Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy: Management Sciences (Peace Studies), Duban University of Technology, 2017. / Local peacebuilding practices require a systematic and reflective analysis in order for them to bring an impact. Successful peacebuilding pivots on the development of a set of skills to attend to the challenges presented by the conflict. The study was inspired by an observation that the emergence of CSOs working on peacebuilding in Zimbabwe was happening in a context where there was no proper training and organisational capacity development. Using an action-research design, and a case study of two CSOs operating in Bindura and Mazowe Districts in Mashonaland Central Province in Zimbabwe, the study involved a sample group of fifty-seven participants, and included a core Action Research Team (ART) of twelve participants to initiate the process of capacity development related to peacebuilding in Zimbabwe. Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, Document studies were used in a triangulation approach to enhance validity and reliability of the process. The preliminary assessment revealed that the peacebuilding environment in the two districts is highly polarised. There is a combination of both direct and indirect violence in the area. The state as well as traditional institutions are active perpetrators of both direct and indirect violence in the two district. The use of Local Peace Committees and the workshop method has not reaped the desired outcomes owing to the polarization. After a preliminary assessment of the peacebuilding environment in the area as well as a critique of the peacebuilding models being used by the two organisations, we then set out on a process of identifying strengths and weaknesses in both the programming as well as the delivery of the projects in the communities. A series of focus group discussions and organisational document analysis of the two organisations, we eventually agreed on the development of a training module for the Action Research Team. Five thematic issues were identified as forming the basis of the intervention programme. The five thematic issues were on the conceptual issues of conflict, violence and peace in a local context, conflict analysis skills, conflict sensitive programming, culture, conflict and change and lastly basic counselling skills for peacebuilders. A three-day training workshop was then held in order to develop capacity relating to the thematic issues. The short term evaluation of the intervention showed that the training was successful as the participants had already started implementing some of the new knowledge and skills. / D

From the year 2000, land became the key signifier for tackling the unfinished business of the decolonisation process in Zimbabwe, notably by rectifying the racially-based land injustices of the past through land redistribution. This took the form of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). However, the racialised character and focus of the FTLRP tended to mask or at least downplay important gender dimensions to land in Zimbabwe. Colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe (up to 2000) had instigated, propagated and reproduced land ownership, control and access along a distinctively patriarchal basis which left women either totally excluded or incorporated in an oppressive manner. This patriarchal structuring of the land question was rooted in institutions, practices and discourses. Although a burgeoning number of studies have been undertaken on the FTLRP, few have had a distinctively gender focus in seeking to identify, examine and assess the effect of the programme on patriarchal relations and the socio-economic livelihoods of rural women. This thesis makes a contribution to filling this lacuna by offering an empirically-rich study of land redistribution in one particular district in Zimbabwe, namely, Goromonzi District. This entails a focus on women on A1 resettlement farms in the district (and specifically women who came from nearby customary areas) and on women who continue to live in customary areas in the district. My thesis concludes that the FTLRP is seriously flawed in terms of addressing and tackling the patriarchal structures that underpin the Zimbabwean land question.

The thesis seeks to understand how emerging communities borne out of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe have been able to ensure social cohesion and social service provision using farm level institutions. The Fast Track Programme brought together people from diverse backgrounds into new communities in the former commercial farming areas. The formation of new communities meant that, often, there were 'stranger households'living next to each other. Since 2000, these people have been involved in various processes aimed at turning clusters of homesteads into functioning communities through farm level institutions. Fast track land reform precipitated economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe characterised by a rapidly devaluating Zimbabwean dollar, enormous inflation and high unemployment figures. This economic crisis has impacted heavily on new farmers who find it increasingly difficult to afford inputs and access loans. They have formed social networks in response to these challenges, taking the form of farm level institutions such as farm committees, irrigation committees and health committees. The study uses case studies from small-scale 'A1 farmers‘ in Mazowe district which is in Mashonaland Central Province. It employs qualitative methodologies to enable a nuanced understanding of associational life in the new communities. Through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, narratives, key informant interviews and institutional mapping the study outlines the formation, taxonomy, activities, roles, internal dynamics and social organisation of farm level institutions. The study also uses secondary data collected in 2007-08 by the Centre for Rural Development in the newly resettled areas in Mazowe. The major finding of the study is that farmers are organising in novel ways at grassroots levels to meet everyday challenges. These institutional forms however are internally weak, lacking leadership with a clear vision and they appear as if they are transitory in nature. They remain marginalised from national and global processes and isolated from critical connections to policy makers at all levels; thus A1 farmers remain voiceless and unable to have their interests addressed. Farm level institutions are at the forefront of the microeconomics of survival among these rural farmers. They are survivalist in nature and form, and this requires a major shift in focus if they are to be involved in developmental work. The institutions remain fragmented and compete amongst themselves for services from government without uniting as A1 farmers with similar interests and challenges.

During Zimbabwe’s 2008 harmonised elections the country’s media laws had a direct impact on the way editorial cartoonists expressed themselves. Although the online newspapers were unregulated and the print media published under Zimbabwe’s media laws, Public Order and Security Act and Access to Information and Protection of Privacy act - the editorial cartoons from both sources show deliberate bias towards one candidate and contempt towards the main rival. The study contextualises the understanding of the editorial cartoon, as practised in an environment of freedom of speech and defined by the four categories identified by Press (1981) and Manning and Phiddian (2004), and delineates the effect of media laws on the newspaper industry in Zimbabwe. The four categories of editorial cartoons identified are descriptive editorial cartoons, laughing satirical editorial cartoons, destructive satirical editorial cartoons, and savage indignation editorial cartoons. The study reviews eight editorial cartoons, read using a semiotic framework investigating non-verbal communication, as defined and suggested by Du Plooy (1996), and a text and language grid, as suggested by Leech (1974), according to the criteria of symbols/metaphors, exaggeration/distortion, stereotypes, caricature, irony, captions, and background knowledge, as developed by Fetsko (2001). A comparative analysis of the cartoons reveals that objectives and functions of the unregulated zimonline.co.za and the regulated the Herald newspapers are the same. They constitute propagandistic representations of Zimbabwean politics that are more an extension of political ideology than they are a reflection of the country’s sociopolitical landscape.

In Zimbabwe, translation studies is yet to be recognized as a discipline worthy of study in its own right, hence, not much research has been carried out into the theory and practice of translation. Furthermore, there is no tertiary institution that offers professional translation courses. In light of this information most translations are carried out by untrained/partially trained translators with only a few translators who have gained experience over time. The aim of this study was to investigate strategies used by Ndebele translators in the translation of specialized terms and cultural taboos in selected HIV/AIDS texts, as well as factors that can be used to improve the translation situation of Zimbabwe. Three main theoretical approaches were used in a complementary fashion, namely Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS), Cultural Studies and Corpus-based Translation Studies (CTS). DTS provided the researcher with a theory to understand the Ndebele translations in their wider environment; Cultural Studies provided the researcher with the means by which to understand Ndebele culture and taboos; Corpus-based Translation Studies (CTS) provided the researcher with the methodological tools and analytical techniques to analyse the corpus of texts. An English-Ndebele Parallel Corpus (ENPC) was created using fourteen English source texts and their corresponding Ndebele translations. The ENPC was interrogated by means of ParaConc, a parallel concordancing program. The study found that when translating specialised terms, Ndebele translators used strategies such as a general or neutral word, cultural substitution, paraphrasing and omission. The strategy of omission was misused in most cases because Ndebele translators omitted valuable information which did not reach the target readers. With regards to translation strategies that contributed to term creation, it was found that Ndebele translators relied on external as well as internal resources. The translators used strategies such as pure loan words; pure loan words preceeded by an explanation and indigenised loan words. From the Ndebele language itself, the translators resorted to semantic shift, compounding, coinage and paraphrasing, among others. From the ENPC it is clear that Ndebele translators did manage to transfer the message from English to Ndebele to an extent. However, the ENPC has to be used with caution by other researchers since the translations included in the corpus are full of errors such as misinterpretations of the source texts, mistranslations, incorrect terms and incorrect orthography. This factor points to a dire need to establish translation as an academic discipline and profession in Zimbabwe so as to elevate the quality of translations and offer better translation services to all users.

Death and bereavement are prevalent in Zimbabwe due to HIV/AIDS and other illnesses. It is estimated that a large population of school going learners have lost one or both parents and have become orphans. The aim of the study was two-fold: to understand the bereavement experiences of orphaned learners and to examine how such experiences can inform school counselling services. A multiple case study involving 13 school children and four school counsellors from two secondary schools in Harare Metropolitan Region was conducted. Each of the 17 participants was viewed as a bounded case due to his or her individual unique experiences. An interpretive phenomenological approach was employed to collect and analyse the data. All the cases were purposively selected as they were bearers of crucial information on bereavement experiences and bereavement counselling. The study established nine (9) key findings. First, it was found that the type of attachments and support systems the child had were contributory to the way the child experienced bereavement. Second, it was established that although learners manifested emotional pain, they found it difficult to verbalise it. Third, the study found that cultural practices either exacerbate or work for the better for bereaved children as some were seen to enhance their livelihood whilst some were detrimental and oppressive. Fourth, it was established that bereavement triggered philosophical and reflexive reactions on the part of bereaved children. The deaths of the parents resulted in them reflecting on the three phases of their life trajectories: life before death; at the time of death; and after death. Fifth, it was also established in the study that there was a mismatch in what children and counsellors claimed to be happening in secondary schools pertaining bereavement counselling provisioning. Sixth, the study found that most children did not receive any bereavement counselling in schools. Only three out of the 13 learner cases interviewed in this study had a teacher in the school talk to them about loss of their parents. In some instances, a child’s bereavement was only discovered through the grapevine or when this researcher got to the school. Seventh, it was established that although counsellors were qualified as both teachers and counsellors, they lacked confidence in dealing with sensitive issues such as bereavement. Eighth, the study also found that although there is a lot of death in Zimbabwe the counselling syllabi lacked focus on bereavement counselling. Ninth, it was also discovered that teachers who were not assigned to counselling duties had negative attitudes towards counselling, a matter which has serious consequences for the bereaved learners. Based on the above findings, the study concludes that bereaved children experienced a variety of circumstances that impacted both positively and negatively on their schooling and rendered them in need of bereavement counselling. It also concludes that bereaved learners in selected Harare schools were not receiving adequate bereavement counselling; schools neither had policies nor laid down procedures on bereavement counselling. For further research, the study recommends that there should be research focusing on methodologies designed to access children’s innermost feelings of emotional pain. There should be further research on the nature of the relationship between a child’s bereavement and educational experiences. Studies involving other bereaved populations, such as, children from rural areas and primary school children should be carried out in order to gain insights on how the phenomenon is experienced by different age groups in different contexts. To improve counselling practice in schools, the study recommends that there should be capacity building programmes aimed at assisting teachers to deal with bereavement counselling. School bereavement counselling should explore collaboration with other stakeholders such as peers, care givers and government as well as non-governmental organisations. Above all, the study recommends that schools should be proactive and have school bereavement policies and procedures on bereavement counselling.

DEd (Curriculum Studies) / College students in Zimbabwe were facing many challenges in adopting proper dietary patterns which promote learning. This study sought to establish the impact of Socio-Economic factors and dietary patterns in particular on the academic performance of college students in Zimbabwe. The study established challenges that were faced by college students in making choices of dietary patterns that promote learning. Factors that influence choice of dietary patterns for college students were established in this study. The case study was Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic College in Zimbabwe with a population of 206 students and a sample of 102 participants was purposively selected. A mixed-methods research, using quantitative and qualitative approaches was employed and questionnaires, interviews, observation and document analysis were used to collect data. Findings are presented from both questionnaire and interview data in combination, with interview data playing the role of supplementing quantitative findings and probing detailed information. Quantitative data was analysed using the IBM SPSS Version 23.0 while qualitative data was coded into themes and synthesised into quantitative data to support or refute quantitative data. Research indicates that diet quality and overall health status of college students are among the prominent factors which contribute to poor student academic performance worldwide. The experiences and perceptions held by the college students and cooks were investigated. The main study findings showed that if students follow proper dietary patterns they may perform well in their studies since relationship between nutrition and academic work lies on the notion that a healthy body is able to maintain a healthy mind, which suggests that certain risk factors for a physically ill-health are also risk factors for cognitive impairment. This study made recommendations for dietary patterns that promote learning in academic domains. It also developed a model valuable for dietary patterns. / `

MRDV / Institute for Rural Development / In the year 2002, the Zimbabwean government adopted a Rural Electrification Programme (REP) as a developmental strategy designed to improve villagers’ lives. Despite the government’s noble initiative to improve rural areas’ access to electricity, not much is known about the REP’s socio-economic benefits to grassroots communities in the country. Thus, a study was carried out to determine the REP’s socio-economic benefits accruing to villagers in Insiza South District located in Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. Appreciative inquiry was undertaken following a mixed method approach. Data were collected through two sequentially integrated phases. Multistage sampling was applied to select respondents from 15 villages within three administrative wards 5, 7 and 12 of Insiza South District. Out of the 110 respondents who participated in the study, the eight key informants who participated in the first phase were drawn from the institutions that coordinated the REP. One hundred and two residents participated in phase two of data collection carried out through application of focus group discussions (FGDs). Thematic content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data collected in phase 1 of the study. Quantitative data was analysed using the International Business Machines, Statistical Product and Service Solution (IBM, SPSS) version 24 for Windows. More than 68 % of the respondents perceived basic uses (lighting, cooking, and for educational purposes) of electricity as the benefits accruing from the REP. Sixty six percent of respondents viewed modern uses (heating, cooling and air conditioning) of electricity as the benefits accruing from the programme. A much smaller proportion (31 %) of villagers singled out the benefits of electrification to be productive uses such as boiler making, manufacturing and mechanised farming. There were highly significant differences in perception among residents of the wards with respect to basic (P < 0.001) and modern (P < 0.01) uses. However, there were no differences in perception among male and female members of the three wards (P < 0.05). The collective community benefits included improved access to information, enhanced retention and attraction of teachers in rural areas, introduction of computer studies in schools and initiation of entrepreneurial projects such as welding and milling. Residents also benefitted indirectly from the REP through local electrified service centres. It was revealed that almost 91 % the local villagers were still using firewood while about 59 % of the villagers who could afford it had access to solar power. The study highlighted the need for a platform to deliberate on challenges relating to RE and its contribution to economy. The findings are crucial for rural development, policy reviews and academic research.

MCom / Department of Business Management / See the attached abstract below

Department of Sociology / MA (Industrial Sociology)