A structured questionnaire was used to survey the perceptions of programme coordinators, fieldworkers and beneficiaries of the role of church-based programmes in addressing HIV and AIDS in the inner-city of Durban. One hundred and ninety two respondents were recruited from seventeen churches. Findings indicate that fear of HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination abound. The material and spiritual roles of church-based programmes in addressing the needs of people infected with HIV and affected by HIV and AIDS were stressed by the respondents. Whereas programme coordinators were well informed about HIV and AIDS, information that can dispel fears about stigma and correct myths about HIV-transmission should be tailored to reach ordinary men and women. It is recommended that further research be conducted on the preventive aspects of church-based programmes in the Durban inner-city. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

A majority of the South African population live in poverty, particularly those in rural areas. During the year 2009, the South African government identified rural development as a key priority area in socio-economic issues and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform was created to focus specifically on this issue. This was followed by the development of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP). The CRDP is a government policy on rural development. The main focus of the programme is on agrarian transformation and land reform as pillars of rural development, alongside infrastructure provision such as housing, energy, sanitation, schools, clinics, boreholes and water reticulation system in rural areas. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to assess the socio-economic impacts of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP). The study used Muyexe village in Greater Giyani Local Municipality as a case study. The objectives of the study included assessing challenges facing the Muyexe village, such as provision of basic services, job creation, skills development and public amenities. The first phase of the literature review focused on the definitions of rural development, rural development theories, development challenges and approaches on rural development. The second phase of the literature review further explored the developmental challenges for rural areas in South Africa since 1994. For this study, the researcher collected the primary data by making use of face to face interviews, while secondary data was gathered from the compiled frameworks, policies, reports of government departments, books, journals, conference papers, proceedings, presentations and the internet. The findings showed that a lot still needs to be done with regards to the development of infrastructure such as road, transport and adequate access to basic services. It was also found that the unemployment rate in the area is a serious concern. It was raised that most of the jobs that were created were only on a short term basis, with lower wages. While the enterprises and cooperatives established were struggling with vii production and generating income. The recommendations intending to strengthen the implementation of rural development initiatives such as the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme to have a better model of addressing rural development that will yield tangible results of sustainable development were also provided / Geography / M. Sc. (Geography)

The doctoral thesis deals with the issue of evaluating of technical-economic efficiency of wastewater treatment plant projects. Same as most public benefit projects, the main reason for implementation is the societal benefit of the company, not the impact on the investor. The literature review provides an overview of the most commonly used methods of environmental impact assessment, which differ in both the difficulty of processing and in the structure of input and output information. In accordance with the European legislation, the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is applied to a selected sample of waste water treatment plants, in its economic part, the standardly assessed societal impacts are extended by other possible benefits associated with the implementation of the project implementation. The main output of the thesis is the quantification of the increment to the societal benefit of the project, which is set to the difference between the economic net present value of the investment and the standard and individually designed socio-economic impacts. As an alternative to the traditional approach, the thesis also simulates the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), method is based on multi-criteria evaluation shows the technical efficiency of the sewage treatment plant sample and thus serves as a very effective tool in managerial decision-making.