Browsing by Author "De Wet, Jacques"

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    The 2010 Fifa world cup: Perceptions of its sports and development legacy potential
    (2010) Mills, Lucy Caroline; De Wet, Jacques
    Sport mega-events are a contemporary phenomenon which embody and unify global processes in an increasingly globalised world. Whilst the sport industry has grown exponentially as a result of global market forces envisaging extensive economic opportunities, hosting a mega-event has also been economically attractive for cities and countries. In aiming to be globally competitive and world-class, mega-events derive from an economic-growth centred model of urban development, whereby benefits will 'trickle-down' to the poor and marginalised (Pillay and Bass, 2008). The 2010 FIFA World Cup typifies such an event as it encompasses historical, geopolitical, economic and socio-cultural processes that have intensified and been intensified by, globalisation. South Africa's bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup however, has differed from other mega-event bids. Official World Cup discourses boast that the World Cup will produce lasting socio-economic impacts to South Africa and indeed the rest of Africa. FIFA and the South African government have labelled the 2010 World Cup an 'African World Cup' with promises of stimulating pan-African economic and sociocultural opportunities. There is significant emphasis on providing social benefits to underprivileged populations. One of the anticipated social legacies is the development of sport structures and increased participation of sport in disadvantaged areas where barriers to sport are most entrenched. The aim of the research project was to determine whether a sport and development legacy is in fact materialising in both South Africa and Zambia as a result of South Africa hosting the World Cup. I employed a qualitative research design and conducted 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with representatives from a wide variety of sport and development related organisations in Cape Town and Lusaka. I regarded this cross-section of people as best positioned to provide evidence of a legacy. v Findings demonstrate that the official World Cup discourses generated by FIFA and the South African government pledging benefits continent-wide, have infiltrated everyday discourse of people in townships in Lusaka and Cape Town. There is however a discrepancy between this rhetoric and the reality. Respondents from smallscale, community-based sports structures rarely perceive themselves or their organisations to benefit from World Cup opportunities due to a lack of access to information and resources. Despite limited tangible gains or involvement, a sense of pride in South Africa, and indeed Africa, is evident. This alone is contributing to the support of the World Cup rather than visible positive changes in disadvantaged communities. In contrast to these organisations, representatives from larger, wealthier sport for development NGOs record increased funding and activities. This research has therefore exposed a dual system of sports delivery present in South Africa and Zambia. Whilst sport for development NGOs thrive, community sports structures struggle to the point of being near dysfunctional or even non-existent. Given the problematic history of donor-driven, Northern-based development programmes, we must be wary of perpetuating the marginalisation of local voices. This thesis suggests that pitfalls of globalisation at large are reproduced in globalised sport. It substantiates existing literature that doubts the potential of the World Cup to generate development among poorer populations.
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    Addressing unemployment in the Western Cape, South Africa one community at a time : a case study of a public-private-civil society partnership
    (2007) Kok, Catherine; De Wet, Jacques
    Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-107).
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    Aluta continua! digital divide experiences of South African township high school learners during COVID-19 hard lockdown
    (2024) Mxatule, Akhona; De Wet, Jacques
    This research emphasises that the digital divide is a significant human development issue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the stringent lockdown measures accentuated the challenges faced by many underserved learners in transitioning to remote education due to limited access to digital resources and reliable internet. This study investigated how the COVID-19 hard lockdown period magnified the digital divide experiences of a group of high school learners from Cape Town's Khayelitsha Township. The investigation further revealed the extent to which learners from working-class households could overcome challenges they faced in the context of their education. Understanding the structural problems and the learners' agency from their perspective provides educators and policymakers with valuable insights, which can inform future interventions to address the digital divide. Amartya Sen's Capability Approach facilitated my people-centred examination of the digital divide. Sen's theoretical framework helped reveal that while access to Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) is a crucial step, it alone is insufficient for development. Additionally, this study demonstrates that the capacity to effectively utilise ICTs and transform information into actionable knowledge for comprehensive development is paramount. Therefore, the digital divide extends beyond mere access and literacy, representing a broader developmental challenge that deprives many under-resourced communities of essential capabilities in a world that is increasingly dominated by ICTs. Utilizing a single case study approach, this research interrogates the digital divide as a human development issue. Data collection methods involved documentary analysis, a key informant interview, and a focus group discussion with six high school learners from a Khayelitsha township school. Miles and Huberman's thematic coding approach was used in the data analysis. The findings reveal some contextual nuances in the learners' experiences of unequal access to devices and the Internet, affordability disparities, and varying levels of ICT usage. This study underscores the vulnerabilities of marginalized learners and identifies opportunities that learners create for themselves within the digital divide. This research provides insights into the multifaceted nature of the digital divide within the educational landscape. The study further emphasizes the urgent need for collaborative and coordinated efforts from among stakeholders, including the Department of Basic Education, teachers, learners, parents, the private sector, and civil society, to implement people-centred and tailored intervention strategies informed by a nuanced understanding of the digital divide.
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    Change & continuity in the value-priorities of school-leavers in Rundu (Namibia): a comparative study of hybridization and its development implications
    (2017) Field, Michael; De Wet, Jacques
    In Southern Africa, burgeoning intercultural contact results in the emergence of (bicultural) sociocultural contexts which emphasize African traditional and Western industrial values to different degrees. In transitioning between these contexts, Southern Africans may experience feelings of dissonance which potentially threaten identity. In managing these transitions, individuals arguably employ various hybridization strategies in order to navigate socio-cultural contexts whilst maintaining a coherent sense of self. Though part of a broader Southern African study initiated by Cumpsty in 1998, this dissertation represents a stand-alone inquiry into how the value-priorities of school-leaving respondents in Rundu, northern Namibia, have changed or stayed the same between 1998 and 2017. What is more, it seeks to ascertain if/how these respondents have hybridized their value-systems confronted with increasingly bicultural experiences. Cumpsty's quantitative instrument for measuring values was administered to the entire school-leaving cohort in two schools in Rundu in 1998 and in 2017. This data was comparatively analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in order to measure the extent to which change/continuity had occurred over the nearly 20 year period. Profiles were generated from the two sets of quantitative data, which revealed how respondents hybridized African traditional and Western industrial values, and the results were analyzed comparatively. This dissertation's central finding has been an unexpected pattern of general continuity in the value-priorities of respondents between 1998 and 2017, which is also demonstrated in the patterns found in the dominant profiles. These results indicate the use of distinct strategies which allow respondents to integrate African traditional and Western industrial values into hybrid value-systems - which in turn allow them to navigate bicultural experiences whilst maintaining a coherent sense of identity - and therefore repudiates the notion of globalisation resulting in increasing socio-cultural uniformity. This finding indicates that if the definition of development is broadened to encompass the satisfaction of fundamental human needs, then an account of identity is crucial, which in turn renders an account of values indispensable to the development debate in Southern Africa. Lastly, this dissertation uses Cumpsty's instrument, which is fundamentally flawed, and ends with a critique of the instrument.
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    Characterization of polyphenols in leaves of four desiccation tolerant plant families
    (2005) Dzobo, Kevin; Lindsey, George G; Farrant, Jill M; De Wet, Jacques
    Polyphenols in plants are known to act as antioxidants, antimicrobials, antifungal, photoreceptors, visual attractors and as light screens. In this study polyphenols in angiosperms found in southern Africa and called resurrection (desiccation tolerant) plants were studied. These plants are Myrothamnus flabellifolius, Xerophyta viscosa, Xerophyta humilis, Xerophyta schlecterii, Xerophyta villosa. Craterostigma wilmsii, Craterostigma plantagineum, Craterostigma pumilum and Eragrostis nindensis. These plants are able to tolerate water stress without undergoing permanent damage. During drying these plants are subjected to different stresses and one such stress is oxidative stress. It has been suggested that polyphenols function as stress protectants in plant cells by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during a period of oxidative stress. In this study the total phenolic content and the related antioxidant capacity of the plants leaf extracts were analysed.
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    Child refugee rights in Cape Town: the right to access education
    (2012) Sithole, Mabel D; De Wet, Jacques
    Child refugee rights are a pertinent issue in the Republic of South Africa. South Africa's progressive Constitution (1996) stipulates the right of all children to access education without discrimination. This research project used a rights based approach to education research to identify some of the factors that promote or hinder child refugee access to education. I used qualitative case study methodology to collect data from Cape Town, South Africa.
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    A critical study of the use of an evaluation model designed to measure the outcomes and impact of development interventions
    (2013) Phillips, Tracey; De Wet, Jacques
    This study investigates a naturalistic evaluation model’s ability to assess the outcomes and impact of development interventions in a rigorous manner. The study was undertaken by means of a meta-evaluation of five evaluation projects conducted by a socio-economic development consultancy situated in Cape Town. This meta-evaluation process was based upon four evaluation quality or ‘trustworthiness’ criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln (1989); namely, credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. These four criteria were conceptualised, operationalised and applied to the evaluation projects under review.
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    Disjunctions and convergences: a study of stakeholders' perceptions of public participation in service delivery in Cape Town's Blikkiesdorp
    (2012) Maharaj, Shakira; De Wet, Jacques
    This study aimed to investigate the disjunctions and convergences between key stakeholder groups' perceptions of a public participatory relationship between The City of Cape Town Municipality and the Blikkiesdorp community. The key instruments for this research were semi-structured interviews, observation periods and documentary sources which included The White Paper on Local Government (1998), The Batho Pele Handbook (2009) and the National Policy Framework of Public Participation (2007). This analysis was conducted on a single case study in order to gain in-depth information about key stakeholder perceptions.
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    Evaluating the role of 'critical consciousness' in a rural South African development intervention : implications for structural approaches to HIV prevention
    (2006) Hatcher, Abigail M; De Wet, Jacques
    Traditional, information-giving approaches to HIV prevention have failed to curb the rapidly expanding HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Scholars and practitioners have looked to new interventions for HIV which centre upon structural changes, or the broader societal forces which shape HIV vulnerability. In recent years, Paulo Freire's notion of 'critical consciousness' has been cited as a way to involve communities in critical analysis and social change for HIV prevention. However, increasing calls for critical consciousness within HIV literature fail to recognise the complexities of integrating the notion at the ground-level. The Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equality (IMAGE) is a South African structural intervention for HIV which has been guided by critical consciousness. IMAGE aims to impact on poverty and gender-based violence by partnering a participatory gender curriculum with group-based microfinance. The research examines how IMAGE has translated the notion of critical consciousness into distinct processes, and evaluates the implementation of these processes by drawing from qualitative research with programme planners, facilitators and participants.
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    Fiscal and institutional factors and taxpayer culture as explanations for the 2018 VAT increase in South Africa
    (2022) Pearson, Kirsten Susan; Govender, Rajendran; De Wet, Jacques
    The 2018 Value Added Tax (VAT) rate increase in South Africa is a significant event in that it was the first time since the advent of democracy in South Africa (1994) that the VAT rate had been raised. Located within the discipline of fiscal sociology, this study emphasises the developmental implications of fiscal policy choices. It problematises tax revenue mobilisation to meet growing spending requirements in South Africa. It looks at why, of the various fiscal and tax policy options available, the decision was made to raise the VAT rate. The mixed methods study provides a content analysis of literature obtained through a desk review and statistical analysis of a public opinion survey. By examining the underlying dynamics that influence fiscal policy decisions, it explains how fiscal and institutional factors and taxpayer culture interacted to bring about the decision to increase the VAT rate. It finds that policy decisions with large spending requirements can have an impact on fiscal policy decisions with implications for rights realisation. A conceptual framework specific to the South African context was developed as an output. Additionally, a revised conceptual framework for the determination of taxation was produced.
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    From victims to warriors: collective identity construction at cancer movement assemblies in South Africa
    (2015) Prinsloo, Erna Louisa; De Wet, Jacques; Graaff, Johann
    Interest in this topic was awakened by the rapid growth of Relay For Life in South Africa and its striking ability to bond people during mass cancer gatherings. Questions were raised about the generation of collective identities during these assemblies, the nature of the activated identities, and how these relate to the broader debates about cancer and identity. This inquiry investigates the unexplored intersection of cancer and identity in the context of a burgeoning solidarity movement that has found a strong following countrywide. A contemporary hermeneutic perspective allowed a dual focus on the micro-sociological dimensions and the structural elements that converge to generate collective identities at assemblies. A theoretical scheme was synthesized out of the work of theorists who deal with collective identity, spaces set aside for people in crisis, social interaction during focused gatherings and illness narratives. A non-comparative case study was used to investigate the phenomenon at 20 cancer assemblies. Short-term ethnography, focus group interviews, photographs and YouTube videos provided the data that was analysed using the hermeneutic circle of interpretation. The findings showed that personal illness identities and situation-specific role identities interact with a potent cocktail of elements - ephemeral space, a shared focus on cancer, collective action, illusion and emotions - to activate three symbolic identities: a dominant collective identity that relies on heroic warrior mythology, a secondary collective identity that draws upon a transformation ideal, and a hidden identity which has its roots in the notion of being wounded. It is argued that assemblies rely on a dominant collective identity which is symbolic in nature and imposed on participants by the cancer movement. Participants are portrayed as positive, hopeful heroic warriors tasked with vanquishing cancer. Although ubiquitous at cancer assemblies, the dominant collective identity is nevertheless sufficiently fluid to allow a measure of hybridization, inversion and contestation. This inquiry gives credence to other work on cancer and identity which recognizes that the dominant identity provides benefits not offered by a victim representation. It also expresses reservations about the wisdom of expecting affected people to maintain a brave exterior in the face of an illness that causes emotional disequilibrium.
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    Gauging perceptions of participation in participatory development : a South African case : the mud schools eradication project at Klapmuts Primary School in the Western Cape
    (2010) Street, Mavourneen; De Wet, Jacques
    People-centred development places a great deal of emphasis on the participation of the "beneficiaries" (or what I call targets) in the process of their development. The language of participatory development is often used in development programmes in South Africa, but very little is said about how participation is measured. In this thesis I grapple with the problem of how to measure participation in participatory development. I have designed and tested an instrument based on Arnstein's well known ladder of participation in order to gauge perceptions of participation. I reflect critically on this process, identify limitations in gauging perceptions of the levels of participation, and critique Arnstein's model. The case used to test the instrument I designed was a school building development project which was undertaken by the Independent Development Trust (IDT) as part of their Mud Schools Eradication Programme in the community of Klapmuts in the Western Cape. The methods I used for data collection included archival and documentary research, participant observation and semi-structured interviews. I drew on Miles and Huberman's (1994: 10-12) three step iterative process of data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing to analyse the data. I also made use of NVivo, which is a computer software package for qualitative data analysis.
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    Gauging the horizontality of community philanthropy organizations: The development and validity testing of an instrument
    (2016) Wilkinson-Maposa, Susan; De Wet, Jacques
    This thesis sets out to develop an instrument to gauge the behaviour of a community philanthropy organization (CPO) and then to test its validity. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the Horizontality Gauge (HG) offers a process by which organizations can assess the extent to which their behaviour favours either the ways in which the international aid system prefers to work (with an exogenous orientation) or those of the community it serves (taking an endogenous approach), which is the orientation professed in its model. When applied, the instrument is intended to facilitate self-correction, with the potential to contribute to organizational development (OD) and improved performance. The instrument is made up of a questionnaire and a group interview. It produces data in the form of Likert scale scores (quantitative) as well as qualitative evidence in the form of narrative illustrations of organizational behaviour and respondent judgement of scores. The thesis draws on the concepts of the philanthropy of community (PoC) theory, in particular those related to the norms of self-help and reciprocity among the poor in southern Africa, in the context of the four elements of an organization as described in the work of Wilkinson-Maposa and Fowler (2009), and Porras and Hoffer (1986). It also adapts and applies the multi-level systematic framework for validating a research instrument developed by Adcock and Collier (2001), as modified by Lutz (2012). The secondary contribution of this study involves the refinement of the PoC theory and the further testing of an existing framework in the emerging field of validation in mixed methods research (MMR). The HG was tested using the cases of five CPOs in South Africa. The findings show that it satisfies the assessment validation criteria of trustworthiness offered by Lincoln and Guba (1985) and researchers, donors and community philanthropy organizations can therefore use it with confidence and assurance. However, further refinements of the instrument are indicated. Specifically, insights problematize the vertical (the exogenous) in light of the domestication of funding in South Africa and call into question the ease with which the user can access and interpret the gauge as presented visually on a behaviour arc.
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    Health and religion : a study of health-seeking behaviour in Kayamandi, Western Cape in the context of "medical pluralism"
    (2005) Gwele, Malibongwe P; Cochrane, James; De Wet, Jacques
    This small-scale study explores the concept of medical pluralism by looking at the health-seeking strategies of a selected group of residents in Stellenbosch's Kayamandi township. The study addresses the following three primary research questions: What are the health-seeking strategies of the target group? What factors significantly influence their health-seeking behaviour; and why are the respondents using more than one health-seeking strategy? We have used theoretical formulations derived from literature together with data we collected by questionnaires and interviews to respond to these questions. Our target group consisted of a mix of isiXhosa-speaking Christians, which fall into one of the following three groupings: Ecumenical, African Independent Zionists, and African Independent Non-Zionists. We applied a variety of methods to collect our data namely: survey questionnaire, in depth interviews and a focus group interview. Basic statistical and qualitative analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. We tested various potential variables before we concluded that Christian affiliation and gender are two major variables in this study that seem to influence our respondents' choices of strategy. The resulting data indicated that almost all of our respondents are mixing health seeking strategies. They are mixing in two ways: either in a complex way (multiple health seeking strategies for a single ailment), or a simple way (different strategies for different ailments). Even though Western Medicine is a dominant and the only legalized health-seeking strategy in South Africa this research suggests that there is a growing use of other health-seeking strategies, either alternatively or complementarily to Western Medicine. Reasons for this are discussed in this research report, and include firstly, conviction of experience and knowledge of health and illness among others. Secondly, we have established that these determinants transcend accessibility and availability of, particularly, Western medicine facilities. Respondents utilize three different health-seeking strategies selectively through 'border crossing' with minimal conflict.
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    Identity and worldview issues in rural development : a case study : reintegration of ex-street children into communities in rural Transkei
    (1992) De Wet, Jacques; Cumpsty, John S
    This study explores the complex problem of socio-cultural change and continuity in Africa; the basic human drives for physical survival and identity; and how the danger of self-alienation and anomie might be overcome. Worldview Analysis and Human Scale Development are brought together and focused on a particular context of socio-economic development in a situation of competing worldviews in rural Transkei. People in rural Transkei experience competing worldviews and values out of a dual quest for economic advancement in an increasingly industrialized society, on the one hand, and the maintenance of identity, on the other. The prioritizing of economic development is seen to contradict the value of an African cultural identity. In the absence of a mediating symbolic network to facilitate the renegotiation of identity, these values remain in tension. In PART ONE I discuss the problem in the context of the necessity for economic growth and Human Scale Development in a democratic South Africa. My general research hypothesis is founded on this discussion. It states that "Social and economic development, in a situation of competing worldviews, depends on the mediation of conflicting symbols in a manner which is not inconsistent with the economic imperatives." In PART TWO this macro-study is scaled down to an empirically testable, research project. The hypothesis of the micro-study reads as follows: "Integrated identity and belonging for ex-street children, in a situation of competing worldviews, depends on the mediation of conflicting paradigmatic symbols." Both hypotheses are informed by theories of religion, identity and development drawing on the works of Max-Neef and Cumpsty. The situation of competing worldviews experienced by a group of ex- street children is described. I then show that social development in this context is impeded by the lack of mediation between conflicting paradigmatic elements and values. Thereafter, much attention is given to the difficult task of designing tools to map identity and values of individuals, locating critical points of tension between conflicting values and, finding mediating symbols. Finally, I examine a range of corporate strategies that demonstrate ways of mediating between the conflicting paradigmatic symbols.
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    An investigation into the state of music education in the learning area arts and culture in primary schools of the Western Cape metropole
    (2003) Rijsdijk, Anthea Susan Chawner; Herbst, Anri; De Wet, Jacques
    This dissertation investigates the state of music in the learning area Arts and Culture in Curriculum 2005 in the Primary schools of the Western Cape Metropole. It attempts to identify the problems experienced by the general class teacher in the Foundation and Intermediate phases who are involved with the implementation of this learning area. It does so by exploring the history of music education in the Cape from 1652 to the present and reflects on some of the philosophies involved in music education from Western and African points of view. The main body of the study focuses on a questionnaire completed by general class teachers in the two applicable phases.
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    Micro-credit for development : testing the claims with a group of women borrowers from Cape Town's Khayelitsha township
    (2012) Mbithi, Jane Mueni; De Wet, Jacques
    Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.
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    Negotiating identities in post-apartheid South Africa : black African managers' experiences in an English-speaking university
    (2006) Ngazimbi, Xolani Sharon; De Wet, Jacques
    This is a study about the subjective experiences of black African managers working in an English-speaking university in post-apartheid South Africa We investigated the adaptation strategies they employ as they navigate borders and boundaries between their home and work worlds, and how they negotiate identity in an environment dominated by Eurocentrism in one of the oldest English-speaking universities in South Africa. The theoretical framework was informed Berger & Luckmann's (1966) "Social Construction of Reality", in particular, their concepts of subjectivity and intersubjectivity; and Phelan, Davidson and Yu's (1993 & 1998) "Multiple Worlds Typology". The theories proposed by these writers acknowledge that individuals move between multiple worlds as they go about their daily lives. We adopted a typology from Phelan et al. (1993 & 1996) based on whether or not the "worlds" are congruent and what adaptation strategies individuals use in their transitions across borders and boundaries. We used a qualitative approach which involved face to face in-depth interviews with six black African managers using a semi-structured interview schedule. This, importantly, meant we allowed the respondents' subjective voices to emerge. The six respondents fell across four out of six types of transitions and we were able to construct their profiles which represent identity clusters showing how different individuals deal with common experiences and the variety of strategies they employ. The four types were Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions, Different Worlds/Border-crossings Managed, Different Worlds/Border-crossings Difficult, and Different Worlds/Borders Resisted. The strategies for negotiating identity in the workplace included conforming to the institutional culture, integrating or "plugging in" selected values of the African home culture into that of the company, resisting the dominant culture of the company and leaving the company altogether.
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    Not naming race : some medical students' perceptions and experiences of 'race' and racism at the Health Sciences faculty of the University of Cape Town
    (2011-12) Erasmus, Zimitri; De Wet, Jacques
    This report will be of value to those studying and researching transformation in higher education in post-apartheid South Africa. Over the past few years the Faculty of Health Sciences at UCT embarked upon a series of transformation processes. Despite these efforts, students at Medical School continue to lodge complaints about racist practices on the part of staff at the School and to claim such practices undermine their learning and academic performance. Following some complaints lodged early in 2001, the Dean of the Faculty convened a meeting where a study was commissioned to provide a scan of issues to inform terms of reference for a panel to be tasked with an in-depth evaluation of processes of transformation at Medical School. These issues are specifically related to students' experiences and perceptions of 'race' and racism.
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    Recovery as Human Development: An assessment of the Streetscapes community-based rehabilitation programme
    (2022) Bissolati, Chadley; Tame, Bianca; De Wet, Jacques
    This study explores the experiences of previously homeless substance abusers who are part of Streetscapes, a community-based rehabilitation programme based in Cape Town, South Africa. The study aims to propose a different way of viewing addiction and recovery, where the focus is on the promotion of self-reliance and meeting people's needs in ways that are more holistic. The study was informed by a single case study design, which utilised qualitative research methods that included in-depth semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Data was analysed using the framework of Max-Neef's Human Scale Development (HSD) to conduct a needs-satisfier analysis of the programme from the perspective of its beneficiaries. The key findings indicate that participants are able to satisfy significantly more fundamental human needs (FHNs) as part of the Streetscapes programme, compared to when they were living on the street. More importantly, noticeably more synergic satisfiers were observed after joining the programme, thus highlighting Streetscapes' ability to foster self-reliance amongst its beneficiaries. The findings also revealed key challenges that need to be overcome to further promote self-reliance. The study argues that the promotion of self-reliance plays a major role with regards to one's recovery efforts. By focusing on the way in which people meet their FHNs, programmes are able to identify how their efforts provide opportunities for beneficiaries to satisfy their needs in ways that either promote or inhibit self-reliance. Thus, it is argued that an assessment of the Streetscapes programme from the perspective of beneficiaries' ability to meet their FHNs may allow it to be more effective in facilitating the process of recovery and promoting self-reliance amongst its beneficiaries. This research makes a contribution to debates in the literature about addiction, interventions for human development and recovery in relation to self-reliance, as well as the value of Max-Neef's Human Scale Development in the analysis of programmes and interventions aimed at helping homeless substance abusers.