ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0299-3435
Current Organisations
University of the Free State
,
University of Queensland
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Public Administration | Applied Sociology, Program Evaluation and Social Impact Assessment | Business and Management | Corporate Governance and Stakeholder Engagement |
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Environmentally Sustainable Mineral Resource Activities not elsewhere classified | Business Ethics | Technological and Organisational Innovation
Related Links
Publications
Can Western European Home Ownership Products Bridge the South African Housing Gap?
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-03-2016
The dangers of growing on gold: Lessons for mine downscaling from the Free State Goldfields, South Africa
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-01-2016
Abstract: The settlements that spring up around mines have huge environmental, social and economic consequences. The environmental consequences have been well studied, but less attention has been paid to the social and economic consequences, particularly the effects of mine closure on what are often significant urban settlements which grew up around them. This paper relates the history of the urban centers of the Free State Goldfields and draws lessons for questions of economic and social sustainability in mining settlements. We argue that the rushed way the mining settlements in the area established, the emphasis on modernity in their planning and the over-arching context of decentralized planning under apartheid did not lay the right foundations for dealing with the long-term effects of mine closure. We highlight the way that booming commodity prices can hinder economic ersification. The paper concludes with some recommendations for new mine settlements.
Assessing the Value of and Contextual and Cultural Acceptability of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Evaluating Mental Health Problems in HIV/AIDS Affected Children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-10-2014
The state of housing policy research in Africa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-08-2020
Who received what, where in the Free State? An assessment of post-apartheid housing delivery and policy (1994-98)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2000
Reinterpreting South African Housing Policy through Welfare State Theory
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-07-2015
Socio-economic Status and Socio-emotional Health of Orphans in South Africa
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-06-2014
DOI: 10.1007/S10900-014-9903-1
Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic status and emotional well-being of orphans in Mangaung, South Africa. Five hundred orphans aged 7-11 years participated in the cross-sectional study between 2009 and 2012. Data was collected by trained fieldworkers, who conducted face-to-face interviews and questionnaires with the orphans, their teachers and caregivers, and the heads of the households where the orphans resided. The caregivers, children and teachers all completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in order to measure the orphans' mental health, while heads of household provided information about socio-economic indicators. STATA version 12 was used to perform multivariate data analyses to identify socio-economic factors associated with the mental health of orphans. Food security, access to medical services and a male caregiver were factors associated with better emotional well-being of orphans, whereas other variables such as household asset index and monthly household expenditure were not linked with the orphans' mental health. Two of the three variables (food security and access to medical services) associated with better emotional well-being of orphans are also government interventions to assist orphans. Further research is needed to determine whether other government programs also impact the emotional well-being of orphans.
Housing policy in mining towns: issues of race and risk in South Africa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-04-2018
Mine decline and women: Reflections from the Free State Goldfields
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2021
A Tale of Two Markets: Unequal Access to Private Property in a South African City
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-06-2019
DOI: 10.1111/TESG.12367
Caregiver alcohol use and mental health among children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 29-08-2017
DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2016.1220477
Abstract: Research in the developed world suggests that parental alcohol use negatively impacts child mental health. However, little research has examined these relations among children in the developing world and no studies to date have done so in the context of AIDS-orphanhood. Therefore, the present study tested the interactive effect of AIDS-orphan status with caregiver alcohol use on child mental health. The s le included 742 children (51.2% female M
The tourism potential of Beaufort West: A study based on visitor demand
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2005
Seriously ill? Diagnosing the state of medical geography in South Africa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-07-2016
Low-income housing policy in practice in arid and semi-arid South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2010
‘Being a mother is not child's play’: The capabilities of mothers in a low‐resource setting in South Africa
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-01-2023
DOI: 10.1111/HEX.13689
Abstract: The importance of a child's first 1000 days has now been widely accepted by the medical fraternity. Yet, we do not know much about caring practices in low‐resource settings. This study aimed to investigate the caring capabilities of mothers in a low‐resource setting. In this study, in‐depth interviews were conducted with 18 mothers with children aged 30 months or younger to better understand the arrangements, means and ends that inform developmental health in a low‐resource setting in South Africa. The study was conducted in a low‐income area, the former black township of Mangaung in Bloemfontein. The mothers were recruited via p hlets, and two interviews followed. Because of Covid‐19, interviews took place via mobile phones, in Sesotho, the local language in the area. Trained fieldworkers conducted, translated and transcribed the interviews. We used thematic analysis and the capabilities approach as the theoretical framework to analyse the responses from the mothers. We used the following organizing themes: pregnancy and ante‐natal care, nutrition, cognitive and physical development, the home environment and access to health care. Although short‐term reactions to pregnancy were often negative, the longer‐term responses showed that the respondents have agency. Most of them could change their nutrition habits, breastfeed and receive adequate nutrition support from the public health system. Most experienced joy when their children reached milestones (cognitive and others), although they became anxious if milestones were not reached. They emphasized children's play and had dreams for their children's futures. Technology was often mentioned as playing a role in their children's development. A large proportion of the respondents had disrupted homes (because of absent or abusive fathers), but some had stable homes. Most of them showed substantial capability to overcome adverse home environments. The public health system helped them deal with their health problems and their children's health problems, although it also created anxiety in many cases. Our data show how they develop their capabilities and overcome obstacles organically in the face of resource limitations. Despite pregnancies being unexpected and unplanned and fathers being absent, the respondents accepted the pregnancy, adjusted their diets and social behaviour, showed agency by attending primary healthcare facilities and ensured that their children received the required vaccinations. Their extended families played an important role in providing care. Despite the sacrifices, the respondents expressed joy and helped their children function by eating, playing, socializing, learning and using their senses. Our s le of mothers have the agency to adapt to the demands of parenthood and childcare and overcome adversity. Our data support the notion that mothers are held disproportionately and unfairly responsible for achieving the first 1000 days ideals. Despite considerable curtailment of their functionings and capabilities, they nevertheless showed agency to ensure their health and their children's health. A holistic approach should consider these findings in designing policy interventions for children's developmental health. We used paid fieldworkers to interact with the research participants.
Global South Urbanisms and Urban Sustainability—Challenges and the Way Forward
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 25-06-2021
The Missing Link in Cooperative Governance and Housing Delivery: Lessons from Mangaung Local Municipality
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-10-2007
Post-apartheid housing policy and initiatives in South Africa: Reflections on the Bloemfontein-Botshabelo-Thaba Nchu region
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-1999
DOI: 10.1007/BF03036615
Manufacturing enterprises and marketing planning in a mining area of the North West Province, South Africa: Lessons for local business support centres
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-10-2007
Housing standards and housing rights: The case of Welkom in the Free State Province
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2005
Hope and mental health problems among orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 15-08-2022
The Impact of Mine Downscaling on the Free State Goldfields
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-02-2013
Cultural Consensus Modeling to Understand South African Adolescent Girls' Attitudes, Awareness, and Uptake of Dual Protection Strategies
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Housing and Child Health in South Africa: The Value of Longitudinal Research
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-02-2022
Abstract: Research investigating the link between housing and health often produces mixed results. It does not always prove that good housing improves health. The results suggest a complex set of factors play a role, and the findings are sometimes contradictory. Two ways of addressing these concerns are longitudinal research, where the relationship between housing and health is measured in the short and medium terms, and a focus on children. We use the children’s housing and health data from the five waves of the National Income and Distribution Survey (NIDS) survey in South Africa, 2008 to 2017. We investigate the effect that continued living in informal housing over the five waves has had on these children’s health. Our results show a statistically significant relationship between prolonged residence in poor housing and poor health outcomes for some health indicators. The results call for a closer understanding of health issues in housing policy in South Africa.
History, memory and legacy in resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Identity and reinvention in resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Fieldworker reflections on using telephone voice calls to conduct fieldwork amidst the Covid-19 pandemic
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-10-2021
Symbolic violence and healing in resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Trauma and healing in resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Power knowledge and the governance of resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Concentration problems and resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Learning to mentalize: A mediational approach for caregivers and therapists.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 09-2020
DOI: 10.1111/CPSP.12334
Legacies and futures in the governance of resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Making Mangaung Metro: The politics of metropolitan reform in a South African secondary city
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 25-01-2022
DOI: 10.1177/00420980211065895
Abstract: Metropolitan reforms, which include the creation of unified metropolitan governments through municipal mergers and reclassification, are emerging as one strategy to address planning and service delivery challenges in the wake of increasing urbanisation across sub-Saharan Africa. Although metropolitanisation adds service area and mandates, well-functioning secondary cities that are part of a two-tier governance system in South Africa are pursuing metropolitanisation. The case of Mangaung, an early instance of secondary city metropolitanisation, is an opportunity to examine the motivations underlying these reforms, the politics involved and their impacts on urban governance. Mangaung’s political and administrative leadership pursued metropolitanisation to jump scale, attain greater political autonomy vis-à-vis other tiers of government, and obtain fiscal and technical resources available only to metropolitan municipalities in South Africa’s urban municipal hierarchy. Metropolitanisation was no panacea for Mangaung’s governance challenges, however, since it did not resolve the underlying weaknesses in municipal capacity or the regional economy, nor did it address the spatial legacies of apartheid that produced a sprawling metropolitan service area. As other South African secondary cities contemplate metropolitanisation, we recommend revising municipal structures and mandates and strengthening administrative capacities and economies in secondary cities.
Tripping over the Real
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Public disclosure of mine closures by listed South African mining companies
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-12-2020
DOI: 10.1002/CSR.2103
School connectedness as psychological resilience factor in children affected by HIV/AIDS
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 25-07-2018
University, Knowledge and Regional Development: Factors Affecting Knowledge Transfer in a Developing Region
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2016
Informal sector counterpower in Harare, Zimbabwe
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-09-2023
Housing policy and private sector housing finance: Policy intent and market directions in South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2017
A scientometric analysis of mine closure research
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-08-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S10668-023-03785-X
Abstract: Mine closure is a global challenge. To date, there has been no scientometric analysis of the mine closure literature. This paper uses a scientometric analysis to assess the literature on mine closure. We assessed 2078 papers published since 2002. There was a rapid increase in the research output, with 76% of the papers published in the last 10 years. We identify the journals and co-citation index of journals associated with mine closure research. Geography journals are prominent with 20% of papers, but there is also evidence of journals linked to mining and interdisciplinary journals. Four clusters of universities are working on mine closure (the University of Western Australia, the University of Queensland, the University of the Free State and the University of Alberta) and the co-citation index groups journals into three clusters (environmental and ecological concerns, environmental health, multidisciplinary issues). The co-citation index groups the themes into 20 clusters, which we have regrouped into five themes (health, environment, geography, society, and regulation olitics). We draw seven conclusions. Although original social science research focused on the impact of mining, (1) there is clear evidence of work focusing on mine closure and (2) this work is rapidly increasing. The geography remains important (3) but has negative effects. Despite the geographical focus, ideas and concepts are substantially integrated across the available work (4). Focusing on geographical journals might prevent work from being published in multidisciplinary journals (5). Papers linking theory and mine closure are limited (6) and the available work needs careful thought on planning closures in cities and communities (7).
First Evaluation of a Population-Based Screen to Detect Emotional-Behavior Disorders in Orphaned Children in Sub-Saharan Africa
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-03-2014
Planning for economic development in a secondary city? Trends, pitfalls and alternatives for Mangaung, South Africa
Publisher: Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University
Date: 12-2014
Abstract: This paper examines Mangaung’s economic development initiatives against the background of the latest literature on secondary cities, with a specific emphasis on the 20-year period that has elapsed since the dawn of the postapartheid era. Although some of the plans aim to reverse apartheid planning it is argued that these plans are being h ered by the fact that they tend to focus on a local “buzz” option, and run counter to historical pathways for the city. Moreover, they do not take the value of an increasing knowledge economy into account, and they fail to contextualise the city’s development and future prospects in terms of its regional role. The paper identifies a number of pathways that build on history and include options for ensuring active participation in an increasing knowledge economy. Our contention is that the regional role of the city remains one of the key assets with a view to building future economic development pathways. Finally, a number of research themes are identified.
Student Housing Satisfaction at a South African University
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-05-2022
The role of secondary cities in managing urbanisation in South Africa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-12-2016
Black Women’s Perceptions Towards Infant and Child Male Circumcision
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-06-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S10995-023-03693-6
Abstract: The objective of this article was to analyse women’s perceptions of ICMC and to propose a framework for ICMC decision-making that can inform ICMC policies. Using qualitative interviews, this study investigated twenty-five Black women’s perceptions of ICMC decisionmaking in South Africa. Black women who had opted not to circumcise their sons, were selected through purposive and snowball s ling. Underpinned by the Social Norms Theory, their responses were analysed through in-depth interviews and a framework analysis. We conducted the study in the townships of Diepsloot and Diepkloof, Gauteng, South Africa. Three major themes emerged: medical mistrust, inaccurate knowledge leading to myths and misconceptions, and cultural practices related to traditional male circumcision. Building Black women’s trust in the public health system is important for ICMC decision-making. Policies should address misinformation through platforms that Black women share. There should be an acknowledgement of the role that cultural differences play in the decision-making process. This study developed an ICMC perception framework to inform policy.
The plight of mining cities in South Africa: Planning for growth and closure
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2022
Renewable energy, social disruption and formalising the social licence to operate in South Africa
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-07-2023
DOI: 10.1002/CSR.2572
Abstract: A social licence to operate and corporate social responsibility are often applied voluntarily to ensure a positive relationship between businesses and communities. But South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme makes investment in local socio‐economic development a contractual obligation. To assess the implications of this legalised approach to CSR and the social licence to operate, between September 2019 and January 2020 we conducted seven focus group discussions and 24 key informant interviews in two towns in South Africa's Northern Cape province. The data were analysed thematically and triangulated with data on crime, municipal finance and house prices. Our concerns about the legalised approach are that it does not require local consent it reduces local development to a needs analysis it does not require local collaborative planning, despite adverse consequences such as social disruption it bypasses local organisation and accountability it does not provide cheaper local electricity and it offers no guidelines for decommissioning.
The regional implications of just transition in the world's most coal-dependent economy: The case of Mpumalanga, South Africa
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 19-01-2023
DOI: 10.3389/FRSC.2022.1059312
Abstract: South Africa has had an extraordinarily heavy reliance on coal to fuel its economy, and it is one of the highest carbon dioxide emitters per capita globally. Current moves aligned with COP26 and recently announced Western support for a Just Transition Partnership to support decarbonisation in South Africa and replace coal fired power stations with renewables are to be welcomed. That said, the majority of South Africa's coal mines, thermal power stations and the currently important coal export industry are located in Mpumalanga's Coal-Belt, an area which has and will continue to experience significant social and economic trauma as mines close and workers needs to be reskilled. There are currently over 100,000 workers in the coal and related industries in this region. This paper draws on international and South African evidence of the effects and responses to mine closure, regional resilience theory and evolutionary economic geography theory to analyse the implications and prospects for economic renewal as the coal industry winds down. Evidence is sourced form secondary material including government and industry policy statements and media articles, while primary material was sourced from key informant interviews. Transitioning this region of South Africa from its virtual mono-economy based on coal presents challenges which this paper highlights. While support from international sources to help make this transition into renewables will be of considerable benefit, significant challenges need to be addressed to ensure that difficulties are overcome, and the risks of the resource curse experienced in many developing countries are minimized. Processes may need to be put in place to ensure that the ambitious goal of transitioning from coal to renewables can be achieved, finances and management well-targeted, and a sense of security given to outside investors to help fund the transition, but also broader economic ersification. In parallel to ensure the “transition is just” mechanisms also need to be put in place, by the state and the investors, to ensure that those citizens unable to transition are empowered and engaged in their community to stem the risk of the inevitable frustration and social disturbance that exclusion from the economy and living with declining services creates. Whom should be putting these processes into place also needs consideration given that existing organizations are already struggling. Though not an easy task, it is hoped that this paper sheds some light on the various issues and encourages consideration of the ways to address them.
Housing conditions and mental health of orphans in South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2013
Determinants of place attachment among mineworkers: Evidence from South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Revitalizing the Bloemfontein CBD: Prospects, Obstacles and Lost Opportunities
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-02-2008
Studentification and governance in South Africa: Dependencies and conflicts
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
Mine closure, women, and crime in Matjhabeng, South Africa
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-10-2023
Abstract: Research from the Global North suggests that crime increases during a mining boom but not during mining decline. Our evidence from the South African gold mining town of Matjhabeng (formerly Welkom) shows that crime increases during mining decline and affects women in particular. We use social disruption theory to explain women’s experiences of crime and also their involvement in it. We find that criminal activities harm women in particular, that crime has become entrenched within female‐headed households, and that women are conflicted in their roles as parents and become participants in crime and beneficiaries of criminal activities. It is a matter for concern that research generally ignores the sociospatial nature of mine closure and its effects on women.
Barriers to powering past coal: Implications for a just energy transition in South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2023
Women and mine closure: A case study of policy in South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2021
Resources policy and mine closure in South Africa: The case of the Free State Goldfields
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
Evidence-Based Policy Development in South Africa: The Case of Provincial Growth and Development Strategies
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2013
The upgrading of freedom square informal settlement in Bloemfontein - Lessons for future low-income housing
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-1997
DOI: 10.1007/BF03036768
Community-based mental health support for orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa: a triangulation study
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 31-10-2013
Towards a policy framework for post-apartheid housing investment in former homeland areas: Evidence from the free state
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2001
Targeting for male medical circumcision: profiles from two South African cities
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-02-2021
Social disruption, mine closure and housing policy: e vidence from the F ree S tate G oldfields, S outh A frica
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-01-2017
The cost of mining benefits: Localising the resource curse hypothesis
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2021
A practical methodology
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
CHANGING COUTRYSIDES, CHANGING VILLAGES: SECOND HOMES IN RHODES, SOUTH AFRICA
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2009
Anticipating and planning for mine closure in South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Local economic development beyond the centre: Reflections on South Africa’s secondary cities
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-11-2016
Abstract: Research on local economic development in South Africa has been dominated by reflections on the larger metropolitan areas, while secondary cities have received scant attention. This paper evaluates local economic development initiatives in six secondary cities in South Africa. It advances three arguments based on South African and international literature. First, the local economic development strategies for these cities pay too little attention to creating effective links with their rural hinterlands. Second, while globalization increases both vulnerabilities and opportunities, these cities are ill-prepared to deal with the former or benefit from the latter. Third, local economic development strategies tend to focus on cluster initiatives, which in essence are inward looking. Such strategies increase competition with the larger metropolitan areas. The secondary cities are unlikely to compete effectively with these larger areas if they continue to follow inward-looking or cluster-oriented approaches.
Informal settlement upgrading in South Africa: beneficiaries’ perceptions over nearly twenty-five years
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-06-2018
Dying to get a house? The health outcomes of the South African low-income housing programme
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2014
Financed homeownership and the economic downturn in South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2015
Strategy and community in resource communities
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 31-08-2023
Parental decision-making in infant and child male circumcision: a case study in two townships in Gauteng, South Africa
Publisher: National Inquiry Services Center (NISC)
Date: 02-01-2022
DOI: 10.2989/16085906.2022.2038645
Abstract: Parental decision-making in infant and child male circumcision is influenced by complex, interrelated factors on many levels. Several studies have highlighted reasons for the acceptance and non-acceptance of child male circumcision. This study investigates the factors that influence parental decision-making in this matter and proposes a parental decision-making framework. The study was conducted in the townships of Diepsloot and Diepkloof in Gauteng, South Africa, using 48 in-depth interviews with parents, grandparents and uncles of the boys, as well as government officials and members of civil society as part of an explorative case study. Purposive and snowball s ling were used to select the participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data by applying the conceptual framework of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Three main themes emerged from the data: microsystem factors related to health and hygiene, the father's circumcision status, cultural expectations, pain, the child's autonomy and the extended family mesosystem factors related to early childhood development centres and exosystem factors related to circumcision policies and financial considerations.
Informal settlement upgrading, assets and poverty alleviation: Evidence from longitudinal research in South Africa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-08-2017
appropriateness of a realist review for evaluating the South African Housing Subsidy Programme
Publisher: Academy of Science of South Africa
Date: 26-11-2018
Abstract: Conducting meta-reviews of government programmes has become common practice. In South Africa, the national Department of Human Settlements and the national Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation recently commissioned a team to review the extent to which the Housing Subsidy Programme had provided assets to municipalities and the poor and whether these assets had helped poor households escape from poverty. A realist approach was employed to conduct the review. We argue that, given thecomplex nature of housing programmes, the realist review methodology was an appropriate approach to follow in answering the review questions. We explored how the realist review method allowed us to work with the uneven and contested nature of the housing literature and how the review nonetheless enabled elucidation of the factors that had contributed to the expected outcomes. Because this case was the first time that this method was used in a government-commissioned evaluation of housing, there were some practical challenges involved in its use. Some of the challenges were related to the nature of the questions that were asked. At the time of the review, the Department of Human Settlements was in the process of reviewing the 1996 White Paper and, to inform this process, the Housing Subsidy Programme review included a copious number of questions set by the Department of Human Settlements and Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, which made the review rather large and, in some cases, complicated the analysis. In some cases, because the Departments wanted clear-cut answers, the commissioners perceived the theoretical strength of the method, such as offering explanatory instead of conclusive judgement, as a weakness. The paper reveals some limitations of the realist review method for evaluating the multifaceted outcomes of a complex programme, particularly the practical difficulty of dealing with large quantities of data. We do however consider this method to have potential for further reviews.Significance: Housing research in South Africa is uneven which makes any review process difficult. The review was unable to offer judgement on the effect that the Housing Subsidy Programme has had on the asset base of the poor. The review was useful for making clear which factors will help the Programme to achieve the intended outcomes and also for pointing out on what government should focus to build assets for the urban poor.
Mine housing in the South African coalfields: the unforeseen consequences of post-apartheid policy
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 25-05-2021
Responses to mine downscaling: Evidence from secondary cities in the South African Goldfields
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2016
Mine closure in Matjhabeng in the Free State goldfields, South Africa: Implications for households
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2023
Economic Transitions in South Africa’s Secondary Cities: Governing Mine Closures
Publisher: Cogitatio
Date: 25-06-2021
Abstract: Many South African secondary cities depend on a single economic sector, often mining or manufacturing. This makes them vulnerable to economic change and national decision-making. We describe change in three secondary cities—Emalahleni, Matjhabeng and Newcastle—all at different phases of economic transition due to imminent mine closure. We investigate the way local governance and planning are dealing with the change. We draw on concepts from institutional economics and evolutionary governance theory, material from strategic planning documents, and approximately 50 key informant interviews. We show how difficult it is to steer economic planning during economic transitions, and we demonstrate how both economic change and governance are path-dependent. Path dependency in South Africa’s mining towns has several causes: the colonial influence, which emphasised extraction and neglected beneficiation the dominance of a single sector the long-term problems created by mining and the lack of the skills needed to bring about economic change. The local governments’ continuing reliance on the New Public Management paradigm, which focuses on steering as opposed to building networks, compounds the problem, along with poor governance, inadequate local capacity and inappropriate intergovernmental relations. Of the three towns, only Newcastle has shown signs of taking a new path.
Donor-driven local economic development in peripheral areas of Kwazulu-Natal: The Gijima Programme
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2010
Farm-worker housing in South Africa: An evaluation of an off-farm housing project
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2005
Renewable energy and local development: Seven lessons from the mining industry
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-10-2018
An empirical comparison of self-help housing and contractor-driven housing: Evidence from Thabong (Welkom) and Mangaung (Bloemfontein)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-2003
Child stunting in South Africa: Urban premium or penalty?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-11-2022
Public Policy and Small Towns in Arid South Africa: The Case of Philippolis
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-10-2008
Housing, Home and Children’s Socio-Emotional Health: Conceptual Ideas and Empirical Evidence from a South African Pilot Study
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 31-03-2022
Housing, planning and urban health: Historical and current perspectives from South Africa
Publisher: Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University
Date: 06-2020
Abstract: Globally, policymakers often describe informal settlements and slums in terms of health problems. In this paper we trace the way housing and planning have been linked to health concerns in the history of South Africa and we assess post-apartheid literature on the topic. We note that researchers continue to rely on a biomedical understanding of the relationship between housing, planning and health although, we argue, the links between them are tenuous. We propose the capabilities approach as a way to understand this relationship. Reframing the relationship between housing, planning and health within the capabilities approach may improve the current understanding of this link. This paper discusses the historical links between housing, planning and health in South Africa, assesses post-apartheid policy, and reviews post-apartheid literature on the relationship between housing, planning and health. We find it is assumed that the link between housing, planning and health is a biomedical concern and not a social concern. We argue that scholars thinking about this relationship should consider the opportunities embedded in the capabilities approach to understand health outside the biomedical frame.
Restructuring manufacturing in south africa's lagging regions: The case of the free state
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2006
Struggling in the shade of globalisation: Economic trends and responses in the free state since the 1990s
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2006
A typology of designs for housing research: improving methodological coherence of paradigm, approach and design
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-01-2022
Voting with their feet: Population trends and policy-making in the free state
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2006
Youth-Centered Clinics: The Voices of Adolescent Sesotho-Speaking Girls From Mangaung, South Africa
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-2022
DOI: 10.1177/21582440221089969
Abstract: Youth-centered health services have become a global practice and South Africa is no exception. This paper describes a project conducted in Mangaung in 2018 using cultural consensus modeling. We conducted 25 interviews and used a combination of hermeneutics, phenomenology theory, and thematic analysis. Our research found that girls in our s le have confidentiality concerns associated with the stigma of attending a clinic and cannot talk openly about sex and HIV. Themes related to negative experiences included the lack of confidentiality, the stigma of HIV, the lack of professional neutrality, failure to understand adolescents, poor service, systemic problems (long queues), and administrative problems. Positive themes included believing that clinics could help prevent pregnancy, provide information, create a safe space, and help with moral support. Moreover, some interviewees reported that services were good and that they provided products and support that were not available from home. However, many said they had to attend public clinics because they could not afford private alternatives. Some said the clinics offered a safe space and staff have positive attitudes. In the absence of discussions about sex at home, the clinics ultimately perform an important function, but systemic problems remain. More can be done by schools and households to reduce the stigma associated with sex and HIV.
Local economic development and partnerships: Critical reflections from South Africa
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 23-02-2011
DOI: 10.1093/CDJ/BSR007
Bloemfontein: the rise and fall of South Africa’s judicial capital
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-05-2021
Strategic spatial decision-making versus a facilitative role for the state: A response to van der Merwe
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1007/BF02681259
Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers to Improve Mental Health Outcomes in Orphaned and Vulnerable Children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-03-2021
A qualitative study on teachers’ perceptions of their learners’ mental health problems in a disadvantaged community in South Africa
Publisher: AOSIS
Date: 27-11-2019
Urban housing for rural peasants: Farmworker housing in South Africa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 29-07-2021
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP200301160
Start Date: 01-2022
End Date: 01-2025
Amount: $398,967.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity