3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Working and living condition in contemporary South African farmlands: exploring the impacts of tenure reforms on farm workers and labour tenants, a study of Bethal district(2016-01-28) Okpa, Michael EvalsamThe relationship between farmers and farm workers in South Africa in one steeped in controversy, yet this area of study has received little attention. Agrarian history in South Africa is topical especially when considering the interaction between farmers (predominantly white) and farm workers (almost entirely black) in a capitalist economy. Farm workers current social and economic situation is a product of colonialism, segregationist and apartheid policies, as well as capitalist development and post-apartheid development strategy. This study hence analyses the social cohesion within the commercial farming community, placed against the backdrop of the Land Reform Programme – tenure reform. The social relations and labour are highly shaped by the capitalist mode of production and through the control of capital. Total institutions, domestic governance, and paternalism, impedes successful tenure reform. The study reveals a mutual cohesion between farmer and their employees based on a variety of reasons ranging from mutual understanding, good communication, good working relationship, and treating such other fairly. Nonetheless, this does not mean that farm workers are not being maltreated as other studies on farm relations have shown. Without a doubt, land reform particularly tenure reform has clearly tested the patience of farmers. The study further acknowledges that the current land reform programme (especially tenure reform) is deficient, and has not benefited those for whom it was intended. Despite the legislation that have been passed in order to protect the rights of those living on farms, and to secure the labour right of those who work on them, there has been little improvement in securing tenure rights as well as the poverty level of many farm dwellers. Successful implementations of recent interventions to tenure security are the preconditions necessary for the broader land reform programme to reduce poverty levels among farm workers. Hence, securing tenure rights for farm workers must therefore be tired to programmes which aim to reduce poverty level among farm dwellers in general. Tenure reform by itself cannot alleviate rural poverty unless the government take a decisive action to stimulate the rural economy. Equally, farm dwellers (including farm workers and labour tenants) have felt the harshest consequence of the crises facing post-apartheid South Africa’s agriculture sector. This historical process has left its legacy in post-apartheid South Africa, characterised not only by a bimodal agricultural system but also by an unequal relation within (white) commercial farms where farm workers and labour tenants are faced with the harshest reality of poverty in the mist of agrarian wealth. This study therefore explores the disputed labour regime in the farming sector – the mechanisation and casualization of farm labour, as well as farm consolidation, both leading to a drop in rural/farm employment as an immediate consequence; and low unionisation of farm workers.Item Shared-use of railway infrastructure in South Africa: the case of coal and citrus production in Mpumalanga(2015-02-03) Dube, Mishack SiyafundaEconomic activities such as mining extraction and farming have in the past been supported by railway infrastructure, which continues to provide a cheap transportation option for the movement of freight. This research paper looks at the apparent bias that exists in the shared-use of railway infrastructure in South Africa between coal miners and citrus growers in Mpumalanga. The study is specifically concerned with the regulatory regime governing access and the extent to which it enables or hinders the shared-use of rail infrastructure, which is critical in the movement of freight for different sectors of the economy. The paper uses literature on regulatory practices and a case study of Mpumalanga’s coal miners and citrus growers, to investigate South Africa’s regulatory regime and its role in creating particular biases in the use of rail infrastructure.Item Experiences of the Nkomazi local municipality in the provision of water services to poor communities(2014-03-18) Mashele, Michael ThomasThe South African Constitution, brought about democratic and developmental reforms that gave local government certain responsibilities, the supply of water services, amongst others. According to Naidoo (2011), the provision of water services was a vital developmental process that worked towards quality service realization that local government was grappling with. In this research report, a qualitative research method of in-depth interviews was conducted on a small target group and a few municipality documents were analyzed. Mixed perceptions and a range of problems, amongst which capacity problems, were some of the findings identified by the research. The effects of non-provision of water services and the benefits of water provision were also dealt with in the report. Eighteen (18) years into democracy, the majority of rural municipalities were still experiencing problems in the provision of water services to poor communities. Other than the usual experiences of municipalities in the provision of water services, Nkomazi Local Municipality encountered capacity problems which were complicated by its predominantly rural nature.Item Potential drivers of growth and employment in Mpumalanga province: An assessment of inter-industry linkages using input-output analysis(2014-03-07) Sithole, Jabulani EasmouthThis study investigates the potential drivers of growth and employment in Mpumalanga’s economy using input-output (I-O) analysis as a contribution to industrial policy research and development for the province. Since 1995 to 2011, the Mpumalanga economy has been dominated by the tertiary sector (Quantec, 2011). Mohamed (2010) argues that in South Africa, while there had been growth in services, this growth has generally not been in productive services but instead has been driven by acceleration in debt-driven consumption, outsourcing and growth in private security services. The unemployment rate in the province was at 30.9 percent and labour absorption 52.0 percent in 2011, which made Mpumulanga the 6th largest contributor to the unemployment rate in the country that year (Quantec, 2011). The fifth iteration of the Industrial Policy Action Plan, 2013/14 – 2015/16 aims to promote a labour absorbing industrialisation path, with the emphasis on the systematic building of economic linkages that create employment. While being aware of potential weaknesses associated with this method, I-O analysis is one of the tools used frequently in the literature for identifying sectors to be supported in the industrial policy. The results of this study shows that the manufacturing sector in the province has a stronger stimulatory power to directly stimulate output in most sectors and drive industrial development, provided that local imports and available skills can be used appropriately to fill the existing gaps. This study forms the basis for the Mpumalanga Province’s policymakers to further conduct sector analysis through other refined supplementary methods such as value chain analysis with the purpose to confirm linkages of the sectors and determine key sectors that have the potential to drive industrialisation in the province.Item Comparison of male and female HIV seroprevalence rates from a coal mining community and mobile clinic in Mpumalanga, South Africa(2009-05-14T09:55:03Z) Hurkchand, Hitesh PravinchundraComparison of HIV seroprevalence between males and females at clinic and community level in Mpumalanga South Africa. Background: Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in Embalenhle community (February 2002) and Dunusa community mobile clinics (November 2001), to establish prevalence of HIV and STIs (Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea). Methods: Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to the combined data from the two sites, to identify factors associated with HIV prevalence and also to check whether the effects were consistent over the two sites. Results: HIV Prevalence was 33.5% (30.2%vs.35.9% in males and females respectively, p=0.124) at community site and 34.8% at clinic site (22.8%vs.47.4% in males and females respectively, p=0.001). The models show a significant site by sex interaction i.e. the effect of sex differs in the 2 sites (p=0.036). After adjusting for agegroup and Neisseria gonorrhea, predicted probabilities from the logistic regression model shows that the sex difference is much greater in community mobile clinics (23%vs.44.1% in males and females respectively) than at the community site (29.9%vs.34.9% in males and females respectively). After adjusting for site and Neisseria gonorrhea, the model showed an agegroup by sex interaction (p<0.001). Predicted probabilities show a difference, where HIV in males is higher than in females; in males in the 25-34 year age group from 18-24 years (36.3 vs 18.2 % respectively), while in females the prevalence is very similar in the 18-24 year and 25-34 year age groups. There were no interactions between Neisseria gonorrhea and other variables. Conclusions: The different HIV–age distribution for males and females are consistent with the results of previous studies. We found that the sex difference in prevalence was much smaller at the community level than at the clinic level. The traditional interpretation of national antenatal surveillance data assumes a fairly large difference in male and female seroprevalence (a ratio of 7:10 is used in extrapolating results of the South African National antenatal seroprevalence survey to males). These results suggest that more work is needed in checking that assumption.Item Engraved rocks at Boomplaats farm: farmer settlement rock engravings of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa(2009-01-15T08:35:57Z) Mbewe, RichardABSTRACT The Rock Art of southern Africa represents the single most informative surviving artifact of the social and symbolic lives of many hunter-gatherers, herders, farmers and settlers who have lived and marked our land. Unlike many other forms of archaeology, rock art has always been in the public domain and of late has become a defining element of social identity. Farmer settlement engravings based on concentric circles joined by meandering lines are particularly intriguing images in southern African Iron Age rock art tradition. This study focuses on a large engraved Iron Age site on the farm Boomplaats 29 JT in Lydenburg District, Mpumalanga province, republic of South Africa. This site contains a variety of engravings ranging from concentric circles, animal motifs, drilled holes, spread-eagle designs and a Mhele/ Morabaraba game board. Although the general characteristics and overall distribution of this art are known, the issue of authorship of this art is till unknown. This research, therefore, goes deeper into both the historical and archaeological evidence from Mpumalanga province to investigate and ascertain the authors of these engravings. This study hopes to advance our knowledge of this art by focusing on the specific issue of authorship, and examining the relationship between the engravings and settlement ruins in the area.Item Room to manoeuvre: understanding the development of provincial government In South Africa, 1994-2004(2006-10-26T08:56:01Z) Rapoo, Thabo JacksonSince its inception in 1994, South Africa’s federal system of government has been the subject of intensive scholarly debates and wide-ranging academic writing. In particular, the functioning of the country’s provincial institutions has engendered heated public debates over the years about whether or not they have played their proper role as institutions of democratic governance. The major challenge that faced the framers of the country’s new constitution, and which continues to face policy makers currently, was to create functioning and effective democratic institutions of government at sub-national level. In addition to their role as democratic/political institutions of governance, the provinces are also agents of socio-economic development and the delivery of basic social services to citizens. In the course of attempting to fulfil their functional responsibilities since 1994, the provinces have encountered enormous political, constitutional, administrative and logistical problems that have led to widespread dissatisfaction about their performance and effectiveness. In fact, this dissatisfaction has also led to fundamental questions being raised about the future of the provinces in South Africa. This thesis seeks to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the provincial system during the 1994-2004 period, by looking at the question: to what extent has the provincial system of government fulfilled its responsibilities of promoting democratic governance and ensuring effective delivery of social services to citizens at sub-national level? It also provides an in-depth examination and analysis of the development of South Africa’s federal system of government between 1994 and 2004. The study utilised a wide range of research materials gathered through in-depth interviews, an opinion survey, direct observations, official documents, published and unpublished documents, and numerous other sources.