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Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law Faculty of Education Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering Research Articles and Conference Papers Articles published on Open Access Journals and conference proceddings
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Lived experiences of single teenage mothers at KwaMsane Township, KwaZulu-Natal
(University of Zululand, 2024) Mthethwa, Nontobeko Sibonile; Ntini-Makununika, Thobeka; Mulqueeny, Delarise M.
In an era marked by the complex challenges confronting young people, addressing
teenage pregnancy requires a comprehensive multi-sectoral response that empowers and supports adolescents on multiple fronts. The qualitative study’s objectives were to explore the psychosocial experiences of single teenage mothers from northern KwaZulu-Natal, seeking to understand their experience of absent fathers in the parental relationship, identify sources of support, and provide recommendations for multiple sectors. Thirteen participants, sampled by snowball sampling, participated in face-to-face interviews, and two focus group discussions that were manually coded and thematically analysed. Empowerment theory was used as an analytic framework. The study’s findings revealed that single teenage mothers experience psychosocial challenges, social rejection, disrupted life plans, academic difficulties, financial problems, father absenteeism, and poor mental health. This highlights several key areas which need multi-sectoral interventions to address teenage pregnancy. Recommendations include developing participatory strategies that promote positive father involvement, establishing support systems for psychosocial support for teenage mothers, and fostering whole community-based initiatives to promote awareness and dialogue on teenage pregnancy.
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The efficiency of local citizens’ participation in local economic development projects in Mkhondo Local Municipality in Piet-Retief
(University of Zululand, 2024) Gama, Ntethelelo Abner; Xaba, F.G.; Mulqueeny, D.M.
The aftermath of colonialism and apartheid resulted in many South African communities being impoverished, having high levels of unemployment and inequality. As a result, municipalities engaged in various programmes and projects to economically empower their communities in response to social and economic challenges. One such programme is Local Economic Development (LED). This study analyses the efficiency of local citizens' participation in LED within the Mkhondo local municipality in Mpumalanga province in South Africa.
An interpretivist paradigm was adopted as it was deemed relevant and is appropriate in qualitative studies. 19 community members involved in LED projects, six (6) municipal officials dealing with LED projects, and three (3) local ward councilors participated in semi-structured interviews while thematic analysis was used to analyse the collected data.
The study findings demonstrate that the municipality played a crucial role in ensuring that the local citizens understood the importance of participating in LED projects. They further reflected on the benefits of LED as an effective tool for alleviating poverty in rural communities. Despite the successes brought by LED in impoverished and disadvantaged communities, there are challenges that hindered community members’ full participation in LED. The study recommends that more funds be made available to rural municipalities to meet the demands of rural people and that the municipality should employ additional staff to ensure that there are sufficient municipal officials to comprehensively service members of rural communities.
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Development planning and integration of migration in the city of uMhlathuze, South Africa
(University of Zululand, 2024) Sibiya, Lindokuhle Denis; Moyo, I.
Migration, as a global phenomenon, affects municipalities not only in South Africa but across the globe. Therefore, it must be factored into municipal policy, planning and budget processes. Against this backdrop, this study investigated the extent to which municipal development planning integrated migration at uMhlathuze municipality, Northeast of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The objectives of the study were to (a) identify the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved in sustainable development planning at a municipal level, (b) analyse migration trends within the municipality since 2001, (c) assess the inclusion of migration in sustainable development planning in the municipality, and (d) propose a comprehensive framework for migration and sustainable development planning in the municipality. The study employed the interpretivist research paradigm because it was deemed the most suitable for assisting the researcher in delving into the process of municipal planning. In light of this, the study adopted a qualitative research approach in the form of interviews with the key stakeholders and an extensive document review of municipal strategic plans. The findings of the study indicated that despite the number of migrants increasing in the municipality and the various stakeholders involved, migration was not integrated into municipal development planning. Reasons for this exclusion include the negative attitudes and perspectives of stakeholders towards migration. Some stakeholders believed that the management and planning for migration is not the competence of the local government but that of provincial and national governments. Another reason was the unavailability of up-to-date data about the migrant population mostly undocumented ones. Overall, the municipality has displayed a blinkered attitude towards the importance of integrating migration into existing or new municipal development plans for many years which has and continues to yield undesired consequences like social fragmentation, economic exclusion, and poor planning. Based on these findings, the study proposed a framework to assist in addressing migration-related issues while enhancing the positive contribution of migration to sustainable development in local municipalities. This framework describes various strategies that municipalities could implement to ensure that migrants are integrated into development planning as well as the expected outcomes. Some of the proposed strategies include the provision of educational initiatives, a multi-governmental approach to migration management and strengthening communication mechanisms among the stakeholders involved in municipal development planning. This study suggested that without the integration of migration into municipal planning, sustainable development goals cannot be achieved. Based on all this, the contribution of the study to the discipline of Geography is a different perspective and narrowing of the gap in the literature about the migration-sustainable development nexus at the municipal level where there was a dearth.
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Exploring the effects of post provisioning norm policy on learners’ academic performance in rural secondary schools: a case of uMshwathi, Kwazulu-Natal
(University of Zululand, 2025) Dladla, Thokozani Wilfred; XULU, V. S.
In this study, the researcher explored the impact of the implementation of the Post Provisioning Norms policy on the academic performance of learners in rural secondary schools. This study utilized both face to face interviews and observation on focus groups to get participant’s views and opinions about the impact of the Post Provisioning Norms on the academic performance of learners in rural secondary schools. The population group consisted of 37 schools. The researcher used convenience sampling to draw a sample of 9 schools, where there was availability of one teacher and one school principal from each school. Analysis showed that the policy was applied on a blanket approach and did not consider the unique nature and history of the rural secondary schools. The result of the study confirmed that Post Provisioning Norms was impacting negatively on learner academic performance in rural secondary schools. The researcher recommended that the Post Provisioning Norms policy be revised to also include the consideration of the unique nature of rural secondary schools, the subjects being offered at such schools and not only the learner numbers. The limitation of the study was that the study was conducted in rural schools only, where there were only African teachers and learners. There is a need for future research on how best the Post Provisioning Norms formula could be improved to achieve satisfactory results for acceptable learner-teacher ratios among all races, especially African schools.
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Enhancing parental involvement in education at uMkhanyakude district
(University of Zululand, 2025) Mafuleka, Sandile Warren; XULU, V S; Nzima, D. R.
study aimed to enhance parental involvement in education. Parental involvement in a learner’s education level perplexed other stakeholders concerning whether parents understood their role. It had become a burning issue for educators, circuit officials and School Management Teams as they struggled to involve parents effectively in the teaching and learning process. Studies showed that parents usually blamed the teachers for the inferior performance of learners. The interpretivism paradigm was employed in this study to deepen the understanding of the problem through the eyes of the participants rather than the researcher. Twenty-five participants were sampled using non-probability sampling. A semi-structured interviews were conducted with the five selected participants and five focus groups with oral interviews recorded on audio tape for analysis. Data revealed the urgent need for capacitating stakeholders and parents were expected to play a key role in ensuring the effectiveness of educational involvement. Observations were conducted during parent meetings. Findings revealed three major themes that there were issues that affected the enhancement of parental involvement like perceptions, attitudes, and feelings. Second was the identification of challenges that curb supervision and when properly administered could benefit education. The third finding was the identification of strategies that could encourage parental involvement. Engagement could enhance the promotion of largest parental participation in teaching and learning in schools. The study concluded that parental participation in learner’s education was still a problem in schools. In conclusion, the study recommended that the South African Department of Education should develop a guide for parental involvement in schools