Academic literature on the topic 'Students – KwaZulu-Natal – Social conditions'

Objective: In South Africa, Black African women between the ages of 15 and 24 years are especially vulnerable to HIV. The heterosexual transmission of the disease is exacerbated by social and cultural conditions that perpetuate gender relations of inequality. Problematic conceptualisations of femininity increase sexual risk. The objective of this article is to examine the ways in which undergraduate university Black African female students make meaning of gender and sexuality on campus and the social processes through which femininities are produced. Design: Qualitative research study. Setting: University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Method: In total, 10 in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 25 Black African undergraduate female students aged between 18 and 24 years old. Results: Campus life was conceived as a place of heterosexual freedom, sexual enjoyment and engagement with dating relationships. Relationships were forged based on romantic notions of love and versions of femininity based on trust lead to sexual risk and unwanted pregnancy. In the context of material inequalities, ‘sugar daddy’ relationships further limited female students’ ability to negotiate safe sex. The overall climate on campus was structured along gender power inequalities. Female students feared and were victims of verbal, physical assault and sexual coercion. The lack of campus security exacerbated female students’ vulnerability to violence on campus. Conclusion: Addressing the specific meanings expressed by Black African female students on campus can help to improve the effectiveness of campus-based health education interventions promoting safe sex, gender equality and student safety.

AbstractClimate change projections of increases in lightning activity are an added concern for lightning-prone countries such as South Africa. South Africa’s high levels of poverty, lack of education, and awareness, as well as a poorly developed infrastructure, increase the vulnerability of rural communities to the threat of lightning. Despite the existence of national lightning networks, lightning alerts and warnings are not disseminated well to such rural communities. We therefore developed a community-based early warning system (EWS) to detect and disseminate lightning threats and alerts in a timely and comprehensible manner within Swayimane, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The system is composed of an electrical field meter and a lightning flash sensor with warnings disseminated via audible and visible alarms on site and with a remote server issuing short message services (SMSs) and email alerts. Twelve months of data (February 2018–February 2019) were utilized to evaluate the performance of the EWS’s detection and warning capabilities. Diurnal variations in lightning activity indicated the influence of solar radiation, causing convective conditions with peaks in lightning activity occurring during the late afternoon and early evening (between 1400 and 2100) coinciding with students being released from school and when most workers return home. In addition to detecting the threat of lightning, the EWS was beneficial in identifying periods that exhibited above-normal lightning activity, with two specific lightning events examined in detail. Poor network signals in rural communities presented an initial challenge, delaying data transmission to the central server until rectified using multiple network providers. Overall, the EWS was found to disseminate reliable warnings in a timely manner.

Background: Universities have a social responsibility to ensure that they select and train healthcare professionals (HCPs) who can meet the healthcare needs of local communities. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) contributes to the training of HCPs working in district hospitals (DHs) in KwaZulu-Natal Province, and the impact that the funding source for their training has on DH staffing.Methods: This was an observational descriptive study, with all doctors, dentists, dental therapists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and radiographers working at DHs in KZN in November 2016 being invited to participate. Data were collected through a validated questionnaire.Results: A total of 514 HCPs working in 29 DHs participated in the study; over half (57%) of the South African medical graduates had trained at UKZN, as had 62% of pharmacists, 64% of physiotherapists and 92% of dental therapists. Some 87% of the HCPs had worked in DHs for five years or less, 65% planned to leave in the near future, and 29% planned to leave at the end of 2016.Discussion: UKZN plays a significant role in training for the short-term needs of DHs in KZN. Much of the workforce is young and transient, which has implications for service provision and expanding the teaching platform to DHs. The lack of long-term staff retention suggests that UKZN needs to continually monitor the selection of students, as well as the content and context of the training, if it is to contribute to the province’s long-term staffing needs.

Youth violence is of public health and social concern. A South African cluster randomized trial (434 grade 10 students, 16 schools), used the Integrated Model for Behavior Change conceptual framework to implement a 20 module classroom-based intervention program. The study contributes to the literature and used a strong analytical technique since mixed effects linear regression assessed the impact of the intervention on physical violence endpoints and other socioeconomic confounders/factors. The intervention reduced students' experiencing physical violence compared to controls and social pressure for this, yet no differences were found for hitting others. Our results support findings that school programs against violence can reduce students' experience of physical violence, but translation of these findings to reduce the actual hitting of others may need further approaches and/or more time.

This article presents findings of a study conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of African Languages on the motivation of isiZulu first language (L1) undergraduate students for studying isiZulu first language modules. In this paper, we postulate that students’ motivation for learning an African language in the South African context is a result of multiple variables that relate to relevance and socio cultural implications of the concerned language, and the effects of the pervasiveness of English in the social, cultural, economic and political spheres of life. Understanding student motivation for studying African languages as L1 is vital as an additional measure in transforming curricula in order to satisfy the multilingual needs of the global world by enforcing additive bilingualism that embraces African languages. Questionnaires were used, and the responses were analysed thematically to determine students’ motivation to enrol for isiZulu modules. The findings of the study reveal intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, among them, the use of isiZulu for teaching and learning, cultural affi liation and identity, career trajectories, peer and/or family pressure and a poor selection, or a lack of course alternatives.

The university period provides a critical developmental transition from adolescence to adulthood. During this period, young people establish patterns of behaviors and make lifestyle choices that affect their current and future health. Using the social constructionist paradigm that examines the development of masculinities as a mutual construct of individual, social, cultural, and historical context, this article explores the interactions between masculinities and sexual behaviors of young men at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study used a qualitative approach and employed purposive sampling to recruit 36 young Black male students aged between 18 and 30 years. Four focus group discussions consisting of 8 to 10 participants were conducted according to the current year of study of male students. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically. Our results show that the freedom and independence acquired from being away from home enabled students to enact their masculinities freely. Our findings further reveal that an individual has multiple masculinities which are often exerted to suit the present discourse they are in at any given point.

South Africa's first democratic government is today confronted with the challenge of recasting apartheid social and health policies, transforming a moribund bureaucracy's mode of governance, and restructuring a variety of public and private institutions, including the national Department of Health. In the attempt to redress racial, gender, and class inequities, enormous barriers confront health policy analysts and planners, progressive politicians, and activists within civil society who work in the field of health. This article sets the broad social policy context for the emerging strategies, documents some of the continuing inequities in the health sector, and recounts some recent experiences in one of the nine provinces (KwaZulu-Natal), to illustrate the difficulties and potentials that change of this magnitude presents under the prevailing conditions of neoliberal politics and economics.

Magister Public Health - MPH (Public Health)
Background and rationale: Telehealth is a collection of methods for enhancing health care, public health, and health education delivery and support using telecommunications technologies. Despite the many reported benefits of telehealth, there are challenges to its continued and widespread use in South Africa. It remains unclear what facilitates or hinders the integration of telehealth into routine clinical practice. Study aim and objectives: Drawing on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this study investigated factors affecting healthcare workers' acceptance and use of telehealth in hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Specifically, it described the frequency and nature of telehealth use and the factors associated with technology acceptance; and evaluated the influence of socio-demographic factors (age, experience, profession, qualification) and acceptance factors on use and behavioural intention to use telehealth. Methods: A quantitative survey in seven hospitals (2 tertiary, 3 regional, 2 district) with telehealth facilities falling under the KZN Department of Health, was conducted. 177 medical, nursing, pharmacy and allied staff consented to complete an on-line, closed ended and structured self-administered questionnaire based on the UTAUT model. The responses to the individual likert scale items were assigned a score (1-4), and from this, total scores calculated for each construct. Respondent characteristics were converted into binary variables and associations with total scores on each of the UTAUT acceptance domains were tested using t-test. The associations between behavioural intention and actual use (as binary dependent variables); and the respondent profiles, scores for performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions (independent variables) were assessed in two multivariate logistic regression models.

The research presented in this thesis is a case study analysis of the school-based intervention initiated by the David Rattray Foundation [DRF]. David Rattray, a South African historian well known for his contribution to the 1879-1896 Anglo-Zulu War heritage, was murdered in January 2007. In response to his untimely death, the DRF was established by family and friends with the hope of improving education within the Umzinyathi rural municipal district of KwaZulu-Natal. This study consisted of three phases: Phase I (May-December 2011); Phase II (January-December 2012), and Phase III (December 2012-October 2013). During Phase I, the focus was on describing the broader context in which the case is located. It resulted in a narrative account of the emergence of the DRF as a non-governmental organisation [NGO] working towards change within the local rural school community. During Phase II the focus shifted from the broader socio-political and economic context to the human dimension which included teachers, principals, volunteer workers and a district official working in the schools. During Phase II the approach to change adopted by the DRF was critically analysed in relation to models of change described in the literature. Teachers’ experiences of change were also examined. Phase III was a synthesis of the findings from the first two research phases. By drawing on systems and complexity theory perspectives, insights were gained enabling a deep understanding of the DRF’s school-based intervention as a whole. This research is a qualitative study that seeks to understand individual teachers’ experiences and participation in a process of change that reaches beyond the individual and his/her immediate context. The adoption of a realist ontology (Maxwell, 2012) and application of an explanatory heuristic based on the critical realist philosophy of Bhaskar (1979, 1980, 2011) enabled the layered analysis and in-depth interpretation that characterises the study. The findings of the study reveal a complex and ongoing process of change within a rural school context. The results illuminate the efficacy of a collaborative partnership between civil society (the DRF), the local community, under the leadership of a tribal authority, and the local government (KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Education). It also reveals how teachers within this particular context do not have a strong voice in the change process and hence participate only superficially in the school-based intervention. It is probable that the constraining mechanisms revealed through this research are not exclusive to this particular case study, but are common across the South African rural school context. The main contention of this thesis is that these mechanisms need further interrogation in order to enable further change and permit the active participation of teachers in the process.While the study illuminates many of the tensions and problems faced by the schools and the community in which they are located, it also highlights the achievements and selfless attitude of many people working towards change and improvement within the schools. This case study thus provides an example to all South Africans of what can be achieved with commitment and effort.

The main focus of this thesis is the child support grant, as part of a broader social security system, in post-apartheid South Africa. Since the end of apartheid of 1994, the new South African government has sought to redress the racial imbalances and inequalities of the past by engaging in measures of redistribution. Central to this pursuit of redistribution has been a restructured system of social grants, of which the child support grant is the most significant. However, the post-apartheid government has adopted a largely neo-liberal macro-economic strategy such that social inequality and endemic poverty remain pervasive particularly amongst the African population, which includes the recipients of the child support grants. In adopting a sustainable livelihoods framework as the main theoretical perspective, the thesis seeks to understand the livelihoods of child support grant mothers in the face of conditions of extreme poverty. It does this through a localised study of twenty child grant mothers in Sinathingi Township in KwaZulu-Natal Province. In examining the livelihoods of these child-grant mothers, the thesis brings to the fore that mothers and their children do not exist as autonomous living units but are embedded in a broader set of social relations, including intra-household relations and relations with the fathers of the grant-children. It also demonstrates that child-grant mothers are not simply victims of structures of poverty in contemporary South Africa, but actively construct their livelihoods through a range of activities and strategies which show perseverance and ingenuity.

AIDS is a serious South African health problem, with HIV infection in KwaZulu-Natal being at the local epidemic's forefront. Adolescents in this province are at additional risk because of their lifestyles. Information on existing risky behaviour and its psychosocial concomitants can provide an important base for educational interventions aimed at reducing further transmission. This study aims to provide baseline information on knowledge, attitudes and reported behaviour, relating to HIV/AIDS, among adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal. A survey, using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions to collect data, was conducted among standard eight Zulu-speaking students (N = 1511) in five parts of the province. The theoretical framework that informed data collection was drawn from the Health Belief Model and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. The data generated were first analysed descriptively, providing percentages for responses to individual items. Secondly, cross-tabulations were calculated for relevant items using three independent biographical variables, namely: Locality (rural/peri-urban), gender and students' reports of sexual activity. The results showed inadequate knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS to provide a foundation for developing healthier attitudes. Although most students acknowledged the disease's severity, few reported feeling personally susceptible, denying the immediacy of the threat. Additionally, cues to action and the perceived benefits of adopting preventive behaviours were not influential. Barriers preventing condom use were not primarily logistical, with personal concerns being the main barriers to change. Furthermore, perceived self-efficacy in preventive behaviours was low. Recommendations regarding areas for future research, as well as considerations which will enhance the effectiveness of risk reducing interventions among similar populations, are provided.

The availability of ART has transformed HIV infection from a terminal illness into a disease that is manageable. South Africa bears the greatest burden of the AIDS epidemic, having the highest proportion of adults and young people living with HIV in the world. Studies of the experience of living with HIV have largely been dominated by a medical approach which tends to ignore the subjective experience and meaning of living with HIV. This study uses constructivist grounded theory to explore the subjective experience of living with HIV for young people who live in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Qualitative methods were used to collect data; these consisted of individual interviews and focus group discussions with young people living with HIV, carers of young people and community members. This study presents a multifaceted understanding of the experience for young people of living with HIV. Disclosure, young people‟s interpretation of the meaning of living with HIV and maintaining normality were core categories identified in the young people‟s narratives. Disclosure created a space for young people to negotiate the social and personal meaning of living with HIV. Maintaining normality was an active process whereby young people engaged themselves in tasks which they perceived to be helpful in managing HIV stigma, negative social interpretations associated with living with HIV and the uncertainty of living with HIV. „Normalisation‟ was used in this process, which refers to the combination of strategies that young people employed to survive and maintain a state of wellness; however, it was a negotiated process rather than an outcome, and young people were actively balancing their lives in the midst of uncertainty. Young people‟s active agency and resilience permeated their narratives and the study.

This was an original case study that aimed to locate South African post-apartheid rural land social movements within existing theoretical approaches. The land social movements organize around land rights and access for landless people and for those whose land rights are weak or threatened. The study analyzed conditions contributing to the emergence of land social movements in the post-apartheid South Africa and struggle methods they employ, using a case study of the Tenure Security Coordinating Committee in KwaZulu-Natal.

A research project submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2002.
African migration to South Africa is not a recent phenomenon bu in recent history, dates back to about one hundred and fifty years when African men migrated from some southern African countries to work in the South African mines. During this period however, the apartheid regime restricted African entry into the labour market of South Africa to contract mine workers, who were obviously men. Due to the abolition of apartheid. African migration to South Africa now has a gender profile. SkPIed, professional and businesswomen of African origin are now migrating independently to South Africa. This new face oftAfrican migration is transforming South African society and culture. African women from other countries have migrated to South Africa with parts of their cultures (their dresses and their food). In South Africa, these women have acquired both positive and negative identities. The negative identities expose them to discrimination in South Africa. On the other hand, the positively acquired identities nave given the women economic independence in their families and an occupational identity in their professions. In their attempt to adjust to life in South Africa, African migrant women encounter difficulties as a result of the restrictionist immigration policy of South Africa. These women are not happy with such a policy which is based solely on economic considerations. African women claim that they struggled alongside South Africans to bring apartheid to an end and were promised by the ANC-in-exilc that they were going to be welcome in an apartheid- free South Africa. These women claim that Iliey are here to make a contribution, which is clearly portrayed by their occupational experiences. This study portrays the fact that African migrant women arc impacting on South African society and are being impacted by it as well. As tempting as it is. it would be a mistake by the South African government to dismiss the current contribution made by these women both in the formal and informal sector of the South African economy. Coining from other African countries which have been plagued with political turmoil, degrading poverty and worsening of peoples living conditions (especially with the consequences of the implementation of the structural adjustment programs), migrant women have learnt to use their initiative, especially in the area of small businesses. This has enabled the women to transform their financial situations in their families. Diverse strategies have been utilised in this transformation; the inherent but powerful social networks which aided in relocating to new or particular areas in South Africa, financial and social support from their "fictive kin" system. As a "modus operandi" for Ghanaian migrant women hairdressers, country men/wo men are employed from Ghana and brought to South Africa to work in their hair salons. Since South Africans believe that Ghanaians are the best hairdressers, the migrant women have decided to employ as many Ghanaians in their salons as possible, to keep their businesses busy even in their absence. Some of the migrant women have opened food shops where indigenous West African foods are sold to the migrant population. These shops are placed in strategic places, like in central Durban which is accessible to all living in KwaZufu-Natal. In the formal sector, most of (lie migrant women were among tlic first black women lo occupy certain positions, which were previously occupied by white South Africans. Positions such as supervisors in catering departments in Iiospitals. lecturers and head of departments at some universities are examples of the empowering contribution of migrant women to South African society. These women's lives have also been impacted by South African society, especially in the apartheid era. Considering the precarious conditions under which mizrant women from Zambia lived in KwaZulu-Natal in the apartheid era (they were considered as spies because Zambia hosted some of the A.N.C-in-exile and I.F.P dominated this area), it was in their best interest to watch every step they took because they could have been killed. However, they live to tell of how they narrowly escaped death. Migration to South Africa by migrant nurses which once was considered as an opportunity to "have their own share of the gold" has turned to disillusionment. They have been caught in the web of the immigration policy of South Africa. The conditions for a migrant to stay in South Africa depend on how scarce his/her skill is. Nursing which was considered a scarce skill in the 1990s is no longer scarce. This has led lo a second migration to England by the nurses. Despite the recent increase in this second migration, some have decided to use the opportunities of working and studying in South Africa to obtain university degrees, which they believe will improve their financial situations. According to the remarks made by some of the migrant women, th;y are happy lo be where they are, for, comparatively. South Africa still has the best to ofler migrant women in the African continent. However, the migration literature shows that researchers in the field of migration have been gender-blind. Independent skilled, career and businesswomen of African origin have been side-lined in scholarly research on migration in post apartheid South Africa. In collecting data used for this study, the snowball method of sampling was used because other me! hods were not appropriate. The population of study was made of a core sample often women, although interviews were conducted informally with a cross-section with other migrant women. The study of independent African migrant women is an example of an ethnographic account at its best.

The de-industrialisation process that was a common feature of North America and Western Europe in the 1970s, through into the 1980s has become an observable feature in African countries and South Africa in particular in the last two decades. Globally, hard hit areas include those associated with the early Industrial Revolution characterised by mass production and the agglomeration of iron and steel, coal and textile industries. General changes in the global market, especially the falling demand for extractive heavy minerals like coal and gold have also affected many countries region and localities. In the case of South Mrica, the previous high economic dependence on mined minerals like coal and gold has resulted in many once prosperous mining regions of the country being reduced to a shadow of their former selves. The worst affected areas in South Africa are those of the Klerksdorp Goldfields in the North West Province and Free State Goldfields, with the latter alone losing 100,000 jobs during the 1990s. This trend has also been acute in the coal-mining industry of the KwaZulu-Natal province since the late 1970s. The firms that had grown in the shadow of the major mining company supplyipg machinery, or who processed the semi-manufactured product are also severely affected by the closing down and restructuring in the mining and iron industries. These industries have often been forced to close down because of a break in the vital connections they developed with these mining industries. Such localised economic crisis has encouraged the universal trend towards the devolution of developmental responsibilities to the local governments and other local stakeholders to - empower them to respond to these changes. This study investigated the local economic initiatives which have been undertaken in the three municipalities of north-western KwaZulu Natal i.e. Utrecht, Dundee and Dannhauser to respond to the closures which have taken place in the mining industry of this region, which used to be among the most prosperous coal mining regions of South Africa. Using their new developmental mandate the local governments, in partnership with the communities and other external interveners have tried to respond to these localised economic crisis and also indirectly to the general poverty and underdevelopment, which characterises this region of KwaZulu-Natal. The effects of apartheid policies, and previous discriminatory rural development policies in, particular, and the Regional Industrial Development policy, which was intensively applied in the 1980s by the pre-1994 government regime, have further compounded the magnitude of the challenge. The lack of capacity in some municipalities has constrained successful implementation of Local Economic Development has led to some communities acting alone to face their situation with or without external intervention.

Thesis (MPA (Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Unemployment and poverty have an adverse effect on society and proactive and sustainable measures are needed to deal with it. Women and rural women in particular, form the most affected group when it comes to unemployment and poverty. Illiteracy and underdevelopment are the major barriers to the advancement of unemployed rural women. Women in rural settings in most cases rely on local economic development (LED) initiatives for day-to-day survival. Local government has a constitutional mandate to promote social and economic development in order to improve the quality life for the citizens of South Africa. This mandate has been followed by a number of policy documents and guidelines for LED to enable local authorities to perform this task efficiently. The concept of LED is a micro approach in that it deals directly with local issues of economic development through partnerships between communities, business, workers, development agencies and governmental agencies to promote local economy. There is a pressing need for local government to be proactive in dealing with issues of rural development and in supporting LED initiatives of rural women. The literature review covers the theoretical framework of LED through examining both international and domestic practices. The review deals with the history of LED, the LED concept, development theories, evaluation of the practices of LED, as well as participatory development, pro-poor LED, and tourism as a response to LED. It further assesses the contextual framework of LED with particular attention to South African policy and practice. The state of LED in South Africa is discussed, together with the way forward for LED. The study provides an investigation into the background of the Mandeni Municipality by looking at the demographic factors and geographical location of the area. The state of LED in Mandeni Municipality is highlighted, together with LED strategy for the Municipality, and major future development associated with LED. The study clearly portrays that there is a gap between the LED initiatives of the unemployed rural women and the Municipality. The strategic location of the Municipality facilitates future economic prospects for the area and new development proposals associated with LED. It is clear from the LED Unit structure in Mandeni Municipality that there is a lack of capacity to deal with the LED challenges and local economic initiatives. From the literature review it is clear that women are critical role players in LED because of their ability to initiate community-based economic development projects and to perform multi-task activities. It is evident that strong partnerships with various LED stakeholders working directly with low-income communities can play a meaningful role in alleviating poverty, and in the creation of employment.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Werkloosheid en armoede het vandag .n nadelige invloed op die gemeenskap en proaktiewe en volhoubare maatreels is nodig om dit hok te slaan. Wat werkloosheid en armoede betref, val vroue onder die groepe wat die meeste geraak word, veral plattelandse vroue. Ongeletterdheid en onderontwikkeling is die vernaamste hindernisse vir die vooruitgang van werklose plattelandse vroue. Vroue in .n plattelandse milieu steun sterk op plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe vir hulle dag tot dag oorlewing. Plaaslike regering het .n konstitusionele mandaat om maatskaplike en ekonomiese ontwikkeling te bevorder ten einde die lewenskwaliteit van burgers van Suid-Afrika te verbeter. .n Enorme behoefte bestaan dat die plaaslike regering proaktief moet optree wanneer aangeleenthede rakende plattelandse ontwikkeling en ondersteuning van plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelings-inisiatiewe vir plattelandse vroue aangespreek word. Op beleidsvlak het Suid-Afrika sterk klem geplaas op plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkeling as maatreel om sosio-ekonomiese toestande vir plattelandse gemeenskappe te verbeter. Plattelandse vroue staar egter reuse uitdagings rondom onderontwikkeling in die gesig. Die groot probleem vir hierdie navorsing is dat die Mandeni munisipaliteit se plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprogramme, wat vroue as voorheen gemarginaliseerde en kwesbare groepe teiken, onsigbaar is. Plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe geskied in isolasie van die munisipaliteit en daar blyk maar .n powere vennootskap tussen die munisipaliteit en plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe wat deur vroue gevoer word, te wees. Die Plaaslike Ekonomiese Ontwikkelingseenheid (LED-eenheid), wat oor .n mandaat beskik vir die implementering van plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprogramme, het .n niksseggende rol in die bevordering van plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprogramme vir plaaslike werklose vroue gespeel. Daarbenewens is daar baie vroue onder die bevolking van die Mandeni-munisipaliteit en die meerderheid van hulle is werkloos. Die vernaamste doelwitte van hierdie studie was om probleme te identifiseer wat die LED-eenheid gehad het met die implementering van LED-programme vir die werklose vrou en om sy vlak van deelname, in belang van die werklose plattelandse vroue, te assesseer. Die fokusgroep-metode is tydens navorsing ingespan met die insameling van data oor die twee verskillende vroueorganisasies wat plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprojekte geinisieer het. Voorts is die onderhoud-metode tydens die studie toegepas vir die insameling van data rondom die drie munisipale amptenare en die Speaker van die munisipaliteit. Die vernaamste bevindinge van die navorsing toon duidelik dat daar .n gaping bestaan tussen LED-inisiatiewe deur die plattelandse werklose vroue en die Mandeni-munisipaliteit. Die bevindinge van die studie dui daarop dat die LED-eenheidstruktuur van die Mandeni-munisipaliteit oor onvoldoende fondse beskik en gebrek toon aan die nodige vermoe om die plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsuitdagings en plaaslike ekonomiese inisiatiewe van die werklose plattelandse vroue te hanteer. Dit is duidelik dat vroue kritiese rolspelers in plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkeling is weens hulle vermoe om gemeenskapsgebaseerde ekonomiese ontwikkelingsprojekte te inisieer en hulle kennis om veelvuldige taakbedrywighede van stapel te laat loop. Ten slotte beveel die studie aan dat die LED-eenheid geherstruktureer word om die LED-agterstande binne die Mandeni-munisipaliteit aan te spreek, dat daar behoorlike koordinering van LED-programme moet wees, en dat die plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe vir vroue sterk deur die Mandeni-munisipaliteit gesteun moet word.

This thesis examines the agricultural labour process on commercial farms in post-apartheid South Africa with a particular focus on systems of labour control on these farms. Considerable literature exists about the labour process in capitalist society but the capitalist labour process does not exist in any pure form. Rather, different labour processes exist and the specific form they take depends on spatial and temporal conditions. Additionally, labour processes are often economic sector-specific. Because of variation in capitalist labour processes, differences in systems of labour control (or labour control regimes) also arise. Historically, up until the end of apartheid in 1994, the labour control regime on commercial farms in South Africa was marked by a paternalistic despotism of a racialised kind. This in part reflected the fact that commercial farms were simultaneously sites of both economic production and social reproduction and, further, they were very privatised agrarian spaces largely unregulated (specifically with regard to labour) by the state. Since the end of apartheid, commercial farms have been subjected to multiple pressures. Notably, the South African state has strongly intervened in labour relations on commercial farms, and commercial farms have been subjected to ongoing neo-liberal restructuring. This has led to the prospects of changes in the prevailing labour control system on commercial farms. In this context, the thesis pursues the following key objective: to understand changes and continuities in the labour process on commercial farms – and particularly labour control systems – subsequent to the end of apartheid in South Africa. It does so with reference to four farms in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces.