3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The representation of extremists in Western media(2015-08-20) Kapelari, LauraAs radicalised Muslim converts gain ever greater attention within the War on Terror (WoT) and the media, an investigation into their portrayal and the associated discourses becomes ever more relevant. This study aims to shed more light on the representation of these extremist individuals in the Western media, specifically white converts to Islam who become radicalised, exploring whether there is indeed a difference between the portrayal of female and male extremists, at the same time seeking to reveal any related social or national anxieties. The findings indicate that there is indeed a difference: while women extremists are stripped bare of all political agency, the men, though exposed to rhetoric condemning their treachery as well as often depicted as capitulating to mental illness, remain largely intact as agents. This comes down to men being located in the international sphere, while women are fixed within the domestic equivalent. In terms of the link to social and national anxieties, it becomes evident that not only has the domestic fear surrounding the “homogenous Islamist terrorist enemy” (Samiei 2010, 1149) led to the terrorist (and by extension the white Muslim convert) being equated with the foreigner, but that as a result, terrorism/extremism and immigration have come to be situated within the same framework, where the slippery slopes of counter-terrorism and anti-immigration meld together.Item Analysis of South Africa's ICT policy through developmental state and ICT for development theories(2014-03-27) Moyeni, VusiDeveloping countries face the challenge of devising ways to advance rapidly through developmental stages. At the turn of the millennium, South Africa focussed its attention on pursuing the twin goals of becoming a ‘developmental state’ and harnessing ICTs to become an advanced inclusive ‘information society’. Despite these pent up aspirations, it has failed to put in place concrete policy enablers and strategies to vigorously pursue these specific goals. Furthermore, while ICT policies express ICT for development (ICT4D) perspectives, few have delivered on their stated objectives. This policy analysis research investigated seven distinct ICT policies (or policy components) published between 2001 and 2012, examining the extent to which they reflect either developmental state or ICT4D themes. The developmental state perspective is based on four sub-themes, namely developmentalist ideology, state capacity and institutional arrangements, state autonomy, and country context. The ICT4D perspective is based on five sub-themes, namely enabling institutional environment, agile ICT industry, robust ICT infrastructure, human digital capability development, and ubiquitous e-services deployment. The findings illustrate that ICT policy fairs reasonably well on only one of the nine sub-themes presented above, namely attention to the enabling institutional environment, even if only at the level of principle. The research report notes further that South Africa is headed towards a captured welfare state rather than a capable competitive developmental state, while the major ICT policies exhibit glaring gaps in terms of reflecting either developmental state or ICT4D theories. Finally, the report proposes a series of new directions for policy thinking on ICT-enabled development.Item Film policy implementation in South Africa : a case study of the National Film and Video Foundation (2000-2005)(2014-02-24) Fokane, Tusi Matshama NthabisengThe study aimed to understand and analyse the ways in which the NFVF as the institution mandated by government to implement its vision for the film industry, interpreted and executed this mandate in its inception years. Using a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches to policy implementation, this study applied the 5-C protocol developed by Brynard and de Coning (2006) to analyse film policy. The study assesses the process of implementation and the key factors that shaped how the NFVF carried out its policy mandate between 2000 and 2005 largely from the perspective of ‘street-level bureaucrats’ who were the main policy implementation officials. Implementation scholars suggest that in order to understand policy, one is required to follow its journey as it moves through the implementation process, changing its environment, and in turn being influenced by the environment within which it is located. The study’s findings are discussed under various themes that emerged from the interviews and document review. The focus is on the NFVF’s policy content and implications this had on the clarity of its role and mandate. The themes that emerged from the discussion on the NFVF’s policy context indicated that the governance and institutional arrangements for implementation as well as the lack of policy coherence and co-ordination contributed to a difficult operating and implementation environment. Under policy commitment, the discussion pointed to the NFVF’s leadership and institutional style between 2000-2005. The NFVF’s capacity to implement policy was analysed in terms of its available financial resources. Finally, the last section of the study considers the NFVF’s policy clients and coalitions and how they responded to the NFVF‘s implementation of policy.Item Policy lessons from assessing computer-use in secondary schools in a provincial capital, Polokwane(2014-02-21) Ghoord, EbrahimThis study examined different elements within the classroom, school and environment in order to establish their influence on technology implementation in schools. A review of the literature suggests that the integration of computers in schools is influenced by a number of separate but inter-related factors. If technology implementations in schools are to achieve the desired objectives as outlined in the e- Education White Paper, it is important that such efforts are cognizant of the unique characteristics of each school setting. Eight schools in Polokwane (Limpopo, South Africa) were chosen for this study, which was intended to evaluate current technology integration efforts against existing policy; and to see what policy lessons may be drawn from this.Item An assessment of youth development from the National Youth Commission to the National Youth Development Agency(2014-01-15) Morgan, Anneline LorenciaThe South African population comprises largely of young people who make up 41.2% of the population (NYDA, 2011). The youth of the country are faced with many challenges such as unemployment; poverty; lack of skills to access the job market; limited access to education and social challenges related to HIV/AIDS; teenage pregnancies; substance abuse and crime. Since the new democratic government youth development has been a key priority for the country. The government made a concerted effort to respond to youth development by establishing the National Youth Commission (NYC) in 1996, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) in 2001, and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in 2009 which resulted as a merger of the NYC and UYF. The focus of the study was to assess youth development from the NYC to NYDA and whether the NYDA will be more effective in advancing youth development in the country. The study was of a qualitative nature and used semi-structured face to face and telephonic interviews to gather data. Secondary data was also gathered from policy documents, reports, and articles related to the topic. The key findings of the research indicated that the majority of the respondents or participants felt it was the right policy decision by government to merge the NYC and UYF to form the NYDA. It was also indicated that the funding allocated to support the NYDA was not sufficient for it to fulfil its mandate according to the NYDA Act of 2008 to facilitate, coordinate and implement youth development programmes. The majority of the respondents also felt that the NYDA needed to play a more active role to better coordinate and mainstream youth development in all spheres of government.Item Successes and challenges of the ECDC as perceived by SMME's in the OR Tambo District municipality(2013-03-22) Mkatshwa, Tulisiwe Buyisiwe LungisaSouth Africa, like most developing countries, has one of the highest levels of unemployment. Within South Africa’s borders the highest levels of unemployment are found in areas of the Eastern Cape Province, which is one of the poorest provinces. In these areas, Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) have grown out of the necessity for employment. For these SMMEs to succeed, good support programmes from development agencies is vital. It is also important that the recipients of the support perceive this support to be meeting their needs. This research surveyed the perceptions of Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) supported SMMEs regarding the support services they received in the OR Tambo District municipality. The findings confirmed that the SMME entrepreneurs surveyed perceive the ECDC’s financial and non-financial support as particularly instrumental in helping them start up their businesses. The biggest perceived challenge is that ECDC does not have enough programmes to help SMMEs to grow beyond start-up stage. Furthermore, the SMME entrepreneurs are dissatisfied with the quality of service they receive from ECDC employees. The lessons of this study are that the SMME entrepreneurs realise the important role that ECDC plays in contributing to their business success. They also believe that ECDC has to evolve constantly with the times by having programmes targeted at start-up businesses, strengthening existing businesses, and growing established businesses to higher levels. The study results suggest that ECDC needs to improve on the quality of their programmes to meet the needs of all types of SMMEs, create more awareness about its programmes, but most importantly, ECDC needs to equip its employees with the skills to support SMMEs of various backgrounds.