Browsing by Subject "Ubuntu"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Corporate Governance and Ubuntu: a South African and Namibian perspective
    (2021) Harris, Aisha-Deva; Yeats, Jacqueline
    Over the past two decades the emphasis on corporate governance practice has increased globally. The corporate governance models which guide corporate ethics, currently employed in African countries, are extensively driven by Western elements. Corporate governance practice in relation to the African philosophy of Ubuntu is under analysed. While Ubuntu has been studied comprehensively in a number of legal disciplines, it has not enjoyed comparable attention in its application, relevance, and potential to enhance corporate governance practices in Africa. Limited academic research exists on the integration of the Ubuntu philosophy into corporate governance and the ethical perspectives introduced. Therefore, this dissertation aims to bridge this gap by exploring the current guiding frameworks of selected corporate governance practice in relation to the principle of the African philosophy of Ubuntu. Here, corporate governance practice is examined in South Africa and Namibia. Business ethics, ethical perspectives, corporate social responsibility, and the African notion of Ubuntu, in relation to the role that it plays in ethical leaderships, is evaluated. Links between Ubuntu and established Western ethical perspectives and theories support its use and significance for enhancing current corporate governance frameworks in these countries. The findings of this dissertation strengthen the need to analyse Ubuntu, particularly in relation to its link with social responsibility and ethical perspectives, in order to augment current corporate governance practices in Africa. It is submitted that corporate governance practices in Africa should reflect the notions of Ubuntu more clearly and coherently which will serve as a progressive model to enhance effective corporate governance.
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    Developing an Ubuntu-infused e-commerce business model for South African small businesses based on a holacratic organisational structure
    (2024) Nkuna, Cliff; Bick, Geoffrey
    South Africa's e-commerce industry is one of the better performing industries in the African continent. As with other technologies, e-commerce has the potential to help the country leapfrog ahead and help address the challenge of unemployment, simultaneously contributing towards improving the country's overall economic performance. This can be realised by bolstering e commerce and entrepreneurship through innovation among small and medium size businesses. This study focuses on e-commerce as one of the technologies that South Africa can invest in to contribute positively towards sustainable job creation, with the benefit of improved gross domestic productivity (GDP). A mixed methods approach was undertaken to understand the enablers and inhibitors of e-commerce in South Africa, with the intention of using this understanding to develop a business model that is suitable for South Africa's e-commerce industry and to help unlock its full potential. To this effect, eight participants who are entrepreneurs were interviewed. The entrepreneurs consisted of two groups that either utilise e-commerce as part of their business operations, and those that do not. Their contributions in the findings of the qualitative study were subjected to quantitative research through a survey study that was based on 65 respondents. These respondents were selected based on a convenience sampling method, and as a final exercise, the insights gleaned from both studies were analysed and incorporated into the business model. The e-commerce business model presented herein incorporates the communitarian values of Ubuntu, which is the prevalent axiological system in South Africa. In the business model Ubuntu is blended with the self-governance organisational structure of holacracy. This complements the collaborative and self-organisation trait of South African communities, which allows for the economic pursuits of an e-commerce initiative to reflect the nature of the societies in which it co-exists.
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    Exploring the Meaning of Fatherhood in Guguletu
    (2013-10) UCT Knowledge Co-op
    This was a study conducted by a Gender Studies Honours student who collaborated with the NGO Ikamva Labantu in Guguletu. The NGO was interested in understanding men's involvement as fathers and what support they needed for this role. The aim of the study was two fold: - to explore the experiences of fathers who were permanently involved in their children's lives, and - to unpack how fatherhood is practiced in South Africa This was done by examining how these men assumed their role, how their experiences were shaped, the demands that follow fatherhood, and highlighting some of the support structures they relied on in times of hardships.
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    Good faith in contract: a uniquely South African perspective
    (2019-04-01) Hutchison, Andrew
    While the doctrine of good faith has always played a role in South African contract law, it is currently being reshaped by the courts under a banner of “transformative constitutionalism”. Of particular interest in this development is the role of an indigenous value of fair dealing, captured by the vernacular term “ubuntu”. The article will (1) compare the Canadian findings in Bhasin with the current South African status quo, and (2) comment on the evolving legal culture of contract in South Africa. In this regard, the role and meaning of ubuntu will be contextually evaluated using social science materials. In combination, this will provide a uniquely South African perspective on an area of contract law which is evolving in the Commonwealth.
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    Let's not wait until a crisis for change to occur: a critical analysis of patent law in South Africa and its role in (not) fulfilling the constitutional right to health
    (2025) Gotora, Ngonidzaishe; Zungu, Bongiwe; Tong, Lee-Ann
    The right to health is enshrined in international treaties and under section 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. It has been established that access to affordable medicines is a fundamental element to its realisation. Research has identified patent law as a potential barrier to access. Research on how patent law creates a barrier to accessing affordable medicines has been focused on identification of the flaws within South Africa's patent regime. However, the impact of the high prices on patented medicines and what this means for the binding obligations that the right to health entails is limited. The main objective of this thesis is to determine if this impact constitutes an infringement to the constitutional right to health. The secondary objective is to analyse whether solutions suggested to improve access such as encouraging use of the TRIPS flexibilities and the implementation of the Intellectual Property Policy of the Republic of South Africa Phase I has yielded the desired result. The analysis reveals that high prices of patented medicines negatively impact the population that relies on public health systems within the country. This analysis suggests that the current patent regime has resulted in the prevalence of these high prices and as such, it stands as a barrier to the realisation of the right to health. The findings show that the suggestions to improve access are yet to be utilised. To date South Africa has not utilised compulsory licences or the ‘bolar' exception as tools to improve access. Furthermore, the implementation of the IP Policy although gradual, is lacking the urgency required for the situation at hand. This thesis draws suggestions from India and Canada that may be applied to South Africa. Additionally, the thesis extracts lessons from scholars who suggest pharmaceutical companies must embody the notions of communitarian ethic as a means of replacing a profit-centred approach with a community approach when setting prices. The thesis suggests such a communitarian ethic be applied as a solution that challenges the notion of ownership and distribution in IP law.
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    Masculinities and fatherhood in a South African context: exploring Xhosa men's experiences of fatherhood and ideas about masculinities
    (2013-10) Bongwana, Thembelihle
    This is a qualitative study that explores meanings around fatherhood among Xhosa fathers in Cape Town. In so doing, the dissertation goes on to explore attitudes, beliefs, and needs of these township fathers have with regards to taking care of their children. This is a descriptive and exploratory qualitative study which was conducted with a sample of 4 Xhosa fathers. Responses around fathering clustered into the following themes: challenging notions of nurturing as women's roles, changing patterns in fatherhood, fatherhood as a process, multiple ways of fathering, communal and familial support structures, and deviation from ‘traditional' norms and ‘traditional' ideas around fathering. The fathers in this study identified a number of benefits and opportunities to being good fathers who were actively involved in their children's lives.
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    TEDI 2 Week 1 - A Holistic Approach to Teaching Deaf Children
    (2019-06-01) Swift, Odette
    In this video, Odette swift discusses what is meant by holistic education in the context of a social and human rights approach to the education of deaf children. She highlights the rights of deaf people to full participation in society including education. Using the social model of disability, Odette argues that disability is an issue of social justice and not of how people’s bodies function. Referring to Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, she intimates that through reasonable accommodations, differentiation and Individual Education Plans, deaf children can meaningfully participate in education holistically. This is video lecture 2/7 in week 1 of the course: Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher.
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    The citizen: an Ubuntu personalism conception
    (2025) Seale, Wade; Hull, George
    In this thesis, I argue for an Ubuntu personalism conception of the citizen as a foundationalist account of a grounding for the pluralist political arrangement based on human rights. I start with John Rawls who employed what he called a political conception of the citizen to develop a neutralist theory of justice. In expounding this, I argue that he excluded certain categories of human beings in an unacceptable way, most notably the severely cognitively disabled; and that the neutralism he targeted – his major contribution – is illusive. I then go in search of an alternative grounding for the pluralist political arrangement based on human rights. I explore philosophical personalism as an alternative, identifying major strengths in the intellectual movement for the purposes of grounding the pluralist political arrangement. But I also identify major weaknesses in personalism – in the thought of Juan Manuel Burgos, which is a current, cutting-edge version of personalism; as well as in the thought of the older John Macmurray – an excellent example of social constitution of persons theory. This opens the way for an exploration of Ubuntu personalism. I explore a metaphysical account of Ubuntu, as well as Ubuntu as an ethic, and show how this leads to a socially constituted conception of the person which sits at the intersection of metaphysics and ethics. I say how the citizen is this kind of person and show how it is this conception of the person that best grounds the pluralist political arrangement based on human rights.