Could the contribution of the voluntary sector to development be more fully realized given greater current emphasis on participatory development? This research addresses this question within the context of a voluntary sector organization in KwaZulu-Natal. Thus, the site of this study is the non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary organisation: Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal, which focuses on the development of people with disabilities within the framework of the arts. Disability scholars are beginning to decode the discriminatory practices against people with disabilities which indicates that disability as a development category is relatively new. Therefore it was deemed necessary that the analysis of disability in this research be preceded by a consideration of various discourses on disability which is followed by a contextualisation of disability in KwaZulu-Natal. Development paradigms and paradigms within the arts were investigated and formed the framework against which Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal is analyzed. A single project that the organisation engaged in was utilised as a case study to signify the overall and general workings of the organisation. Through the case-study method the development practices Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal have been investigated and critiqued. The result found that the organizational practice was tangential to its normative design. It was recommended that a convergence of participatory paradigms of development and development paradigms within the arts should transpire. These were then offered as possible pragmatic solutions that Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal could engage in to maximize their efficiency and capacity.' / Thesis (M.A.-Cultural Media Studies)-University of Natal, 1999

This research emerges within the context of rapidly rising levels of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection amongst young adults and the escalation of deaths from the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). This study critically examines the commonly used theories and models that guide HIV/AIDS communication campaigns. However, it notes that the broad ranging theories and models used during HIV/AIDS preventative and care campaigns emphasise communication linearity and individualism and therefore fail to acknowledge culture. In view of the multiplicity of cultural and language groups that exist in South Africa, culture plays a crucial role in HIV/AIDS communication interventions. Failure to acknowledge the cultural context in campaign theory has various negative implications. One is that, because these theories and models are linear, they are sender-oriented. The recipients are therefore unable to identify with the message as they are divorced from the context of its production. Furthermore, because of a lack of engagement by the recipient in the development of messages, retention of knowledge is minimal and this leads to a lack of acceptance of the message. Clearly then, there exists a need for these theories and models to be re-articulated so that they are less linear and individualistic, but rather more flexible so that they may be adapted for application within various cultural contexts. This study suggests that one of the ways of alleviating campaign linearity and including culture is by borrowing Paulo Freire's (1990) underlying principles of participation and incorporating them into communication campaign theory in the form of audience participation. Communication campaign theory would therefore include audience participation as a central component during its planning, implementation and evaluation phases. The appropriateness of this suggestion is demonstrated by applying it to and evaluating a HIV/AIDS awareness campaign targeted at young adults at a tertiary institution in KwaZulu Natal. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This study explores the ways in which a group of local fishermen in Durban understand and negotiate their categorical exclusion from a public space. Several months prior to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, three piers on the Durban beachfront were closed for upgrading. The fishermen had used two of these piers for nearly three decades, but when they were re-opened, access for fishermen was no longer allowed. Working in the constructionist paradigm and within the field of Cultural Studies, this study describes the fishermen as engaged in the politics of signification through the organisation of public action. To explore their understandings I applied a qualitative, mostly ethnographic approach, and focused particularly on those fishermen who fish on the beachfront and are active in the KwaZulu-Natal Subsistence Fishermen’s Forum (KZNSFF), a body that represents the fishermen in the public sphere. The study shows that the fishermen are a heterogeneous group who understand their exclusion in different ways. This variety and complexity of understandings in effect works against collective action and posed a challenge to the leadership of the KZNSFF who sought to construct a coherent collective action frame. Drawing on Social Movement theory, two public protests in which the fishermen negotiated their exclusion were among the central focuses of this study. The first was held during the World Cup and organised by KZNSFF. The other protest was less coordinated and held after the World Cup. Both protests are analysed through comparison, and indicate the importance of access to resources of leadership. The role of the media in effective Social Movement Organisation (SMO) is discussed in terms of ‘media standing’ and the legitimisation of actions and position of speakers. Further, it is argued that the presence of democratic institutions does not necessarily lead to democratic decision-making as civil society is often demobilised by political society. Additional to public protests, the fishermen negotiated their exclusion in the letters to the editor section of local press. Argumentative discourse analysis is applied in the analysis of a sample whereby strategies of othering are identified. The letter writers were engaged in an unequal contestation in which different sets of stake-holders sought to define what counts as truth in relation to access to the Durban beachfront. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Many community development initiatives place great emphasis on the need for the a participatory approach towards development. Here the beneficiaries are expected to engage in dialogue and collective action in order to be empowered and consequently developed. This study therefore seeks to explore the elements of dialogue and collective action in a crime prevention and health promotion intervention that was administered by a non-governmental organisation called Footballers for Life (F4L) at the Heidelberg Correctional Centre (Johannesburg, South Africa) from March to August 2011 amongst a group of 40 male offenders. Premised on the idea that true human development should be participatory and therefore dialogical, this study used Participatory Communication to explore dialogue for collective action within the mentioned intervention. Participatory Communication was applied through the use of the Communication for Participatory Development Model (CFPD), which was used as a guide through which dialogue for collective action was explored. Furthermore, F4L is an organisation that uses retired professional football stars who, acting as role models, offer a unique approach towards effecting behaviour change amongst the communities they work with. Hence in this regard this study used the Social Cognitive Theory to primarily explore the significance of role modelling towards behaviour change in the F4L programme at the Heidelberg Correctional Centre. Taking a qualitative research approach, this study used interviews, focus groups as well as a participant observation schedule to collect the relevant data. This data was analysed through a thematic analysis which was facilitated through the use of a data analysis software package called NVivo. The study reveals how the offenders were excluded from the initial dialogue that took place between F4L and the prison in the recognition of the problems facing the offenders and planning of the intervention. Upon invitation to join the F4L programme the offenders went into it without any sense of ownership or clear understanding of what the programme was about potentially threatening the envisaged purpose of the programme. However, the study also found that the democratic leadership style and genuine efforts of the F4L head Coach (Silver) were able to play a key role in fostering a sense of brotherhood and therefore ownership of the developmental process amongst the offenders leading to the attainment of certain individual as well as social outcomes, i.e. self-reliance, empathy, budgeting skills, collective efficacy as well as communal trust. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

HIV and AIDS is one of the biggest challenges facing South African young people today (Govender, 2010). Young people are at risk, partly through their own behaviour and partly through the attitudes, expectations and limitations of the societies in which they grow up (Panos AIDS Briefing, 1996).The are many HIV prevention programmes developed globally and nationally, specifically for young people but the pandemic still escalates rapidly. The fourth decade now calls for multidimensional approaches when communicating HIV prevention for young people. This thesis explores how young people can contribute to this multidimensional approach through their active participation in the various phases of developing HIV projects. The study does this through a sample of eight youth-focused HIV organisations in KwaZulu-Natal and a sample of students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, to gain more insight into participation of young people in the development of HIV programmes. Bodymapping, a visual and art-based method, was used to explore young people’s understanding of HIV, their perceptions of HIV programmes and the possibilities of their participation in the developing of further HIV projects. The study used a grounded approach and applied principles of participatory action research to collect data in four phases. The first phase used interviews and focus group discussions with eight sample organisations to give insight into the programmes offered to young people and how they engage and make sense of their participation within these programmes. The second phase draws on previous bodymapping workshops that have been conducted with students from UKZN and young people in various communities to explore the application and relevance of bodymapping. In the third phase, data is presented on two bodymapping workshops conducted, to engage with young people about their contribution to the development of HIV programmes. The final phase draws on two focus group discussions, conducted with bodymapping participants, to examine their experiences and interpretation of the bodymapping process. Some of the key findings indicate that a blanket approach to HIV programmes will not always work, as young people’s sexual behaviour needs to be explored within a wider socio-ecological framework that recognises the inter-relational and interconnected system in which they make their sexual choices. The data indicates that youth and organisations strongly support the importance of participation and the inclusion of participants when developing HIV projects. However, discussions about participation indicated that while young people could identify the importance of participation, they still lacked an understanding of how to participate and how they could learn more about their lived experiences through participation. This was evident in the data where there was a distinction in how participation was defined from those in the UKZN group and those from rural KZN. In understanding what constitutes participation, young people are better positioned to aid the process of developing effective HIV related projects that are participant specific. I argue that bodymapping can be used as a process to initiate and aid the participation of young people in the various phases of developing HIV projects. A three level model for applying bodymapping and planning processes has been developed to encourage participation with young people where the first step ensures that young people define what participation means to them. This becomes the foundation for how communication practitioners and academics make sense and theorise participation from a participant informed perspective. Bodymapping was pivotal in this process of engaging young people in self-reflection and introspection which encouraged a process of dialogue towards better understanding and defining participation from a participant perspective. Bodymapping in this way can be identified as a catalyst that encourages dialogue as part of communication for participatory development. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Schistosomiaisis, commonly referred to as bilharzia is a neglected tropical parasitic water borne disease prevalent in developing countries and is endemic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to eliminate bilharzia as a public health problem by the year 2020 and as a measure to work towards this goal, the South African Department of Health (DoH) Ugu District, KwaZulu-Natal commenced a Mass Treatment Campaign (MTC) targeted at rural schools to decrease bilharzia infection intensity and prevalence levels. The DOH MTC utilises communication materials to communicate with stakeholders and the public to create awareness of the campaign and bilharzia. This study specifically explored the perceptions of learners towards the communication materials used by the DOH MTC to communicate with the learners in order to generate improvements for the current communication strategy. The ability of an individual to receive information is commonly impacted by the community, social networks and the environment and infrastructural settings of the community. The Social Ecological Model of Communication and Health Behaviour (SEMCHB) acknowledges that such factors may have an impact on how the individual receives information. The study utilises the broader social ecological perspective, and particularly the SEMCHB as a framework for understanding and exploring the perceptions of learners. The study made use qualitative data through focus group discussions, semi- structured interviews and participant observations to gain insights from learners. The study discovered that many incorrect perceptions about bilharzia still surround the learners. The perceived messages communicated through the DoH MTC still need to be communicated with learners, since some learners face challenges in understanding the preferred message. The encoding of the communicated messages through the poster, pamphlet and consent forms is influenced by the individuals social networks hence this study recommends that future communication message are designed with reference to the SEMCHB. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

The developments in technology and concomitant access to the Internet have reshaped the way people research in their personal and academic lives. The ever-expanding amount of information on the Internet is creating an environment where users are able to find what they seek for or add to the body of knowledge or both. Researching, especially for academic purposes, has been greatly impacted by the Internet’s rapid growth and expansion. This project stemmed from a desire to understand how student’s research methods have evolved when taking into account their busy schedules and needs. The availability and accessibility of the Internet has increased its use considerably as a straightforward medium from which users obtain desired information. This thesis was to ascertain in what manner senior undergraduate students at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal Pietermaritzburg campus use the Internet for academic research purposes which is largely determined by the individual’s personal preference and access to the Internet. Through the relevant literature review there arose pertinent questions that required answers. Students were interviewed to determine when, why and how they began using the Internet, and how this usage contributes to their academic work; whether it aids or inhibits student’s research. Through collection and analysis of data, evidence emerged that students followed contemporary research methods, making extensive use of the Internet, while a few use both forms of resources, unless compelled by lecturers when following assignment requirements. As a secondary phase, from the results received from the students, lecturers were interviewed. Differing levels of restrictions on students were evident; they themselves use the Internet for academic research purposes. Lecturers were convinced they had the understanding and experience to discern what was relevant and factual. Referring to the Internet for research is becoming more popular. This should continue to increase as the student’s lives become more complex. A suggestion offered by this research project is to academic staff. Equip students from their early University years on standards they should follow in order to research correctly, as opposed to limiting their use of the Internet leading in part to students committing plagiarism being unaware of the wealth of reputable resources available for their use and benefit on the Internet. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The diploma thesis is elaborated on the topic of awareness of primary school pupils about the Deaf community, in general about people with hearing impairment. The aim of the work is obtain information about how students are informed about the issue of the Deaf community and to increase this knowledge using research methods. The theoretical part is focused on a general introduction to the issue of people with hearing impairment, the division of hearing impairments, terms used in this field, as well as on the communication of people with hearing impairment and compensatory aids. One of the chapters then brings important knowledge about the Deaf community, their culture and also about several organizations associating people with hearing impairments in general and their surroundings. The next chapter deals with the possibilities of obtaining information about the culture of the Deaf, while the work lists the Internet, magazines, lectures and sign language courses as sources of information. Its subchapter then specifically focuses on the possibilities of obtaining this information by primary school pupils and specific attempts to inform this age group that have taken place in the past. The empirical part is devoted to the presentation of the results of the research survey. This was done using two...

This thesis investigates the process of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa with specific focus on New Africa Investment Limited (Nail), a company that had a firm foothold in the media industry, between 1993 and 2003. Black Economic Empowerment has become the cornerstone of South Africa's transformation process. The initiative is a form of regulation through which the economic imbalances of apartheid can be corrected by economically empowering previously disadvantaged communities1• Over the years the concept of Black Economic Empowerment has become a heavily contested and debatable one, both in the economic and political realms. This study explores how and why these contestations arise. In doing it analyses the various positions advocated by government, black empowerment groups, social movements and other empowerment groups in South Africa. In addition, it examines the impact these conflicts have had on the economic equality the Black Economic Empowerment aims to achieve. New Africa Investment Limited has also been at the centre of ·controversy with the company's empowerment status being called into question by both the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and other empowerment groups. The nature and structure of NAIL is examined with a particular focus on the history from which the company emerged in order to assess whether NAIL fits into the model of a black empowerment company. The failure of BEE to reach its desired goals during the first years of its implementation has lead to some people calling for the withdrawal of the initiative completely. It is argued within this dissertation that one cannot dismiss the good intentions, with which the initiative was implemented, i.e. the empowerment of the historically disadvantaged people in South Africa. At the same time it is acknowledged that in practice the initiative did not achieve this goal. The BEE strategy needs to be integrated into the wider developmental strategy of South Africa. It needs to be broad-based, able to reach and change the lives of the poor black man on the street. Improving education, health care, and job creation should be placed first and foremost on the BEE agenda. The study is located within Vincent Mosco's (1996) political economy approach, which looks at the market as influenced, by the larger society and government. In addition it adopts a media economics approach, which deals with the economic relationships between media, producers, advertisers and society. This approach is useful because it explores issues pertaining to the markets and competition within which BEE is expected to occur. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

While 'book hunger' in Third World societies was regarded by a 'first generation' of theorists, working in the modernization/diffusion of innovation paradigm, as a cause of underdevelopment (and thus requiring the correction of problems relating to the undersupply of books to Third World countries by means of book aid policies, transfer of expertise and technology, and development of modern (western) publishing and distribution procedures and infrastructures), a 'second generation' of theorists working in the dependency/disassociation paradigm responded by insisting that 'book hunger' was an effect of the underdevelopment of peripheral economies, and a symptom of the debilitating cultural effects of the global economic order, with its skewed international distribution of knowledge, resources and capital. In recent approaches to the topic of 'book hunger' (which are wary of the sweeping dichotomies of dependency theory), 'book hunger' serves to describe a chronic shortage of books which results from complex structural inequities and antagonisms, from the distorting effects of global rationalization, as well as from local economic arrangements and policy mechanisms which do not adequately meet the knowledge and information needs of competing local cultural formations. 'Book hunger' is seen to derive from a range of causes, and to produce a range of effects, which correspond to the varying needs, resources, and conditions operative in - and the cultural media and knowledge infrastructures available within specific societies. Obviously, 'book hunger' is rooted to a considerable degree in the specific historical configurations and socioeconomic circumstances of specific countries. An understanding of complex, globally-interlinked socio-cultural, political and economic structures and practices is thus crucial to understanding 'book hunger' in South Africa. A survey of global and local environments within which scholarly books are produced and circulated - including South African distribution systems and knowledge dissemination networks - makes it possible to sketch an approach to South Africa's own 'book hunger:' which is sensitive to the complexity and the specificity of conditions in the local booktrade, and which is able to contribute to the complex debates on local knowledge infrastructures, strategies for book development and new forms of distribution which are now beginning to take place in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1994.