3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Challenges faced by early childhood development centres in accessing government support in semi- informal areas: the case of Mamelodi Extension 6, city of Tshwane(2017) Phora, MapuleSouth Africa still experiences high levels of poverty, growing informal settlement and high levels of unemployment as indicated in the 2012 National Development Plan. Some settlements, informal and semi-informal areas are characterised by high densities and the lack of or poor levels of both physical and social infrastructures. The case study in this research report is a semi-formal settlement east of Mamelodi, an area known as Mamelodi Extension 6 in the City of Tshwane. Within this settlement, child minders or ECD practitioners offer day care services to households with pre-school children, aged from birth to 6 years. Most of these services are provided informally within the child minder’s own home, which during the day is a “centre” and in the evenings a residence. In some instances, an informal structure is placed within the yard and serves as the ECD centre, or one of the structures, such as a garage is turned into a class room The aim of this study is to establish the extent to which informality or semi- informal areas contribute to the inability of ECD centres to access government and non-governmental support. This type of support is important as most of these ECD sites are run by practitioners who need technical skills as well as support in the form of finances and physical infrastructure. The area under study is semi formalised as part of the in situ upgrades and part of relocation from other informal settlements. It is surrounded by a fully formalised township, with bonded houses, known as Mamelodi Gardens. It is also surrounded by some areas which are still informal. Within Ext. 6 land earmarked for social amenities is still invaded, contributing to some element of informality. Key conceptual points for this study are early childhood development, poverty and deprivation, lack of infrastructure and informality. The study uses these to understand how structural poverty and deprivation impacts negatively on the development of many young children living in semi-developed areas. It also seeks to understand the role of government in providing services within informal and semi-formal areas. In addition to this, the study seeks to understand how the absence of these services makes it difficult for ECD centres to comply with government regulations, excluding them from government and non-governmental funding. Failure to access government and non-governmental funding and support keeps the standards of these ECD centres low, which in turn has adverse effects on the quality of education provided by these centres. This situation creates a vicious cycle of poverty and inequality. The study is qualitative. Data gathering was through observations and interviews with the following key informants: municipal officials dealing with housing, those responsible for the issuing of occupational certificates, those dealing with social development, ECD practitioners and Department of Social Development provincial and regional officials. The key findings of the study confirm the notion that ECD sites which are in informal and semi-informal areas find it hard to meet the requirements of the Children’s Act, which prohibits them from accessing state resources in the form of subsidies and funding from the private sector.Item The role of civil society organisations in the implementation of youth policy in South Africa(2017) Mudimu, RufaroSince the development of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the year 2000 and Beyond (United Nations, 2010), youth and the associated development issues that affect and are effected by them have risen to prominence. In South Africa, 66% of the population are under the age of 34 (the cut-off age for youth), and 36% are between the ages of 15-34 years old, and there is a general perception and concern that current youth policy is failing (Maupa, 2013; NUMSA Bulletin basic, 2014; Setiloane, 2014; South African Broadcasting Corporation, 2011). From anecdotal evidence, personal experience as a youth development practitioner and brief analysis of the literature, there appears to be limited strategic and deliberate engagement of youth and youth-oriented CSOs in the youth policy formulation and implementation process. The purpose of this research is to explore the perceived and real barriers to the involvement of CSOs in youth policy implementation in South Africa. A policy implementation research lens is applied in a broad analysis of the National Youth Policy 2015-2020 and its implementation, exploration of the involvement of CSOs in the policy process and assessment of perceived and real barriers of involvement for CSOs. The research study was an attempt to address the identified knowledge gap regarding youth policy implementation in the South African context (O’Toole, 2000; Saetren, 2005) and the potential role of civil society in that policy process. To some extent, the data, findings and analysis discussed addressed the knowledge gap in that they described how the youth policy is being implemented; identified the key role players in the implementation, and the ways in which civil society may be involved. The research findings and analysis answered the research questions, revealing the barriers to civil society, the nature of youth and CSO engagement by government. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the policy implementation, youth engagement, and civil society involvement, providing clarity and recommendations that may enhance youth participation and civil society and state partnership in policy implementation.Item Faith-based enterprises as a function of social entrepreneurship amongst immigrants living in Yeoville(2017) Tshandu, Palesa VuyolwethuThis research report seeks to explore the organised behaviour of faith-based enterprises as a sub-function of social entrepreneurship. By assessing the moral intricacies which form the building blocks of social enterprises, the research report will use literature based on social entrepreneurship to draw parallels between social enterprises and faith-based ventures to suggest that the core of faith-based ventures (FBVs) is to make a social impact not just through disseminating faith, but acting as social agents. Therefore, this research will attempt to explore the extent of faith-based enterprises as a function of social entrepreneurship, identifying the opportunities and capabilities which are seen to be generated by faith, but that have a social impact that goes beyond the faith-based organisation. Using the qualitative research approach, data was collected from six faith-based entrepreneurs in Yeoville, through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, which were conducted over a period of three months to understand the role of the faith-based venture and its social impact. By conducting a qualitative inquiry to facilitate the meaning-making process, face-to-face interviews were conducted to create a naturalistic understanding of the study, particularly assessing their role and their function in society. Biases, feelings and thoughts were recorded in order to understand the participants’ motives, purposes and the causes that underlie these actions. The findings of the study suggest that the role of FBVs acting as social agents are dependent on the reach of their audience, including the extent of their scalability which they have developed which would provide insights into the degree that the faith-based venture can have social impact. This research will conclude having suggested that the “new-age” faith-based ventures have transitioned from only providing the basic faith, to now mimicking a social enterprise, therefore implying that FBVs are another dimension of social entrepreneurship.Item A reflection on the strategies and tactics of a non-governmental organisation: the case of the inner city resource centre(2016) Tshuwa, Lesego Sebetlapelo DaphneyThis research report is interested in telling the story of activist work by looking at the work that is done by the Inner City Resource Centre which is an NGO operating within the Johannesburg area. The intention of this study is to understand the effect of activism in an environment that is highly contested by reflecting on different viewpoints of those involved in inner city work and dynamics where housing is concerned. The views of different stakeholders working within this space therefore become highly critical. The narratives by the different individuals highlight the strategies and tactics employed by various actors and institutions in shaping processes in order to achieve goals.Item The role of NGOs in the development of technical skills among the youth in Alexandra, Johannesburg(2015-05-07) Nkere, George OkezieThe failure of government to provide social services to the people has become an opportunity for the NGOs. NGOs entrance into the development arena was not to take over the work of the government but to assist the government in improving the living condition of the people. NGOs were able to develop various development programmes at grassroots level. These programmes were developed to empower the people and provide them with skills that will enable them gain employment or become self-reliant or entrepreneurial. Irrespective of the successes and failures of NGOs programme in the development arena, they are still faced with challenges of skills scarcity and unemployment. This report is interrogating the role NGOs play in Johannesburg and Alexandra in particular. This is in the context of technical skills development. It assesses the impact of NGO’s on the youth in Alexandra. Various methods are used in the gathering of data ─ these include written materials, case study, structured and semi-structured Interviews, in-depth Interviews, purposive sampling, focus groups, and sampling methods. We also look at various areas such as, youth attitude towards skills development, and problems faced by the NGOs in the study area. These include lack of NGO autonomy; difficulty of access; lack of finance and the rate of crime. In the end the research demonstrates that the programmes implemented by the NGOs have not had any significant impact.