed in geophagic soils was evaluated for any toxicity. A total of 17 different geophagic sites were identified. Six geophagic sites each were from Ga-Nchabeleng Village and six from Mphanama Village. Five other sites were selected from sites where geophagia was not practiced and were recorded as the control sites. All the 17 soil samples were analysed using Munsell Soil Color charts for soil colour classification. Samples of plant remains were collected from the same geophagic sites where soil samples were collected. Due to similar plants and vegetation type from 17 different geophagic sites, a composite study was adopted. Geophagic consumers in Ga-Nchabeleng Village identified four plant species of plant remains consumed in the soil in the area and Mphanama village identified five species different from Ga-Nchabeleng plants. Samples of plant remains were grouped according to comparable features or characteristics. Sample 1 of plant remains was composed mainly of grasses; Cynodon dactylon, Aristida congesta and Eragrostis rigidior whereas sample 2 of plant remains was composed of Acacia plant; Vachellia tortilis. The two samples of plant remains were collected from Ga-Nchabeleng Village. Sample 3 of plant remains was composed of creeping, perennial weed herbs; Alternanthera pungens Kunth and Alternanthera lorentzii. Sample 4 of plant remains was composed of prominent woody plants; Combretum apiculutum, Kirkia wilmsii and Boscia albitrunca. Samples of plant remains 3 and 4 were collected from Mphanama Village study sites. Sample 5 of plant remains was the control site and composed mainly of Acacia plants; Vachellia nilotica, Acacia vii mearnsii and Vachellia tortilis and were collected from sites not used for geophagic practices. The plant remains parts mostly consumed were roots (50%) in Ga-Nchabeleng, whereas in Mphanama Village they were stems (54.5%) and the control site had leaves at 62.5%. The five samples of plant remains were recovered using physical separation method. The plant remains were washed and dried. Retch Muhle grinding machine was used to ground the samples. Methanol was used in the extraction of all the samples of plant remains. The result from the administration of the questionnaire revealed that geophagia in this area was practiced by both male and female Sepedi-speaking individuals. Ga-Nchabeleng Village had more female geophagic participants, whereas Mphanama Village had more males who have almost undergone secondary school. However, in general for the study there were more female geophagic consumers. Geophagic consumers ingest soil known locally as Mobu, Letsopa or Leraga collected mostly from the riverbanks, mountains/hills and valleys with only a few that indicated termite mounds. Geophagic consumers in the study used colour, among other things, to describe their soil of preference. The study consisted of 200 participants of whom 172 represented the geophagic group and 28 were the control group, aged between 18-65 years analysed using chi-square crosstabulation. There was no significant difference in human health effects associated with geophagia between the geophagic group and the control group. There was also no association established between soil consumption and other non-food substances between geophagic group and control group. Chi-square (χ2) analyses revealed a significant association of gender with geophagic habits (p<0.05), while there was no association of age, educational level, income source and marital status (p>0.05) with geophagic habits. Findings of the survey when two villages are combined revealed that more females (75.60%) practice geophagia compared to males (24.40%). The respondents from both study sites preferred digging technique when collecting the soil. It was established that craving was mainly the reason behind the practice in the study area. Hygiene and environmental conditions were not considered when mining viii geophagic soil as the majority of them used dirty utensils, hands for collection and non-sterile bags and tins for packaging. Some of the soils were collected close to waste dumping sites as seen whilst visiting geophagic mining sites. Majority of the consumers had little or no knowledge that the soil could be harmful or if it contained any contaminants. This sample of interviewees provided valuable information on human geophagic practices in Sekhukhune area. It became clear that this practice was entrenched in the cultural behaviour of people in the area and a need for educating them on health related aspects. The cytotoxicity of methanolic extracts of plant remains on HEK-293T cell line was evaluated using MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay for cell viability. The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) was defined as the compound’s concentration (500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.625 and 7.8125 μg/ml) required for the reduction of cell viability by 50%. Evaluation of cell viability showed the methanolic extracts of plant remains on HEK-293T cell line ranged in the order of plant remains extract=3>1>4>2>5 according to their cytotoxicity activities. Plant remains extract 3 from Mphanama Village showed high cytotoxicity with a CC50 of 13.75 μg/ml, followed by plant remains extract 1 at 16.68 μg/ml, plant remains extract 4 at 58.95 μg/ml, plant remains extract 2 at 92.75 μg/ml and the control at 251.4 μg/ml, respectively. In the study only the methanolic extract was investigated for cytotoxicity using HEK-293T cell line. Further research need to be conducted on the individual plants of each plant remains to be able to have conclusive results on the cytotoxicity profile. This will indicate which specific plant part is toxic or whether they exhibit a higher CC50 only when in combination.

This study aims at investigating household food accessibility categories (food insecure, vulnerable, marginal and food secure) of rural households in Sekhukhune district of Limpopo province. The study is based on five wards in Mamone village in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Ten households from each ward were randomly selected for the study. Structured questionnaires administered by enumerators were used to collect information from household heads. In all 50 household heads constitutes the sample size for the study. Data was collected from 20 August 2007 to 25 August 2007. Responses in the questionnaires were tabulated, coded and processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. Based on comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis the study showed that over 70 per cent of the sampled households were food insecure. Lack of education, income sources, water source, and infrastructure were some of the important factors contributing to food insecurity. The government should also give special attention to policy measures that guide towards the provision of household assets. It is recommended that special attention be given to measures that will provide the necessary factors that negatively affect household food security and vulnerability. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.A. (Human Ecology)

This study aims at investigating household food accessibility categories (food insecure, vulnerable, marginal and food secure) of rural households in Sekhukhune district of Limpopo province. The study is based on five wards in Mamone village in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Ten households from each ward were randomly selected for the study. Structured questionnaires administered by enumerators were used to collect information from household heads. In all 50 household heads constitutes the sample size for the study. Data was collected from 20 August 2007 to 25 August 2007. Responses in the questionnaires were tabulated, coded and processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. Based on comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis the study showed that over 70 per cent of the sampled households were food insecure. Lack of education, income sources, water source, and infrastructure were some of the important factors contributing to food insecurity. The government should also give special attention to policy measures that guide towards the provision of household assets. It is recommended that special attention be given to measures that will provide the necessary factors that negatively affect household food security and vulnerability. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.A. (Human Ecology)