4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
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Item (Il)legitimacy of Freelance Artists: Exploring Current Government Legislation and Policies that Influence Economic Exclusion and Inclusion of South African Freelance Artists(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-03) Mmeti, Lehlohonolo Tebalelo Rudy Matome; Chatikobo, MunyaradziThe prevailing descriptors—such as "illegitimate," "non-compliant," "unprofessional," and "informal"—resonate globally, attributing a lack of structure to freelance artistry. This characterization places these artists in precarious legal and economic positions, hindering access to fundamental employment benefits, credit, loans, and housing. Therefore, it is imperative to answer the central questions, Which legislative measures and policies currently influence the economic integration, compliance and legitimacy of freelance profession within Cultural Creative Industry and Economy in South Africa? The scarcity of literature on the subject prompts an exploration into the legislative landscape, framed by the notion that policy acts as a guiding roadmap. The central argument is that existing policies failure to adequately address the unique challenges faced by South African freelance artists, leaving a critical void in understanding their economic participation. Focused on a qualitative methodology, the research examines documents and policies to unravel the impact on freelance artists' economic standing, employing lenses that navigate the intersections of formality and informality within the Cultural Creative Industries. The research underscores the imperative to bridge this knowledge gap, arguing for targeted interventions to rectify the economic disparities and (il)legitimacy associated with freelance artists in South Africa. It is through the aims and objectives of this research that I was be able to come with a concrete understating of the landscape so appropriate intervention measures can be suggested.Item Men, Masculinity, Aggression and Dominance: An Exploration of How Young Men are Socialized to Deal with Situations of Man-on-Man Aggression and Dominance(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2019) Vilakazi, Zinhle; Davies, NickThere is a considerable body of research placing young South African men at the core of interpersonal violence. Within these studies they are frequently positioned as both perpetrators and victims of extreme and homicidal modes of aggression. In light of this gendered nature of interpersonal violence, this study was directed at exploring how young men’s responses to a situation of man-on-man aggression and dominance might be linked to how society encourages or expects a certain masculine performance from men in such situations. This study’s secondary goal was to offer some ideas about how young men might establish a masculine identity through aggression and dominance. In the pursuing research aims, a total of 14 young adult men attending university participated in this qualitative study. From the analysis what became evident was the continuous pressure that young adult men experience in society, through various social institutions, to somehow fit into dominant or hegemonic constructions of masculinity. Within the context of this study, the proximal cause of aggression and dominance was attributed to broader concerns regarding presentation of a masculine identity, self-worth and social status.Item Exploring the use of Process Drama in dialogues on Race and Memory among black ‘Born Frees’ of South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2018) Radebe, Tebogo; Lepere, RefiloeThis research project examines the use of Process Drama in creating dialogue about race and memory among Black Born Frees in South Africa. Process Drama was used as a dialogue facilitation tool, which involved both participants and a facilitator in role. The study further unpacks how process drama impacted participants’ attitudes on race and memory. Reflective practice is employed to interrogate how Process Drama creates empathy, to enable reflection on lived experiences, to lead to an examination of stereotypes around race and memory through constructive dialogue. The research focuses on the facilitation of improvised, episodic scenes and creation of images structured around themes of race and memory leading to post 1994 democratic South Africa. From the facilitation process, it emerged that improvisation in the dramatic action enables dialogue by allowing the participants to raise each other’s awareness by sharing various perspectives and understandings. Using a Process Recording as a tool for analysing the facilitator in action the paper makes a case for performative writing as way to present the process and findings of the research. The method of allowing the participants voices to be heard and validated began a process of healing psychological and emotional wounds among the black born frees.Item Factors affecting the implementation of the South African Police Service directive on accessibility infrastructure(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Mahlalela, Mduduzi Simanga; Wotela,KambidimaThe United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) Article 9 guides the implementation of universal access, as the accessibility of facilities and physical environment requires usable designs (Sholanke et al, 2019). In South Africa, the policy is implemented through the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2016) and the National Strategic Framework on Universal Design and Access (2021) to promote fairness, eradicate discrimination, and advocate for reasonable accommodation. Hence, the policy addresses the importance of user-friendly infrastructures and the implementation of universal access in all departments. However, Maart et al (2007) point out that policies on infrastructure access, experience implementation challenges. The South African Police Service Strategic Plan (2020-2024) and the SDIP (2022-2023) highlight the importance of infrastructure plans and police accessibility in police stations. While the Annual Report of 2020-2021 narrates the challenges experienced in completing accessibility projects and new police stations because of delayed suppliers. Mthethwa (2012) identifies that, assessing policy improves accountability and service delivery for policymakers and implementers. These aspects frame the research problem. Therefore, the research assesses the factors affecting the implementation of the South African Police Service directive on accessibility infrastructure, focusing on the process, attitudes, progress, and challenges as main questions. The research details the problem, identifies the knowledge gap, and further establishes a framework to understand the research findings. A qualitative research strategy is proposed for the study, employing a case study design administered with an interview schedule to gather data from participants within the Facility Management in the South African Police ServiceItem Exploring the Operational Challenges Encountered by Selected South African Multinationals in Nigeria(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Motaung, Sefatsanyane Karabo Kabelo; Appiah, Erasmus KofiThe report examines the operational challenges faced by South African multinationalfirms operating in Nigeria. The project aims to provide a detailed understanding of thestate of South African multinationals' operations in Nigeria, with a specific focus on theimpact of politics, culture, and logistics on their operations. Nigeria, being a significanteconomic powerhouse in Africa, offers lucrative business opportunities for foreigncompanies, including those from South Africa. However, operating in Nigeria presents aunique set of challenges, which this report seeks to explore. The research employsqualitative interviews with senior managers of selected South African multinational firmsin Nigeria and a comprehensive review of existing literature. The interviews aredesigned to gather firsthand insights into the operational challenges encountered bythese firms, allowing for a deeper understanding of the issues they face.The findings of the study highlight the intricate relationship between politics and theoperations of South African multinationals in Nigeria. Political factors such as regulatoryhurdles, political instability, and the government's attitude toward foreign companiessignificantly impact their operations. Moreover, the report delves into the influence ofcultural differences between South Africa and Nigeria on various aspects of businessoperations, including employee relations, customer engagement, and partnercollaborations.The relevance of theoretical frameworks such as internationalization, globalization, andentry modes of multinational corporations will be used in the context of the Nigerian retailsector (Chand, 2020). The applicability of these frameworks may need to be evaluatedcarefully to ensure they are appropriate for understanding the challenges faced by SouthAfrican multinationals in this specific context (Chand, 2020). In essence the paper will tryto link the intrinsic value that is key to the success of multinational firms in the retail sectorventuring into the Nigerian market. The paper will attempt to find probable reasons for thefailure of these South African multinational firms in Nigeria, and where possible, provideremedial recommendations that can be employed in the future to better grasp thecomprehension of the Nigeria marketItem Towards the Development of a Sustainable Procurement Framework for Improved Operational Efficiency in Donor-funded Procurements in the Zimbabwean Public Health Laboratory Services(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Mayavo, Crossman; Saruchera, FannyThe governments in sub-Saharan African countries seem to have failed to fund public health medical laboratory services adequately, and the donors have taken over such critical services. This study focused on developing a sustainable procurement framework for improved operational efficiency in donor-funded procurements in the Zimbabwean public health medical laboratory services. The study aimed to examine the donor-funded procurements processes followed by the public health medical laboratory services in Zimbabwe, to establish the effectiveness of donor-funded procurements in the medical laboratory services, to examine the determinants for donor-funded procurement for public health medical laboratories in Zimbabwe, and finally to examine the moderating effect of government policy on donor-funded procurement in the public health laboratory system. The study integrates Transaction Cost Economics, Person-Situation Interaction, and Agency theories to support the research’s argument. Guided by the pragmatism philosophy and the descriptive-exploratory nature of the research objectives, the research utilised mixed research methods in which 214 questionnaires were used while seven interviews were held with provincial scientists. The research results revealed that the donor-funded procurements processes followed by the public health medical laboratory services in Zimbabwe might be strengthened by close collaboration between the government and the donor community. The determinants of donor-funded procurement played a crucial mediating role between effective donor-funded procurement, donation requirement process, and donation recipient process. The study revealed that government policy plays a positive moderating role among the variables and effective donor-funded procurement. The Structural Equation Modelling revealed that the determinants of donor-funded procurement are the mediators among the variables and shows the direct relationship between the donation requirement, donation recipient preparation and donation implementation, and government policy as the moderator between effective donor-funded procurement and the expected procurement functions. The research findings could be of more importance as the laboratory is a crucial sub-health department that should provide accurate and reliable results for patient management, and the essential public health services entail that there should be equity in the health of all people, achievable through policies and systems that are actively promoted in the health systems. Future studies could focus on sustainable donor-funded procurement to determine how the Triple Bottom Line Approach may impact the procurement of laboratory equipment and other supporting commoditiesItem Encountering apartheid publics: an essay film on Hendrik Verwoerd as public symbol 1958-1966 and implications for counter-publics today.(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-11-10) Effendi, Karima; Louw, Lieza; Kenny, BridgetThe policies of separate development under Verwoerd created the material conditions for apartheid and capitalism to thrive, but it's the hypothesis of this project that the pomp and ceremony, the suit, his speeches and performative statecraft, created the affective conditions for his thinking to make its way from the past into our present-time. This is a discursive inquiry that draws on political theory, psychoanalysis, feminist theory and essayistic film theory to explore how the slipperiness of apartheid discourse makes it impossible to counter it on its own terms. Verwoerd symbolised a pernicious ‘covering over’ of irreconcilable ambiguities in apartheid discourse that was used to construct and stabilise whiteness against ‘other’ constitutive subject formations. The second part of the creative project is an essay film, Verwoerd’s Smile, that uses an ‘apartheid’ and colonial archive to attempt to show up its own discriminatory logic. The film’s failure in doing this has a productive value that is instructive for understanding how the cloak of invisibility that shrouds whiteness from being seen doing its work, also protects it from being dismantled. Understanding this has implications for radical projects concerned with undoing apartheid.Item 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.PThe 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.Item Nationalism Without a State: A Comparative Analysis of Revolutionary Nationalism Among Stateless Nations(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Mayet, Humairaa; Zähringer, NatalieA 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.Item Challenges faced by court interpreters while interpreting for children in South African courts(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Chikele, Heather Mikateko; Maliko, Natasha Parkins; Dladla, Celimpilo P.The study investigated the challenges faced by court interpreters in South Africa when working with child witnesses within the legal system. The objectives of the study included investigating interpreter challenges, identifying their role in safeguarding children’s well-being and rights, and evaluating the effectiveness of interpreter training. The country’s linguistic diversity, characterized by 12 official languages and distinct cultural distinctions, adds layers of complexity for interpreters (Powell, et al., 2017). The problems encountered during the process includes linguistic barriers, encompassing the clear conveyance of child testimonies, interpretation of child-friendly legal terminology, and ensuring the child’s understanding of legal proceedings. The study recognized the involved interplay of language, culture and age, which highlights the need for interpreters to address the emotional state, comprehension level, and communication capacities of child witnesses. To tackle these challenges, the study highlighted the crucial requirement for specialized training and support for court interpreters handling cases involving children in South African courts (Moeketsi & Wallmach, 2005). This involved cultivating a sophisticated understanding of child psychology, cultural sensitivity, and legal terminology to effectively bridge communication gaps (Jianqing, 2008). By doing so, the study contended that South Africa could strengthen its commitment to safeguarding children’s rights and welfare within the legal system, ultimately ensuring equitable access to justice for all residents. The study utilized a quantitative research methodology, utilising a structured questionnaire distributed through Google Forms. The questionnaire was designed to gather insights from court interpreters about their experiences and challenges. The questions were crafted to elicit detailed responses on topics such as the impact of the child’s age on interpretation, linguistic and cultural challenges, and training and qualifications of court interpreters. The research focused on obtaining valuable information directly from court interpreters through the survey instrument, so as to understand their perspectives in a more streamlined manner (Cheung, 2014).