nedson pophiwa | University of the Witwatersrand (original) (raw)
Papers by nedson pophiwa
African Sun Media eBooks, Dec 31, 2022
Africa insight, Sep 1, 2016
I think Venda and Tsonga [people] must come together and only depend on one municipality, so that... more I think Venda and Tsonga [people] must come together and only depend on one municipality, so that there will be unity among us, and even us as children, we must know that Venda and Tsonga people are our parents."
The methodology sought to take into account the complex social, political and policy environmen... more The methodology sought to take into account the complex social, political and policy environment in which strategy is implemented in the South African context. Therefore a qualitative approach was adopted, which could capture these nuances. A total of 15 interviews with key stakeholders identified by the Jo’burg City Safety programme office were conducted as well as two focus groups with stakeholders from the Norwood/Orange Grove and Moroka Geographic Focus Areas. In addition a review of documentary material from the Jo’burg programme office was conducted as well as a literature review of relevant local and international literature. Background
Journal of anthropological and archaeological sciences, Jun 3, 2020
Volume 2-Issue 2 Copyrights @ Joseph Rudigi Rukema, et al. J Anthro & Archeo Sci "Handei border" ... more Volume 2-Issue 2 Copyrights @ Joseph Rudigi Rukema, et al. J Anthro & Archeo Sci "Handei border" (Let's go to the border) shouts a taxi rank marshal as he scouts for passengers who wish to get to the Volume 2-Issue 2 Copyrights @ Joseph Rudigi Rukema, et al.
Tanzania Journal of Development Studies, 2009
The article critiques methods and theoretical issues regarding clandestine activities and borderl... more The article critiques methods and theoretical issues regarding clandestine activities and borderland studies by briefly presenting some of the experiences and findings from a research on smuggling among the Penhalonga and Nyaronga borderland communities astride Zimbabwe and Mozambique between August 2005 and July 2007. The article revisits some of the research issues that I overlooked such as ethics and representativeness of the findings. I agree with some critiques on borderlands studies that the main shortcomings in researching this subject have to do with the inadequate training provided in some graduate schools on African studies. It is this weakness in the training, coupled with other reasons such as the researchers' 'romanticization' of clandestine activities, that makes them take for granted crucial methodological requirements such as ethics and generalizability among other things. This is done through highlighting the methods (such as document analysis, oral history, interviews, and participant observation) which I applied, and the encounters that I met during fieldwork. I realized the impact of discussing methodological and field research encounters, for the benefit of readers and researchers, who may want to work on a similar subject in future, as this could offer assistance on how to handle certain complex methods in probing various subjects. Moreover, a 'borderlands approach' to the historical enterprise is very much a personal methodological invention: very few graduate schools today provide opportunities to acquire the necessary skills for conducting a cross-border survey beyond the broad comparative method. Then, there are specific problems encountered by Africanists in the field, most notably the dangers involved in
The Migration-Displacement Nexus
African Evaluation Journal
Background: In this article, the authors make a case for weaving indigenous knowledge systems (IK... more Background: In this article, the authors make a case for weaving indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) with monitoring and evaluation of interventions targeted at communities on the African continent. Current efforts do not make explicit reference to indigenous knowledge in Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE). Indigenous knowledge systems are implied as the defining aspect of MAE, being called upon to be fused with existing evaluation systems and practices in order to enhance evaluation in African communities.Objective: To call for enrichment of the MAE in setting the agenda and bring agency to evaluation practices in Africa against centuries of unsustainable developmental practices that continue to underdevelop the continent.Method: This article explores aspects of IKS which challenge Western hegemonic epistemologies in evaluation approaches and practices in Africa.Results: It is argued that associations such as African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) should strive to become knowledge hubs...
Journal of Contemporary African Studies
The progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights as enshrined in South Africa's Constitution r... more The progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights as enshrined in South Africa's Constitution remains a pipe dream for many poor and vulnerable people, 23 years after the collapse of apartheid. In the case of Nokotyana and Others v Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and Others, the Constitutional Court (CC) decided on the interpretation of the rights of access to basic services such as sanitation and high mast lighting. In this case, community members from Harry Gwala informal settlement near Johannesburg compelled the state, through courts of law, to upgrade the settlement and to provide basic services. Although the CC did not engage with the content of the socioeconomic rights claimed by the community, it did eventually order the state to upgrade the settlement within fourteen months of the judgment. This article discusses the extent to which the state complied with the judgement and what kinds of challenges were experienced in implementing the court order. Empirical data was collected through interviews with different actors. The findings highlight the complexities surrounding implementation of the court judgement.
African Sun Media eBooks, Dec 31, 2022
Africa insight, Sep 1, 2016
I think Venda and Tsonga [people] must come together and only depend on one municipality, so that... more I think Venda and Tsonga [people] must come together and only depend on one municipality, so that there will be unity among us, and even us as children, we must know that Venda and Tsonga people are our parents."
The methodology sought to take into account the complex social, political and policy environmen... more The methodology sought to take into account the complex social, political and policy environment in which strategy is implemented in the South African context. Therefore a qualitative approach was adopted, which could capture these nuances. A total of 15 interviews with key stakeholders identified by the Jo’burg City Safety programme office were conducted as well as two focus groups with stakeholders from the Norwood/Orange Grove and Moroka Geographic Focus Areas. In addition a review of documentary material from the Jo’burg programme office was conducted as well as a literature review of relevant local and international literature. Background
Journal of anthropological and archaeological sciences, Jun 3, 2020
Volume 2-Issue 2 Copyrights @ Joseph Rudigi Rukema, et al. J Anthro & Archeo Sci "Handei border" ... more Volume 2-Issue 2 Copyrights @ Joseph Rudigi Rukema, et al. J Anthro & Archeo Sci "Handei border" (Let's go to the border) shouts a taxi rank marshal as he scouts for passengers who wish to get to the Volume 2-Issue 2 Copyrights @ Joseph Rudigi Rukema, et al.
Tanzania Journal of Development Studies, 2009
The article critiques methods and theoretical issues regarding clandestine activities and borderl... more The article critiques methods and theoretical issues regarding clandestine activities and borderland studies by briefly presenting some of the experiences and findings from a research on smuggling among the Penhalonga and Nyaronga borderland communities astride Zimbabwe and Mozambique between August 2005 and July 2007. The article revisits some of the research issues that I overlooked such as ethics and representativeness of the findings. I agree with some critiques on borderlands studies that the main shortcomings in researching this subject have to do with the inadequate training provided in some graduate schools on African studies. It is this weakness in the training, coupled with other reasons such as the researchers' 'romanticization' of clandestine activities, that makes them take for granted crucial methodological requirements such as ethics and generalizability among other things. This is done through highlighting the methods (such as document analysis, oral history, interviews, and participant observation) which I applied, and the encounters that I met during fieldwork. I realized the impact of discussing methodological and field research encounters, for the benefit of readers and researchers, who may want to work on a similar subject in future, as this could offer assistance on how to handle certain complex methods in probing various subjects. Moreover, a 'borderlands approach' to the historical enterprise is very much a personal methodological invention: very few graduate schools today provide opportunities to acquire the necessary skills for conducting a cross-border survey beyond the broad comparative method. Then, there are specific problems encountered by Africanists in the field, most notably the dangers involved in
The Migration-Displacement Nexus
African Evaluation Journal
Background: In this article, the authors make a case for weaving indigenous knowledge systems (IK... more Background: In this article, the authors make a case for weaving indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) with monitoring and evaluation of interventions targeted at communities on the African continent. Current efforts do not make explicit reference to indigenous knowledge in Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE). Indigenous knowledge systems are implied as the defining aspect of MAE, being called upon to be fused with existing evaluation systems and practices in order to enhance evaluation in African communities.Objective: To call for enrichment of the MAE in setting the agenda and bring agency to evaluation practices in Africa against centuries of unsustainable developmental practices that continue to underdevelop the continent.Method: This article explores aspects of IKS which challenge Western hegemonic epistemologies in evaluation approaches and practices in Africa.Results: It is argued that associations such as African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) should strive to become knowledge hubs...
Journal of Contemporary African Studies
The progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights as enshrined in South Africa's Constitution r... more The progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights as enshrined in South Africa's Constitution remains a pipe dream for many poor and vulnerable people, 23 years after the collapse of apartheid. In the case of Nokotyana and Others v Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and Others, the Constitutional Court (CC) decided on the interpretation of the rights of access to basic services such as sanitation and high mast lighting. In this case, community members from Harry Gwala informal settlement near Johannesburg compelled the state, through courts of law, to upgrade the settlement and to provide basic services. Although the CC did not engage with the content of the socioeconomic rights claimed by the community, it did eventually order the state to upgrade the settlement within fourteen months of the judgment. This article discusses the extent to which the state complied with the judgement and what kinds of challenges were experienced in implementing the court order. Empirical data was collected through interviews with different actors. The findings highlight the complexities surrounding implementation of the court judgement.
Key Concepts in this study are: What is resistance? Why resist? Situating resistance Forms o... more Key Concepts in this study are:
What is resistance?
Why resist?
Situating resistance
Forms of resistance
Gains from resistance
Cross-border shopping by Zimbabweans in Musina: Meanings, modalities and encounters (c.2000 to 2016), 2018
This thesis examines experiences of Zimbabweans with cross-border shopping in South Africa—an und... more This thesis examines experiences of Zimbabweans with cross-border shopping in South Africa—an understudied phenomenon, within the literature on cross-border mobility in Southern Africa. Its aims are to examine the meanings, modalities and practices associated with cross-border shopping by Zimbabweans in South Africa’s border town of Musina; and to understand these shoppers’ encounters with various political and economic actors across the Zimbabwe-South Africa border. The specific case pertains to Zimbabwean cross-border shoppers who in the last two decades have frequently travelled to the South African border town of Musina to acquire and consume all kinds of commodities. Its setting is the period of crisis as from 2000 when the country faced an economic meltdown characterised by hyperinflation, commodity shortages and political violence. The economic crisis in Zimbabwe has changed in shape and colour since 2009;—consumer goods are in abundance and readily available, yet the observed increase in cross-border shopping means that it has a base not only in structural factors but also in the agency of actors. The main argument of this thesis is that, the economic meltdown served primarily as a trigger which ignited these cross-border shopping activities but over time the exponential increases in volume, geographic spread and across different classes of Zimbabweans can be attributed to the aspirations and choices of those who engage in such activities. The thesis contends that cross-border shoppers, just like their immigrant counterparts, hold aspirations of a good life, which they believe will be realised through crossing an international border to a place where they can acquire needs and desires for a bargain and better quality. Musina’s prominence as a shopping destination is not because of its proximity to the border but also due to the arrival in recent decades of a community of traders who successfully exploit border differentials and easily satisfy their Zimbabwean customers’ needs. Since the study historically assesses economic and social developments of the contemporary period, it applies a contemporary historical approach which involves interdisciplinarity through the use of data collection methods applied in disciplines such as social anthropology, sociology and politics, to name a few. This methodological approach also brings together theories of mobility, borders, aspirations and capabilities to meet the study’s research objectives.