‘BIG, HARD and UP!’ A healthy creed for men to live by?

The social construction of reality is influenced extensively by the mass media. Commercialised images of masculinity, including discourses to interpret it, are continuously reflected and/or created by sources of mass media, in a myriad of ways. These images are subjectively loaded, but still effectively communicate to us, and even entice and persuade us. It furthermore wields extensive power over men – especially over their self-images, passions, and egos. In this article, dominating images and discourses concerning manhood and male identity – particularly those displayed in men’s health magazines (MHM) – were critically examined. This was done through a thematic analysis of 123 issues (spanning more than 10 years) of MHM cover pages. The investigation showed that MHM is infused with traditional masculine ideology. Moreover, MHM fails to confront discourses that endorse hegemonic masculinity, for the sake of holistic health. It was suggested that a sober, precautionary, health strategy should challenge men to critically engage with MHM’s reigning creed: ‘big, hard and up’. This creed incites a utilitarian view of sexuality within a culture of performance-driven masculinity, which subsequently fuels anxieties that can lead to unhealthy issues, such as body image dissatisfaction. From a pastoral care perspective, it was asserted that (specifically) Christian men need to search for alternative ways to instigate their capacity to experience and facilitate authentic intimacy, in order to work toward the social construction of more balanced and healthy discourses on male identity

What happens when one picks up the Greek text?

A few issues of hermeneutic nature related to Bible translation are considered. It is argued that the chosen philosophical framework (for instance, a modernist or postmodern approach) determines the way in which any process of translation is approached. Attention then shifts to some of the presuppositions and assumptions of literal translations. These presuppositions are discussed critically. Another factor determining the nature of a translation is the intended function of that particular translation. If, for instance, the intended function is to be understandable for ordinary, present-day readers, a meaning-orientated translation would be preferable. Lastly, the role of interpretation in the translation process is considered. The assumption that no interpretation takes place in the case of word-for word translations is critiqued. (Acta Theologica, Supplementum 2, 2002: 246-265

Art, gender ideology and Afrikaner nationalism : a history of the Voortrekker Monument tapestries

Bibliography: pages 112-119.This dissertation considers the role both verbal and visual culture played in the growth and articulation of Afrikaner nationalism. For this reason it focuses not only on the central topic under discussion, namely the Voortrekker tapestries, but also on the discourses that informed the production of these tapestries and the circumstances surrounding the decision to commission them. The Voortrekker tapestries were commissioned in 1952 by the Vrou-en Moederbeweging van die A1XV (Suid-Afrikaanse Spoorweё en Hawens) and presented to the Voortrekker Monument in 1960. It was decided that the tapestries should depict the Great Trek of 1838 and, due to his widely acclaimed status as an authority on visual representations of Afrikaner history and culture, the artist WH Coetzer was approached to be the designer of the tapestries. But Coelzer's version of the Great Trek of 1838 perpetuates many popular myths about the Afrikaner past and, in examining this version, I have identified certain discourses as being influential. For example, the role of Gustav Preller in the formation of Coetzer's historical consciousness; the precedent set by the 1938 centenary celebrations of the Great Trek for later verbal and visual depictions of the Great Trek; the period 1948 to 1952, marked by significant historical events such as the triumph of the National Party, the inauguration of the Voortrekker Monument and the tercentenary Van Riebeeck celebrations and, finally, the rolevolksmoeder ideology played in shaping Coetzer's vision of the Great Trek. Drawing on these discourses, I proceed to examine the iconography of the Voortrekker tapestries. A number of themes in the tapestries are identified and elucidated with reference to a range of contemporary theoretical writings. Finally, the dissertation moves beyond a consideration of the iconography of the tapestries, investigating instead the status of needlework. I argue that the gender ideology embedded in the production of the tapestries is parallel1ed in the historically sanctioned separation of 'art' from 'craft'. Just as 'craft' has been marginalised in relation to 'art', so the Voortrekker tapestries and, with them, the women who made the tapestries, were marginalised in the public spheres which were inhabited and controlled by Afrikaner men

Investigating human trafficking for sexual exploitation: from ‘lived experiences’ towards a complex systems understanding

Human trafficking for sexual exploitation, as the most documented type of trafficking both internationally and in South Africa, was the focus of this study as it poses significant challenges to response efforts whilst remaining a crime of vast impunity. At the centre of this study was the researcher’s curiosity-infused endeavour to understand the lived experiences of multipronged stakeholders who have first-hand experience of the investigation into human trafficking for sexual exploitation. A qualitative approach and the use of hermeneutic phenomenology within a broader postmodernist and constructivist positioning served as the catalyst for generating novel insights. Numerous formal and informal conversations over the 5-year research period, site visits to multiple sex trade locations around South Africa and 91 in-depth and unstructured interviews with participants from 15 different vantage points were conducted. Five themes were identified from participants’ lived experiences as they related to the investigation of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. These were Theme 1: Sex Trade, Human Trafficking and Organised Crime; Theme 2: Combating Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation; Theme 3: Victims of Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation; Theme 4: Corruption and Compromise; and Theme 5: The Social Context and Scope of the Problem. A rich and in-depth presentation of participants’ lived experiences from an emic point of view was made. Knowledge generated include the revelation of problematic claims by preservationists around the nature of the sex trade in South Africa, insights into complexities intrinsic to human trafficking for sexual exploitation and multi-layered challenges associated with investigations into the crime. At the apex of the study was the deconstruction of complex systems theory and its application to the phenomenological essence of participants’ lived experiences. A proposed application of the theory was suggested for a more agile, robust and effective multipronged investigation strategy to combat human trafficking for sexual exploitation. A strong argument is made for a ‘whole’ and non-reductionist approach to investigations that continuously considers both the complexity of the crime and the day-to-day realities of the stakeholders who contribute to the multipronged investigation into human trafficking for sexual exploitation.Ukurhweba ngabantu ngeenjongo zokubaxhaphaza ngokwesondo, lolona didi lorhwebo lokuxhaphaza ekubhalwe ngalo kakhulu kwihlabathi jikelele nakuMzantsi Afrika. Esi sifundo sigxile kolu rhwebo njengoko lucela umngeni kwimizamo yokusabela lo gama ilulwaphulo mthetho olungalawulekiyo. Esizikithini sesi sifundo yayingumdla womphandi ukuqonda ngamava abo bathatha inxaxheba ekuphandeni ngorhwebo lokuxhaphaza ngokwesondo. Kukhethwe ufundo oluqwalasela umgangatho nokusetyenziswa kwesimbo sokutolika iimeko ezikhoyo kwilizwe elisemva kwelale mihla siphila kuyo njengeyona nqobo eya kuveza iimbono ezingaqhelekanga. Kwabanjwa inqwaba yeencoko ezisesikweni nezingekho sikweni ezenziwe kwisithuba seminyaka yophando engaphaya kwemihlanu, kwatyelelwa kwiindawo zorhwebo lokuxhaphaza ngokwesondlo ezikhoyo eMzantsi Afrika, kwabanjwa nodliwano ndlebe olunzulu lungaqingqwanga olungama-91 nabantu abakwiindawo zomdla ezili-15. Kwabonakala imixholo emihlanu esuka kumava abathathi nxaxheba malunga nophando ngorhwebo lokuxhaphaza ngesondo. Le mixholo yile: Umxholo woku-1: Urhwebo Lwesondo, Urhwebo Lokuxhaphaza Abantu, Nolwaphulo Mthetho Olucwangcisiweyo; Umxholo wesi-2: Ukulwa Urhwebo lokuxhaphaza abantu Ngenjongo Yesondo; Umxholo wesi-3: Amaxhoba Orhwebo Lokuxhaphaza Abantu Ngenjongo Yesondo; Umxholo wesi-4: Ubuqhophololo Nokunikezela; kunye noMxholo wesi-5: Imeko Yezentlalo Nomthamo Wengxaki. Kwenziwa inkcazelo enzulu netyebileyo yamava abathathi nxaxheba evelelwa ngokwendlela abantu bendawo abacinga nabazibona ngayo izinto. Ulwazi olufunyenweyo luquka izimvo eziyingxaki zabantu abakhuthaza ukugcinwa kwezinto zinjengoko zinjalo, malunga nohlolo olululo lorhwebo ngesondo eMzantsi Afrika, izimvo ngobunzima obubuthume kurhwebo lokuxhaphaza abantu ngenjongo yesondo kunye nemingeni emininzi eyayanyaniswa nophando lolwaphulo mthetho. Encochoyini yesi sifundo kukuhlakaza ingcingane exhakaxhaka yeenkqubo nokusetyenziswa kwayo kwiimeko ezikhoyo kumava abathathi nxaxheba. Kwacetyiswa indlela yokusebenzisa le ngcingane ekwenzeni icebo elinamandla nelisebenzayo lokulwa urhwebo lokuxhaphaza abantu ngenjongo yesondo. Kuthethelwa indlela yokusebenza ‘epheleleyo’ nengacuthi nto ekuqhubeni uphando v olusoloko luthathela ingqalelo ubuxhakaxhaka bolwaphulo mthetho namava emihla ngemihla abathathi nxaxheba abafaka isandla kuphando oluvelela iinkalo ezininzi kurhwebo lokuxhaphaza abantu ngenjongo yesondo.Ukushushumbiswa kwabantu ukuze baxhashazwe ngokocansi, njengohlobo lokushushumbisa oluqoshwe phansi ngokudlula zonke ezinye izinhlobo emhlabeni wonke kanye naseNingizimu Afrika, yikona okugxilwe kukho kakhulu kulolu cwaningo njengoba kuyikona okungadala izingqinamba ezinkulu emizamweni yokubhekana nakho kube futhi kuyilona hlobo lobugebengu olungajeziswa kangako. Okunguwona mgomo walolu cwaningo yimizamo yomcwaningi egqugquzelwa ngukufuna kwakhe ukwazi ukuze aqonde lokho okubonwe ngababandakanyekayo abahlukahlukene abebebhekene ngqo nokuphenywa kodaba lokushushumbiswa kwabantu ukuze baxhashazwe ngokocansi. Kusetshenziswe indlela yokwenza ephathelene nokuqoqwa kwemininingwane engamaqiniso nokusetshenziswa kohlobo locwaningo olwahlukile kulolo olubheka ukwenzeka kwezinto ngokwemvelo maqondana nokuhleleka kwezinto ngokwesikhathi esilandela esezinto zesimanjemanje, nangendlela elandela umumo othize, njengegqugquzela ubukhona bokuqonda okuhlaba umxhwele ngokungajwayelekile. Kube khona izingxoxo eziningi ezihleliwe nezingahlelwanga ezenzeke esikhathini esiyiminyaka emihlanu yocwaningo, kwavakashelwa izizinda eziningi ezindaweni okuhwetshelwana kuzo ngocansi eziseNingizimu Afrika, kwaphinde kwaba nezingxoxo ezingama-91 ezijulile ngokuphonsa imibuzo engahleliwe ngokusemthethweni kubabambiqhaza abavela ezindaweni eziyi-15 ezilungele lolu cwaningo. Kuhlonzwe izingqikithi ezinhlanu eziqhamuke kulokho okubonwe ngababambiqhaza ngokuhlobana kwabo nophenyo lokushushumbiswa kwabantu ukuze baxhashazwe ngokocansi. Yilezi, Ingqikithi 1: Ukuhweba Ngocansi, Ukushushumbiswa Kwabantu Nobugebengu Obuhleliwe; Ingqikithi 2: Ukulwisana Nokushushumbiswa Kwabantu Ukuze Baxhashazwe Ngokocansi; Ingqikithi 3: Izisulu Zokushushumbiswa Ukuze Zixhashazwe Ngokocansi; Ingqikithi 4: Inkohlakalo Nokwenza Okungahambisani Nawe; neNgqikithi 5: Indikimba Kwezenhlalo Nobubanzi Benkinga. Kube sekwethulwa ngokucebile nangokujulile okubonwe ngababambiqhaza ngokwencazelo ehambisana nohlobo lwesifundo. Ulwazi olutholakele lubandakanya ukuvela kwalokho okuyinkinga okushiwo yilabo abalwela ubukhona bohwebo lwezocansi eNingizimu Afrika, ukuqondwa kwalokho okungekho lula ukukuqonda okuphathelene vii nokushushumbiswa kwabantu ukuze baxhashazwe ngokocansi kanye nezingqinamba ezishiyana ngokwezigaba ezihambisana nophenyo lwalobu bugebengu. Ekujuleni kocwaningo kube khona ukuhlaziya okubanzi ngokuhlakaza izinhlelo zezinzululwazi okungekho lula ukuziqonda nokusetshenziswa kwazo kulokho okusemqoka okubonwe ngababambiqhaza. Kuhlongozwe ukuba kusetshenziswe isu elisheshayo, elishubile nelizosebenza ngempumelelo elihlukene izigaba eziningi ezibheka konke elizolwisana nokushushumbiswa kwabantu ukuze baxhashazwe ngokocansi. Ukudingida kabanzi ngendlela 'ephelele' nengancike ndawo okumele ilandelwe uma kuphenywa nezobheka kokubili ukungabi lula kobugebengu okubhekenwe nabo kanye nokubonwa imihla ngemihla ngababambiqhaza abasiza ngokuthile ophenyweni olubheka okuningi okwahlukahlukene maqondana nokushushumbiswa kwabantu ukuze baxhashazwe ngokocansi.Criminology and Security Scienc

Etiese Besluitneming Volgens 1 Johannes

How to come to ethical decisions is an important question, both for individuals and religious institutions. In this article the way is discussed in which the author(s) of the Letters of John (especially 1 John) encourages the recipients of the Letters to come to the correct ethical decisions. He links all such decisions to the tradition they share, which corresponds to the truth they also share. The Spirit will lead and teach them accordingly.Article in Afrikaan

Mitochondrial dysfunction and human immunodeficiency virus infection

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and the pharmacological treatment thereof have both been shown to affect mitochondrial function in a number of tissues, and each may cause specific organ pathology through specific mitochondrial pathways. HIV has been shown to kill various tissue cells by activation of mitochondrial apoptosis. Nucleoside analogues, used extensively to treat HIV infection, are known to influence a number of steps affecting mitochondrial DNA integrity. This review describes the basic physiology, pharmacology and pathophysiology of HIV infection and the nucleoside analogues regarding mitochondrial function and discusses the progress made in this field with respect to the measurement of these effects and the prediction of potential drug toxicity.Keywords: highly active antiretroviral treatment, HIV, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial toxicit

“...But the Poor Opted for the Evangelicals!”– Evangelicals, Poverty and Prosperity

This article discusses developments in the historical discourse on evangelicalism, poverty and prosperity. Have the global evangelical celebrations of 2010 bridged the dichotomy between social responsibility (Ecumenicals) and the proclamation of salvation (Evangelicals)? The article focuses on the rapid growth of a specific brand of evangelicalism, namely “prosperity faith” as predisposition within the neo-Pentecostal churches, especially throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In an appreciative, but critical enquiry, this article reflects on the radical claim of dispensing “health and wealth” to the desperately poor. Are proponents of prosperity faith putting forward a credible answer to poverty, a new entrepreneurial and creative evangelical response to the call for social responsibility? Or will the poor ultimately be disillusioned? What challenges are posed to Evangelicals

NT 617 Exegesis of Johannine Literature

4.1 Required material (Please note that where specific pages are indicated you most probably need not buy the book). * Please bring either a Greek New Testament (UBS or Nestle-Aland, ed 27) AND/OR Revised Standard Version (2 ed) to class. ** Books marked with a double asterisk (**) should definitely be bought. • Gospel of John: 1. Barrett, C. K. 1978 The Gospel According to John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text. Philadelphia:Westminster. Pages 67-99. 2. Brown, R. E. 1966 The Gospel According to John I-XII. vol. 1 Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Pages LII-LXIV and LXVII-LXXIX. 3. ** Carson, D.A. 1991 The Gospel according to John. Grand Rapids:Eerdmans. (Only on the verses to be considered). 4. ** Culpepper, R.A. 1998 The Gospel and Letters of John. Nashville:Abingdon. Pages 13-73, 87-105. 5. Davies, M. 1992 Rhetoric and reference in the Fourth Gospel. Sheffield:SUP. Pages 119-161. 6. Schnackenburg, R. 1982 The Gospel According to John. Vol 2. New York:Crossroad. Pages 398-410. 7. Smith, D.M. 1995 John. Cambridge:CUP. Pages 139-144. 8. Thompson, M.M 2001 The God of the Gospel of John. Grand Rapids:Eerdmans. Pages 227-240. 9. Van der Watt, J.G. 2000 Family of the King. Dynamics of metaphor in the Gospel according to John. Leiden:Brill. Pages 266-296 and 382- 392. • The Letters of John 1. Culpepper, R.A. 1998 The Gospel and Letters of John. Nashville:Abingdon. Pages 251-283. 2. Van der Watt, J.G. 1999 Ethics in 1 John: a literary and socioscientific perspective CBQ 7, 1-21. • Revelation: 1. ** Bauckham, R. 1993 The theology of the book of Revelation. Cambridge:CUP. Pages 1-108 and 126-143.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/2431/thumbnail.jp

Modeling And Improving Oxygen Carrier Performance In Chemical Looping Combustion Systems

Countries across the world have different expectations on carbon dioxide (CO2) capturing and the willingness to commit to international agreements continually change. At present, the CO2 capture market is weak as industries are reluctant to take up the costs and risks associated with implementing the capture technologies. Globally, and in the United States of America (U.S.A.) in particular, the perception is that emerging energy technologies with carbon capture are too expensive or inefficient to attract investors without government backing and subsidies. Coal usage has accordingly declined. By expanding the coal value chain into more than just electricity generation, it can possibly attract new investments and improve confidence in novel carbon capture technologies. Chemical looping combustion is a technology that can utilize coal and benefit both the electricity and valuable chemicals market. This flexibility of chemical looping combustion represents a promising technology to integrate the required time flexibility so urgently needed within the U.S.A. electricity generation sector. Fostering the development and scalability of chemical looping combustion related technologies, especially using coal, rather than focusing purely on the expected cost reduction and usefulness of chemical looping combustion as a CO2 capture technology, can ensure stability within the electricity generation and coal industry of the U.S.A. Chemical looping combustion is an induced fuel combustion process that uses recyclable redox materials as oxygen carriers to transfer oxygen selectively from an air stream to a fuel reactor, thus eliminating the requirement for end-of-pipe CO2 gas separation processes. To date, no oxygen carriers have been identified or developed that exhibit adequate long-term performance. There is also a lack of sufficient experience related to the design and operation of full-scale chemical looping combustion systems. Oxygen carriers serve as oxygen sorbents that release or adsorb oxygen, depending on the temperature, pressure and gas composition within the chemical looping combustion system. Oxygen carrier performance is mainly characterized by its affinity to react under both oxidizing and reducing conditions and its resistance to attrition. Based on the research opportunities, two primary hypotheses have been developed: i) A laboratory-scale evaluation system, operating under high temperature and reacting conditions, can be used to assess oxygen carrier performance. The experimental results can be used to develop correlations for determining oxygen carrier lifetime in scaled-up processes. ii) A spouted fluid bed reactor can improve carbon conversion efficiencies as compared to a bubbling fluidized bed reactor. Computational fluid dynamic simulations can be used to model the movement of oxygen carriers in such a spouted fluid bed reactor to gain a better understanding of the transport phenomena involved deep within the reactor. To prove or disprove the research hypotheses, the research scope was broken down into three main efforts: i) Evaluate several materials being considered by the chemical looping combustion development community to ascertain whether a single test procedure is adequate for oxygen carrier performance characterization ii) Further develop the oxygen carrier performance evaluation methodology (based on jet attrition testing) to include a second attrition source (cyclonic attrition) critical in chemical looping combustion systems involving circulation of oxygen carriers iii) Assess whether a spouted fluid bed can be used for chemical looping combustion and if it is scalable using a modular approach based on experimental and computational fluid dynamic tools. This effort will target the development of a computational modeling tool for the design of a multi-zone spouted fluid bed. Parts i) and ii) of the research scope pertained to testing different oxygen carriers in a jet attrition unit and a cyclonic attrition unit. An attrition unit can be defined as a device that is used to attain information concerning the ability of material to resist particle size reduction. The ASTM D5757 test method is typically used to determine the relative attrition characteristics of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts under ambient conditions. In contrast to the ASTM D5757 test method, the jet and cyclonic attrition units were set up to expose the oxygen carriers to various operating conditions that could typically be encountered in actual chemical looping combustion systems. The operating principle of the jet- and cyclonic-induced attrition systems provides a vast improvement over previous methods that neglect chemical and thermal stresses. The cyclonic attrition unit ultimately represents a more favorable test method for assessing the attrition of oxygen carriers compared to the jet attrition unit. The cyclonic attrition test method merely speeds up the particle impact frequency compared to large-scale cyclones. However, the particle impact velocity within the cyclonic attrition unit is similar to large-scale cyclones (9.0 – 27 m/s). The cyclonic attrition unit can therefore provide relevant attrition data on an oxygen carrier within 9 hours, using as little as 70 grams of material. Two attrition models (cyclonic and jet) were identified that could be used to investigate attrition rates at operational chemical looping combustion conditions. The models were based on the concept of efficiency within a comminution process. The models related particle attrition to the kinetic energy used to produce fines. The cyclonic attrition model provided the best fit for the attrition data with coefficients of determination ≥ 0.94. Part iii) of the research scope related to exploring the use of a spouted fluid bed as a reactor configuration for chemical looping combustion. The spouted fluid bed was identified as a suitable configuration to improve fuel conversion and operational flexibility over the typically employed bubbling fluidized bed designs. This part of the study had two objectives: i) to assess the viability of a single-spouted fluid bed as an efficient chemical looping combustion reactor, and ii) to assess if computational fluid dynamic based simulations can be employed to show the hydrodynamic behavior of both a single- and multi-spouted fluid bed reactor. A modeling and experimental approach were followed to accomplish the objectives. Firstly, Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFiX) software was used to establish a spouted fluid bed reactor design using the two-fluid model. An experimental setup was built to supplement the model. The experimental setup was modified for testing under high temperature, reacting conditions (1073 - 1273 K). The setup was operated in either a spouted fluid bed or a bubbling bed regime, to compare the performance attributes of each using a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen as fuel. For the single-spouted fluid bed investigation, the cold flow model results provided key information for rapid experimental design and operating envelope determination. The single-spouted fluid bed modeling and experimental results illustrated the potential of the configuration to improve gas/solid contact, lower energy requirements and increase operational robustness in comparison to a bubbling fluidized bed reactor. The cold flow models proved adequate in depicting the intermittent spouting regime as well as providing valuable information pertaining to material circulation rate. The modeling and experimental work on the single-spouted fluid bed reactor were used as the starting point to investigate the scalability of the system into a multi-spouted fluid bed reactor. MFiX software was again used to design a multi-spouted fluid bed and compare the hydrodynamic aspects of the system to that of a bubbling fluidized bed. A reactor comprising nine spout/draft tubes, arranged in a 3x3 setup, was modeled in 2-D using the two-fluid model. The model incorporated both inlet and outlet regions to study to bulk movement of solids within the reactor design. The focus of this work was on capturing the hydrodynamic trends associated with a multi-spouted fluid bed. The modeling results indicated that the solids in a multi-spout system has a slightly narrower residence time distribution compared to that in a bubbling fluidized bed. The narrower residence time distribution could potentially improve fuel conversion in chemical looping combustion systems. Ultimately, a baseline model was configured that can be used to investigate alternative layouts of modular spouted fluid bed reactors for various applications

Better lives for all? : prospects for empowerment through marine wildlife tourism in Gansbaai, South Africa : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand

Little is known about the consequences of burgeoning commercial marine wildlife tourism (MWT) for communities in the Global South. Gansbaai, the location for this research, has a concentration of twelve MWT operators; it also faces the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty, and inequality. Given their privileged access to marine common resources, empowerment and tourism policies position MWT permit holders as key agents of development. This research examines how MWT contributes to development for less advantaged residents of Gansbaai. Here, development means better lives and sustained empowerment for residents and rebalanced power relationships between social actors. A novel Tourism-Empowerment Framework guided observation and analysis of empowerment interfaces, expressions of power, and empowerment processes and outcomes in MWT. A mixed methods approach drew on administrative data, participant observation, and interviews with civil society, private sector, and government actors. Crucially, the results revealed government actions, persistent societal power imbalances, and structural constraints circumscribed prospects for empowerment through MWT operators. Therefore, the ability of private firms to advance empowerment was restricted. Nevertheless, the results show how business processes advanced empowerment in several dimensions for most residents linked to operators. Substantial investment in human and local economic development by some MWT operators meant benefits extended beyond business owners and employees. Empowerment manifested as strengthened ability and agency to attain personal goals through decent work, increased household resources, enhanced skills and self-confidence, expanded social capital, strengthened collective power, and greater influence over decisions that affect their lives. Further, most less advantaged residents of Gansbaai were marginalised from the multidimensional benefits of MWT, and some people experienced disempowerment. Many interventions were operator-defined, charity-based, prioritised business benefits, and maintained power imbalances. Altogether, the findings suggest unequal empowerment, uneven impact on the six dimensions of empowerment, simultaneous empowerment and disempowerment, and a muted effect on structural transformation. In the final analysis, while MWT appears to have progressed multi-dimensional empowerment for some residents, claiming that MWT has led to rebalanced power relations and better lives for all less advantaged residents of Gansbaai would be disingenuous