Internet is viewed as the most vital digital technology in the globe. Eastern Africa has the least penetration of ICT per capita in the world. Internet is a valuable resource that has propelled enormous economic growth in many developed countries. In order for Eastern African governments to narrow the socio-economic divide between developed countries and themselves, there is need to overcome this digital handicap. Enormous investments in ICT infrastructure are essential. The governments must participate in making crucial decisions to wisely allocate the limited resources to improve the current infrastructure.This thesis investigates Internet use, access and penetration in Eastern Africa. Theoretical research has been carried out to elaborate on the subject matter. Through empirical study, we will come up with a fresh way to verify and understand the Internet situation in the region. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik

The start of the 21th century is notable for the apparent lack of safe drinking water and sanitation. Over one billion people in all parts of the world lack access to clean water. Most live in developing countries, such as Africa. Unsafe water and poor sanitation have been primary causal factors in the vast majority of water-borne diseases, especially diarrheal ones. The South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996, Chapter 2, Section 24) states: “Everyone has the right: (a) To an environment that is not harmful to their health and their wellbeing; and (b) To have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation; ecologically sustainable development, and the use of natural resources, while promoting justifiable economic and social development.” Secondly, section 27 states that: “Everyone has the right to have access to: (a) Health-care services, including reproductive health care; (b) Sufficient food and water; and (c) Social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants, appropriate social assistance.” These factors have prompted this research within the Ugu District Municipality on the perceptions of inadequate rural water service delivery. This study reveals information on those areas in the Ugu District Municipality, which do not have access to clean water, and on the health hazards that might lead to death if residents’ lack of access to clean water persists. The Ugu District Municipality, is situated in KwaZulu-Natal Province, and covers a surface area of 5866 km2. There are six local municipalities in this district. These are: Ezinqoleni, Umzumbe, Umziwabantu, Hibiscus Coast, Umdoni and Vulamehlo. The node is 77% rural and 23% urban, and the total population for this area is 704027 (Ugu District Municipality IDP 2nd 2011/2012:19). / M. Development and Management (Water Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

The start of the 21th century is notable for the apparent lack of safe drinking water and sanitation. Over one billion people in all parts of the world lack access to clean water. Most live in developing countries, such as Africa. Unsafe water and poor sanitation have been primary causal factors in the vast majority of water-borne diseases, especially diarrheal ones. The South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996, Chapter 2, Section 24) states: “Everyone has the right: (a) To an environment that is not harmful to their health and their wellbeing; and (b) To have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation; ecologically sustainable development, and the use of natural resources, while promoting justifiable economic and social development.” Secondly, section 27 states that: “Everyone has the right to have access to: (a) Health-care services, including reproductive health care; (b) Sufficient food and water; and (c) Social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants, appropriate social assistance.” These factors have prompted this research within the Ugu District Municipality on the perceptions of inadequate rural water service delivery. This study reveals information on those areas in the Ugu District Municipality, which do not have access to clean water, and on the health hazards that might lead to death if residents’ lack of access to clean water persists. The Ugu District Municipality, is situated in KwaZulu-Natal Province, and covers a surface area of 5866 km2. There are six local municipalities in this district. These are: Ezinqoleni, Umzumbe, Umziwabantu, Hibiscus Coast, Umdoni and Vulamehlo. The node is 77% rural and 23% urban, and the total population for this area is 704027 (Ugu District Municipality IDP 2nd 2011/2012:19). / M. Development and Management (Water Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Introduction: National community health worker (CHW) programmes are to an increasing extent being implemented in health systems globally, mirrored in South Africa in the ward-based outreach team (WBOT) strategy. In many countries, including South Africa, a major challenge impacting the performance and sustainability of scaled-up CHW programmes is ensuring adequate support from and supervision by the local health system. Supervisory systems, where they exist, are usually corrective and hierarchical in nature, and implementation remains poor. In the South African context, the absence of any guidance on CHW supportive supervision has led to varied practices across the country. Improved approaches to supportive supervision are considered critical for CHW programme performance. However, there is relatively little understanding of how this can be done sustainably at scale, and effective CHW supervisory models remain elusive. Research to date has mostly positioned supervision as a technical process rather than a set of relationships, with the former testing specific interventions rather than developing holistic approaches attuned to local contexts. This doctoral study was exploratory in nature, seeking to generate an in-depth and contextualised understanding of the supervision phenomenon in one specific district in the North West Province (NWP) in South Africa. Using co-production methodology in an iterative approach, the study culminated in the formulation of a supportive supervision framework with CHWs and other frontline actors. Methods: The study was based on a holistic conceptual framework of supportive supervision, which was viewed as comprising three core functions ‒ accountability, development and support ‒ embedded in a complex and multi-level system of resources, people and relationships. To address the study objectives, the research used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Three studies were conducted in a phased process: study 1 comprised a qualitative description of policy and practices in two districts related to the supervision of WBOTs; study 2 identified the main actors and mapped the supervisory system of WBOTs in the district, using social network analysis (SNA); and study 3 involved a qualitative exploration of workplace and interpersonal trust factors in the district and the supervisory system of WBOTs in the district. These three studies provided inputs for a workshop aimed at developing recommendations for a district-level, WBOT supportive supervisory framework. Four published papers reporting on the research conducted are presented in this thesis. It should be noted that the research was conducted during a turbulent political and administrative period in the NWP, when the WBOT programme changed from being a flagship programme for the country to one in crisis. This shifting context needs to be borne in mind when the findings are viewed and interpreted. Results: The study identified weaknesses in both the design and implementation of the supervisory system of WBOTs, with the absence of clear guidance resulting in WBOTs and PHC facilities performing their roles in an ad hoc manner, defined within local contexts. The study documented evidence of high internal cohesion within WBOTs and (where present) with their immediate outreach team leaders (OTLs). However, the relationships between WBOTs and the rest of the primary health care (PHC) and district health system were characterised by considerable mistrust – both towards other workers and the system as a whole. This occurred against a backdrop of increasing OTL vacancies, and the perceived abandonment of WBOT training and development systems and career opportunities. These findings are not dissimilar to those reported previously on the WBOT programme in South Africa and in programmes in other low-resource settings. Nevertheless, through its in-depth, exploratory and participatory approaches, this study provides additional insights into the phenomenon of supportive supervision. Firstly, in conceptualising supportive supervision as a set of ‘bundled’ practices within complex local health systems, the findings reflected the complexity of everyday realities and lived experiences. Secondly, through the embedded nature of the research and the phased data-collection process, the study was able to observe the impact of wider health system contexts and crises on the coalface functioning of the WBOT programme. Thirdly, the study emphasised how supportive supervision depends on healthy relational dynamics and trust relationships, and, finally, how a co-production approach can translate broad guidance, experience and theoretical understanding into meaningful, local practice owned by all the actors involved. Ultimately, the process of engagement, building relationships and forging consensus proved to be more significant than the supportive supervision framework itself. Conclusion: The lack of explicit, coherent and holistic guidance in developing CHW supportive supervision guidance and the failure to address supervision constraints at a local level undermine the performance and sustainability of CHW programmes. Effective supportive supervisory systems require bottom-up collaborative platforms characterised by active participation, sharing of local tacit knowledge and mutual learning. Supervisory systems also need to be designed in ways that promote relationships and generate trust between CHW programmes, other actors and the health system.

Kwame Nkrumah was the first African leader to pursue the idea of Africa’s continent-wide unity with fervour. Many thought that African unity will only be the pooling of poverty and that Nkrumah’s dream was impossible. Nkrumah was known for his philosophy "Seek ye first the political kingdom and all things shall be added unto it". He thought that political unity should precede economic unity, which would naturally follow. Even though the newly independent African states agreed on the necessity of unity, his philosophy was not welcomed when the Organisation of African Unity was established in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in 1963. Rather, delegates opted for incremental political integration leading to economic integration –an aspiration that Africa is still struggling to bring to fruition. This study demonstrates that Nkrumah’s idea of political unity before economic integration was and still is valid for Africa’s continent-wide unity. To this end, the study will use textual sources and use diachronic and integrative approaches as analytical tools. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)