Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology

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Adaption des institutions Tradition-Nelles A La Gestion Foncierre De Kinshasa, Ville-Capitale (1960-2016)
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Sangu, Philippe Ibaka; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
FRENCH ABSTRACT: La République Démocratique du Congo, vaste territoire logé au coeur de l’Afrique, a connu l’existence des Chefs et des Chefferies traditionnelles avant et après la colonisation. Avec le développement des villes une nouvelle façon de gouverner sera introduite avec des institutions impersonnelles. Dès lors, il s’avère important de comprendre comment des chef-feries qui se trouvent à l’intérieur de la ville s’y prennent-elles pour s’adapter à ce nouvel environnement urbain institutionnel. En plus dans ce milieu urbain institutionnel, comment les différentes institutions tradi-tionnelles s’adaptent-elles en interaction avec leurs équivalents urbains, et comment le fon-cier communal s’adapte-t-il face à la propriété privée et étatique dans la ville–capitale, Kinshasa ? Cependant, il est à noter que l’adaptation n’était pas uniforme (homogène) selon qu’on est dans la cité coloniale, dans la zone planifiée ou dans la zone périphérique de Kinshasa. Dans l’ancienne zone coloniale les institutions traditionnelles ont disparu et furent remplacées par des institutions étatiques urbaines modernes ; dans la zone planifiée elles ont perdu de leur autorité ; et à la périphérie elles cohabitent avec leurs équivalents modernes. Avec la création d’une institution nationale dénommée Alliance Nationale des Autorités Tra-ditionnelles du Congo (ANATC), celle-ci a offert à certains des chefs coutumiers dans la ville une possibilité de collaborer et de cohabiter avec les institutions étatiques modernes.
Assessing corporate social responsibility in terms of its impact on sustainable community development : Anglo American PLC programmes as case study
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) Marais, Anel; Bekker, S. B.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mining industries significantly influence the societies within which they operate. They have been responsible for causing a wide range of negative environmental and social impacts at local, regional and global levels. Disruption of river flows, degradation of land and forest resources, negative impacts on the livelihoods of local communities near mines and disturbance of traditional lifestyles of indigenous people are some examples. Historically, the mining industry has taken a ‘devil may care’ attitude toward the impacts of its operations, inter alia by operating in areas without social legitimacy, by causing local devastation, and by leaving when an area has been exhausted of its economically valuable resources. Cost benefit language has often been used to justify damage caused in one place by arguing that it is outweighed by overall financial benefits. In recent years however the global mining industry has started to address its social and environmental responsibilities, visible in current debates about social and environmental sustainability. As a result, various mining companies have launched corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes that tend to focus on local community initiatives as their impact in economic, social and environmental terms, they believe, is felt most at local level. Yet the question remains, can CSR on its own make a substantial contribution to local sustainable community development? The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) defined CSR as “…the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large...” (WBCSD, 2003). Despite this clear definition, there is still great diversity within the mining sector in perceptions of what CSR constitutes and what its key tenets should be. Without a consistent definition or understanding of CSR and sustainable community development, planned efforts and programmes will do little to contribute to the overall improvement and well-being of the intended beneficiaries. The research focuses on defining sustainable community development and how it relates CSR. It identifies three characteristics of sustainable community development and uses these to assess the CSR programmes of Anglo American Plc, as case study company, to determine whether the company’s programmes have the potential to contribute to the sustainability of the communities associated with its operations. The research results in three main conclusions drawn from the case study – in a phrase that CSR is able under certain conditions to contribute positively to community sustainability. The conclusion also offers a few suggestions regarding ways companies can increase the contribution their CSR programmes make to local sustainable development.
An assessment of the extent of empowerment through community participation : a Kwazulu-Natal rural development comparison
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-12) Gumbi, Themba Aaron Philemon; Bekker, S. B.; Groenewald, C. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to assess the extent of the relevance and success of the empowerment model in facilitating and promoting rural development in South Africa. The assumption was that through active participation communities are able to gain control over their lives and are empowered to promote development successfully. In undertaking this study, the researcher initially reviewed literature on rural development, and thereafter presented and discussed various development methodologies used for realising community development, participation and empowerment. Three case studies selected for an indepth study were distinguishable as follows: the first case that could be regarded as "finished and unsuccessful", the second one that could be classified as "finished and successful", and the third one that could be labelled as "new and ongoing" with respect to rural development projects in the respective communities. A comparative analysis of the three case studies was undertaken with the purpose of establishing the "success" and "failure" in the projects designed to enhance community development and participation. The study shows quite clearly that development projects do not operate in a vacuum but are components of national, social and economic development policies, strategies and programmes for which governments often bear some degree of final responsibility. The success of development projects depends to a large extent on a number of issues, of which community participation and empowerment are the most important. Unless the community actively identifies itself with the project or at the least is involved from day one, in the decisionmaking process of the proposed project, it will be very difficult, if not impossible to achieve the project's developmental objectives. On the basis of the empirical findings, it was revealed that the prerequisites for a successful community development project depend on: a) the encouragement of active involvement, community participation and empowerment of communities for the purpose of enabling them to meet their needs, problems and aspirations; b) the completion in full of the cycle of the development methodology; c) the identification and handling of obstacles in the development cycle as the project unfolds to successful completion; d) the promotion of a facilitative role with regard to capacity building and skills transfer by development personnel; and e) the development of capacity for communities to take control over events influencing their lives (e.g. knowledge, skills, information, networks and support structures to mention a few). In conclusion, it is stressed that the development of people as individuals and as collective groups was central to community development. In doing so, a shift which placed heavy emphasis on resource management and service delivery to capacity building and skills transfer has to take place in order to promote development and social change, making communities progressively minded, desirous of improving their living conditions and capable of doing so through adopting a co-operative way of life for promoting group interests of the community as a whole. From the lessons learned in this study it was shown that the process of rural development can be promoted in a successful manner through the empowerment model which stresses community involvement and participation.
Black in-migration from the Eastern Cape into the Cape Metropolitan area : profile of the migrant and reasons for moving
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002) Britz, Andre Alfrieda; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Migration is the (usually free) movement of individuals from one place to another. Migration is formally conceptualized as the movement of households from relatively poorer regions - the sending areas -- to relatively better-off regions -- the receiving areas -- thereby enhancing the households' chances of improved access to resources. The migrant can be defined as a person that has gone out of his/her own free will from one place to another. In this sample and study, a distinction will be made between household heads born in the CMA, household heads that arrived before 1994, and household heads that arrived in the CMA in 1994 and thereafter. These migrants will be called "Household Head Born CMA", "Household Head older migrants", and "Household Head recent migrants" respectively. Informal squatter settlements are mushrooming at the outskirts of the CMA and very little is known about the motivation of migrants to leave their rural areas. In explaining the occurrence of migration and of why people migrate, one has to consider the push-pull theory. In the sending areas there are certain push factors, pushing the migrant out of the area. In the receiving area, there are pull factors, pulling the migrant towards the area. Migrants are also not a random selection of people. They have specific traits and differ from non-migrants in certain respects (age, life-cycle stage, marital status, education, occupation and status, cultural attributes and traditionalist vs. innovator). It was found in this study that the CMA as opposed to the Eastern Cape has certain differences, thereby pulling and pushing the migrant into and out of the areas respectively. Also, migrants seem to have different characteristics than that of the nonmigrant.
Changing identities in urban South Africa : an interpretation of narratives in Cape Town
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008-12) Leilde, Anne C.; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
Identity reflects and aims to control one’s experience. It is an act of consciousness which is neither essential nor immutable but a social construct open to change as circumstances, strategies and interactions fluctuate. It needs therefore to be situated historically and relationally, as identity is a matter of social context. This thesis sets out to investigate processes of identity formation in post-apartheid South Africa, i.e. a context marked by deep changes at both symbolic/material structural levels, in particular within the urban setup. On the basis of focus group discussions with residents of Cape Town, various, and at times contradictory, strategies of identification are explored. Residents’ discourses are analysed on the basis of two entry points, that of the context or the ‘scale’ within which discourse occurs (from the local, to the urban, the national and the continental) and that of the traditional categories of class, race and culture. The narratives that urban citizens draw upon to make sense of their lives and environment illuminate the emergence of new social boundaries among citizens which, though volatile and situational, reveal a changing picture of South Africa as a nation.
The current relevance of populist history in schools : the attitudes of Cape Town youth to history
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-12) Bam, June Catherine; Bekker, S. B.; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthroplogy.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis exanunes whether the historical consciousness of grade 10 youth would increase should there be an intervention facilitated for this purpose, that is that they would show a heightened consciousness of the relation between school history and current affairs, politics and other societal issues. This intervention comprises the My New World text produced within the populist historiographical tradition in South Africa. The notion of historical consciousness is defined as the complex relation between an interpretation of the past, a perspective of the present and expectations of the future ROsen (1989; 1994). The investigation comprised a theoretical and empirical component. The theoretical component is informed by the theories of epistemology, knowledge, schooling and curriculum. The empirical component is based on the Youth and History Survey conducted on historical consciousness amongst youth in Europe in the early 1990s. Both this study and the European study were conducted during periods of political transition. The chosen research methodology was that of triangulation, combining quantitative with qualitative methods. The quantitative component was based on the measurement used in the European study, and comprised an experimental pre-test and post-test research design, measuring "inside school" and "outside school" historical consciousness. The study was conducted in 8 grade 10 classrooms at 8 schools in Cape Town, representative of class, race, language and gender. The teachers acted as facilitators of the intervention. The conclusion reached in the research is that although the intervention resulted in an increased enthusiasm amongst individuals for school history and interest in political issues and an understanding for the present as in evidence from the qualitative data, this was not reflected in the quantitative data which showed no significant increase in the "inside school" nor "outside school" historical consciousness amongst youth of average 15 years in grade 10 history classrooms in Cape Town. It can therefore not be empirically concluded that when youth are exposed to populist history over a limited period that they would show an increased "outside school" or "inside school" historical consciousness even though an intervention might aim to increase such a consciousness. A significant finding is that the case for an already existent historical consciousness related to the variables of class and gender holds. Instead of increasing the levels of historical consciousness, the intervention resulted in a surfacing of long-held attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of people, society, the past, the present and the future. The intervention succeeded in bringing these complex layers of variables and related factors that impact on perceptions and attitudes to the surface. Given this complexity, it was also concluded that an empirical study of historical consciousness amongst youth through an intervention over a limited period of time is risky, if not of little value.
Discourse on identity : conversations with white South Africans
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008-03) Puttergill, Charles Hugh; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
The uncertainty and insecurity generated by social transformation within local and global contexts foregrounds concerns with identity. South African society has a legacy of an entrenched racial order which previously privileged those classified ‘white’. The assumed normality in past practices of such an institutionalised system of racial privileging was challenged by a changing social, economic and political context. This dissertation examines the discourse of white middle-class South Africans on this changing context. The study draws on the discourse of Afrikaansspeaking and English-speaking interviewees living in urban and rural communities. Their discourse reveals the extent to which these changes have affected the ways they talk about themselves and others. There is a literature suggesting the significance of race in shaping people’s identity has diminished within the post-apartheid context. This study considers the extent to which the evasion of race suggested in a literature on whiteness is apparent in the discourse on the transformation of the society. By considering this discourse a number of questions are raised on how interviewees conceive their communities and what implication this holds for future racial integration. What is meant by being South African is a related matter that receives attention. The study draws the conclusion that in spite of heightened racial sensitivity, race remains a key factor in the identities of interviewees.
The dynamics of Francophone African migration to Cape Town after 1994
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008-03) Lekogo, Rodolf E.; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate a group of Francophone African migrants in Cape Town during the decade following the end of the apartheid era. The focus of the thesis, however, is on the reasons why French-speaking Africans leave their countries of origin, the reasons for coming to South Africa, and finally the reasons why within South Africa, they decide to settle in Cape Town, with a particular accent put on the integration of these migrants into the local society. The thesis considers legal migrants, students, refugees and extra-legals as the four categories of migrants according to theoretical frameworks. A brief overview of selected theories of international migration is considered to provide a framework for the Francophone African migration to Cape Town. The theoretical causes of Francophone African migration are viewed through both theories on the initiation of migration and theories of the perpetuation of migration. Apart from the theoretical synopsis, the data on which this study is based are derived from both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. Alongside secondary sources, a series of interviews, based on categories of migrants and gender, were conducted in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa, as well as in Libreville in Gabon. In-depth interviews and focus-groups aimed at collecting information concerning the three main questions of the study. The reasons for the departure of Francophone Africans from their countries of origin are complex and mainly depend on the categories of migrants. As far as legal migrants and students are concerned, economic, political, social and academic paralysis, career prospects and the desire to pursue studies are the main reasons. As for refugees and extralegals, armed conflicts, environmental catastrophes, economic and social deterioration and social capital seem to be the main causes. Since 1994, South Africa has claimed a strong leadership role on the continent because of its economic and political strengths. Educational infrastructure, the language factor and social capital are also reasons why migrants choose South Africa as a host country. The settlement in Cape Town depends on various factors, including the consideration of the city as first choice, safety concerns in other South African cities, the inability to settle in other cities, particularly Johannesburg, and social networks. French language seems to be a common language identity linking various ethnic groups residing in Francophone Africa. However, once migrants have established themselves in Cape Town, their ethnic, religious or political identities prevail. The thesis analyses the settlement of migrants in Cape Town by pointing out the complexities of migrant life in a case study of each category considered.
An evaluation of the integration of the 'white' town of Pietersburg and the 'black' township of Seshego after the local government elections of 1995
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-12) Mabotja, Mpheta Samuel; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The emergence of urban systems in South Africa was from the start shaped by racial bias. The black people of this country were refused any form of participation in town planning. To aggravate the situation, urban space was manipulated in a manner that each racial group had its own residential space. The manipulation of urban space gave rise to what is called "the Apartheid City." This "Apartheid city" is characterised by stark contrast in development between a well-serviced, first world town lying side by side with underserviced third world townships. The "Apartheid City" of Pietersburg-Seshego has been undergoing restructuring since 1990. The Local Government Transitional Act (LGTA) has served as an intervention whereby the two formerly unequal areas had to integrate and become one city. The central aim of this study is to evaluate, by using a series of indicators, the integration level that has been achieved since 1995, i.e. since the first local government elections. The study will focus on three key areas to reflect the level of integration, namely, land use patterns, ward demarcation, and integration of personnel. The main conclusion is that though one council has been formed where there were previously two, spatial inequalities and racially-based ward demarcations between the former Pietersburg town and the former Seshego township persist. On the other hand, personnel drawn from the administrations of former white Pietersburg and former Lebowa civil service has not been fully integrated. The former Pietersburg municipality personnel is still white male dominated in both senior and middle management levels while the former Lebowa personnel is black male dominated found in the lowest levels of the TLC structure.
Informal housing in Cape Town : delivery, formalization and stakeholder viewpoints
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009-03) Tredoux, Marius (Marius Jacobus); Bekker, S. B.; Cornelissen, Scarlett; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
The City of Cape Town is estimated to host approximately three million people. Of those three million, it is also estimated that 22 percent are living in what could be considered informal dwellings. In 2000, one of the United Nations Millennium Development Declaration goals for 2020 was ‘to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed in the Cities without slums initiative.’ The South African government took this initiative on board and has set a goal of eradicating all informal settlements in South Africa by 2014. There is thus a process of formalization currently taking place in South Africa. In Cape Town however, there is currently a backlog of between 300 000 to 400 000 households and this number is growing The issue of housing delivery, not only in Cape Town, but world-wide, is an aspect that attracts lots of discussion. The viewpoints on how to approach formal urban housing delivery vary from a state-led approach, to a more participatory process, to rental options, or even that informal settlements should be left as they are, as part of a city’s social fabric. But why do these viewpoints differ? And how do these divergent viewpoints influence approaches to housing delivery? In this study I will answer, ‘How stakeholders in the housing delivery process view informal settlements, and when there are divergent viewpoints, why do they differ’? Four groups of stakeholders in Cape Town were identified, namely government officials, contractors/developers, researchers and residents of informal settlements. Interviews were conducted with the stakeholders on an individual level except for the residents of informal settlements where focus groups where held in two informal settlements.
Internal migration in post-apartheid South Africa: The cases of the Western and Northern Cape
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Eigelaar-Meets, Ilse; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology & Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Internal migration in post-apartheid South Africa is the primary focus of this dissertation. The geographic focus is on two of the country’s current provinces. In both the Northern Cape and the Western Cape provinces, apartheid policies that restricted the free movement of certain South Africans were supplemented by further restrictions arising from the policy of Coloured Labour Preference. It is because of these legislative constraints that resulted in a distortion and interference of migratory waves and trends that these two provinces offer a unique opportunity to do systematic research. Accordingly, the study identifies and analyses the primary changes in the direction and nature of internal migration streams into and within these provinces subsequent to the end of the apartheid regime and scrapping of such restrictive policies. Method: The main demographic and locational characteristics used in this analysis are changes in the size of the overall migration streams, their shifting mix of population groups (Black African, Coloured, Indian/Asian and White), the age of migrants, and the urban, peri-urban or rural nature of these migrants’ destinations. Migration data from three post-apartheid periods - 1996-2001, 2001-2006 and 2006-2011 – are analysed so as to enable comparisons of migrant flows between each of these periods. Findings: Comparing the net-migration rates during the earlier and latter post apartheid periods, both provinces reveal a deceleration in general mobility and in urbanisation, suggesting a slowing down in net migration flows in the latter period. Measuring and describing how migrants in these two provinces move, data pertaining to both inter-provincial migration (movement across provincial boundaries) and intra-provincial migration (movement within provincial boundaries but across municipal district boundaries) are considered. Although some variation in movement is illustrated for the two provinces, the data clearly illustrates continuing urbanisation in the settlement patterns of migrants for both migration flows. Considering the characteristics of migrants, the data illustrated migrants as mostly mature adults (30-60 years of age), except for in-migrants to the Western Cape who are mostly younger adults (20-29 years of age). The Black African population is the most mobile within inter-provincial migration streams, with the Coloured population the most active in intra-provincial flows. When comparing pre- and post-1994 internal migration trends in the two provinces, the dissertation illuminates three specific shifts, (i) a change in the political context within which mobility is framed, (ii) a change in the type of internal migration flows that are sustaining urbanisation and, (iii) a change in the profile, specifically pertaining to population group, of migrants mobile in the two provinces. The dissertation concludes by making a case for the adoption of a strategic and concerted approach by governments to accommodate the developmental constraints and challenges posed by these forms of human mobility.
Land transactions and rural development policy in the Domboshava peri-urban communal area, Zimbabwe
(Stellenbosch -- Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Hungwe, Emaculate; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa has led to the proliferation of peri-urban settlements close to cities. Development policy in these areas is multi-pronged. Residents with local tribal, as well as migrant backgrounds take land matters into their own hands. This leads to diverse land transactions and changing household survival strategies. My research investigates the complex interactions between land transactions, Rural Development Policy (RDP), and the emergent household survival strategies between 2002 and 2012 in the peri-urban communal area of Domboshava in Zimbabwe located northeast of Harare the capital city. Domboshava is classified as 'rural' and is administered by traditional authority as well as a local authority called Goromonzi Rural District Council. This Council considers RDP as a solution to increased individualized land transactions. My thesis is based on field research of a case study comprising four villages of Domboshava. Forty-one local residents, as well as a number of key informants such as Traditional Leaders and local government officials were sampled for the study. Qualitative data were collected through structured interviews, review of pertinent documents, as well as observation. The research findings reveal that the rapid pace of urbanization across Africa is widespread and poses key challenges to policies on rural development and land tenure more generally. Research evidence shows the changing practice in access to land rights in Domboshava by migrants from other parts of the country. As a result, land transactions shift from customary inheritance in the tribal line to individualized land transactions such as direct land sales and renting thereby privileging financially better-off households. Household survival strategies also shift from farm based to off-farm and non-farm activities because of the influence of land transactions and a multi-pronged RDP. Changes in household survival strategies of community residents of Domboshava were however not influenced by land transactions and RDP alone, but also by wider political and economic shifts and state interventions such as Operation Restore Order/Operation Murambatsvina and the Fast Track Land Reform Programme. The practice of a multi-pronged RDP as a solution to land transactions in Domboshava became part of the problem as land transactions proliferated unabated. This research is an important topic within the Sociology of Development, and provides useful insights regarding debates on land, policy, and survival strategies in peri-urban communal areas, not only in Domboshava in Zimbabwe, but in sub-Saharan Africa. Appropriate policies that address these peri-urban challenges in Zimbabwe are sorely needed.
Language diversity in the public health sector in the Cape Unicity : policy and practice
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2006-04) Williams, Michellene Shannon; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to study language diversity in the public health sector in the Cape Unicity area. The recent introduction of a multilingual policy is compared to practice in the health sector. This is done in order to draw similarities and differences regarding a gap between policy and practice. Five health facilities in the Cape Unicity were approached. Twenty-five respondents were sampled: doctors, nurses, administration or management officials, patients, and official interpreters where possible. To conclude, the findings suggest a significant gap is evident between policy and practice in each of the five health facilities. However, the gap appears to differ in scope for some health facilities due to certain factors. Subsequently, a number of recommendations are proposed.
Local government service provision and non-payment within underdeveloped communities of the Johannesburg Unicity : service providers' and consumers' perspective
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-04) Netswera, Fulufhelo Godfrey; Bekker, S. B.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Science. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African local government literature suggests a historical problem of municipal non-consultation in services identification and provision that goes hand-in-hand with community non-participation in municipal activities, coupled by a ‘culture of non-payment’ for these services. This research, which was conducted between 2002 and 2005 in the city of Johannesburg municipality, had the central purpose of ascertaining the manner and ways in which the city of Johannesburg provides its basic services to the Soweto communities and, in turn, of understanding if communities participate in municipal activities and hold possible attitudes of non-payment for municipal services. In order to attain the research purpose, six research questions were identified through local government theories and literature and advanced. The first set of four questions was aimed at the Soweto communities: How affordable are the basic municipal services to the Soweto communities? What are community’s perceptions of the importance of the various municipal services? Are the communities participating in the services identification and provision? How satisfied are the communities with the service delivery? The second set of two questions was aimed at service providers or the municipal services managers and councillors: What methods does the municipality use in identifying and delivering service? What does the municipality perceive to be their application and enforcement of service quality management standards? The original methodological intent was to interview the Soweto communities and the city of Johannesburg municipal services managers and councillors. 200 Soweto households were indeed interviewed from the eight townships of Chiawelo, Diepkloof, Dobsonville, Dube, Jabulani, Meadowlands, Naledi and Orlando, which were randomly selected. The survey amongst the heads of these 200 households was followed by four focus group meetings at Chiawelo, Dobsonville, Dube and Meadowlands and between five and eleven households participated in the discussions in clarifying survey outcomes. It was only possible, however, to interview three service managers from the city of Johannesburg services utilities Pikitup, Johannesburg Water and the Contract Management Unit. Frustrated attempts to interview municipal councillors in the city of Johannesburg led to obtaining permission for proxy interviews from the MEC of Local Government and Traffic Safety in Mpumalanga municipalities of Govan Mbeki and Emalahleni and the inclusion of the KwaZulu-Natal municipality of Emnambithi. The usage of proxy interviews is thought to be relevant since the perceptions on service provision relate to the application and implementation of the uniform countrywide local government structures and systems. A total of 24 interviews were conducted with the Mpumalanga MEC, the city of Johannesburg service managers (3), councillors (9) and senior municipal administrators (11). In order to confirm or repudiate service provider findings from the Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal municipalities, supplementary interviews were held with persons knowledgeable about service delivery in Soweto between 2002 and 2005. A total of four additional interviews were thus conducted. In the analysis of the community survey data, townships were classified as well-off and worse-off on the basis of household incomes and thus participation in municipal activities, payment of services and other attitudes were compared between the two strata. The findings of the research reveal low levels of ability to pay for municipal services by communities in terms of household incomes. However, the household possessions of the living standard measurement (LSM) utilities indicated otherwise. The use of income as a measure of affordability to pay is suspect in methodological reliability; hence income related findings should be interpreted with caution. The worse-off townships preferred state provision of the basic municipal services. There was less inclination to participate in municipal structures such as ward committees and Integrated Development Plans (IDP) processes by the well-off townships, although they were the least satisfied with service provision and municipal performance. The city of Johannesburg municipality was found to be addressing service backlogs as a method for service identification and prioritisation. The municipality has semi-privatised basic municipal services such as water, electricity and garbage collection through section 21 companies in order to overcome service provision inefficiencies and ineffectiveness. This has devastating effects in terms of the community’s inability to pay, leading to services disconnection. Communities in general, however, believed that service provision has improved through these utilities even though the municipality has not finalised its performance management contracts with the utilities. Whereas the service provider interviews were conducted in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, additional telephone interviews with service provision experts for Soweto agreed that municipal challenges throughout the country are generally the same since they operate within relatively new policy frameworks. It is acknowledged, however, that metropolitan municipalities and specifically the city of Johannesburg face some unique challenges too. It is concluded that the central role of the local government as the custodian of basic municipal services cannot be disputed; however, the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the market forces require private-public partnerships. It can also be concluded that non-participation is an outcome of, among other things, poor participative capacity within communities, apathy, feelings of distrust of both the municipal institutions and municipal councillors and the lack of information regarding community obligations to municipal institutions. The research recommends the use of similar service utilities in both townships and former white suburban areas in order to overcome the perceptions of the municipal services level disparities that are formed on the basis of townships versus white suburban areas; an overhaul of the municipality’s billing system to overcome its debt and service charges collection problems; ward committee participation capacity improvement for both the municipal councillors and communities and the development and communication of clear guidelines on the roles of regional services management centres. Further research is recommended on, among other things, whether privatisation of municipal services results in better access by all and improves efficiency and payments, and on the functionality and effectiveness of ward committees as vehicles for community participation and in developing new and more reliable socio-economic modelling for assessing community ability to pay for government services.
Local identities developing in the two Western Cape towns : Stellenbosch and Wellington
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003-04) Xabendlini, Nosicelo Ruth; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology .
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the construction, at local level, of collective identities in two Western Cape towns: Stellenbosch and Wellington. Identities are understood to refer to residents' construction of meaning for themselves. The approach was qualitative and used interview and focus group techniques with probes that allowed participants to speak freely about their lives in these towns. Under apartheid, residents were divided by race in these towns. The study aims to identify changes in local identity after apartheid. New identities revolving around issues of security and language appear to be emerging. Simultaneously, old racial identities persist.
Making the connection : the inclusion of information and communication technology in Western Cape Municipal integrated development plans
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006-04) De Waal, Liezel; Bekker, S. B.; Cornelissen, Scarlett; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study examines the Western Cape municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and questions whether these IDPs include Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives that promote development. IDPs are used by municipalities as multi-sectoral plans that provide situation analyses of municipal areas and determine development priorities in municipal areas. These development priorities must be met within certain budget and time constraints. Globalisation and the technological revolution have led to the rapid development and convergence of technology. Technology, such as the Internet and cellular telephones, has had various influences on society. One of these influences includes the possible application of ICT for the purpose of development. Therefore both IDPs and ICT can be applied for developmental purposes. The study thus brings together two seemingly unrelated concepts, namely Integrated Development Plans and Information and Communication Technology and aligns them with one another through the concept of development. The study includes three main objectives. Firstly, the Integrated Development Plans of the municipalities in the Western Cape were examined to ascertain whether these municipalities address ICT in their IDPs. Secondly, the nature of the ICT initiatives was determined. This refers to whether the ICT initiatives are for use in the community or for use in the municipality. Finally, a framework was developed, which includes the classification of the different types of municipalities, together with the different types of ICT initiatives. Recommendations were made based on this framework. The various theoretical issues discussed in this study include the transformation of local government in South Africa and the establishment of developmental local government. Various issues concerning the use of ICT for development are also discussed and they include the ‘Information Society’, the ‘Digital Divide’ and ICT for development. This discussion emphasises that success of ICT initiatives for development depends on the nature of the underlying policy agenda; this agenda must be demand-driven and pro-poor.
Negotiating post-apartheid boundaries and identities : an anthropological study of the creation of a Cape Town Suburb
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-12) Broadbridge, Helena Tara; Frankental, S.; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the complex and contested processes of drawing boundaries and negotiating identities in the post-Apartheid South African context by analysing how residents in a new residential suburb of Cape Town are working to carve out a new position for themselves in a changing social order. Drawing on data gathered through participant observation, individual and focus group interviews, and household surveys between November 1998 and December 2000, the study examines how residents draw and negotiate boundaries in their search for stability, status, and community in a society characterised by social flux, uncertainty, ambiguity and contradiction. It explores the construction and shifting of identities believed to be embodied in those boundaries, at the levels of the individual, the household and the community. A range of everyday social and spatial practices - including streetscape design, its use and contestation, neighbourliness and sociality, .household livelihoods and strategies, home maintenance and improvements - are shown to reveal residents' own conceptualisations of boundaries, their practical significance and symbolic power, as well as their permeability and transgression. The marking and maintenance of boundaries convey how social relationships, practices and power in the suburb are structured and continually negotiated. By analysing these actions and responses, the study illustrates some of the ways in which recent changes in South African society have unsettled the relationship between class, race and space to construct new boundaries and shape new identities. The fmdings suggest that although social differentiation among the residents is increasingly being restructured around class, race remains a salient variable in residents' constructions of themselves and each other. Ethnic-religious prejudice is also shown to influence local conflict and constructions of community. The study draws out four discourses through which residents contemplate and formulate circumstances and processes in their neighbourhood. The first emphasises racial integration, the second middle class suburban living, the third safety from crime, the fourth distrust and disorder. The discourses are significant, not only in their practical manifestation in everyday interaction but also because they suggest some of the ways in which connections and disconnections with the past, with (he old identities and the old affiliations, are managed in a new, post-Apartheid South Africa.
Participation of rural communities in development policy and practice : the South African experience and its relevance for Rwanda
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-12) Bangwanubusa, Theogene; Bekker, S. B.; Groenewald, C. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLIAH ABSTRACT: Several indispensable variables for effective community development include, among others: development skills, networking and partnership, and community participation in the development project life cycle. The study aimed to derive relevant lessons about these factors for Rwanda from the South African community development experience. A literature study was first undertaken on key concepts such as participation, rural community, development, and policy and practice. Literature on principles and policies guidelines for community development in both the South African and Rwandan contexts was also reviewed. Within the perspective of comparative analysis, the socio-political and historical backgrounds of both countries served as the basis of criteria for selecting four case studies. From South Africa, three case studies were selected from both the apartheid and post-apartheid periods. One postapartheid study was regarded as unsuccessful and one was successful. The third is a successful ongoing case that straddles the apartheid and post-apartheid periods. From Rwanda, a postgenocide ongoing case was selected on the grounds of its perceived success. A comparative analysis was undertaken of practical results and the South African experience provided actual relevance for Rwanda in specific ways. In complete contrast to the current view that community driven development depends on the political context, the study shows that it depends rather on a number of objective principles for active community participation. What is demonstrated is that community driven development cannot be adequately supported by the developer-centred, consultation, and blueprint approaches because they fail to inspire active community participation. Nor can community participation be seen merely as cheap labour or superficial involvement. Instead, it implies empowering the community with development skills that enable people to acquire more choices and gain control of their community life. To achieve such empowerment, the study stresses the need for a shift toward the bottom-up approach to the planning and implementing of rural-based development projects.
Post-war state-led development at work in Angola : the Zango housing project in Luanda as a case study
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-12) Croese, Sylvia; Bekker, S. B.; Pieterse, Edgar; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is a case study of the Zango social housing project in Luanda, the capital of the southern African state of Angola. Through an examination of the Zango project, which was born on the cusp of peace after nearly 30 years of civil war in 2002, I provide insight into the nature, workings and possible outcomes of post-war state-led development in Angola under non-democratic conditions. I do so by analyzing how the Angolan state ‘sees’ and does development, as well as how this development works. Empirically, this thesis argues that post-war state-led development is controlled by the Angolan presidency and financed and managed through extra-governmental arrangements. This both enables as well as limits state-led development as it allows for the maintenance of a gap between a ‘parallel’ and the formal state of Angola. In this process, local governments and citizens are largely side-lined as development actors. Yet, through an analysis of local governance and housing allocation arrangements in Zango, I show that the formal Angolan state is no empty shell and that its officials and those they engage with may operate in ways that take ownership of development directed from above. Theoretically, this thesis then argues for a research approach to the African state and state-led development that is empirically grounded.
Public participation in hostel redevelopment programs in Nyanga and Langa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-04) Mdunyelwa, Luzuko M.; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Literature on public participation generally assumes the existence of a causal relationship between community participation in urban development programs and the satisfaction of beneficiaries of such programs with the outcomes of these development programs. In this study, the role played by public participation in fashioning perceptions of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of beneficiaries is investigated in the cases of two hostel redevelopment programs. The role of public participation is investigated by means of the Spectrum of Participation model of the International Association of Public Participation, a model which propagates a set of principles to be fulfilled before it may be said that beneficiaries have thoroughly participated in a program. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the beneficiaries is tested by means of the Hirschmann model of Voice, Exit and Loyalty, a model which hypothesizes that potential beneficiaries in a program - in order to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the process - may remain loyal to the program, may voice their dissatisfaction, or (as a last resort) may exit the program. After an analysis of the concept of public participation, this concept is applied-via interviews with samples of stakeholders and potential beneficiaries-to two different communities of interest: members of the Welcome Zenzile Housing Cooperative in Langa and the Ilinge LabaHlali Housing Cooperative in Nyanga, townships situated not very far from the Cape Town CBD, and occupied mostly by African communities. These two housing cooperatives participated in the national Hostel Redevelopment Program, an initiative propagated by the national Department of Human Settlements. Since these cooperatives participated in different ways during identifiable phases of the program, public participation by potential beneficiaries was researched within each phase. A comparison of research findings in the two programs points to a positive relationship between public participation and beneficiary satisfaction. Though other factors also play a role, such satisfaction could be observed in the Nyanga community where levels of participation by beneficiaries were extremely high. With the Welcome Zenzile beneficiaries, the same could not be said, inter alia, since most of the decisions associated with beneficiary interests were made by the City of Cape Town. In essence this second program was implemented by the City of Cape Town for and on behalf of the beneficiaries.

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