School of Social Sciences (ETDs)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 21
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    Food Riot? Analyzing the July 2021 Unrest in South Africa Using Topic Modeling
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Khoza, Palesa; Kesselman, Brittany
    The July 2021 unrest in South Africa trended on Twitter between the 9th and 31st of July 2021. The unrest received attention from different groups of society, it was interpreted by the media, government, and scholars. This paper explores whether the July 2021 unrest was framed as a food riot by the affected communities across KwaZulu–Natal and Gauteng provinces in South Africa. A dictionary-based analysis and STM topic modeling were conducted on 8264 geo-tagged tweets extracted from the 9th to the 31 of July 2021 to capture the views of the communities in areas affected by the unrest. The findings indicate that conversations concerning the unrest were around collective action, food disturbances, political dissatisfaction, looting, and socio-economic stressors. This study found that political dissatisfaction is linked to a lack of governance response to the deteriorating socio-economic conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study suggest that loss of income and high food prices associated with the pandemic contributed to food disturbances. In addition, food price increases were expected in the aftermath of the social unrest. In conclusion, the views on Twitter revealed conversations around multiple interlinked issues.
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    Caste and Colourism: Constructions of beauty among women in the historically Indian area of Chatsworth, Durban
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Moodley, Paalini Jasanthini; Mngomezulu, Nosipho
    This research study has set out to uncover the silences surrounding caste and colourism, and the influence of this on constructions of beauty standards among women in the Chatsworth Indian community. My fieldwork consisted of participant observations and interviews over the course of four weeks at a beauty parlour in Chatsworth, with a predominantly Indian women clientele. There were six participants in this study who consisted of the owner of the beauty parlour, Sandhya, the nail technicians, Mahati and Nidhi, the threaders, Yukti and Kalyani, and the hairdresser, Lavana. Throughout the chapters within this study, I argue that despite the language of caste rarely spoken, it exists as a reconfigured caste system determined by culture and colour, significantly influencing women’s perceptions of beauty. Moreover, certain standards of beauty that favour lighter skin tones as a result of systemic prejudice, influence women to partake in beauty treatments that feed into this ideal. Lastly, women’s choices in certain treatments are severely influenced by their desire to please a man, impress a mother-in-law, flaunt social status to family through a lighter skin tone, and fit an ideal standard of beauty. In theorising beauty, I draw on feminist and postcolonial perspectives, contextualising beauty within historical, socio-cultural, socio-economic, and socio-political dimensions. I use Hauntology as a framework in unmasking the recursive force of caste which consumes women’s everyday lives, dictating marriage criterion, popularity, status, affluence, and beauty standards
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    Changing Patterns of violence in the Western Sahel
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Krienke, Hannah
    This dissertation investigates how changing patterns of violence in Mali and Burkina Faso have resulted in the formation of alternative government systems by jihadist groups and community militias. By analysing the interactions between these non -state actors, state institutions, and foreign intermediaries, the study highlights the significant impacts of socioeconomic problems, corruption, ethnic and religious tensions, and climate change, which have given rise to space where power and control of the state is contested. In Mali, violence erupted in 2012 with an insurgent movement that was exacerbated by subsequent coups and political crises, eroding state authority and supporting the growth of multiple armed groups most notably via jihadist insurgency. Violence in Burkina Faso began to grow in 2015, and it was exacerbated with the 2022 coup, which altered the dynamics of domestic and foreign alliances, including the Russian Wagner Group's involvement. Both countries are currently governed by the military, although in both cases the military has struggled to calm violence. The frequency of attacks increasing drastically between 2015 and 2024. Therefore, the dynamics of violence in both countries are examined in relation to the restructuring of local and state interactions and the emergence of new forms of governance. This involves drawing on theories such as Mary Kaldor's t "new wars," who emphasises the relationship between identity politics and armed conflict. Through a comparative examination, the study reveals parallels as well as differences in the ways that violence has impacted state formation and impacted Sahelian populations in Mali and Burkina Faso.
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    The aesthetic politics of skin tone and hair texture amongst black women in Diepkloof, Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Kwinika, Makhawukana Akani; Katsaura, Obvious
    Beautification practices for Black women in South Africa reveal a complex interplay of cultural influences and individual affirmative choices. This research explores the societal factors that inspire Black women to beautify the surface-body, focusing on hair and skin, both locally and from an intra-racial perspective. The theories that the research borrows from are the Self- objectification theory, which explains the issues associated with bodily modifications and insecurities, and African Feminism, which examines the intersectionality of race, gender, and beauty standards, emphasizing the importance of examining the history of African women. Employing a qualitative methodology, data were collected through questionnaires and in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in Diepkloof Zone 2, a Township situated in Soweto, Johannesburg, with a sample size of seven women. Thematic analysis was utilized for data analysis. The findings demonstrate that Black women’s beautification practices remain politicized globally, yet the Black beauty experience is multifaceted, ranging from personal to trivial. The study highlights the agency of Black women in redefining beauty standards globally and within the African continent, rather than merely adhering to Western norms. Recommendations include further exploration of Black women’s hair aesthetics to accommodate bald-headedness or short hair as a preference. Furthermore, to explore skin bleaching practices among Black women and understand the psychological implications of colourism and the yellow bone phenomenon beyond the internalization of whiteness.
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    Shifts, Changes and Continuities in Heritage Commemoration and Memorialisation of the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre: 1960-2010
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Ngoaketsi, Joseph Mairomola; Lekgoathi, S.P
    The Sharpeville Massacre was a key turning point in modern South African history. The massacre ended the non-violent civil rights-style political activism and flickered three decades of armed confrontation with the colonial apartheid regime. Most importantly, it became the catalyst for the declaration of apartheid as a crime against humanity by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1966. However, most of the studies on the massacre focus mainly on documenting the events of that day, and very little has been written about the historical re-presentations of the shooting beyond this. This study, therefore, aims to fill the lacuna in the re-presentation and observance of this event. It does so by not only complementing the existing literature but also looking at an area that has been grossly neglected, namely the diverse ways in which the killing has been observed over a period of five decades, starting from the 1960s to 2010. The study employs discourse analysis as well as critical and in-depth analyses of published secondary, historical and archival sources, including newspaper reports and commentaries on the 21 March Sharpeville Day commemorations. These sources are complemented by a large spread, and wide range of biographical sources, unstructured interviews, testimonials, informal discussions, and conversations with key local heritage activist respondents. The focus group consists of members of the Khulumani Support Group at the Sharpeville branch. The findings and conclusions of this study derive from observations of the anniversary commemorations of the massacre by ethnographic participants. The study utilises several theoretical frameworks, while the Life Narrative Interpretative theory of oral history lays the basis for this research venture. As the findings of this thesis bear out, the application of this theory converges oral history and collective memory studies. Other theories used in this study include Maurice Halbwachs’ theory of collective memory, which is located in nostalgia, individual testimony, oral history, tradition, myth, style, language, art, popular culture, and physical landscape. Émile Durkheim’s performance or ritual theory postulates that the past is represented and relived through rituals, and the relationship between the past and the present takes the form of a dramatic (re)presentation. The study observes that cultural rites conducted during memorialisation processes and annual observances of the Sharpeville massacre are marked by human arrangements of performances or viii ritual remembrances. The transitional justice theoretical discourse is applied in the study’s analysis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission - a socio-political initiative devoted to fact-finding, reconciliation and memory culture. It concludes that memorialisation processes and rituals are communal reflexes for survivors of the Sharpeville Massacre and families of the victims. Contrary to assertions by notable Sharpeville Massacre historians, this day was not observed between 1964 and 1984, despite an international commemorative tradition that developed beginning from 1966. The study observes that during the 1960s, the Human Rights Society, an affiliate of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), commemorated Sharpeville Day even at the height of state repression. It demonstrates that it was the Black Consciousness Movement family of organisations that popularised the commemoration of Sharpeville Day, calling it Heroes Day during the 1970s. The observance of this day took the form of church services, cemetery visitations and political rallies. The study notes that with the formation of the Congress Movement-aligned civic structure in the form of the United Democratic Front, Sharpeville Day was used as a platform to openly defy the apartheid government and undermine its institutions. The 1990s was a period of political transition in South Africa, and the study analyses commemorations of the Sharpeville Massacre during this decade. In the context of the unbanning of liberation movements, observances of this day took place in a more politically tolerable landscape. During the first half of this decade, commemorations of Sharpeville Massacre revealed the deep-seated political and ideological differences between the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress former liberation movements turned political parties in the early 1990s after their unbanning. The study observes that this day was used during this period to garner support for the upcoming elections in 1994. Following the establishment of the Government of National Unity, the hegemonic impulses of the African National Congress overrode long-held traditions of how Sharpeville Day was observed. The study highlights that from the year 1995, 21 March started to be observed as an official public holiday, later transforming into Human Rights Day, instead of being a solemn commemoration, as was the case before the democratic dispensation. The study further observes that during this decade, court-like restorative justice bodies, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, created a theatrical environment for victims of gross human rights violations. The ritualistic oral testimonies of those who appeared constituted a ix memorialisation process. Lastly, the study reveals that post-1994, Sharpeville commemorations possess distinct characteristics at the core of which are distortions of history, the watering down of other narratives and contributions, selective amnesia and the silencing of other voices on the part of the governing party. There are further contestations, grand narratives, commemorations, counter commemorations and counter-narratives regarding the memory of Sharpeville by both the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress. In terms of material culture, the study highlights how this tangible feature of Sharpeville’s memory is characterised by official memorials and counter-memorials.
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    Nationalism Without a State: A Comparative Analysis of Revolutionary Nationalism Among Stateless Nations
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Mayet, Humairaa; Zähringer, Natalie
    A political philosophy employed by nationalist groups and parties, revolutionary nationalism, is used to resist the established order and achieve political goals. It is especially prevalent when power is held by a group or party which attempts to oppress and stifle certain identities and nationalities while enabling others. Revolutionary nationalism has been practiced by the people of Palestine and Western Sahara, both when they resisted against their European colonisers, Britain and Spain, and today, as they resist against their occupiers, Israel and Morocco. Forms of resistance practices include popular and organised resistance, as well as violent and nonviolent resistance. Similarities and differences emerge when analysing how each of these occupied populations attempted to resist through means of revolutionary nationalism and these can be examined and compared. Revolutionary nationalism often goes hand-in-hand with the expression of the right to self-determination, the highest form of which is statehood. The aim of this research report is to discern whether or not the practices of revolutionary nationalism give rise to self-determination, even though it has been proven that, in the post-Cold War era, they do not give rise to statehood.
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    Decriminalising Sex Work: The Politics of Policy-Making in South Africa 1994 - 2019
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-04-19) Gathercole, Corey Sarana Spengler; Dube, Siphiwe I.
    Sex Work in South Africa This thesis explores feminist viewpoints regarding sex work, delving into the intricate web of gender, race, and class within the unique historical context of South Africa (SA). Its central mission guiding the research was to identify, investigate, and shed light on the factors that had impeded the commitment and execution of sex work decriminalisation by the African National Congress (ANC) government. With a specific focus on the prevailing legislative framework in SA, which criminalised the sex industry, the thesis scrutinises the rationale behind this approach and assessed its suitability within the SA context. Additionally, it underscores the adverse repercussions of sex industry criminalisation on sex workers while questioning its effectiveness in achieving its intended goal of eradicating the sex work sector. Through a feminist lens, this research journey unraveled several root causes of the stagnation in SA's sex worker policy reforms. It explored the intricate dynamics of policy change, unveiling the stumbling blocks that hindered progress in the realm of sex worker policy. Given SA's distinctive historical landscape, characterised by a complex history of apartheid and racial inequality, the thesis argued that comprehending sex work in SA necessitated an examination of its inextricable connection to the country's socio-economic conditions. Moreover, the thesis conducts a comparative analysis of legislative frameworks in other countries where different approaches to sex work regulation had been adopted. Foucault's theory on the regulation of the body provides an invaluable framework for understanding the power dynamics at play within the context of sex work. It illuminates how the criminalisation of sex work was intertwined with exerting control over the female body, aligning with Foucauldian principles. The thesis investigates how these power dynamics sought to render those involved in sex work submissive, echoing traditional perspectives on body commodification. Drawing upon the history of SA and its tumultuous past, including the legacies of apartheid and the enduring effects of racial discrimination, this thesis contended that sex work in SA cannot be fully understood without considering its historical and socio-economic dimensions. It delves into the nuances of sex work policies in various countries, exploring models such as full decriminalisation, partial decriminalisation, and legalisation through both a feminist and Foucauldian lens. By examining these diverse approaches and their outcomes, the thesis provides valuable insights into the complex landscape of sex work regulation. As a comprehensive contribution to the study of existing legislative paradigms, this thesis addresses the pivotal question: "Why has the decriminalisation of sex work stalled in SA?" This inquiry gave insights into the complexities of policy change, the root causes of policy delays, and potential avenues for reforming sex work policy, all while considering the broader global context of sex work legislation and the implications of feminist and Foucauldian perspectives.
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    Violence, Chaos, and Degeneration: Analysing Unemployment and Xenophobic Conflict in South Africa, 2006–2021.
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Ndoda, Buhle; Mpofu, Sizwe Walsh
    Over the past 27 years, xenophobic conflict has overwhelmed South Africa. From “Buyelekhaya” (go back home) campaigns to “Operation Dudula” (push back), xenophobia has spread to different parts of the country, provoking social division, animosity, and a nervous condition of ‘othering’ among Black Africans. At the centre of these insurgences is the issue of unemployment in the country. Unemployment levels have seen a persistent increase in the past five years. Scholars that have examined these challenges have not settled on an opinion about the relationship between xenophobic conflict and unemployment. The reason for this lies in the intricacies and racial undertones of anti-migrant sentiments in South Africa. Xenophobia has particularly targeted Black African immigrants, probing questions about intra-Black racism and Afrophobia. Using the SP-SP model I have established, this study examines the influence of high rates of unemployment on xenophobic conflict in South Africa from the year 2006 to 2021. I draw upon secondary qualitative and quantitative data, and primary qualitative data in my analysis.
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    Sustaining the Unsustainable? Political Accountability and Development in sub-Saharan Africa’s Resource Economies
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-07) Ndlovu, Xichavo Alecia; Alence, Rod
    Sub-Saharan Africa’s development challenge is to ‘sustain the unsustainable’–using non-renewable resources to initiate long-term development processes that outlive the short-term proceeds of resource extraction. Literature has highlighted how differences in political institutions help determine whether natural resources help or hinder development. However, there is disagreement on which political institutions account for the variations in development outcomes. This study clarifies whether political regimes, electoral competitiveness, and party institutionalisation matter for inclusive and sustainable development using a sample of all sub-Saharan African countries for which data is available from 1990 to 2018. Specifically, do democracies perform better or worse on average than non-democracies? Do electorally competitive democracies perform better or worse than dominant-party (but still multiparty) democracies? Do more institutionalised party systems perform better or worse than less institutionalised party systems? In general, how, if at all, do different political accountability mechanisms affect inclusive and sustainable development? The study uses ‘nested’ analysis, which combines cross-national statistical analysis and case studies of four resource-rich democracies in Africa: Ghana, Zambia, Namibia, and Mozambique. The cross-national analysis shows that party institutionalisation is the only political predictor for social inclusiveness, and all political variables do not improve or worsen economic sustainability. On the other hand, resource rents are negatively associated with social inclusiveness but do not predict economic sustainability. Meanwhile, the non-rent sectors contribute positively to both dimensions of development, highlighting the potential significance of income levels in explaining the cross-national development patterns in Africa. Evidence in the case studies shows that electorally competitive democracies outperform dominant party democracies on social inclusiveness. The risk of being removed from office incentivises incumbents to provide public goods and increase social welfare. However, the impact of political accountability mechanisms on economic sustainability is ambiguous and may depend on sectoral institutions, policies and actors. The study contributes to (and bridges) two groups of literature, one investigating the economic consequences of politics and institutions and another accounting for the resource curse. It also considers both the inclusivity and sustainability aspects of development and highlights contextual factors from case studies, often overlooked in cross-national analyses.
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    Exploration of the Impact of Police Brutality during demonstrations on Public Trust: A case study of the Malawi Police Service in Malawi, 2010-2020
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022-12) Chavula, Faith; Pakade, Nomancotsho; Duca, Federica
    Police brutality during demonstrations has been a concern all around the world. Over the last decade, Malawi has recorded tens of violent demonstrations which have been associated with police brutality which has negatively affected an already declining public trust in the Malawi Police Service (MPS). This study employed a qualitative research design to investigate how police brutality during demonstrations has negatively affected public trust in the MPS. This study used semi-structured interviews and document analysis to collect data. This research study sampled twenty (20) respondents namely, citizens who had participated in demonstrations in the past decade, MPS officers, and members of Community Social Organisations (CSO’s) who had been organising different demonstrations in Malawi over the past decade. The major findings of this study are that there has been a political influence in the MPS which has led to the adoption of partisanship in the MPS. This has influenced police brutality especially during anti-government demonstrations. The study also found that the MPS have adopted a militarisation approach also known as an “us vs them” posture, where the police see the public as enemies and respond with excessive force during demonstrations. Due to this militarisation approach and police partisanship, there has been an impaired relationship between the citizens and the police which has resulted in a shift of public trust from the MPS to CSOs. Strategies and recommendations have also been explored to begin to address public trust in the MPS.