4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
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Item A Critical Review of Youth Employment Programmes in South Africa: Challenges and Solutions(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Tshefuta, Thulani; Pillay, PundyStructural Youth unemployment is generally recognised as a formidable policy challenge of our time with dire political socio-economic implications for South Africa. In response to this mammoth challenge, the government of South Africa has been implementing a package of public employment programmes towards ameliorating youth unemployment. These have been supported by some private sector measures and civil society initiatives. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine the different interventions implemented by government and other partners focusing on the successes, challenges and the potential solutions to the problem of youth unemployment. The purpose of this research is to undertake a critical assessment and analysis of the existing package of youth targeted employment programmes in South Africa with the view to unpacking their successes and challenges, whilst recommending some possible solutions on youth employment. This is a matter that South Africa cannot afford to ignore as it is facing the danger of missing the opportunity of reaping the “demographic dividend” from the current youth bulge. The theoretical framework of this study is anchored on the Positive Youth Development (PYD) theory as well as the Theory of Change (ToC). In this qualitative study, exploratory research design was used. This study utilised a semi-structured interview schedule data collection instrument. This research utilised thematic analysis to analyse the qualitative data that was collected. The study found that despite a package of existing youth intervention programmes, we still have stubborn persistence of youth unemployment. The research further conducted a critical analysis of existing youth employment programmes focusing on their successes and challenges. Specific lessons were drawn from the implementation of these youth employment programmes. The study concludes by providing recommended solutions on strategies to promote and improve effective youth employment interventions.Item Development and validation of a school-based mental health education programme for in-school adolescents in Lagos, Nigeria(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-07) Olowe, Atinuke Oluwatoyosi; Tshabalala, Amme; Bruce, JudithAn increasing prevalence of mental health challenges among adolescents, with its onset identified in early/mid-adolescence, has called for global concern. Mental health disorders account for most of the leading causes of adolescent disease burden. Its impact, as measured by the financial cost and the overall risks on adolescents, families, and the community, cannot be overemphasized, especially among Low Middle-Income Countries like Nigeria. The study aimed to determine adolescents' knowledge, attitude, and mental health status and explore stakeholders' perspectives as well as documented literature on school-based mental health programmes. Then, use the information to develop and validate a school-based mental health education programme for adolescents in the school setting. A sequential, multi-method study design involving six objectives, all in three phases, was employed in this study. Phase one entailed baseline data identification involving a quantitative survey to determine the knowledge, attitude, and mental health status of in-school adolescents, qualitative exploration of stakeholders' perspectives through in-depth interviews and a scoping review to determine international literature on school-based mental health education programme. In phase two, the findings from phase one were merged to create overlapping themes. These themes identified domains from which the school-based mental health education programme was developed. In the third phase, a group of experts validated the programme's content for relevance and clarity through two rounds of Delphi. A pool of 50 items under six domains was generated for the second round of the school-based mental health education programme after the content validity was carried out. Evidence from the scoping review revealed that a theoretical framework is optional in developing a school-based mental health education programme. Also, most programmes reviewed used the universal level of intervention for comprehensive coverage. Although not all mental health programmes were part of the school curriculum, break time and after-school hours were used by some facilitators in delivering mental health education programmes. In determining the knowledge, attitude, and mental health status of in-school adolescents in Nigeria, the findings showed that only a quarter of the in-school adolescents had high knowledge of mental health. The age of in-school adolescents (p=0.005) and their class (p<0.001) were the socio-demographic information significantly associated with the attitude of in-school adolescents. Five themes and fifteen subthemes emerged from the in-depth interviews that explored stakeholders' perspectives. Overlapping themes from the scoping review, data sources from the quantitative survey, and qualitative interviews generated the domains for the designed school-based mental health education programme for adolescents. The school-based education programme was subjected to validation by a group of experts to ensure the relevance and clarity of the items in the programme. The overall scale level content validity index (S-CVI) for the second round of Delphi was 0.90. The school-based mental health education is designed based on evidence, with good content validity as regards relevance and clarity. Hence, the programme can improve adolescents' knowledge and attitude towards mental health.Item Using Complexity to Unlock Emergent-Decolonial Development(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Chikane, RekgotsofetseThis thesis argues the need for a theoretical and philosophical understanding of emergent-decolonial development within development studies and decolonial thinking to formulate the notion of decolonisation within both fields as an ongoing developmental practice. As both a theoretical and philosophical framework, emergent-decolonial development functions as an economic, policy and philosophical analytic exercise to unravel the complex nature of the entanglement of political and economic notions of decolonisation that create an epistemological quagmire within developmental discourse, currently understood as coloniality. This quagmire is the result of the continued use of the dialectical relationship between the ideal and the non-ideal in the framing of development and decolonial thinking that has resulted in development viewing the idea of decolonisation as only the process of self-determination and limiting decolonial thinking to focusing on the epistemological and ontological expression of peripheral voices. This limitation allows for an understanding of coloniality and colonialism but denies researchers the ability to tackle both through continuous public policy interventions. The thesis argues the importance of untangling this relationship in a manner that would allow for the emergence of a new humanism in a manner that is replicable through policy interventions which would challenge the emergent nature of modernity/coloniality. In order to achieve the above, the thesis utilised a combination of two methodologies: an integrative literature review and a documentary analysis. The integrative literature review critically appraises the core theories of development, decolonial thinking and complexity to form the theoretical and philosophical framing of emergent-decolonial development. Thereafter, through the use of both thematic and content analysis of four liberatory texts from India, Tanzania, South Africa and Ecuador, respectively, the results were utilised to augment the framework where necessary. The results of the thesis indicate that the limitations of both development and decolonial studies inhibit decolonisation from being explored as an ongoing process meant to counteract coloniality and instead view coloniality as an emergent property of modernist approaches to development and decolonial thinking. Furthermore, the thesis found that development and decoloniality can be retooled through complexity science as emergent properties within complex adaptive systems that directly contend with the influence of coloniality. The colonial situation experienced by ‘the wretch’ has created an exceedingly complex and nuanced understanding of the coloniser and the colonised in the 21st century. As a result, the need to devise an approach to understanding decolonisation in this new world has become increasingly important. This framework provides the means to begin the resurgence of decolonisation and decolonial thought as an active public policy tool that others can adoptItem Is the Fed Hindering Development? Impacts of US interest rates on growth, income distribution and macroeconomic policy space in developing countries: a demand-led growth model(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Vaz, João Emboava; Hein, Eckhard; Lavoie, Marc; Tinel, BrunoThe US Fed has responded to recent inflation pressures with the most rapid interest rate hike since the 1979-82 Volcker’s disinflation. The hike in the beginning of the 1980s was followed by harsh external crises in the developing world, especially in Latin America. The current situation adds tot that the role the US monetary policy plays on quickly shifting massive capital flows in a world of open and volatile capital accounts (Rey, 2015). On the other hand, interest rate levels remain low on historical levels and developing countries come from decades of relative growth and record international reserve accumulation. Following the recent development in external policy space debates, this thesis aims to understand how a deterioration of external conditions, especially through higher foreign interest rates, may impact growth, income distribution, and macroeconomic policy space in developing countries.Item The political geography of hemp Cannabis in South Africa: A development critique(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-06) Moore, Wendell; Mnwana, Sonwabile; Wafer, AlexThe discourse on Cannabis that is generally understood in the public domain, revolves mostly around its recreational uses and more recently its medicinal potential. The plants industrial usages and overall worth to society are often framed in relation to these more popular parts of Cannabis. The study focuses its attention on hemp Cannabis to tell a different story but acknowledges that all the uses of Cannabis are interlinked. Using an extensive desktop analysis, Cannabis webinars and conferences, as well as autoethnography, the thesis shows that there is in fact more to the plant than what first meets the eye. It especially illuminates two important dimensions of Cannabis that are often overlooked when discussing the plant. Firstly, by its nature Cannabis is political, which is deeply embedded in how the plant is understood in the geographic diaspora of the Global South. Secondly, it shows that any serious social scientific analysis of contemporary Cannabis development must think through how the ways of knowing, produced during prohibition, will become a part of the plant’s future. This thesis therefore argues for an appraisal and maintenance of the historical resistances of Cannabis used prior to legalization, if its development in the legal era is to be successful. To be sure, such innovative and alternative models of practical development should become a standard part of the geographies of all work economies. Moreover, making use of these forms of resistance is not about Cannabis gaining the approval from ‘the market’. In fact, the skills learnt while labouring for Cannabis, when it was prohibited, has become such a permanent feature of its development that liberal democratic consent is not an option. Therefore, the thesis proposes that Cannabis development delink from the prohibition narratives inscribed onto the plant. It continues by showing that the current medicalisation of Cannabis only updates gatekeeping models. Hence, an agrarian alternative was suggested that consolidates all the uses of Cannabis without undermining any one part of the plant. Lastly, the thesis documents the possibilities of gaining access into the industry for black people, the poor working class and women. What it argues is that ownership, just employment and leadership of Cannabis industries in South Africa must be repurposed so that ordinary people can also play a part in making sure the plants contemporary development is truly sustainable. Taken together, this is the critique of development that the political geography of hemp Cannabis in South Africa reveals.Item Traditional Custodians, Sacred Heritage Sites and Tourism Development: A Case Study ofthe Phiphidi Falls in the Limpopo Province of South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Mabehle, Nhlaluko; Russell, ThembiweThe way in which intangible heritage should be preserved is a debatable subject, and the question about who should have authority over what happens at sites associated with spiritual values is often a contentious issue. While local communities frequently hold traditional custodianship of the sites, they usually do not have any legal custody. When tourism developments are suggested in impoverished rural communities, whose basic rights could be met by allowing tourism developments to happen, conflicts frequently arise. Traditional custodians tend to want to keep their places of worship sacred while tourism developers would rather promote such sites as touristic products and potential source of income for the community. Fractions can occur within the communities as well. This project investigated community attitudes towards cultural heritage in Limpopo, using the case of Phiphidi Waterfalls, a site earmarked for tourism development, to analyse traditional management systems and to develop a framework for the effective management and preservation of sacred sites. Comparative studies were used to analyse traditional management systems in southern Africa. The main objective is to attain sustainable preservation of intangible heritage without any conflicts between traditional custodians and tourism authorities, and so this project contributes to the larger debate about who should have authority over sacred sites.Item Adoption of locally developed Metal Additive Manufacturing Technology: Evaluation of South Africa’s manufacturing industry’s readiness(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Sono, Oscar James Hendrick; Wotela, Kambidima; George, JamesPresently, Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) has progressed to the stage where the manufacture of components for industries such aerospace, energy, automotive and medical industries, are possible to a high degree of reliability. The South African government has invested substantially on the technology’s advancement through various government entities, publicly funding the research and development programmes and infrastructure developments. Yet the adoption of the technology remains slow, contrast to the USA and other European countries. Therefore, this thesis sought to explore the readiness of South Africa’s manufacturing industry to adopt locally developed MAM technologies. This was undertaken by employing a quantitative research approach, in which a cross- sectional design survey was used to conduct the interrogation, guided by innovation diffusion theories, particularly DOI. The study applies descriptive analysis to determine the current state of MAM adoption and the level of awareness about the technology within the industry. Backward multiple regression was used to determine if cost, organizational capability, and potential job loss have an impact on the adoption of the technology within the industry testing the three hypotheses. The results indicated that the state of MAM adoption within the manufacturing industry was low, with only three machines owned/leased, and potential adopters that are likely to uptake the technology, believing it can bring value-add to their organisations. These potential adopters are familiar with awareness programmes driving MAM campaigns. On the other hand, they also indicated reasons they believed would lead to non-uptake of the technology, the non-adopters did too, with cost of material being the leading constraint. Furthermore, results of tested hypotheses inferred a causal relationship between the adoption of MAM technology and the variables, and the impact was significant on its uptake or non-uptake. However, it was important to note that the sample size was low to take a conclusive stance, hence the researcher recommends a continuation of the studyItem Community participation in rural development at Ga-Maja in the Limpopo Province(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Tema, Mokgatla Bernice; Khumalo, JohnPublic participation in development, in South Africa, is embraced in the country’s Constitution and various legislative and policy frameworks. Despite this, participation is not adequately institutionalised in government, including in local government. The purpose of this study is to explore how community members perceive community participation in decision-making about and implementation of rural development programmes. The research is a qualitative case study with focus on the village of Ga-Maja in the Limpopo province. The research has, among others, found that the community is not fully engaged in its development. It has also established that conflict between the ward councillors and the traditional leadership is a hindrance to community participation in development. This conflict is largely caused by the vague description of the role of traditional leadership in government’s policy documents. Accordingly, government should empower the traditional leadership to play a definitive role in the development of rural communitiesItem The Role of Philanthropy in Women Development through Food Security(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Makhubele, Thandi; Qobo, MzukisiFood insecurity remains one of the critical issues for countries in the African continent. According to Pérez-Escamilla, (2017, p. 1), “food insecurity occurs when people do not have access to nutritious food and where food production is inadequate.” Most of the world’s rural population relies on agriculture for its livelihoods and to bolster their local economies (The World Bank Group, 2020). Small-scale farmers are the backbone of the agricultural sector in most rural areas. They (Small-scale farmers) provide access to food for vulnerable groups, including women and children (Misselhorn & Hendriks, 2017). Meanwhile women are the most affected by food insecurity, even though they are the main contributors to food production in most Sub-Saharan countries (Doss, 2018). Women in rural areas, in particular, rely on agriculture to fight food insecurity and to participate in local economies. In South Africa, small-scale women farmers ranked lowest in income accumulation, equal access to food production resources such as land and markets and financing (Sishuba, 2019). For this reason, government subsidies and philanthropic support are crucial for engaging women and assisting them with resources that can allow them to have equal access to land, resources, skills, and finances as their male counterparts. This research investigated the intersection between and among philanthropy, food security and women-owned initiatives in the agricultural sector in Limpopo. The study focuses on small- scale women farmers in the Vhembe and Capricorn districts in Limpopo, the two regions that are popular for large scale farming in South Africa. The research sought to answer the question; ‘what is the contribution of philanthropy to women development in the agriculture sector?’ A qualitative research approach was employed to explore the role of philanthropic organisations in women development, particularly in the agricultural sector in Limpopo. Two questionnaires through an online survey were used as the main methods to collect primary data . Forty seven (47) respondents were targeted. Of these, twenty four (24) were small scale farmers while twenty three (23) were drawn from philanthropic organisations operating in South AfricaItem South Africa's State Capture Architecture: A critique of 'State Capture' and Development in 21st Century Post Apartheid South Africa, using the Estina Vrede Dairy Farm Project as a case study(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-07) Mfikili, Khanya Lulibo; Brown, JulianState Capture can be described as corruption on a macro-level, reaching unheard and unseen of levels involving the state, state organs and private business. It has been described as the erosion of democratic processes and a 'coup d'etat'1 of some sorts of the state and its functions-functions affected are mainly empowerment, development, fiscal responsibility and transparency-turning the state 'into a shadow state'. The recent uncovering of "state capture" at different levels of government in South Africa required an analysis of the relationship between 'state capture' and development in South Africa. In this paper, this will be achieved by looking at the Free State Estina Dairy Farm Project (EVDF Project) as a unit of analysis. Four research questions around this dairy farm project will be explored, to ultimately answer the overall question: What is the relationship between development and 'state capture' in 21st Century Post-Apartheid South Africa? An extensive literature review will be done in Chapter Two looking at the history of agricultural projects, illegal financial flows (IFFs) and state capture in South Africa, in the African region and internationally. This research is qualitative in nature, utilizing a case study method. Information used was publically available sources of information, with the testimonies and evidence in the Zonda Commission Reports forming a bulk of the data analyzed. The findings and policy implications in the last chapter informed possible future studies, centered on my research. One possible future study would be a look at the role of IFFs in rural development in (South) Africa.