A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In the field of Cultural Policy and Management Faculty of Humanities University of Witwatersrand, 2016 / Sustainability is a concept that has received a lot of attention in arts management discourse. It is also a concept that many theatre organisations grapple with both in developing and developed countries. Practitioners, managers and scholars have been trying to find solutions to the growing need for sustainability of arts organisations. While a number of strategies have been proffered, most of them have been focusing on financial sustainability. This study argues that if arts organisations are to achieve sustainability, the issue must be looked at from a broader, holistic perspective. In pursuing a holistic perspective on sustainability, the overarching argument is that for a theatre organisation to achieve sustainability, it must be guided by four pillars. These pillars are artistic vibrancy, community relevance, capitalisation and good governance. The focus of the study is on not-for-profit theatre organisations operating in Zimbabwe. Savanna Trust, a theatre organisation based in Zimbabwe is used as a case study. The study starts by looking at the external and internal challenges that are faced by theatre organisations operating in unstable socio-political and economic environments such as Zimbabwe. These challenges are some of the major impediments to organisations that pursue sustainability. The study then uses the four pillars to examine Savanna Trust and its capacity to become a sustainable organisation. This study recommends some strategies that not-for-profit theatre organisations can implement in pursuance of sustainability. It is hoped that the study will also contribute to a body of academic literature on theatre and sustainability with a specific focus on not-for-profit theatre organisations. / GR2017

Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Finance & Investment in the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management Wits business school at the University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / Zimbabwe as a country went through severe economic crisis between the years 2000 and 2008. Hyperinflation, ill conception of policies by a desperate government that was in panic because of the shock that the crisis had on the economy, a declining exchange rate were among the serious challenges that were facing the economy. As investors and ordinary citizens scrambled for ways to store the value of their wealth, they all trooped to the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to buy shares. As the demand of shares increased, so did share prices. Share prices had stopped to reflect economic fundamentals as the stock exchange became a mere market place of raising money. Stock markets have several functions which are crucial to an economy among them giving support to and facilitation of the growth of key sectors as well as provide accurate signals for resource allocation (Aurangzeb, 2012). Darskuviene (2010) says stock markets act as barometers of economies; in particular stock market movements tend to be leading indicators which means that they provide indications of likely future changes in the level of activity in the economy as a whole. Contrary to these crucial functions, the Zimbabwe Sock Exchange had become a repository of trapped local savings as Zimbabwean citizens scrambled for shares. The scrambling for shares was either for speculative purposes, store of wealth or just a place of raising fast cash as hyperinflation became a daily phenomenon. The prices of shares are supposed to reflect economic fundamentals, all things being equal but for the case of Zimbabwe, the stock prices were now reflecting activities of the ‘black market”. Money has several characteristics that it carries among them durability, hard to counterfeit, and stability in value and one of its major function is to act as a store of value. The Zimbabwean dollar had seized to serve any of the above mentioned functions as hyperinflation corroded the value of the currency. In 2009 Zimbabwean government adopted full dollarization as the Zimbabwean dollar had become useless as a medium of exchange. This saw the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange start to quote prices of shares in the United States Dollar (USD). This research examined the effect of dollarization on the performance of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. It attempts to measure and iv assess using empirical models the extent to which the adoption of dollarization enhanced the performance of the bourse. The study uses two sample periods namely the pre-dollarization era and the post dollarization era representing the years 2003 to 2008 and 2009 to 2014 respectively. The sample is made up of sixty two listed companies that make up the Zimbabwe stock Exchange industrial index, which is used as the benchmark index. Two soft wares have been used in carry out this research namely Eviews 8 and SPSS. These were used to in trend analysis, mean difference analysis and regression or correlation analysis. The analysis was carried out using these three techniques in order to assess the effect of dollarization on the performance of the ZSE. The results gathered from this research shows that dollarization has enhanced the performance of the ZSE. Shares prices have stabilized as compared to the pre-dollarization era where they would change a number of times in one day. This stability in share prices was brought about by the use of the US dollar to quote shares because the dollar is a more stable currency. It was found that market capitalization has significantly improved in the dollarization era. There is also strong evidence showing that Price Earnings ratio has decreased significantly which is a good for the Zimbabwean stock market. Turnover ratio did not show any statistical significance in terms of performance. Its correlation with dollarization was negative. This is due to the liquidity challenges that the country is experiencing as well as political uncertainty which is making the stock market unattractive to foreign investors. Therefore, I recommend further research on alternative ways of solving the problems that the country is facing for example de-dollarization and strategies that bring about monetary policy freedom. / GR2018

Abstract With Harare, Zimbabwe, as my reference city, the aim of the study was to explore and substantiate how architecture and landscape can work together to facilitate platforms for the interaction between ‘‘people and nature’’ and ‘‘amongst the people’’. The theoretical themes that helped guide the investigation are phenomenology, place attachment, ecotherapy, healing environments, environmental psychology and sustainability. Over the years Harare has suffered economic downturn which has led to a rapid disintegration of its socio-economic and biophysical systems including physical infrastructure. This has negatively affected the people, creating an atmosphere of disconnection and apathy towards their environment and to each other. The study pursues the objective of a sustainable antidote for the city through development of a healing environment that would rejuvenate, reconnect and inspire the people of Harare to pursue sustainable life styles. Through renewed and reinvigorated relationships, the people can then begin to build one another and in turn develop a positive attitude towards their environment. No matter what the circumstances we are constantly drawn and connected to nature and to each other in a manner similar to what is often captured under the African spirit of Ubuntu. The design intervention developed into a Therapy Performing Arts Centre embedded in the landscape of an open public space in the city. The spaces engage with nature in order to create a sensual experience that seeks to tone down the pace of the people and get them to appreciate their surroundings and one another. The driving concept for the design was reconnecting through moments of pause and motion. The spaces were inspired by the existing paths as guidelines thus allowing the building and nature to be woven together through experiential journeys within the spaces provided. Embedding the building in the landscape allowed for the creation of an intimate connection to nature in order to re-ignite the humannature relationship and thus restoring balance, development and renewal to the health circle. In turn, and over time, this would begin to heal the human-to-human relationships as well. / MN (2016)

Thesis (Ph.D. (Business Science))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic & Business Sciences, 2017 / With the contemporary diffusion of media technology, the majority of researchers have come to position the Internet as a political instrument that has the potential to stimulate consumer behaviour. The Internet has expanded persistently as a news source and digital technologies have become more accessible and abound with user generated content. These digital media backdrops afford a valuable opportunity to empirically examine the effects of digital media effects on consumer decision-making. It is therefore important to examine how consumer perceptions and attitudes towards voting impact their decision-making in order for political marketers or politicians to develop coherent strategies that offer a conducive environment sufficient to influence voting decision-making. Whereas previous studies on voting behaviour have merely explored voting behaviour in a global context, the current study investigates the effect of digital media exposure on perceptual and cognitive constructs within a Zimbabwean context. Moreover, few studies have explored this topic in a consumer behaviour context amongst the Zimbabwean constituency. This study aims to determine whether digital media exposure influences voter-consumers’ intention to vote in subsequent Zimbabwe presidential elections. In order to empirically test the effect of digital media exposure on perceived image of a political party (PI); perceived image of a presidential candidate (PPC); attitude towards voting (ATV) and voting intention (VI), a conceptual model premised on the reviewed political marketing literature was developed. The model proposed four distinct domains that drive voting intentions. In this conceptualised model, digital media exposure is the predictor variable, while perceived image of the presidential candidate, attitude towards voting, perceived image of the political party, are mediators and voting intention is the single outcome variable. By exploring the significance of digital media use on voter behaviour, this study contributes towards specific contextual knowledge on consumer behaviour and political marketing in developing countries particularly Zimbabwe. The present study is positioned in the positivist research methodology, and assumes a deductive approach within the quantitative paradigm to test the proposed hypotheses. This study uses stratified probability sampling to arrive at the required number of provinces for the study. Using quantitative methodologies based on the nature of the research questions, data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 305 eligible voters from selected Provinces and Districts in Zimbabwe selected through stratified probability sampling to arrive at the required number of provinces for the study.The measuring instrument was designed from existing scales, which were adapted to suit the present study. The data analysis ii | P a g e was done in SPSS 24 for demographic data analysis and AMOS 24 was used for the structural equation modelling and path modelling. The findings support all the hypotheses in a significant way except H1 and H5. Likewise, voter-consumers’ perception of the presidential candidate has an influence on the attitude towards voting and all latter perceptual and attitudinal variables have significant influence on voting intention. Important to note about the study findings is the fact that digital media exposure has a stronger effect on perceived image of the political party (H3) than attitude towards voting (H2). However, perceived image of the political party strongly influence attitude towards voting. Remarkably, the relationship between perceived image of the presidential candidate and attitude towards voting is robust. The findings indicate that digital media exposure can have a strong influence on voting intention through attitude towards voting. The contribution of this study is threefold: Firstly, by exploring the significance of digital media exposure on voting behaviour, this study adds to contextual knowledge on relationship marketing, political brand management and experiential marketing (the final stage of the mental brand responses), consumer marketing and specifically, political marketing. Secondly, as a growing body of literature explores the use of digital technology in political campaigning/marketing to create a competitive advantage, this study provides researchers with a broad understanding of this phenomenon among voting citizens in developing countries particularly Zimbabwe. Theoretically, it is positioned in political marketing and contributes to theoretical literature that focuses on consumer behaviour, branding and brand relationship. Lastly, by investigating digital media exposure and its influence on consumers’ voting intention, the findings provided political marketing practitioners with a better understanding of strategies that can be employed to influence citizens’ voting behaviour, through the use of digital media. The study thus submits that politicians ought to pay attention to both media agenda and brand image in order to build a positive attitude towards voting which significantly influences the intention to vote. In order to maximise voter ‘purchase’, marketers can implement strategies to encourage positive behaviour from voter-consumers and exploit multi-sensory experiences in order to influence voting intentions. The study makes a significant contribution to brand management literature and consumer behaviour literature by systematically exploring the impact of media exposure on brand image and attitude towards voting in Zimbabwe. The study demonstrates that political data can be used in consumer behaviour studies and provides a theoretical method for predicting voting intentions using voter behaviour in the form of voter perception of political parties and perceived image of a presidential candidate as well as attitude towards voting. The study further highlights the significance of using digital technologies and ingenuity to create a comparative advantage as well as a differential advantage. / MT 2018

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 / The thesis analyses civil-military relations in Zimbabwe since independence, but especially during the period from 2000 through 2013. A central question is why an outright military coup has not occurred, despite severe political and economic crises. Thequestion is broken down into two linked sub- -military relations question of why the military have not seized power from civilians and (2) the question why no "populist military revolt" has occurred, despite the kind of hyperinflation that has triggered such revolts in countries like Ghana and Ethiopia: [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / XL2018

This research took an ethnographic view in understanding the relationship between rural people and ZANU-PF in post-2000 Bindura South electoral constituency in Zimbabwe. I seek to understand the complexity with which rural people come to make political choices through discussing ZANU-PF’s techniques in the maintenance of political power despite the loss of political legitimacy. The complicity between ZANU-PF and rural people is uncomfortably created through these techniques which include mobilizing historical claims, youth violence on villagers, partisan distribution of economic resources, surveillance and spying to create subjects who conform to ZANU-PF’s political will. I have argued that rural people’s circumstances should be understood through an analysis of their everyday lives and livelihoods. Findings have shown that rural people make political choices because they are life choices there are slight possibilities for alternative political action in rural Zimbabwe.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Journalism and Media Studies, 2017 / This study investigates China’s media image in Zimbabwe. It does so through the lens of two leading newspapers: The Herald and NewsDay during the intense election campaign period of 2013. It deploys both quantitative and qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles drawn from The Herald and NewsDay in order to investigate the image of China in the Zimbabwean media. In terms of theoretical underpinnings, it draws from various media and communication theories. These include the broad area of image studies and framing theory to understand the media-constructed image of China before, during and after the 2013 electioneering period. These communication theories are tested and applied as a means of gaining insights into how the media shape images of China in Zimbabwe and in Africa generally. The findings of this study suggests that during this period the media image of China was projected in a more positive light in The Herald when compared to the negative images and depictions in the NewsDay. It shows that the economic consequence frame dominated the coverage of China thereby portraying the East Asian country as an economic partner, donor, economic saviour, development source and investor in Zimbabwe. The study also reveals that the construction of the media image of China is influenced by interplay of several factors such as the editorial slant of news producers, economic and political pressures influencing the polarised media environment in Zimbabwe. / XL2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (by coursework and research report), February 2010 / This research report answers the question, "would ubuntu obligate the people of Zimbabwe to agree to amnesty for Mr. Roberts Mugabe as a means to restore community harmony?" Seen as an ideal social ethic and foundation of African philosophy, ubuntu values community harmony and commands respect for dignity of humanity: [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / XL2018

Thesis (M.M. (ICT Policy and Regulation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / The dynamics in technology have ushered in innovative products such as mobile banking. It has been taken up by other economies such as Kenya, Philippines and others, each coming up with different results. The purpose of this qualitative research is to analyse and evaluate the impact of policy and regulation on the propagation of mobile banking generally but particularly in the Zimbabwe context. Findings of the research reveal a lack of articulate policy and regulation on m-banking, which has posed a challenge to the propagation of m-banking. While m-banking spans multiple domains, the research found that the respective stakeholders are currently working in isolation hence there is a need to work on co-jurisdiction. The outcome of the research shows there is currently no synergy in the awareness campaign drive and stakeholders are not willing to champion the drive. Other factors believed to contribute to the proliferation of m-banking have been identified as the restoration of customer confidence in the banking sector, a reduction of the cost of banking, a culture shift from a cash-centric economy to a non-cash culture and the addressing of intermittent electricity supply among others. The research also takes into consideration socio-economic factors that aid or hinder the rollout and effective uptake of the mobile banking service.

Student Number : 9812559F - MA dissertation - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / This research explores the various strategies being proposed to address the perceived governance crisis on the African continent. It identifies the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as the most recent African transnational initiative with a stated continental governance strategy. It is argued that in many respects NEPAD represents the best possible alternative for African rejuvenation, providing a valuable blueprint for continental reform and development conceived and developed within the continent itself. The potential of NEPAD to meet this objective is evaluated through an analysis of its response to the Zimbabwean crisis of governance. The research suggests that firstly, NEPAD has failed to meet the expectations of those African who were hoping that NEPAD would represent something radically different to earlier transnational initiatives. Secondly, NEPAD has failed to respond to the demands of democratic activists in Zimbabwe. The dissertation argues that these findings stem from the lack of political will among African leaders to fully implement NEPAD; their reluctance to fundamentally alter their understanding of sovereignty away from individual towards increased collective responsibility and finally the failure of NEPAD itself to make provision for the active involvement of civil society in all areas of the governance process.