This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Science in Development Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / Municipal Planning in South Africa has evolved since the dawn of democracy. Before 1994, planning in the local sphere of government was characterised by segregation and disintegration of settlements and plans, respectively. After being welcomed back to the international community, particularly the United Nations, South Africa engaged in a process of reforming local government specifically - planning. As part of local government reforms, Integrated Development Plans (IDP)s were introduced in 2002 as the main tools for integrated planning in local, district and metropolitan municipalities. Integration requires that economic, social and environmental development initiatives are integrated in order to achieve “sustainable development”. During 1992, the United Nations Environmental Programme hosted a Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The conference developed and agreed upon specific principles of sustainable development which member states were to institutionalise as part of their development agenda and this culminated in the so-called “Agenda 21 Report”. The programme for further implementation of Agenda 21 and the commitments to the principles of sustainable development were re-affirmed at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002. This study assesses the alignment of the Ehlanzeni District Municipality IDP with the principles of sustainable development as outlined in Annex 1 of Agenda 21. A questionnaire was designed and used to conduct semi-structured interviews with ten Planners from the District and the Mpumalanga Provincial Government. The findings indicate that the IDP of the EDM is not aligned with most of the principles of sustainable development that the assessment was based on. / MT2017

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Arts. Johannesburg 1995. / This report explores co llect+ve ect+on around opposition to a propo..;ed hazardous waste 1andf t 11. Of concern ;s the role that social movement organisations and social movement activists, organising around environmental issues, can play in entrenching a participatory, non-racial democracy in South Africa's present transitional political phase. The analysis makes use of theories of social movements which argue that collective action is rooted in previous cycles of mobilisation, and that the role of social movement entreprenbJrS or activists is crucial in coll,ctive action mob'l Hsat ton. Data was collected through the use of participant observation and semi-structured interviews, Various documentary sources were also used. This report argues that mobilisation around environmental issues can best be understood by locating such mobilisation in the heritage of previous cycles of mobilisation, most notably in the period of the 19805. Furthermore, this report highlights the fact that the structure and form of ~he transitional state at national, regional and local levels presents certain constraints with regard to the extension and entrenchment of participatory democracy, Finally, it will be argued that while the Chloorkop Coalition demonstrates the pctent ial that environmental issues have for uniting communities across traditional racial and ideological barriers, it ;s not clear whether a lasting cross~racial cooperation can be achieved. / MT2017

This study investigated the nature of opinions and attitudes expressed in letters to South African newspapers regarding selected incidents of interracial controversy, namely the Botes (2010) and Forum for Black Journalists (FBJ) (2008) incidents. A qualitative and quantitative content analysis of these letters was conducted to gauge the attitudes that writers displayed towards members of their cultural group (ingroup) and members of other cultural groups (outgroups). The results of the qualitative analysis indicated that individuals in a racial group have different perspectives of in- and outgroup members. The results of the quantitative analysis, however, showed that the majority of writers tend to display positive attitudes towards ingroup members and negative attitudes towards out groups. The dominance of positive attitudes towards ingroups and negative attitudes towards outgroups can be attributed to myths and discourses circulating in postapartheid South Africa and the current social climate in general. The study concluded that although individuals’ attitudes may differ from the stark negative attitudes displayed towards outgroups during the apartheid era, negative attitudes towards outgroups persist. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication Science)