4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions

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Masculinity and its role in gender-based violence in South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Davhana-Ngwenya, Vhugala
This study investigates ways in which men construct masculinity and understand its role in gender-based violence. An increased interest in studying masculinity and its construction suggests that there are different ways in which men express their masculinities. 11 males over the age of 18 participated in the study. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to guide one on one interviews that were used to collect data. The interviews were recorded and transcribed for easy analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data through identifying, analysing, and reporting repeated themes. Specifically, four themes were identified in this study: (1) Constructions of traditional masculinity, (2) Construction of gender-based violence, (3) Role models and (4) Proposed interventions for gender- based violence. The findings suggest that participants have a negative view towards the traditional ideology of masculinity and conventional masculinity. For most of the participants’ influential role models were predominantly male figures who held positions of authority in their households or communities while for other media emerged as a significant role model. The participants understood the impact of GBV and its far-reaching consequences on its victims. The research will contribute to the field of psychology in the understandings of constructions of masculinity and its role in Gender Based Violence.
Using Mnemonic and Sub-lexic Reinforcement Techniques to Enhance Reading Abilities among Grade Three Learners with Dyslexia in Primary Schools in Mpumalanga: Analysis of Age and Gender Differences
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Zindoga, Lilian; Aloka,Peter
Learners with dyslexia (LWD) have difficulties in accurate and fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities. Such learners also face challenges in various areas. In addition, dyslexia is linked with experiences of stigmatization and lowered self- concept. However, every learner in the society including those with dyslexia who have been excluded from the formal education system, must get access to quality education without discrimination. In South Africa, White Paper 6 outlines a national strategy for systematically addressing and removing barriers to learning through establishing full- service schools, converting special schools into resource centres, training education managers and teachers, and developing institutional and district support structures and pursuing a funding strategy. However, several studies report that LWD are still many and disadvantaged in the inclusive school set-ups. LWD continue to face academic, social, and psychological challenges in school and therefore early interventions are crucial for the development of these learners. This study aimed to examine effectiveness of mnemonic and sub-lexical reinforcement techniques in enhancing reading abilities among grade three LWD in two public schools in Mpumalanga, South Africa and was guided by two theories: Skinner’s reinforcement theory and the Information Processing Theory (IPT). The study was also informed by the Human Rights Model of Disability and the Inclusive Pedagogical Approach. This study was anchored on pragmatic research paradigm. Within the mixed methods methodology, the Sequential Triangulation design guided the data collection process. The sample size consisted of 43 learners: 23 grade three LWD from the intervention and 20 learners from the control schools. Pre-and post- tests were administered to the learners during the first three months and during the second half of the research period which took 6 months using the quantitative sample of 43 LWD. The initial test was the Bangor Dyslexia test that was administered to all grade three learners from both the experimental and the control schools. The study’s qualitative data, in the form of interviews, was also undertaken in the second phase of the data collection period where 6 parents of LWD were selected using purposive sampling and 3 English Grade three teachers, plus the principal and the deputy principal underwent semi- structured in-depth interviews. The research tools used were reading tests, short reading comprehension passage, questionnaires, and interview guides. Validity of questionnaires was ensured by Keyser Meyer Oklin test while reliability was ascertained by use of xv Cronbach’s alpha. Quantitative data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics whereas the qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The study findings indicated that the use of mnemonic reinforcement techniques to enhance reading abilities among grade three learners with dyslexia in primary schools is highly effective. The findings further revealed that repeated reading as a form of sub- lexical reinforcement techniques is effective in enhancing reading abilities among learners with dyslexia. The findings also revealed that there is a significant effect of gender in influencing enhancement of reading performance by mnemonic intervention, with the female learners having better scores than males. The findings indicated that girls had comparatively higher improvement in performance than the boys in the two components of reading ability (reading and comprehension) and in the overall reading ability, after having gone through sub-lexical intervention. The findings further indicated that generally older children in the intervention group had relatively higher improvement in performance in overall reading ability and its two components (reading and comprehension) than the younger children in same group. The findings indicated that there was statistically significant difference in reading scores between younger and older children among grade three LWD who received sub-lexical treatment, with older learners having higher scores than younger learners. The study recommends that the Department of Basic Education should revise the policy that reading is tested from grade one, instead of from grade three, and that those who are not able to read do not proceed until and unless they are able to read. Moreover, the Department of Basic Education should organize workshops that train teachers in various approaches on how to improve reading of learners with reading problems because the workshops would help teachers by equipping them with the most widely used approaches to reading instruction to enhance learners’ reading abilities of learners in early years.
Women, State Law, And the Crisis of Chieftaincy: The Case Of Nswazi Village In Zimbabwe
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Muradzikwa, Tracey C.; Dube, S.I.
Increasingly, post-colonial African states have been grappling with the issue of the gender- gap within traditional leadership institutions, resulting in contestations between state laws and traditional customary laws. Using the landmark succession of Indunakazi Sinqobile Mabhena of Nswazi in Umzingwane district, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe as a case study, the dissertation provides a new perspective on female traditional leadership through studying the in-depth the negotiation of the legitimacy of Mabhena’s chieftaincy. The study is a “feminist ethnography” of the daily life of Chief Mabhena in a Nswazi community to establish how the governance strategies of women chiefs are configured in practice, with a focus on debates and contention regarding the succession and legitimacy of Indunakazi Mabhena. Drawing on more than one year of fieldwork and making use of a qualitative narrative ethnographic research methods, the Zimbabwean case shows how African women play a significant role in the reconceptualization of legitimacy in traditional leadership and the perceptions of the people of Nswazi on the legitimacy of Indunakazi Mabhena in particular. A key finding of the thesis is that the legitimacy of traditional leaders primarily lies with the community accepting the rulership of the appointed leader through celebrations, ceremonies, and commitment to the well-being of the people that preserve their heritage and lineage. To that end, the naturalization of male chieftaincy primogeniture is put to question.
Azibuye Emasisweni: Exploring Everyday Notions of Zulu Nationalism Through the Women in the Hostels of Alexandra Township
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Makhathini, Sinqobile; Mngomezulu, Nosipho
This thesis explores the lives of four women who ethnically identify as Zulu within the hostels of Alexandra. Hostels, which refer to the housing compounds that were established as ethnically segregated and gender-distinguished spheres for the colonial migrant labour system, have become an essential axis for Zulu nationalist revival away from Kwa-Zulu Natal. Through participant observation and semi-structured interviews, I examine how Mam’Dlamini (57 years), the Nduna of Madala hostel and three hostel residents: Nokukhanya (23years), Mam’Nzama (55 years), Nokwazi (21 years), engage and shape forms of Zulu nationalism within their everyday life. I further engaged in autoethnography, whereby I positioned myself as the fifth participant, undertaking self-reflexivity about my identification as a Zulu woman. My work is invested in ukuzwa ngenkaba, listening with the umbilical cord, which is to say, centring African epistemologies in the ways we research (Mkhize 2023). In this way, I think through Fox and Miller-Idriss’ (2008) four modalities of everyday nationhood (talking, choosing, consuming and performing the nation) within Zulu conceptual frames. In my research, I found that in “talking the nation'' women used ulimi and ukuncelisa both literally and figuratively to signal membership and centre the role of mothers in shaping Zulu subjectivity. The framing of choices as national is understood by participants as more than individual articulations of personal agency but importantly incorporates inherited traditions. Ordinary people are not simply uncritical consumers of the nation; they are simultaneously its creative producers through everyday acts of consumption (Fox et al 2008, 505). My research shows how rituals become fertile sites for enacting Zulu personhood through specific forms of consumption and production. Performing the nation was evidenced through the women’s embodied expressions of inhlonipho. These themes have allowed for the understanding of how women do not remain hidden within notions of co-constituting but rather preserve this order from and beyond their matriarchal hold of the hostel.
Fluid Justice: Tracing The Experiences Of Women Navigating Urban Water Insecurity In Luveve In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Dube, Gugulethu Violet; Joynt, Katherine
Water insecurity, exacerbated by population growth and climate change, poses significant global challenges. Especially in developing countries, where decreasing water supply, contaminated sources and inadequate infrastructure disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Women, often primary caregivers, bear the brunt of these challenges as they are typically responsible for water collection, impacting their educational and economic opportunities. This report delves into the complex impact of water insecurity on women in an urban township in Luveve, Bulawayo, while also addressing the broader issue of global water insecurity and advocating for water access as a fundamental human right essential for poverty reduction. Employing a combination of semi-structured interviews, critical reading, and a feminist lens rooted in Social Reproduction Theory (S.R.T.) and Feminist Political Ecology (F.P.E.) alongside urban vulnerability theory, I explore the interplay between gender and water access. Our findings challenge the conventional narrative surrounding women's vulnerabilities to water insecurity, revealing diverse experiences shaped by factors like gender, socio-economic status, and household and community dynamics. Informed by these insights, the report identifies key challenges and proposes context-specific interventions to address women's needs in urban townships. By incorporating these interventions, development practitioners can advance more equitable and practical solutions, driving the empowerment and resilience of women grappling with water insecurity in developing country contexts. At the heart of this objective lies the concept of "fluid justice," which I define as the dynamic and context-specific pursuit of fairness and equity in water access, distribution, and management. This principle underscores the commitment to exploring nuanced and responsive approaches to tackling water insecurity, ensuring that interventions are sensitive to affected communities' diverse needs and experiences.
An Exploration of Life and Career Narratives of Black Senior Managers: The Storied Habitus of Career Navigation
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Ramodibe, Refiloe; Canham, Hugo
This research located black senior managers within a temporal frame that links them with their families, communities, childhoods, socio-political and economic histories. This location shed new light since it illuminated their lives and careers in new ways that are grounded in history and context. It enabled an understanding of black senior managers as bearing histories that they bring along with them into the workplace. To explore the stories of these senior managers, I conducted in-depth narrative interviews with twenty black men and black women who occupy senior positions within the financial services sector. Accessing these histories through the genre of narrative assisted in showcasing what is enabled by storying one’s life, therefore creating circuits of meaning-making that connect seemingly disparate sites of the personal, historical, social and workplace. At its core then, this project was about storying the early lives of black senior managers by locating them as mostly working class, caught up in the struggles against apartheid for democratisation, as benefiting from the opportunities enabled by the transition to democracy, as entering the white and masculine corporate workplace of the financial services sector, and as reaching and navigating seniority in their organisations. The participant’s narratives were read through the lenses of narrative theory, habitus, the black feminist theory of intersectionality, and critical race theory. The basic assumption of habitus is that the way one acts and behaves is influenced by where one comes from and one’s dispositions, including contextually salient identity categories, such as race, class, and gender. The basis of these theories is the assumption that there might be a difference in how people of varying class backgrounds and black men and women narrate their stories of mobility. The stories told by participants highlighted the role of the senior managers’ habitus in shaping their identities and trajectories. Childhood experiences and parental influences were found to have shaped their later behaviours in navigating their career journeys. Access to mentors and sponsors early on in their careers was found to have provided the senior managers with the capital that allowed them to progress to more senior roles. Refuting the existing narrative that black people move between organisations excessively, senior managers’ tenure illustrated that they stayed in their organisations for longer periods than industry norms. Notwithstanding their tenure, their stories suggest that unaccommodating cultures and unconscious bias remain prevalent in the financial services sector. Organisations that had more black people in senior roles were found to drive the transformation agenda iv more intentionally. The black senior managers understood their role as that of influencing the cultures of their organisations while also paying it forward by driving the transformation agenda. In the process of sharing their life and career stories, the black senior managers articulated their experiences and understanding of themselves, others, and the world. Therefore, not only did the personal narratives enlighten us about the participants’ personal and working lives, but they illuminated how their identities as black senior managers working within the financial services sector were shaped over time. A prominent finding from the study was that while the black senior managers shared similar experiences related to race, their experiences differed in terms of their family backgrounds and schooling experiences in their childhood. Black people’s experiences may be common in certain aspects and different in others. This necessitates the importance of exploring heterogeneity in organisational studies. This study contributes to organisational studies, gender and critical race studies, history and social theory.
The Impact of Demographic Indicators on Cybersecurity Behaviour of E-Commerce Users in South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mberikwazvo, Weston Zorodzai
This study aims to explore the cybersecurity behaviour of e-commerce users in South Africa, utilising a conceptual framework derived from some elements of both the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The study investigates the impact of demographic indicators specifically age, gender, and educational level impact the cybersecurity behaviour seeking to understand and contribute to the understanding of cybersecurity practices in response to perceived cyberthreats. A sample of 316 participants was used for the study which varied across different genders, age groups and educational levels. An online survey making use of a questionnaire was used to gather responses to the different dimensions making up cybersecurity behaviour guided by the established conceptual framework. The responses were statistically analysed to establish any patterns and trends using techniques such as correlation analysis and factor analysis. Analysis of the dataset concluded that there was significant difference to the cybersecurity behaviour of e-commerce users in South Africa for each of the demographic indicators of educational level, gender, and age and thus the null hypothesis was rejected for all three factors. Also, the null hypothesis was rejected for a combination of all three demographic indicators and cybersecurity behaviour indicating that a significant difference exists. The results showed that participants in the 36 to 40 years age group showed the highest cybersecurity behaviour level, with the 18 to 20 years and the over 60 years age group showing the lowest. Females showed a lower cybersecurity level in comparison to males with the non-binary participants scoring the lowest. The cybersecurity level increased in general with the educational level of the participants. In a nutshell, the results show that in the context of South African e-commerce users customised interventions based on the educational level, gender, and age need to be considered
Transgender Character Representation and the Gender Binary: Theorizing a Philosophy for Transgender Character Construction in Video Games.
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Cloete, Stephen
Transgender characters in video games are often met with negative opinions by the largely heteronormative playerbase which, like in other media, results in a wider negative opinion on transgender people and subjects in reality. In exploring a personal identification with Celeste, I formulate a philosophy concerning the gender binary norm and its role in perpetuating harmful ideas. This philosophy manifests as both an ideology and platformer video game questioning what gender means to story and character. Through exploring gender, metaphor, queerness and game design, a philosophy is constructed to create a transgender character and video game story in a positive light.
The moderating effect of gender on the relationship between microfinance and the business growth of SMMEs in Gauteng
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Msomi, Ncebakazi; Msimango-Galawe, Jabulile
In a country rife with inequalities and joblessness, Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) have become an alternative means of survival and viable business opportunity for a vast number of South Africans. In order for these SMMEs to operate well, they require capital, which will typically come in the form of microfinance, if at all. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of the use and cost of microfinance loans on the growth of SMMEs. Furthermore, it was to assess how differently microfinance impacts SMME growth for women compared to when utilised by men. A quantitative research approach was followed to collect the data using an online survey questionnaire. A total of 197 questionnaires were completed butthe analysis was ultimately done on 138 of these, with the exclusion of those with missing values. Data was analysed through the use of Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The study found that the costs of microfinance have a significant and negative impact on the growth potential of SMMEs. More specifically, it found that microfinance costs have a more deterring effect on the SMME growth of male owned SMMEs than female owned ones. This study avails a tool and basis for the cost versus benefit analysis that SMMEs must conduct before taking microfinance loans. With women owned SMMEs exhibiting better growth than their male counterparts when using microfinance, an exchange of valuable learnings can occur to improve the country’s SMME success rate. The study proposes innovative systems calibrations and finance product provisions that may benefit both the microfinance institutions and the SMMEs.
Challenges faced by women in obtaining leadership roles in South African Higher Learning Institutions
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Qwelane, Nomsa; Koech, Roselyn
The role of women in leadership positions in the South African Higher Learning Institutions (HLI) is crucial. It is inclusive to women from different ethnic groups, ages, abilities, socioeconomic status, and various other women who face marginalization due to their different walks of life. South Africa is formed of diverse societies; hence, HLI should enrol women from diverse backgrounds; however, the policy is not inclusive of women’s leadership roles. This has a negative impact on their work performance. Therefore, this study is inquisitive to understand whether the barriers are identifiable in policies of HLI. This study aimed to identify and characterise opportunities for growth for women in higher education institutions. Eleven adult females in senior administrative positions between the ages of 25 and 65 participated in the study. A phenomenological approach, including The Glass Cliff Theory, was used to ground the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and further analysed thematically. Results showed that the executive management had played a pivotal role in implementing diversity policy, such as removing these barriers. However, the participants have noted the fundamental challenge of the policies was not its framework but rather the speed at which it was implemented.

4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions

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