Local Economic Development: A Test for Relevance in South Africa

The contemporary discourse on local economic development (LED) has gained widespread popularity in the political, intellectual, and public social arenas of development issues. It has become a “new,†glittering philosophy for development. Through the persuasive use of romanticism, LED has managed to achieve moral high ground in development, although it has since been confronted by unresolved theoretical and ideological tensions. The challenges facing LED are (1) the meaning of “local†in LED in a “globalized†world (2) the meaning of “development†in LED in a democratic, multicultural and racialized class society like South Africa, and (3) the explanation and moral justification as to what this “development†is, or whom it should be aimed at, in a society with such a grotesquely racialized “pastâ€. By drawing on the findings from a recent study of LED within the Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis project, in South Africa, we provide a critique of LED. We highlight its illusive philosophical foundations and their underlying mischief in South Africa. We argue that unless the said tensions are resolved, LED discourse will remain a rhetorical ploy for legitimating underdevelopment for blacks, and a methodical device to entrench the racialized socio-economic evils of apartheid in South Africa.&nbsp

Conflict of ideologies : the ANC youth league and communism, 1949-1955

M.A. (History)The main purpose of this study is to expose a hidden dimension in the annals of African resistance politics. This dimension has never received adequate attention thus the repercussions of its influence has not been adequately accounted for. This dimension is centred on the causes and consequences of conflict between the ANC Africanist Youth League and the Communist Party. The Africanist Youth League was convinced that its conflict with the Communist Party was in defence of African nationalism and self-determination. The Communist Party's infiltration of the ANC and its concerted efforts to derail it and the Youth League from African Nationalism, comes under critical scrutiny in this study. Thus, the popular view of the Youth League's conflict with the ANC is proved to have been the sub-plot of the main ideological rivalry between the Communist Party and the ANC Youth League

Local Economic Development: A Conceptual Re-Articulation

Local economic development (LED) in the context of the development question is generally celebrated as a silver bullet to development challenges in Africa. However this discourse is more complex and needs greater theoretical scrutiny in order to understand its meaning. This paper picks up standpoint theory to critique the dominant understanding/s of local economic development and argues that unless it is more people-centered and benefits the local human/s, local economic development will remain an imposition from the top which will continue to alienate the local human and will remain an imperial project

Social entrepreneurs’ perceptions on the contribution of networking toward organizational sustainability of social enterprises in Cape Town, South Africa

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)The main aim of this study was to make contributions to the body of literature on social enterprises, and more specifically in an African context. The nascent nature of social enterprises as an organisational structure is one of the reasons that the body of research and literature is not as expansive as other more established research fields. Social enterprises differ from traditional commercial enterprises in that they bridge the gap between commercial growth, and social and economic development goals. For the purpose of this study, social enterprises refer to any business that pursues commercial activity to address a social problem. They are becoming more noticeable as a driver of sustainable job creation, service delivery, social development and economic growth. Ensuring their sustainability is expected to have positive economic consequences, which is why studying social enterprise sustainability is important and even more so for developing countries. Qualitative methodology was used to collect data. Purposive sampling was employed to select the sample that was included in the case study in Cape Town. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather information. The data was analysed using content thematic analysis to explore and interpret the meaning of the participants’ views and experiences. A networking approach of the social capital theory was used as the theoretical framework that provided a guide on the discussion of the findings. For the purpose of this study, social capital was defined as the resources embedded in networks. The findings indicated that the social entrepreneurs’ did not consider networking as the sole contributing factor to social enterprise sustainability, but rather the contribution of multidimensional factors. The resources embedded in networks that were considered valuable were: 1. Information and innovation, 2. Credibility, 3. Mentorship and advice, and 4. Support. The participants also gave their opinions on policies that would create favourable conditions for sustainable social enterprises i.e. information accessibility, public-private partnerships, and education and training. This study makes contributions to literature in an African context and to social enterprise practice

Exploring students’ understandings of a decolonised psychology curriculum at a South African university

Magister Psychologiae - MPsychDiscussions about decolonisation of the curriculum resurfaced after the #FeesMustFall movement in South African universities. Despite its long history, there’s little to no change in its implication. Decolonisation is regaining popularity in academia; however little room is afforded to students to express their understanding of what the decolonisation of the curriculum entails. A gap within the literature was identified, which was the little consideration given to student voices.Thus, the primary aim of this research project was to explore students understanding of a decolonised Psychology curriculum in South Africa

A Study of a nonlinear derivative Schrodinger equation

Paper presented at the 5th Strathmore International Mathematics Conference (SIMC 2019), 12 - 16 August 2019, Strathmore University, Nairobi, KenyaIn this talk we present symmetry reductions and group-invariant solutions for the SBS derivative nonlinear Schrodinger equation. This equation is used to describe the evolution of some signal in lossless discrete nonlinear transmission line made of circuits that contains constant inductors and voltage-dependent capacitors. We then derive the conservation laws for this equation through the use of a direct method.Department of Mathematical Sciences, North- West University, South Africa

The impact of HIV and AIDS on planned parenthood in the area of Mthatha

Social WorkM. A. (Social Science