‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa

dc.contributor.advisorRoss, Fiona
dc.contributor.advisorMorreira, Shannon
dc.contributor.authorNcube, Min'enhle
dc.date.accessioned2023-04-24T15:18:25Z
dc.date.available2023-04-24T15:18:25Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.date.updated2023-04-24T15:18:05Z
dc.description.abstractThis thesis describes the physical, social and economic ordering of Mafuyana (Garikai), an urban township in Maphisa, a rural growth point in Matobo District in Matabeleland South province, Zimbabwe. It explores the ways in which this ordering informs the social construction of childhood. The township was constructed as part of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, a housing program that served to rehouse victims of Operation Murambatsvina both of which occurred through Zimbabwe's tradition of restoring order from informal settlements for modernist planning strategies. The configuration of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle compares to the colonial framework of low-cost African housing that has historically been neglected by its municipal authorities. This neglect leads to infrastructure that is hazardous to infants. The evolutions of rural dwellings in southern Africa since the 19th Century and labour migration under colonialism – which characterised the scattering of peoples and the formation of new communities – were determined according to available resources, the physical nature of regions, the models of kinship and daily activities of rural life. Children in these contexts formed the basis of family construction, and also in Maphisa where parents or caregivers value them as a social investment during their ageing years. However, the introduction of urban infrastructure in rural Maphisa produces a framework that residents find challenging when performing their traditions of rural life in the process of raising children. The debilitating infrastructure in Mafuyana resulting from poor planning has caused residing families to face physical hardship in their dwelling. In order to habituate children into a harsh world, infant rituals associated to rural life ways in Matabeleland are performed by residents – some of which challenge modernist health discourses of cleanliness and orderliness. When makeshift endeavours on fragmented housing fail to meet their satisfaction, some residents resort to migrating – either within the township or beyond its boundaries in search for better dwelling. This scenario reflects that settling in such an ordered space lacks permanence, because locals struggle to ‘fit' into its makes, despite their efforts. The dissertation argues that the modernist developmental ordering of the growth point's township influences the developmental ordering concerned with the children that reside in it. Furthermore, examining this developmental ordering of children gives an indication on whether the housing in which they live enhances life for the growing human being.
dc.identifier.apacitation (2018). <i>‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa</i>. (). ,Faculty of Humanities ,Spanish Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37820en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitation. <i>"‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa."</i> ., ,Faculty of Humanities ,Spanish Language and Literature, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37820en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation 2018. ‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa. . ,Faculty of Humanities ,Spanish Language and Literature. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37820en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Master Thesis AU - Ncube,Min'enhle AB - This thesis describes the physical, social and economic ordering of Mafuyana (Garikai), an urban township in Maphisa, a rural growth point in Matobo District in Matabeleland South province, Zimbabwe. It explores the ways in which this ordering informs the social construction of childhood. The township was constructed as part of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, a housing program that served to rehouse victims of Operation Murambatsvina both of which occurred through Zimbabwe's tradition of restoring order from informal settlements for modernist planning strategies. The configuration of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle compares to the colonial framework of low-cost African housing that has historically been neglected by its municipal authorities. This neglect leads to infrastructure that is hazardous to infants. The evolutions of rural dwellings in southern Africa since the 19th Century and labour migration under colonialism – which characterised the scattering of peoples and the formation of new communities – were determined according to available resources, the physical nature of regions, the models of kinship and daily activities of rural life. Children in these contexts formed the basis of family construction, and also in Maphisa where parents or caregivers value them as a social investment during their ageing years. However, the introduction of urban infrastructure in rural Maphisa produces a framework that residents find challenging when performing their traditions of rural life in the process of raising children. The debilitating infrastructure in Mafuyana resulting from poor planning has caused residing families to face physical hardship in their dwelling. In order to habituate children into a harsh world, infant rituals associated to rural life ways in Matabeleland are performed by residents – some of which challenge modernist health discourses of cleanliness and orderliness. When makeshift endeavours on fragmented housing fail to meet their satisfaction, some residents resort to migrating – either within the township or beyond its boundaries in search for better dwelling. This scenario reflects that settling in such an ordered space lacks permanence, because locals struggle to ‘fit' into its makes, despite their efforts. The dissertation argues that the modernist developmental ordering of the growth point's township influences the developmental ordering concerned with the children that reside in it. Furthermore, examining this developmental ordering of children gives an indication on whether the housing in which they live enhances life for the growing human being. DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - anthropology LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - T1 - ‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa TI - ‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37820 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/37820
dc.identifier.vancouvercitation. ‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa. []. ,Faculty of Humanities ,Spanish Language and Literature, 2018 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37820en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentSpanish Language and Literature
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectanthropology
dc.title‘Let's build houses': the order of housing development shaping childhood topography in Mafuyana, Maphisa
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMSocSc
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