Faculty of Humanities (ETDs)

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An investigation into paywalls in the south african online news space
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Crossley, Gaye Tracey; Daniels, Glenda
Journalism should aspire to be a public good, meaning people should ideally have un-excluded and un-rivalrous access to the news. For news to be a public good, it must serve to educate and inform readers and be free from economic and political interference. However, journalism cannot be a public good if it is not financially viable. One way South African news organisations have sought to create financial viability and sustainability is through the implementation of paywalls. However, subscription services like paywalls pose a risk to journalism being a public good. South Africa’s unequal society, along with the digital divide, are major inhibitors to people being able to access news online. Paywalls further exacerbate this issue of access. This research aims to investigate paywalls in the South African online news space, within the context of journalism serving as a public good. In doing so, the research considered the digital divide, digital disruption of the newsroom, sustainability of the newsroom, and the positive and negative contributions of paywalls to South African online news. This qualitative research was conducted through a series of structured interviews with two of South Africa’s media houses, Media24 and Arena Holdings, which had both implemented paywalls for their online news sites. These case studies were then juxtaposed against Daily Maverick, which has kept its news free for all readers, but relies on a number of alternative funding models, including a membership model.
Barriers to protection: gender-related persecution and asylum in South Africa
(2009-10-12T12:24:42Z) Middleton, Julie
In 1998, South Africa became the first country to explicitly state within its refugee law that gender related persecution is a binding basis for asylum, further distinguishing South Africa as a state with outstanding legal commitments to gender equality. Creating further visibility within the law, however, is only one step in the process. How the law is implemented determines its real worth and effectiveness. This study assesses the manner in which asylum decisions are made, particularly in cases of gendered harm, questioning readily accepted and essentialised notions of women and gender. It looks at how the South African asylum system defines legitimate refugees, and the interplay of fluid interpretations of gender, culture, violence and the political within these constructions. Through interviews with officials and asylum seekers, the study identifies trends in the refugee system, and interrogates the reliance on narrow understandings of the political and personal, as well as the nature of conflict and culture.
Constructing identities through discourse: Examining the textual representation of prostituted women in post-apartheid South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Landman, Tiaan A.
The current study explores the intersectional social identities of four ‘prostituted women’ in post-apartheid South Africa as they are represented through discourse. The socio-cognitive model of critical discourse studies is employed to explore the way in which their social identities are represented through texts. These texts were retrieved from the online blog of a non-profit organisation, Embrace Dignity (2019), which advocates for the rights of women and girls. The texts were written to represent the personal experiences of four black women who identify as ‘prostituted’. This study found, through the engagement with biopolitical and intersectional feminist theory, that conditions which are paramount to a ‘social death’ are often proliferated for the subjects at the intersection of their gender, sex, sexual, and racial identities. Furthermore, these conditions are often concealed through the guise of class. The subjects make meaning of their social identities through a range of experiences, which are facilitated by sociohistorical systems of oppression aimed to disenfranchise feminised and blackened bodies in South Africa. These systems of oppressions are communicated through discourses of Bantu education, unskilled labour, violence, sexual perversion, limited access to services, marginal citizenship, geography, movement, and displacement, as well as a discourse of care, to name a few. The study found that these discourses are fostered and realised through the political project of domination, enforced by white heteropatriarchy that was institutionalised by the apartheid government. The study further indicates how the women who are represented by the texts, have been positioned within contexts that suppress their lives. This study emphasises the importance of exploring the intersectional social identities of black prostituted women in order to appropriately support the women within this community and their voices.
Exploring the Constructions of Masculinity of Unemployed Young Black Men from Mamelodi
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Sibanyoni, Dineo Naomi-Beth; Graham, Tanya
Although masculinity has been widely explored internationally and in local academic research, there are still gaps in understanding the constructions of masculinity with regards to young men’s experiences of unemployment in impoverished areas. This research explores constructions of masculinity among young unemployed black men living in the township of Mamelodi, in Gauteng. The particular focus is on understanding their perceptions of employment and the provider role within their conceptualisations of hegemonic masculinity. With this understanding, their ideas around how these constructions obstruct or enhance their psychosocial life experiences can be better understood. The research used qualitative research design to yield more rich and detailed data. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were utilised to recruit eight participants to share their experiences. The participants were young unemployed black men between the ages of 18 and 35 years of age, making up the criteria needed to make up the sample. The theoretical framework that the study uses to support and understand the phenomena was the social constructionist view of masculinity. The data collecting method was semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was then used to analyse the data. The main themes identified in the analysis were Proactivity, Dreams and Hopes, Unemployment, Masculinity and Culture, and Obstacles and Persistence. The findings indicated that the experience of being a young unemployed black male has an impact on how these men see themselves in relation to the social expectations of men fulfilling the provider role in their environment. This was seen to also influence their psychosocial lives. Through the findings, an exploration of the resistance to show full expressions of emotions that occur with this particular group of people can also be observed.
From Persons of Indian Origin to Overseas Citizen of India: The South African Indian diaspora and India’s economic diplomacy
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Moosa, Fatima; Menon, Dilip M
The India diaspora is one of the largest in the world with around 17.9 million people from India and/or of Indian descent living around the world (Challagalla 2018, 3). A large percentage of the diaspora is situated in the Global North and the Middle East. However, South Africa has been noted as having one of the largest Indian diasporic populations (Hofmeyer and Williams 2001,14). The migration of Indian people to South Africa has taken place over different periods. The relationship that exists between the diaspora and the country of origin in the spheres of economic and development diplomacy presents an interesting research topic. This dissertation will seek to understand what role, if any, the South African Indian diaspora plays in the international political economy of India. In order to understand the relationship between the diaspora and the Indian government, this dissertation will examine the bilateral relationship between South Africa and India from 1994 until 2022. There will be a specific focus on the years 2014 until 2022 with an analysis of the relationship between the South African Indian diaspora and India. This dissertation will seek to understand whether the diasporic policies and economic diplomacy enacted by the Modi government were directed at the South African Indian diaspora, how they were received by the South African Indian mercantile community and what were the reasons for the foreign policy.
Language accessibility in academic publishing: the role of the editor in bridging the linguistic gap
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Tabata, Phindile
Accessibility to academic text has often been understood to refer to factors other than language, such as physically being able to access the text, which has led to discussions on open access systems. In this research, the question of accessibility refers to the editor’s understanding of the reader’s ability to comprehend academic text. The purpose of this research was to understand how editors of academic books consider the varying language backgrounds of South African academics. The research used the concept of the linguistic gap to identify the role of the editor in navigating the gap that exists between academic authors and their audience. The investigation made use of a qualitative research method, which included primary and secondary data collection. This was made up of literature that was consulted to build the literature review, along with the discussions with the participants. The data collection method of the research included the information gathered in the literature review, along with the interviews conducted with the research participants. This method was relevant to understanding the role of the editor in making academic text accessible, because it equipped the researcher to investigate the experiences of academic editors and publishers in ensuring that the text that is published is accessible to the reader. The study showed that there is definitely a gap that exists between the academic author and the reader. The cause of this gap was identified as being two-fold, the first cause being the miscommunication between first language and second language speakers of English. The second reason is the varying levels of education between the author and the reader. The research findings have shown that the role of the editor is to ensure that the message communicated by the author is seamlessly received by the reader. The editor exists within a balance of ensuring that they meet the editing brief that has been specified by the publisher, along with making sure that the author is satisfied with the edit conducted on the text and, lastly, ensuring that the reader is able to understand what is being communicated. Recommendations for further research include, picking up where this research left off, by including academic authors and readers of different levels in the study. This would provide a holistic view on the question of language accessibility in academic publishing.
Media Voices and Power: A decolonial analysis of black voices in the post-apartheid South African media landscape using City Press newspaper as an analytical focus
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03) Mgibisa, Mbuyisi; Menon, Dilip; Daniels, Glenda
This study conducts a decolonial analysis of black voices in the post-apartheid South African media landscape using City Press newspaper as an analytical focus. For the purposes of this study, I have analysed four case studies linked to the mediation and meditation of black voices in the media and public sphere. First, this study explores the subjection of black voices inside the newsroom using the black-oriented newspaper, City Press, as an example. It assesses the structure of whiteness in that newspaper and interrogate whether it provided its black journalists with a room to write from the standpoint of “black perspective”. The second theme is an exploration and personal account of my lived experience in the typical South African neoliberal newsroom and an attempt to bring theory in order to figure out my lived experience. Third, this thesis focuses on forms of gendered and racialised forms of subjection posed by the silencing of voices of black women journalists in the South African mainstream media, including social media. And the fourth theme looks at the importance and significance of voice or speech in doing politics in the post-apartheid South Africa and interrogates how the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) has deployed its “radical black voice” through the concept of Black rage. The study utilises decolonial theory and Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness philosophy as a lens as it seeks to investigate how essentialised, racialised, politicised, gendered and lived are black voices in post 1994 South Africa media landscape and public sphere. This study, then, involves the critical analysis of four themes, all of which are integrally related. The main argument advanced in this thesis is that black voices continue to be subjected through the concept and function of coloniality. For this reason, the study not only historizes black voices as producers, users and custodians of knowledge but also situates their lived experiences. This study finds that even in the face of debilitating coloniality in our everyday lives, black voices persist through those politicised, gendered, racialised and lived negative forms of invisibility and marginalisation and think and speak from the perspective of blackness. Therefore, this thesis posits that black voices are a communicative plane on which blackness performs and articulate itself, for itself. Moreover, this study is a form of epistemic protest against systematic and systemic silencing of black voices and an attempt to counter efforts of rendering black people, in particular black women, speechless. The transdisciplinary methodological approach deployed here is, first and foremost, embedded in the theoretical framework and various methods and concepts will be operationalised to bring to light the complex and complicated nature of how black voices are mediated in the post-apartheid South African media landscape and public sphere. The interview method, which comprises a reflective commentary, and autoethnography are important components of this study. Additionally, the empirical findings through interview material, newspaper articles and tweeter feeds have been examined through discourse analysis and through the prism of the conceptual analytical tools deployed here.
Rediscovering forgotten IsiXhosa women writers: the visibility of Letitia Kakaza and Victoria Swaartbooi in the history of IsiXhosa written literature
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Salayi, Tembakazi
The benefit of the study is that it will give insight into a period in our country that failed to recognize women in isiXhosa written literature. This is also the period Letitia Kakaza and Victoria Swaartbooi made history by being part of the first black women to publish a novel in isiXhosa. We are also able to explore a country where missionaries took control by manipulating black men and women to convert to Christianity. It is during these times that the Lovedale Press was produced and isiXhosa literature was developed. The history of isiXhosa written literature has largely concentrated on men's contributions to its development, with little mention of women's contributions. As a result, women were silenced and erased from public records. This thesis aims to make visible the identities of Kakaza and Swaartbooi by providing their biographical information and background information of the different institutions that they were part of. The study explores how both writers interrogate language, identity, womanism, and education in their writing. As part of the study, a film has been created that explores the themes that are discussed in the paper. This thesis and the accompanying film project, Ndokulandela, reimagine the histories and experiences of black women writers. By speaking back to narratives that erased women’s voices, this re-imagining sought to correct the lens that only maintained one view of the history of isiXhosa literature. The thesis also raises questions on how biographical films depict women's experiences. The film incorporates both the past and present by including letters and manuscripts by both Kakaza and Swaartbooi as well as the current isiXhosa women writer's experiences. The study will also trace the literature written by the women and an analysis will be conducted of their work. Based on the analysis of the three novels, Intyantyambo Yomzi (1913), UTandiwe wakwa Gcaleka (1914) and UMandisa (1975), the thesis examines the themes that Kakaza and Swaartbooi discussed as well as the political context of the early twentieth century. These books irradiate how both women viewed a woman’s life during the time as well as the idea of womanism.
The impact of Covid-19 on international migration and remittances in developing countries
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03-20) Zihindula, Awa; Okon, keminiabasi Eyita
International migration from developing countries and remittances to those same countries have risen steadily over time due to various factors. Remittance is a source of income for most developing countries. Both sending and receiving countries benefit from migration. However, shocks such as natural crises, pandemics and epidemics (COVID-19 and Ebola) have devastated the economy worldwide, with a high unemployment rate and lower income. This research report aimed to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on migration and remittances in developing countries to establish the relationship between inflow remittances and migration outflow controlling for other factors (such as unemployment rate, internet access, economic growth and GDP growth). World Bank data and UNDESA data were used in the study. However, the developing countries were dichotomized as African and non_African countries for an in-depth analysis. The study employed multiple regression model to identify the associations between variables. Results of the study found that in African countries before and during COVID-19, there was no significant relationship between migration outflow and inflow of remittances. Furthermore, the control variables did not have an effect on the dependent variable. For non-African countries, the result shows that COVID-19 did significantly affect the relationship between inflow remittances and migration outflow; when migration outflow increases, there is a decrease in remittances inflow.
Violence, Chaos, and Degeneration: Analysing Unemployment and Xenophobic Conflict in South Africa, 2006–2021.
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Ndoda, Buhle; Mpofu, Sizwe Walsh
Over the past 27 years, xenophobic conflict has overwhelmed South Africa. From “Buyelekhaya” (go back home) campaigns to “Operation Dudula” (push back), xenophobia has spread to different parts of the country, provoking social division, animosity, and a nervous condition of ‘othering’ among Black Africans. At the centre of these insurgences is the issue of unemployment in the country. Unemployment levels have seen a persistent increase in the past five years. Scholars that have examined these challenges have not settled on an opinion about the relationship between xenophobic conflict and unemployment. The reason for this lies in the intricacies and racial undertones of anti-migrant sentiments in South Africa. Xenophobia has particularly targeted Black African immigrants, probing questions about intra-Black racism and Afrophobia. Using the SP-SP model I have established, this study examines the influence of high rates of unemployment on xenophobic conflict in South Africa from the year 2006 to 2021. I draw upon secondary qualitative and quantitative data, and primary qualitative data in my analysis.
Who do i think i am? Autoethnographic and zoomorphic comics and the expression of coloured identity.
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Alexander, Ashleigh Jesse; RANDLE, LUWAROTIMI; REID, KIRSTEN
This thesis presents my investigation into what I term my "Coloured Experience," my examination of zoomorphic imagery, and my approach to portraying this research through a comic book. This aims to produce an artifact that talks about being Coloured in a creative and personal way, which is a response to a significant gap in the portrayal of Coloured people, highlighting a tendency towards oversimplified, sensationalized, and politicised narratives. I employ autoethnographic reflection as my method of inquiry and use zoomorphism as a technique for representation, the outcome of which is a comic book. Zoomorphism in graphic narratives, works as a visually stimulating tool for representing the concept of race, by drawing on visual metaphor, animal association and allegory, in combination with the comics medium, and an engagement with guided autoethnographic journaling, this research produced a comic book where I was able to host a discussion on my experience as a Coloured person in a safe and creative way. This research does not extensively explore my origins, nor does it delve into the formation of Coloured people as a distinct racial group to establish a definitive common ancestor or construct a narrative to define the essence of being Coloured.

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