Browsing by Author "Mbokazi, Sandile Sam."

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Exploring the integration of homeless citizens in the Integrated Development Plan of eThekwini Municipality, the case study of the Qalakabusha project.
(2019) Maphumulo, Lindani Sthembele.; Mbokazi, Sandile Sam.
Street homelessness is recognized as one of the major social issues that is confronted globally, in Africa and South Africa in particular. Less attention is paid to the phenomenon in research, development projects, policies and even lesser attention from academic institutions. Applying qualitative research methods, this research explored the participation of homeless people in development policies using the case study of the Qalakabusha project in Durban and their role in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) of eThekwini Municipality. Convenient sampling was employed to select participants, data was collected through individual/ in-depth and group interviews. Thematic data analytical tool is used to analyses data. A total of 20 participants (homeless individuals) and five Key Informants made up of 2 government officials, and 3 NGO officials took part in the study. The Integrated Development Approach (IDA) informs the arguments presented in this paper. The IDA theoretical framework maintains that communities should inform, drive, and own their development through full participation and decision making on matters affecting their lives. The participants indicated that the major causes for being on the street were poverty, job seeking/ unemployment, family matters and the use of drugs among other drivers. There were different views on the phenomenon as expressed by the street homeless people, government officials, and NGO officials in the effectiveness of the Qalakabusha project. However, some participants believed that the programme has reasonably assisted them regardless of the challenges on the ground such as lack of resources, clashes in the mandates among stakeholders and a lack of the direct participation of homeless people. Most homeless people reported that they did not participate in the IDP and Qalakabusha project initiation process. Some were not sure what government does to assist them, but remembered the brutality and forced removals they experience from Metro police and government security agencies. Government officials argued that homeless people did not directly participate in the IDP and Qalakabusha Project initiation, but were involved during consultations and research was conducted to gather their views. The study explored the participation of homeless people in the development policies intending to raise awareness regarding the involvement of disadvantaged communities in development projects and policies. The study recommended for further research in finding homeless friendly and cost-effective strategies in dealing with homelessness, as well as recommending a multidisciplinary approach in addressing homelessness.
The role of non-governmental organisations in the formulation and implementation of State's Education Policy, (1986-2000) : the case of the Education Foundation and the Education Policy Unit (Natal)
(2003) Mbokazi, Sandile Sam.; Naidoo, Kibashini.
During the 1990s the South African state began to reform the education system in an attempt to resolve the crisis resulting from apartheid policies. The challenge was to develop new policies free from the stigma of the discriminatory apartheid regime, and consistent with the principles of equality, democracy, and social justice. However, the legitimate capacity and power of the state to manage this reform was severely questioned by the liberation movement, which demanded alternative policy pathways in education. The early 1990s marked the beginning of the negotiation process towards eradicating the apartheid regime in South Africa. This occurred at the time when the world was experiencing the rise of the special type of NGOs called 'organisations for policy advice' or 'think tanks'. When the Government of National Unity assumed power in 1994, it planned to develop an education system that would benefit the entire South African community, regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, etc. This dissertation looks at the contribution that two NGOs, the Education Foundation and the Education Policy Unit made in the education policy development process of this country immediately before and after the democratic elections. A qualitative case study approach is used to show how particular NGOs located themselves in the policy process. In each of the two organisations, key informants were interviewed and documents were reviewed as a way of gathering data. Consideration was also given to the challenges that these organisations faced in playing their role. It was then concluded that despite the challenges that face NGOs they do impact on the policy-making process in a considerable way.
The role of traditional leaders in school governance : learning from two communities in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2015) Mbokazi, Sandile Sam.; Bhengu, Thamsanqa Thulani.; Chikoko, Vitallis.
Using lessons drawn from two rural communities, this study examined the role of traditional leaders in school governance in South Africa. The study sought to understand the nature of the role of traditional leaders on school governance and reasons for playing such role as well as the manner in which this role is understood and experienced by selected school-community members concerned in these contexts. The motivation for doing the study was that while traditional leaders are appointed through heritage and only recently have started to be regulated by policy, they remain important structures leading rural communities, and their role in education and governance is crucial to understand. The concepts that are used in this study are role, leadership, school governance, indigenous knowledge systems and Africanisation and school-community partnership. Communities have leadership structures and diverse socio-cultural profiles, all of which need to be understood in order to fully appreciate various kinds of leadership roles that exist in society. The South African Schools Act (No. 84 of 1996) (henceforth, the Schools Act), provides for the establishment of school governing bodies to promote community involvement in schools by ensuring that parents are a major component of these bodies and are actively participating in these bodies. Although the Schools Act is not explicit about the role that traditional leaders can play in schools, it does provide a useful platform for their involvement, either as co-opted members of the school governing bodies or as just parent members of these structures. Drawing from both individual semi-structured and focus group interviews with superintendents of education in management, school managers, parent and learner members of the school governing bodies and traditional leaders, the study discusses the role that traditional leaders play in school governance. Among other things, the study revealed that a dimensional dialogue exists between traditional leadership and school governance in rural communities that are in the jurisdiction of traditional leaders. The emerging picture did not only reveal their perceptions about the schools’ ‘embeddedness’ to their society, but it also revealed the manner in which members of school communities aspire to a particular kind of school-community relationship that can support school governance and learner progression from lower to higher grades, and even beyond schooling. The study shows that the context of interaction between traditional leaders and school governors has provided an important platform where issues of school development, safety and security, school-community partnership, and cultural identity in relation to school governance can both be interrogated and facilitated. While this provides an opportunity for responsive school governance, it is contrary to the manner in which many scholars have perceived traditional leaders as authoritarian and representative of a patriarchal society that is less progressive. The evidence for all this is provided in the relevant sections of the thesis. Given this, understanding the role of traditional leaders in school governance will contribute to a deeper understanding of the manner in which such leaders can make a positive impact on school-communities.