This research is aimed at assessing SADCC in relation to the degree to which it has accomplished its own aims, regional economic integration and reduction of dependency. The study has relied on and used the dependency theory which holds that the development in a peripheral capitalist system is a continuous process of dispossessing the less developed countries of their raw materials in favor of maintaining the advancement of the capitalist countries. In short, neo-colonial dependence view of underdevelopment attributes a large part of the Third World's continuing and worsening poverty to the existence and policies of the industrial capitalist and socialist countries and their extensions in the form of small but powerful elite groups in the less developed countries. The research came with the following findings and conclusions. That SADCC countries have been integrated into the capitalist system due to the European colonization. That despite the efforts of SADCC and their proclaimed goals of economic integration and self-reliance, the SADCC region has not reduced dependency but rather there is a new dependency on other external countries. SADCC's committed strategies have not produced self-reliance and economic integration in the region due to the structure and activities of SADCC. In order to correct this imbalance and dependency, few options are possible. SADCC should embark upon the socialist mode of development because socialist methods will diminish the degree of dependency as in the case of Cuba. Intra-regional trade should be encouraged to bring about some form of transaction flows and economic integration. Establish appropriate ways of encouraging agricultural productivity in order to alleviate the shortage of food problems in the region and adopt capital accumulation methods.

M.Comm. / The purpose of the dissertation was to determine the appropriateness of forming a monetary union with a common currency within SACU. SACU embodies five neighbouring countries, who are situated in the Southern region of Africa. These countries include: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho. The benefits and costs that might accrue to the SACU region with the formation of a monetary union were highlighted in the study. Past experiences of European and African monetary unions have shown that countries who participate in a monetary union were able to pursue credible and disciplined monetary policies. Fiscal and monetary variables determined how appropriate it is to form a monetary union within SACU. The study analysed the level of convergence of fiscal variables and the comovement of monetary variables using statistical analysis and graphical representations. The analysis was essential in assessing the readiness of the SACU states for the eventual formation of a monetary union. Since countries such as Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia are small in terms of their respective populations, sizes of their economies, per capita income in comparison to their neighbours such as South Africa and Botswana, the study highlights the fact that regional monetary integration is a useful way of increasing their economic influence and participation in an increasingly globalised world. The study concludes that the formation of a monetary union with a common currency within SACU is feasible and provides some ideas for further studies.

D.Comm. / The objective of this dissertation is to examine the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as the logical outflow of market forces compelling regions or groups of states to increase the dynamics of their economies by removing all barriers and obstacles to the free flow of goods and services between them in accordance with what has been happening elsewhere in the world. The concept of regional economic integration has come strongly forward since the early fifties in many areas of the world. Regional economic integration can be described as a process by which countries work together for the mutual benefit of all. The exchange of information and ideas may lead to better institutional liaison and capacities, more coordinated policy formulation and more rapid economic growth. Regional economic integration can take many forms. Regional economic blocs may be classified into five categories, namely: preferential trading arrangements, in which regional partners enjoy more favourable trading conditions, including lower tariffs, than other countries; free trade areas, entailing the abolition of tariffs and other barriers to trade in goods and services between participating countries; customs unions, which entail establishing free trade areas, common external tariffs and the formation of commercial policies towards third countries; common markets or economic communities, which permit the free movement not only of goods and services but also of capital and labour between participating countries; and economic unions, entailing full coordination of regulatory, fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies within the confines of a common market. Economic integration may ultimately, as in the European Union, culminate in a monetary union, providing for a common currency.

M.Comm. / This paper empirically examines the effect of financial development on growth in the SADC during the period 1993-2003. To perform this analysis, the study employed a single indicator of financial development, i.e. financial deepening and applied balanced panel model data using a suite of panel models: Ordinary Least Square (OLS), Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) and Random Effect Model (REM) econometric methodologies. The results of the study support the view that financial development positively affects economic growth both including and excluding South Africa. This finding suggests that the financial reforms launched in the 1990s can to a certain extent explain the rebound in the economic performance since then. However, further deepening of the financial sector through more financial liberalization in the SADC region will be an important instrument in stimulating investment through more savings and therefore more long-run economic growth.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2013 / Biotechnology as a science has become increasingly more important because of what it has to offer in various fields. These include the development of medicines for human and animal health; improved crop agriculture for enhancing food security; and environmental sustainability, all of which are of the utmost importance, not only globally, but also in southern Africa. Through a participatory and collaborative process of biotechnology capacity development at the Universities of Namibia (UNAM) and the Witwatersrand (WITS) in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, it was identified that science curricula need to take cognizance of ‘worldview’ and the impact this may have in the context of teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential barriers, or factors contributing, to learning in the two southern African universities in the context of the biotechnology curriculum. The study focused on how African epistemologies should be taken into consideration to facilitate capacity development in biotechnology at the tertiary education level, and in so doing, facilitate the development of a culturally sensitive, generic biotechnology curriculum which reaches across both literal and cultural borders and is relevant to these countries. The methodology of phenomenography was used in this case study and it resulted in two categories of description that formed the outcome space of the experience of biotechnology. These categories of description included a theoretical and practical perspective and a worldview perspective. This study has confirmed that worldview differences can lead to barriers to learning in biotechnology. Furthermore, theoretical and practical concepts included in the curriculum need to be carefully considered to make the curriculum responsive to African needs in order to provide for epistemological access, and so that the inherent cross-cultural experience between the learners’ life-world and biotechnology is recognized. The value of this study is affirmation that formulation, development, teaching and learning of a biotechnology curriculum should be regarded as an ‘African product’, where worldview and the theoretical and practical perspectives are carefully considered to provide a qualification to make a difference for capacity development in southern Africa. (339 words)

Ph.D. thesis, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009

Thesis (M.Sc. (Zoology)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Refer to document

Thesis (MTech (Business))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-108). Also available online.

This thesis reflects an attempt at a theoretical and methodological retaxonomization of development communication research in the aftermath of theory failure in the traditional communication approach to development--a failure largely attributed to the inadequacy of research methods in giving a full accounting of the dynamics of interrelationships between and among various social dimensions in which communication and development occur. Innovative and critical methodological dimensions to the traditional and hardline quantitative research, namely, ethnomethodology, focus group interviews and case studies, have been added in an attempt to give a more comprehensive account of the role of the people at grassroots level. / It is from this theoretical perspective that the thesis assesses the potential impact of the telecommunication development program of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) on the productive sector, notably, small-scale rural farmers who are crucial elements in the region's hopes for food security and agriculture-based development. The thesis takes the theoretical and methodological position that the question of a communication approach to development cannot be addressed as if communication were an independent variable but as an integrated package of socio-economic and cultural factors that jointly or collectively impact on communication and development in more interactive and complex ways than previously recognized. Hence the potential of development communication has to be viewed in the context of the strategic equation in which information and communication are but one aspect of interactive factors that add up to the fulfillment of life. / The thesis' methodological elements include; field research among the rural farmers in Zimbabwe, interviews with policymakers, researchers, media practitioners, communication educators, consultants, NGO project officers; content analysis of selected media of the SADCC region, with the Zimbabwean media (both print and electronic) as case studies; and an analysis of original documents and reports on telecommunication and other development plans. Interviews with peasants on one hand, and with technical experts and politicians, on the other, will highlight the fact that knowledge generation can be multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary and what different constituencies can offer to development efforts. How we might begin to take account of this prospect is the basic research question this thesis addresses.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.