UWCScholar

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A case for the comparative study of the dramatisation of socio-political transition in South African theatre and Iranian cinematography
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Hosseini, Elham
The project makes a case for identifying synergies between creative responses to the experiences of socio-political transition as dramatised and refracted in the work of South African playwrights and Iranian cinematographers. The intention is not to offer a survey or linear periodisation of major works and auteurs. Instead, the aim is to explore how an intertextual comparison between specific South African and Iranian texts can offer additional perspectives by reading them in tandem, and in relation to their respective transitional contexts. In addition to distinguishing thematic reciprocities, it is argued that examining the contrasting aesthetic modes employed in each case invites speculation about localised limits and possibilities of imaginative responses to living in transition. The works identified fall into three broad sections, namely, works from the pre-apartheid and pre-revolutionary era in Iran (Dhlomo's The Girl Who Killed to Save and Mehrjui's The Cow). These works are compared with later iterations (Bailey's The Prophet, and Makhmalbaf's Once Upon a Time, Cinema). This is followed by works produced during the repressive apartheid era, and in the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war. Fugard's The Blood Knot, and Mehrjui's Hamoun are compared to Mda's We Shall Sing For the Fatherland and Hatamikia's The Glass Agency. The final section examines ‘post-transitional’ works produced after the 1994 South African election, and the period leading up to and following the landmark 2009 election in Iran. Kani's Nothing but the Truth and Dike's The Return are read in relation to Dehnamaki’s propagandistic Outcasts2 which is contrasted to Beyzaie's When We Are All Asleep. The last chapter looks at works produced in the current decade, and focuses on the way What Remains by Davids and A Dragon Arrives! by Haghighi embrace notions of temporal flux and aesthetic experimentation. It is argued that they do so as a critical lens for reflecting on the potentialities of the transitional continuum between past, present and future in the contemporary moment.
Theorising recognition of prior learning research in higher education: a multidisciplinary framework for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods inquiry
(SAGE Publications Inc., 2026) Rambharose, Rekha
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a transformative yet under-theorised area in higher education. Despite its potential to advance equity and epistemic justice, RPL scholarship remains fragmented across policy, pedagogy, and practice, often lacking methodological coherence. This study theorises RPL research design through qualitative, quantitative, and multidisciplinary lenses, offering a comprehensive framework for rigorous and inclusive inquiry. Using a conceptual and integrative literature review, it synthesises theoretical and methodological debates drawn from adult learning, recognition theory, and decolonial perspectives. The author’s reflexive experience transitioning from the natural to the social sciences highlights interdisciplinary challenges in RPL scholarship. Structured around six pillars, the paper explores theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, and future directions aligned to social justice and digital transformation. By bridging epistemological diversity with rigour, the study advances a framework for designing context-sensitive and transformative RPL research.
Participation to improve co-governance? a case study of how early childhood development centres access water and energy in Khayelitsha.
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Naidoo, Rogini Joan
Co-governance is achieved when citizens are able to engage in decision-making processes that lead to improved outcomes. The study interrogates the extent to which Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Khayelitsha use participatory processes to support co-governance in relation to their water and energy access. The hypothesis put forward is that for participation to improve co-governance, ECD centres in Khayelitsha should not only have access to participatory processes, but should also be able to actively engage in participatory processes to influence their access to water and energy. The study adopts a qualitative instrumental case study research design, due to (1) the nature of the study, (2) to showcase the lived experiences of the participants in the study, and (3) to investigate the challenges faced by the case study participants. The data collection methods used in the study were snowball and purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews, transect walks and photovoice. Alongside documentary analysis and transect walks, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 5 selected ECD centres in Khayelitsha, 2 local ward councillors, 1 City of Cape Town official, and 2 civil society organisations. The study reveals that while the selected ECD centres in Khayelitsha were able to actively engage in participatory processes, it did not in actuality influence their access to water and energy. The findings suggest that the extent to which participation has improved co-governance in relation to water and energy access is minimal. Most of the ECD centres interviewed find it challenging to register their centres with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) as they do not have adequate infrastructure. As a result, they are unable to access government resources and are tasked with finding alternative ways to access water and energy. Since the Department of Basic Education does not have the resources to support ECDS to meet their required infrastructural requirements, this study recommends that the DBE should revisit their registration standards, and that they should consider putting regulations in place to ensure that the ECDs in low-income communities who are unable to register their services at the very least have access to water and energy.
Life sustaining responses and everyday care work during the HIV/AIDS and Covid-19 crises in Cape Town, South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Van Ryneveld, Manya Nair
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed a profound crisis of social reproduction in South Africa, revealing the fragility of household and community capacities to absorb care responsibilities amidst longstanding inequality and gaps in state social protection. In Cape Town, neighbourhood-based Community Action Networks (CANs) rapidly mobilised to meet urgent material, psychosocial and health-related needs. Drawing on my embedded involvement in this response, this thesis examines the crisis and its community-led responses as revelatory of unmet needs and the limits of the state’s community-based care infrastructure, while also highlighting the prefigurative potential of collectivised, solidaristic forms of care. Despite decades of policy attention to community-based care since the HIV/AIDS crisis and a constitutional commitment to social protection, the pandemic illuminated enduring structural shortcomings. Centring life-sustaining, everyday care work during the Covid-19 crisis and tracing the historical evolution of social policy and community health systems in response to the earlier HIV/AIDS crisis, the thesis advances key claims about the politics, value and the future of community care in South Africa.
University-going high performance athletes' perceptions of psychological strategies recommended by high performance physiotherapists for return-to-play readiness.
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Hunt, Keegan Jane
Traditionally, assessments of athletes’ readiness to return-to-play (RTP) have focused primarily on physical recovery, often neglecting the equally critical component of psychological readiness. Although physiotherapists are increasingly incorporating psychological strategies into rehabilitation, limited research explores how athletes perceive and engage with these interventions, particularly within university high performance settings. This study explores university-going high performance athletes’ perceptions of psychological strategies recommended by physiotherapists during RTP rehabilitation. A qualitative, exploratory design was employed which was conducted at the University of the Western Cape. Six focus groups comprising 25 purposively selected elite student-athletes across six sports were held. Guided by the Mental Health Promotion Framework, thematic analysis revealed four themes: motivational factors, psychological barriers, external rehabilitation strategies, and personal coping methods. While athletes valued psychological support, inconsistent application and limited collaboration were noted. Ethical approval was obtained, and trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability. The study advocates for interdisciplinary, athlete-centred RTP approaches that embed psychological readiness into rehabilitation.