Research Articles (Centre for Development Support)
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Item Open Access The contributions of Enactus to South Africa’s social and solidarity economy: a case study of a university(OASIS, 2024) Ndlovu, Crespen; Lefera, Maraka𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable rise in worldwide acknowledgement of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and its substantial socioeconomic and environmental benefits. In response, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution on 18 April 2023 advocating for government and institutional support to the SSE towards accelerating the achievement of sustainable development Goals (SDGs). However, there is a lack of understanding of how higher education institutions contribute to this agenda. 𝗔𝗶𝗺:The study examines the contributions of Entrepreneurial Action Us (Enactus) to South Africa’s SSE. 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: The case study was conducted at the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State in South Africa, to examine how higher education and the SSE interact through Enactus initiatives. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀: The study utilised a qualitative research design involving semi-structured interviews with 11 students and alumni and an analysis of Enactus’ annual impact reports. This allowed for a comprehensive understanding of participants’ experiences and perceptions regarding Enactus’ impact on the SSE. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: Enactus enhances student entrepreneurship and innovation, promoting economic growth, job creation and community sustainability. Initiatives like the student-led Vermi Village Enterprise have empowered youth and women and created employment opportunities. Collaboration with local corporations and educational institutions has fostered sustainable changes, improving regenerative agriculture and urban food production, thus addressing multiple poverty facets. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: This study highlights the crucial role of initiatives like Enactus in promoting a more inclusive and sustainable economy, advancing the broader objectives of the SDGs, and supporting a brighter future for South Africa. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Despite resource limitations and the need for greater stakeholder engagement, Enactus projects and enterprises hold significant potential for driving sustainable development and socioeconomic equality, ultimately strengthening South Africa’s SSE.Item Open Access Sanitation politics, legacies, and change in urban South Africa(Taylor and Francis Group, 2024) Mukiga ,Alex KihehereThis article examines the historical and contemporary contexts of sanitation services in South Africa. Drawing on colonial and apartheid-era policies, the paper shows how segregation and social class have significantly shaped sanitation delivery in the country. Despite post-1994 policy initiatives to expand services to all South Africans and decentralise governance structures, the paper notes that the legacies of colonial planning and politics complicate meaningful sanitary reforms. It argues that to improve sanitation in informal settlements, it is crucial to contextualise the past legacies and consider the current socio-economic and political progress in urban South Africa. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for comprehensive and integrated approaches to sanitation that consider the issue’s complex historical and contemporary contexts.Item Open Access Knowledge, attitudes and practices of community treatment supporters administering multidrug-resistant tuberculosis injections: a cross-sectional study in rural Eswatini(Public Library of Science, 2022) Peresu, Ernest; Heunis, J. Christo; Kigozi, N. Gladys; De Graeve, DianaBackground: This study assessed knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of lay community treatment supporters (CTSs) delegated with directly observed treatment (DOT) supervision and administration of intramuscular multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) injections in the Shiselweni region in Eswatini. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey among a purposive sample of 82 CTSs providing DOT and administering injections to MDR-TB patients was conducted in May 2017. Observations in the patients’ homes were undertaken to verify CTSs’ self-reported community-based MDR-TB management practices. Results: Out of 82 respondents, 78 (95.1%) were female and half (n = 41; 50.0%) had primary education or lower. Over one-tenth (n = 12; 14.6%) had not attended a MDR-TB training workshop, but were administering injections. The overall KAP scores were satisfactory. Good self-reported community-based MDR-TB practices were largely verified through observation. However, substantial proportions of respondents incorrectly defined MDR-TB, were unaware of the treatment regimen, stigmatised patients, and underreported needlestick injuries. There was no statistically significant association between duration administering intramuscular injections, MDR-TB training, knowledge and attitudes, and good community-based MDR-TB management practices. Conclusions: The gaps in the current KAP of CTSs in this setting raise questions about the timing, adequacy, design and content of community-based MDR-TB management training. Nonetheless, with appropriate training, lay CTSs in this region can be an option to complement an overstretched professional health workforce in providing DOT and MDR-TB injections at community level.Item Open Access Housing and child health in South Africa: the value of longitudinal research(University of the Free State, 22-Feb) Chatindiara, Kenneth; Marais, Lochner; Cloete, JanResearch investigating the link between housing and health often produces mixed results. It does not always prove that good housing improves health. The results suggest a complex set of factors play a role, and the findings are sometimes contradictory. Two ways of addressing these concerns are longitudinal research, where the relationship between housing and health is measured in the short and medium terms, and a focus on children. We use the children’s housing and health data from the five waves of the National Income and Distribution Survey (NIDS) survey in South Africa, 2008 to 2017. We investigate the effect that continued living in informal housing over the five waves has had on these children’s health. Our results show a statistically significant relationship between prolonged residence in poor housing and poor health outcomes for some health indicators. The results call for a closer understanding of health issues in housing policy in South Africa.Item Open Access Housing and child health in South Africa: the value of longitudinal research(MDPI, 2022) Chatindiara, Kenneth; Marais, Lochner; Cloete, JanResearch investigating the link between housing and health often produces mixed results. It does not always prove that good housing improves health. The results suggest a complex set of factors play a role, and the findings are sometimes contradictory. Two ways of addressing these concerns are longitudinal research, where the relationship between housing and health is measured in the short and medium terms, and a focus on children. We use the children’s housing and health data from the five waves of the National Income and Distribution Survey (NIDS) survey in South Africa, 2008 to 2017. We investigate the effect that continued living in informal housing over the five waves has had on these children’s health. Our results show a statistically significant relationship between prolonged residence in poor housing and poor health outcomes for some health indicators. The results call for a closer understanding of health issues in housing policy in South Africa.Item Open Access Economic transitions in South Africa's secondary cities: governing mine closures(Cogitatio, 2021) Marais, Lochner; Nel, Verna; Rani, Kholisa; Van Rooyen, Deidre; Sesele, Kentse; Van der Watt, Phia; Du Plessis, LyndonMany South African secondary cities depend on a single economic sector, often mining or manufacturing. This makes them vulnerable to economic change and national decision‐making. We describe change in three secondary cities—Emalahleni, Matjhabeng and Newcastle—all at different phases of economic transition due to imminent mine closure. We investigate the way local governance and planning are dealing with the change. We draw on concepts from institutional economics and evolutionary governance theory, material from strategic planning documents, and approximately 50 key informant interviews. We show how difficult it is to steer economic planning during economic transitions, and we demonstrate how both economic change and governance are path‐dependent. Path dependency in South Africa’s mining towns has several causes: the colonial influence, which emphasised extraction and neglected beneficiation; the dominance of a single sector; the long‐term problems created by mining; and the lack of the skills needed to bring about economic change. The local governments’ continuing reliance on the New Public Management paradigm, which focuses on steering as opposed to building networks, compounds the problem, along with poor governance, inadequate local capacity and inappropriate intergovernmental relations. Of the three towns, only Newcastle has shown signs of taking a new path.Item Open Access State involvement in self-help housing: reflections from the Free State(University of the Free State, 2010) Ntema, John; Marais, LochnerEnglish: When John Turner forwarded his theories on self-help housing, he emphasised the concept of dweller control and argued that the state should not be involved in housing construction processes. Although there was worldwide acknowledgement of his ideas, a large number of self-help programmes developed with a fair amount of state-involvement. South Africa’s self-help programme, called the People’s Housing Process, is no exception in this respect. Although designed to ensure larger degrees of ownership by people, evidence of large-scale government influence is clear. This article assesses the application of self-help housing in the Free State province and argues that a technocratic rather than a people-centred approach (envisaged in policy documents) dominated the People’s Housing Process. The levels of influence by local people in project design, project implementation and housing design remain low, and the housing outcomes do not differ much from the normal project subsidy approach.Item Open Access An evaluation of a family support programme in the southern Free State(University of the Free State, 2012) Marais, Lochner; Ingle, Mark; Skinner, Donald; Sigenu, KholisaEnglish: This article details the evaluation of an NGO Family Support Programme (FSP) that was implemented in the southern Free State’s Kopanong local municipality. The FSP is primarily aimed at strengthening Early Childhood Development (ECD) in what is a very socio-economically deprived environment for small children. The article argues for the critical importance of ECD within the human development paradigm. It then reports on the actual FSP assessment and advances a number of recommendations for how the initiative could be bolstered. It concludes that the FSP methodology is sound in principle and that it warrants replication at scale.