In a comparison of two novels, Ways of Dying (1995) and Black Diamond (2009), this dissertation examines Zakes Mda's ongoing use of fiction in presenting incisive social commentary in the post-apartheid literary context. Mda's debut novel is a complex magic realist tale of Toloki, the professional mourner, who journeys from the village to the urban township. It is markedly different from his post-millennial satire, which invokes the social realist form, constructing a rapidly unfolding plot of urban gangsters, crime and sex, in which the characters are more representational than well-developed. While Ways of Dying has been praised as Mda's thought-provoking novel of the transition, Black Diamond has sometimes been criticised as being less able to comment significantly on the state of post-millennial South Africa. Subsequently, this dissertation evaluates the potential of Mda's most recent fictional portrayal of post-apartheid society to provide a meaningful interpretation of and commentary on post-apartheid South Africa, alongside his earlier novel.

Stories have the ability to evoke feelings and emotions in humans and have since been used by brands as part of corporate communication, communicating their vision and values. However, the growing technological trends have not only shifted the platforms for communication but also changed the techniques of communication as audiences on social media expect two-way communication instead of the traditionally used one-way communication. This is exacerbated by the power of word-of-mouth on social media as well as the presence of digital natives who are increasingly visual in their nderstanding and are immersed in their lives online. This has given rise to the use of visual storytelling as a corporate communication strategy as brands are using it to connect, transmit and receive messages from their audiences. This study examines the ways in which South African brands are making use of visual storytelling on social media and aims to determine the extent to which the use of visual storytelling promotes brand-audience engagement. The study is based on the philosophical assumptions of the Visual Rhetoric framework, which is concerned with the symbolic processes by which images perform communication. The hermeneutic – interpretive research method design is applied to justify knowledge produced by this study. A content analysis of six social media pages was conducted, looking at the visual content posted as well as interpretation of comments and interactions by fans of the selected brand pages. Overall, South African brands make use of visual storytelling to promote brand-audience engagement but they are not utilising the communication strategy to its fullest extent.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Design in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012 / Home-Based Health Care (HBHC) is the provision of health services and social assistance to individuals in their homes. It is an indispensable service to communities in need; presently in South Africa, these health care services are provided by local non-profit and non-governmental organizations. It is mainly targeted at poverty-stricken and under resourced communities and is an important aspect of healthcare in South Africa. A lot of communities in South Africa are still under-resourced and live in impoverished conditions. This is reflected in poor living standards characterized by unemployment, uneasy access to basic amenities, unequal distribution of wealth, poor medical facilities in rural communities, etc. The prevalence of the HIV/AIDS endemic has also worsened the situation. However, the South African government has constantly supported initiatives to enhance better healthcare in rural communities. This research presents a case study of caregivers working in Du Noon, an informal settlement in Western Cape, South Africa. Du Noon is overpopulated and home to lots of foreigners who have migrated in search of better living standards thus stretching an already over-burdened community. Naturally, this development supports poor health practices which encourage the spread of diseases within the community. Health facilities do not sufficiently cater for the ever-increasing healthcare demands and as such lots of people depend on NGOs such as SALT (Sharing Abundant Life Together) who through the help of caregivers and community workers have been providing for some of the healthcare needs of the Du Noon community since 2000. Findings reveal that although caregivers in this community have lots of stories to share about their work practices, they do not have a platform to share these stories. This research focuses on identifying processes involved in capturing these stories and moderating them into educative and entertaining visual contents for the purpose of sharing the stories within the community. Using qualitative research methods, empirical and field study provides the needed data as well as understanding of the multi-dynamism of this community. Data analysis is done through interpretive methods for the purpose of understanding the data collected and analysed during the research process. Finally, as a possible research contribution, the research concludes by examining how other technology can enhance the storytelling experience using interaction design methods that enables caregivers participate in the entire design process. Suggestions are also given as to direction for further research within the subject area.

PhD (African Studies) / Centre for African Studies / African authors play a significant role in passing on African folklore. Their writing is often influenced by their lived experiences and the social context embedded within folklore. Folklore houses the cultural beliefs, customs and traditions of a society and is passed on from one generation to the next through oral and written literature. Many African authors’ works instil an appreciation of people’s African identity, customs and beliefs. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which folklore had influenced the writings of four selected African authors: Chinua Achebe, a renowned author from Nigeria, Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʹo from Kenya, Es’kia Mphahlele and Andrew Nkadimeng, both from South Africa. These African authors, who chose to write their stories in English rather than in their African language, were influenced by the folklore they were exposed to in their upbringing. The objective of the study was to identify various aspects of folklore and demonstrate how folklore had remained entrenched in the writings of these African authors, despite the fact that they were telling their stories in the English language. The research was qualitative in nature and a hermeneutic research method was used to describe and interpret the meaning of texts as used by the authors and to explore the influence of folklore in the text. The study will be a useful resource for teachers in the Further Education and Training (FET) band in schools (grade 10 to 12) which includes folklore studies as part of its syllabus. Currently, folklore is studied in schools only in terms of Oral Literature. However, Oral Literature is just one aspect of folklore, as is discussed in this study. The study will also contribute towards efforts to re-establish Africans’ dignity and identity / NRF