3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/45
Browse
5 results
Search Results
Item Land ownership, tenure and subjective well-being in South Africa(2019) Phalatse, SoniaThe dual land tenure system, characteristic of South Africa’s land economy, is comprised of private ownership and communal land ownership presided over by a traditional council. This paper has two main findings in relation to land tenure in South Africa: owning land, compared to not owning land, and owning land privately, compared to owning land communally, has a positive, statistically significant impact on subjective well-being. Using waves 4 and 5 of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) longitudinal dataset, a set of econometric methodologies is employed to quantify the impact of ownership and tenure on self-reported well-being using an ordinary least squares estimation as a point of analytical departure. To account for possible endogeneity stemming from self-selection and unobserved heterogeneity, an instrumental variable, propensity score method and Heckman’s ordered selection probit model is computed. A persistent positive effect of land ownership and private ownership on subjective well-being is found across the various estimation strategies. Further robustness checks are assessed to increase the internal validity of the main methodology; this includes a mixed effects and ordered logit approach that treats subjective well-being as ordinal. The estimated increases in subjective well-being ranges between 0.348 to 0.466 levels for landowners and 0.277 to 0.331 levels for private owners.Item Understanding gender inequality in a rural African family unit (household): a case study of a village in the Greater Giyani Municipality, Limpopo Province(2019) Mahlaule, TsakaneDespite gender mainstreaming through various legislation and policies geared towards addressing gender inequality in South Africa, discrimination against women remains prevalent in South Africa. Society is not only gendered, it is structured to reflect, reinforce and perpetuate divisions along variables such as customs, race and class. On the whole, it is constructed to create what Ely & Fletcher (2003: 07) refer to as interlocking systems of power. For this reason, there is need for a deeper understanding on how women in rural communities confront the issue of inheritance, especially in a dual legal system as the one they are subjected to in traditional authority-led villages. I argue that historically the VaTsonga communities are not inherently patriarchal. I claim that colonialism and apartheid policies invented traditions that forced these communities to be patriarchally structured for practical reasons. This was achieved in various ways including, land dispossession, codification of African customs into formal customary laws, migrant labour, destruction of the African family structure, and many more. I argue that gender inequality persists in rural families of the VaTsonga people of South Africa due to structural conditions that have since permeated all aspects of public and private life. Wekker (cited in Franken et al. 2009: 73) defines gender as ‘a layered social system that gives meaning to the biological differences between women and men while operating on different levels such as the personal, symbolic and institutional levels.’ These inequalities play out in the home and in institutional spaces. For example, role allocation and the gender division of labour in the household keep women in unpaid labour, while the economic factors which force women’s perpetual dependence on men have far-reaching consequences for especially rural women. Furthermore, distorted customary laws such the Traditional Courts Bill 2012 implied that rural women will have even fewer rights than they had under apartheid. Article 9 of the Constitution demands that ‘custom, culture and religion shall be subject to the equality clause contained therein. Despite the Bill of Rights, in rural areas women are treated like minors with no substantive rights and equality. Often they are denied custodianship of the family unit’s assets and resources including land. Girls are socialized to embrace set feminine roles which prescribe submissiveness and dependence. These traits and manners of existence extend into adulthood with lines drawn between them and men along gender biases and entrenched discrimination. Women are forced by convention to put their goals and needs secondary to those of their male relatives, be it the father, boyfriend, male siblings, husband and so on. It is in this context that the woman is perpetually viewed as a mere subject for the performance and satisfaction of patriarchy.Item The urban logic: a timber processing factory empowering rural ares through value addition(2019) Ndlovu, Menziincreased the interdependence between rural and urban dwellers - the resources they offer each other is the common thread that pulls them closer together. While this has introduced various forms of innovation in underdeveloped parts of South Africa, the balance between what the urban areas remove from the rural land versus what returns in the form of economic upliftment; industrial transformation; cultural and social development, as well as general living standards, is still very much debatable. This research explores how architecture can improve the value chain between rural and urban areas in order to improve the balance these two areas share, by looking at activities that can be performed in rural areas using the raw material harvested, before the material is moved to urban areas for further processing. The research process begins by looking at a broad social economic plan; the infrastructural plan to make it work; and a small intervention where these issues will be addressed. By moving activities within the supply chain previously only dedicated to and reserved for urban areas closer to rural areas, it not only keeps the supply chain safely intact but improves the context and value found in rural areas. This begins to create an organic platform for ancillary economic movement to start building, in the hopes to improve industrial sustainability. The building is an industrial timber processing factory in northern KwaZulu-Natal that allows the context to feed into it. The main activity, amongst many others this factory does, is take wood harvested from the forests plantations of northern KZN and add an additional step where it processes it into wood fibers, to be transported in larger quantities than previously possible to the urban industrial areas where the final stage of production takes place. In a social context of poor living standards due to lack of economic activity this building aims to – parallel to wood processing work – lend itself as a community workspace in order to be the focal point for skills development where locals can utilise the timber processing equipment, cultural transformation and most importantly a port for other industries to plug-in. The architecture looks to welcome back the design principles so often lacking in current industrial buildings - these principles present a great opportunity to effect social change over and above industrial functions. Parallel to that, it questions the function of a factory in a rural setting and re-imagines its function through design and program. The farmer sells his corn for R2.00, after production it is sold back to him as popcorn at R10.00 – the farmer cannot afford the end product of his own labour. The tensions between urban and rural; raw and finished product and, architectural design and industrial engineering, are exposed and given the spotlight in the search for economic transformation and social balance in the value chain.Item An evaluation of the challenges faced by rural-based small, micro and medium enterprises in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.(2014-07-22) Nxaba, Siphosenkosi BlessingSmall, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in the South African present context are integral instruments of economic and social development. In these times of high unemployment in South Africa, the need for SMMEs to alleviate the high rate of poverty due to unemployment is evident. The government is committed to ensure that small businesses progressively increase their contribution growth and performance of the South African economy in critical areas such as job creation, equity and access to markets. As from 1994, with the new advent of a new democratic era, government has taken measures to ensure that small business development becomes a key focus. Since then, government has put in place institutions and programmes within all three tiers of government with the aim of providing comprehensive support to small business. This is suggestive of the government being mindful of the challenges/gaps which still need to be addressed to support small business especially in rural areas where unemployment and poverty are rife. Whilst there are institutions which provide support to SMMEs, the overall impact of these initiatives is insignificant. This study explored the perceptions of the owners of rural-based SMMEs about factors responsible for the success and failure of rural-based SMMEs. The study adopted a qualitative approach and it was exploratory in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five owners of rural-based SMMEs and with three key informants from three local municipal districts/offices around Pietermaritzburg in KZN. The main findings of the study identified initiatives to address the challenges to rural-based SMMEs, such as, provision of good infrastructure, business management skills, business equipment and land/premises. The recommendations suggested a need of partnerships between banks and community business support organizations, subcontracting of SMMEs to big business, introducing entrepreneurship from school level and introducing monitoring and evaluation systems in all government levels as proposals to address challenges to rural-based SMMEs.Item Does foreign aid make a difference? a case study of the Boseele Association in Northern Lesotho.(2012-03-12) Johnson, Lineo RoseLesotho is a country plagued by underdevelopment and poverty. This research is a case study of an indigenous community organisation in the northern district of Botha-Bothe in Lesotho. Boseele is a rural development organisation which attracted international donor investment in the aftermath of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The study aims at investigating the impact of capacity development processes on Boseele and its members. The study identified capacity building landmarks over a period of ten years. A case study approach was used within a qualitative research design. Data was collected through individual and group interviews, observations, story-telling and transect walks. The results were analysed through thematic, chronological, narrative and document analysis. Boseele’s successes with CIDA funding reflect positive foreign aid contributions towards the work of civil society organisations in Lesotho. However, setbacks and lack of continuity by a nursery project funded by MS-Lesotho show that the empowerment process is vulnerable where social and economic problems of individual members and communities are not fully addressed.