In order to fill the gap in existing research on the topic, this study was undertaken to establish whether a relationship exists between five sources of power and five conflict handling styles. A theoretical study regarding the concepts of power and conflict was undertaken. In the empirical study these variables were measured using the Power Base Index and Thomas-Kilmann Conflict MODE questionnaires. Reward power was significantly related to the competing and avoiding conflict handling styles; expert power was significantly related to the compromising style; and legitimate power was significantly related to the collaborating conflict handling style. The research contributes towards a better understanding of power and conflict in organisations and in supervisors' day-to-day management. However, the results indicate the importance of wider, more sophisticated research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial Psychology)

This study seeks to determine whether the conflict between the City of Cape Town (CCT) and the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is resulting in positive or negative outcomes from the perspective of the residents concerned. In principle, engagement, between civil society and local government should lead to an improvement in terms of the meeting of needs or wants for those communities whose interests are being contested, or at the very least an improved understanding of the plans and challenges faced by both. Further, the engagement and/or conflict between local government and civil society, if positive, should ideally lead to greater understanding between all stakeholders and the strengthening of relations between them government, civil society and the relevant community interests. The motivation of this study is to explore the unanswered issues such as, whether the SJC has gone beyond the use of acceptable tactics associated with responsible and effective civil society actors and whether it would be justified if they have; if the SJC’s actions have resulted in an actual improvement in the accelerated realization of the socio-economic rights of the communities whose interests they purport to represent; whether the communities ‘represented’ by the SJC see them as their effective advocate for the interests and concerns ; if the issue of sanitation is the primary issue for the residents concerned as claimed by the SJC; if the residents of the communities concerned feel the same animosity to the CCT that the SJC does.

M.A. / Since 1994 dramatic changes have taken place in the external environment of the Department of Welfare and Population Development. When these changes occurred • managers. in the Department were unprepared,. firstly, to accept the changes and, secondly, to manage the changes which were met with resistance and which created organizational conflict. Managers confronted with organizational conflict soon discovered that, in order to manage the organizational conflict effectively, they had to embark on a management program that would not only enhance their managerial skills, but also improve their knowledge of various aspects regarding the management of organizational conflict and change. This management program was developed to fit into the bigger management training program of the Department to empower present and future managers to manage the organization more effectively. The contents of the program first gives an overview of organizations as a systems approach. Within this approach the importance of environmental change and its effect on the organization are discussed. Change is known to meet with resistance, managers need to manage this resistance as it is a major contributor to organizational conflict. Organizational conflict has a detrimental effect on organizational effectiveness; if conflict is high and not resolved or managed effectively, organizations become very ineffective. Conflict is identified not only as negative (destructive), but also as positive and therefore positive conflict can become an agent of change within an organization. This form of change often ensures more effective services in organizations. In "The Prince" Nicolo Machiavelli states as follows: "It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, no more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all - those who profit by the older order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would - • profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have actually had experience of it. Thus it arises that on every opportunity for attacking the reformer, his opponents do so with the zeal of partisans, the other only defend him half-heartedly, so that between them he runs great danger" (in Feldberg M 1975: 132).

This evaluative study aims to identify and analyse conflicts within the South African land reform process that have manifested within Communal Property Institutions, and so doing, devising and providing a mechanism that will assist conflict practitioners to approach these conflicts in an informed manner. It further intends to provide for an approach in order to restore social justice to the land reform process, and so doing, suggesting resolution mechanisms to assist in the process for the reasons that this restoration of land rights was originally intended. This study further seeks to investigate the causes, actions and consequences of protagonistic land claimants and beneficiaries within the land reform process, who have created conflict within their communal property institutions, at the expense of those beneficiaries who are subsequently deprived of their land rights. According to Coate and Rosati (1988), human needs are a powerful source of explanation of human behaviour and social interaction. All individuals have needs that they strive to satisfy, either by using a system of “acting on the fringes” or acting as a reformist or revolutionary. Given this condition, social systems must be responsive to individual needs, or be subject to instability and forced change, possibly through violence or conflict). Humans need a number of essentials to survive. According to the renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow and the conflict scholar John Burton, these essentials go beyond just food, water, and shelter. They include both physical and non-physical elements needed for human growth and development, as well as all those things humans are innately driven to attain. For Maslow, needs are hierarchical in nature. That is, each need has a specific ranking or order of obtainment. Maslow's needs pyramid starts with the basic items of food, water, and shelter. These are followed by the need for safety and security, then belonging or love, self-esteem, and finally, personal fulfilment (Rothman J, 1997). Burton and other needs theorists who have adopted Maslow's ideas to conflict theory, however, perceive human needs in a different way, being rather as an emergent collection of human development essentials (Burton J, 1990). Furthermore, they contend needs do not have a hierarchical order. Rather, needs are sought simultaneously in an intense and relentless manner (Rothman J, 1997). Needs theorists' list of human essentials include safety, a sense of belonging (love), self esteem, personal fulfilment,identity, cultural security, freedom, distributive justice, and participation. The South African land restoration process relies largely on the Constitution of South Africa (1996), with the preamble thereof as its tenets. The three land reform programmes that emanate from the Constitution are the Land Redistribution Programme, the Land Tenure Reform programme, and the Land Restitution programme, which have been used in this study as the point of departure from which deviations are measured and analysed. A number of Communal property Institutions have been considered, the findings of which have been evaluated, investigated and analysed, in order to achieve the aims of this study.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management Science (Peacebuilding), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / Conflict amongst cooperative members in Vumengazi, KwaZulu-Natal, is a major cause of concern, growing to an extent that threatens their survival. Lack of management skills tends to create conflict in cooperatives: members vie for a management position in the business, however, they often have no clear commitment or understanding of the duties required in management positions, even enough to handle the day-to-day challenges. Some of the groups formed a cooperative not because they have a joint objective, but because they planned to use the cooperative as a platform to access available resources. In most cases, the groups who formed the basis for this study lacked cohesiveness and this led to internal conflicts and an inability to work together. In most of the cooperatives, there were no professional business plans and they lacked feasibility with identifiable and foreseeable market opportunities. There were no drafted documents constitutions to govern the directors. The researcher undertook this study to investigate the following: • What are the contributing factors to conflict within the cooperatives? • What is the role of the 2005 Co-operatives Act in resolving conflict within the cooperatives? • What are effective ways to resolve conflicts within the cooperatives? A case study design using qualitative methodology was used in this study. In-depth understanding was needed; qualitative methodology was appropriate for a study of this nature. A sample of four co-operatives out of 20 from Wards 84 and 100, eNgonyameni Tribal Area, Vumengazi, was selected to identify the nature, extent, causes and consequences of conflicts, to assess the effectiveness of existing provisions for conflict resolution and the way they are implemented, to plan and implement an intervention strategy aimed at resolving conflicts to provide a foundation to resolve future conflicts. I engaged five people in a participatory action research programme and a focus group to establish the findings. Findings include a low standard of education among members; some members are very old who do not respect the youth. Gossip among the members led to cooperative issues being discussed in the community, thereby exacerbating conflict. Some of the cooperative members have primary education and they are unable to read and write English, however, the Act is written in English. Members of the cooperatives do not deal with conflict nor resolve it; there is no plan in place for such resolution. Members therefore keep grudges and bring them to work and meetings. Mismanagement of funds was found to be problematic. Conflict occurred regularly, partially because of the inability to analyse conflict among members and inability to apply peaceful conflict resolution methods. Recommendations as a result of the study are that peace education, both formal and informal, must be a prerequisite for cooperatives, to help members deal with individual emotions and behaviours and to avoid more aggressive approaches in running a cooperative. Local Economic Development officials and Ward Councillors need to come closer to rural cooperatives because of their stated interest in alleviating poverty in the area through peaceful running of cooperatives. Conflict does not allow cooperatives to flourish. / M

This study was undertaken to describe how the community responded to the incorporation of the Merafong Municipality into the North West Province. The study examined the protracted conflict in Khutsong as well as why the strategies to end the conflict failed. The study was concerned about latent conflict; how differences are raised; dissatisfaction amongst members of the communities and that power asymmetry is the main driver of emotions leading to aggressive behaviour. Service delivery protests are characterised by violence in South Africa and more often communities turn violent in their engagement with their leaders or council officials. This is because it is believed that violence is the only language that authorities understand and they have nothing to lose as government property gets destroyed. Late invitations of third parties who have regulatory skills (negotiations, mediation, conciliation or judicial processes) when conflicts begin, lead to their escalation. A qualitative research method was chosen for this study. A qualitative case study better explained the phenomenon of interest. It allowed me to collect data from the respondents who were active members of the community through interviews. Twelve members of the community (from politicians, ordinary members, educators and the clergy) were part of the respondents. The report was of the respondents own personal experiences as active members of the community. Collected data from the transcripts was coded. Codes with similar meaning were put together in the same categories and the themes were formed from the categories. The qualitative content analysis method was used to analyse the data. From the analysis, it emerged that there was lack of communication and consultation from the side of the government before the implementation of the 16th Amendment Bill which was aimed at removing the cross border municipalities. The announcement was finally made of the incorporation of the Merafong Municipality into North West Province in 2005. The announcement was met with anger and frustration by the Khutsong Demarcation Forum and the community whose expectations were that the incorporation will not go ahead given the reasons they put forth when they met the government officials in the meetings after the demarcation board had proposed it. Violence was the only option for the community to show that their talks with government officials failed and that they are seriously opposed to the incorporation. That led to a protracted violence in Khutsong until 2009 when the Cross-Boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Act of 2009 act was passed to reincorporate the Merafong Municipality back into Gauteng.

The global working environment has altered dramatically over the last decade, with the workforce now consisting of a diverse assortment of individuals. South Africa, in particular, has had to face major challenges as it adapts to the newly conceived "Rainbow Nation". It has also had to make amends for inequalities bred by the past discrimination and the segregation of Apartheid. Prior to this, businesses in general, were inward-looking in that they did not have to comply with or conform to the changing trends found in the international arena. Suddenly, issues such as Black Economic Empowerment, Affirmative Action, gender, age, faith and preferred sexual orientation have had to be accommodated as the new Employment Equity Act of 1998 was promulgated. Each individual coming into the workplace has his or her own cosmological, ontological and epistemological view, and although this facilitates a positive contribution by individuals with regard to varying ideas, skills, talents and expertise, more often than not, the reality is that the differences that exist within a staff complement often result in conflict. Furthermore, South Africa exhibits deep-rooted, social conflict as a result of the oppression of the apartheid years. Unemployment, poverty, poor education and service deliveries are far from being satisfactorily addressed. Therefore, it is assumed that unmet/frustrated basic human needs, as defined in Abraham Maslow‘s "Hierarchy of Needs", play a role in causing conflict both in the workplace and in society. It was felt that basic human needs, as articulated, had not been researched as a cause of workplace conflict and this research will explore the part that frustrated human needs may play in organisational conflict, alongside diversity conflicts.

Growing research in educational leadership and management shows that there are many factors that have an impact on the running of effective schools. Many people are now aware of the importance of the school management‟s role in guiding successful schools. This quantitative study was conducted in Gauteng where 100 school managers responded to a questionnaire which probed them about their conflict management and competence skills. The participants responded to a 40 item Likert scale instrument. Each of the items had five alternatives to choose from. The results demonstrate that many teachers were never trained in conflict management skills and that they also find it hard to resolve disputes in their schools. Furthermore, a majority of the participants attributed the dysfunctionality and lack of teacher commitment to the pervading unresolved conflicts in their schools. There was also consensus that intractable conflict adversely affects the culture of learning and teaching in schools. Among the recommendations highlighted at the end are to ensure that prospective school managers are empowered with conflict management skills before assuming their positions.

This treatise explores the Matatiele boundary demarcation dispute and, in particular, the role that unmet basic human needs play in this dispute. The subject of identity is also explored. In 2006, the government of South Africa decided that Matatiele should no longer be part of the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) and instead should be incorporated into the province of the Eastern Cape. This decision divided the community of Matatiele into two groups; one was pro-KZN and the other, pro-Eastern Cape. In 2008, violence broke out between these two groups. The government’s decision and the resulting violence have created a situation of protracted conflict in the community of Matatiele with rivalries and antagonism being part of the fabric of the society. This treatise attempts to analyse this conflict and link it to the theory of basic human needs as advocated by conflict theorists such as John Burton and Johan Gultang. Human needs theorists hold the view that unmet psychological and physical needs are sources of social conflict and can lead to protracted conflict. This treatise also explores the efficacy of problem-solving workshops and referendums as conflict-resolution techniques for boundary demarcation disputes. The data were collected from unstructured, in-depth interviews with a sample of eleven respondents. The data indicate that there is a nexus between this conflict and the theory of basic human needs and that community-identity concerns are central to this dispute. The findings of this study suggest that the conflict is multi-faceted and that the underlying causes can be attributed to unmet human needs. The data was analysed using the grounded theory approach. This allowed the key causes of the conflict to be identified and subsequently informed the recommendations presented in the conclusion of this treatise.

Intergroup conflicts are rife in public schools and often the bone of contention is promotional posts. These conflicts can affect the quality of teaching and learning if the focus of the teachers moves from the primary purpose of teaching to contesting senior posts. In addition, such contestation often splits the teaching staff into groups or factions. One such split is between the group made up of teachers belonging to the politically-aligned union and the group of teachers from non-politically aligned teacher unions or those not unionised at all. The School Governing Body parent-wing is often caught in conflict between these two groups as it has the legislative power to recommend appointment to the District Director. It is within this context that this study explores the perceptions of stakeholders in selected schools in Diepkloof with regard to intergroup conflict and investigates whether cadre deployment plays a role in this conflict. The findings of this study reveal stakeholders‟ perceptions that politically-aligned unions tend to exert influence to have their members promoted and, in the process, often overlook better qualified educators.