LL.M. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Magister Legum - LLM / This research aimed to undertake an investigation into the question of whether after divorce, in the matrilineal customary law marriage in Malawi, women's rights are severely violated. The study showed causes of divorce, how proceedings are done, how issues of property are handled, how the issue of custody of children and maintenance are also handled. All this was weighed against the constitutional provisions and international law. / South Africa

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / This study looked at socio-economic and political constraints on constitutional reform in Swaziland, an independent state with a fully autonomous government that falls under the Monarch who is Head of State. Swaziland maintains strong economic and trading links with South Africa and also maintains such ties with other states, especially in the Southern African Development Community region. Up untill 1973, the country's constitution was Westminister based. This was evoked and replaced with a system designed to facilitate the practice of both western and traditional styles of government. This system incorporated the system known as Tinkhundla and provides for the people to elect candidates to be their parliamentary representatives for specific constituencies. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM

Magister Artium - MA / Ethiopian ethnic groups exhibit highly autochthonous cultural norms and values that are embedded in their traditional beliefs, systems, and religions. This study shows how, at the grassroots level, the Gurage ethnic group in Ethiopia, uses culturally legitimate forms of conflict resolution practices to mobilize and reinforce gender hierarchies, and how the discourses of culture, custom, tradition, social stability and cohesion are connected to gendered power relations. The study provides an analysis of how discourses of culture in African contexts influence, and become a compelling framework for both men and women to define themselves in institutions of marriage, and in related practices of conflict resolution and mediation.Drawing on a rich body of Southern African theory and analysis and by deploying it in relation to marriage in the Ethiopian context, the research shows that customary practices of conflict resolution have been one of the central Ethiopian definitions of authentic culture. Ethiopia, unlike the rest of Africa, reveals many complexities in exploring popular mechanisms and institutions that are very convincingly ''pre-colonial''. At present, these are manifested through cynicism towards western culture, reluctance to readily embrace it, and an accentuated sense of national pride shaped through the struggle against hovering ethnocentricism, imperialism and neo-imperialism. The research explores the dynamics of power that influence married couples' decisions about where and how they should resolve their martial disputes, and in selecting between the formal justice system and customary mediating mechanism. First-hand information was gathered from women and customary leaders, via participatory methodologies, and the data served as input to explain why and how discourses of culture are being mobilized so powerfully to reinforce gender hierarchies in Ethiopia. The research findings evidently show how ''culture'' is ''made real'' and authentic for Ethiopians, particularly for members of the Gurage ethnic group, through the dealings of popular cultural practices: the resolution of marital conflicts. I argue that marital conflict resolution in Gurage is an elaborate practice that validates patriarchal agenda, overseen by male elders, to regulate problems within individual marriages. The research problematised the recognition of ''customary practice'' in the Constitution as alternative systems by presenting the limited rights Gurage women have as opposed to the ''freedom of choice'' that is granted in the Constitution. The case reveals the difficulty of having two laws that have different understanding of human rights.

The literature on development abounds with examples of development failure, yet people still choose to be involved in small-scale development projects. The study explores the unforeseen and less obvious value of projects in the lives of ordinary people in Giyani, Limpopo, South Africa. During the past three decades, the place and people have experienced considerable political, economic and social transformation – Giyani started as the capital of the Gazankulu homeland, but is now in a unified country, part of the present dual economy. Hence, the link between the Giyani project participants’ experiences and the adjustment to the changes was investigated. Interviews with members of four small-scale development projects formed the ethnographic component of the study. These interviews were augmented by a household survey to determine the participation levels in small-scale projects. The study explores the extent to which the needs of the participants are being met by the projects, using Bourdieu’s distinction between economic, social, cultural and symbolic capital as a lens. The effects of ‘structural adjustment’ measures on qualified professionals (civil servants), their participation in projects and adaptation to changes are examined. The study also investigates the experiences of gender empowerment and changes with regard to subservience to customary law and traditional authorities. The gender and power relations of the ageing process were also examined. The study examined the Avelanani crèche, which was formed to provide pre-school education for the children of refugees from Mozambique, and which was funded through missionary networks. The Giyani Aged Garden project, established by the homeland government, provides a space for retired people from both the civil service and those from poor backgrounds to share and function for their mutual benefit. Ahitipfuxeni, a town-based project, has stage-managed its qualification for funding from various government departments and agencies. By contrast, Hi Hlurile, a project established during ‘structural adjustment’ by professionally trained women, straddles the Second and First Economies and is using business principles, product and service quality, and global connectedness to access ‘social funds’ and other networking opportunities. The study has revealed that these four projects have not achieved the goal of economic empowerment, but that they do provide a safe haven for women and men in times of rapid changes in the political, social and economic spheres. The participants demonstrate agency within a project environment that promotes participative decision-making, democratic leadership and activities supporting empowerment through the accumulation of various forms of capital. The survey demonstrated that 16.2% of the residents of Giyani were involved in small-scale projects. Of the project participants, 89% were women, and 63% of the households of project participants depended solely on government grants for regular income. The findings of the study were used to analyse the government’s plan to facilitate development through Community Development Practitioners, a concept that would promote State planning and control that would stifle the agency of people, would increase the size of the civil service and absorb funding that should reach the poor. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Anthropology and Archaeology / unrestricted

The study looks at the main features of African indigenous law of succession and inheritance in Zimbabwe. It draws a distinction between the forms of inheritance practised between the two major ethnic groups, the Shona and the Ndebele. Whilst the research was mainly aimed at these two groups an investigation into inheritance practice by the South African Zulu and Xhosa counterparts was also made. An investigation into the impact of western influence on succession and inheritance was made taking a look at colonial legislation and case law, the general deduction being that it was a vehicle for attaching customary law to a western type law. After independence there was the issue of the impact of constitutionalism and international human rights law on succession in post colonial Zimbabwe. These were tools for change by bringing in notions of equality between men and women, issues that were highlighted in the cornerstone case of Magaya v Magaya, which was in turn discussed in the light of the Mthemu v Letsela and Bhe trilogy of cases in South Africa. In the final chapter there is a discussion of possibilities of reform and the future of customary law in Zimbabwe the highlight here being conducting proper legal research to ascertain the true purpose of custom.

This is a study of whether, in the introduction of Indigenous oral traditions as evidence in court, they are being in the complex cultural interplay that occurs in courts, and whether, given the central role of oral traditions in Indigenous cultures, the nature of Indigenous Peoples are being transformed in the process when their rights are adjudicated before the courts. Chapter 2 discusses the ways that the Supreme Court of Canada has defined s. 3 5 Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaty Rights (as unlimited or lawless and therefore a danger to general public interests; assimilated into Canadian sovereignty; removing the source of these rights from the land in their legal definition; and, removing Indigenous laws from their definition). Chapter 3 examines the role that history has played in the legal interpretation of oral traditions, and argues that a primarily historical consideration obscures the alive, legal, and dynamic elements of oral traditions. Chapter 4 discusses the ways in which a methodology of suspicion has operated to reduce and diminish Indigenous oral traditions when they are introduced as evidence in court (rating them as faulty, light weight historic evidence while obscuring their legal content) through a survey of cases that have considered oral traditions at the trial level. Chapter 5 explores the devaluation of the Indigenous laws contained in oral traditions through an acceptance of the common sense assumption that Canadian conservation and safety laws are both rational and necessary. Chapter 6 argues that recognition (or denial) of Indigenous laws is politically contingent, and that despite limited legal recognition (in cases such as Delgamuukw v. B.C. and R. v. Van der Peef), these laws have yet to flow back onto the land, and are yet to be invigorated in Canadian law. There remains a lack of recognition of the legal content of oral traditions, and Indigenous jurisprudences risk being subsumed and transformed when they are introduced as evidence in Canadian courts. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

Studies on African fatherhood represent African fathers as problematic and in South Africa, they are identified as ‘‘emotionally disengaged, physically absent, abusive and do not pay for their children's upkeep'' (Morrell & Ritcher, 2006:81). Many studies link the high rates of absent fathers to poverty and irresponsibility. Such literature is devoid of cultural factors that might be contributing to the high rates of absent fathers in most African communities. Across Southern Africa, intlawulo, a customary practice that involves the paying of a fine by a man responsible for impregnating a woman out of wedlock and his family to the pregnant woman's family. Historically, intlawulo served as a critical means of regulating and mediating unmarried fathers' involvement in their children's lives. Therefore, this explorative qualitative research project explores African fathers' experiences of intlawulo and its subsequent links to father involvement. To gauge their experiences and interpretation of intlawulo and father involvement, I conducted face-to-face in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 8 black Xhosa speaking South African fathers from Cape Town who have gone through the intlawulo negotiations for the past five years or less. This study aimed to explore how the customary practice of intlawulo or ‘paying damages' influences a father's involvement in his child's life in Khayelitsha, an urban township within Cape Town. It argued that the payment of intlawulo regulates a father's involvement in childrearing, his interaction with and access to his child. In contrast to how fathering has been described in previous literature, this thesis argues that becoming a father is a process and intlawulo is the entry point where it can be denied, stopped and negotiated.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Ukuthwala is an ancient cultural practice that has been exercised in various parts of South Africa, especially in the Eastern Cape. It occurs in different communities and is informed by traditional beliefs. The man’s family devises a plan to bring the girl to their compound without her knowledge. In some instances, this plan is formulated together with the girl’s family, but when the man’s family acts without the prior knowledge of the girl’s family, they are obligated to inform them by means of a letter, or by delegating a family member, that their daughter is not missing. Furthermore, the man’s family will request a day with the girl’s family for lobolo (dowry) negotiations for the girl. The girl’s family will oversee the process of ukuthwala to ensure that all the requirements are met and that there is mutual understanding between the families; however, this is done without the involvement of the girl child (Mjwara, 2014).