Informal settlement: theory versus practice in KwaZulu/Natal a Zulu/Natal

In contemporary South Africa, partnerships between service providers in government, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and community based organisations have been identified as a means to strengthen communities and the sustainability of social services. However, the unequal power relations that exists between and within these organisations often leads to fragmentation, duplication, and lack of coordination of social services. Using Fowler’s (1998) conceptualisation of authentic partnerships, this qualitative phase of a larger study explored the challenges of building authentic partnerships in Bhambayi, a predominantly informal settlement in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Individual interviews and a focus group held with nine service providers revealed that intraorganisational challenges, cross-boundary and inter-organisational relations as well as political influences were obstacles to the development of authentic partnerships. The article suggests that open communication, clarity of roles and mutual trust between service providers is vital.

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TRANSNATIONAL ISLAM AND PUBLIC SPHERE DYNAMICS IN KWAZULU-NATAL: RETHINKING SOUTH AFRICA'S PLACE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN WORLD

Africa ◽

10.1017/s0001972010000069 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 108-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Preben Kaarsholm

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Informal Settlement ◽

African Countries ◽

Youth Movement ◽

The North ◽

Muslim Youth ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

The Indian Ocean ◽

Transnational Islam ◽

Indian Ocean World

ABSTRACTIslam in KwaZulu-Natal has typically been seen as an Indian preserve and as closely linked with contestations around South African Indian identities. Against this background, dedication to Islam among Africans has appeared as exceptional, represented by groupings with particular histories of immigration from Mozambique, Malawi or Zambia. Since the 1970s, strong efforts have been made to extend the call of Islam to Africans in the province, as demonstrated in the mobilization efforts of the Islamic Propagation Centre International and the Muslim Youth Movement, and in the dawah projects of transnational Islamic NGOs like the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. Following the transition to democracy in 1994, Islam played an important role in establishing contacts between South Africans and the thousands of immigrants from other African countries – many of them with an Islamic background – who have been coming into KwaZulu-Natal. The essay discusses two different examples of Islamic practice in an African informal settlement on the outskirts of Durban, and demonstrates their different understandings of the relationship between Islam and African cultural ‘custom’. It places these differences of local theology and politics in the context of propagations of Islam as manifested in the writings of Ahmed Deedat and recent examples of pamphlet literature by African Muslims. It argues that understandings of Islam in KwaZulu-Natal as an African religion relate the area to the Indian Ocean world not only though links across the sea to South Asia, but also along the coast – bridging the gap between the Swahili continuum to the north and transnational Islam in the Cape.

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Xenophobic Experiences of Foreign African Women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

SOUTHERN AFRICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ◽

10.25159/2415-5829/4103 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tanusha Raniga

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Poverty Alleviation ◽

Informal Settlement ◽

African Women ◽

Feminist Methodology ◽

Foreign National ◽

Economic Context ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

And Gender ◽

Insight Into

This paper examines the complex links between poverty, the gendered nature of xenophobia and the related experiences of foreign national women and their struggle to survive while residing in a predominantly informal settlement in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using feminist methodology, the paper focuses on 12 foreign African women who relate their stories of vulnerability and experiences of xenophobia; a phenomenon they assert is not common in their own home countries. The empirical data discussed in this paper include the women’s motivations for their migration to South Africa and locate this discourse within the broader African socio-cultural, political and economic context. Further, data elicited from the interviews provide insight into the various “shades” of xenophobia as experienced by these women. The paper contributes to the debates on the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality as a prerequisite to poverty alleviation and ultimately economic growth in Africa.

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