3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Tourism-led development in South Africa: a case study of the Makuleke partnership with Wilderness Safaris(2012-02-29) Shehab, May;Through a case study of the relationship between the rural Makuleke community and the regional tourism operator Wilderness Safaris, this thesis examines the impact of tourism partnerships on community development in post-‐ apartheid South Africa. The study considers the tourism component of the ‘Makuleke model’, a concept used frequently in academic and popular literature to refer to the community’s landmark land restitution case involving the Kruger National Park (KNP). Thirty years after experiencing a forced removal by the apartheid regime, the Makuleke community in 1998 was able to regain their lost land (the Pafuri area of Kruger National Park) and benefit from it through conservation and tourism. The Makuleke have partnered with three tourism operators, their main concessionaire being Wilderness Safaris. Their contractual agreement obliges the tourism company to pay lease fees to the Makuleke Communal Property Association (CPA) and to employ Makuleke residents. To further community development, Wilderness Safaris established a joint venture with the Makuleke CPA, and also runs an environmental education programme for children. Evidence for this thesis was collected over a two and a half year period (from May 2007 to December 2009) using three methodological approaches: archival research, participant observation and semi-‐structured, open-‐ended interviews. In analysing the Makuleke CPA-‐Wilderness Safaris partnership, findings reveal that ten years after the land claim, the commended ‘Makuleke model’ is neither as conceptually coherent nor as practically successful as is commonly supposed. I argue that although the model denotes success, a closer scrutiny of its foundations, assumptions and context expose inherent forces and practices that hinder its long-‐ term effective implementation. Influenced by post-‐development theory, I question perceptions of equality in benefit distribution, critique the juxtaposition of traditional with modern values, and examine contestations over power within the Makuleke community. I demonstrate how these features undermine the potential for the genuine transformation and broad-‐based social upliftment that tourism-‐led development purposes to achieve at Makuleke. My research findings confirm post-‐development theoretical propositions that criticise the contradictions in orthodox development procedures and call for a rethinking of the premises upon which approaches to community upliftment through tourism are generally founded.Item Municipal capacity building and the implementation of IDP(2010-02-19T09:59:45Z) Pelly, Mashele JetroItem Capacitating rural communities for participation in the integrated development planning process.(2008-04-11T12:07:29Z) Mogaladi, Ramatsobane ShokyDespite stipulations in local government legislation that Municipalities should build the capacity of the local communities to enable effective public participation and to foster community participation in local government, little is known on how municipalities capacitate their people staying in the rural areas to participate effectively in the IDP process. This research study investigated, explored and analyzed capacity building programmes used by Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality to capacitate its people staying in the rural areas to participate effectively in the IDP process. The study was conducted through qualitative interviews with officials working and people living in two rural wards. An analysis of the interviews yields that Lepelle-Nkumpi municipality does not have a capacity building policy or strategy for promoting effective participation of people in the IDP process. The capacity building programmes used by the municipality are more focused on ward committees, ward councilors and project steering committee members than on traditional leaders, small businesses and other people staying in the rural areas. The municipality has planned training programmes for ward committees, ward councilors and project steering committee members and none for other people. Information sharing is done through ward committees, municipality and council meetings for all categories of citizens. People who practise subsistence farming are capacitated through agricultural research based interventions. Skills development programmes are used to enhance participation of project steering committee members in monitoring the implementation of IDP projects. The capacity building programmes are effective in making people aware of structures they can use to participate in the IDP process and to participate during IDP project implementation and to a minimal extent enhances people’s participation in monitoring the implementation of IDP projects. The Municipality’s capacity building programmes enhances people’s skills to participate effectively during implementation of IDP projects and not in the decision making during analysis, strategies and approval phases of the IDP process.Item Reducing dependency and promoting community participation in development?: Four case studies of participatory rural appraisal and community action plans in Botswana(2008-03-06T13:55:42Z) Dipholo, KennethABSTRACT Since independence in 1966, centralized development planning has ensured the availability of basic facilities and services in rural areas of Botswana but has also contributed to over-reliance on the government for the majority of rural people. The consequence of this centralized and accelerated approach to rural development has been the exclusion of rural communities from planning and implementation of facilities meant to benefit them. The international debate on sustainable rural development led the Botswana government to re-think its rural development policy with a view to establishing more effective strategies for rural development. The Community Based Strategy for Rural Development, introduced in 1997 emphasizes the important role of communities in their own development, by promoting Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). This study sought to discover insights into the implementation of PRA in Botswana by questioning extension workers and community members in four villages about the application and impact of PRA on their communities. The research uses the frameworks of qualitative research and critical adult education theory to enquire into the basis for participatory rural development in Botswana and the implementation of Community Action Plans (CAPs). Case studies of the four villages were conducted to illuminate problematic areas of programme design and implementation. Interviews with thirty-two people and observations were the main methods of collecting data. Documents, reports and records on PRA training and application in the four villages and from outside were consulted. The research results show that the application of PRA in the participating villages has had negligible impact in reversing the state-dominated approach to development. PRA facilitators seem disinterested in its application and sustenance. However, the findings also suggest that PRA application in Botswana is not hopeless, but needs a different kind of investment, for example, introducing measures of accountability, addressing paternalistic attitudes among development workers, and exploiting key principles of adult education.