Community giving among the !xun san group in Platfontein, Northern Cape, South Africa
| dc.contributor.advisor | Makhetha, Trevor | |
| dc.contributor.author | Nogqaza, Bonelwa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-06-24T13:37:40Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-06-24T13:37:40Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The present study deploys the Social Capital theory as a framework to explore the practices of Community Giving among the !Xun San community in Platfontein in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The principal aim of the study was to understand the practices of Community Giving and their meaning to the givers and the recipients in a specific community. The motivations of both giving and receiving were of interest to this study. As a theory, Social Capital is invested in the importance of social relations, human networks in society, social connections and trust as a social ideal. Giving and receiving happen in a social and communal context that can be examined and understood. The proponents of Social Capital theory as it is used in this study are Pierre Bourdieu, Robert Putman, and James Coleman. The qualitative methodological approach was employed in this study to collect the relevant data. Semi structured focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews of individual research participants were utilised as the data collection tools of the study. Key amongst the findings of the study is the importance of human relations, and social networks in the practices of giving and receiving in a specific community. This highlights that the practices of giving and receiving that are pursuant to them vary according to contexts and cultures. The relevance of various factors that influence giving and receiving, including the politics involved, is fleshed out in this study. This study notes that, primarily, the acts of giving may be understood from the values and ethos of the philosophy and practice of Ubuntu, however, a deeper observation reveals the presence and impact of power dynamics and relations that come into play on the ground where giving and receiving take place. Also notable in this study is that the acts and practices of Community Giving are not static but are influenced by changes in the environment, culture, and other socio-geographic factors. A notable and significant limitation of this study is that the research was conducted within a particular group of Xunthali speakers in Platfontein, as such the findings may not be simplistically generalised to the other parts of Platfontein, especially where the Khwe community is located. Over and above the notable limitation, this study, in its limited way, contributes to the literature and scholarship in the discipline and profession of Sociology. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10566/20549 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Western Cape | |
| dc.subject | Community giving | |
| dc.subject | Social capital | |
| dc.subject | Sharing | |
| dc.subject | Platfontein | |
| dc.subject | the !Xun | |
| dc.title | Community giving among the !xun san group in Platfontein, Northern Cape, South Africa | |
| dc.type | Thesis |