Faculty of Humanities (ETDs)

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    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.
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    The role of intersecting identities in career development and progression in the core disciplines of the South African mining industry
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mahobe, Patience Ntsoaki; Dey, Sayan
    The study sought to contribute to scholarship in the South African mining industry related to career development and progression in the core disciplines. Using qualitative research methods and applying intersectionality as a theoretical framework, the study examined whether, and how social identity plays a role on career development and progression in the core disciplines (mining & technical services, metallurgy, and engineering) of the South African mining industry. The study further examined whether there has been a change in the experiences of the different social identity groups related to career development and progression in the nearly thirty years since the promulgation of various pieces of legislation in South Africa in the mid- to late 1990s across industries and the mining industry in the early 2000s to transform the demographic profile across various occupational levels. The study lastly determined whether historical and current organisational, industry and societal systemic issues and dynamics impact career development and progression in these core disciplines. Thematic analysis was used to systematically identify and organise the data from the narratives of the participants provided through semi-structured interviews. This study confirms that intersectional identities have an impact on the career development and progression in core disciplines in the South African mining industry. The application of intersectionality as a theoretical framework brought to the fore different career development and progression experiences, challenges, and outcomes for the different social identity groups. Some progress in changing the demographic of the industry was noted, although progress is seen as being slow, particularly at executive level, with historical systemic issues related to entrenched ways of working and a leadership style that is not people-centric being the most difficult to change. The outcomes of the study and recommendations challenge the industry to think differently about transforming their cultures and ways of working, to create a focus on macro-level organisational systems and structures that continue to produce and reproduce unequal outcomes whilst also creating awareness and dealing with micro-level individual behaviour
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    A case study of homeless women living on the streets of Braamfontein, Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03) Msimango, Thando Dimakatso; Gerrand, Priscilla
    Homelessness is a global concern. Several factors that trigger homelessness, such as natural disasters and wars, poor education, poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence and mental illness, have frequently been identified. South Africa has seen an increase in the number of people living on the streets of its major cities. This has culminated in the initiation of different research studies looking into the phenomenon of homelessness. However, there seems to be a gap in the studies looking at the plight of homeless women within the Braamfontein area of Johannesburg. Therefore, this study explored the experiences of homeless women living on the streets of Braamfontein and is based on a constructivist paradigm. The study adopted a qualitative approach, and a single case study design was adopted. Snowball sampling was used to select 13 participants who met the selection criteria. A semi-structured interview guide was used as a research tool, and one-on-one-in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Thematic analysis was also used to analyse the data. The study can contribute to developing and enhancing gender-specific intervention programmes earmarked for women living on the streets of Braamfontein in Johannesburg. It is hoped that the study might also initiate debates around the subject matter. Recommendations are made for future research.
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    A Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of Black Female Volunteer Lay Counsellors from Marginalised Backgrounds in Gauteng!
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Naidoo, Sherwyn; Patel, Ruby
    Within the South African context, Volunteer Lay Counsellors (VLCs) play a vital role in providing mental health care. Whilst Black female VLCs from marginalised backgrounds play an essential role in providing these services, there is a paucity of research in understanding their experiences. This study utilised a qualitative approach to explore the experiences of Black female VLCs from marginalised backgrounds in Gauteng. The researcher used non-probability purposive convenience sampling to recruit four participants who volunteered at a non-profit organisation (NPO) in Gauteng. The study collected data through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Insight was provided by this research into participants’ experiences of counselling from a position of their intersectionality to those who embody different intersectional identities. This was done by locating the research within the work of intersectional theorists Crenshaw (1989, 1991), McCall (2005), Tamale (2020), and Petsko and colleagues (2022). In keeping with this, the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method allowed for an in-depth exploration of participants’ unique experiences through double hermeneutic interpretations. The themes illustrated that participants were motivated by the desperate need for access to mental healthcare in their socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. In addition, volunteering satisfied the prospects of fulfilling their career aspirations lost because of their subjection to gendered, racialised, and class oppression. Thirdly, themes highlighted how clients’ race, class, and gender impacted participants’ counselling experiences. Lastly, themes highlighted the psychological impact of counselling on participants and how helpful coping mechanisms developed from the survival of intersectional oppression and organisational training and support helped mitigate these psychological consequences. The provided understanding of participants’ experiences is essential for both praxis and policy within the area of VLC in South Africa.
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    Constructing identities through discourse: Examining the textual representation of prostituted women in post-apartheid South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Landman, Tiaan A.
    The current study explores the intersectional social identities of four ‘prostituted women’ in post-apartheid South Africa as they are represented through discourse. The socio-cognitive model of critical discourse studies is employed to explore the way in which their social identities are represented through texts. These texts were retrieved from the online blog of a non-profit organisation, Embrace Dignity (2019), which advocates for the rights of women and girls. The texts were written to represent the personal experiences of four black women who identify as ‘prostituted’. This study found, through the engagement with biopolitical and intersectional feminist theory, that conditions which are paramount to a ‘social death’ are often proliferated for the subjects at the intersection of their gender, sex, sexual, and racial identities. Furthermore, these conditions are often concealed through the guise of class. The subjects make meaning of their social identities through a range of experiences, which are facilitated by sociohistorical systems of oppression aimed to disenfranchise feminised and blackened bodies in South Africa. These systems of oppressions are communicated through discourses of Bantu education, unskilled labour, violence, sexual perversion, limited access to services, marginal citizenship, geography, movement, and displacement, as well as a discourse of care, to name a few. The study found that these discourses are fostered and realised through the political project of domination, enforced by white heteropatriarchy that was institutionalised by the apartheid government. The study further indicates how the women who are represented by the texts, have been positioned within contexts that suppress their lives. This study emphasises the importance of exploring the intersectional social identities of black prostituted women in order to appropriately support the women within this community and their voices.