Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA (DVS)
http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4161
2024-03-29T09:02:09ZSocial capital and role of stokvels in the economic lives of poor people in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
http://hdl.handle.net/11394/10582
Social capital and role of stokvels in the economic lives of poor people in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
Kolweni, Lungile
The study seeks to understand the role and the impact of stokvels, especially on low-income groups living in Khayelitsha in Cape Town. The focus is on the role of social capital and the economic impact on the lives of stokvel members. The study investigates how social capital is developed and deployed by members of stokvels. The economic benefits of stokvels to members are also interrogated. The researcher used a qualitative research approach in conducting this study. Individual interviews and focus-group discussions were conducted with members of the two stokvels. To supplement these observations, documentary sources were used as techniques to collect data. These techniques were appropriate for this nature of a study as they afforded the researcher an opportunity to get information about the operations of stokvels from the viewpoint and experiences of the stokvel members. The researcher visited two stokvels to observe proceedings in their meetings. Finally, the researcher went through the source documents of each stokvel to unearth relevant information, which other forms of data collection failed to uncover. The results of data collection were analysed, noting similarities between the results and common themes. The process enabled the researcher to come up with findings from the analysis of the results. Findings showed the positive economic impact of stokvels, as members have access to capital while they enjoy low interest rates from stokvels” loans. Stokvels” gatherings are characterised by entertainment, which allows members to socialise and understand one another better than before. In that process of interaction, social capital is developed. Members support one another when celebrating or grieving; in that way, social capital is deployed among stokvel members.
Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZA comparison between Ethiopia and Viet Nam's approaches to reducing extreme poverty
http://hdl.handle.net/11394/10518
A comparison between Ethiopia and Viet Nam's approaches to reducing extreme poverty
Durno, Darryn
The World Bank working paper ‘Grow, Invest, Insure’ published in 2016 outlines a three-point plan to reduce extreme poverty to three percent by 2030. Specifically highlighting the achievements of Ethiopia in Africa and Viet Nam in South-East Asia, the plan maintains a growth-first strategy to reducing extreme poverty, while emphasising the importance of investment in human capital to aid productivity and complementary social insurance. This thesis reviews the three-point plan compared with approaches to reduce extreme poverty and outcomes observed in Ethiopia and Viet Nam in the period 2000-2015. Results from a synthesis of literature and data for Ethiopia and Viet Nam shows that, while growth-first strategies can be successful in reducing poverty, context is critically important. Both countries were sufficiently comparable in their population and political contexts and followed similar agriculturally led economic growth strategies. Both countries implemented campaigns to reduce extreme poverty over similar periods, through centrally managed regimes. However, where economic growth in Viet Nam catalysed economic transformation that enabled the expedient and sustained reduction of extreme poverty by 2015, Ethiopia exhibited only early suggestions of transformation and a strong tendency for transitory poverty escapes. Both case studies also clearly demonstrated that economic growth alone does not reduce extreme poverty. Transversal policy coordination and implementation that prioritises the targeting of integrated packages of support to the extreme poor, and offers graduated escapes to poverty, are required in order to enable households to exit poverty. These packages of support are both costly and complex to deliver. Where economic growth in a single nation cannot support them, macro-economic reform and political are insufficient to deliver effectively on extreme poverty reduction. Specific effort was made to confine the period of review and to draw on sources that the World Bank researchers would have been privy to whilst drafting their plan, in order to test the validity of the claims made by the authors of the plan. Considering the wealth of information available during the development of the three-point plan, which clearly demonstrates the inconclusive nature of its recommendations, this thesis raises questions about how the authors of the three-point plan justified their approach.
Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZSeeking a dignified life: An exploration of the aspirations and experiences of women refugees in Cape Town, South Africa
http://hdl.handle.net/11394/10465
Seeking a dignified life: An exploration of the aspirations and experiences of women refugees in Cape Town, South Africa
Frank, Lenishia
This study documented the experiences of a group of refugee women during the COVID-19 lockdown in Cape Town, South Africa. In late 2019, the women participated in a sit-in protest with a large group of refugees in the central business district in Cape Town against the xenophobic attacks and social injustices they have experienced with South Africa. During the protest the group of refugees gathered outside in the Waldorf Arcade near Greenmarket Square. On the 26 March 2020, after the nationwide lockdown to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19, the City of Cape Town forcibly moved many of the refugee protesters and families to a camp site situated at Wingfield in Goodwood. This research documents narratives of the women’s experiences, emotional trauma, and day to day life while they were settled in the temporary Wingfield Camp.
Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZThe effect of school feeding programmes among school-going children in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
http://hdl.handle.net/11394/10447
The effect of school feeding programmes among school-going children in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
Sindi, Babalwa
School feeding programmes (SFPs) are known as a significant form of social protection that seeks to address food insecurity and educational improvement worldwide. This study seeks to evaluate the school feeding programmes in Khayelitsha, Cape Town to examine the potential effects that they have on educational improvement as well as food security among school-going children. In addition, the study determines the general effects of school feeding programmes, including challenges that the programmes encounter; it then provides recommendations on how the identified challenges can be solved. This study used the theory of change to examine the effects of school feeding programmes in Khayelitsha.
Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)
2022-01-01T00:00:00Z