This research focuses on the experiences of Africans within the management ranks in South African organisations in the private sector. It examines progress (successes and failures) in the implementation of affirmative action programmes. The research further examines power as a concomitant of the managerial role. It argues that the approach that uses the notion of socio-psychological barriers directed to the individual aspirant may be incomplete in explaining lack of mobility if it fails to account for the broader power dynamics and structures within South African organisations. Furthermore, it explores attributes of individual managers as well as those of organisations in order to establish the fit between the individual and the organisation, looks at practices that are often associated with affirmative action programmes and describes empirically the experiences of black managers in such settings. The research concludes that in the absence of programmes that enable aspirant executives to empower themselves psychologically for upward mobility, affirmative action programmes may not be sustainable. The underlying assumption of this research is that the historical legacy which subjected Africans to an official policy of discrimination for decades impeded their upward mobility in the labour market, thus enabling the white labour force to occupy a position of privilege in the private sector. In such settings white managers are confronted with the role of implementing affirmative action programmes which pose a threat to the privileges they have grown accumstomed to. White managers are thus perceived by their black counterparts as reluctant agents of change. The research is guided by the hypotheses that where blacks in managerial positions perceive themselves as being unable to influence organisational decisions, or as having no control over resources, people and information, they would feel that affirmative action is disempowering. To obtain the required information a structured interview schedule with both open ended and closed-ended questions was used. Questions tapped the perceptions of black managers regarding their empowerment in employing organisations. Face-to-face interviews with 100 black managers from the private sector were conducted by the author. The resultant data was captured on a computer data base and then subjected to various forms of statistical analyses. The main predictor of feelings of empowerment was found to be the manager's centrality in decision-making processes. It was also found that positive relationships with superiors and colleagues influenced feelings of empowerment, as did membership of corporate clubs. Job rank was positively related to relationships with superiors and colleagues. It was also found that affirmative action environments presented this group with some contradictions: they advanced much slower than their white colleagues, and supervised largely, or only blacks, and/or are in specialist positions with no budgetary control. Organisational climate factors (negative attitudes and unfair promotional practices) were still perceived to be in place. Educational qualifications were not found to be good predictors of empowerment. The findings suggest that affirmative action programmes need to take the heterogeneity of managers into account. Management must show that managing diversity is crucial to their productivity and competitiveness. It is also important for such programmes to examine the format of corporate clubs, and consider altering them to accommodate the social reality of black managers. Lastly, a fundamental transformation of power relations is necessary so that decision-makers operate from more or less the same level of power. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1996.

This study endeavoured to uncover the trust experiences of individuals involved in business alliances between traditional companies (TCs) and historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) with a view to constructing a model that would facilitate a better understanding of organisational trust within these institutions. The theoretical study proposed a theoretical model of trust in the alliances between TCs and HDIs within an economic empowerment domain. The empirical study employed Q methodology to investigate the trust experiences of the participants. The 25 individuals who participated in the study were selected by means of both non-probability purposive and snowball sampling The participants were presented with the Q sample containing 50 items which they had to sort in accordance with the instruction given. The post-Q sorting interview was conducted to give the participants a chance to expound on their reasoning for the sorting of the Q sample. Data were analysed using Pearson product-moment correlation and factor analysis. Six factors revealed participants’ experiences of trust in the alliances: Factor A (Sincerity trust alliances), Factor B (Values trust alliances), Factor C (Duped trust alliances), Factor D (Vigilant trust alliances), Factor E (Deceitful trust alliances) and Factor F (Inclination to trust alliances). The trust experiences of the six groups were used to theorise about the association between the participants’ trust experiences and their performance on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). In the main, the study found that groups that had pleasant trust experiences with their partner organisations exhibited have high positive affect (PA) and low negative affect (NA). Although exploratory in nature, the study contributed an empirically derived theoretical framework of cognitive and affective trust within business alliances that may be further investigated in future research endeavours. In this was it identified and proposed a modus operandi for closing the trust gap. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The Transvaal Colony experienced a huge problem with the scarcity of African labour for the mines and for the farms after the South African War. From 1901 to 1906 African labourers displayed great reluctance to meet the labour demands of the Transvaal colony. Both black and white witnesses to the Transvaal Labour Commission (TLC) and the South African Native Affairs Commission (SANAC) gave their views regarding the reasons why African labourers were unavailable for wage labour. The Chamber of Mines dominated the proceedings of the TLC so that in the end very little objective information could be gained from the TLC. Africans themselves, testifying before SANAC stated a number of grievances which might have been responsible for the widespread withdrawal from employment on the mines. It became clear that Africans preferred to work independently rather than to provide labour for whites who ill-treated them. This they could only do if land was available to them. / History / M.A. (History)

The Transvaal Colony experienced a huge problem with the scarcity of African labour for the mines and for the farms after the South African War. From 1901 to 1906 African labourers displayed great reluctance to meet the labour demands of the Transvaal colony. Both black and white witnesses to the Transvaal Labour Commission (TLC) and the South African Native Affairs Commission (SANAC) gave their views regarding the reasons why African labourers were unavailable for wage labour. The Chamber of Mines dominated the proceedings of the TLC so that in the end very little objective information could be gained from the TLC. Africans themselves, testifying before SANAC stated a number of grievances which might have been responsible for the widespread withdrawal from employment on the mines. It became clear that Africans preferred to work independently rather than to provide labour for whites who ill-treated them. This they could only do if land was available to them. / History / M. A. (History)

Chapter One: The provisions of the Glen Grey Act of 1894 are summarised. The memoirs of contemporaries are discussed and the historical literature on the Act from 1913 to the present is surveyed. The likelihood of the land tenure provisions of the Act forcing the people of Glen Grey (or the people of other districts that came under the operation of the Act) to seek employment is noted. It is evident that there is an increasing emphasis in the literature on labour concerns rather than on the disenfranchising effects and local government provisions of the Act. It is often assumed that the labour force generated by the Act was meant for the Transvaal gold mines. Chapter Two: The relevance of the labour needs of the Indwe collieries is investigated. These mines lay adjacent to Glen Grey and might have been expected to draw their labour thence if the Act had been effective. Rhodes, the author of the Act and prime minister of the Cape, had bought shares in the collieries for De Beers shortly before the Act was passed, which made a possible connection more intriguing. No causal link between De Beers' interests and the Act could be demonstrated; nor do the collieries seem to have employed many people from Glen Grey. Chapter Three: Examines the Cape colonists' complaints about shortage of labour from 1807 to the eve of the Glen Grey Act, and investigates various official measures to promote the labour supply. The Glen Grey Act was not the first labour measure passed at the Cape, and it seems likely, therefore, that the labour needs of the Cape, rather than the Transvaal, were uppermost in the minds of those responsible for the Act. Chapter Four examines Rhodes's political position in the 1890s and shows him to be increasingly dependent on the parliamentary support of the Afrikaner Bond to stay in office. Since the Bond was an agricultural interest group it seems likely that labour for Cape farms, rather than Transvaal gold mines, was what the Act was supposed to provide. With that Rhodes could readily agree, since he wanted to promote the agricultural development of the Cape. However, the Bond wanted to be able to buy land in Glen Grey (and other district in which the Act was proclaimed). Rhodes wanted to keep such districts as 'reservoirs of labour' so he could not give the Bond all of what they wanted, i.e. Glen Grey titles to be alienable. His manoeuvring to keep the Bond supporting the Bill while not making the land readily salable is described. (In the end the land was alienable with the consent of the government -- consent that a Rhodes ministry would not give, but that another might.) Rhodes's desire to obtain the administration of Bechuanaland for his Chartered Company, and his need therefore to reassure the Colonial Office and humanitarian opinion that he could be trusted to rule over blacks, are pointed out as other possible motivations for the Act, which Rhodes tried hard to present as an enlightened piece of legislation. The course of the Act through the Cape parliament, and the opposition of Cape liberals to the Act, is described. Chapter Five: The mentalité of the Cape colonists as regards race, liquor, land tenure and other political issues is described. Chapter Six: The reaction to the Act of Cape blacks and sympathetic whites, British humanitarians and the Colonial Office is described. The contemporary concern with reserving land for blacks is noted, as well as concern over the morality of economically coerced labour. This is in contrast to the modern concentration on labour almost to the exclusion of other issues in regard to the Glen Grey Act. The unsuccessful efforts of Cape blacks and British humanitarians to have the imperial government veto the Act are described. Rhodes's influence over the Colonial Office is described.

The former Transkei region of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, in common with many of the other former Bantustans, is currently facing a developmental backlog. It is one of the poorest regions of the country and is a direct product of South Africa’s history of colonisation and geopolitical nature of apartheid in which people were forcibly located onto former tribal lands, called Bantustans. Tourism is one of the few business opportunities providing employment along the former Transkei coast. The tourism industry has been identified by many worldwide as a key strategy that can lead to economic upliftment, community development and poverty relief in the developing world. The predicament however, lies in the challenge of accepting or managing the negative consequences of tourism for the potential long term benefits offered by tourism-led development. Tourism development theory reflects development theory from traditional, top-down economic-growth based models to a more wide based approach with an emphasis on bottom-up planning, meeting of basic human need and a focus on sustainable development. Consequentially new and alternative forms of tourism have emerged and can be viewed as a response to some of the negative consequences of the mass tourism-led model of economic development. Backpacker tourism is one niche of the tourism market that is providing positive local socioeconomic benefits. This thesis is presented as a case study of Mdumbi Backpackers on the former Transkei coast. Mdumbi Backpackers is a unique example of a model of tourism that is providing meaningful benefits to the people who live in this community. By going one step further with the creation of the non-profit organisation Transcape, their involvement in the community has grown significantly, encouraging positive and sustainable development in the areas of social development, education and health. Mdumbi Backpackers goes beyond the notions of locally owned and sustainable approaches and actively encourages development by setting up community organisations and initiatives in a sustainable and equitable way. This approach to tourism-led development is well suited for the needs and objectives of the community as well preserving the natural environment. This thesis presents an exemplary example from which lessons can be learned and applied to developing tourism in a sustainable and equitable way in other rural communities.

This thesis explored the fathering practices of precariously employed African men with the study objectives including understanding: (1) how precariously employed men construct fatherhood; (2) the fathering practices considered important to them; (3) in what way precarious employment impacts on their fathering practices; and (4) how precariously employed men negotiate between their children’s economic as well as socio-emotional needs. This research focused particularly on the experiences of roadside work-seekers in Parow, Cape Town, seeking to understand how they construct fatherhood within their precarious working conditions. What these men think about fatherhood is important particularly in South Africa where not only unemployment is high, but also the rates of children growing up without their fathers. An ethnographic study was conducted during which data was collected using both participant observation and semi-structured interview methods. This thesis reports on interviews conducted with 46 men over a period of seventeen weeks. The findings reveal that the majority of roadside work-seekers are migrants (both internal and cross border) who have families to provide for. This study also revealed having children as one of the main reasons men engage in precarious work activities. Also highlighted is the extent to which precarious work impact the lives of those involved to the extent that it affects their relationships with their children, families and intimate partners. The majority of day labourers, due to being unemployed also do not live with their children, with many being denied access as a result of a breakdown in their relationship with the mother of the child, but also as a result of being unable to fulfil certain traditional requirements expected of men who impregnate women out of wedlock in some African cultures. Finally, this study confirmed the various ways in which men engaged in precarious employment are exposed to high levels of poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, violence and crime, and racism, discrimination and exploitation. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

This thesis explored the fathering practices of precariously employed African men with the study objectives including understanding: (1) how precariously employed men construct fatherhood; (2) the fathering practices considered important to them; (3) in what way precarious employment impacts on their fathering practices; and (4) how precariously employed men negotiate between their children’s economic as well as socio-emotional needs. This research focused particularly on the experiences of roadside work-seekers in Parow, Cape Town, seeking to understand how they construct fatherhood within their precarious working conditions. What these men think about fatherhood is important particularly in South Africa where not only unemployment is high, but also the rates of children growing up without their fathers. An ethnographic study was conducted during which data was collected using both participant observation and semi-structured interview methods. This thesis reports on interviews conducted with 46 men over a period of seventeen weeks. The findings reveal that the majority of roadside work-seekers are migrants (both internal and cross border) who have families to provide for. This study also revealed having children as one of the main reasons men engage in precarious work activities. Also highlighted is the extent to which precarious work impact the lives of those involved to the extent that it affects their relationships with their children, families and intimate partners. The majority of day labourers, due to being unemployed also do not live with their children, with many being denied access as a result of a breakdown in their relationship with the mother of the child, but also as a result of being unable to fulfil certain traditional requirements expected of men who impregnate women out of wedlock in some African cultures. Finally, this study confirmed the various ways in which men engaged in precarious employment are exposed to high levels of poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, violence and crime, and racism, discrimination and exploitation. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)