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Access to adequate housing in South Africa: a critical analysis
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Mkula, Sithembile
Access to adequate housing remains a pressing socio-economic right in post-apartheid South Africa, with millions residing in informal settlements under precarious conditions. This study explores the legislative and policy framework relating to the in situ upgrading of informal settlements, and how the human rights of those living in informal settlements are affected. It also considers the roles of the branches of government in ensuring thein situ upgrading of informal settlements. Employing a desktop research methodology, the analysis draws on legislation, policy frameworks (notably the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme). The findings suggest that, while courts have recognised a justiciable obligation on the state to progressively realise access to adequate housing, their willingness to issue structural orders mandating specific forms of compliance, such as the upgrading of informal settlements, depends on the reasonableness of state conduct. In addition, contextual considerations are critical, and eviction must be the last resort. The study concludes that judicial intervention, though cautious, can serve as a crucial mechanism in enforcing housing rights, particularly where state inaction or inadequate policy implementation undermines constitutional commitments.
A conceptual systems approach to study policy product integration:a research note
(Emerald Publishing, 2026) de Wee, Guswin
Purpose – Policy integration has gained a lot of attention in the past few decades; however, many existing studies focus on policy process integration, and much fewer on policy product integration (based on the policy content or designs themselves), which is due to a lack of valid and reliable methods. This research provides insights into a conceptual systems perspective to study policy product integration from a policy design-as-content perspective. The argument is that policy content is an abstractable unit of analysis in policy design and integration, making it amenable to the systems-based integrative propositional analysis (IPA) method, which studies policy content and their interactions as conceptual systems. The theoretical point of departure is that there are deep structural similarities between the domains of systems (including physical, conceptual, social, etc.) and that the insights of one system allow for similarities to be exploited and transferred to understanding the other. Design/methodology/approach – The systems-based IPA is used in an illustrative case study of three Nigerian policies that are aligned to nutrition, which enables policy interaction assessments and the building of policy landscapes (integrated conceptually) based on the mapping capabilities enabled by the IPA. Findings – Using the illustrative case study of three Nigerian policies aligned to nutrition, preliminary findings suggest that: (1) the propositions in policy content provide a “universal language” to facilitate policy product integration, (2) there are various modes of interaction between policies in a policy landscape and (3) there are various degrees of integration based on the structure of the policy landscape. Practical implications – When developing policies, the policy interaction based on the mapping of policy statements into a larger system of interaction, the policy landscape, is useful throughout the public policy process, providing some diagnostic and descriptive insights for policy makers. Originality/value – This systems-based analysis of policy product integration using the IPA provides a methodology to study the interactions of policies and develop a policy landscape (integrated policy map) of various policies, which has not been possible with current approaches.
Ballingskap en vervreemding in die werk van Vernon February en Julian de Wette (exile and estrangement in the work of Vernon February and Julian de Wette)
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Van der Westhuizen, Chànde Frania
Identity plays an important role in the work of writers who are in exile. Exile and alienation in the writing of South African authors are well document with a focus on writers like Alex La Guma, Dennis Brutus, Lewis Nkosi, Nat Nakasa and others. It received little attention in the Afrikaans literary studies. The development of identity in the work of black Afrikaans writers such as Vernon February and Julian de Wette will be the core focus of this study. The study aims to do a comparative analysis of the two writers and the influence of apartheid, exile, the adoption of a new country and by default a redefinition or reimagining of their identities. The focus on identity and place places the study within a postcolonial framework. Concepts such as hybridity and the Other within postcolonialism will also be discussed.
Next to nothing: a novel and critical reflective essay
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Kudyahakudadirwe, Christopher
This thesis comprises a realistic novel, Next to Nothing, and a reflective essay supported by in-depth research into the novel’s thematic, stylistic craft, intended reader impact, as well as its contribution to literature. The novel follows the experiences of three undocumented Zimbabweans—Zikomo, Ndabvei and Anesu—who trekked to South Africa in search of economic survival, political asylum, and educational and business opportunities where their economy had failed them. Told in multiple narrative perspectives, Next to Nothing presents the lived experiences of Black migrants from numerous angles. It engages the themes of love, migration, memory, resilience, homelessness, crime, exile, and displacement and competently experiments with the first-person past tense and third-person present tense points of view to tell this migration story. As a piece of literature, Next to Nothing thematically provides a mirror that reflects the lived experiences of undocumented Zimbabweans during the COVID-19 era, when locals as well as migrants lost their jobs to the pandemic lockdown. In many ways, the novel reveals the importance of identity and belonging as the plot unfolds. It questions identity and exclusion when the constitution, in its preamble, says “South Africa belongs to all who live in it.”1 Many migrants and locals who worked in the hospitality industry lost their jobs on one hand, and the local Black community upped their demand for the repatriation of undocumented foreigners, whom they scapegoated for all the ills facing the nation. The reflective commentary, as already stated above, categorises the novel as a postcolonial diasporic narrative buoyed by theories of identity, memory, and place.
Exploring perceived experiences of certificate in the theory of accounting (CTA) registered students and accounting lecturers on the implemented flipped classroom approach at a university in the Eastern Cape.
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Sidzumo, Hlumelo Kwezilomso
While various studies have explored students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom approach within the context of accounting education in South African universities (Mulder & Van Oordt, 2015; Lubbe, 2016; Van Niekerk & Delport, 2022; Sexton & Rudman, 2022; Steenkamp & Van Schalkwyk, 2023; Winfield & Whitelaw, 2024), little is known about lecturers’ perceptions about the flipped classroom and most the studies were conducted for undergraduate programmes. Most of these studies were conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic and examined the use of the flipped classroom as an intervention for a specific module within a particular qualification. These perceptions could potentially change as a result of universities adopting blended learning during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate both the postgraduate accounting students’ and their lecturers’ perceptions of a postCovid-19 flipped classroom approach implemented at a university in the Eastern Cape. A mixed-methods approach was employed in this study, and within this approach, a convergent parallel research design was selected. To solicit students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom approach, an online questionnaire was used, consisting of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Interviews were also held with lecturers using a semi-structured interview guide to solicit their perceptions. The results of this study revealed that students perceived the flipped classroom as enabling self-regulated learning, peer learning, and the development of lifelong learning skills. However, students expressed that the flipped classroom increased their workload, and the effectiveness of the flipped session heavily depended on completing the pre-classroom activities. For the lecturers, the results revealed that the flipped classroom has enabled them to respond to students’ learning needs, focus on higher-order thinking skills, and lead to the development of some of the enabling competencies. However, the study also revealed that the implementation of flipped classrooms has increased the workload of lecturers. This study provides valuable insights for universities that want to implement the flipped classroom as their pedagogical approach, as it examines both students and lecturers. However, despite the rich insights, this study was conducted using a small sample (65 students and five lecturers), which could limit the generalisability of the findings.