Browsing by Author "Singh, Naresh."

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Evangelical Christian advocacy in post-apartheid South Africa : the case study of the decriminalization of the child sex provisions of the Criminal law (sexual offences and related matters) Amendment Act.
(2016) Singh, Naresh.; Settler, Federico Guliano.
In December 2007 South Africa passed the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act No. 32 to regulate sexual offences. The Act made it a sexual offence for children aged 12–16 to engage in consensual sex. However, in 2011 the constitutionality of these provisions was challenged when the children’s organizations, Teddy Bear Clinic and RAPCAN applied to the North Gauteng High Court to have these provisions declared as not serve the best interest of children. This successful legal challenge to the child sex provisions of the new Sexual Offenses Act and the subsequent Constitutional Court ruling provoked a lot of public debate among faith communities and children’s rights organization. While in the immediate aftermath of Apartheid, the Evangelical Church in South Africa appeared ambivalent about its role in public culture and about its relation to the State. However in relation to legislation pertaining to sexual and moral ethics, such as abortion, homosexuality and corruption, the evangelical church seemed to have found it voice. It is in this context that through this case study that I examine the Evangelical churches strategies for advocacy on a national level in South Africa. By examining the social, legal and theological debates related to this new Sexual Offence Act, as well as the formal submission made to parliament by evangelical Christian groups, I hope to demonstrate the prevailing discourses around advocacy and lobbyism within this faith community. The primary objective of this research is to interrogate Evangelical Christian lobbyism and advocacy in response to the decriminalization of the child sex provision of new Sexual Offenses Act. The case studies will use archival research (Case Law and, public debates, parliamentary submissions and court papers) as primary data collection methods related to the child sex provisions of the new Sexual Offense Act. This study utilized discourse analysis of legal document and religious literature related to the case study. I sought to examine advocacy and collaboration with the State through the lens of social construction. From my discursive reading of the Evangelical submissions the discourse themes appeared as dominant. I used discourse analysis to show that that there is much more going on when people communicate than simply the transfer of information. To demonstrate this I discussed the following themes which in my emerged from the parliamentary submissions: of guardianship, moral autonomy, age of consent and sexual relationships. These themes offered insight into evangelical motivations for advocacy which is dualistic by inwardly focusing on its membership through theological input and outwardly contesting the State on matters that challenges its beliefs. Finally, the study contributed to the growing body of research related to Evangelical advocacy at the intersection of Church and State in a plural society. This research also made some contribution in understanding the role of Evangelical advocacy in the arena of socio-legal debates and contestation in the public sphere in a plural post-apartheid South Africa as demonstrated by the submissions documented by the other research consulted.
Exploration of indian social influence on civic architecture in post-colonial Durban: towards the design of an exhibition centre in Phoenix.
(2020) Govender, Sivandran.; Singh, Naresh.; Govender, Viloshin.
This research process has explored the impact of colonialism and apartheid on Indian civic space from a global perspective and then from a local perspective within the City of Durban. The justification for exploring Indian social influence was that Durban contains the largest number of Indian people outside of India. This study has focussed on social influences of culture and identity and how it impacted civic spaces in the built form. The architectural theories of Phenomenology and Critical Regionalism has further helped the development of a brief for the design of an Exhibition Centre in Phoenix. This typology has sought to restore a sense of belonging, pride, recognition and celebration of the Indian people by creating meaningful architecture in the civic realm. Colonialism has impacted India and South Africa, resulting in the loss of culture and identity of Indian communities. Therefore, by analysing India and South Africa's historical context, it was possible to compare their social and physical landscapes. Traditional Indian cities were very organic and sporadic; however colonial British influences had a Eurocentric grid iron structure; therefore, a fusion of these developments has guided the proposed civic development. The proposed Exhibition Centre incorporates aspects of Indian culture and identity as well as modern-day contemporary design concepts. The outlined precedent and case studies has helped to demonstrate the relationship between culture, identity and architecture, and has strengthened the overall design development process.
Historical developments and transformation of religious architecture: a case study of Durban’s Hindu temples.
(2015) Singh, Naresh.; Solis-Arias, Juan Ignacio
This research is inspired by the lack of debate around what is desirable Hindu Religious Architecture, amongst the adherents to this faith in Durban. This will spur discussion to create appropriate contemporary spiritual and religious iconolatry, a symbol of divine veneration as well as a place of congregation for the Hindu in Durban. According to Meer, the early Hindu temples were built in Durban over a thirty-five year period between 1875 and 1910, Meer (1969), which is now more than a century ago. The transformation of Hindu temples in Durban can be conceptualised as a by-product of the needs and lifestyles of the sub-culture Hinduism of the region. They are the product of a broad spectrum of role players whose academic, physical and even spiritual input is worth analysing and understanding. The relevance of this study will be established by analysing the history of the Hindu culture in its land of origin; the Indian Sub-continent, by analysing its various interpretations through built form and lastly, by analysing its evolution, or what makes concrete the idea of Hindu Religious Architecture in Durban, South Africa. The core of the research is the analysis of case studies, in which issues of what was historically appropriate places of Hindu worship, regional appropriateness and whether or not the Hindu Religious Architecture of Durban conveys a complex inter-webbing of meaning. It is this that either causes the decline or enhancement of the formal values and the public view, and which the Hindu Temple Architecture embodies and in turn, radiates and affects. The influence of western culture and colonialism has had an effect on the practices of Hindu culture in Durban, particularly the apartheid planning policy, which impacted on the spaces where cultural and religious practices were performed. The theory review analyses the integration of the pragmatic functional requirements of the building program with the metaphysical and symbolic qualities of space and art that are characteristic of Indian traditional architecture. Such architecture will be analysed with reference to its relevance in the Durban context.