OpenUCT is the open access institutional repository of the University of Cape Town (UCT). It preserves and makes UCT scholarly outputs digitally and freely available, including theses and dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, technical and research reports, as well as open educational resources.
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Living without "gelerendheid": a study of the discourses and literacy practices of literacy class learner and "resisters" in Ocean View
(1994) Breier, Mignonne; Prinsloo, Mastin
This research attempted to find out why certain adults in Ocean View, who could be regarded as illiterate, attended literacy classes and others, who could also be regarded as illiterate or semi-literate, did not. It made use of the ethnographic research methods of life history interviews and participant observation to develop an account of the discourses of five literacy teachers and the discourses and literacy practices of seven adults who attended their classes (called the learners) and six who could have attended basic education classes but did not (called the resisters). The research revealed a certain compatibility between the discourses of the teachers and learners' which would probably not have existed between the discourses of the teachers and resisters. This was despite the fact that there were aspects of primary Discourse that were common to all. The compatibility had to do with the teachers and learners' desire and ability to separate primary and secondary Discourses at times, for the purposes of church attendance and literacy class participation. The resisters discourses and practices showed no such separation. In general they appeared to have a more integrated approach to the acquisition of secondary Discourse than the learners. There was also a discourse about retardation which was prevalent among health professionals in the community which contributed to the stigmatization of the literacy class and resistance to it.
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Open Access
Symbolic warfare: the battle for the ownership of symbols in an Anglican community
(1987) England, Frank; Chidester, David
The uncovering and investigating of those meaningful aspects of human existence which emerge as a result of one's location in life and experience of life and are appropriated, interpreted and operated by individuals and· groups is the focus of this thesis. This is an enquiry into 'living meaning', the symbolic configurations and conceptions which lie hidden in the recesses of the human psyche as feelings, images, words and associations and are displayed in combinations and concatenations in the public square. The initial belief that I would discover a common language and find cohesion and unity in the theological college which formed the research arena was soon shattered, and this project came to centre around the use and abuse, manipulation, exploitation and stealing of symbols and the complex procedures of negotiation and collective bargaining. In fact, we entered a battle zone from which we would not emerge unscathed because symbolic warfare was being waged! While at one stage there was the attempt to carry out the task before me by primarily using questionaires and interviews, I came to realize that in dealing with the complex nature of pre-apprehended and apprehended symbols, participant-observation and reflective analysis was far more fitting. Here I focused on a representative South African community which, I believe, contained almost all the permutations found in our society- political, social, economic, cultural and educational. This complexity may have been compounded by the comprehensive nature of Anglicanism. I believe that symbolic warfare is endemic to the very nature of religion and I endeavour to show this by analysing the discourse, ritual and community aspects of the seminary. But it is also my belief that there are some things of the sacred which defy appropriation and thwart the claims to ownership and it is these which prevent the disintegration of a community. My hope is that men and women will assimilate the multiplex nature of being human and seek to relinquish the tenacious grip they have on their own symbols which have, in fact, become idols! Bound in these chains there can be no freedom, because liberation comes in recognizing the interdependent and interconnected nature of human living in a universal theatre of symbols. To die to one's own symbols is indeed a real death but the lesson has not been learnt that while the crucifixion brings death, the flickering light of the resurrection is still shining as it did on that first Easter morn.
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Open Access
Internally displaced persons: towards an effective international legal protection regime
(2008) Ngugi, Elias Lema; Chirwa, Danwood M
Internal displacement has emerged as one of the great human tragedies of our time. It has also created an unprecedented challenge for the international community: to find ways to respond to what is essentially an internal crisis…protection should be central to the international response and [with] assistance should be provided in a comprehensive way that brings together the humanitarian, human rights, and development components of the United Nations.
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Open Access
Institutional assessment of the international criminal court: the pre-trial chamber and the office of the prosecutor: a judicial or a quasi-judicial relationship?
(2009) Baldwin-Meenda, Shirley; Nakhjavani, Salim
This thesis assesses the relationship between the Pre-Trial Chamber and the Office of the Prosecution of the International Criminal Court. It examines the relationship between the two respective organs of the court as laid down in the court's statute and Rules of procedure and Evidence and in practice. The purpose of the assessment is to establish whether the judicial relationship between the two organs laid down in the provision is honoured in practice or is the pre-trial chamber over stepping its boundaries and hence shifting the equilibrium of legal traditions reached in Rome. The research is based primarily on the provisions governing the court and the jurisprudence of the Pre-Trial division of the court.
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Open Access
Impact of the BRT on accessibility to employment opportunities; case of Witsand: Atlantis, Cape Town
(2023) Marimira, Sharon Tsitsi; Ordor, Uche
Witsand is a settlement located 40km from Cape Town Civic Centre making it a peripheral area within Cape Town. The community faced social exclusion in that, the area had no direct public transport services linking them to the city centre. They had no train services and had to rely on minibus taxis that connected them to Dunoon and from there interconnected to different areas of employment. As such they also suffered from economic exclusion because they had to pay higher fares as minibus fares charge higher costs than conventional buses. The residents had to endure long commune distances to and from work and consequently spent significant amounts of their time traveling. Cape Town Municipality created “the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)” system MyCiTi, to help address the inequality issues within the city for low-income settlement. Therefore, the research aimed to evaluate the impact of the BRT on accessibility to employment opportunities for the residents in Witsand, Atlantis in Cape Town. The study is based on Witsand as it met the criterion of being a low-income settlement and being located at the urban fringes of Cape Town. Household surveys, in-person observations, and computer research (Geographical Information Systems, GIS) were used to gather the data for the study. The study shows that, before MyCiTi started to operate in the area, most of the residents restricted their employment areas to local employment opportunities like Atlantis centre, Atlantis industrial and Witsand. Currently, the BRT has provided people with various possibilities to access jobs in the Central Business District or civic centre and other sub-nodes, such as Century City, and Table View because the routes take inhabitants straight to these nodes without the need to interchange to other modes. There has been growth along the northern corridor of Cape Town in residential and commercial activities. MyCiTi fares are more affordable than different options of transportation like Sibanye and minibus taxis, and this has arguably enabled the residents to travel more, to areas of employment and even have multiple jobs. Furthermore, MyCiTi is dependable and safe as the system has reliable bus schedules making it easier for commuters to plan their journeys and be more flexible. However, in terms of travel time, there are no changes from before MyCiTi was developed. This is because the spatial structure of Cape Town encourages long travel distances. The thesis was case based and as such the findings may not be generalisable. The thesis seeks to add to the debate of creating equitable inclusive cities that are accessible for both low- and highincome residents.