Browsing by Author "Maraire, Wesley"

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    Cape Town clothing workers' attitudes towards key aspects of and alternatives to regulation by the Bargaining Council
    (2015) Maraire, Wesley; Godfrey, Shane
    The South African clothing industry has shed over 70 000 jobs in the last decade. This has given rise to huge debate in the industry and academia about the role of the bargaining council in regulating the industry as well as other factors such as trade liberalisation that are causing the industry to shrink. This study explores attitudes held by formal and informal clothing workers toward the regulatory environment and possible alternatives to current regulation by the bargaining council. The research aimed to explore worker understanding of the regulatory environment, in particular the wages versus job-security trade-off; to find out whether workers are aware of alternatives to the current wage model, such as performance-based incentive pay; to explore the attitudes workers hold toward home-based informal factories; and to assess the attitudes of workers to worker cooperatives. Using semi- structured face-to-face interviews, 24 respondents (ten formal and 14 informal workers) were selected to participate in an attitude survey that explored their feelings across attitudinal classes - cognitive, affective, and behavioural, using the non-probability purposive sampling technique. Research findings show that both sets of workers generally had a very poor understanding of the industry's regulatory environment. After receiving brief explanations of alternatives to regulation by the bargaining council, the workers understood them cognitively and attitudes varied between the two groups. All workers were generally against performance-based incentive pay because it requires them to place too much trust in employers. Informal work was viewed as a viable alternative although formal workers could not conceive joining informal firms. Both sets of workers expressed favour towards worker co-operatives, which have the advantage of changing the working relationship from manager and worker to worker as owner, thus empowering workers. All workers, however, demonstrated overall awareness of the pressures facing the clothing industry, such as those caused by cheap Chinese imports. The evidence is however, not sufficient to arrive at a set of conclusions regarding alternatives to regulation by the bargaining council.
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    Cape Town Clothing Workers’ Attitudes Towards Key Aspects of and Alternatives to Regulation by the Bargaining Council
    (2016-05) Maraire, Wesley
    The South African clothing industry has shed over 70 000 jobs in the last decade. This has given rise to huge debate about the role of the Bargaining Council and Minister of Labour in regulating wages and employment conditions. The Bargaining Council and Minister set minimum wages, differentiated by region, occupation and experience. However, they have not permitted full-scale productivity-related pay. The government has also moved to restrict cooperatives. The study set out to explore the attitudes of formal and informal clothing workers toward the wage-regulatory framework, and three alternatives to the current model of wage-regulation by the Bargaining Council and Minister: • Performance-based incentive pay • Home-based informal workshops • Worker co-operatives. Both formal and informal workers generally had a very poor understanding of the industry’s regulatory environment and required brief explanations. Attitudes to the alternatives varied between the two groups. All workers were generally against performance-based pay because they distrusted employers whom they thought would cheat them. Most formal workers regarded informal work as a viable alternative for retrenched workers although they themselves could not imagine working in informal workshops. Both sets of workers were positive towards worker co-operatives, which appear to have the advantage of changing the working relationship from manager and worker to one where the workers are owners. All workers demonstrated overall awareness of the pressures facing the clothing industry, such as those caused by cheap Chinese imports. The evidence in this study is not sufficient to arrive at a set of conclusions regarding alternatives to wage-regulation by the Bargaining Council and Minister. Instead, the findings reveal areas of further research and create a foundation to understand better the various dynamics in the industry.
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    Enhancing access to justice in Zimbabwe: an empirical exploration of integrating socially appropriate dispute resolution to overcome barriers within the formal justice system
    (2024) Maraire, Wesley; Paleker, Mohamed
    Colonialism introduced common law in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The colonial regime subsequently relegated indigenous laws, rules, and epistemologies to the status of informality, except for those that did not offend European notions of justice and morality. Despite colonial onslaughter, relegated ways of life continued guiding the majority Black population, albeit informally. This established Zimbabwe as a plural legal country. Against this background, this study explores factors impeding citizens from accessing the formal justice system, preventing them from obtaining outcomes they consider fair. Semistructured interviews with diverse legal professionals revealed a range of barriers preventing citizens from obtaining effective access to justice. Research participants identified the colonial common law system, with its emphasis on general law courts and litigation as a significant barrier to access to justice for the majority Black African population, whose traditional approaches to dispute resolution contrast with this adversarial system. Consequently, most citizens rely on non-state dispute resolution platforms that lack the force of law. This thesis also explores various ways of enhancing access to justice for citizens, including the poor and small businesses in Zimbabwe. The data revealed that the most significant solution is embracing normative conceptions of law, justice, and institutionalising socially appropriate dispute resolution processes that are culturally and geographically close to the people. Throughout the thesis, case studies, primarily from Australia and South Africa provide a comparative lens for analysing the empirical data. These countries share a history of British colonial rule and have set a path to extend access to justice to Indigenous populations, which provides a blueprint for Zimbabwe. This thesis concludes by drawing together empirical data and process theory to develop a justice system that overcomes Zimbabwe's current access to justice challenges.