The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (“MPRDA”) and the Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry (“Mining Charter”), created in terms of the MPRDA, aim to address the exploitative legacies of past discriminatory practices in the mining industry. Impoverished mining communities stand to benefit from empowerment under the Mining Charter in the form of mine community development – one of the elements that constitute a mining right holder's commitment under the Mining Charter. Despite this legislative intervention and the relative wealth generated by the extraction of mineral resources, poverty and conflict have become the stereotypical images associated with mining areas. This project aims to determine why the empowerment of mining communities through mine community development perpetuates poverty from the past and creates new inequalities. To answer this main question, it is considered how the historical context within which the relevant policy and legislation were created, affected legislative drafting. Second, the effects of promoting development and empowerment in legislative provisions are explored to determine which worldviews and underlying values are being promoted by the legislative instruments under discussion. Furthermore, it is considered how these worldviews and underlying values affect how mining communities, subjected to harsh socio-economic living conditions, are depicted in legislative provisions. Here, it is specifically considered what the notion of “community” signifies in a development context and how “community” is represented in legislation. The thesis is a theoretical exposition of the ideological assumptions underlying the concepts “development”, “empowerment”, “community” and “poverty”. It is shown that “mine community development” is an inherently contradictory notion in South African law. The development paradigm implies the universalisation of values, effectively creating “the poor”, and causing vagueness and paradoxes. It results not only in a perpetuation of poverty and inequality from the past but also in the creation of new inequalities, as is evident in the differentiation drawn by the Mining Charter between different types of communities in mining areas. Measures currently being enforced by the legislation under discussion, are in desperate need of reconsideration.

Text in English / In Zimbabwe, women are concentrated in rural areas where there are limited resources. For human development to be achieved, the welfare of women needs to be taken into consideration. Some NGOs operating in the country aim at advancing and improving the status of women and promote gender equality through socio-economic empowerment programmes. This study aimed at determining the impact of three selected local NGO’s programmes at grassroots level. The study revealed that progress has been made in transforming the general livelihoods of the women who are members of these organisations at grassroots level but there are various issues which these NGO’s have to consider so as to improve their effectiveness. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Text in English / In Zimbabwe, women are concentrated in rural areas where there are limited resources. For human development to be achieved, the welfare of women needs to be taken into consideration. Some NGOs operating in the country aim at advancing and improving the status of women and promote gender equality through socio-economic empowerment programmes. This study aimed at determining the impact of three selected local NGO’s programmes at grassroots level. The study revealed that progress has been made in transforming the general livelihoods of the women who are members of these organisations at grassroots level but there are various issues which these NGO’s have to consider so as to improve their effectiveness. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)