Browsing by Author "Nkomo, S'phumelele Lucky."

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Assessing the condition of unpaved rural road networks and the associated impacts on the livelihoods of rural communities : a case study of four rural communities in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
(2018) Nkomo, S'phumelele Lucky.; Peerbhay, Kabir Yunus.; Desai, Sumaiya Amod.
Unpaved road networks, also referred to as gravel or unsealed roads, form an integral function in terms of sustaining the well-being of rural livelihoods, particularly in remote rural areas. The socioeconomic spinoffs of improved rural road networks have been extensively researched in Asia, but not to the same extent in the African continent. Even though the South African economy has consistently been stronger than many countries in Africa, there is more research conducted in Kenya and Ghana on unpaved road network conditions when compared to South Africa. The present study therefore assesses the condition of rural road networks and the associated socioeconomic impacts on the livelihoods of rural areas within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. This study was conducted in four rural areas namely Emazabekweni, Dukuza, Mkhunya and Mhlwazini within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Due to the complex nature of the research, a multidisciplinary approach was adopted in order to address the aim and objectives of this study. In addition, This study used both quantitative and qualitative methods in the data collection and analysis. The first part of this study was an assessment of the physical conditions of the gravel road networks in rural communities in order to understand the physical, environmental and anthropogenic factors that influence the state of rural roads. Results showed that there was a direct relationship between road surface characteristics, drainage and maintenance conditions. The results further showed that the nature of road surface distresses was an indication of the influence of traffic and climatic conditions. The second part of this study focused on investigating some of the primary causes of poor road conditions on unpaved road networks. An assessment of surface material quality was performed on the road classes selected for this study in order to understand their susceptibility to surface deterioration. The results obtained indicated that there was a need for better material selection during the construction of unpaved road networks. Most of the road classes assessed had poor material quality, thus making them vulnerable to increased surface deterioration and maintenance costs. The third part of this study assessed local respondents' perceptions on the socioeconomic role of their unpaved road networks on their livelihoods. The findings obtained perceived that local respondent’s perceptions on the socioeconomic role of unpaved road networks on their livelihoods are influenced by the effectiveness of their roads in servicing their needs. Less than ten percent of all the respondents perceived direct economic spinoffs as a result of road networks improvements. Majority of the respondents perceived social spinoffs such as improving access to healthcare, education and market services. Finally, this study identified and assessed the effectiveness of Community Based Maintenance Strategies that were utilised for routine maintenance of unpaved rural roads. The findings emphasised that Community Based Road Management Strategies such as the Zibambele Road Maintenance programme provides an alternative approach that was useful and can be effective on the maintenance of unpaved rural road networks. The major criticism for Community Based Road Management Strategies was that they lack sufficient prioritisation of personnel training and this justification was observed during the assessment of the Zibambele maintenance programme on the selected road lengths. The overall findings of this study showed that community proximity to towns biasedly determined amongst others, quality of unpaved roads, access to services and the availability of opportunities for income diversification. In this study, the communities that are located close to a town had better quality road access in comparison to communities that are further away from a town. Similarly, these communities had better services and access to services in comparison to communities that are further away from the town. The findings of this study could be used to reassess some of the primary challenges affecting rural economic growth as well as social stability.
Developing key success criteria for rural development initiatives in the context of sustainable land management.
(2013) Nkomo, S'phumelele Lucky.; Beckedahl, Heinrich Reinhard.
An assessment of service delivery in rural areas is critical in understanding the impacts and extent of sustainable land management (SLM). It has been South Africa’s main objective to improve and speed-up service delivery to eradicate poverty in rural areas as indicated in the 1994 constitution. Statistics and field surveys indicate that, despite apartheid having ended in 1994, grassroots development in remote rural areas is still poor, often due to weak service delivery. This situation has in turn resulted in increased pressure on the natural resources leading to severe deforestation and overgrazing, soil erosion and surface water degradation. To achieve sustainable land management, it is critical to ensure that services are disseminated to rural communities because this will reduce pressure on natural resources. The aim of this study is to provide an assessment of the state of development as measured by the effectiveness of current service delivery in the south eastern part of South Africa and its implications for sustainable land management. The results of the study indicate that there is a strong relationship between poor service delivery and SLM problems in rural areas. The underdeveloped rural areas with poor service delivery demonstrated high levels of land degradation as compared to areas with better service delivery. In this study four communities (i.e. Mangoloaneng, Mahohoho, Njane and Mazabekweni Central) were assessed. Two of the communities under study were developed (Njane and Mazabekweni Central) and the others were underdeveloped. World Overview of Conversation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) field guide manual was used to assess the level of land degradation associated with poor service delivery in each community. Results indicate that Mangoloaneng and Mahohoho communities have poor service delivery compared to Njane and Mazabekweni Central. The results indicate the 88% of people from Mangoloaneng and Mahohoho rely on unclean water from unprotected sources such as streams, rivers, wells or springs for domestic use. Residents from these two communities have no access to electricity, proper sanitation facilities and also live in mud houses which are shown to be susceptible to extreme weather events. Moreover, infrastructural access to these communities is very difficult, due to bad road conditions. The study has established that there is a strong relationship between poor service delivery and SLM problems in rural areas. In order to achieve sustainable development in rural areas, it is therefore important to have clearly defined criteria which can be used as a base for rural development. The study identified the following services as key criteria for rural development; clean piped water, sustainable housing and sanitation facilities, well maintained roads, electricity provision and schools (primary and secondary).