Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11837/519

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Pro-Capital Mandatorism and Autocratic Management Style in Labour Relations; The Transkei experience between 1976 and 1994.
(University of Fort Hare, 1998-12) Abankwa, Joseph, Kwadwo
The aim of this research was to investigate labour relations in the former Transkei with the focus on work place relations and the role played by the state in regulating such relations. The questionnaire instrument was employed in this study. Pilot studies were utilised in preparation for the administration of the questionnaires. Simple Random Sampling was employed to select the sample of the representative population for the questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to 636 workers and 120 management staff. All the 636 workers and 80 management staff completed the questionnaires. Nine trade union officials and Dr Bikitsha a minister in Chief Matanzima's government between 1979 and 1983 were also interviewed. To achieve maximum returns assistants were employed to administer the questionnaires. The study revealed that workers in the former Transkei, especially those in industry, were exploited by their employers. This was made possible by Chief Matanzima's refusal to allow the formation, let alone the operation of trade unions in the former homeland. It is worthwhile to note that, the government itself, the largest employer of labour in the Transkei, neither wished to consult nor negotiate with its workforce. Instead, liaison committees were established to liaise between workers and their employers in an attempt to bring about industrial peace at the workplace. An inspectorate division was also established to monitor the goings-on at the various workplaces and to report back their findings to the relevant authorities for action to be taken where and when necessary. Regrettably none of the two institutions performed its function as expected. As a result, workers' legitimate demands were ignored by their employers and in the absence· of trade unions to intervene on their behalf, they (workers) had no means at their disposal to have their grievances attended to. It was also revealed that the two governments that followed Chief Matanzima's government (Chief George Matanzima and Stella Siqcau governments respectively) did nothing to alleviate the plight of the workers until after the overthrow of Siqcau's Government in 1987 and the coming to power of Major General Bantu Holomisa.
Tolerance in intergroup relations: cognitive representations reducing ingroup projection
(University of Fort Hare, 2008) O’sullivan, Clodagh M.
The Ingroup Projection Model (IPM) states that groups evaluate each other according to how prototypical they are of the superordinate category, the category that includes subgroups. The Ingroup Projection Model predicts that members of the ingroup tends to project their own characteristics onto the superordinate category, and thus see themselves as more prototypical of the superordinate category than the outgroup, which increases the likelihood for intergroup discrimination. Research has shown that this tendency of projection appears to be greater in high-status groups. The phenomenon of ingroup projection is hypothesized to be reduced by undefined cognitive representations of the superordinate category such as a complex representation of the superordinate category and a small-scope prototype. A complex representation of the superordinate category is one that has many distinctive characteristics that are seen as equally prototypical, whereas a small-scope representation includes a few prescriptive norms. The present study tested the reduction effects of complexity and smallscope prototype on ingroup projection using a 2 (Number of dimensions: few vs. many) x 2 (Relatedness of dimensions: orthogonal/independent vs. correlated/related) x 2 (Group: Psychology students vs. Law students) factorial design. The results support the Ingroup Projection Model and related assumptions. However, the results also indicate the importance of the specific characteristics of the intergroup situation.
International Students in South African Universities: An Examination of their Academic Choices, Challenges and Social Integration at the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University.
(2014) Olujobi, Omobola Olaitan
International students have become major role players in international education across the globe. Their enrollment in different universities has increased in the past few decades worldwide. Most of these students bring rich cultural diversity and skills to their various host institutions and countries. These trends signal the need to examine and understand international students within the South African context. Against this background, this study explores the factors that influence academic choices of international students, academic and social challenges they face and the role of social capital in influencing international student integration at the Universities of Fort Hare and Rhodes in South Africa. A qualitative research design was employed in this study. Thirty international students were selected (and interviewed) using purposive sampling and snowballing. The study found that some of the main factors that influence the academic choices of international students include availability of scholarships and funding, recommendations of the institution by family and friends, availability of preferred course and the reputation of the institution. Some of the main challenges faced by international students in these two institutions include language barriers, financial difficulty, expensive but improperly maintained accommodation and culture shock. These challenges impede the smooth integration of international students into their new academic and social environment. However, the students employ several strategies in attempt to address the challenges they face. These include joining a student or community social organization, community engagement and making friends. These social networks and organizations serve as a support system and connection hub for the students. The study recommends that it is pertinent for the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University to meet the needs and expectations of its international students through regular surveys that give them room to speak about their experiences. The need for efficient International Offices at both institutions is crucial as well as the employment of open‐minded multicultural trained staff in these offices. The study also suggests the need for the both institutions to provide affordable and comfortable accommodation for its international students.
Designed to disable? Disability- friendliness of Buffalo city municipal amenities in discourse and experience
(University of Fort Hare, 2014) Febana, Ziyanda
According to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the prerequisite of accessibility for people with physical disabilities goes beyond merely ensuring that there are “disabled friendly” resources in a built environment. Accessibility entails the availability of appropriate facilities to accommodate physical disabilities where and when needed. A casual observation of many municipal amenities in South Africa, particularly Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), Eastern Cape, shows that the conceptualisation and design of many public amenities make these amenities "public" only in name and, from a disability point of view, are possibly embedded in a model that is fundamentally exclusionist. Yet few systematic studies have been carried out at the local level to confirm or refute this assumption. Utilising Elinor Ostrom’s adaptation of the concept of common pool resources - a concept which was hitherto restricted to the analysis of shared ecological resources - this study examines the extent to which inclusivity matters within the context of the design and provisioning of municipal amenities that are meant to serve the public. The analysis is based on triangulated data obtained from a mini survey of paraplegic, blind and deaf people, physical observation of the relevant amenities, and key informant interview of officials in relevant BCMM departments. The findings suggest, among other things, that there is a weak perception among municipal officials regarding the rights of people with disabilities and that the perceptions appear to be rooted in a mind-set that regards disability, rather than the ‘engineering’ of the physical (public) space, as the ‘problem’. Even so, the thinking that public infrastructure cannot be ‘altered’ to meet ‘everyone’s needs appears to permeate the municipal bureaucracy. As a result, the Municipality has only attempted to create the bare minimum of accessible environment (catering only for wheelchair users), and this despite the existence of a constitutional mandate that dictates otherwise. The study concludes from these and other findings that for municipal amenities to become common pool resources in the sense advocated by Ostrom and other scholars, a social rather than a medical model of disability must dominate municipal and bureaucratic thinking.
Unravelling the myths about unplanned pregnancy among female students at University of Fort hare East London campus, South Africa.
(University of Fort Hare, 2015) Chukwunyere, Amadi P
This research study examined: 1. the attitudes and perceptions of female university students towards unplanned pregnancies, their (pregnancies’) associated influences and their social economic consequences on the participants and their family. 2. The level of knowledge, the sources thereof, and the girls’ attitudes and perceptions toward contraception, abortion and their actual use as possible barriers in the prevention of unplanned pregnancies. 3. The possible interventions in curbing the phenomenon of unplanned pregnancies. Data for the study was gathered through in-depth-interviews with ten female undergraduate students at the University of Fort Hare in East London campus, who had the experience of unplanned pregnancy while studying. Selection of participants was done through snowball sampling. A number of factors responsible for the unplanned pregnancy are revealed, including: Inadequate and inconsistent use of contraceptives, ignorance about contraception or rejection of contraceptive use due to religious beliefs. Influential factors regarding unplanned child bearing include: The role of the mother and the boyfriend, traditional and religious beliefs, and the desire for child bearing and motherhood. Although the majority of the girls are knowledgeable about contraception, and their right to abortion, a number of barriers hinder them from putting this knowledge into practical use. Some of the most highlighted consequences of unplanned/unwanted pregnancy are the financial burden on the family and loss of study time.
HIV and AIDS youth peer educators : a study of HIV and AIDS youth peer education in East London and Durban
(University of Fort Hare, 2015) Molose, Simxolele
HIV and AIDS youth peer education (YPE) in South Africa is largely studied from the point of view of organized institutions, such as schools and workplaces. Moreover, peer education research is frequently directed at measuring the effectiveness of the programmes, neglecting the role of HIV and AIDS youth peer educators (PEs) in the processes of YPE. The latter situation is what this study aimed to address, as the study explored work of community based peer educators from ELHTA in Duncan Village and Scenery Park in East London and HOPE to educate in Durban, looking at particularly the difference that the PEs in the above programmes make through their work. The data used for this study was collected by the means of in depth interviews and focus group discussion methods. The reason for using the latter methods is to ensure authenticity of the experiences and testimonials of the PEs since the main aim of the study is to explore the impact of community based peer educators‟ work on the outcomes of the YPE in Duncan Village, in East London with a view to ascertain how PEs contribute the success or even failure of the YPE in the above community, since current research in South Africa on community based youth peer education is scant. This study aimed to contribute to the scientific work that expands research on peer education with young volunteers in South African communities, rather than just the existing research which centres largely on schools and workplaces. From this study it was found that youth peer educators play pivotal role in peer education in that peer educators are peer education and peer education is peer educators. Monetary incentives were found to be the major motivating factor in peer education. Furthermore interest to know more about HIV and AIDS, family history of members infected with HIV and lastly interest to be agents of change were among some of the motivating factors. Peer educators were found to be faced with so many challenges; ranging from stigma, denial, and delay in uniform provision, risky working conditions and insults from community members, however, passion for peer education motivates peer educators to remain in their programmes, irrespective of the challenges, thus making unique contribution and keeping the youth peer education structure functional. Youth Peer educators were found to be important assets to their communities and also as they face challenges, they need the support from different organisations within communities and they need to be recognised and be empowered. Peer educators were found to be faced with so many challenges; ranging from stigma, denial, and delay in uniform provision, risky working conditions and insults from community members, however, passion for peer education motivates peer educators to remain in their programmes, irrespective of the challenges, thus making unique contribution and keeping the youth peer education structure functional. Youth Peer educators were found to be important assets to their communities and also as they face challenges, they need the support from different organisations within communities and they need to be recognised and be empowered.
Between skills development and skills protectionism: The discourse and practice of skills development in the Nigerian multinational corporate sector.
(University of Fort Hare, 2016) Jiboku, Joseph Olutoyin
Against the backdrop of arguments regarding the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) as custodians of modern skills and technology and as agents of socio-economic transformation in developing countries, especially through training and human resource development, this study examined specific claims in this regard in the Nigerian context. Specifically, the study examined how skills development strategies in selected MNCs in Nigeria reflected, or failed to reflect, the “prescriptions” and “idealisations” about national human capital formation as gleaned from the dominant discourses in the country’s official manpower agencies, organised labour and organised private sector. Were there, for instance, specific MNC skills development strategies that potentially could undermine the notion of MNCs as “agents of socio-economic development”? Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from three MNC subsidiaries in Nigeria (Lafarge Cement Wapco, Unilever and MTN Communication), and from relevant national manpower agencies, organised private sector organisations, and two labour federations. One key finding was that, viewed against the backdrop of specific national “prescriptions” and “idealisations” about human capital formation in Nigeria, the terrain of skills development in the multinational corporate sector was one of connects, disconnects and paradoxes. While the MNCs maintained a vast and robust canvas of skills development strategies and professed some of the same “ideals” as national skills agencies and even organised labour about, their skills development strategies were overwhelmingly company- and product-centred, and thus lacked wider (societal) applicability. The findings also pointed to practices that appeared to actively “prevent” Nigerian employees from accessing certain levels of know-how. The study concluded that, at least from a skills development point of view, the idea of MNCs as agents of socio-economic development must always be qualified, as it was based on a failure of analysts to carefully distinguish between “everyday” or even “high level” skills (which were readily accessible to, and acquirable by, locals) and “strategic” skills (which locals were prevented from accessing) and how MNCs thereby helped to perpetuate the skills divide between host country and home country. The study thus raises important questions for both skills development scholarship and policy and further sharpens the focus on how best to appraise (and monitor), from the point of view of skills development, the socio-economic role of MNCs in a developing country such as Nigeria.
Assessing risk perceptions, vulnerability and asset adaptation in the context of climate change : a study of peri-urban and rural East London and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
(University of Fort Hare, 2016) Apraku, Amos
This study examined climate change risk perceptions, vulnerability and the significance of assets‘ in climate change mitigation and adaptation in rural and peri-urban Eastern Cape, South Africa. It assessed the levels of local climate change awareness and how such awareness was articulated in local discourses, analysed actual risks (and awareness thereof) against those predicted by relevant statutory agencies, and examined the extent to which local residents drew on local knowledge, culture‘and traditional practices (amongst other assets‘) to mitigate their vulnerability and adapt to adverse climatic changes. The study was conceptualised against the background that most climate change risk and vulnerability studies adopt a global‘ and continental‘ focus and ignore localised variations and specificities – which makes it impossible to craft local climate change impact mitigation strategies that make sense. From survey, interview, focus group and observational data, the study found low levels of local awareness about climate change and its associated risks. It revealed that local residents blamed climate change-related phenomena on gods, spirits and other mystical forces. Agriculture, water resources, human settlements, health, ecosystems and biodiversity were found to be the most affected by climate change. A crucial finding was that, besides economic and other class-based assets, indigenous/local knowledge (ideational assets‘) played an important role in the ways local residents adapted themselves to – and in some ways curbed - the adverse impacts of climate change. The study concluded from these findings that households and communities have different degrees of vulnerability to climate change, depending on awareness levels and degrees of access to specific assets‘. However, in the main, climate change impacts in the communities were potentially curbed by culture, with indigenous/local knowledge and related ideational assets being the main index of adaptation and weapon against disastrous impacts. The study extends current knowledge on the significance and contribution of indigenous knowledge systems to climate change impact mitigation and adaptation, particularly in Africa, and demonstrates how local knowledge can contribute to global‘understanding of one of today‘s critical environmental challenges.

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