3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/45
Browse
7 results
Search Results
Item Implications of SPLUMA in areas under rural traditional leadership in Mpumalanga province : the case of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality and Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality(2018) Sambo, Tinyiko Ntombifuthi“Although the bantustan system was abolished prior to the democratic transition, a sizable body of academic scholarship has asserted that this geography has left a lasting imprint upon rural areas” (King and Mccusker, 2006:1) The South African colonial and apartheid planning laws influenced the landscape of rural areas through fostering segregation, under-development, restrictions to land ownership and the establishment of the permission to occupy land. In post-apartheid South Africa, the government has tried to make strides to repeal and reverse the imprint which colonial and apartheid legislations left on the country. Yet, the process has not been without challenges, with Chapters 5 and 6 of the Development Facilitation Act, Act No.67 of 1995 (DFA) being declared unconstitutional in 2010. The DFA also had loopholes as it did not repeal colonial and apartheid planning legislations. Thus, modernist planning approaches were retained and continued to influence segregated land use management after 1995. Furthermore, the DFA by and large focused on the management of urban areas and did not subject rural areas to formalised land use management; irrespective of these areas practicing certain forms of land use practices. In order to bridge the gap in planning law, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, Act No.16 of 2013 commonly known as SPLUMA in the planning fraternity was enacted and assented into operation on the 1st July 2015. The new planning law is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring spatial justice through the incremental upgrading of informal areas by means of encouraging the “progressive introduction of administration, management, engineering services and land tenure rights to areas that are established outside existing planning legislation, and may include any settlement or area under traditional tenure” (SPLUMA, 2013:8). In light of the above, the research report explores the implications of SPLUMA in areas under rural traditional leadership with focus on two case studies respectively Bushbuckridge Local Municipality and Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality in Mpumalanga Province. The research report aims to understand the manner in which land use management can be incrementally introduced to rural areas from a modernist and post-modernist theoretical framework. The research rationale does not seek to resolve existing challenges as the study scope is limited, but explores the application of planning theory and practice on land use management within rural areas. The framing theory is informed by social theoretical analysis from different perspectives of dealing with traditional leadership, since traditional authorities continue to be influenced by planning law directly and indirectly. The modernist theoretical framework draws insight from theories on functionalism, liberalism and Marxism. Whilst post-modernism a subjective framing theory is informed by constructivism. The research is based on a qualitative research method informed by five key pillars respectively: desktop research influenced by grey literature; case studies as a means to compare research findings; interviews and observation sessions as a means of drawing experiences and insight from planning professionals in the public and private sector; mapping and photography. The primary focus of the qualitative research was on the case studies, aided by research interviews with municipalities, provincial sector departments and organisations that have either written or undertaken incremental land use planning in one form or another. The research sample comprised of twelve interviewees of which traditional authorities were not part of the sample mainly due their contestation on the implementation of SPLUMA. The research findings illustrate that the implementation of SPLUMA expands the traditional planning scope from focusing on urban areas, but by also focusing on areas previously excluded by planning. More critically that the planning profession needs to undertake research on indigenous knowledge in order to merge traditional and modern planning approaches in policy, tools and systems. Thus, the responsibility of ensuring spatial justice within rural areas cannot be solely achieved through land use management, but also needs to be accompanied by other land administration matters such as land tenure. The concept on incremental land use management is considered to be broad and vaguely discussed in SPLUMA.Thus; indepth research should be undertaken by provincial and national government to unpack the concept of incrementalism and its‟ practical implementation in areas previously excluded from planning processes. Furthermore, municipalities require political support and should also consider establishing land use structures/committees that operate within the traditional authority offices, aided by educational programmes on spatial planning and land use management.Item The deforestation of Tholeni: the environmental legacies of apartheid underdevelopment(2018) Mahlangeni, Sanelisiwe AbongileThis research report considers deforestation of Tholeni Forest in the context of rural poverty and underdevelopment. According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) 2007, close to 13 million hectares of forests are deforested each year. This has led to the reduced economic viability of forests and lower investment in the management of forests as a whole. Most of the international literature, however, focusses on indigenous forest resources, with little focus on the economic and environmental sustainability of former plantation forests beyond the assumption of the environmental impact of mono-culture industrial agriculture. In the Eastern Cape, Tholeni in particular, local (primarily rural) communities rely upon former industrial plantations for as part of their livelihood – including collecting firewood for fuel. Meanwhile, despite its questionable environmental benefit, the Eastern Cape provincial government has declared the forest a protected environmental resource. This creates tension between longer-term traditional ways of life and increasingly urban expectations. While such traditional rural practices may be one of a number of proximate (or immediate) causes of deforestation, this research has attempted to account for the ultimate (or distal) causes of environmental pressures in the Tholeni area. The history of rural areas such as Tholeni have shaped a major part of the way in which the environment is treated and understood in rural South Africa and for this reason underdevelopment has been the result. In doing so, this research also attempts to understand the relationship between traditional rural livelihood practices, broader social and political impacts on the area, and the possible role of environmental education in creating sustainable futures. The research has adopted a qualitative research method, including: a literature review to describe the changing dynamics of the Tholeni area over the years; interviews with local residents to understand changing community dynamics over the years and to track the impacts of deforestation on livelihoods; focus group discussions to establish the relationship between the community and its leaders and the relationship between the two power structures that are supposed to sustain and manage natural resources and participant observation undertaken on environmental education sessions with local political leaders and communities. The study has revealed that the possibilities for sustainable futures in areas like Tholeni are hindered by factors such as history, current state of social and environmental indicators which are affecting many South African rural communities.Item The comprehensive rural development programme and job creation in Impumelelo(2016) Chidzewere, PrevilageWith the advent of President Zuma’s administration, the issue of rural development became one of the key focal areas in South Africa (2009-2014). This is also premised in the South African Constitution (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996) which provides for planning, coordination and implementation of development (rural development included) as one of the key foundations of a developmental state that South Africa envisages. Previous research found that the poorest people in South Africa live in the rural areas where they are still poor, disempowered, characterised with high dependency and outmigration of the economically active. This research used a mixed method approach where quantitative and qualitative questionnaires were used to collect primary data from 50 heads of household in Impumelelo. It was found that the Impumelelo heads of household generally hold positive perceptions on whether service delivery has improved in Impumelelo since the introduction of Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. However, there has been mixed reactions on whether locals have had access to jobs locally and on the issue of skills development for the youth. The majority of Impumelelo heads of household hold negative perceptions on whether Comprehensive Rural Development Programme has been beneficial to women empowerment, youth empowerment and long term employment in Impumelelo.Item Implications of Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (16 of 2013) (SPLUMA) on land allocation in areas under traditional authorities(2017) Maluleke, Meshack NtshuxekoThe main aim of the study is to investigate the significance of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (16 OF 2013) (SPLUMA) and its possible implications on land allocation in areas under traditional authority. In order to achieve this, the Act was reviewed as a data collection mechanism. This was done in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the act and its objectives before attempting to formulate the implications of this Act on land allocation in areas under traditional authority .This study explored how this new planning legislation (i.e. SPLUMA) will affect the roles and functions of traditional leaders in rural development and overall service provision, focusing mainly on land allocation. The research study discovered that SPLUMA was a significant Spatial and Land Use Management legislation in South Africa which is central in addressing issues of land rights and rural development. The findings were that there has been tension between traditional leaders and elected local government officials as they found contesting for power and authority in rural areas. This was because of the ambiguity and vagueness of the Constitution and the Traditional Leadership and Governance Act on issues of power and functions of the two institutions especially on matters of land allocation and administration. Another finding was regarding the socio-economic implication which showed that SPLUMA was a planning law which has potential to redress the socio-economic imbalances left by the colonial and apartheid regimes, but it requires the collaboration of traditional leaders as custodians of tribal land and customary law. Conclusions and key recommendations were that local government officials and traditional leaders need to cooperate on issues of land allocation and administration. However, clarification of roles and functions in SPLUMA regulations should be done to avoid tension and frustrations. Furthermore, there is also a need for national land allocation guidelines which traditional leaders should consider when allocating land. Lastly, capacitation of traditional leaders on spatial planning, land management and rural governance was indispensable in promoting land rights and rural development in areas under their jurisdiction.Item A precarious success : land reform and governance of the commons at the Amangcolosi Community Trust(2016) Tekié, AmyThis study explores the land restitution experience of the Amangcolosi Community Trust, to understand what factors have allowed them to build a thriving land reform project in a terrain riddled with dysfunctional community property institutions and under-utilised land. The case of the neighbouring Gayede Trust, with a shared history, is used as a secondary case for comparison. The research considers what factors contribute to effective communal property management, as well as the role of government, the traditional authority, and commercial partners in contributing to or hindering success. It also explores what factors have allowed for alleged co-option of resources by elites, and the role of corruption and mismanagement by government in jeopardising the community’s success. Finally, it discusses the importance of accountability from both the top-down and bottom-up if land reform is to avoid ongoing repetitions of the tragedy of the commons.Item Construction and validation of a theoretically derived PEST analysis type tool for LED community entrepreneurship programmes in South African rural economies(2016-08-25) Stockil, Andrew DonovanIn South Africa today there are many rural economies in decline. Despite the recognition internationally, since the 2nd World War internationally and since 1994 in South Africa specifically, of the value that can be added by specifically targeting Local Economic Development and Entrepreneurship as strategies for an answer to the decline in local economies, success has been limited. More success has in fact been seen in rural communities that have developed through the natural flows of the market than from direct intervention. This progression takes a long time though and the South African situation with all its history cannot wait this long for development. The question asked is why interventions fail, what are the basic factors that make up the local economic development paradigm and how are they affecting the interventions. Information is key to planning and planning is key to successful interventions. A literature review is done in order to establish the basis of LED historically, theoretically and specifically with regards to the South African rural environment, in order to assist in the development of the information required for successful planning of LED interventions. With the most prominent factors derived from this literature review tabled and applied into established Case Study models, a questionnaire is developed for application into rural economies through Community Entrepreneurship programmes or LED vehicles. In order to establish firstly the relevance of the factors and secondly the relevance of the questionnaire, it is reviewed, scored and commented on by a select group of industry practitioners in LED. The opinion of these individuals further validates the use of the factors and questionnaire in baseline LED intervention planning.Item Linking land reform and rural development to poverty alleviation in the rural areas(2014-05-22) Makgata, Makgorometje AugustineThe issue of rural poverty is deeply rooted in the skewed distribution of the resources in the rural areas. The majority of rural people do not have access to the basic services like health, water, electricity, education etc. the inequalities constitute a barrier to progress, and indeed there is some evidence to indicate that the extreme inequality acts as bottleneck to development. Land Reform and Rural Development programmes have been initiated in the rural areas to alleviate poverty, although they have been subject to hot debates in many countries. This is due to the fact that most of these programmes have fallen short of expectations, especially of the intended beneficiaries. This discourse attempts to link Land Reform and rural development to poverty alleviation. This is done by reviewing literature on land reform and rural development, analysing the case of Tarlton land Redistribution project and recommendations on the best practice for poverty alleviation through an integrated approach towards land reform and rural development.