Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Development Studies)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10566/16142

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Browsing by Author "Devereux, Stephen"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    The impact of expanded public works programme (EPWP) on food security in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Satumba, Takunda; Devereux, Stephen
    This thesis aims to investigate the food security impact of public works programmes. Using the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) as a case study in South Africa, the design, implementation, and operation of public works are evaluated to determine how the programme contributes towards individual and household food security. A convenience sampling method was used to identify research participants from EPWP projects. In the study, a sample of 112 participants was interviewed to collect primary data from EPWP projects. To gather as much information as possible, the researcher captured data using a semi-structured questionnaire as well as open-ended interview questions from participants and other key informants. A mixed methods approach of analysis is used and the results are discussed using the theory of change of public works and food security via three impact channels: the wage vector, the skills vector, and the asset vector.
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    The political economy of social protection in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tracing the agenda in Zambia and Zimbabwe
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Kapingidza, Samuel; Devereux, Stephen
    This study traces the political economy of the social protection policy processes in the two country case studies of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It focuses on the role of global actors/external agencies (bilaterals, multilaterals and IFIs), national actors (government, parliament) and local actors (beneficiary communities, INGOs, CSOs) in social protection policy evolution. It looks at the power dynamics within the policy space: who is more powerful and who is less powerful, who voices and whose voice matters, who makes decisions and who follows decisions, who drives the policy and who follows, who has the money and who follows the money, who consults and who is consulted, and whether the rural communities (perceived beneficiaries) are active participants or ‘passive’ recipients. Therefore, the study is based on key informant interviews with officials from government, external agencies, INGOs and CSOs as well as focus group discussions with the communities. What emerges is that social protection is a policy contestation between the external agencies themselves; between external agencies and the government; between personnel of the same external agency; and within the government itself. Despite being driven by a common goal to fight poverty, external agencies have different global social protection policy positions and each would ‘push’ for the adoption of that policy position over the rest. Contestation between external agencies and the government reflect that government priorities differ from those of the external agencies. While external agencies pushed for social protection, the government would prefer agricultural subsidies to support the productive capacity of the people. Intra-government ‘struggles’ relate to the contest over which ministry is best placed to coordinate social protection and Ministry of Finance’s ambivalence over budgetary commitment to social protection. The study therefore underscores the primacy of politics in social protection.
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    Strengthening the social contract between government and social grant recipients: a case study of the older person's grant and the child support grant in the Cape Winelands and Overberg districts
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Moses, Meshay Lee; Devereux, Stephen; Africa, Cherrel
    Since the birth of democracy in 1994, the South African government has struggled to substantially address the social and economic inequality as well as widespread poverty produced by the apartheid system. Social assistance, particularly in the form of direct cash transfers, is one of the instruments used by the current government to alleviate poverty and economic vulnerability because it enables households to access cash or increase expenditure on material and non-material resources such as food, clothes, education, and health care. Social assistance is a powerful tool to build communities and strengthen their involvement in the overall democratic process. This gives effect to the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, which guarantees everyone in South Africa the right to access social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependants, appropriate social assistance. This right, together with the relevant legislation, places a responsibility on government to be accountable for the administration and delivery of social grants. This study investigates the experiences and perceptions of the recipients of the Older Person’s Grant (OPG) and the Child Support Grant (CSG) towards the social grant system in South Africa. It uses social contract theory as an analytical framework to explore whether the government is delivering on its constitutional obligation. The research focuses on the perspectives of recipients who are receiving the OPG and the CSG. The researcher undertook an in-depth study in the Cape Winelands and Overberg Districts in the Western Cape Province. This study adopted a qualitative methodological approach to investigate how grant recipients from different racial identities within the aforementioned districts understand the relationship between government and citizens in relation to social assistance. It also explores how the relationship between the government and social grant recipients can be sustained and strengthened in the future.