Thesis (M.B.A. (Rhodes Investec Business School)) - Rhodes University, 2007. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)

Assignment (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

This thesis examines the transition to democracy in South Africa through the use of case study methodology. The nature of political participation and the form of democracy to emerge at the end of the transition process are the central subjects of inquiry. They are examined through an in-depth study of the African community of Kwazakele, a township in the Nelson Mandela metropolitan area in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study covers the period from 1993 to 2000, and uses as a primary data source five surveys conducted among residents of Kwazakele during that period. The emphasis of the study lies on the experience of political participation of ‘ordinary people’ – in particular, the African urban working-class in South Africa who make up the core support base for the governing African National Congress. The primary findings of the thesis are as follows: * Representative democracy has been successfully consolidated in the community under study. * Levels of political participation by urban Africans in the Eastern Cape are consistently high, both in formal political institutions (primarily elections) and in institutions of civil society. * As politics has normalised at the end of the transition period, forms of direct democratic participation have declined. * Despite the structural constraints on development, there is still potential for a high level of participation by citizens in effecting change at local level. * Drawing on the experience of ordinary people in structures of direct democracy, this level of participation can result in a deeper and stronger form of democracy than exists in many established representative democracies.

In this study the main focus is on the experiences of former street children as learners. The main emphasis of this study is the manner in which such experiences influence these children’s learning towards constructing new identities. By examining the experiences of former street children in a school environment, namely a teaching and learning environment, this study will contribute towards the literature by providing focused and relevant information pertaining to the way former street children experience learning. By focusing on these particular learners from the street, the study attempts to explore and build an insightful knowledge in terms of understanding how former street children perceive learning in relation to their present personal and past life on the streets. Through this study the researcher will hopefully be able to determine how former street children feel, experience and relate to teaching and learning within a school context. Data collection for this study included the researcher’s observations and face-to-face unstructured in-depth phenomenological interviews with learners who are formerly from the streets. Among others, the study found that these particular learners have low self- esteem, a low opinion of themselves, and lack of self- confidence. The study also revealed that some of these learners are struggling academically and would appreciate it if academic was parallel with vocational skills so as to equip them for the world of work. It also transpired that learners who have relationships with those who have not been to the streets changed their lives for the better by learning from their peers but those who have relationships with other former street children at this school continue to engage in deviant behaviour, for many schooling has helped them to reclaim their childhood identity.

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management ))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / The motivation of the public sector is more social and political. The housing crisis is a major political issue for every ruling party. In many countries there are political commitments to housing, but sadly we witness this commitment being misdirected. Every government wants to see that its citizens are housed adequately. Very often it is seen that in its endeavour, government try to follow the private sector process, establishing huge parastatals to carry out the whole process, for example design, construction and financing (Lankatilleke, 1994). Lankatilleke, L. (1994) further mentions that mass produced public sector housing schemes are aesthetic disasters. They are either rows of match-boxes or high-rise blocks with no identity or individuality. There are numerous examples of such housing schemes that have deteriorated into ghettos. This research consequently presents findings which implies that government is being pressurized by the housing backlog within the Western and Eastern Cape, which brings about time constraints and tight budgets. These pressures are transferred to the design teams which need to speedily produce designs for low-cost housing homes within the best possible budget. This results to the implementation of common model designs. It is also founded that contractors ultimately suffer, due to these pressures which do not allow them to produce good quality homes. It is therefore recommended that better community involvement for sustainable methods in the design and construction process should be practiced. This therefore concludes that government should take more responsibility for the delivery processes of low-cost housing as well as the procurement and quality systems to be followed.

Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management)) Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / In the Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, there is a need to supplement income for farmers and to create employment to assist in the alleviation of poverty. Agritourism has been identified as an opportunity for growth and development as it has the potential to meet those needs. A study was undertaken to evaluate the nature of Agritourism in Buffalo City Municipality. The research was undertaken to investigate the characteristics of farms; demographic information of farmers; details of the type of farming and/or other relevant income-generating activities that are being undertaken; and the resources available. The study also included research into the activities that farmers would like to introduce on to farms; resources required and obstacles preventing farmers from developing Agritourism; and assistance required in developing Agritourism knowledge and skills. Data was collected from farmers in BCM. Non-probability, purposive, snowball sampling was used due to the lack of an adequate database of rural land ownership in BCM although this did not lead to a sample that was representative of the population, it was the most suitable for the study. Thirty-six farmers were visited by fieldworkers who administered structured questionnaires. The data was then analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

This thesis examines development changes that took place in Glenmore after 1994. To examine such change one needs to have a concise historical understanding of the situation in Glenmore before democracy. The aim of the work is to critique development at a local, rural level, pinpointing the major changes, if any, that came with the incorporation of the former homeland of Ciskei (and thus Glenmore village) with South Africa. These people were forcibly resettled in 1979 for political and economic reasons. Their situation then was one of dire poverty; it is argued here that even with democracy, their history of underdevelopment has continued. The reason for this continued underdevelopment is the structure of the former reserves. The overall political context has changed in South Africa but the most important aspect with regard to the development of the homelands: land, has not. At the central level, the government has churned out a wide variety of development policies, which due to the prevailing political and economic context of the times are fraught with inconsistencies. The example used here to show some of these inconsistencies is the 1997 White Paper on Land Reform. This confusion at the central level with regard to the perceived future of South Africa has managed to adversely affect the rural areas and their development. There very well might be policies in abundance to improve the life-world of the rural poor, but there are inconsistencies between this policy and actual practice. With regard to Glenmore the confusion in the present government’s central development policy is arguably the main reason for the underdevelopment of the village. The inconsistencies in policy such as the 1997 White Paper on Land Reform, have meant that the structure of the reserves has not changed. Vital issues such as land tenure and ownership have not been dealt with. The study thus shows that unless the structure of the homeland system which is predominantly based on issues of land, is changed, genuine social and economic development will not take place in areas like Glenmore.

From the abstract: Fairy tales aside this study is an analysis of Port Elizabeth harbour development during its first half century from 1820-70. Despite the fact that Port Elizabeth quickly came to dominate Cape trade very little was actually done to improve its port facilities. Superficially the impression one gains from the available material is that everything was done by government not to develop a harbour at Algoa Bay. But the real question is: was harbour development really necessary at Port Elizabeth during the period under consideration? The answer must be no. The lack of facilities certainly did not hinder the massive expansion of wool exports that took place before 1870.

The world is becoming more complex due to the increasing occurrence of social-ecological change. This is particularly evident in the developing world, especially on the African continent, where existing vulnerabilities (i.e. endemic poverty, weak governance, overpopulation and HIV/AIDS) are being exacerbated by the impact of climate change. Climate change poses a very real threat to millions of Africans, especially those who rely on the natural world for their livelihoods. The increasing variability of climate and rainfall patterns are said to have dire consequences on agricultural production which is the main livelihood activity of rural dwellers across the continent. The impacts of such change and variability include, changes in the frequency and intensity of droughts, flooding and heavy storms, leading to worsening soil conditions, desertification as well as disease and pest out-breaks which will likely result in reduced crop and livestock yields. A reduction in agricultural production will likely have a negative effect on the food security of millions of people. This study was conducted in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, in two rural villages, Fairbairn and Ntloko located in the former Ciskei homeland, with the purpose of exploring the nexus between climate change, cultivation and food security. This study combined social-ecological thinking with that of political ecology to create a robust lens, in which to analyse the complex interactions between humans and the environment. A mixed methods approach was used to gather the data which consisted of a household survey, using a structured questionnaire as well as semi-structured interviews with various respondents. Quantitative data were analysed using Excel and Statistica 13, whilst coding was used for qualitative data. The main aim of the study was to explore the extent and characteristics of cultivation in the two study sites, the role of household food production in food security as well as the challenges that local cultivator’s face with regards to climate change. In recent decades, there has been a decline in rural agricultural production with many fields that were previously cultivated, lying vacant and unused. However, as this study found, cultivation is still important as over 50% of sampled households cultivated a small area within the homestead. This was mainly done to supplement household food expenditure in order to save cash incomes. The results also found that although participants had perceived negative changes in climate and rainfall (amount, onset, duration), it was not considered the most important challenge for own production. Rather, lack of fencing and capital were seen as major hindrances to efficient own production. Understanding the complexity of own production and food security under a changing climate can help form better and more resilient policies and strategies for rural development, in addition to strengthening future livelihoods of rural people in an ever changing world.

From Preface: In 1960 Pamela Ffolliott and E.L.H. Croft wrote a biograpby of John Paterson entitled One Titan at a Time. This concentrated mainly on his business activities and his civic role to the virtual exclusion of his political opinions and career even though contemporaries often regarded him as second only to John X. Merriman. The result of diligent enquiry for further biographical detail both in South Africa and in the United Kingdom has been disappointing. A close examination of such evidence as there is, suggests that his political abilities have been over-rated rather than under-rated. It is now nearly forty years since the study of separatism was first seriously undertaken. The period 1854-72 was studied by N.H. Taylor (M.A. Thesis, University of Cape Town, 1938) and D.B. Sole undertook a broader survey (M.A. Thesis, University of South Africa (R.U.C.), 1939). Neither study used the Godlonton papers. The Godlonton-White correspondence is at Rhodes House, Oxford and this mainly concerns business matters and news of prominent local people. The collection of Godlonton papers housed in the Historical Papers section of the Library of the University of the Witwatersrand proved more interesting. The use of these papers made it possible to make a new approach to the critical period of representative government and to explore in more detail lines suggested in part by J .L. McCracken in the more general study, The Cape Parliament 1854-1910 published in 1967. Yet because in many cases the leaders of the movement after 1854 carried into the new era ideas and attitudes formed in earlier years, it was necessary to consider also the origins of the separatist impulse. Separatism had many roots: as a term it had many meanings. Clearly the meaning attached to the word varied from time to time, from place to place and even from person to person. The goal varied too. Sometimes the Eastern Province wanted to move the centre of government from Cape Town; sometimes the cry was for a completely separate colony to be established in the East; sometimes the theme was federal devolution of powers, to a resident government. Indeed among the many reasons for the failure of the separatist movement was the inability of the Easterners to agree among themselves about what they were seeking. This exposed and emphasised their political ineptitude.