Theses and Dissertations
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Item The rise and fall of the black commercial middle class in Mdantsane.(University of Fort Hare, 2015) Rubushe, OndluhlangaThis study contributes to our understanding of South Africa's historical Black Commercial middle class; a class defined by access to business opportunities before the implementation of the homeland system and enhanced by the government support during the homeland system. The class under study is a particular Black Commercial middle class that rose and established itself in Mdantsane between 1967, when Mdantsane was established, and fell and disappeared post 1994. Post 1994 marks the time for a new political dispensation in South Africa; a period that allowed the presence of foreign nationals in the South African township economies. The study explores the origins and historical evolution of African entrepreneurship in Mdantsane Township, East London, South Africa.Item Work, Knowledge and agricultural production: the changing roles and resposibilities of women in three rural areas of the Eastern Cape.(University of Fort Hare, 2014-01-29) Mntwana, Nonkoliseko NozibeleThis thesis investigate s the constraints and opportunities for women smallholders and farmers in three villages: Lutengele; Sirhosheni and Mbekweni in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The paper gives attention to empirical evidence collected on the constraints needs, aspirations and goals of women for food crop production in the context of local culture and custom in three selected rural villages in the Eastern Cape. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analysing data. The study utilizes interviews, focus groups and observations with participants and also complemented with literature from expects and Umhlaba documents.Item Youth cultures and identities in post-apartheid South Africa: A study of white youth in East London(University of Fort Hare, 2015-06) Bubulu, ThandiweIn general, young whites in post-apartheid South Africa seem to face the challenge of being expected by their parents to construct their identities according to the traditional way the parents have lived. Yet, every young person would love to construct their identities in relation to social context prevailing at a time. Post-apartheid South African democracy has brought about changes among which is freedom of associations, as opposed to apartheid which emphasised separateness of races and cultures. This social change, that is, separateness of cultures to freedom of association, warrants new ways of living among the young ones. Using a qualitative approach, underpinned by the social identity theory, whiteness and culture change theory, this study examined how young whites in East London carve out their identities given the reality that political, social and cultural circumstances have changed in the last two decades. Respondents consisted of four male and four female participants.Item Get rich through persistence: An iquiry into the Get rich through persistence: An iquiry into the prospects and challenges of savings and lendings groups among women in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe(University of Fort Hare, 2014) Dube, Thandeka HeatherConventional wisdom holds that informal savings groups are simply a means in which the poor mobilise resources in times of economic distress and hardship. This research sought to explore whether informal savings groups can be salvaged as vehicles of economic development or they are indeed piecemeal activities engaged in by the poor in times of need. This study builds upon fieldwork conducted in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The study made use of qualitative research interviews with women from informal savings groups in Bulawayo. The interviews were transcribed and later analysed through content analysis. The research findings through comparative information gathered revealed that informal savings groups can be used to further economic development for the marginalised as these groups provide readily available capital to survivalist micro-enterprises. Informal savings groups provide an avenue for women’s empowerment. However the study noted that the potential of informal savings groups is tied to the wider institutional environment in which they are located.Item Youth cultures and identities in post - apartheid South Africa : a study of white youth in East london(University of Fort Hare, 2015) Bubulu, ThandiweThis study sought to examine identities of young white people residing in East London in post-apartheid South Africa. Most of these young people were born post 1994, after the democratically elected government; therefore they have no direct experience of apartheid. Considering that it is now two decades since South Africa has been emancipated from apartheid which was not only a system but also an ideology that separated cultures and races, and promoted white people as superior over other races (Jansen 2009:57). As I will show in literature, the identities of young people during apartheid were obviously embedded in the political context of the time and they were influenced to view themselves as a superior race.Item The rise and fall of Black commercial middle class in Mdantsane(University of Fort Hare, 2015) Rubushe, OndluhlangaThis study contributes to our understanding of South Africa’s historical Black Commercial middle class; a class defined by access to business opportunities before the implementation of the homeland system and enhanced by the government support during the homeland system. The class under study is a particular Black Commercial middle class that rose and established itself in Mdantsane between 1967, when Mdantsane was established, and fell and disappeared post 1994. Post 1994 marks the time for a new political dispensation in South Africa; a period that allowed the presence of foreign nationals in the South African township economies. The study explores the origins and historical evolution of African entrepreneurship in Mdantsane Township, East London, South Africa. The study discusses the internal and external forces that led to the emergence of local enterprises and how the arrival of newcomers, post 1994, impacted on the Mdantsane entrepreneurs. The study is presented in three phases that show how phase 1 of the Black Commercial middle class began as a success story between 1967 and 1979, and expanded through phase 2 between 1980 and 1994, but gradually displaced by foreign traders and commercial operators during phase 3 (post 1994); a transition defined by a shift from formal to informal entrepreneurship.