Commonwealth Youth and Development

Youth Entrepreneurship as a Strategy for Household Poverty Reduction in Umjindi Trust Village, Mpumalanga Province

Zethembe Mseleku, Thokozani Sukati — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores the contribution of youth entrepreneurship to poverty reduction in households of Umjindi Trust Village, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. This paper deems youth entrepreneurship as one of the strategies contributing to household poverty reduction in rural areas. This research adopted a qualitative approach to explore the contribution of youth entrepreneurship to household poverty reduction. Thus, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with youth entrepreneurs to elicit data. In addition, focus group discussions, consisting of family members of youth entrepreneurs, were conducted to supplement data from interviews. The results suggest that youth entrepreneurship is a survival strategy in Umjindi Trust Village’s job-scarce environment. It is evident that youth entrepreneurship strategy positively contributes to poverty reduction at household level, mainly through job creation for youth entrepreneurs themselves and community members. However, the potential of youth entrepreneurship is undermined by several challenges, including lack of start-up funding, unfavourable government regulations, lack of skills, and poor marketing. Therefore, this paper recommends the active participation of youth centres and organisations in decentralised entrepreneurial training and entrepreneurship support to promote youth entrepreneurship in remote areas.

A Critical Analysis of the African National Congress’s Inclination to the Freedom Charter: A Review of Implementation

Benjamin Rapanyane , Mpho Makgamatha, Faith Mkhatshwa — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Freedom Charter is supposed to be a guiding document on policy directives for the post-apartheid African National Congress (ANC) government. However, there is strong corroboration driving a lack of academic attention to this well-deserved scholarly subject. In simple terms, scholars do not pay much attention to linking the ANC to this important historical document. Against this background, we argue that the contemporary ANC is encountering several challenges with respect to the implementation of the tenets of the Freedom Charter. The adoption and utility of the “Promise Theory,” in the context of this article, is informed fundamentally by the need to theoretically frame the analysis within a relevant historical theoretical lens. This is done in order to best shape the broader analysis and scholarly arguments advanced in this article. This showcases all that has to do with the Freedom Charter and the various challenges facing the ANC in implementing the document. Methodologically, this article is informed by a complete document review and thematic content analysis.

Through Filmic Lenses: The Social Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Orphaned Girl Child in Zimbabwe

Maurice Taonezvi Vambe, Washington Mushore — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Millions of children worldwide have become orphaned for many reasons such as war, famine, displacement, disease, and poverty. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has drastically altered the world children live in. It has led to many children becoming orphans worldwide. An orphan, according to the World Vision, is a child younger than 18 years who has lost either one biological, foster or adoptive parent or both biological, foster or adoptive parents. The Sunday Mail of 12 November 2017 carried a story in which the United Nations International Children’s Fund reported that 17.8 million children worldwide have lost both parents (double orphan), with 153 million having lost one parent (single orphan). The United Nations International Children’s Fund, furthermore, reported that in Zimbabwe there were close to 2 million orphans, with an estimated 3 900 orphans being raised in orphanages. The social roles, rights and privileges of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS have ultimately become disrupted particularly in child-headed households. Guided by the media reflection hypothesis coupled with a qualitative content approach, this article critically examines Everyone’s Child, a Zimbabwean feature film directed by Tsitsi Dangarembga in 1996, to discuss some of the social impacts of HIV/AIDS on the orphaned girl child in Zimbabwe. Films play an important role in society. They act as reflectors or mirrors of society; therefore, this article argues that the film Everyone’s Child reflects back to society which challenges are faced by children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in child-headed families in Zimbabwe. The absence of biological parents therefore makes the life of orphans stressful and affects their well-being negatively.

Evaluating the Implementation of Public Participation in Service Delivery Planning in the Democratic Age: A Case of South African Municipalities

France Khutso Lavhelani Kgobe, Mohamed Saheed Bayat, Abdulrazak Karriem — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The main objective of this article is to evaluate the implementation of public participation in service delivery planning in the democratic age. Over the past few years, there has been a shift in the responsibility of service delivery planning from a centralised (national) level of government to a more decentralised (municipal) level. Contemporary perspectives on planning suggest that the responsibility is no longer regarded as a hierarchical process, but rather as a collaborative process that involves the active participation of citizens as key stakeholders. The notion of public participation is regarded as a crucial factor in the democratisation of service delivery. This is a desktop study, also known as a conceptual study, that is based on collaborative planning theory and democratic decision-making theory to develop ideas and arguments. The article highlights the importance of public participation in service planning, emphasising its significance despite the intricate structures, obstacles, and substantial administrative challenges involved. The assessment is conducted to determine the viability of implementing practical strategies that can effectively support a sustainable service delivery process. The findings of the article indicate that the involvement of the public in integrated development planning (IDP) processes is of utmost importance in ensuring the long-term viability of service delivery. This study posits that it is imperative to assess the continued applicability of the integrated development planning tool in effectively addressing developmental obstacles in rural regions of South Africa. In addition, it is recommended that future studies prioritise the assessment of whether the practice of creating the service delivery budget implementation plan separately from the (IDP) process is not conducive to the emergence of service delivery protests. This would involve investigating the potential misalignment between these two factors across multiple municipalities.

Community Technology Centres as Bridges to Foster Social and Digital Equality amongst the Youth in South Africa

Blessing Mbatha — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This article sheds some light on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in promoting youth development in selected communities in KwaZulu-Natal. The study targeted the youth in four selected community technology centres in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Through a survey, 207 youth were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. In addition, data were tabulated and presented using tables, frequencies and percentiles. The study was informed by the diffusion of innovations theory. The results indicate that a variety of ICTs are available in the telecentres to provide the youth with much-needed access to information and improved communication. The study recommends that there should be sufficient and coherent government policies regulating the training of the youth to effectively use these ICTs. Government should ensure that adequate ICT training is offered to the youth. In addition, there is a need to gradually include ICT training in the school curricula at all levels, including primary education.