South Africa is facing a backlog with regard to service delivery in rural areas. Therefore, local government reform has been one of the pertinent issues which has occupied the political landscape since the early 1990s. Key to this transitional period to democracy was a realization that different communities have diverse experiences with traditional leadership depending on their geographical location in South Africa. But to a large extent the changes that took place in traditional leadership were imposed on the local structures by the national government. Thus, most traditional leaders and their advisers found themselves implementing policies which they did not necessarily support. This study seeks to explore developmental local government in a rural context through the use of the case study of 10zini Municipality. A key issue in this study is to look at the nature of the relationship that exists between the modem and traditional structures and the impact thereof on development. This study draws from the development literature, lengthy discussions with different experts in local government in conferences, seminars, and interviews with different stakeholders such as traditional leaders, elected councillors, community members, and municipal officials regarding the relationship between traditional leaders and elected councillors in the implementation of developmental local government. The findings of this study are revealing. After ten years of democracy in South Africa, there is still no consensus among different stakeholders on the roles and functions traditional leaders should play in mainstream politics in general, and in local government service delivery in particular. The findings show that the majority of participants felt that there is a need for traditional leaders and elected councillors to work together for the implementation of developmental local government in rural local government. Officials find themselves in a dilemma in rural local government as a result of what they perceive to be the silence of most local government policies on the roles and functions of traditional leaders. Some local government officials and councillors believe that the role of traditional leaders in local government is important. In the Jozini municipality they work with traditional leaders because of the mandate from the IFP political leadership but this does not mean that tensions do not exist. There are institutional and political implications emanating from the findings as analysis shows that there is a need for a closer look at the two-tier model that currently exists in rural local government. This study revealed that tensions exist between traditional leaders and elected councillors. This study also demonstrates that a confluence of factors and tensions affect the nature of relationship and the implementation of developmental local government starting from the national government to the communities at local level. As reflected in the study, lack of cooperation at each level has detrimental effects on the overall implementation of developmental local government in the rural context. Therefore, it is clear that all stakeholders have a role to play in ensuring that there is proper implementation of local government policies in rural areas. However, the government must take a vanguard position because it has got all the powers and resources as compared to other stakeholders. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005

Tourism and its spin-offs have been acknowledged as possible means for development. When the main target of this development is the local community, solutions such as community based tourism projects have been implemented. This is the case analysed in this study, The Mehloding Community Tourism, a community based tourism project that is being developed in the Alfred Nzo district of the Eastern Cape province in the Republic of South Africa. Through the study of the existing literature, to establish a solid framework, and a deep analysis of the project; using the project documentation, interviews with key informants, and other information obtained in the field visits; it has been tried to reach a better understanding of the scope of the main social and economic impacts of the project, using as benchmark the original goals stated in the project documents. The results show a well initiated project with some weaknesses in the area of planning process, which are trying to be corrected at the moment. In the area of the project operations the management seems to be quite positive but there are problems in the participation and capacity of the trustees as well as a shortage of tourist. The core section of the analysis, i.e., the social and economic impacts is on the whole positive, with the social impacts appearing to be achieved in a higher degree than the economic ones. Although considering the small scale of the project and the relatively early stage of it, and despite of the general optimism of its members, the economic sustainability of the project is still uncertain. The study, with it scope and limitations, concludes that community based tourism projects, if well planned and developed, could have positive impacts over the local communities, in particular over those members directly involved, such is the case of the Mehloding Community Tourism. However it has raised some questions about the suitability of the initiative to achieve poverty alleviation in the area. It is suggested that, other than solving the major problems of economic sustainability and Trust capacity, the platform created at a human and institutional levels should be used for further developmental initiatives of the area. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

The concept of public participation is one of the growing interests in development discourse. It is considered to be one of the valuable principles of sustainable development, because of its people-centred development approach world wide. The study examines the level of public participation in the Malealea Lodge and Pony Trekking Centre and whether the public participation procedures in the centre sustain the livelihood strategies of the Malealea community. The investigation of the level of participation is triggered by the notion that the centre presents itself as a "best community involvement programme." The study employed qualitative and quantitative methods. Interviews, observations and documentation were used for data collection. The background to the study presents levels of participation, the model for full public participation and techniques for appropriate participation, according to Pearce et al. (1996). The findings within this study show that from case studies and secondary data collected, one of the driving factors in the failure of tourism projects is the implementation of policies which stick to exploitative, outdated approaches to development. Some tourism development projects are still practising pseudo or partial participation, whilst supposedly practising full participation. This study includes the analysis of responses regarding the level of participation and perceptions of participation from both the community and lodge management. It shows the shortfalls of full participation in the Malealea Lodge and Pony Trekking Centre. The researcher concludes that the centre practices partial participation and recommends, in this project and other similar projects, some potential solutions to ensure full participation for sustainable community development. Some recommendations are that: there should be community consultation at all levels of development, employment contracts should be drawn on agreement of conditions of work between lodge owners and community members, training and re-training of different community groups, and local authorities should be capacitated with different skills, mainly facilitation and management skills. The LTDC should also ensure implementation of tourism policy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008

This study draws on insights from both sociology and history in order to locate domestic. workers. It draws insight from historical processes, in the wider social structure and in home, in both the political and domestic economy. This constitutes the landscape in which domestic workers are placed. But it would be a bleak painting if we confirm the study on only these aspects. The most important aspect of this picture lies in the human figures it depicts. Whatever colour and richness the study has comes largely from the thoughts and experiences of individual domestic workers. Their definitions of the situation, their perception of themselves and their employers, their relationship with their employers and the way in which these are negotiated, their hopes and fears, constitute a moving record of human suffering, endurance and denial. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Young people are faced with high levels of HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancy in South Africa. In this context it is important to understand the reproductive decision-making process with regard to these sexual risks. The study draws on in-depth interviews conducted with 20 Black students aged 18 to 24 years at the Walter Sisulu University. The study found that there was a high level of awareness of unwanted pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. However, many young people engaged in risky sexual behaviours. Differing gender roles seemed to significantly promote risky sex and discouraged shared decision making. The study suggests that men often dominated the decision-making process. In addition, partner coercion was prevalent, and it negatively affected the health choices of young people. Other factors that were barriers to adopting prevention strategies included the negative attitudes of health providers and limited communication between parents and children and also, between sexual partners. Young people were afraid to freely discuss sexual issues and preferred actions to avoid antagonizing partners who might suspect infidelity, lack of commitment and HIV infection. Some young people also expressed concern that contraceptives were not safe. Young people emphasized the negative repercussions of HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancy and the importance of creating greater awareness of the risks and adopting prevention strategies. However, the study findings point to the need for health promotion interventions to go beyond risk awareness and incorporate the cultural, social and economic contextual factors in which the behaviour takes place. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

The majority of South African learners attend public schools, all of which are encouraged to supplement government funding with private funds - namely through fees charged of learners' parents. A review of the literature suggests that school fees can impede the right to education and the achievement of other national development goals by restricting access for poor learners, or by diminishing the quality of education. While the issue of school fees has been hotly debated in South Africa, there is little information about what is actually happening in schools. This research, conducted in a peri-urban area outside of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, is designed to explore the perspectives and experiences of principals with regards to the school fee policy. Eleven principals were interviewed: nine from relatively poor schools and two from a wealthier area, and their experiences with regards to the implementation of the school fee policy were compared and analysed. The findings suggest the implementation of the policy tends to be similar across schools of similar financial standing, but that there are considerable differences between the experiences of principals from poor and wealthy schools. The wealthier schools implemented the policy 'to-the-letter' and had hired staff and created systems to ensure all rules were properly followed. All of the poorer schools found parts of the policy impossible to implement in their schools and had adapted the policy in similar ways to better fit their situation. For example, amongst other adaptations, they allowed parents to apply for an exemption by simply discussing their circumstances with the principal, or obtaining an affidavit from the police, instead of making everyone fill out an official application form. Part of the problem is that the policy is based on assumptions which are not consistent with the reality of the South African context in that there are many different 'realities' faced by schools, yet there is only one rigid policy. Many schools find parts of the policy's processes to be impractical or irrelevant at best, and actually decreasing the quality of education they are able to provide at worst. Areas within which policy assumptions and reality did not match include: the implications of the distribution of income in South Africa on school financing; the power and access to information of parents and SGBs, and the ability or desire of parents to pay fees and/or be involved in the oversight of their children's education; and, the ability of provincial Departments of Education to properly support poor and/or Nonsection 21 schools. Additionally, Non-section 21 schools were found to be at an economic disadvantage compared with Section 21 schools. Another issue is that there are currently adverse incentives built into the policy. Amongst other effects these incentives encourage principals to minimise the number of exemptions approved, and for parents to either not pay at all, or to provide information to principals that underestimates their annual income. The significant contrasts in experiences between experiences of poor and wealthy schools and the adverse incentives built into the policy suggest the right question to ask may not be whether or not schools are implementing the policy correctly, but whether the policy is correctly designed to achieve the goals of the South African education system within the current context. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

This thesis explores the relationship between the participants of a social movement and movement intellectuals. A case-study focus on the WestcliffFlats Residents Association (WFRA) was taken to provide a contextual and "holistic" understanding thereof. At the centre of the study is an intellectual puzzle concerned with investigating the dynamics and processes that constitute this relationship. The approach is one of qualitative inquiry, relying on the perspectives of participants within the movement to develop a grounded theory with respect to the primary intellectual puzzle and research questions. In this way, the emergent conclusions are non-categorical and provide an argued perspective on the interactive processes between movement intellectuals and the WFRA. A typology ofpossible relationships between movement intellectuals and social movements is developed and constitutes the primary findings of the study. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

This study investigates the impact of the scale-up of antiretroviral treatment (ART) on the health system in South Africa. It looks at the positive and negative effects of treatment scale-up on human resources and staff morale, on HIV prevention programmes, and on other health system programmes, looking specifically at the integration of programmes and the use of infrastructure. There is much debate as to the place of treatment as a response to the epidemic because it has been found to be less cost-effective than prevention interventions. However this study argues that it is difficult to accurately assess cost effectiveness because it does not take into account other ways in which treatment may be effective, such as its impact on other aspects of health care, most notably on staff morale and on prevention. Thus this study investigates the impact of treatment intervention on the health system as a whole in order to determine the effectiveness of treatment as a policy response. This research uses data collected in 2006 at two sites in South Africa: the Ilembe district in KwaZulu-Natal province and the Cape Winelands Region in the Western Cape province. Twenty-one health care professionals were interviewed across the two sites in order to determine their perspectives on the impacts of ART scale-up on these aspects of the health care system. Interviews were conducted at hospitals, clinics and on hospice where ART was being administered ART scale-up, as predicted, was having a mixed impact on the health system as a whole. For the most part, the programmes were not having negative impacts on the rest of the health system in the form of taking infrastructure, funding, or human resources from other departments. The programmes, on separate budgets, were not directly taking resources from other departments, although there were some instances of borrowing space, staff, or equipment when necessary. The treatment programmes were reported to be adding further strain to an already resource-limited health care system, which was most notable in the issues of space and staff shortages. In addition, the treatment programmes did not appear to be bringing in additional funding, staff development, or infrastructure to benefit the health system as a whole.The major positive impact of the ART rollout on the health system was creating positive staff morale and a sense of hope throughout the health system. The health system was now able to address HIVIAIDS and was able to provide treatment whereas prior to rollout there was little apart from palliative care that could be done for people living with HIVIAIDS. In addition, treatment was adding to prevention efforts by raising awareness in the community about HIV/AIDS and by increasing uptake of voluntary counseling and testing. There is a need to address the resource limitations in the health care system, most notably human resource shortages. The success of treatment programmes was dependent on having motivated and dedicated staff. It is necessary to further attract and retain health care professionals to the field in order to ensure the sustainable success of ART rollout. Funding also needs to be addressed to ensure that sustainable resources are available to support the ever-growing needs of the treatment programmes. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

This study reports the development and use of an original methodology to measure inflation credibility, as well as the first results of such measurement in terms of an inflation credibility barometer. The barometer is an instrument measuring the degree of acceptance of the accuracy of historic inflation figures. Despite the lack of knowledge about inflation and the low inflation credibility recorded by this first calculation of an inflation credibility barometer for South Africa, valuable information about inflation is unveiled to the authorities. The research results serve as a benchmark, but cannot be compared to earlier research, as this study represents the first systematic measurement of inflation credibility in South Africa. The barometer yields better results than the limited current international measurement of perceptions of the accuracy of historic inflation figures. The barometer (i) reports the credibility of inflation figures as a figure between zero and 100; (ii) will highlight changes in credibility over time with repeated use; (iii) can be explained easily to the general public; (iv) provides for international comparison between countries; and (v) can be used by all countries. The use of inflation credibility barometers and changes in barometer readings over time can also serve as an early warning system for changes in inflation perceptions that might feed through to inflation expectations. Sampling results used to calculate a South African inflation credibility barometer show little public understanding of the rate of inflation. Owing to an increased focus on inflation figures in countries using an inflation-targeting monetary policy, central banks entrusted with such a policy should adopt a communication strategy highlighting the calculation and measurement of the rate of inflation. This study shows that no generally accepted international benchmarks for successful central-bank communication strategies have been developed, but the use of the methodology developed in this study will assist in the assessment of the effectiveness of communication strategies. This study makes three further contributions of significance to available literature on inflation in South Africa. The first is an analysis of price increases and inflation over a period of 85 years (1921 to 2006) and a selected comparison of salaries and remuneration over a period of 78 years (1929 to 2006). To this end data sets were developed for comparative purposes, thereby distinguishing between perception and reality about the accuracy of inflation figures over time. As this comparison has not been done before, a methodology was developed that can be used in future research. Based on these comparisons an inflation accuracy indicator (JAI) is developed for the first time. The research showed no systematic over or under-reporting of price increases, therefore confirming the general accuracy of the consumer price index (CPI) over time. As with the inflation credibility barometer, this methodology can be used internationally to confirm the accuracy of countries' inflation figures over time. This methodology can also be used by developing countries with capacity constraints in economic modelling and forecasting. The second contribution to available literature is the first analysis of South Africa's experience with inflation over a period of 85 years from the perspective of the central bank. This analysis highlights not only the difficulties encountered by a central bank to contain inflation, but also focuses the attention on the policy errors of the authorities in their quest to contain rising prices. The third contribution is an analysis of international and domestic initiatives aimed at improving the accuracy and measurement of inflation. The implications of these initiatives for developing countries are considered in the interest of a level international playing field between developed and developing countries. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.