A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Heritage Studies), 2017 / This research report is a critical analysis of the Free State1 art scene from 1950-1989, conducted primarily through an account of the Bloemfontein Group. It argues that this period is a significant indicator of a shift in the city’s art scene, from an earlier, formalist focus to a more conceptual orientation in the art scene in Bloemfontein. An important aspect of this research is the significance of the formation of the Bloemfontein Group, and the extent of their role and influence during this period, which together can be seen as a key catalyst in the shift to conceptual art. Through extensive archival research, I have constructed a visual timeline of the art scene in Bloemfontein, including significant events in the wider Free State region. The construction of the timeline is a crucial part of the unravelling and interrogation of undiscovered conceptual developments relating to museum practices in the Free State. This is in turn informed by conversations and debates about the history of exhibitions, the origins of an art collection, and more specifically, how an art phenomenon such as the Bloemfontein Group not only contributed to a contemporary artistic identity in the Free State, but was also the driver behind the establishment of the Oliewenhuis Art Museum in Bloemfontein. The methodology in this research report is based primarily on archival research and interviews:  The Free State archives (newspaper clippings from the Friend newspaper were the most useful);  Oliewenhuis Art Museum research library (where invaluable information was found on the Group itself, including more newspaper clippings, information on the individual artists, with specific emphasis on Professor Fred and Mrs Dora Scott);  William Humphrey’s Art Gallery’s research library where I found additional archival documents on the Group’s exhibition at the gallery in 1966.  The Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery archives at the University of the Free State 2 and  Louis, Willem and Fred Scott’s personal archives Interviews were conducted with the following individuals with the aim of gathering further insight into the timeline. The interviewees were selected on the basis of either their involvement during the timeframe under question, their being descendants of the Scott family, or a surviving member of the Bloemfontein Group:  Rina Lubbs (surviving member of the Free State Art Society, Social Committee and Volksblad art critic from 1969-1984);  Anna-Rosa Witthuhn (surviving member of the Free State Art Society and Social Committee);  Doctor Fred Scott and Professor Louis Scott (sons of the belated Doctor Frik and Dora Scott);  Eben van der Merwe (surviving member of the Bloemfontein Group);  Stefan Hundt (former curator of Oliewenhuis Art Museum from 1993-1997) and  Professor Suzanne Human (Head of Department of History of Art and Image Studies, University of the Free State). Throughout the Research Report I refer to different terminology that enabled me not only to construct a consistent discussion but also to demonstrate the systematic methodology I formulated to conduct the research. By using archival documentation such as newspaper clippings as primary resource to enable research on a time frame, which had never been researched before, I was prompted to apply the terminology to categorize and sort the archival material and also to explain to the reader the methodology to some extent. Visual map: I commenced the Research Report with a visual map of artworks made by the Bloemfontein Group. I used the word ‘map’ deliberately to outline/map/illustrate visual examples of the Bloemfontein Group’s artworks. The function of the visual map is to introduce the reader to artworks produced by the Bloemfontein Group on a whole without limiting the artworks to 24 pieces that were donated to Oliewenhuis Art Museum. The works are not placed in a particular order as the map merely serves to visually introduce the reader to the nature of the artworks of the Bloemfontein Group. Timeframe: Primary resources used to conduct the research were archival material. This mostly included newspaper clippings, photographs, letters, official museum records, exhibition invitations and press releases. Therefore my methodology included a large amount of ordering, numbering and systematising archival material sourced. This enabled me to order the research in different timeframes e.g. 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1980. The timeframe assisted me in examining the archival material intently and to uncover a narration of the Bloemfontein art scene within the specific timeframe. I realised that this specific timeframe indicated the majority of the art-related progression in Bloemfontein and was a crucial process as the ordering of the records lead me to design a chronological timeline within the timeframe. Chronological timeline: The methodology and my process further progressed as I ordered the timeframe into a chronological timeline that included exhibitions held in the timeframe, important progressions of art related events and important individuals that steered the mind-set of artists, art patrons and art supporters. By ordering and systematising the events and exhibitions within a specific timeframe, I was aided in my understanding of the narrative that emerged within the timeline I designed. The unravelling of the exhibitions and happenings held within a timeframe also assisted me to illustrate the timeline. Illustrated timeline and exhibition timeline: By illustrating the timeline I attempted to add imagery viz: artworks produced for specific exhibitions or illustrations of artworks produced that align with the timeframe, exhibitions or exhibition openings, exhibition invitations and photographs of leading societies or individuals. This was vital as the newspaper clippings very rarely offered imagery of artworks or exhibitions that took place. This extremely time consuming task was an essential part of the research as it enabled me to understand the timeline better and to initiate visual debates about the local art environment versus national art-related debates. Due to the lack of imagery available, some illustrations were repeatedly used also to emphasise a statement or to make the image emblematic of developments specific to the Bloemfontein region. / XL2018

A report on a research study presented to The Department of Social Work, School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree, Masters of Arts in Social Development, 2016 / Prior to 1994, education in South Africa was formally and legally segregated according to race. The post-1994 democratic government had the task of implementing educational policies to promote and facilitate equal access in the educational sector. Twenty-one years later, the expectation is that every citizen should be enjoying equal access, regardless of their socio-economic conditions. However, this is not the case, as most people are still excluded in the education sector by one factor or another. This study attempts to understand the factors that contribute to the slow transformation and access of rural learners to institutions of higher learning. Ten Grade 12 learners, consisting of five males and five females from the Vhembe District in Limpopo, were interviewed for the study. A qualitative research method was used with data collected using in-depth interviews supported by a question guide, to facilitate a discussion with the participants. From the findings of the research, three themes emerged, which participants indicated were constraints in accessing institutions of higher learning. These included educational factors, economic factors and socio-cultural factors. The research found that these factors cannot be treated in isolation from one another. This is supported by General Systems Theory, which argues that everything is connected to everything else (Dawson, 2006). Therefore, in addressing the issue of access to institutions of higher learning, improving the quality of school teachers will not automatically lead to access, as factors such as poverty and unemployment will still be prevalent. Thus, a broader more purposeful approach to social reform, as well as more comprehensive and equitable strategies of redistribution of wealth and income are required, to empower disadvantaged communities to access institutions of higher learning in South Africa. / GR2017

Attachment theory is concerned with the relational ‘tie’ that exists between a mother and her child, which is said to play an imperative role in a child’s mental development and future attachment relationships. Although there is extensive research on attachment theory on an international scale, there is a paucity of information with regard to this in the South African context. The object of this study is to investigate mothers’ experiences of attachment with their child who has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition this research aims to investigate whether this attachment relationship between a mother and her ASD child differs, or is the same across diverse socio-economic groups in the South African context. This research was qualitative in nature, which elicited rich, descriptive and personal accounts of mothers’ experiences of attachment with their ASD child across diverse socio-economic groups. Twelve participants from advantaged and disadvantaged communities from Johannesburg and the greater Johannesburg area were invited to participate in this study. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic content analysis. Seven themes emerged from this study which explored mothers’ experiences of attachment with their ASD child. In addition, similarities and differences were found in mothers experiences of attachment across the diverse socio-economic groups.

This research report investigates the experience of identity construction of a young Deaf man born into a hearing family in the township of Bluegumbosch, QwaQwa in the Free State Province of South Africa. Through the science of ethnography and an intensive study of a single family unit, focus is given to personal narratives in understanding the impact a Deaf young man has on his hearing family members operating within wider socio-political frameworks. This research report aims to bridge the gap in the paucity of family-oriented research in a Black township community, and with providing South African mainstream society with an understanding of Deaf children and the manner in which they contemporarily construct their identity, alongside the use and acknowledgement that SASL is a natural and complete language.

Masters thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities School of Human and Community Development Discipline of psychology for the degree of Master in Educational Psychology University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / The study sought to give voice to the subjective experiences of NEETs (youth not in employment, education or training), often viewed as risk taking, apathetic and a strain on the economy and to think about their identities differently. The aim was also to provide ways to forge new versions of themselves in the future, allowing the participants an opportunity to ‘read the world’ differently and to think about new possibilities, through recollecting the past and exploring their present place in the world. This study utilised participatory action research and narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of a group of NEETs in a township in South Africa, and together with the researcher were involved in active engagement with their social worlds, through photographic documentation and in-depth interviews. The data were analysed using thematic and narrative analysis. The focus of the narrative analysis was to understand the meaning that the participants made of their own experiences, and the thematic and visual analysis focussed on understanding their context, their interaction with place and people in forming their identities, and the opportunities and versions of identities that they thought were possible in the future. The significance of these findings points to the past and the effects of South Africa’s history on youth identity. However, despite the structural constraints that impact on youth growing up in disadvantaged townships, and the impact that these constraints have on their identities, these youth have found ways to challenge the stereotypes that define their lives, and in different ways offer glimmers of hope for their futures. Their identities, though impacted by their interaction with their environment and the people in their context, are remarkably complex and encouraging. Furthermore, this study provided insight into the issues facing ‘at risk’ youth, and allows for new possibilities for their issues and concerns to be addressed. / GR2017

After many deadlocks, accusations of negotiating in bad faith, marches and lunch-time pickets, more than 600,000 Public Sector Workers went on strike on 24 August 1999. The government then unilaterally implemented a 6.3% increase for public servants against their original demand of 10-15% increase. "The dispute goes back to January 1999, to a workshop dealing with the budgetary process. At this meeting the Department of Finance outlined its Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, for the first time to the public sector workers. In the MTEF the parameters for wage cuts, and 'non-negotiability’ were already set. All unions in the public service bargaining council presented their wage demands - 10% to 15%” [COSATU paper on Public Sector Workers Fight for a Living Wage.] Thereafter COSATU and government officials met over the next few months until May 1999, when a dispute was declared. On the 29th March 1999, COSATU commented ‘To the Unions it is clear, government is not prepared to negotiate - it has already made up its mind’ [COSATU document - Public Sector Workers Fight for a Living Wage] During the period May-June COSATU Unions decided to “throw their weight behind the ANC election campaign.’’[ibid.]. By the August 1999 the unions compromised their demand from 10% to 7.3% increase. Towards the end of August the government unilaterally implemented ei 6.3% increase for public sector workers, and 4% increase for itself. It then went on an ideological media campaign against the workers claiming that the 4% increase for members of parliament is much less than what has been granted to the public sector workers. / Vol. 5 no. 3

The Unity Movement was established in 1943 after long and hard struggles of the disfranchised oppressed people in South Africa against foreign domination by first the Dutch and then the British ruling classes. The Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM) as it was named was the first National liberation movement to base itself upon several most important principles and policies: (i) That there could be only ONE SOLUTION for all the people in South Africa to bring freedom, justice and peace. Thus the UNITY of the oppressed and exploited who were denied all citizenship rights was a vital necessity.(ii) That the ruling class and all its agents among us had done everything possible to prevent the oppressed from uniting in their struggles. They had used the tactics of divide-and-rule as a major weapon against our struggles. The struggle for UNITY was always to be one important answer to these divide-and-rule tactics.(iii) That the ruling class used the myths of "race" and the "inferiority" of persons of colour, language, "culture" and separate schools, housing areas, hospitals, churches, jobs, etc., etc., to divide people. The Unity Movement declared war on racism, tribalism and all forms of discrimination. It strove to educate and organise the oppressed to UNDERSTAND WHY AND HOW WE were oppressed. It also strove to teach the oppressed that only a united people could win the freedom struggle; the ruling class were always united; as a disunited people we could never win our liberation struggle. (iv) That our democratic rights had been known for centuries. But we must know them and demand ALL of them. Democracy could not exist if people had some democratic rights and lacked others. We had to know this because dishonest political activists used the masses to get privileges (concessions) for themselves while they pretended to struggle on behalf of the masses. There was a minimum we must always demand, but we could and must strive for even more. (v) That the oppressed were robbed of their land and their possessions (mainly livestock); their homes were destroyed. They were driven into labour camps and mission stations after these wars of dispossession. They were forced to work as cheap labour in the mines and on the farms and in the factories and homes of the conquerors. Landlessness was a feature of all colonies conquered by the warring colonial powers. Today these colonial powers form the basis of World Imperialism. This World Imperialism is the main enemy of every oppressed nation with a history of colonial conquest. It is imperialism that paid for and bought over the collaborators who have been in government since April 1994. But now that they are part of government the collaborators are paid out of the taxes they collect from workers and others they now help to oppress. (vi) That the struggle for the land by the combined unified efforts of workers, landless peasants and the rural poor was a vital part of our struggles. Victory here would help to root out unemployment, homes broken up by the migrant labour system, by a lack of education and necessary skills, poor health, starvation and lack of simple things like drinking water and proper sewage. Thus the struggle for the land (point 7 of our programme) and all the other 9 demands belonged together as part of ONE struggle. That in our struggle the interest of the workers, the landless peasantry and the millions of rural poor are our first concern. And that the struggle against foreign domination (that is, against World Imperialism) was part of our struggle for total liberation. In the light of these founding principles and policies it is clear that a "government of National Unity" set up by the de Klerk Government and World Imperialism (that is, the USA, Canada, Britain, Japan and the European Community) cannot bring liberation peace and justice to us. / Abantu bebanye abasoze boyiswe! = Abantu bemunye abasoze behlulwe!

Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2007. / Apartheid land policy and its constitution as a whole conceptualized and structured South African in a way that encouraged inequalities in terms of land ownership, job opportunities and access to education and recreational facilities. The privileged few (whites and a few black elites and whosoever summarized with the former apartheid regime) got richer and richer while the less privileged people, (in this case, the majority of the black people of South Africa) got poor. They were even denied reasonable access to land and quality education. This investigative study examines the state in which they lived and how they are still living in Squatter Camp as an attempt to make qualitatively justifiable recommendations. Informal settlement is as old as the origin of urban settlement, which existed through industrialization process worldwide. A need for peace, jobs, security, housing and land ownership resulted in the establishment of informal settlement near big towns and mines. The most disadvantaged people, those characterized by poverty due to unemployment, lack of land ownership due to one reason or another move to informally settle nearer to areas in which there are possibilities for employment opportunities and better standard of living. Specifically, this study examines the deficiencies associated with the existing informal settlement through its assessment and evaluation. In this regard all aspects of assessment techniques of the way in which inhabitants of Disteneng informal settlement live i.e. interviewing processes (both structured and informal), observation through site visit, checking of documented information with regard to informal settlement etc have been used. The gaps that exist between urban life and the living conditions of people from squatter camp have been investigated and reflected.

D. Tech. Public Management / The aim of this study is to assess the potential for knowledge management and strategic management in improving the low level of community development in Uitvalgrond. It also looks at strategies that can be used to improve the lives of the community members of Uitvalgrond.

The emergence of a South African womanist (Black) consciousness was investigated. More specifically, the present study examined how the politics of survival gives rise to a feminist consciousness. A meta-analysis of 8 case studies was conducted on how (South) African women's daily struggle for survival in three socio-political and historical contexts translated into a womanist consciousness. Of the 8 case studies examined. 2 pertained to (South) African women's involvement in the national liberation struggle, 3 pertained to the migrant labor system, and the remaining three pertained to the struggie against poverty as a context for the emergence of a womanist consciousness. It was found that women's involvement in the national liberation struggle, the migrant labor system, and the struggle against poverty provided a context in which (South) African women learned about their feminism. The results suggest that the new Black feminism that is slowly emerging on the African continent is rooted in the politics of survival. Also, the findings from the study suggest that the current state of African women's engagement with feminism is one of two extremes. On the one hand, women are individually advancing themselves and on the other women are collectively/politically organizing for the good of all women. The implication of the findings are that (poor) African women's daily struggle for survival leads them (through their actions) to engage with feminism. This in turn sets the stage for an emerging African womanist consciousness. Furthennore, the results of this study imply that in order for the newly emerging Black feminism to grow and make a meaningful contribution in the lives of all, African women need to engage with feminism at a collective, and not just individual level. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.