At face value, foreign aid is generally extended either to contain crises situations or promote development. In Africa, it appears that foreign aid has failed on both counts. One crucial question being asked by experts is, why has there been so little development in sub-Saharan Africa despite so much aid? Indeed, even the World Bank has admitted grudgingly that assistance programs have been either ineffectual or had very small development impact on recipient countries. This study seeks to examine foreign aid effectiveness and management. Focusing on the nature of the relationships between donors and recipients, the study argues that to foster economic development in Africa, a need exists for a transformation in aid relations away from fragmented donor-driven projects and programs to a predictable long-term support to African owned programs. The work addresses these challenges by reviewing current debates and analysis of new forms, instruments, promises, and direction of development cooperation. Donor discourses, which are on ownership, partnership, less conditionalities, and more empowerment, are not always followed in practice. In fact, the objective reality is that foreign aid donors usually target an assortment of aid instruments at diverse objectives. That notwithstanding, foreign aid (generally) can only be effective in achieving the objectives set by donors when it is planned, structured, and implemented in partnership with aid recipients. Clearly, the nature of the relationships between donors and recipients has a critical influence on the effectiveness of development aid. So far, the current aid experience is that the relationship between African governments and their aid donors is characterized by a vast inequality. As such, this study takes the position that there is no viable alternative to Africans taking effective charge of their destiny and deliberately creating conditions that are essential for effecting desirable change in the region's fortunes. It also takes the position that Africa's development partners such as the international financial institutions should actively seek to create and nurture the space needed by Africans for the realization of their developmental goals / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

The phrase a 'culture of silence' is attributed to Jerry Rawlings in the late 1980s, at a time when he was military head of state in Ghana. The irony is that he appeared to be complaining about the 'culture of silence' created by his own military regime. In a 'culture of silence' the masses are mute, that is, they are prohibited from taking part in the transformation of their society. In a neo-colonial state, a 'culture of silence' is imposed on the masses and peace and order are guaranteed by ferocious repression. The basic premise that motivates this research is that the neo-colonial state, a byproduct of the colonial state was influential in imposing the 'culture of silence' and fear in the lives of ordinary people. As such, a defining feature of the neo-colonial state, it is argued, is a 'culture of silence'. Definitions and analysis of the neocolonial state follow lines of arguments put forward by African writers such as Claude Ake, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Mahmood Mamdani. Within this broad paradigm of neo-colonialism, and analysis of Banda's Malawi is developed which pays particular attention to a 'culture of silence'. This in turn leads to an examination of the effect of liberalization on political and civic space in Malawi. The dissertation then, examines civil society activities, during the period of transition of the Malawian state from de jure one-party to de jure multiparty. Here the key research question are: to what extent has an expansion of political space been accompanied by an expansion of civic space, and how, if at all, do civil society organizations ensure that government pays attention to the diversity of voices of the Malawian people? Are traditionally marginalized voices now heard? The objective is to examine to what extent the 'culture of silence' has been dismantled in terms of the opening up of political and civic space in order to enable a 'clamour of voices' to be heard. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

This project is a survey research work, which investigates the perceptions and implications of the Skills Development Act on the service industry in Durban. The study contained a qualitative and quantitative section, through the use of structured and open questionnaires. Target interviewees/ recipients of questionnaires were CEDs, financial managers or their designated representatives, who play a key role in making investment decisions in their respective companies. The sample took the form of a stratified judgment sample. The distribution of the companies in the sample was according to size, with an attempt made to reflect as accurately as possible the proportion of companies in the sector that are small, medium and large. The number of employees determined the categorisation by size. For the purposes of this study, a large company will have between 65 and 100 employees, a medium sized company will have between 30 and 64 employees. A small company will have between one and 29 employees. Because service sector companies tend to be small, this classification departs somewhat from that used in the National Skills Development Strategy. Information derived from the questionnaires and interviews were analysed using the SPSS package. This served as the basis for the discussion of findings and the recommendations, which appear in last chapter of this work. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002

South Africa has a high HIV/AIDS prevalence. Due to the unavailability of antiretroviral drugs and South African’s trust in traditional healers for health problems, traditional healers are involved in treating HIV/AIDS. This dissertation outlines traditional healers’ role in HIV/AIDS in Tembisa, a township situated in the East Rand section of Johannesburg. People living with HIV/AIDS, traditional healers and health care workers were interviewed. The dissertation also confirms the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Tembisa.. According to the dissertation, a reasonable highest number of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAS) 8 out of 10 consulted Traditional healers to seek treatment of HIV/AIDS Opportunistic infections, although three out of eight indicated that consulting traditional healers was not necessarily their own choice. Two PLWAS do not believe in traditional healers and have never consulted them. Five PLWAS’s view was that Traditional healers can treat opportunistic infections effectively and they indicated their own health bear evidence to such claims. The study had shown that, although traditional healers have shown good rapport with their clients, and have earned positive respect due to their involvement in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in their communities, there are also challenges with regards to their work that calls for urgent attention. For an example, a highest number of Traditional healers did misrepresent diseases related to sexual intercourse, and also they could not recognize the symptoms of HIV/AIDS. They also hardly gave all biomedical perspective of transmission of HIV/AIDS without being probed. Both the group that believed in traditional healers and those that do not, as well as Biomedicine indicated that using traditional healers alone without biomedicine is not a realistic option.due to their training that is not homogenous and their profession that is rarely regulated. All the participants interviewed were in support of the strong collaboration between traditional healers and Biomedicine. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This study evaluates the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in educating people about participatory democracy in post apartheid South Africa. After the first democratic elections in 1994 the new government emphasised the importance of public participation in decision-making. The government has advocated this approach through Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) documents (Base Document and White Paper) and the South African Constitution Act 108 of 1996. However, because of public participation, novelty, and social exclusion, the majority of South African citizens still have very limited knowledge and need to be educated about the structures, systems and procedures of participatory democracy. In order to consolidate democratic government, there is a need to shift away from community outreach programmes as ‘road shows’, where there is no two-way ‘iterative and ongoing’ communication because of limited public political knowledge. Conversely, government appears to have done little to increase citizens’ political knowledge. By contrast, NGOs are playing a crucial role in this regard. This study evaluates the effectiveness of NGOs in improving optimal engagement in government and decisionmaking processes in KwaZulu-Natal. Given this scenario, the Centre for Public Participation (CPP) and the Democracy Development Programme (DDP) partnership serve as case studies for this research project. Interviews were conducted with the core facilitators and directors of the two organisations. Through comparative evaluation, the effectiveness of both organisations in promoting participatory democracy was qualitatively and quantitatively assessed using the constant comparative method (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994) and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software respectively. The results show that the trainees are more likely to participate in developmental issues at local levels compared to non-trainees. The implication of this is that education for participatory democracy is very important. However, it was found that NGOs are not achieving their goal of increasing participation by their target groups in most government processes due to NGO-public differences in what constitutes priorities. Encouraging is that the two NGOs were found to be ‘eye-openers’ for the trainees in that they equipped them with skills that would enable them to monitor local authorities and hold them accountable. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal,Durban, 2005.

This Thesis is an analytical investigation of the i mpact of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. It focuses on the vio lent conflicts and instability that marked the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), particularl y the eastern DRC region since 1996- 2006. The DRC hosted about 1.25 million Rwandan Hut u refugees (including the ex-Forces Armeés Rwandaises and Hutu militiamen) following the hundred atrocio us days of the 1994 genocide under Hutu-led government in Rwanda. This study assesses rigorously the role of the 1994 Rwandan Hutu refugees in the eastern DRC c onflicts. The theoretical framework of this research is the E rvin Staub’s Basic Needs perspective. This theoretical model provides an analytical tool to ex amine a myriad of factors underlying mass violence and genocide. Factors such as difficult li fe conditions, group cultural history, social psychological factors and context create an enhance d potential for movement along a path of violent conflicts with hallmarks including moral ex clusion, stigmatization, dehumanization and impunity. The tool of qualitative textual analy sis of relevant scholarly and non-scholarly documents in the subject area is used. A whole rang e of issues comprising the conflicts in Rwanda, Burundi and DRC before and after the 1994 R wanda genocide is assessed: ethnicity, ideologies, refugees, rebel groups in DRC conflicts , socio-economical contexts. In analyzing the data I have employed content analysis. The results of this study point out that, factors s uch as difficult life conditions, ideologies of hatred, economical and political crises that marked the Great Lakes Region of Africa have created a climate conducive to conflicts. Furthermo re, the research shows that the 1994 Rwandan Hutu refugees, particularly the ex-FAR and Hutu militiamen, contributed in the escalation of violent conflicts in eastern DRC. Thi s corroborates the scholars finding that refugees are not only the unfortunate victims of co nflict and the by-product of war; they are also important political actors who can play an act ive role in conflict dynamics and instability (Salehyan 2007: 127; Collier in Furley 2006:2). The study ends with recommendations for peace and sustainable stability and development in the Great Lakes Region of Africa: comprehending and addressing thoroughly the roots c auses of conflicts, promoting and implementing policies and mechanisms for good gover nance, economic development, respect of human rights and justice, addressing effectively the issue of refugees and reconciliation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

With the end of Apartheid, the South African regime completely changed. This had implications for African migration into the country. The migration situation became a concern with the appearance of what has been referred to as xenophobia. But except for some particularities, the case of South Africa is not so very singular. Systemic approaches in the field of International Relations have proved to be an interesting analytical tool, and Rosenau’s ideas provide the opportunity to use those approaches at different levels, applying them to different case of studies. The goal of this thesis is first to build a system of analysis for migration issues, explaining the interactions between the different actors of the system. The system thus created should be able to be applied to many case of migration in different regions of the world. The second chapter seeks to apply this system to the case of South Africa, for a clear understanding of the phenomenon of African migration to that country. It explains the interests, roles and modes of interaction of the different actors such as the state, external actors and migrants. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Crises of food production, poverty and deepening inequality are common problems around the world and constitute the distinctive features of the global social landscape including the poorer regions. In the poorer regions and in Southern Africa particularly, land is a key asset in sustaining livelihoods. Ironically, the majority of the people in these poorer regions are landless. The land resource is however of crucial importance to the economies of the Southern African region contributing a major share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment. Colonial land policies institutionalised racial inequality with regard to land in southern Africa. Recent attempts to confront the consequences of historical land expropriation and to redress contemporary land-based inequities, discriminatory legislation and institutions have generated renewed racial conflict in the sub region and created a life of insecurity on the continent, particularly in the southern African region. The objective of human security is to achieve safety from chronic threats such as hunger, disease etc, and secure protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily lives. Land policies are of paramount importance in pursuit of human security. Access to land in this regard determines who lives or dies. The study explores post independence and post apartheid land policies in southern Africa using South Africa and Zimbabwe as case studies. It interrogates the linkage between land policy and human security; in particular determining how land policies affect human security. Recent activities in both countries - land invasions and economic collapse in Zimbabwe and high rate of unemployment, inequality and poverty in South Africa - attest to the land issue and clearly spell out the need for land reform. The study shows that Africa’s disadvantaged position (in power and wealth terms) in the international system has made it difficult for African states to address local or national preferences on the issue of land access. Major donor countries and international finance institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF have tended to prevail on African governments to adopt market liberalization mechanisms in tackling the land question. The argument behind this is that land should be given to those who can work it the most and productively while the returns can be distributed to all. As such, the market should be left to determine who has access to land. But the market oriented economic policies which African governments are often forced to adopt through structural adjustment programmes are essentially designed to strengthen multi-national corporations and to integrate elites in the southern African region into the international capitalist system. The reward-and-punishment system facilitated by the free market economy may benefit the local elite but it alienates the poor and undermines human security. Human dignity, food security and poverty reduction demand development agencies, governments and other organisations responsibly devise policies and strategies that will enable assets building and promote self-reliance of poor people and communities. Human security comprising food security, environmental security of individuals, and social and political security among others is critically affected by access to land.

Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa one of the challenges that has remained elusive to policy-makers has been the issue of how to redistribute the same democratic advances made at national level to more ordinary citizens at grassroots level. The concern has been how to include voices of previously marginalized communities. The immediate policy plan at local government level is entitled “participatory governance” and has been adopted by the post-apartheid national government of the ANC to limit this participatory-democratic gap. The laws and policies that constitute the body of this policy are the White Paper on Local Government adopted in 1998 and the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 and the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998. The Msunduzi municipality has formally adopted this policy and it is called “community participation policy”, which has yielded rather unsatisfactory results to date. Setting aside the issue of implementation for now, the present study explores the institutional design of this policy of participatory governance in Msunduzi by applying the design principles of the theory of “empowered participatory governance”. This theory attempts to understand how to build a deep democratic culture via government-community partnerships through the concept of citizens who are empowered to play such a role. The major finding of this thesis is that there are design flaws in these institutions in this municipality which require a reform of the policy itself. However, this may not be enough, as more empowered citizens are also required. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.