Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / This study drew attention to the influential role the transformational leadership constructs can play in increasing women representation in decision making structures of the Department of Social Development (DSD). The DSD’s Sekhukhune District in Limpopo Province was used as an area of study. The aim of the study was to investigate the significance of transformational leadership in pursuing gender parity in the DSD’s Sekhukhune District. The study followed an exploratory research design and implemented a qualitative methodology. A total of 10 DSD managers were targeted. Furthermore, a purposive sampling was used and interviews were conducted as the method of data collection. The data collected had been analysed thematically. The results revealed that although there have been improvements of more appointed women managers within the organisation. There were still more women managers than men managers within the organisation. However, most men occupy senior management positions while most women occupy the lower managerial positions. Most managers were not inspired to perform more than they were expected giving the reason that, they lack resources and their efforts often go unrecognised. Most managers found political appointment discouraging towards fair promotions. Nevertheless, there were enough women who possess required leadership skills. Conversely, there were no programmes that support women participation and empowerment in issues relating to gender parity. Leadership training, transformational leadership, provision of resources and salary acceleration were common suggestions to pursue gender parity. The study recommends that the DSD Sekhukhune District leadership should adopt and implement transformational leadership, change political appointment, appoint leaders with relevant qualifications, establishing a functional gender mainstreaming office within the DSD Sekhukhune District, adequate budgetary support and specialised training of staff shall assist in closing the gender parity gap.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The introduction and establishment of co-operatives by the State was for purposes of fighting and alleviating poverty through creating jobs, particularly in the rural areas,which were mostly neglected by the previous apartheid State. In order to deal with these social ills and malady, the new democratic government introduced cooperatives to mitigate these challenges. These good intensions are often countered by lack of commitment by State officials and reluctance from other institutions to assist co-operatives to be catalysts in fighting poverty and unemployment in South Africa, despite their noble intentions. In other developed countries, co-operatives are given serious attention, not only because they are catalysts in poverty alleviation, but because they can make huge economic interventions with regard to economic growth and economic development. The intention of this study was to make an assessment of whether or not agricultural co-operatives have any economic impact on women in the rural areas of Polokwane Municipality, since their inception as entities for local economic development. The study also assesses whether or not the State supports these entities in a variety of forms. For this purpose, four co-operatives have been used as a Case Study,namely, Mashashane Agricultural Co-operative at Ga-Mashashane; Phegelelo Agricultural Co-operative at Ga-Thaba village; Mothiba Agricultural Co-operative at Ga-Mothiba; and Itireleng Agricultural Co-operative at Matamanyane village in Moletjie

This study intersects the disciplines of gender and development, feminist studies, and women’s theology. It is located within the socio-economic and political context of the region of Vulindlela, on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Its subjects are poor and marginalised indigenous African women of faith who live in the area and attend the local Anglican churches. Engaging the theoretical debates of these three areas of gender studies, it argues that indigenous African women live by subjugated survival theologies. These working theologies are forged within a context of struggle for literal survival and give expression to the voices of millions of women in South Africa. Survival, it contends, intersects faith, feminisms, and development. Two potential locations of survival theologies of poor and marginalised women are identified in the study: the Mothers’ Union (MU), the Anglican women’s prayer union which is a part of the indigenous manyano movement, and a contextual Bible study group of women from the area. In the MU, an established site of women’s theology, rituals such as the wearing of the church uniform, extempore praying and preaching, and fundraising are practices which reveal aspects of subjugated survival theologies. In the contextual Bible study group, a new social site was established through the efforts of the author, in order to create a place for the safe articulation of these theologies. This aspect of the study explored the extent to which collaborative work amongst women across race and class is possible and the ways in which it furthers the liberative agenda of the women’s project. Employing postmodern notions of identity, subjectivity, agency, and historicised local knowledges, this study argues that survival faith needs to shape the way feminist paradigms understand notions of liberation, activism, and solidarity. It contends that these subjugated survival theologies pose a challenge to the academy and to the practice of the church because they are, in part, a resistance discourse which has not been recognised. The voice and agency of poor and marginalised women of Vulindlela is highlighted throughout and, the study argues, it is these voices that have been neglected in the women’s project. It is the subjugated knowledges of poor and marginalised women of faith that have to be recognised and recovered, if the women’s project is to truly reflect all South African women. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

There is a remarkable increase in the participation of females in business activities due to their involvement in the informal sector. These activities appear to be insignificant and not measurable because they are outside the regulatory framework, but they also absorb multitudes of the unemployable. Notwithstanding the challenges of low levels of education, lack of skills and finance as well as the need to balance reproductive and productive roles, females are under pressure to generate income through trading in small scale businesses that can hardly grow beyond subsistence level. With the meagre earnings from their activities, they ensure the survival of their families. If female entrepreneurs are developed and brought into the economic main stream, they will bring with them their unique survivalist techniques that will contribute towards economic development and growth in the country. This report examines the constraints that affect the development of female entrepreneurs in the informal sector.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Management Science in Administration and Information Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The purpose of the study was to explore the empowerment of women leadership, focusing on the Durban University of Technology. Statistics around the world have highlighted that women are under-represented in decision-making positions, with a specific focus on the academic sector; this study aims to review these statistics and establish which barriers prevent females from progressing to leadership positions. The target population was comprised of staff members from the Durban University of Technology and ranged from leadership, management, and lecturing, to entry-level employees. The technique of probability sampling was chosen in this research, with a sample size of 100 participants drawn from the population. Questionnaires were designed with both closed-ended and some open-ended questions, and were personally administered to all campuses of the Durban University of Technology, namely Ritson Campus, Steve Biko Campus, ML Sultan Campus, City Campus, Indumiso Campus and Riverside Campus. This study revealed that, although women are still under-represented in Higher Education, there are efforts being made to bridge this gap. This study found female leaders more productive than male counterparts at the Durban University and are able to run their department smoothly and efficiently. The study also found that there are internal respondents agreed that there are hidden difficulties in their department that women face and prevent them from moving into higher positions. Additionally, the study found that there are programs at the Durban University that empower women into leadership. This study contributes to knowledge of gender-based leadership and female empowerment into leadership positions, in the higher education sector. / M

The study investigates the role of women in development which is a favourite topic of the researcher. It investigates some aspects of the process of development involving women. It is obvious that the research was provoked by the legal framework directed at the transformation agenda that represents the democratic process of the country. The role of women, in other sectors, who were excluded from issues of community management, politics and government of the country, became obvious for the researcher due to their strategic role in society which is being undermined. The above view poses the challenge of power-sharing with men. This constituted a huge challenge that emanated from a stereotypical perspective and the fear of the unknown. Considerable pieces of legislation, policies, convention resolutions, conferences and publications became catalysts to intervene in the traditional challenge based on the societal construction. This, to the researcher, presents a clear historical anomaly where government has to address all the streamlining and implementation of policies. There should be sustainability through an Integrated Development Plan. The aim of the historical background of women, as envisaged by the study, is to highlight a contextualised role of women in the development of the transformation process and investigate numerous reasons that impede participation and the readiness of government in addressing these issues. Some questions that the researcher had to as relate to; What the impediments causing non-participation of women are; What elements contribute to the participation of women; What government strategies have unlocked non-participation of women; Why women’s contribution is critical to development; What strategies are deployed by government for women’s involvement? What the socio-economic benefits of participation by women are. It is the researcher’s opinion that the municipality should be complimented on its endeavours. However, they need to establish a strategic programme for empowering women to participate in development as a human rights issue.

Women remain notably underrepresented in management and leadership positions despite the enactment of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action policies. A critical literature review yielded evidence of a multitude of barriers inhibiting women’s career advancement beyond an apparent glass ceiling, but not which of the factors constitute the major barriers. A knowledge gap was further identified in research pertaining to characteristics of successful professional women and the environments that enable them to succeed in their professions. The purpose of the current study is to expand the empirical body of research and knowledge on factors contributing to the success of professional women, and of factors inhibiting the career progression of women in business. The study extends that of Punnett, Duffy, Fox, Gregory, Lituchy, Monserrat, Olivas-Luján and Santos (2006) and of Duffy, Fox, Punnett, Gregory, Lituchy, Monserrat, Olivas-Luján, Santos and Miller (2006), conducted in the Americas, to the South African context. The study suggests a conceptual framework for investigating factors that influence professional success of women. The developed conceptual framework of factors perceived to influence professional success was employed to empirically test the relationships between the variables presented. The empirical data collected was subjected to a series of statistical tests and the results considered in testing the hypotheses. Statistica 10 was employed to analyse the empirical data collected. Univariate and multivariate tests (MANOVA) were employed to determine whether sufficient evidence existed to make conclusions about hypotheses one to five of the study, relating to differences between two success groups of women based on their demographics and the selected variables. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (Pearson r) was employed to determine whether sufficient evidence existed to make conclusions about vi hypotheses six to ten, relating to significant relationships between the selected independent variables for the study and the professional success of women. Professional success was measured as job seniority level. For the pipeline success group, professional success was measured as seniority in relation to years in the employment sector and age. The contribution of the study to management science and possible limitations are discussed and recommendations made for future research. Recommendations for the development of women and for the social transformation of organisations are made. The study identifies a number of internal organisational support factors and government interventions which are recommended for inclusion in development initiatives for the achievement of gender equity.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Developmental initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa emphasise participatory citizenship as the means through which poor women can assert and claim their citizenship rights. Although citizenship and agency are crucial elements in this narrative, little is known about the citizenship process for African women. Furthermore, there is no analytic framework to guide an empirical analysis of agency. This dissertation aims to address these gaps by examining how marginalised Black African women understand themselves as citizens, navigate their structural barriers and develop strategies to negotiate their membership in and relationship with their states. This dissertation uses a deviant case analysis of women living in Zimbabwean and South African townships, who identify as members of the isiNdebele and isiZulu ethnic groups respectively, to Western theories of agency. Data was collected through the use of in-depth interviews and analysed using content and relational analysis. Results indicate that the women use a range of everyday resistance strategies to negotiate their relationship with their states. These strategies are mapped onto an innovative analytic framework that synthesizes feminist, androcentric and subaltern theories of citizenship agency, in order to highlight the non-conventional ways that marginalised African women exercise their agency as citizens. Interestingly, both sets of women emphasise the obligation to vote, work and support oneself without recourse to the state, rather than a reciprocal and participatory relationship. The internalisation of citizenship as an obligation without a corollary emphasis on rights and participation is problematic given that both governments suffer from legitimacy, corruption and governance issues. The main policy implication arising from the study is that there is a need for civic education in schools as well as a feature of women‟s empowerment and community development programs so that marginalised African women are encouraged to expand their participatory skills to collectively challenge, contest and improve the substance of existing citizenship rights. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ontwikkelinginisiatiewe in Afrika beklemtoon deelnemende burgerskap as ʼn manier hoe arm vroue hul regte kan eis. Hoewel burgerskap en die agentskap (agency) belangrik in hierdie verhaal is, weet ons baie min oor hoe swart vroue burgerskap ervaar. Verder is daar geen analitiese raamwerk om 'n empiriese ontleding van hul agentskap te lei nie. Die proefskrif spreek hierdie gapings aan deur ʼn ondersoek oor hoe arm swart vroue in Afrika hulself as burgers verstaan, hoe hul strukturele hindernisse navigeer en strategieë ontwikkel om hul lidmaatskap van en verhouding tot die staat te onderhandel. Hierdie proefskrif gebruik ʼn vergelykende gevallestudie benadering wat vroue wat in Zimbabwe en Suid-Afrika in “townships” woon en wat hulself as isiNdebele en isiZulu identifiseer na te vors. Data is verkry deur die gebruik van in-diepte onderhoude, inhouds- en verwantskapsanalise. Die resultate dui aan dat vroue ʼn reeks strategieë gebruik vir “daaglikse weerstand” om hul verhouding met die staat te onderhandel. Hierdie strategieë word gekarteer op die innoverende analitiese raamwerk, wat ʼn sintese is van feministiese, androsentriese en subalterne teorieë van burgerskap, om sodoende die nie-konvensionele maniere waarop swart vroue hul agentskap uitoefen te beklemtoon. Beide groepe vroue beklemtoon die verpligting om te stem, werk en om jouself te onderhou sonder hulp van die staat, eerder as om ʼn wederkerige en deelnemende verhouding met die staat te beoefen. Die internalisering van burgerskap as ʼn verpligting sonder die wederkerige nadruk op regte en deelname is problematies. Dit kan gekoppel word aan die feit dat albei regerings gebuk gaan onder legitimiteitsprobleme, korrupsie en probleme rondom regeerkunde, wat vrae genereer oor hoe om hierdie regerings verantwoordbaar te hou. Die hoof beleidsimplikasie van hierdie studie is die daarstelling van burgerlike onderwys in skole, sowel as vroue se bemagtiging in ontwikkelingsprogramme. Dit sal bydra daartoe dat gemarginaliseerde swart vroue aangemoedig word om hul vaardighede rondom deelname te ontwikkel en die substansie van hul bestaande burgerskap kollektief uit te daag en te verbeter.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The South African local government is expected to conform to all national policy directives including the principle of gender equality. Local government provides an immense opportunity for redressing imbalances and empowerment of women as they are the most negatively affected by poverty as a result of inequality. The South African Government has developed a wide range of legislation that ensures that women are empowered and participate in their own development. With all the legislation in place, women‟s empowerment as envisaged in the South African Constitution has, however, not yet been yielded the desired results as evidenced by the fact that women continue to remain disadvantaged in relation to men. This study therefore seeks to investigate whether and how the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) has mainstreamed gender in support to the principles of gender equality and women‟s empowerment in the implementation of Integrated Development Planning (IDP) with particular reference to wards 15 and 17. The researcher used a mixed methods research approach, this means that the study followed both the qualitative and quantitative approaches for in-depth understanding followed in the design and implementation of the IDP process. Data was collected from women participants by conducting surveys, making use of questionnaires. Structured interviews were conducted with municipality officials in order to give more insight more insight into how the IDP process is initiated in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Municipality. The findings of the study revealed that there is a lack of a strategic understanding of gender mainstreaming particularly by the leadership of the municipality. This as a result, has made operationalisation and engendering the IDP difficult. Due to this strategic vacuum, gender is generally not taken seriously when compared to other developmental challenges such as infrastructure provision. Moreover, the municipality does not have a coordination mechanism nor does it have a proper consultation mechanism to ensure that the nature of development projects is appropriate, effective and actually targets women‟s developmental needs. The leadership of the municipality must commit to the process of gender mainstreaming if the IDP is to be an effective tool in addressing the gender imbalances.