ETD Collection

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/104


Please note: Digitised content is made available at the best possible quality range, taking into consideration file size and the condition of the original item. These restrictions may sometimes affect the quality of the final published item. For queries regarding content of ETD collection please contact IR specialists by email : IR specialists or Tel : 011 717 4652 / 1954

Follow the link below for important information about Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Library Guide about ETD

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Beneficiaries

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The perceptions of beneficiaries about the contribution of micro enterprises as a poverty reduction strategy : a study of women beneficiaries in Johannesburg.
    (2014-08-20) Chipuriro, Rejoice
    Micro enterprises have become popularised globally as the favoured option for development and have played a key role in poverty alleviation. The main premise of using micro enterprises has been to build the capacity of the individual to be self- sustaining and to move away from the continued dependency on state welfare. Micro enterprises are also seen as a key tool to allow participation of the disempowered population. In South Africa micro enterprises have been hailed by government as playing a pivotal role in creating employment opportunities for the poor people. The study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of how beneficiaries view the role played by micro enterprises in reducing poverty. This qualitative research was based on case studies of 12 female participants who were selected using convenience sampling based on their availability and participation in micro enterprise initiatives. An interview schedule was used and the interviews were tape recorded. The major findings that emerged were that beneficiaries perceive micro enterprises as meeting their basic needs like food and rates, to others they were a way of supplementing income. Most participants perceived micro enterprise rather as a hobby than an effective income generating activity. None of the beneficiaries had business skills, equipment or information and capital to grow their business beyond their residential areas. None of the micro enterprises were able to create employment for others. Various factors such as lack of capital, low literacy levels, poor business management skills and non-entrepreneurial mind-set amongst others have resulted in this failure. Beneficiaries of this study perceived the income from their micro enterprises not enough to qualify their micro enterprises as a poverty reduction tool. The main conclusion drawn from the study is that whilst profit generated through participating in micro enterprises meet the beneficiaries’ basic necessities, it is insufficient income to meaningfully reduce poverty.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Helping communities to help themselves : the case of Eleos.
    (2013-09-27) Stuart, Lauren
    Current literature asserts that recipients of social services in South Africa are characterised by their history, race and ethnicity (Pharoah, 2007; Scheurmans and Visser, 2005). This study attempted to either confirm or challenge such assertions, based on the experiences and strategies implemented by Eleos, a unique non‐ profit organisation that is entrenched in communities that are diverse. The primary aim of this study was to explore the ethos of Eleos, in its interventions to address poverty in underprivileged communities. The study drew from two groups of participants. The first sample of eight participants was drawn from the two beneficiary communities of Eleos. One project is located in Booysens West and the other in Danville. The second group of participants were key informants who were drawn from the management committee as well as representatives of the individual projects. The research instruments took the form of two different semi‐structured interview schedules with open‐ended questions. One for key informants and another for beneficiaries. The research design that was used in the study was the case study design and was exploratory in nature. The collected data was transcribed and analysed using ‘thematic content analysis’ or ‘conceptual analysis’. Main findings indicated that donors seemed to impose a more radicalized view of the world, more so than the beneficiaries and organisation it self.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    An analysis of community participation, in income generating projects at the Tembisa/Kempton Park Development Center.
    (2009-09-10T09:17:23Z) Chikadzi, Victor
    In South Africa, citizen participation is regarded as an integral part of all social, economic and political activity. There is always an attempt to either involve citizens/communities in different programmes or at least to pretend to have involved people. Community participation is a constitutional prerogative that the broader masses should meaningfully participate in issues affecting their lives. Thus overgrowing concern by development practitioners to utilize participatory methods has become notable in recent years and participation has become an established orthodoxy within the development discourse in South Africa. The practice of participation has become embodied in what is popularly known to be people-centered development in which it is favored that community needs take precedence over those of other stakeholders when designing and implementing development projects. This study explores community participation in income generating projects at the Tembisa / Kempton Park Development Center. Using a case study as a qualitative inquiry method, the researcher sought to establish the evidence of community participation and the extent to which participants in income generating projects were involved as the main role players. The research sample constituted of 15 participants; ten were beneficiaries of income generating projects, three were staff members at the Tembisa / Kempton Park Development Center and two participants where drawn from the main funders of the Tembisa / Kempton Park Development Center. The different categories of the participants drawn into the sample enabled the researcher to holistically capture how the development process unfolded. The findings of the research indicated that the development model used at Tembisa / Kempton Park Development Center is largely participatory. The model allowed community members to have more say and control in the initiation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the projects. However this model has challenges that are institutional, social and structural of nature and barriers which hinder effective and meaningful community participation. Government intervention was recommended to address some of the challenges to community participation on a macro level.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Setting the development agenda US foundations and the NPO sector in South Africa
    (2006-11-01T12:09:25Z) Moyo, Bhenkinkosi
    This thesis discusses the impact that the Ford, Mott, Kellogg and Open Society Foundations had on civil society organisations in South Africa in setting development priorities. The thesis tested first, the hypothesis that donors set the agenda for their grantees. Secondly, the thesis tested the assumption that aid facilitates grantees’ submission to donor interests. And in the process grantees lose their identity and focus. The research found that most of civil society organisations (CSOs) depended on international donors, in particular, foundations,for their operations. There was little mobilisation of resources from local citizens. As a result, CSOs were vulnerable to donor conditionalities and agendas. The four case studies and their selected beneficiaries show that most CSOs were not sustainable. If donors withdrew their support, a number of their grantees would curtail their work, close down or lose their vision and mission. In some cases CSOs changed their missions to follow the money, nevertheless, changing contexts and demands were also relevant factors. Although lack of sustainability for CSOs and their greater dependency on international donors made their agendas questionable, it also provided independence from internal political interference. CSOs also appeared more accountable to donors than to the constituencies they served. The Kellogg Foundation insisted that organisations had to toe the line to implement the Foundation’s agenda or risk losing funding. George Soros of the Open Society Foundation also called the shots. He set the agenda and his Foundations implemented it. This showed the power of direct intervention by a living donor who operated as a Programme Officer for all his foundations. The question of donor-dependency is closely linked to that of leadership. A number of organisations with good leaders attracted many donors. However the increase in donors, did not sustain these organisations, instead it made them vulnerable to many different donor demands. Thus, donor diversification was both an asset and a threat. However, good leadership prevented CSOs from collapse from lack of transparency, accountability and effectiveness. A temptation to ‘want to look like donors’, a process that is called ‘isomorphism’ by DiMaggio and Powell (1991) characterised many CSOs resulting in them losing their identity, mission and vision. There were positive aspects that international Foundations achieved in supporting civil society foundations. The Open Society Foundation worked to open up closed societies. It supported efforts that aimed at fostering democratic ideals, rule of law, social justice and open societies. The Ford Foundation supported efforts that strengthened civil society, promoted social justice and democracy. The Mott Foundation strengthened the capacity of the non-profit sector by developing in-country philanthropy. And the Kellogg Foundation supported community initiatives that aimed to tackle the causes of poverty. A negative development; however was that Foundations cultivated the culture of receiving rather than giving among their grantees. For this reason, the thesis suggested the development of ‘community philanthropy’ to sustain the non-profit (NPO) sector. Community philanthropy has the advantage of mobilising resources from domestic sources and taping into levels of social capital. Building on domestic sources would encourage a bottom up approach to development. I argue that local self-help initiatives such as stokvels, burial societies and saving clubs could serve as bases for the sustainability of the non-profit sector which suffered from donor dependency, unsustainability and poor leadership. Such an approach would make development ‘people-centered’ and encourage social responsibility among citizens to support their NPOs and its development initiatives.