Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This study aims to locate the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) within South Africa’s transformation from apartheid to a nonracial and constitutional democracy. This entails first examining the potential for participation demonstrated by editors’ societies at different democratic stages and defining the ideal democratic roles of journalism. The recent political history of journalism in the country is summarised to draw out the particular obstacles to editors’ unity and the transformation needs in South Africa’s racialised context. Then the forum’s history from 1995 to 2000 is reconstructed in detail using documentary sources. This covers the formation and launch periods of Sanef, and the next couple of years of the forum’s existence. This study is described as a historical, qualitative inquiry from the inside, observing both the sequence of events and the motives related to the context and to concepts of democratic role. It is unusual in that it is a historical study of a journalism society and it uses journalism theories to guide the research and the analysis. The research shows that despite having to overcome divisive issues from their past, the editors chose to play their part across all democratic roles: liberal, social democratic, neoliberal and participative. Activities were mostly linked to the current democratic stage. Many involved the self-transformation of journalism and journalists, leading to the suggestion of a fifth role for journalism in emerging democracies. However, some Sanef projects were not completed despite their significance for democratic journalism and others had no strategic rationale. This study recommends that Sanef be more strategic in its activities and look to other emerging democracies for appropriate solutions to problems. It is suggested that failing to do so could result in more complex problems for journalism in South Africa in the future. Finally, it is noted that the existence of a stable and prominent forum giving editors, senior journalists and journalism educators a united voice in areas of common interest in itself lends serious weight to their democratic participation.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When South African President Thabo Mbeki began doubting that HIV was the cause of AIDS in the late 1990s, failed to provide AIDS medication and stalled its introduction, openly supported HIV pseudoscientists and doubted HIV statistics, one of the most widely reported debates in the country’s history emerged. When two independent 2008 studies found that the death of approximately 330 000 South Africans could have been prevented between 1999 and 2007 if President Mbeki’s HIV policy made provision for AIDS medication, the AIDS debate was re-introduced, and it was these findings that provided the motivation for this study. The purpose of this study was to provide a historical perspective on HIV reporting in the media during Mbeki’s presidency in order to answer how the media reflected and reported on his HIV policy, and also to provide possible reasons for the way the media reported on the matter. Research has shown that the government (particularly President Mbeki and his health ministers) and AIDS social movement organisations (particularly the Treatment Action Campaign [TAC]) were the main actors framing the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Thus, this study examined the media’s HIV trail in reporting on these actors’ responses and counter-responses by means of content analysis. Qualitative analysis, in the form of questionnaires sent to health journalists who reported on HIV during this period, was completed in order to provide the possible reasons for the media’s reporting style. During the content analysis it was found that the media reporting was mostly positive towards the TAC and mostly critical towards Mbeki and his government, and the results of the questionnaires verified this, but also provided reasons why the media were mostly critical of Mbeki and his government. One principal reason was that the government’s policies on HIV were so blatantly contrary to scientific evidence and medically unethical that it was the media’s duty to fulfil their watchdog and surveillance role. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Toe die Suid-Afrikaanse president, Thabo Mbeki, in die laat jare negentig begin het om die oorsaak van VIGS in twyfel te trek, daarin misluk het om VIGS-medikasie te verskaf en produksie daarvan vertraag het, en openlik MIV-pseudowetenskaplikes ondersteun het en MIV-statistiek bevraagteken het, het ’n debat met moontlik van dié wydste nuusdekking in die geskiedenis van die land posgevat. Die VIGS-debat het weer op die voorgrond beland nadat twee onafhanklike studies in 2008 bevind het sowat 330 000 Suid-Afrikaners se dood kon tussen 1999 en 2007 vermy gewees het indien president Mbeki se MIV-beleid voorsiening gemaak het vir die verskaffing van VIGS-medikasie. Hierdie bevindinge het die motivering vir die studie verskaf. Die doel van hierdie studie was om ’n historiese perspektief van die mediadekking van MIV tydens Mbeki se presidentskap te verskaf om sodoende vas te stel hoe die media die debat oor Mbeki se MIV-beleid weerspieël het, maar ook om die redes te bepaal vir die manier waarop die media oor die kwessie berig het. Navorsing het getoon die regering (spesifiek president Mbeki en sy gesondheidsministers) en aktivistegroepe (spesifiek die Treatment Action Campaign [TAC]) was die hoofkarakters betrokke by die fokussering van die VIGS-epidemie in Suid-Afrika. Dus het hierdie studie probeer om die media se MIV-spore met betrekking tot beriggewing oor hierdie akteurs se stellings en reaksies deur middel van inhoudanalise te bestudeer. Kwalitatiewe analise in die vorm van vraelyste wat aan gesondheidsjoernaliste gestuur is wat in hierdie tydperk beriggewing oor MIV gedoen het, is gebruik om moontlike redes te verskaf vir die manier van beriggewing. Tydens die inhoudanalise is bevind dat mediadekking meestal positief teenoor die TAC was en meestal negatief teenoor Mbeki en sy regering. Die resultate van die vraelyste het dít bevestig, en redes verskaf waarom die media meestal krities was teenoor Mbeki en sy regering. Een van die vernaamste redes was dat die regering se beleidsrigtings met betrekking tot MIV so blatant teen wetenskaplike bewyse gekant was en boonop medies oneties was, dat dit juis die media se plig was om die rol van waghond te speel.

The Church and clergy, during Apartheid played a significant role in the South African political process. It was possible to divide the church into three distinct groups, pro-government, anti-government and neutral churches and clergy. The Dutch Reformed Church because of its close association to the National Party was often dubbed the “National Party of Prayer.” They played an important role in providing moral legitimacy for the regime. On the other hand, church leaders including Allan Boesak and Desmond Tutu were synonymous in their fight against apartheid. The Church still plays a significant role in a democratic South Africa. By virtue of Stats SA 2011 which states that just under eighty percent of South Africans have Christian affliations. However, democratic South Africa has secular constitution which clearly indicates the separation between church and government. Clergy find themselves in an ambiguous situation in a ‘secular state.’ What exactly is the broader role of the Church and in particular clergy in democratic ‘secular’ South Africa? The ambiguity is also fuelled by politicians who often request clergy’s participation in the political process and on other occasions state that clergy should keep to “church business” Part of this enquiry is be answered by asking clergy what they believe their role is. In 2014 a selection of Christian leaders in the Nelson Mandela Bay area decried the governance in the NMBM and South Africa in general. It is to be seen as awakening of clergy in the political process. The objectives of the study are as follows: to look at how Christian religious leaders construct their role in a post-apartheid context with a specific focus on the NMBM, to capture the views of government and political parties1 on what role the Church should play in post-apartheid South Africa, A comparative thematic analysis to determine if there are any similarities or differences in how the Church perceives their political role vis-à-vis the perception of government.

This research focuses on the controversy surrounding the exhibition and media publication of Brett Murray’s painting, The Spear of the Nation (May 2012). It takes the form of a qualitative Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), underpinned by Fairclough’s (1995) three-dimensional approach, to investigate how the contesting discourses articulated by the ruling political party (the ANC) and the news media have been negotiated in the City Press coverage in response to the painting. While the contestation was fought ostensibly on constitutional grounds, it arguably serves as an illustrative moment of the deeply ideological debate occurring in South Africa between the government and the national media industry regarding media diversity, transformation and democracy. It points to the lines of fracture in the broader political and social space. Informed by Foucault’s conceptualisation of discourse and the role of power in the production of knowledge and ‘truth’, this study aims to expose the discourses articulated and contested in order to make inferences about the various ‘truths’ the ANC and the media make of the democratic role of the press in a contemporary South Africa. The sample consists of five reports intended to represent the media’s responses and four articles that prominently articulate the ANC’s responses. The analysis, which draws on strategies from within critical linguists and media studies, is confined to these nine purposively sampled from the City Press online newspaper texts published between 13 May 2012 and 13 June 2012. Findings suggest the ANC legitimise expectations for the media to engage in a collaborative role in order to serve the ‘national interest’. Conversely, the media advocate for a monitorial press to justify serving the ‘public interest’. This research is envisioned to be valuable for both sets of stakeholders in developing richer understandings relevant to issues of any regulation to be debated. It forms part of a larger project on Media Policy and Democracy which seeks to contribute to media diversity and transformation, and to develop the quality of democracy in South Africa.

The ongoing urgency of addressing AIDS in South Africa has kept academics and activists focussed primarily on the immediate crises of AIDS ‘in the present’. This thesis, covering the period 1980 – 1995, examines narratives about, and responses to, AIDS ‘in the past’ and explores the interplay between these narratives and elites in medical and political communities trying to address AIDS during a period of political transition. The thesis begins by examining the hegemonic medico-scientific narratives about AIDS that featured in the South African Medical Journal, an important site of enquiry as AIDS was primarily conceived of as a ‘medical issue’. The SAMJ narratives, which often relied on constructed ‘AIDS avatars’, framed understandings of the syndrome and influenced responses to it by medical and political communities. The first community that the thesis explores is the African National Congress (ANC) in exile, which had to address AIDS in exile communities and prepare health strategies for ‘the new South Africa’. Secondly, the thesis analyses government responses to AIDS and argues that four phases of response can be identified. These phases were characterised by minimum concerns about obtaining information and providing health advice; efforts to gather infection data while exploiting political and public fear; attempts to extend health education and (belatedly) encourage broader engagement; and finally, consultative, democratic ideals. The thesis then examines the National Medical and Dental Association (NAMDA) a progressive medical organisation that worked with the ANC on influential health (and AIDS) strategies. NAMDA members ‘crossed over’ between various medical and political communities and both reinforced and challenged hegemonic AIDS narratives. Finally, the thesis moves from the abstract, via the practical, to the personal and concludes with a detailed account of the experiences of two sexuality activists at the intersections of these communities and narratives. By focussing on these medical and political communities, and analysing the relationships between these communities, the existing AIDS narratives, and individuals, the thesis also reveals the constructions of morality, ‘race’, gender, and sexuality that infused them. In doing this it shows how polemic and politics combined to influence practical responses to, and personal experiences of, AIDS.

This thesis relates the work of a non-governmental organisation, The Spirals Trust, to discussions on human and participatory development. The focus of the study is one of The Spirals Trust’s projects, the 2006/7 Tantyi Youth Empowerment Project, which is discussed in relation to theoretical material on human development and participatory development. Collectively these perspectives are defined in this thesis as ‘participatory human development’. The 2006/7 Tantyi Youth Empowerment Project illustrates some of the challenges that face the practice of participatory human development. Workshops and focus group interviews were conducted with participants who were part of the 2006/7 Tantyi Youth Empowerment Project in order to draw out their experiences of the project. Questions were created from themes that emerged from the participants’ discussion of their experiences and these questions were then posed to members of staff of The Spirals Trust. The experiences of both the participants and the staff members are discussed in order to explore issues that emerge in the practice of participatory human development in the 2006/7 Tantyi Youth Empowerment Project. The results highlight the challenges of putting into action the tenets of participatory human development. Feedback showed that a focus on personal development can help cultivate the ethic of participation. The effort that this entailed on the part of facilitators is discussed. The importance of exposing and continually working with power dynamics that may emerge in projects of this nature is revealed and the eroding influence of bureaucratic compliance in projects like this one is explored. The study also suggests that there is a need to promote development initiatives that challenge the political status quo rather than just finding ways to incorporate the marginalised more effectively into current systems. New questions that the research poses to the practice of participatory human development are considered in conjunction with suggestions for further research.

During apartheid numerous atrocities, including torture were committed by the security forces in South Africa. Most atrocities were directed at black people, during the political violence. The question which the researcher investigated was how people who worked in the police and had tortured and committed other atrocities re-established meaning and identity after South Africa became a democracy. South Africa’s history was discussed, focussing on factors which created an environment which was conducive to the committing of atrocities. The basic tenets of social constructionism were considered and how they relate to concepts such as agency, power, essentialism, identity, morality, meaning-making, torture, illness and posttraumatic stress disorder. Dialogic analyses were conducted on each participant’s narrative. The researcher is seen as an integral part of the storytelling event. The ways in which the participants positioned themselves in telling their stories are discussed as attempts to reconstitute themselves. The impact on the researcher of working with perpetrators is discussed. Themes were distilled from participants’ narratives. These are discussed with attention given to the problems they identified as having led to perpetration, such as racism, enacting of masculinity and militarisation. Problems they identified which arose as a result of perpetration include aggression, alienation, illness and addiction to violence. They demonstrated extreme shame and remorse in telling their stories. / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Thesis (M.A.)

This study distils some of the principal political and sociological lines of enquiry that Neville Alexander embarked upon in his published writings. It initially sets out to sketch the political, economic and intellectual milieu that he encountered after his release from Robben Island in 1974, and then it addresses the language question, as a part of the national question, in South Africa. The researcher argues that Alexander’s “dance” in the world of political and educational interventions has at times been solitary but that his discourse is substantively girded by the writings and experiences of established practitioners in the fields of sociolinguistics, political economy and cultural activities. The study concludes that his policy proposals on language in particular, in spite of the fact that the constitutional and institutional infrastructure exists for their implementation, have been put on the back burner because the dominant linguistic interests of the post-apartheid government correspond with the communication interests of market-driven institutions in the country, and not with the interests of the linguistic majorities who populate the nation. / Neville Alexander's thoughts on the language question in South Africa / Language question in South Africa / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

Text in Afrikaans / Werkontleding word onderneem om die onderskeie funksies wat in 'n instelling uitgevoer word, te ontleed en te groepeer as pligte van individuele betrekkings wat in die proses ge1dentifiseer word. Inligting wat op grond van werkontleding verkry is, kan daartoe bydra dat die uitvoering van personeelfunksies doeltreffend en effektief geskied. 'n Li teratuurstudie en empiriese narvorsing is in hierdie·studie onderneem om te bepaal wat die rol van werkontleding in die ui tvoering van funksionele personeelbedrywighede in die Stadsraad van Lichtenburg is. Empiriese navorsing is onderneem in al die Departemente van die Stadsraad van Lichtenburg. Ten einde die doel van die studie te verwesenlik is vier navorsingsvrae gestel. Deur middel van vraelyste wat aan die teikengroep gestuur is, is data oor die navorsingsvrae ingesamel. Die empiriese studie het daarop gedui dat inligting verkry op grond van werkontleding wel kan bydra tot die effektiewe uitvoering van funksionele personeelbedrywighede. Dies studie het egter ui tgewys dat nie alle leidinggewende amptenare bewus is dat die inligting op grond van werkontleding verkry,. die uitvoering van hul personeelfunksies kan vergemaklik nie. / respective functions performed in an institution, as duties of individual jobs identified in the process. Information gathered on the basis of the job analysis, can contribute to the fact that the performing of personnel functions transpires efficiently and effectively. A literature study as well as empiricial research were undertaken in this study to determine ' what the role of job analyses is in the performing of functional personnel activities in the City Council of Lichtenburg. .on the basis of job analysis can definitely contribute to the effective performing of functional personnel activities. The study indicated however, that not all leadinq officials were aware that information gathered on the basis of job analysis, could expedite the performing of their personnel functions. / Public Administration and Management / M.Admin. (Public Administration)