SURVIVING TRANSITION IN THE GIYANI DISTRICT: THE ROLE OF SMALL-SCALE RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN A PERIOD OF RAPID SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE by Elmary R. Buis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR PHILOSOPHIAE in the DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA Pretoria February 2011 Supervisor: Prof. J.D. Kriel © University of Pretoria i Dedicated to my dad, Hannes Buis, My husband, Bersan Lesch, and our sons, Dieter and Mikhail. ii DECLARATION I declare that the thesis, which I hereby submit for the degree Doctor Philosophiae (Anthropology) at the University of Pretoria is my own work and has not previously been submitted by me for a degree at another university. ______________________ _______________ Elmary Buis Date iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Soli Deo Gloria I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the following people whose invaluable contribution made this study possible: Professor Johann D. Kriel, for his supervision and guidance through the complex fields of development and anthropology. Dr Herman Els, for showing such confidence in me and who initiated the idea of doctoral studies in and about Giyani that put me on the road which culminated in this thesis. A very special thanks to Petra Terblanche, who introduced me to development in Giyani, for her special interest and keenness to make a difference in the lives of the people in Limpopo. She introduced me to chiefs, and her excellent work and reputation opened many doors for me. Elna Japisa Mathonsi, for all her energy and for sharing her knowledge of development in Giyani and Limpopo as a whole. As a community leader, she guided me into the real world of a rural village and all its challenges. Chief Homu (HW Chabalala), who opened doors for me, not only to Makoxa Village but the entire Homu Tribal Area, which consists of several settlements. His humility and wise leadership made my entire residency a delight. Mr MW Chabalala, spokesperson for Chief Homu, was a pillar of strength and gave me full support in all matters concerning the Homu Tribal Authority and its people. Mr Mathebula, the secretary of the Homu Tribal Authority. Chiefs Mabunda, Shiviti, Nkuri and Headmen Chabalala, Tswale and Malatji for granting me permission to do research in the areas under their jurisdiction. iv I would like to record my gratitude to Ivy Maluleke, who was my research assistant, scribe, interpreter and translator during the study. She also led the teams of student assistants during the survey that was done in Giyani and the selected villages. To this team of dedicated assistants from Sikhunyani High School and to Agnes Mabasa and her sister, my sincere thanks. To the committee and members of the four projects, the Giyani Aged Garden; the Avelanani crèche, the Ahitipfuxeni Community Project and the Hi Hlurile Skills Development Project, I am greatly indebted. My profound thanks goes to Sarah Masunga, who had become a friend and mentor. My sincere thanks to my former colleagues and students at the Giyani College of Education and the Giyani Science Centre; Connie Babane and her family; Dorah Mahlahla; Pat Dlamini; for their assistance and encouragement. I also want to express my appreciation to Conny Lubisi and Aaron Ramoduko for the translation of the survey questionnaires into Xitsonga and Sepedi respectively; to Nhlanhla Makondo for his assistance; Idette Noomé and Barbara Bradley for editing this thesis; and to the University of Pretoria’s librarians for their assistance. On the home front, I am deeply appreciative of the love, understanding, assistance and prayers of my family, without whose support this journey would not have been possible or meaningful. Special thanks to my sister, Jeanette Buis, for her encouragement and practical support. I also want to acknowledge Kokwana Jane Hlongwane for being a dear friend and a granny to my sons. v ABSTRACT The literature on development abounds with examples of development failure, yet people still choose to be involved in small-scale development projects. The study explores the unforeseen and less obvious value of projects in the lives of ordinary people in Giyani, Limpopo, South Africa. During the past three decades, the place and people have experienced considerable political, economic and social transformation – Giyani started as the capital of the Gazankulu homeland, but is now in a unified country, part of the present dual economy. Hence, the link between the Giyani project participants’ experiences and the adjustment to the changes was investigated. Interviews with members of four small-scale development projects formed the ethnographic component of the study. These interviews were augmented by a household survey to determine the participation levels in small-scale projects. The study explores the extent to which the needs of the participants are being met by the projects, using Bourdieu’s distinction between economic, social, cultural and symbolic capital as a lens. The effects of ‘structural adjustment’ measures on qualified professionals (civil servants), their participation in projects and adaptation to changes are examined. The study also investigates the experiences of gender empowerment and changes with regard to subservience to customary law and traditional authorities. The gender and power relations of the ageing process were also examined. The study examined the Avelanani crèche, which was formed to provide pre-school education for the children of refugees from Mozambique, and which was funded through missionary networks. The Giyani Aged Garden project, established by the homeland government, provides a space for retired people from both the civil service and those from poor backgrounds to share and function for their mutual benefit. Ahitipfuxeni, a town-based project, has stage-managed its qualification for funding from various government departments and agencies. By contrast, Hi Hlurile, a project established during ‘structural adjustment’ by professionally trained women, straddles the Second vi and First Economies and is using business principles, product and service quality, and global connectedness to access ‘social funds’ and other networking opportunities. The study has revealed that these four projects have not achieved the goal of economic empowerment, but that they do provide a safe haven for women and men in times of rapid changes in the political, social and economic spheres. The participants demonstrate agency within a project environment that promotes participative decision- making, democratic leadership and activities supporting empowerment through the accumulation of various forms of capital. The survey demonstrated that 16.2% of the residents of Giyani were involved in small-scale projects. Of the project participants, 89% were women, and 63% of the households of project participants depended solely on government grants for regular income. The findings of the study were used to analyse the government’s plan to facilitate development through Community Development Practitioners, a concept that would promote State planning and control that would stifle the agency of people, would increase the size of the civil service and absorb funding that should reach the poor. Key words: ageing, agency, Bourdieu, capital, customary law, development project, gender, Gazankulu, Giyani, Second Economy. vii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ‘PURGE…to make clean and free from something evil: to purge one’s soul of hatred.’ Longman Dictionary for Contemporary English (1978:842) This is what my stay in Giyani did for me. I grew up in a town where the mayor proudly claimed that his was the first town to implement the Group Areas Act. My family was one of many that had to relocate from the ‘white’ part of town. After I left high school, I attended a university that had a quota for ‘non-whites’ (as non-entities), and I had to apply for permission from the government to attend this white university in the 1980s. This was a period characterised by intense student uprisings and violent protest. I experienced deep conflict because, on the one hand, I wondered whether I was selling out my oppressed fellow citizens and, on the other, I was clinging to my stubborn belief that in the country of my birth I had a right to the best academic education possible. The University of Cape Town (UCT) was the university closest to the Cape Flats, where I lived. At that time, I regarded the ‘Bantustans’ as hateful reserves and believed firmly that their leaders were collaborating with an evil system. After three decades of living under apartheid, I was euphoric about the first fully democratic elections in 1994. Soon after the elections, I accepted an opportunity to lecture at a college in Gazankulu, which I believed to be a ‘Bantustan’ and not a ‘homeland’, as the previous regime had called it. Because I believed then, as I still do, that universal education is important, I wanted to share my good education with people who had been subjected to an inferior Bantu education in an area of deprivation. This thesis reflects the purging process I underwent in Giyani: my assumptions were greatly challenged as I was confronted with a reality where apartheid policies had been used to benefit the ‘oppressed’. Instead of my teaching the people of Giyani, I became the scholar. After a decade in Giyani, I now live and work happily in Pretoria – a place that I had often referred to before as the ‘home of the oppressor’. I am grateful that Giyani has purged my soul of the hatred caused by apartheid.