3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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    The paradox of impermanence: Africanist political imaginations and rights claiming in Johannesburg
    (2018) McDonald, Clarie
    New ways of conceptualising patterns of human mobility and the political, economic and social effects of these movements are driving current migration research. Furthermore, there is a call to develop greater understanding of both the spatial and temporal aspects of migration. This includes understanding how these aspects affect the experiences of migrants in claiming rights and establishing a sense of belonging in a host state. The following research report responds to this call by developing a theory around ‘the paradox of impermanence’ which I construct from empirical research conducted with migrants living in Johannesburg, South Africa. This paradox identifies two distinct forms of impermanence which are caused by the following factors: insufficient access to state immigration documentation that regularises a migrant’s stay in South Africa (state-imposed impermanence); and the personally expressed desires of migrants to return to their home countries (self-imposed impermanence). Further analysis develops the concept of ‘African brotherhood’, which I argue provides an explanation for how migrants construct their political imaginations in order to claim rights, in spite of their experiences of this paradox of impermanence
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    Curriculum development in an urban refugee centre in South Africa.
    (2010-11-12) Pausigere, Peter
    The Zimbabwean refugees sheltered at Holy Cross Church* in central Johannesburg have taken the initiative to develop their own curriculum. There have been many orientations to curriculum development with current reconceptualisations emphasising practical and descriptive curriculum development approaches. This research is framed specifically by Walker’s naturalistic curriculum development model, the community-based approach to education development, literature on refugee education and generally by broader theories of curriculum. The study employed the ethnographic research method and gathered data through non-participant observation, interviews and document analysis. Taking a wider approach to curriculum development and in the context of displaced people, the research redefined the term curriculum developer to mean ordinary people and refugees in their communal social setting. This study provides an analysis and description of how the refugees successfully initiated and developed effective learning and training programmes which resulted in the establishment of a school, early childhood, adult-education and vocational training centres. The refugee meetings and school council deliberation forums guided by common values and political, social and economic factors made practically defensible, education and training resolutions on language, school policies, curriculum options, pedagogy, knowledge and certification issues. On the forms of refugee-emergency education, the refugee school curriculum followed that of the country of origin, with some minor modifications thereby preparing learners for return to their country. The training programmes utilised a slightly adjusted curriculum of the host country in synergies with local private colleges and prepared the refugees to integrate into the host country’s economic communities. To improve the quality of education and training at Holy Cross there is need for intervention from government and international humanitarian organisations. In addition to the academic curriculum, subjects with a social reconstructionist ideology, double-shift schooling and democratic teaching and learning approaches must be introduced as well as awarding refugees with regionally recognised training certificates.
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    Cities of refuge: the emergence of temporal urbanism
    (2009-09-21T11:35:08Z) Leong, Terence
    In the era of globalisation we are required to negotiate a large series of global flows. These include the flow of capital ideas, imagery, goods and people. Contemporary culture has increasingly become nomadic, and the idea of place has become transitive. This condition stands in contradiction to the time-honoured notion of the city as a stable entity. Whether brought about by natural catastrophe or initiated by choice, instant cities emerge, only to disappear again just as rapidly. This has given rise to new terms such as relief urbanism, deadline urbanism or event urbanism. This shift from notions of fixed locality to temporary accommodation for mass migration requires equivalent forms of flexibility in planning. (Weiss 2007:3) This thesis will focus on the particular flow within this contemporary situation which has the biggest implication for architecture, namely the movement of people. Since the world war, migrancy has rapidly become more global in scope and scale with there being more mobility than any other period in history. (Cairns 2004:3) Contemporary migrancy involves the movement of immigrants, emigrants, guest workers, refugees and asylum seekers. The effects of migrancy are also being more intensely felt and widespread than ever before. Nowhere are the impacts more evident than in Africa where the movement of people as a result of war, poverty and persecution are central to the continent’s economics and politics. While migrancy is rapidly transforming Africa the region lacks the capacity to understand and manage these movements. (Forced Migration Studies Programme 2008) So the focus of this thesis will be on refugees and asylum seekers seeking refuge in South Africa and the impacts it is having on displaced people themselves and the local population made terrifyingly manifest in the recent Xenophobic attacks plaguing the country. Following a discussion of the many problems faced by refugees and the root causes of the Xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg this thesis will look at the alleviation of some of these problems culminating in the design of a Prefabricated Housing Prototype and System which can be implemented in a combination of contexts. The system will be developed using 3 test studies. The first will be as an infill project in an dense urban context providing cheap rental unit options for the urban poor including South African low income earners and refugees in the inner city, the second will be a housing model for upgrading stable South African informal settlements and the third as an alternative Refugee camp in an emergency or cross border context. It will examine the role of architecture as a means to sustain dignity and create a sense of belonging for people with very few social connections. The facility will aim to help people regain control of their lives by helping them to contribute to the market economy. It will also aim to be an architecture that is against alienation and will facilitate healing.
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    Human rights and refugee protection in South Africa (1994-2004)
    (2006-10-31T12:06:12Z) Enwere, Corlivics Onuoha
    Refugees and asylum seekers are vulnerable group that requires both national and international protection in South Africa. It is the duty and responsibility of the South African government and international community to provide adequate protection to individuals who are compelled to flee their countries of origin due to well-founded fears of persecution or other life threatening problems. Such protection must meet internationally recognized and acceptable standards for the protection and treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, as outlined in various international law and conventions. South Africa has pledged through her democratic Constitution and the Refugee Act of 1998 to protect and promote the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in her territory. The research explores how South Africa has responded to the protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in the post-apartheid era. The research also explicates the relationship between human rights and refugee protection and how human rights have been used to facilitate the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa. The thesis identifies the extent of compliance with the international refugee law, which South Africa has achieved within the first decade of democracy and the roles played by nonstate actors and other stakeholders in refugee protection in South Africa. It also explores the major problems and obstacles militating against the realisation and in pursuit of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in the post-apartheid South Africa. Finally, the findings of this research are expected to contribute to our understanding of the problems facing refugees, the government and international community, and the range of options and interventions open to policy makers in the field which will help to secure such rights.
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