Submitted for the degree of Masters of Arts in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. / Andrew Chakane 2019

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Coursework and Research Report Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand, 2017 / This research project was designed with the aim of understanding how tailoring a particular township experience known as “loxion management” in a Gauteng township of Tembisa could insert more knowledge and re-envision literature on precarity. This project hopes to not only re-envision “loxion management” as a possible intersection between the labour market and township life but to also unpack the intricacies within this idiom. With attempting to unpack this idiom, most participants and external conversations to this research project revealed an assortment of terms used in the township which have the possibility to obscure an understanding of what “loxion management” really encapsulates. Therefore, this research project highlights that a misinterpretation of the terms glosses over the significant undertones permeating experiences of this idiom. Thus, it argues that “loxion management” is an idiom which has been loosely defined in the township, which not only serves as a circuitous network contributing to social cohesion amongst men but also as a site where employment information, even of a precarious nature circulates. Key words: loxion management, precarity, Post-apartheid township life, unemployment, labour market, masculinity, “conduits”, circuitous network, social ties. / GR2018

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Science. December 2015 / Cervical cancer remains a global health related issue among females of Sub-Saharan Africa, with over half a million new cases reported each year. Different therapeutic regimens have been suggested in various regions of Africa, however, over a quarter of a million women die of cervical cancer, annually. This makes it the most lethal cancer amongst black women in this area, and makes it important to search for new effective therapeutic drugs through screening of medicinal plant extracts used by many in Sub-Saharan Africa as potential anti-cervical cancer agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-proliferative effects of Cannabis sativa extracts and its isolate, cannabidiol on cervical cancer cell lines HeLa, SiHa, and ME-180. To achieve our aim, phytochemical screening, MTT assay, cell growth analysis, flow cytometry, morphology analysis, Western blot, caspase 3/7 assay, and ATP measurement assay were conducted were conducted. Results obtained indicate that both plant extracts induced cell death at an IC50 of 50 – 100μg/ml and the Inhibition of cell growth was cell line dependent. Flow cytometry confirmed that, with or without cell cycle arrest, the type of induced cell death was apoptosis. Cannabis sativa extracts led to the up-regulation of apoptosis proteins (p53, Bax, caspase-3, and caspase-9) and the down regulation of anti-apoptosis proteins (Bcl-2 and RBBP6), signalling the execution of apoptosis. Apoptosis induction was further confirmed by morphological changes, an increase in Caspase 3/7 and a decrease in the ATP levels. In conclusion, this data implies Cannabis sativa crude extracts has the potential to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis in cervical cancer cell lines, which may be due to the presence of cannabidiol. Key words: Apoptosis, cervical cancer cells, cannabidiol, and Cannabis sativa extracts

Thesis (B.A. (Hons.))--University of the Witwatersrand, 1985.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 / This thesis examines how the political subjectivity of black youth took shape within the violent period of late colonialism in South Africa known as apartheid. As a historico-philosophical inquiry that aims to understand the historical modalities of subject formation and political practice, the thesis is grounded in extensive original research on black youth politics in the townships of the Vaal region south of Johannesburg during the 1980s and early 1990s. At the same time, the thesis interprets the findings of that historical research through a critical engagement with the philosophical work of various thinkers (including Hegel, Nietzsche, Benjamin, Foucault, Fanon, Mamdani, Mbembe, Zizek and Maldonado-Torres, among others) in an effort to address the problem of freedom in relation to the black subject under colonial and post-colonial rule. The thesis shows how colonial authority and governance both posits and aims to reproduce what I call the ‘permanent juniority’ of blacks generally, and of black youth in particular. Key sites for the exercise of such authority and governance in the townships under apartheid included the street and the school, where blacks were subjected to social, infrastructural and disciplinary violence. In examining one ‘Bantu’ high school in depth, I show how black youth were subjected to what I call a ‘pedagogy of offence’ – a mode of socialisation and discipline based on the premise that black youth, merely by virtue of being black, are always already guilty of breaching the socio-political order and are therefore addressed as delinquents. The thesis shows how a collective black youth subject constituted itself in revolt against this disciplinary regime. In the course of this revolt, the figure of the outlaw comrade, or ‘com-tsotsi’, emerged, occupying an ambiguous position between political resistance and illegal criminality. This figure is shown to have a genealogy originating in slavery and the Frontier Wars in the Cape, and extending to the early period of mining and industrial capitalism in Johannesburg. In the concluding chapters, which explore the underground activities of Self-Defence Units as violence on the Vaal reached its apogee in the early 1990s, the thesis probes the ethical ambiguity that emerges when violence is used in the service of a politics of love and emancipation. Here, I argue that the constitution of a collective black youth political subject in revolt also suggests a theory of black emancipation: of subjectivity beyond object-hood, of political love and everyday life beyond colonial violence and death, and of a political optimism oriented toward freedom. / XL2018

PhD. thesis. University of the Witwatersrand, Wits School of Governance. 1st October 2015 / Two decades after South Africa’s transition to democracy, with a positive constitutional and legislative framework in place, a vast number of South African households continue to be subjected to serious inequalities and extreme poverty. The dual phenomenon of poverty and inequality are complex problems of such a magnitude that silo approaches and singular agency fixes are inadequate. South Africa has the potential to address such issues at a multi-actor multi-institutional level, involving both civil society organisations and government working together. This study investigates the manner in which various stakeholders come together to develop policy and implement strategies aimed at the alleviation of poverty, specifically focussing on childhood poverty and vulnerability. Using the policy network approach to illustrate the relationships that exist between actors, this study follows the policy process from formulation to implementation. The policy network approach is utilised as a lens through which the policy process is examined in two case studies — the succession planning and children’s act projects. These case studies share a common objective which is to equip service providers with the knowledge and skills to assist their clients in accessing their legal rights. Policy networks draw attention to the institutional arrangements needed for coordinating complex interactions between various actors involved in the policy process, with a specific interest on state-civil society relationships of policy cooperation. Hence, the main focus of the research is to ascertain the networking relationships that develop between government and civil society organisations and to explore the potential that policy networks offer in the future pursuit of social justice and children’s rights. / MB2016

This dissertation examines the factors leading to the opening of negotiations to majority rule in South Africa. It argues that changes to the socio-economic environment led to the growth of the strategic relevance of the black working class, and also created certain points of collision between the black working class and the policies of the state. These sectoral collisions engendered both the partial reforms of the Botha era as well as the rejection of these reforms by the black majority. The developments that emerged from the ensuing process of reform, resistance and repression in the 1980s weakened both the state and the black opposition sufficiently to allow for the emergence of a consensual solution to the political stalemate. / Dissertation submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Master of Arts

A PhD Thesis to the Anthropology Department, Faculty of Humanities: University of the Witwatersrand. / This study will argue that; (i) that the evolution of hip-hop arises out of the need by young people to give expression and meaning to their day-to-day socio-political and economic struggles and the harsh realities of urban life, and (ii) that hip-hop has become the audible and dominant voice of reason and a platform that allows youth to address their plight, as active citizens, and (iii) that, as a music expression, the hip-hop narrative can be used as an unsolicited yet resourceful civic perception survey to gauge the temperature and the mood of society at a point in time. My research question is premised on the argument that the youth looks at society and their immediate surroundings through the lens of rap music and the hip-hop culture. It presupposes that it is this hip-hop lens that has become the projector through which the youth views and analyses society and then invites the world to peep through, to confirm and be witnesses to what they see. It is not the purpose of this research to argue how much influence hip-hop has on young people, but instead to look at how youth is using hip-hop to express their discontent and what the various sites are where their relentless desire for a better life is being crafted and articulated. In my investigation, I have argued that it is at these social sites that open or discreet creative expressions are produced/created by the hip-hop generation as the subordinate group and directed to those perceived to be the gatekeepers to their aspirations and their rites of passage. In my investigation I have explored how, out of indignation and desire, the hip-hop generation has employed creative ways to highlight and vent their frustration at a system that seems to derail their aspirations. This is the story of hip-hop where Watkins (2005) argues that the youth have crafted "a vision of their world that is insightful, optimistic and tenaciously critical of the institutions and circumstances that restrict their ability to impact on the world around them" (p. 81) With regard to hip-hop in South Africa critical questions and a central thesis to this paper begin to emerge as to whether hip-hop, as an artistic expression and a seemingly dominant youth culture, has found long-hidden voices through which young people now engage with this art form to address and reflect on their socio-economic and political conditions as active citizens in search of a meaningful social contract. By investigating the triangular relationship between commerce, politics and hip-hop, this study looks at how creative, adaptive people with unrealised potential, who find themselves trapped by illusion and exploitation (realistic or perceived), always try to find a meaning to make sense of their worlds. / AC2018

Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / The scourge of substance abuse globally amongst the youth today is probably one of the most talked about risky health behaviours in history, and is increasing at an alarming rate. Socio-cultural practices contribute towards the use and abuse of substances by the youth in rural areas. The “Ke Moja” programme that dealt with youth substance abuse was rarely received in these areas. The researcher sought to study the impact of socio-cultural practices towards substance abuse amongst the youth to develop a school-based intervention programme. The researcher’s research methodology included a mixed methodological approach that is, exploratory-descriptive design. Stratified-systematic and purposive sampling methods were used to draw a sample from learners, educators, social workers and SGB members. The data collection methods employed was semi-structured interview schedule and questionnaires. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. The results reveal that alcohol and drugs serve as agents of socialisation in socio-cultural events. It was found that there are different types of traditional home-brewed beers that the youth abuse almost daily because they are cheap, easily accessible and available. The findings also reveal that socio-cultural events contribute towards substance abuse in rural areas. The study reveals that sociocultural events take place almost every weekend where the youth use substaces as agents of socialisation. The findings reveal that the need for socio-culturally appropriate substance abuse prevention programmes amongst the youth is important in rural areas. The programme is called “Hambanani” which literally means doing away with the use and abuse of substances. The researcher concludes that socio-cultural practices contribute towards the abuse of substances by the youth in rural areas. The researcher recommends that social workers implement a school-based intervention programme on the impact of socio-cultural practices towards substance abuse amongst the rural youth.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2002 / Refer to the document