Theses and Dissertations (Sociology)

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Barriers to Women's Leadersip and Political Participation in African Governments: the Case of Eswatini
Gwebu, Qebolakhe Sigcinweyinkhosi (University of Pretoria, 2026-02)
Eswatini has implemented policies and regulations to solve gender inequalities; however, these have not yielded the desired results, and a large share of Swazi women is still marginalised from political decision-making processes and from voicing their opinions, even on issues that affect them. Undoubtedly, the lack of women’s political participation in Eswatini’s government has implications for the attainment of inclusivity and gender equality in the country’s democratic process. Thus, this study is grounded in the understanding that gender equality, as envisioned in the Sustainable Development Goals, cannot be achieved without meaningful political participation and representation of women. By examining the barriers to women’s political participation and leadership within Eswatini’s patriarchal context, the study sought to generate empirical insights that can inform policy reforms, fostering inclusive governance and gender equity. Guided by the theories of intersectionality and participatory parity, the research found that Eswatini’s largely undemocratic political climate and patriarchal values greatly impede women's involvement in politics. Restricted civic freedoms, unequal access to resources, and pervasive gender biases collectively hinder women, particularly those from rural or low-income backgrounds, by limiting their capacity to mobilise, advocate, and be recognised as credible leaders. The study recommends changes in gender and cultural perceptions, economic reforms, and supportive political structures to create an enabling environment for women in Eswatini to engage in politics equally with men.
White participation in and solidarity with #FeesMustFall: exploring the opportunities for and limitations to movement-building and social change in South Africa
Kowalewicz, Tatiana (University of Pretoria, 2025-09-08)
This dissertation presents a conceptualisation of white student’s participation and solidarity in the 2015/2016 #FeesMustFall (FMF) movement. Through key informant interviews and a rigorous review of movement literature and secondary research, this article identifies three thematic sets of findings: “the centrality of race and collective identity”, “motivation for participation”, and lastly “movement roles and spaces”. The first theme, the centrality of race and collective identity explores Fallists use of ‘black pain’ and ‘black solidarity’ as a means of struggle. Lending from a history of Black radical thought, Fallists clearly defined the scope for involvement: a “thick conception of blackness” (Shelby, 2005). The third theme, movement roles and spaces, explores how the aforementioned focus on blackness translated into the creation of “Black spaces” and a more nascent turn to different forms of alienation and exclusion, which ultimately led to white students being relegated to peripheral roles. While a source of contention, this “thick conception of blackness” served to maintain who the movement was for: social groups implicated by the design of racialised modernity. The second theme, motivation for participation, explores the motivation and intent behind white students participation in various aspects of the movement-building process. Student responses ranged from overt admissions of privilege, to the upright denial of said privilege and a colour-blind turn to class politics. Findings demonstrated that more often than not white students were seen to engage in ‘non-performative’ performances of white anti-racism which translated into weak forms of solidarity, what is defined in this paper as “white sandwich activism”. This dissertation proposes that the thick conception of blackness employed by Fallists, coupled with the “white sandwich activism” demonstrated by white students, contributed to the student movement's eventual demise.
Woman in a man’s world : documenting the experiences of women e-hailing drivers in Pretoria, South Africa
Mangwane, Lesedi (University of Pretoria, 2025-10)
The world of work is changing rapidly in diverse ways, particularly in the context of the gig economy, where people compete for work online and can work from any location. This kind of work promises workers flexibility and autonomy. However, there is little that is known about the experiences of women who are working as drivers in the e-hailing sector. This dissertation focuses on the experiences of women e-hailing drivers in Pretoria, South Africa, particularly focusing on how they understand the concept of flexibility and control. The fundamental purpose of the study is to explore the motivations, challenges, and the coping mechanisms that women e-hailing drivers in Pretoria adopt to navigate the risks, fear and anxiety of operating in public and digital spaces. Additionally, it aims to draw from the meaning they attach and how they influence and shape the overall workers' experiences. In this dissertation, I adopt a qualitative descriptive research methodology grounded in the inductive bottom-up approach to extract the accounts and nuances of the women e-hailing drivers’ experiences. Research participants were recruited through purposive sampling through the e-hailing women-only category that filters out male drivers. The study utilised semi-structured in-depth interviews with twenty women e-hailing drivers in Pretoria. The data was analysed thematically to identify the patterns and themes from the participants' narratives. The findings suggest that women e-hailing drivers understand the flexibility offered in e-hailing; however, it operates within socio-economic and structural constraints, highlighting a persistent flexibility paradox. Thus, I conceptualise this flexibility as ‘survival flexibility’, which is defined as ostensible flexible scheduling that operated primarily as a coping mechanism for most of the women e-hailing drivers, rather than a preference. This challenges the dominant narratives of flexibility as beneficial and liberating. Moreover, the dissertation highlights the subjectivity, context and gender specificity of flexibility in the gig economy. Overall, research on the gig economy should move beyond the generalised and dominant narrative and account for the differences between the sectors, to avoid developing simple and neat solutions, but pave the way to safeguard and ensure the sustainable prosperity of the economy.
Exploring the environmental justice-rural development nexus : the quest for sustainable livelihoods in Zimbabwe
Randinyu, Hugo (University of Pretoria, 2025-08-05)
Implementing rural development programmes has burdened rural communities with many unprecedented environmental and developmental issues. However, Zimbabwe is naturally endowed with resources, and rural inhabitants residing where some natural resources are located experience high levels of hunger and poverty. The global rise in concerns regarding the decline of rural livelihoods linked to environmental difficulties has led to the recognition of sustainability as a crucial method for addressing some challenges in international politics. Such a paradox immediately poses significant problems for research, particularly regarding environmental governance, livelihoods and the allocation and regulation of resources. This thesis examines some crucial topics on the rural development paradox, focussing on the impact of environment governance, livelihood strategies, and access to, control over, and ownership of natural resources. A combination of research methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative data collected over a year in the Matobo and Umzingwane districts, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe, form the basis of the research. Two research venues were selected. Based on similarities in resource allocation and different utilisation patterns and governance structures. The data collection involved examining several secondary sources and conducting 100 structured interviews. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted (6-12) participants and 21 key informant interviews. A quantitative approach was employed to investigate the correlation between several indices of sustainable livelihoods and environmental justice and the relationship between various indicators of livelihood sustainability under various policies. In addition, a household survey assessed how families utilise and derive advantages from natural resources in their respective areas. Qualitative methods, such as FDG observation and in-depth interviews, were used to gain insights into perceptions, beliefs and knowledge regarding the phenomena investigated. The thesis highlights that rural communities are vulnerable to internal and external factors undermining their livelihood strategies. Prior resource holders control natural resources with the stated purpose of conservation and efficiency but with a hidden intention to satisfy the interests of investors and those holding influential societal positions. The dominance of asymmetric power relations is one of the key issues that influence development initiatives. These relations have contributed to the intensification of environmental injustices such as the appropriation of land, the displacement of people, the exclusion from decision-making processes, the inability to access and control resources and the recognition of values, norms and knowledge prevalent in rural communities. This study provides insights into fundamental reasons behind policy shortcomings, conflicts, and economic and social inequities. However, the fact that such circumstances continue to occur highlights that natural resources are not only a governance issue but also an inherently political issue involving contestation regarding how social and ecological connections are defined and managed. To comprehend the reasons behind this predicament, the present researcher has utilised theoretical perspectives of political ecology and political economy as an analytical framework. Political ecology looks at the connection between ecological outcomes and power imbalances resulting from governmental and institutional influences on local communities, indigenous populations, and the management of natural resources. This thesis explores how a political ecology framework could address dominant power dynamics identified as the primary cause of environmental injustice. Additionally, it aims to contribute to ongoing academic and policy discussions on environmental governance and sustainable rural livelihood strategies by providing fresh perspectives on issues of informal communities, injustice and exclusion. The research explores why sustainable livelihood development has yet to achieve its objectives by considering adopting an environmental justice approach as an alternative framework for guiding sustainability. The thesis suggests that governments and policymakers should embrace the environmental and justice perspective while formulating sustainable livelihood development.
Mapping the rise of authoritarian populism and language in post-apartheid South Africa
Love, Jason (University of Pretoria, 2024-08)
Drawing on writings by Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams, Antonio Gramsci as well as theories of sociolinguistics, this project tracks the emergence of an ideological language associated with authoritarian populism and how this ideology language has come to construct the Other, the People and the ways in which the Other is responsible for a lack of development for the People. This emergence is situated at the conjuncture of an entrenched socio-economic crisis as well as an unravelling ANC hegemony. This hegemony, which has characterized post-apartheid South Africa has seen significant shifts and declines in the past decade. Through historical processes of nation building which took place at the end of apartheid, notions of belonging and nationality have been baked into post-ANC politics, often manifesting in xenophobia. This forms a crucial part of the rise to prominence of a political ecosystem. This ecosystem has increasingly drawn on exclusionary and violent politics to give direction to a new hegemonic project in the country, using ideological language to construct a crisis with the Other at the centre. This study takes a mixed-methods approach, drawing on the use of Natural Language Processing and a systematic review in order to map the emergence of language of authoritarian populism.
Queering solidarity : South Asian diasporic activism, intimacies, and participation in multiracial social movements
Bhardwaj, Maya (University of Pretoria, 2024-08)
This PhD explores the activism, organising, and social movement work of South Asian diasporic individuals in spaces that strive against precaritization and towards Black and Brown liberation across sectors and issues. This activism and this research are located within the contexts of rising antiracist organizing globally in response to the concurrent rising supremacist, fascist, and racially capitalist-motivated state and vigilante violence, and a global pandemic and wars that surface racial capitalist violence against marginalised communities. The dissertation theorises the role of South Asian diasporic individuals within multiracial struggles for justice in South Africa, the US, and the UK, using the lens of “queering solidarity”. This study explores the disproportionate representation of queer, women, trans, and non-binary people, from class- and caste-oppressed or otherwise marginalized South Asian communities who collaborate in multiracial activism and justice work, particularly amidst tensions between South Asian right-wing forces and Black communities. It traces and conceptualises the varied ways that activists practice and envision solidarity within social movements, balancing intra-group concerns with efforts to build cross-racial organisations and united fronts alongside attempts to dismantle privilege through allyship. It analyses a far-reaching set of manifestations of this activism, in South Asian formations like #SouthAsiansforBlackLives, cross-racial coalitions, culture work, and multiracial issue-focused groups organizing for housing justice, student activism, prison abolition, and more. Activists contest with histories of solidarity in movements like Political Blackness in the UK and Black Consciousness in South Africa, where South Asians collaborated as comrades with Black activists, as well as the depoliticizing impact of the model minority myth and enduring colonial hierarchies that mark some (but not all) South Asians as aspirationally white and handmaidens to white supremacist empire. Across these varied patterns of social movement work, this PhD posits that diasporic South Asian activists can be seen as “queering solidarity” through transnational praxis and alternate models of organizing across community boundaries. Queerness, here, creates alternate forms of doing solidarity work across racialised communities by emphasizing shared intimacies and the need for total systems transformation, and by mobilising radical politics alongside such intimacies to dismantle white supremacy and cisheteropatriarchy. By exploring connections such as linking casteism to anti-Blackness, unearthing connections between neoliberal Hindu fascism and white supremacy, combatting the relationships between state-sponsored racialized capitalism, cisheteropatriarchy, Hindutva, and white supremacy; and leveraging transnational South Asian diasporic and subcontinental organizing, this study explores how activists build complex webs of queered South Asian diasporic solidarity.
Caring biographies : qualitative explorations of South African informal sector workers' gendered subjectivities of care
Matsila, Pfarelo Brandy (University of Pretoria, 2024-05)
This study examines how gender identities shape the experiences of informal sector workers, particularly street traders, as they balance work and caregiving responsibilities. Focusing on 20 street traders (10 women and 10 men) in rural Venda, South Africa, the research aims to understand the historical, cultural, and structural factors influencing gendered caregiving roles, explore the interpersonal dynamics between carers and care recipients, and analyse the impact of caregiving on gender identities. Additionally, it investigates how these traders navigate the dual pressures of work and care and the extent to which caregiving responsibilities affect their gender identities. The study employs social reproduction theory and intersectionality as its theoretical frameworks. Social reproduction theory highlights the undervalued and often invisible labour of caregiving, which sustains capitalist economies but remains precarious, particularly in informal sectors. It also emphasizes the interconnectedness of production and reproduction activities, revealing how gendered divisions in caregiving contribute to broader patterns of inequality. Intersectionality allows for a nuanced examination of how systemic injustices intersect, shaping the unique experiences of street traders based on their social identities and cultural expectations. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and photography in Nzhelele and Louis Trichardt, Limpopo province. The findings underscore the complex interplay between gender, social identities, and economic activities. Caregiving roles are deeply gendered but exhibit some fluidity due to cultural, structural, and individual factors. Women typically shoulder the bulk of caregiving responsibilities, in line with traditional norms, but men increasingly challenge these norms by taking on more caregiving duties. This shift often leads to societal scepticism, particularly for men, who struggle with conflicting expectations. Street traders employ various strategies to manage work and care, such as leveraging community support and integrating care into their workspaces. However, these strategies are often insufficient to fully address the challenges they face. The study advocates for comprehensive social security reforms, better access to business support initiatives, urban planning that considers traders’ needs, and community-based care centers. Future research should explore the reconfiguration of gender roles in caregiving, especially in the context of disability and chronic illness, and examine the experiences of care recipients to enhance the caregiving ecosystem.
The perceptions of South Africans on the impact of digital feminist activism in the context of violence against woman
Sele, Sello (University of Pretoria, 2024-06-07)
This study explored South Africans' views on the impact of digital feminist activism (DFA) in addressing violence against women (VAW), focusing on the #MenAreTrash DFA due to its significant influence on social media platforms between 2017 and 2020. Theoretically grounded in the feminist perspective, public sphere and communicative action theory, and counter-discourse theory, the study used these frameworks to analyse VAW, assess social media's efficacy in DFA, and examine resistance to #MenAreTrash. The study adopted a qualitative approach, wherein the data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 individuals. These interviews were supplemented by secondary multimedia sources. Key findings indicate that social media platforms serve as modern public spheres for addressing VAW. #MenAreTrash DFA successfully raised awareness and challenged patriarchal norms contributing to VAW, rape, and femicide, giving women a voice to share experiences. However, limitations of using social media for DFA emerged. While #MenAreTrash DFA raised awareness and sparked engagements, it was deemed unsuccessful in influencing behavioural change in men to reduce VAW incidents. The major limitation was attributed to the controversial slogan 'men are trash,' perceived as dehumanising and unfairly generalising men, creating feelings of alienation and worthlessness among them.
Continuous professional development for quality education : teachers’ experiences in quintile 1-3 schools in Katlehong, Gauteng Province
Bobe, Lutho Nodumo (University of Pretoria, 2024-09)
This study focuses on continuous professional training and development (CPTD) because teachers are part of debates about improving the quality of the schooling system in South Africa. The study considers both policy formulation and teachers' experiences of CPTD policy and workshop programmes. The policies are the National Policy Framework on Teacher Education and Development (NPFTED henceforth) in South Africa and the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa (ISPFTED henceforth). The study employed a qualitative research framework within a social constructivist paradigm. It draws on 24 interviews with teachers who have worked, and those who are currently working, in quintile 1 - 3 schools in Katlehong, Gauteng Province. The study found that policy frames teachers as autonomous professionals who independently acknowledge and partake in their professional development. Their work is seen as a noble responsibility towards learners and South Africa at large in terms of developing future leaders. Within these frames, the policy ideals and images of teachers do, in some instances, match what teachers understand to be their responsibility and mandate. However, some teachers expressed dissatisfaction with workshop programmes. Teachers also encountered varied social conditions within the communities and schools, and these complicated their work. These conditions included poor infrastructure, overcrowding, limited resources, policy prescriptions, collapsing family structures and learner discipline issues, which hindered the teaching process and often called for teachers to employ different types of knowledge and skills to tackle them. The study found that the persistent gap between policy formulation and implementation in South Africa is due to enduring legacies of societal inequalities and contemporary failures. The dissertation argues that, without meaningful engagement with teachers from the context of the teaching and learning processes, the CPTD policy and its associated workshop programmes become an obligation that does not serve teachers' professional needs or the education of learners. Therefore, the simultaneous consideration of policy and experiences helps us see policy as a process of struggle and contestation within education processes.
An exploration of sociocultural adaptations of black students in South African private high schools
Mogoboya, Boitumelo (University of Pretoria, 2024-05)
This study explored the sociocultural adaptations of Black students in South African private high schools. The specific objectives of the study were to: (1) explore the positive and negative sociocultural experiences of Black students who attended private high schools in South Africa; (2) explore how Black students who attended private high schools navigate their negative experiences; (3) explore how the experiences-both negative and positive- shape young Black South Africans' sense of identity; (4) provide with recommendations for policy and practice. This study used a qualitative interpretive research paradigm to achieve its objectives. The study used data gathered from in-depth interviews conducted with 25 Black former students aged between 18 and 24 years. An interview guide was developed to collect information on the participants’ positive experiences, negative experiences, coping mechanisms, and sense of identity. The study also used media reports from online newspaper articles published since 2015. The study adopted the decolonial approach because it points to coloniality and other systems of oppression in terms of institutional practices, values, attitudes, and behavioural expectations, which have an impact on the experiences of Black students in private high schools. The salient findings that emerged were that: positive experiences in private schools included experiences of diversity, inclusive policies, and a space to build strong social network relationships. The negative experiences include experiences of racial insensitivity, privileged white standards of beauty, binary constructions of gender and sexuality, erasure of cultural significance, and cultural isolation. Based on the findings of this study in relation to institutional practices, attitudes and behavioural expectations, I argue that some features of coloniality are evident in some South African private high schools through the privileging of Western ideologies and perpetuation of ideas of whiteness which impact the ways in which Black students experience and adapt in these Westernised spaces. These experiences have a potential to impact social and cultural identity negatively. The study concluded with recommendations for policy and practice: 1) Private high schools should consider implementing anti-racist training programmes that make students and staff recognise and appreciate diversity to reinforce cultural sensitivity and inclusivity. 2) Private schools should implement programmes to encourage Black students and parents to speak out about any type of discrimination or prejudice to eradicate silencing and minimisation. 3) The government should play a proactive role in monitoring educational institutions to encourage transformation programmes. The government should not use monitoring as party political expediency.
An investigation into the changing workplace of South African auditors and their experiences of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and the implications for the auditing profession
Phasha, Noluthando Yvonne (University of Pretoria, 2023-12-20)
The ongoing technological development and advancements have led to changes to the audit profession in South Africa and an alteration of the audit professionals’ work life. This dissertation investigates the impact this change has had and may still have on the auditor. The focus is mainly on the auditor’s work life and work experiences in the face of this digital transformation, considering the impact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, such as audit tools and audit software packages, have on the auditors’ way of work and their workflow. The investigation adopted the concept of individual unlearning to better understand how exactly this impacted the auditor, allowing for insight into behaviour and attitude, enabling the auditor to interact and work well with the new Information Technology (IT) audit tools introduced/integrated into their work processes. This dissertation adopts the qualitative thematic analysis (TA), investigating the auditor, their thoughts, and perceptions on their experiences with IT audit tools used in the audit process, the impact that these IT audit tools have, and the support that the auditors receive from their designated workplace rather than solely focusing on the technology and the benefits it yields for the company. This approach ensured an understanding of the auditors’ preconceived outlooks on AI versus what they have experienced while incorporating them into their work processes. This allowed for further insight into the implications of integrating IT audit tools on the auditor’s role. Twenty in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with South African auditors from different audit companies. The chosen participants were placed into two cohorts; each had a key informant, allowing for the recruiting of other participants. It was found that the use of IT audit tools in audit has a direct influence on the manner in which the auditor experiences their work. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the role of the auditor is changing, thus implying changes in the profession, too. There should be continuous learning initiatives and adaptive strategies within South African audit firms. This dissertation contributes to the existing literature on the impact of digitalisation on the South African audit profession and its stakeholders.
Safety and belonging : constructing a sense of belonging amongst young, middle-class, South African feminine bodies within an 'unsafe' place
Wiele, Simone Sarah-Jane (University of Pretoria, 2023-10-17)
The affective dimension of belonging is theorised to involve feelings of being valued, safety, and agency. However, when applied to the lives of young South African women this conceptualisation falters and reveals its possible patriarchal underpinnings. The lives and belonging(s) of these women are engulfed by what Gqola (2015 & 2021) has aptly conceptualised as a ‘female fear factory’. As a result, this ‘factory’ seeming has instilled a constant awareness of (gendered) unsafety, and thus has made the theorised feelings of belonging appear more as ideals rather than emotive descriptions. In this study twenty young, middle-class, South African women were interviewed (approximately 60 minutes) about how their sense of belonging was constructed and how their experiences of (un)safety have influenced this construction. The interview transcripts were put through three rounds of analysis (thematic, dialogic/performance, and interpretative phenomenological) to produce a possible ‘master narrative’ of the feminine South African sense of belonging. The narrative that was (re)produced revealed that belonging was experienced as a sense of comfort which was curated by feelings of understanding, acceptance, and familiarity/similarity. This ‘comfort-belonging’ was complicated, or rather burdened, by the participants’ race, femininity, and unique sense of (un)safety. Critically, this unique sense of (un)safety highlighted how desensitised the participants had come to (gendered) violence. In turn revealing that feeling unsafe was an integral part of being South African, and thus belonging in/to South Africa. Therefore, this study not only puts forth a possible (re)conceptualisation, and complexities, of the feminine South African sense of belonging; but also illuminates a possible (re)construction of the sense of belonging which involves an unavoidable inclusion of unsafety.
Humanising childbirth in South Africa : the role of indigenous midwives in countering obstetric violence
Motsei, Matshilo Tumelo Ntswatswa (University of Pretoria, 2023-11)
Obstetric violence has increasingly become visible following research, advocacy, and activism by researchers, feminists, birth advocates, and scholars worldwide. This visibility is a result of the courage of women who have begun to speak openly about their childbirth experiences. Much of what has been written is framed within biomedical, feminist, public health, and sociological perspectives. Indigenous midwives are rarely mentioned in the literature on obstetric violence. This dissertation is an explorative and descriptive qualitative design using thematic analytical framework to explore lessons we can learn from Indigenous midwives to counter obstetric violence in South Africa. Adopting the Indigenous research methodology and Indigenous feminist theory, I undertook semi-structured in-depth individual interviews with 28 rural women sampled into three groups: 1) 10 women who gave birth in a healthcare facility assisted by biomedical healthcare practitioners, 2) 10 women who gave birth at home assisted by Indigenous midwives, and 3) eight Indigenous midwives who attend to women in their communities. I undertook the interviews using five languages i.e., Siswati, Xitsonga, Setswana, Sepedi and Sepulana. These are languages spoken across three provinces (Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and Northern Cape) in which the research was undertaken. Interviews were transcribed and translated into English. The study revealed that women who gave birth in healthcare facilities experienced dehumanised care in the form of abandonment and neglect, unconsented medical procedures, suturing of the perineum without anaesthesia, abusive care and lack of cultural safety. Women who opted for home birth under the care and supervision of elders shared positive experiences of childbirth in the form of care and support during delivery, freedom to choose birthing position, holistic care that transcends the physical as well as participation in childbirth rituals and ceremonies. Interviews with Indigenous midwives deepened an understanding of the conception of birth beyond physiology to include social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. In their view, birth is not just a physiological phenomenon, but it is also a spiritual rite of passage. vii Research on obstetric violence often recommends solutions that seek to humanise medicalised birth without interrogating the impact of Western biomedicine which was exported to Africa during colonialism. This resulted in the suppression of knowledge and practice of Indigenous midwives. Countering obstetric violence without re-centering the knowledge and practices of Indigenous midwives constitutes a form of biomedical humanism (Gaines & Davis-Floyd, 2003) that upholds obstetric hegemony (Campo, 2014). In this thesis, I argue that responses to obstetric violence must 1) de-centre biomedical birthing as a site of obstetric violence, 2) decolonise midwifery by re-centering Indigenous model of childbirth, and 3) integrate cultural safety in the definition of safe birthing practices. I conclude that a call to counter obstetric violence is incomplete if it continues to silence the voices of Indigenous midwives and exclude their knowledge and practices.
Students’ voices in vocational education : a sociological exploration
Motsatsi, Patience Makgabaneng (University of Pretoria, 2024-01-30)
This dissertation offers a comprehensive sociological investigation into students' perspectives in vocational education in Pretoria, South Africa. It seeks to elucidate the underlying reasons guiding students' preference for vocational education over traditional academic pathways, primarily focusing on social and educational policy and practice. Adopting a qualitative research methodology, the study explores insights from semi-structured interviews conducted with fifteen students engaged in local technical colleges. It critically analyses how students' perceptions of vocational education impact their motivation, active engagement, and overall learning experience. A detailed examination of the contributing factors that drive such educational choices is presented, emphasising the roles of familial influence, resource accessibility, and the overall quality of available academic programs. The study also probes into the intricate interactions between these elements and how they collectively inform students' decision-making processes. In addition, this research underscores the potential long-term consequences associated with the choice of vocational education. This includes implications for economic prospects, job market accessibility, and opportunities for social mobility. The study's findings highlight a significant correlation between students' sense of belonging and purpose in their education and the alignment of their vocational training with career aspirations. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of nurturing an educational environment conducive to dialogue and collaboration and one that promotes active learning and participation. This work contributes substantially to the emerging body of knowledge on the role of student voices in vocational education and implies potential implications for policy makers, educators, and stakeholders within the educational sector. It is hoped that the insights gleaned from this research will help in formulating effective strategies and policies aimed at enhancing vocational education experiences.
Beyond periphery : dynamics of indigenous social protection systems in dealing with covariate shocks in Southeastern Nigeria
Enworo, Oko Chima (University of Pretoria, 2023-05)
This study illustrates how indigenous social protection systems deal with covariate shocks in Southeastern Nigeria. It emphasises the dimensions, functions, and potential of these indigenous systems in managing the risks and adverse impacts of natural covariate shocks, with emphasis on flooding, a recurring shock in the region. This is in the context of low formal social protection coverage and indigenous social protection systems as the main source of risk management for many Nigerians. Specific objectives of the study were to map the different indigenous social protection systems that exist in Nigeria with a focus on their types and dimensions; to explore the key functions of the main types of indigenous social protection systems, including the extent to which they include and exclude different vulnerable groups within communities; to examine how the most dominant indigenous social protection systems mitigate the risk and impact of flooding; to explore the opportunities that indigenous social protection systems present with regard to handling covariate shocks; and to recommend plausible models for establishing linkages between formal and indigenous social protection systems. The study drew on the social risk management framework that distinguishes between idiosyncratic and covariate risks, and that uses three main strategies to deal with risks other than simple insurance, namely risk reduction, risk mitigation, and risk coping strategies, using formal and informal arrangements, respectively. This study explored the potentials of informal arrangements in relation to covariate shocks. It further drew on data collected in two communities, namely Umueze-Anam and Nzam in Anambra state, Southeastern Nigeria, which were selected purposively because they are flood-prone. A qualitative approach was adopted, and the data were derived from four sources, namely key informant interviews with staff of relevant state ministries and entities mandated with the provision of social protection; in-depth interviews with community members; focus group discussions with community-based associations; and participant observation of activities of community-based associations. Data analysis was done using Braun et al.’s six-phase reflexive thematic analysis. A key finding that emerged was that in addition to kinship and community-based systems, indigenous religious mandates and women’s organisations constitute forms of indigenous social protection in Nigeria. In this regard, age grades are the most common arrangements because membership is based on age or age cohort, which makes it rare for an adult in the study communities not to belong to an age grade. The least common forms of social protection are accumulated savings and credit associations because of the typical long time that members need to wait before they can access their benefits, particularly in the context of widespread poverty. Contrary to widely held views that indigenous social protection systems are mostly risk coping strategies, their functions are complementary and encompass risk reduction, mitigation, and coping, which are the three dimensions of social risk management. Furthermore, although these indigenous systems are unable to prevent natural covariate shocks such as floods, they can enhance ex-ante mitigation and coping, which nullifies arguments that they are only effective in managing idiosyncratic risks and unable to withstand pressures from covariate shocks. It further emerged that unlike formal systems that ii address only the material dimensions of wellbeing, indigenous social protection systems have a dynamic character that enables them to address material and psychosocial wellbeing. The study findings also affirm previous findings on lack of linkages between formal and indigenous social protection systems and proffers plausible models for such linkages based on four preconditions, namely proper understanding of indigenous systems, compatibility of systems, retaining underlying principles of indigenous systems, and ensuring that linkages guarantee autonomy. The overall contribution of the study is that it used empirical evidence to illustrate not just how indigenous social protection systems in sub-Saharan Africa remain the major source of managing idiosyncratic risks but also how they are able to handle covariate shocks vis-à-vis formal systems because of their dynamic processes. Specifically, the ability of these indigenous systems to address risks and adverse impacts of floods, a major climate change-related adverse weather issue, as illustrated by the thesis highlights how they align with shock-responsive social protection. This validates emerging arguments that indigenous social protection systems have the potential to address covariate shocks and supports calls for linking formal and indigenous systems to extend social protection coverage and contribute to actions to combat climate change and its impacts. Based on the foregoing, the key recommendation made for policy improvement is explicit recognition of indigenous social protection systems in Nigeria’s social protection policy and its’ supporting legislative and policy instruments, acknowledging in details, what these indigenous systems entail, their potentials and how they can be linked with formal systems and not just be given a peripheral position. For practice, the study suggests collaborative ventures between the two main systems, for example, through state provision of subsidies through banks where mutual aid associations operate bank accounts and exchange of ideas on development programmes and processes between state and community groups. Finally, future research can explore indigenous social protection systems that may have emerged in response to other covariate shocks in various regions of Nigeria for a wider picture of these systems to appropriately guide social policy. Three covariate shocks in particular that are widespread are suggested, namely drought, a major natural shock; HIV/AIDS pandemics, a major health shock; and terrorism-related violence, a major social shock. This will provide wider and stronger evidence based on the potentials of these systems in relation to covariate shocks.
Sociological analysis of state capacity in the South African social security agency’s special CoVID-19 social relief of distress grant
Nkoli, Motsoakgomo Papi (University of Pretoria, 2023)
South Africa’s national response to the advent of the CoVID-19 pandemic included government’s announcement of the “extraordinary coronavirus budget” of R500 billion that was aimed at cushioning society and the economy from the socio-economic hardships that accompanied the pandemic. Part of this national response included the implementation of the CoVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) for beneficiaries who were unemployed and did not receive any other form of income. Given SASSA’s previous administration of the SRD programme for citizens or permanent residents who have insufficient means of livelihood, the responsibility to implement this grant rested with this agency. However, what remains unknown is how, in the context of intense, condensed and temporal shocks such as CoVID-19, the State decisively mobilised the capacity to implement the CoVID-19 SRD grant. In order to establish this, the research delved into the “opacity of the State social world” to demonstrate how the productive processes that arise from concrete and ongoing systems of social relations contested and influenced the meanings, configurations, choices and performance of State capacity under conditions of a covariate shock. An understanding of the social construction of State capacity is relevant to the National Development Plan’s aspiration of developing and implementing critical interventions that are required to build a State that is capable of realising the vision for 2030. Theoretically, the study is important for understanding how State institution-based social processes shape a State’s capacity to implement policy decisions. The study is an invitation to theorise the State during shocks. It draws on Granovetter’s (1985) concept of embeddedness and Migdal’s (2004) State-in-society framework. Methodologically, the question of how the State capacity to implement the CoVID-19 SRD grant was approached as a case for the period May 2020 to April 2021. Within case study, process tracing and abductive inference were applied alongside the insider researcher approach. Process tracing was applied to trace institutional processes through which the State’s capacity to implement the CoVID-19 SRD grant was developed. Data were collected with two qualitative research methods: document review and key informant interviews. The former entailed a systematic review of key informant-provided documents with the view to interpret and elicit their meanings and understandings of the study phenomena. On the other hand, key informant interviews were conducted with six officials that were assigned the role of key informant by their respective institutions owing to their in-depth knowledge and understanding of the research subject matter. Consequently, empirical knowledge on how the State capacity for the implementation of the CoVID-19 SRD grant was mobilised was developed. The collected data were analysed by applying abductive inference. The objective of applying abductive inference was to identify data that were beyond the study’s conceptual framework. This enabled the development and emergence of theoretically surprising explanations from within the CoVID-19 SRD grant as a case. The study’s key findings are that, firstly, the advent of CoVID-19 found a SASSA that was in the process of self-reconfiguration with the view to improve its institutional capabilities and effectiveness. Owing to this institutional confidence, SASSA withstood and rejected all the suggestions that the private sector should perform what this agency considered to be its core functions: the implementation of a cash transfer programme. Second, SASSA’s resistance of corporate creep in the implementation of the CoVID-19 SRD grant disrupted the interests of those State actors who sought to increase the role of the private sector in this grant. Ultimately, this activated the formation of typical as well as unlikely institutional relations and coalitions in support of SASSA’s overall leadership of the CoVID-19 SRD grant. Third, the State capacity for the implementation of the CoVID-19 SRD grant would not have decisively been mobilised outside of the intense, condensed and temporal shock that is the advent of CoVID-19. Fourth, it is doubtful if the State verifiably knows its capacity to implement its responses to covariate shocks. This was evident in the absence of knowing SASSA’s implementation capacity. Therefore, the extent to which practical efforts are being taken to measure, innovate and translate Cabinet’s priority that a State that has the necessary capacity, capabilities and institutions that can meet the needs of South Africans should be developed comes to question. Based on the study’s findings the following three recommendations are made: Firstly, policy needs to be mobilised to define and regulate the State-wide data environment for it to be useful in the eventuality of covariate shocks. Secondly, noting that into the foreseeable future every South African will experience one form of covariate shock or other practitioners in, for instance, disaster management and social protection need to innovate responses to covariate shocks. Lastly, further research can be conducted on diverse factors that relate to the implementation of the CoVID-19 SRD grant over the four iterations of its implementation: 2020—2024. Similar prospects are available for quantitative analyses of the extensive data that the CoVID-19 SRD grant collected on millions of applicants. Another prospective research area is conducting research on the State during times of shock. Lastly, this research opened opportunities for methodologists to conduct research on the experiences of State-based insider researchers as well as the factors that enable and constrain them.
Constructions of women’s economic empowerment through microfinance in development discourse : a case study of World Vision’s Women’s Self Help Group programme in Eswatini
Dlamini, Thandwa Sinenhlanhla (University of Pretoria, 2022)
This study focuses on the constructions of women’s economic empowerment in microfinance between World Vision, its partners, and boMake. The study adopts an ethnographic stance and examines the ideologies and governance practices of World Vision’s microfinance empowerment programmes and positions the everyday interactions of women within these programmes. This investigation draws on Foucauldian feminist theory, rooted in Foucault’s notions of governmentality. The study draws on 34 interviews with women, from 6 of World Vision’s self-help groups, 6 of World Vision’s personnel, 1 former World Vision employee and 4 of World Vision’s partners. Using thematic analysis, the dissertation presents a two-part analysis which derives themes from the narratives of World Vision, its partners, and women respectively. The study finds that World Vision seeks to construct women in its microfinance empowerment programmes as entrepreneurial subjects who are responsible for governing themselves on issues of state inflicted economic and intimate violence. However, the study finds that boMake both accept and reject these constructions, and continuously invent their own formula of empowerment, which speak to their experiences, desires, newfound interests, and aspirations. These truths present themselves as subversive strategies towards World Vision’s microfinance interventions, and Eswatini’s integration with the neoliberal global market economy. These creative strategies are based on boMake’s dynamic subjectivities as wives and mothers, who uphold both pious and cultural values of respect, virtue, gratitude, patience, and honour, which neither produce an autonomous nor subservient feminist self. This study finds that boMake’s constructions of women’s empowerment reincarnate themselves along with mutations of microfinance, functioning to shape each other in development discourse. The study highlights the limits and possibilities of feminist self-governance in Eswatini and broader studies that seek to investigate governance of women in global development industry in the global South.
The structure of township economy & development : the relationship between informal sector work and precarity in South African townships
Mathebula, Pride (University of Pretoria, 2022-11-28)
In South Africa there is a large number of unemployed people, which in no small part is due to the formal sector’s incapability to create more job opportunities. People are vulnerable to poverty, and as a result, the informal sector has become important to poor and unemployed working-class households in the country’s townships. Informal work offers employment and a source of income to shield these communities from extreme poverty. However, at the same time, work and income in the informal sector is extremely precarious. As this study shows, the informal sector exists alongside with precarity in South Africa. The research is based on data collection in the townships of Mamelodi and Diepsloot. A qualitative approach was deployed in the collection of data, and 20 participants were selected to be interviewed in order to address the research questions of this study, it included informal sector workers like street vendors, welders and carpenters from both townships. This study examines and explores the informal sector through the lens of structuralist theories of informal sector work, supplemented with theories of precarious work and precarity. What emerges from the analysis of the data and findings, is that the informal sector is characterised by an ambiguous duality: the informal sector is an important arena for poor people’s survival strategies, but at the same time, informal sector work is deeply precarious. I also show how the informal sector and informal sector work is related to the formal sector, labour restructuring, and the neo-liberal policies introduced in the South African economy in the post-apartheid era, which have caused escalating unemployment.
South African youth education and career aspirations before and after covid-19
Mangwedi, Portia Aifheli (University of Pretoria, 2022)
This study explored the experiences and investigated the extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the education and career aspirations of young people in South Africa, with particular focus on Soshanguve, a township north of Pretoria. Conceptually guided by the developing and achieving aspirations framework, the study specifically aimed to: – explore the education and career aspirations of young people in South Africa before the Covid 19 pandemic; – understand the main factors underlying the pre-Covid-19 education and career aspirations; – explore the extent to which the Covid-19 has changed young people’s education and career aspirations; and – recommend ways in which future youth employment interventions can incorporate youth aspirations. To achieve its objectives, the study adopted a qualitative research design and collected data from 20 young men and women who were either in high school or were transitioning to a university or tertiary institution during the height of Covid-19. The data was collected using in-depth interviews and a semi-structured interview guide. Snowball sampling was used as a sampling procedure for this study which allowed respondents to provide information not only about themselves but also give referrals about other participants who meet the requirements of the study. with the referrals from the respondents, it was easy to find subjects for the study. The overall finding and conclusion of the study is that even though the Covid-19 pandemic brought about uncertainties in young people’s lives their pre-Covid education and career aspirations remain. Most respondents still want to pursue tertiary education and embark on various careers. Respondents who want to be entrepreneurs believe they must first get academic knowledge from tertiary institutions to build a solid foundation for their businesses. While it emerged that structural constraints, family, community, and social values greatly influence young people’s education and career aspirations, the general consensus among young people is that there is a need for government to financially and practically support them to ensure that youth aspirations are attended in the post-pandemic period. Based on this overall study finding, the following recommendations were made for policy, practice, and further research. – The government should provide necessary skills, support, and funds to improve young people’s access to tertiary education including vocational education where they can learn various skills. – Skills centres should be established in resource-strained communities such as Soshanguve to enhance youth aspirations as well as to equip the youth of South Africa with important skills that are relevant in the current labour market. – There should be regular career exhibitions or workshops by government, the private sector, and community-based organisations to expose young people to different fields and to equip them with any information they might need to decide on the careers they want to pursue. – Platforms should be created to allow successful community members to regularly encourage or motivate young people through talks, or workshops which will empower young people. – Given the paucity of research on youth aspirations especially in communities of low socio-economic status, a much larger study ideally using a mixed method approach is recommended.
Revitalising biopower in the context of COVID-19 : biopolitics against a state of exception
Van Wyk, Duncan Trevor (University of Pretoria, 2022)
When the World Health Organisation (WHO) first declared the Covid-19 crisis a global pandemic, an unprecedented experiment in both the management of population groups and crisis situations followed. Within their attempts at mass biosocial coordination geared towards mitigating the pandemic’s consequences, nation states around the world developed policy responses that, in many instances, reflected a shift in their particular citizen-state relationships. As nation states were forced to choose between preserving public health on the one hand and protecting their economies and democratic principles on the other hand, the question remains how to interpret these interventions and shifts in citizen-state relationships. This dissertation responds to a current in social intellectual thought that emerged at the beginning of the pandemic, and which drew on an Agambean biopolitics to frame the pandemic as a politically manufactured crisis to legitimate the institutionalisation of a ‘state of exception’ allowing for an unjust extension of state powers. Rather, this dissertation is formulated against the grain of a ‘state of exception’. It argues that any biopolitics which unequivocally assumes the function and form of state interventions prior to an analysis of its local instantiations cannot be fruitful. Contextual factors such as a country’s position in the world economy, available resources and infrastructure, internal politics, and international relations differentially shaped the biopolitical outcomes experienced by respective nation states. A conceptualisation of biopolitics sensitive to difference is needed to better theorise ‘biopolitical inclusion’ – how citizens are included in the ‘make live’ policies of the state – as well as any subsequent changes to the citizen-state relationship. Furthermore, this dissertation is written in full acknowledgement of the fact that the prevailing conceptualisations of biopolitics put forward by prominent scholars such as Michel Foucault have been largely excised from their conditions of emergence in their exclusion of the roles of colonialism and imperialism in the formation of the modern biopolitical nation state. As such, the dissertation deploys a poststructuralist method and conducts a genealogy applied to a South African biopolitics in order to ascertain conceptualisations of biopolitics better suited to local contexts and which can better understand shifts in the citizen-state relationships in particular. Keywords: Biopolitics; state of exception; South Africa; genealogy

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