Theses and Dissertations (Anthropology, Archaeology and Development Studies)

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An analysis of the role of government interventions in youth-owned Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in Kathorus, City of Ekurhuleni, Gauteng Province
Mashila, Thuto N. (University of Pretoria, 2025)
Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) play an imperative role in South Africa’s economy through employment and sector creation, poverty alleviation and holistic growth. In townships, SMMEs are perceived as informal in nature even though they meet essential needs within the community and contribute to local livelihoods. The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has developed several interventions aimed at revitalizing the township economy, which comprises enterprises and markets operating within the townships in the province. Given the limited empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions, this study focuses on the role of government initiatives in supporting youth-owned SMMEs in Kathorus, City of Ekurhuleni, in Gauteng. The study argues that despite the availability of various monetary and non-monetary interventions from local, provincial, and national governments, systemic barriers and challenges hinder the sustainable growth of SMMEs. This is evidenced in the persistently high failure rate of SMMEs, stagnant economic growth, the increasing inequality, poverty, and unemployment rates amongst the South African society. Using a qualitative study approach, this research drew on both primary and secondary data, including interviews with participants and key informants, observations, analysis of relevant policy documents, reports and development plans. The findings revealed that despite the use of both traditional and digital communication platforms by the government, awareness and knowledge interventions remain limited among youth entrepreneurs. High levels of dissatisfaction with these interventions were reported which negatively affect youth participation in democratic processes, including policy formulation. Nevertheless, the majority of young entrepreneurs who have access to government support reported positive outcomes including saving costs, improving operational efficiencies, building reputable brands and managerial skills. Therefore, this study concludes that improving the sustainability of township economies such as Kathorus requires targeted reforms to government interventions. These include reworking regulatory frameworks and bodies responsible for SMME development, investing in improving infrastructure and digital services, expanding access to financial support and reinforcing local value chains in these areas. The study contributes empirical insight into the implementation of government support programmes for youth-owned SMMEs within township economies, thereby informing policy and practice in similar local contexts. Keywords: Youth entrepreneurship, SMME development, Township economy, Government interventions, Kathorus, City of Ekurhuleni.
Motherhood, migration, and marginality: an ethnographic exploration of experiences of pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period of members of the South African diaspora living in the United Kingdom
Lowe, Giselle Bronwyn (University of Pretoria, 2025-12-30)
This thesis draws on ethnographic fieldwork that aimed to establish an understanding of the pre and postnatal experiences of South Africans who give birth in the United Kingdom (UK). It examines the nuances and complexities of this vulnerable period, as well as the intercultural ambiguities that may arise from navigating the contrasting social, cultural, and maternal expectations between South Africa and the UK in birthing and raising young children. Triangulating data gathered by way of autoethnography, interviews, and participant observation, it investigates how the articulation of migrant mother experiences manifests in daily life. Unpacking how women respond to these experiences according to their own understandings of being South Africans living in the UK, and how those understandings, in turn, affect their overall maternal experience/s. This research centres migrant mothers as “sites of knowledge and cultural production, engendering identity and belonging as they move through unfamiliar and transitory spaces”(Lombard 2022: 1). Highlighting the value of women’s narratives regarding the quotidian rhythm of life, it follows others in motherhood studies (Lombard 2022; Oliveira 2018; Chadwick 2018) who incorporate the interdisciplinary crossroads of feminist, literary, decolonial, anthropological, (im)migration, diaspora, digital and cultural studies. Utilising life writing, biography, and (auto)ethnography, it explores personal accounts of South African migrant motherhood to examine the ways in which individuals “reconfigure their identities and fluid situations into lived experience” (Lombard 2022: 2).
Projectifying development : an anthropological study of the effects of projectification within South African NGO interventions for vulnerable queer communities
Revello, Amy (University of Pretoria, 2025-08)
This paper examines how the project-based logic that structures contemporary development practice shapes the activism and organisational possibilities of grassroots actors in the Global South. Drawing on life history interviews with Thomars, a transgender and pansexual man who founded an LGBTQIA+ NGO in Johannesburg, the paper traces the intersections of his personal experiences of marginalisation, his passion for social justice, and his navigation of the bureaucratic demands of donor-funded development work. Findings show that while Thomars’ lived experience provides insight into the needs of queer migrants and asylum seekers, the technical requirements of “the project form” often constrain grassroots action, privileging organisations already fluent in donor language and expectations. The paper argues that projectification and NGOisation risk marginalising locally grounded activism by demanding measurable outputs and sustainability narratives that do not align with community realities.
Tripping on the road to democracy: unravelling the link between youth participation in elections and development delivery in South Africa
Dube, Esihle M. (University of Pretoria, 2026-05)
Youth participation in elections is widely used as a measure of the legitimacy and vitality of democracies, yet across many democratic countries, including South Africa, young people are withdrawing from formal political processes. Existing literature often attributes this decline to apathy, which ultimately frames youth as disengaged or indifferent. This study highlights a gap in existing research, which often overlooks the relationship between democracy and development and how young people’s perceptions of development, whether real or perceived, shape their electoral engagement, particularly within the context of South Africa’s post-1994 social contract, which envisioned democracy not only as a vehicle for political freedoms but also as a means to deliver development. The study employed a qualitative research methodology grounded in social constructivism and informed by a participatory action research approach to engage forty-four youth across rural, suburban and urban areas. This framework positioned the youth participants of this study as situated epistemic agents whose lived experiences and everyday knowledge shaped the inquiry of this research. Through in-depth interviews and the researcher’s involvement in activities such as educational voter board games, workshops with youth organisations reflecting on Democracy at 30 as well as youth manifesto workshops, the research accessed grounded accounts of how development, democracy and participation are understood and enacted. The findings reveal that, for young people, democracy derives its meaning through development which makes the two concepts inseparable. This means that to them, democracy is meaningful only when it materialises as improved living conditions. When development is absent, democracy is reinterpreted through terms such as “false hope” or “counter-productive,” which are grounded in lived experiences of deprivation. Furthermore, the study found that communities and women’s bodies function as primary sites where development delivery or its failure are judged and embodied, respectively. These experiences produce fragmented forms of citizenship that influence whether young people vote, withdraw or support alternative political parties. As a result, the reconfiguration of political power in South Africa’s 2024 elections demonstrates that democratic mechanisms such as voting still remain capable of translating societal demands for more accountable and development-oriented governance.
Climate change adaptation and gender equality: a case study of communication by environmental organisations in South Africa
McLachlan, Ashlee C (University of Pretoria, 2026-02-12)
This dissertation investigates the different forms of climate change communication methods and materials used by three South African environmental organisations- GenderCC Southern Africa Women for Climate Justice, Project 90 by 2030 and Fossil Free South Africa. Specifically, the dissertation explores whether these environmental organisations consider the impact of climate change on women when representing women in their visual communication material. Considering this, this dissertation aims to answer the following research question: how do environmental organisations in South Africa contribute to climate justice or injustice through the representation of women and nature in their communication material? Data gathered for this dissertation was obtained through semi-structured interviews with two employees per organisation. In addition, visual communication material that was produced by the organisations and made available in the public domain was sourced, mainly via their Instagram pages. Secondary data was also used, in the form of reports and academic sources. The primary finding of this dissertation is that the three selected environmental organisations are grounded in the reality that climate injustices and social injustices, of which gender inequality is one, intersect. Intersectionality and context-specific approaches to the climate crisis ground their communication methods and communication materials. This grounding approach informs specifically the development of communication materials with the purpose to either create awareness about the climate crisis, protest environmental harmful practices and to encourage public and private climate change action.
Exploring food security in the household : looking at the food experiences and strategies of South Africans across class groups
Mavi, Nomfundo (University of Pretoria, 2025-10)
This study looks at how households from different urban settings make food choices and experience or address food insecurity. Through this information a better understanding of how, where, and when people source food as well as the challenges associated with sourcing food can be gained. Additionally, it gives better understandings of a diversity of people’s thoughts, perceptions and feelings surrounding healthy diets. The research purpose is to give an in-depth picture of existing and diverse food strategies and challenges of South African Households. With that in mind, the research question asks how South African eaters in the household across class are impacted by and how they respond to food insecurity from the telling of their lived experiences. The primary research methodology used was qualitative using in-depth interviews, food diaries and observation. Secondary research for this study included using journal articles and information from Statistics South Africa, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data collected. This was done by identifying, analysing and interpreting patterns of meaning from the collected data. The findings of the research study align with existing literature that shows individuals who are poor are more likely to be food insecure as they are unemployed and lack resources to acquire food for healthy diets. They are more likely to be affected by the triple burden of malnutrition because of not being able to purchase adequate healthy food and their coping mechanisms such as eating cheap ultra-processed foods. They lack knowledge of what a healthy diet is and express the negative effects of food insecurity such as feelings of failure, demotivation and stagnation. Conversely, the middleclass and rich show less signs of suffering from the triple burden of malnutrition. They are not food insecure due to their ability to source food while having knowledge of healthy diets that may contribute to a healthier lifestyle. The middle-classes have the means to eat foods that cater to their physical requirements as they are either employed or supported by someone who is. Nevertheless, there are concerns about the unhealthy foods that still play a large role in their diets. Recommendations arising from this are for future research to do more longitudinal exploration of patterns of food insecurity across classes to further identify the impacts of economic shocks and policy changes on household vulnerability. Further, research can also be conducted on how perceptions of food insecurity vary between social class and culture. In the meantime, the inclusion of nutritional assessments in food insecurity studies could prove beneficial in providing a holistic understanding of food security beyond access and affordability. The government should improve income support by strengthening social protection to reduce financial constraints that exacerbate food insecurity. Furthermore, there should be stricter regulation of aggressive advertising of unhealthy foods directed towards vulnerable socio-economic groups.
Effectiveness of microfinance institutions : a case study of the small enterprise foundation in South Africa
Wiliams, Tinuade (University of Pretoria, 2025-12-30)
South Africa presents a compelling case study for investigating the effectiveness of Microfinance Institutions due to its unique socio-economic landscape. Despite being classified as an upper-middle-income country, South Africa grapples with persistent income inequality, high levels of unemployment, and limited access to financial services among vulnerable populations, including women, rural communities, and historically marginalised black communities. Microfinance has been viewed as a development tool for eradicating poverty and promoting economic empowerment. The marginalisation of the majority of South Africa’s population under the apartheid regime resulted in limited economic opportunities, inadequate infrastructure, and weakened social capital. This dissertation explores the effectiveness of microfinance institutions in South Africa, through the case study of the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF). A qualitative case study design was employed. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with SEF staff members, beneficiaries, and key informants within the microfinance sector. Secondary data were drawn from institutional reports and relevant academic literature. The data were analysed using thematic analysis to identify key patterns and recurring themes. The findings indicated that SEF’s model has contributed to household income stabilisation, improved financial management, and strengthened livelihood resilience. However, the economic impact was limited to income smoothing, small increases in working capital, and improved household consumption, rather than sustained business expansion or significant income growth. The findings showed that SEF operates primarily as a poverty mitigation mechanism by reducing household vulnerability and improving financial stability, rather than enabling a sustained exit from poverty.
Urban food market governance in Nigeria : the case of the Mile 12 Market in Lagos
Ifionu, David Chiweta (University of Pretoria, 2026)
Urban food markets are critical nodes for food security and livelihoods in African cities, yet their governance remains poorly understood. This study examines the complex governance dynamics of Lagos State’s Mile 12 Market, Nigeria’s largest fresh produce market, which supplies an estimated 80% of the state’s food. The research addresses a significant gap in literature by moving beyond a focus on food safety and economic contribution to analyse the intricate interplay between formal and informal actors and institutions that shape the market’s operations, socio-economic outcomes, and resilience. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research employed semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and secondary data analysis to investigate how traders, market leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders interact to govern the Market. A purposive and snowball sampling strategy was employed to access a diverse range of perspective. The findings reveal a hybrid and decentralized governance system where the official regulatory framework is significantly augmented, and often overshadowed, by robust extra-governmental structures. The market committee and product associations play a paramount role in providing security, managing infrastructure, resolving disputes, and collecting fees, effectively creating a form of self- governance. The study identifies key governance challenges, including ethnic tensions, contested spatial expansion, and a persistent policy threat of relocation by state authorities seeking a modernized urban aesthetic. It highlights how traders leverage social networks, political connections, and media engagement to resist such threats, demonstrating remarkable resilience. The analysis is framed by socio-economic theories that view markets as socially embedded spaces, where trust, reciprocity, and ethnic solidarities are as critical as price competition in facilitating transactions and maintaining order. The research concludes that the Mile 12 Market is indispensable to Lagos's food system, providing affordable, accessible food through flexible wholesale and retail practices and supporting thousands of livelihoods within a vast informal economy. Its current governance, while imperfect and occasionally conflictual, is highly adaptive and effective. The study argues that urban food security policies must move beyond formalization and relocation agendas. Instead, they should recognize, engage with, and strengthen these existing hybrid governance systems to enhance food accessibility, ensure trader livelihoods, and build sustainable urban food systems across Africa. Keywords: Urban food governance, Informal markets, Mile 12, Lagos, Food security, Livelihoods, Hybrid governance, Resilience, Nigeria, SDG 2.
An analysis of the operation of street food traders selling fresh produce and their contribution to the food system: A case study in Mahikeng, South Africa
Mokgalagadi, Thato Michelle (University of Pretoria, 2025)
This dissertation explores the unique and dynamic operations of street traders in Mahikeng, North-West Province, with a particular focus on their role in the fresh produce economy, the challenges they face, and their contribution to food security and livelihoods. Street trading is one of the oldest and most visible forms of informal economy in South Africa, and in Mahikeng it remains a critical survival and income generating strategy for many households. It also provides an essential food access point for urban consumers, particularly those from low-income backgrounds who depend on affordable, small-quantity purchases. The research used a qualitative approach including semi-structured interviews with street traders, direct observation of street trader activities and other nodes in the food system supplying street traders, and the tracking of fresh produce prices. The research focussed on the Mahikeng Central Cusiness District and also included the suppliers to street traders, such as wholesalers, markets and farms. Thematic analysis was used to identify recurring issues, patterns, and opportunities within the data gathered. The findings reveal that street traders in Mahikeng face a number of overlapping constraints. These include a lack of permanent, serviced trading spaces; absence of cold storage facilities and shelter, which exposes goods to spoilage and weather damage; and inadequate access to basic services such as water and sanitation. Traders also reported experiences of harassment and confiscation of goods, which create insecurity in their operations. Despite these challenges, the study found that street traders are vital actors in the Mahikeng food system. They bridge the gap between formal markets and end-consumers by selling produce in small, affordable units that are accessible to poor households. From my research I have observed that street traders have lower prices on fresh produce than supermarkets. Many traders also create local employment opportunities, provide flexible credit arrangements to regular customers, and contribute to the vibrancy of the city’s public spaces. The study concludes that Mahikeng street traders are not marginal but central to urban food security, local economic development, and livelihoods. However, their potential is constrained by structural neglect and the absence of inclusive planning. Key recommendations include the designation of trading zones equipped with shelter, water, sanitation, and storage facilities. By focusing on Mahikeng, a secondary city often underrepresented in academic literature, this dissertation contributes new insights into how informal food economies sustain urban households outside of major metropolitan centres. It highlights the need for municipalities to view street traders not as obstacles to order but as partners in creating fairer and more resilient urban food systems.
Climate change shocks and women in farming households: an analysis of women’s responses and changing intra-household dynamics in resettlement farms in Zibagwe District, Zimbabwe
Chikondo , Tafadzwa (University of Pretoria, 2025-12-10)
This study is about women and their experiences of climate change in rural small farming communities in Zimbabwe. According to the literature, climate change has contributed to uncertainties in agricultural production. If we follow the popular narrative on women and climate change, in a post-2000 context in Zimbabwe, women have experienced climate change shocks. This thesis examined the relationship between climate change and women smallholder farmers using a case of resettlement schemes in Zibagwe Rural District. Resettlement schemes are special settlements, where the practice of agriculture is a major livelihood, and settlers produce under rain-fed conditions. While landholdings are complex and depend on household types, women are found practically in every type of household – as wives or landholders in the case of widows and single women. Using a framework based on the resilience theory and sustainable livelihood framework, the study sought to understand how women in resettlement contexts are impacted by climate change, and how they have responded to climate change shocks. Of particular importance, the study sought to understand the implications of these livelihood responses to the social order and dynamics at the household and societal levels. It set out to understand these issues through a qualitative design, which adopted a multi-layered approach by utilising different methods at different levels. The study found that climate change has impacted agriculture and its practice negatively, forcing women and their households to diversify livelihoods as a coping strategy, adapting and survival. Moreover, it was discovered that the responses were complex, dynamic, and differing by situation, with women with resources and social networks engaging in beneficiary non-farm livelihoods, while the poor adopted strategies that were less rewarding and mostly related to agriculture or local off-farm opportunities. The study showed that agency is key in women’s adaptation, and that non-farm livelihoods were accessible to both men and women, with women more inclined to refocus their energies outside the farm than men, especially if they have resources and social networks to enter the formal and informal sectors of the economy. Through empirical evidence, this study has demonstrated that climate change shocks and their effect on agriculture may be emancipating for women through responses geared towards survival outside the farm. These findings provide a rather unprecedented empirical support to calls to pay more attention to context as each context is specific, and realities are different.
Exploring the flow of maize in low-income urban neighborhoods: a case study of Alexandra township in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.
Mutema, Rejoice Kupakwashe (University of Pretoria, 2025-10-26)
Comprehending the flow of maize into low-income urban neighbourhoods is the core focus of this study. This is done by identifying the different systems of maize flow in low-income neighbourhoods, the nature of the flow, its strengths and challenges, and how the system operates. Following maize is valuable because it provides knowledge illuminating the popular and less popular supplies of maize that specifically serve people in poverty. Very few studies have done so. This dissertation is qualitative in nature and involves a case study of Alexandra township, a low-income neighbourhood in the city of Johannesburg. The dissertation draws on in-depth face-to-face and online interviews with 55 participants located in different parts of the maize system, including consumption, distribution, processing and production. Within these parts of the maize system are particular nodes, and in each node there are actors such as eaters, retailers, wholesalers, millers, sales agents and farmers. The interviews were complemented by observations of different nodes in the maize system and tracking of maize meal prices from different outlets and across popular brands. The dissertation highlights that there is a segment of the maize system which seems to be the most successful in making maize more accessible. This segment is characterised by the existence of medium-scale family-owned maize millers that bring in assorted brands of maize meal at competitive prices compared to corporate-owned maize millers. One brand of maize meal, Supergo, was found to be most preferred by the maize eaters in Alexandra due to its affordability and quality. Some local shops offer unique services which are not found in the main supermarkets, such as free credit and kinship. Small to medium-scale business owners try different strategies for their businesses to grow and gain market share. The study reveals the nature of the most important maize supplies used by the people living in poverty, which are already contributing to food security and have the potential to make a larger contribution, as well as bringing change in the maize system.
Late Stone Age Assemblages around the Ndali Crater Lakes of the Uganda Western Albertine Rift
Nyiracyiza, Jackline Besigye (University of Pretoria, 2026-01-28)
This dissertation investigates Late Stone Age (LSA) lithic assemblages from the Ndali Crater Lakes region of the western Albertine Rift, Uganda, with the aim of reconstructing technological organization, settlement strategies, and cultural interaction during the Holocene. While previous scholarship in the region has largely emphasized state formation processes, little attention has been given to lithic technologies. This study, therefore, fills a critical gap by situating lithic production and use within broader socioecological transformations from the late first millennium BCE to the mid-second millennium CE. Archaeological investigations at RU-1 and KA-3 reveal complex occupational sequences that encompass Kansyore and Boudiné ceramic traditions, alongside lithic assemblages with both LSA and Middle Stone Age (MSA)-like characteristics. These include radial cores, bifacial points, Levallois reduction strategies, and patterned platform technologies, indicating technological continuity rather than abrupt replacement. Radiocarbon dates further demonstrate overlapping occupations and episodic site use, with RU-1 yielding evidence of preceramic horizons that challenge conventional MSA–LSA typologies. The analysis highlights adaptive responses to environmental and social contexts, as evidenced by raw material procurement strategies. Toolmakers employed both local resources— such as gneiss and quartz—and non-local chert, suggesting mobility, exchange, and selective choices in technological organization. Recycling practices, where flakes were repurposed into cores or incorporated into composite tools, reflect dynamic strategies of conservation and innovation. At KA-3, faunal remains associated with Kansyore and Boudiné ceramics, including bush pig and giant forest hog, provide further insights into subsistence, revealing a mixed economy that combined foraging with early agricultural practices. Taken together, the findings argue for a model of technological persistence and cultural hybridity in the Holocene Albertine Rift. Rather than a linear succession of 'stone age' industries, the evidence demonstrates that technological traits often considered diagnostic of the MSA persisted deep into the LSA, adapted and recontextualised within evolving social and economic frameworks. The co-occurrence of diverse lithic technologies, ceramic traditions, and subsistence strategies underscores a long-term trajectory of interaction, continuity, and innovation. This dissertation thus contributes to broader debates in African archaeology on the fluidity of technological traditions, the entanglement of foragers and farmers, and the resilience of cultural practices in dynamic landscapes.
The playful Karoo: digitizing the South African Anthropocene in video games
Hayes, Andrea (University of Pretoria, 2025-11-11)
The Karoo in South Africa, with its distinctive natural landscape, remains an underexplored setting in video games. In this thesis, I reimagine Jane Rosenthal’s novel, Souvenir (2004), as a virtual reality video game, using its speculative, science-fiction vision of the Karoo to immerse the player in themes around the Anthropocene. My VR prototype and adaptation of Souvenir is titled, A Kindred Karoo, capturing themes from Donna Haraway’s “Chthulucene” (2016) and her concept of “Making Kin” (2016). The novel follows Souvie, a “Barbiclone” who maintains wind turbines and green technologies to support struggling farms (Rosenthal, 2004). Travelling in her airship-like dirigible, she encounters diverse characters and climate challenges, reflecting the Karoo’s transformation. Through this adaptation, from novel to VR video game, I explore how Souvenir’s themes come alive in VR, offering an interactive way to engage with a virtual Karoo. In order to help guide the development of A Kindred Karoo as a prototype, I created a framework around different theories of play, which assisted in shaping the game design methodologies for translating Souvenir into a VR video game. I explored Salen and Zimmerman's (2004) concept of “meaningful play” to refine how game systems and mechanics guide player interaction within the game space. I also explored the MDA framework (Hunicke et al., 2004), which provided insights into designing mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics for my prototype. Given my focus on play as a tool for critical reflection, I engaged with Mary Flanagan’s “critical play” (2009) to explore how A Kindred Karoo communicates themes of climate change, nature, and the Anthropocene. Additionally, I drew from Brian Sutton-Smith’s “Rhetorics of Play” (1997) and Roger Caillois’ “categories of play” (2001) to consider how the player embodies Souvie and interacts with, or plays in, the virtual Karoo. These theories directly informed the design of the prototype, shaping how play is designed as an act of discovery, exploration, and environmental storytelling. To translate Souvenir into a VR video game, I explored themes of nature, climate change, and environmental storytelling through the lens of the Anthropocene. Haraway’s “Chthulucene” (2016) provided a refreshing alternative to the Anthopocene’s human-centric narratives, and helped to shape how A Kindred Karoo presents the interconnections between humans, technology, and nature. Building on this, I examined Henry Jenkins’ Game Design as Narrative Architecture (2004) to structure my prototype’s virtual world as a storytelling space, designing it so that the story is pushed forward through player exploration. I have also incorporated VR-specific design principles from Çatak et al. (2020) to refine gameplay mechanics and interaction systems, adapting them to the unique affordances of virtual reality. One of the methodologies that I undertook in this thesis involved critically applying the theoretical frameworks explored by analysing their relevance to various case studies, including Daybreak (CMYK, 2023), Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games, 2022), Terra Nil (Free Lives, 2023), Gone Home (Free Lives, 2013), and First Steps (Oculus, 2019). This process allowed me to examine how other game designers have integrated theories of play and the Anthropocene into their work and, in turn, informed how I adapted similar approaches for A Kindred Karoo's prototype. Additionally, I conducted a fieldwork trip to the Karoo in 2023, where I gathered reference photos and videos of the Karoo’s landscape. These references were essential for developing game assets, which I later recreated using Unity and Blender. I have structured this thesis into eight chapters, each building towards the development of A Kindred Karoo as a VR adaptation of Souvenir (2004). Chapter One introduces the project, outlining the theoretical framework and methodologies undertaken. Chapter Two begins constructing the theoretical framework of play, focusing on “meaningful play” (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004) and “critical play” (Flanagan, 2009). Chapter Three expands this framework by exploring Sutton-Smith’s “Rhetorics of Play” (1997) and Roger Caillois’ “categories of play” (2001). Chapter Four shifts to theories and debates around the Anthropocene, introducing Haraway’s “Chthulucene” (2016) and the Solarpunk genre. Chapter Five applies both theoretical frameworks — play and the Anthropocene — to Daybreak (2023), Horizon Forbidden West (2022), and Terra Nil (2023). Chapter Six examines environmental narratives and storytelling techniques in video games, drawing on Henry Jenkins (2004) and an analysis of Gone Home (2013). Chapter Seven takes a more technical perspective, detailing how A Kindred Karoo was developed using VR design principles (Çatak et al., 2020) and includes an analysis of First Steps (2019). Finally, Chapter Eight synthesises these explorations, bringing together insights on play, the Anthropocene, and game design to reflect on how A Kindred Karoo embodies these ideas in its design.
Obstacles and opportunities : the impact of the multicurrency monetary system on livelihoods and social lives in Zimbabwe
Chiwenga, Edson (University of Pretoria, 2025-08-21)
Zimbabwe has a convoluted monetary system, resulting from the official withdrawal of the country’s fiat currency in 2009 and the government’s attempts to reintroduce it after 2013. The result has been the coexistence of different currencies and different forms of money in Zimbabwe, accompanied by disagreements about their relative value. This thesis draws on first-hand observation of the ways in which different categories of the population deal with the complexities of the monetary system with which they are confronted and which some of them help to perpetuate. The thesis shows how the multicurrency and multiform monetary system presents people with both obstacles and opportunities, depending on a multiplicity of factors. The multicurrency system adds a layer of complexity to people’s everyday lives, which they must navigate. To explore how differently positioned actors deal with money in Zimbabwe’s multicurrency system, I engaged in an ethnographic study of people’s everyday interactions with money in Zimbabwe. In line with this, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork through visiting different physical and online communities and communities of money repertoires. I employed three different ethnographic approaches – participant observation, netnography, and autoethnography – to gather data from differently positioned actors in Zimbabwe’s multicurrency system. These actors were moneychangers, runners, informal business operators, including street vendors and tuckshop operators, cross-border traders, the Zimbabwean diaspora, remittance facilitators (both formal and informal), and civil servants in several positions and ministries. The activities that animate this system are far from ideal, perpetuating and sometimes amplifying the struggles faced by the various actors within this unsustainable economic situation, but the activities allow actors to innovate and survive despite the government’s failures. It becomes clear that, in Zimbabwe’s convoluted monetary system, money is not a neutral medium of exchange issued by a benign authority. Rather, money constitutes a site of active and ongoing contestation among divergent interests, marked by asymmetries in power, access, and legitimacy. This contest cannot be neatly framed as a binary struggle between state and citizens. Instead, this thesis demonstrates the need to move beyond such oppositions, highlighting how various actors, including policy makers, bureaucrats, businesspeople, traders, and ordinary citizens, both shape and are shaped by the evolving monetary regime. Their interactions produce a constantly shifting landscape of alliances, accommodations, and tensions. One of the most striking features of Zimbabwe’s monetary configuration is the blurring of boundaries between formality and informality. Formally employed individuals increasingly build informal economic structures atop their formal jobs, leveraging dual positions to mediate risk and extract value within the fragmented system. In doing so, they challenge rigid economic categorisations and reveal the improvisational logics underpinning monetary survival. These hybrid practices speak not to the failure of formal structures but to their reconfiguration through daily acts of negotiation and adaptation. The introduction of financial technology (fintech) innovations has added yet another layer of complexity. Far from offering a seamless solution, these technologies often illuminate the infrastructural fragilities and trust deficits that characterise the broader system. While fintech can expand transactional options, it also reproduces exclusionary dynamics and introduces new forms of dependency and uncertainty, particularly in contexts where digital access, financial literacy, and institutional credibility remain uneven.
Die herkoms en die sosiale, ekonomiese en opvoedkundige aspekte van die lewe van die Kleurlinge van Eersterust
Jacobs, Paul Petrus (University of Pretoria, 1968-06)
Adverse incorporation and social exclusion in Harare : an analysis of spatial design mobility and accessibility of low-income groups residing in Harare’s southern suburbs
Chikengezha, Tadiwa Webster (University of Pretoria, 2025-02)
This thesis critically examines the phenomena of adverse incorporation and social exclusion within the context of Harare, Zimbabwe, with a particular focus on the city's southern periphery(Southlea Park and Hopely). Adverse incorporation refers to the process by which individuals or groups are integrated into economic, social, or political systems in a manner that perpetuates their marginalisation, inequality, or exploitation. This concept, coupled with social exclusion—a multidimensional process that prevents individuals or groups from fully participating in the socioeconomic and political life of the city—provides a framework for analysing the living conditions of low-income residents in Harare's peri-urban areas. The research explores how these processes influence key aspects of urban life, particularly mobility, accessibility, and access to essential services such as healthcare, education, and economic opportunities. Like many cities in postcolonial Africa, Harare is characterised by significant spatial and socio-economic disparities, a legacy of colonial urban planning that continues to shape the city's development. Despite the abolition of institutionalised racial segregation, the spatial design of Harare remains deeply influenced by its colonial past, manifesting in stark inequalities between the northern affluent areas and the southern low-income suburbs. Through an ethnographic case study approach, this research delves into residents' experiences in Harare’s southern periphery, exploring how historical and contemporary urban planning, socio-political dynamics, and economic structures contribute to their marginalisation. The study reveals that the southern suburbs, originally designed as dormitory towns, are characterised by poor infrastructure, inadequate public services, and limited economic opportunities. These areas have become hubs of poverty, where residents face significant challenges in accessing reliable transportation, quality healthcare, and education, all of which are crucial for improving their socio-economic status. The research findings highlight how marginalised communities experience economic and spatial exclusion in specific areas, leading to long commutes, high transportation costs, and limited access to the city's economic centres, perpetuating poverty and exacerbating social inequalities. The study recommends re-envisioning urban spaces in Harare to promote inclusivity and accessibility, addressing historical and structural inequalities in the city's southern suburbs. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and development practitioners working on urban development in post-colonial African towns.
Exploring the impact of the Liberia Land Rights Act of 2018 on the improvement of women’s land rights : case study in Grand Bassa County, Wee Statutory District.
Muapoh, Isaac (University of Pretoria, 2022-03-01)
ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of the 2018 Liberian Land Rights Act (LLRA OF 2018) on women's land rights and participation in land governance. Drawing on experiences from diverse stakeholders in Liberia, it investigates the historical challenges faced by women due to patriarchal traditions. The study explores how interventions by women's rights organizations have fostered participation but identifies a need for further action by the government and NGOs to ensure women's full decision-making power and equal land rights. Based on interviews with 43 research participants, and a review of the laws and existing literature the study reveals tradition, limited information, and inadequate education as barriers to effective implementation of the LLRA if 2018. These factors are compounded by a lack of dedicated funding for women's empowerment and limited resources for the roll out of the new legislation. To address these challenges, the study proposes key recommendations of comprehensive public education campaigns, strengthening the Land Authority, engaging traditional leaders, and establishing a financial empowerment fund for women. This research aims to inform Liberian policymakers and stakeholders, ultimately enabling women to unlock their economic potential and contribute to national development.
Farmer-livestock keepers land Use conflicts in the Kilombero Valley Floodplain, Morogoro Region, Tanzania
Said, Simwana King'oma (University of Pretoria, 2024)
Abstract Six decades of land reforms in Tanzania have reshaped the agricultural landscape, prominently featuring large-scale farms alongside traditional smallholder agriculture. Despite being seen as progressive, these reforms have created a dual legal system that complicates land rights in village lands, reflecting colonial legacies and development policies from other contexts. Smallholders, traditionally viewed as backward and undercapitalized, are in fact diverse, commercially oriented, and reliant on multiple income sources, especially in Kilombero district. This study critically analysed Tanzania’s rural development policies and land reforms from 1980 to 2022, focusing on the tensions arising from legal bifurcation between customary and statutory land systems amid increasing large-scale land acquisitions. Using an ethnographic, actor-cantered approach, the research highlighted how power dynamics and differing stakeholder interests shaped policy processes and outcomes, often marginalizing local communities and smallholders. Findings suggest that land-use conflicts are complex and driven by multiple factors, including policy weaknesses and socio-economic inequalities among smallholders. The study challenges dominant rural development narratives that assume smallholder homogeneity and expose the gap between policy assumptions and rural realities. By integrating empirical insights with political economy and legal pluralism frameworks, this research contributes to understanding the root causes of land conflicts in Tanzania and offers policy recommendations. It advocates for inclusive, context-sensitive land governance reforms that recognize smallholder diversity, strengthen customary rights, and ensure equitable access to land. Such reforms are essential for fostering sustainable rural development and reducing land-based conflicts.
Space, infrastructure and budgets : a case of roads and stormwater maintenance in the City of Ekurhuleni, South Africa 2000-2020
Koopedi , Tsholofelo Joshua (University of Pretoria, 2025-07)
This thesis, Space, Infrastructure and Budgets: A Case of Roads and Stormwater Maintenance in the City of Ekurhuleni, South Africa 2000–2020 considers how repairs and maintenance of municipal infrastructures lie at the heart of developmental local government, in post-apartheid South Africa. The 1998 White Paper on Local Government provides the context and background which informs the thesis research. This white paper stated that apartheid had fundamentally damaged the spatial environment in local government, in particular the urban space. This damage resulted in spatial injustice, which was the thesis of the apartheid city. Urbanism in itself is a contested terrain, which sees an assemblage of “simultaneous forces, movements, agents and politics that co-produce the nature of contemporary urbanism … planning and implementing urban infrastructure is hence at the heart of power struggle in the city” (Nolte, 2016:445). This informs the central research question and problem statement that the thesis seeks to address in one of South Africa largest metropolitan municipalities. This thesis responds to the substantial arguments by Amina Nolte who argues that infrastructure makes space. Specifically, infrastructure does not merely appear in urban space, rather it is built and maintained through budgets. As Nolte (2016) argues that if, indeed, politics and the political are always inherent to infrastructure , my argument uses this as a point of departure. As a rationale for the thesis I argue that municipal infrastructures are a function of budgets and ultimately, these financial instruments make space. The thesis draws on substantial literature of infrastructure studies that infrastructure should be thought of as a political tool. Apartheid town planning has vulgarised the town planning lexicon, in particular with respect to the word ‘township’, in this thesis I take the simple perspective of the word in its planning connotation to be meaning a “an area of land divided into erven [which] may include public spaces and roads indicated as such on a general plan” (SPLUMA, 2013:11).The critique offered in this thesis is drawn from a qualitative approach to method. Data are collected from purposeful sampling which targeted all depot managers in roads and stormwater depots that service the townships in Ekurhuleni. The thesis links the spatial practice between colonial, apartheid, post-apartheid South Africa This linkage is important as it shows that spatial practice as offered by Lefebvre is space whereby “society as a whole continues in subjection to political practice – that is, to state power” (Lefebvre, 1991:8). Politics and the political are always inherent to infrastructure and that infrastructures are a function of budgets. the findings of this thesis are suggesting a triple nexus of sorts. In this thesis I argue that considered individually, questions of space, budgets and infrastructure cannot be considered as belonging to a single academic field, rather the relationship between them requires an interdisciplinary approach across academic fields such as geography, finance, economics, and engineering respectively. The positioning of this thesis contributes to the knowledge in urban studies specifically as it relates to municipal infrastructure’s role in undoing the legacy of apartheid and its negative impact on South African spatial design and urban fabric. Through the research for this PhD thesis, and as a reflection on my professional role as a senior official in the City of Ekurhuleni, I suggest that it is through a granular understanding of how operational budgets, such as repairs and maintenance budgets, can be used to promote of spatial justice in urban space.
Improving existing water supply systems to enhance water availability and accessibility in rural communities : a case of the Mankweng Cluster, Polokwane Municipality, South Africa
Rasakanya, Meisie Alphinah (University of Pretoria, 2025-05)
Water supply systems play a crucial role in distributing and providing water for domestic, irrigation and industrial use. Water supply systems have existed for centuries. Right from antiquity, ancient civilisations across the globe developed intricate water supply systems, such as aqueducts, qanats, canals, furrows and terraces for irrigation and drinking water supply. The beginning of the second half of the 19th century witnessed the introduction of centralised water supply systems, such as dams, taps, reservoirs, water treatment systems and pipelines. Many developing countries, including South Africa, are currently dependent on centralised systems for water provisioning; however, the limitations of these systems are becoming increasingly obvious. Many rural communities still lack access to safe drinking water, due to shortages associated with existing water supply systems. This is a prominent issue in the Mankweng Cluster of the Polokwane Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa, where the communities are experiencing water scarcity due to poor water supply systems. The communities primarily rely on dams, water treatment plants, household and communal taps, and boreholes, but these systems are not adequate to supply potable water to the communities. The Municipality’s water tankers are ineffective in mitigating water scarcity. These water tankers often do not arrive on time, if at all, and the water they provide is usually insufficient to meet the demand or address the population issues. Owing to these challenges, some community members resort to sourcing water from unprotected ponds and rivers, which are often contaminated, thus posing a risk to human health. This study investigates the existing water supply systems and suggests how they can be improved to enhance water availability and accessibility in the Mankweng Cluster of the Polokwane Municipality. The study will hopefully contribute to the body of knowledge on the importance of enhancing the sustainable management of municipal water supply systems, which play a vital role in water availability and accessibility, thus addressing economic water scarcity in rural communities. This study employed a mixed-methods approach for the collection of empirical data, where questionnaires and interviews were conducted with the participants of the study. Data was collected from 200 households across seven wards, and key stakeholders, including municipal officiail and ward councillors, were interviewed. IBM SPSS and Excel spreadsheets were used to analyse quantitative questionnaire data using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and the Chi-Square test. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative interview data, for coding, creating themes, and continuously comparing new data with the existing codes and themes to refine the analysis. The result revealed that the existing challenges facing water supply systems in the Mankweng Cluster are the major cause of economic water scarcity. Existing water supply systems in the Mankweng Cluster suffer from ageing infrastructure, vandalism, illegal connections, leaks, poor maintenance, and the impact of load-shedding and population growth. As a result, the majority of households in the Mankweng Cluster spend weeks and months without access to water. This leads to societal unrest and strikes, further affecting service delivery, as the residents damage roads and other public infrastructure. The study recommends expanding and improving water supply systems to include marginalised areas, thereby enhancing water supply and eradicating water scarcity in Polokwane Municipality’s Mankweng Cluster. As part of the objectives, the study recommends the implementation of a Rotational-Monocrystalline Solar Panel System (RMSPS) to upgrade the existing boreholes, which are dependent on manual pumping, electricity, and diesel for groundwater supply. Furthermore, the study recommends that both the residents of the Mankweng Cluster and the Polokwane Municipality take part in investing in the sustainability and resilience of water supply systems. As a result, there should be improved public participation in water services to raise awareness of the importance of water supply systems to improve the community’s ownership to protect and manage the infrastructures that benefit the people. The Municipality, together with the ward councillors and other key stakeholders, are encouraged to work collectively, monitor, and respond effectively to reported faults and illegal connections. Ultimately, the implementation of these recommendations is essential to achieving a sustainable water supply system and advancing rural development in the Mankweng Cluster and similar underserved communities.

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