Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Political Studies)

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Amhara, Oromo, and Tigray political cultures and challenges of political stability in Ethiopia: 1991–2017
(Universty of the Western Cape, 2024) Solomon Hailemariam Erba
Ethiopia has experienced recurrent ethnic conflicts, especially during the last three decades, since the introduction of a governance structure of ethnic federalism in 1991. Attempts to bring political stability to the country have not been successful, as competing political cultures constantly struggle for hegemony. Political constituencies have fragmented, based on sub-national political cultures. This study considers the influence of Amhara, Oromo, and Tigrayan political cultures in Ethiopia and their contribution to the recurrent ethnic-based conflicts in the country. This study contributes to our understanding of Gabriel Almond and Sydney Verba’s concept of political culture in that it confirms the existence of “a particular pattern of orientations” that do not radically change over time. The political cultures of the Amhara, Oromo, and Tigrayan elites consistently showed, during the study period, beliefs and aspirations that included competition for hegemonic power, the absence of political negotiations, and exercising political violence either to maintain the status quo or to unseat the status quo. The study further confirms Frantz Fanon’s conceptualization of political violence over that of Hannah Arendt. The political violence exhibited by the Amhara, Oromo, and Tigrayan elites has two dimensions: for the ethnic group dominating government, political violence is used to maintain the status quo, whereas other ethnic groups that aspire to hegemonic power adopt Fanon’s justification of political violence to change the status quo. As a result, there is constant political violence in Ethiopia.
A critical analysis of the role of the Nigerian government on the growth of the country’s power sector, 2006 – 2016
(University of the Western CapeUniversity of the Western Cape, 2023) Igwemezie, Chibuzo John Paul; Mngomezulu, Bheki. R; Matshanda, Namhla
The Nigerian power sector has been experiencing various challenges in the past few decades. Some of the challenges include constant blackouts or load-shedding, old and out-dated equipment, lack of infrastructures, insufficient funding, and inadequate technical knowledge to tackle the issues the sector is experiencing. This has greatly affected the entire country as more than 50 percent of its population does not have access to electricity, while those with access are constantly faced with continuous power failure and outages. There was a steady growth in the power sector after the country’s independence in October 1960. Many expected that to continue. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. This has greatly affected the living standards and the country’s economy negatively. Inevitably, this situation has had an impact on the country’s politics too.
Government, Big Capital and The People(s): A fishy tale of power, influence and development in Hout Bay Harbour
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Worth, Kiara; Anciano, Fiona
The achievement of sustainable development requires the balanced interaction between three components: the economy, environment, and society. Finding this balance in practice requires a critical examination of the beliefs, systems, and institutions that govern decisionmaking. Achieving sustainable development in reality thus involves understanding the existing forms of power in a particular time and place – what they are, how they operate, and how they influence decisions for development. This study is an analysis of power in a specific case study: the Hout Bay harbour in Cape Town, South Africa. Economic activities were driven by the fishing industry, in particular Oceana, who operated and maintained a fishmeal factory in the harbour since 1958. While the factory provided employment for the local coloured residents of Hangberg, it also produced noxious odours and air pollution, leading to significant discontent from other sectors of Hout Bay. A local and largely white activist group, Fresh Air for Hout Bay (FAHB), challenged these operations on the basis of sustainability and this became a highly contested issue. After years of debate and tension, the factory would eventually close in 2019, marking the end of an era for the fishing industry in Hout Bay. The purpose of this study is to analyse the power dynamics in Hout Bay and determine how these influenced the decisions around the factory. To do this, a qualitative autoethnographic study was conducted using semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and documentary review. The power analysis found that those in power, particularly the City of Cape Town and
Local government duality and its discontents: Rural governance and contestations for power and influence between elected officials and traditional leaders in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Fayayo, Rodrick; Bheki, R.
This thesis deploys deliberative democracy in order to explore interactions in polity dualism in Matebeleland South and Matebeleland North, in Zimbabwe. The thesis was premised on two major problems in the way the issue of traditional leadership is generally talked about and studied. First, there is a theoretical problem in terms of how we study and talk about traditional leaders and their contribution in a democracy. Secondly, the institution of traditional leadership is assessed based on assumptions as opposed to hard facts. Methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative case study research design using focus group discussions, key informant interviews and document analysis that enabled an analysis of perceptions, opinions, experiences, and attitudes of residents regarding Zimbabwe’s dual local government system.
The negotiated nation: Evaluation of nation building in the post-apartheid South Africa
(University of Western Cape, 2021) Moya, Hazel Nasiphi; Africa, Cherrel
The demise of apartheid presented South Africa with an opportunity to rebuild itself from its painful racist past to become a home to all those who live in it. This was done through a process of nation-building, which took the form of a multicultural civic nation, affectionately known as the Rainbow Nation, that embraces diverse cultures while affirming that individual citizens have equal rights. This thesis argues that the building of the Rainbow Nation has been somewhat successful, but more on a symbolic than institutional level, and that enduring forms of racial exclusion from socio-economic well-being pose the greatest threat to constructing a united, multicultural nation of civic equals.
Operationalising the Capability Approach for Non-Government Organisations : Evidence from the SEEDS Consortium
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Lombard, Christoffel Nicolaas; Piper, Laurence; Rogobete, Silviu
The idea that the development of people's capabilities lies at the heart of all community and social development has gained support internationally over the past decades. This reflects a significant shift in community and society development thinking, addressing the broad spectrum of social upliftment, human rights and poverty alleviation needs that gained ground during the different historic economic phases of the past two centuries. Historically development thinking progressed from a centralised, structured and systemic approach as, for example, espoused by Adam Smith and Karl Marx, to Maynard Keynes’s more people-centred approach, and more specifically the Capability Approach advanced by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. In the world of liberal democratic capitalism, the mainstream view of development holds that civil society is a key role player in both deepening democracy and enhancing forms of development through various programmes and practices. In turn, the professionalised Non-Governmental Organisations sector, as opposed to more localised community-based organisations or social movements, tends to receive most donor funding to deliver high impact interventions. In sum, the development of society’s capabilities relies significantly on NGOs to deliver capability enhancing services to the needy in society. A key consideration in development debates has been how to efficiently operationalise the development of capability enhancing activities based in the context of the Capability Approach, the focus of my study. This study recognises that NGOs are major delivery agents of development work, both in South Africa and internationally. Their operations focus on delivering quality impact on their beneficiary communities, and on raising funds to sustain their operations. The current methods to assess the impact of NGO operations, both by NGOs and their donors, primarily address past performance of the organisation in delivering external programmes as measured against the objectives stated in NGO concept and roll-out proposal documents. These assessments are customised for every NGO, making it impossible to standardise assessments for comparative and rating purposes and focus on external delivery. When problems are uncovered, this approach results in proposing corrective recommendations during or after completion of a funding round. This study argues that a gap exists in techniques to assess NGO internal performance to improve external delivery before and during NGO operations. Furthermore, it will contribute to assessing the merits of NGOs' internal capacity to deliver on the promises made in funding proposals - before and during NGO operations. In practice the assessment of an NGO for funding purposes currently consists of consideration of a project proposal in the form of a concept and roll-out document of what the organisation intends to achieve, accompanied by historic record data. The assessment of project roll-out focuses on the outputs claimed in the proposal document without paying too much attention to the NGOs internal organisational culture and capacity which is the key to successful external service delivery. In addressing this two part gap of incomplete assessment techniques and overlooked key internal indicators, the study demonstrates, via a series of ten case-studies, that a direct causal relationship exists between the internal organisational capabilities of an NGO, including the motivation, skills and culture of its staff, and its delivery on its external programmes. In essence, an organisation’s internal capabilities will impact directly on the organisation’s ability to deliver externally on its programmes. In spite of this, no standardised organisational capability assessment is used by NGOs or grantmakers, and to date no set of instruments exists to measure the internal capabilities of NGOs. The study sets out to address this gap by offering a methodology for the systemic assessment of internal NGO capabilities, and includes its operationalisation in a toolkit of instruments to measure these capabilities. The instruments presented enable the quantifying of qualitative staff motivational data to develop comparable baseline results between NGOs assessed, thereby presenting qualitative data in a quantitative form that enables a comparison between NGOs’ performances. This capacity addresses a significant shortcoming in the assessment of NGO performance based on purely qualitative assessment that is the current norm, not enabling a measurement against a standardised baseline for NGO performance. In contrast the validity and reliability of the proposed instruments are demonstrated through its application to ten real-world case studies drawn from the SEEDS Consortium. The system proposed in this study is based on Nel and Beudeker's commercial change management and organisational performance improvement model. Nel developed his system over a period of some twenty years whilst working for the then Arthur Andersen Consulting and subsequently as a private change management consultant focusing on the development of high performance organisations, and it has been administered in more than 3000 companies. This model uses key performance indicators, using quantitative methods to develop a standardised internal capability profile for a business based on qualitative data. This study expands on and makes innovative changes in developing new NGO specific metrics to substantially refine Nel's model and thus provides an instrument for measuring the capability profile of NGOs. The modifications were necessitated as Nel's model was designed for commercial change management applications presupposing that all governance considerations are in place and that the business is a running medium or large concern. Nel's proven commercial change management system does not make provision for NGO specific criteria that are critical indicators for both internal NGO performance assessment and for grant-maker capability assessments. The areas added to the instrument relate to internal NGO specific considerations such as internal governance, management, monitoring and evaluation processes that are standard and legislated compliance issues in commercial concerns. This goes beyond the requirements for a substantial commercial concern to include key internal organisation indicators that reflect the opinion of the staff, the people who deliver on the NGO's objectives. As staff are the people who directly impact on the NGO's output, the system does not only rely on the opinion of the CEO of the NGO or the fundraising staff, i.e. the "promise-makers", alone. In order to assess the value of the proposed method, and more specifically the internal capability toolkit, the measuring instruments were administered to the CEOs and staff of ten NGOs/NGO equivalent projects at universities. The responses were quantified and confirmed that in at least ten of these cases, there is a 95% correlation between internal organisational capability and external performance output, both positive and negative. The results also enabled the creation of a baseline internal capability profile for NGOs. Ten international grant-makers from OECD embassies were also interviewed on current methods of assessing funding applications, indicating a 62% confidence level in current systems and an 84% confidence level in the proposed internal organisational capability assessment method. This serves as an indicator of external delivery on promises and to guide internal change interventions to optimise output. This approach reflects the potential value of a shift in assessment thinking beyond a systems approach towards a people-centred approach that focusses on the measurement and development of the organisation and its staff's internal capabilities to meet and exceed its external delivery objectives. My research confirms that a focus on NGO internal organisational capabilities directly reflects the capability levels of staff to deliver externally. The output is a new, standardised, replicable and defendable methodology and toolkit of instruments for assessing an NGO’s current and future operational performance. The toolkit should also provide for the objective comparison of the performance of NGOs and thus be of great use for future grant-maker decision-making. It will also complement existing assessment techniques by focusing on the internal people motivation and capability issues of an NGO. Furthermore, the study provides a method to support organisational self-improvement efforts and grant-making efficiency that can be used in pre-project and during project capability assessment. This goes beyond the more prevalent post-project systemic and summative evaluation methods. In conclusion, the proposed method and toolkit can make a significant contribution to the efficiency of NGOs as the key role-players in enabling the delivery of capability development of communities and societies. All the elements described collectively point to a practical way to operationalise the Capability Approach, an aspect criticised as a weakness in Amartya Sen's work.
The politics of belonging and a contest for survival: Rethinking the conflict in North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Cloete, Jacob; Pillay, Suren
I set out to rethink the ongoing conflict in North Kivu and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). I highlight two problems with regards to the current conceptualisation of the conflict in North Kivu and South Kivu. The first is a theoretical problem and here I demonstrate that the Banyarwanda and Banyamulenge’s quest for belonging has so far been restricted to citizenship. Congolese Banyarwanda and the Banyamulenge find themselves in a peculiar situation, at various times in the postcolonial Congolese state they had recognition from above but lacked recognition from below. It is in this context that a politics of belonging developed. The second problem is with regards to the history of the conflict. I argue that most scholarly works take the 1993 conflict in North Kivu as the starting point of the conflict, but the conflict can be traced back to an earlier date. It was with this in mind that I pose the following question: Can the conflict in North and South Kivu in the DRC be considered as a politics of belonging between indigenous Congolese and Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese, and a contest for survival between Hutu and Tutsi elites? My research is qualitative and since the problem is theoretical and historical I had to think about how the conflict was presented in terms of definitions, meaning, concepts, and so on. Therefore, this research is guided by critical theory and uses a case study research design. For this purpose, I relied on both primary and secondary data. Primary data sources for this study include the following: photographs that was taken while I was deployed in the DRC as a soldier, my personal deployment diary, internet newspaper articles, research reports of the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, a focus group with expats from North Kivu and South Kivu, a questionnaire I distributed among expats from the DRC and an online discussion forum.
Race, class and law in post-Apartheid South Africa: A Marxist critique of Black Economic Empowerment
(University of Western Cape, 2020) Hoskins, Jonathan Mark; Africa, Cherrel
With the advent of democracy, the ANC government was faced with the problem of addressing abject poverty, persistent unemployment and rank economic inequality that beset black South Africans under apartheid. To address these problems in a structured and comprehensive fashion, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 (BBBEE Act) was promulgated. Several economists believed that growth in the economy is the bedrock upon which black economic empowerment would provide the foundation to correct these economic problems. This study sought to interrogate black economic empowerment as a means to address economic inequality and unemployment. The method of analysis and critique employed in this study is based on theories that Marx formulated in Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. In particular, this study draws on Marx’s theories of fictitious capital, surplus value production and appropriation, and the creation of the industrial reserve army. The thesis uses the theory to examine two BEE cases namely the Sanlam and Sasol equity transactions. It also analyses the relationship between productive capital and fictitious capital through an examination of Lonmin plc and Shanduka Pty Ltd, with a focus on the use of labour power to produce surplus value. Finally, it looks briefly at Sanlam and Sankorp to understand the rise of the black middle class in South Africa. Ultimately, this study charts a Marxist path to explain why black economic empowerment is unable to address economic inequality and unemployment. At the centre of this study is the problematisation of the capitalist mode of production on which black economic empowerment rests. The central argument advanced is that the very capitalist structure upon which this growth strategy was based, in fact laid the foundation for the reproduction of these self-same phenomena.
Voluntary associations, democracy and citizenship in the cities of Bulawayo and Cape Town.
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Dube, Mmeli; Anciano, Fiona
This study sits at the intersection of two promises: that of cities providing fertile ground for democratic politics and voluntary associations having positive effects on democratisation. It examines voluntary associations’ contribution to citizenship and democracy in two global south cities of Bulawayo and Cape Town, drawing lessons from two case studies of voluntary associations, one from each city. The study critically engages existing theories on associations’ role as “schools of democracy”, their contribution to political participation, improving the representation of citizens’ interests and deepening accountability in their respective contexts.
The Westphalian model and trans-border ethnic identity : the case of the Chewa Kingdom of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia
(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Kayuni, Happy Mickson; Pretorius, Joelien; Piper, Laurence
This study is an investigation of the informal trans-border Chewa ethnic movement of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia and its relationship to the formal state boundaries defined by the Westphalian model. The Chewa refer themselves as belonging to a Kingdom (formerly the Maravi Kingdom) which currently cuts across the three modern African states of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia and its paramount, King Gawa Undi, is based in Zambia. The secretariat of the kingdom is Chewa Heritage Foundation (CHEFO), which is headquartered in Malawi. The fundamental quest of this study is to investigate how the Chewa understand, experience, manage and interpret the overlap between formal states (as defined by the Westphalian model) and informal trans-border ethnic identity without raising cross-border conflicts in the process. Indeed, it is this paradoxical co-existence of contradictory features of Westphalian political boundaries and trans-border ethnic identity that initially inspired this study. The main research aim is to interrogate whether the Chewa Kingdom (of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia) is challenging or confirming state boundaries, and to reflect on what this means for the contemporary Westphalian model. In International Relations (IR), the Westphalian model provides the assumption that states are independent actors with a political authority based on territory and autonomy. Despite a large number of criticisms of the model, it has not completely been dismissed in explaining some elements of the international system. This is evident by the underlying assumptions and perspectives that still persist in IR literature as well as the growing contemporary debates on the model, especially on its related elements of state sovereignty and citizenship. In Africa, the literature focuses on the formal structures and ignores the role of informal trans-border traditional entities - specifically, how trans-border traditional entities affect the re-definition of state and sovereignty in Africa. Such ignorance has led to a vacuum in African IR of the potentiality of the informal to complement the formal intra-regional state entities. Within a historical and socio-cultural framework, the study utilises [social] constructivism and cultural nationalism theories to critically investigate and understand the unfolding relationship between the Westphalian state and Chewa trans-border community. Another supporting debate explored is the relevance of traditional authorities under the ambit of politics of representation. In this case, the study fits in the emerging debate on the meaning, experience and relevance of state sovereignty and national identity (citizenship) in Africa. Drawing on a wide range of sources (informant interviews, focus group discussions, Afrobarometer survey data sets, newspaper articles and comparative literature surveys in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia), the study finds that although the upsurge of Chewa transborder ethnic identity is theoretically contradictory to the Westphalian model, in practice it is actually complementary. Within the framework of [social] constructivism, the state has with some variations demonstrated flexibility and innovation to remain legitimate by co-opting the Chewa movement. In this case, the study finds that the co-existence of Westphalian model and trans-border Chewa ethnic identity is mainly due to the flexibility of the state to accommodate informal ethnic expressions in ways that ultimately reinforces the mutual dependence of the states and the ethnic group. For instance, during the Chewa Kulamba ceremony held in Zambia, the state borders are „relaxed‟ to allow unhindered crossing for the participants to the ceremony. This does not entail weakness of the state but its immediate relevance by allowing communal cultural expressions. Another finding is that the Chewa expression of ethnic identity could not be complete if it did not take a trans-border perspective. This set-up ensures that each nation-state plays a role in the expression of Chewa ethnic identity - missing one nation-state means that the historical and contemporary relevance of this identity would be lost. It is also this same set-up that limits the movement's possibility to challenge the formal state. This argument reinforces the social constructivist perspective that sovereignty is not static but dynamic because it fulfils different uses in a particular context. The overall argument of this study is that the revival of the informal Chewa trans-border traditional entity offers a new, exciting and unexplored debate on the Westphalian model that is possibly unique to the African set-up. One theoretical/methodological contribution of this study is that it buttresses some suggestions that when studying African IR, we have to move beyond the strict disciplinary boundaries that have defined the field and search for other related African state experiences. The study also strengthens one of the new approaches in understanding IR as social relations - in this approach, individuals and their activities or their social systems play a prominent role.

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