Molefi Lenka

Community-based mental health support for orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa: a triangulation study

Community-based care is receiving increasing global attention as a way to support children who are orphaned or vulnerable due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology, this study assesses community-based responses to the well-being of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and compares these responses with the actual mental health of OVC in order to evaluate the South African government’s approach of funding community-based organisations (CBOs) that support and care for OVC. The study results show that the activities of CBOs mainly extend government services and address poverty. Although this should not be seen as insignificant, the paper argues that CBOs give very little attention to the mental health of OVC.

Housing conditions and mental health of orphans in South Africa

Literature from the developed world suggests that poor housing conditions and housing environments contribute to poor mental health outcomes, although research results are mixed. This study investigates the relationship between housing conditions and the socio-emotional health of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in South Africa. The results of the study are mainly inconclusive, although it is suggested that methodological considerations play a vital role in explaining the mixed results. However, a positive relationship was found between living in informal settlements and better socio-emotional health of the OVC. We speculate that the historical context of informal settlement formation in South Africa helps to explain this unexpected result.

Social disruption, mine closure and housing policy: evidence from the Free State Goldfields, South Africa

The creation of mine settlements became a common practice between 1950 and 1980. These mining towns were seen as places of permanent settlement. This permanency, together with the privatisation of mine-owned houses (mid-1980s) increased place attachment. Mine decline thus brought with it some form of social disruption. Whereas mining companies in Australia have attempted to minimise the social disruption caused by mine closure by introducing fly-in-fly-out arrangements, the post-apartheid housing policy in South Africa has focused on asset building in mining areas. We completed 180 interviews with representatives of households. The survey formed part of a panel survey and further included a control group and 15 qualitative interviews. Our results indicate that though members of the mining community have housing units that are larger than those of the control group, incomes are lower in the mining community, real income is in decline, smaller numbers of household members are contributing to income, self-assessments of wealth are characterised by lower ratings, household assets increase at a slower pace, and there is a stronger preference to continue to reside in the area. All of the above serves to illustrate the consequences of the asset-based strategies embedded in South African housing policy. The social disruption associated with mine closure further tends to lock households into locations, and thus inhibits mobility.

Assessing the Value of and Contextual and Cultural Acceptability of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Evaluating Mental Health Problems in HIV/AIDS Affected Children

ABSTRACT The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is an internationally recognized tool. This study aims to evaluate the cultural and contextual acceptability, and potential uses of the SDQ amongst Sesotho learners in South Africa. This paper uses reports from ten teachers based on their experience of using the SDQ. Teachers found the SDQ contextually relevant and easy to administer. They felt it assisted them in understanding the challenges learners were facing and to develop better relationships with them. Very few concerns were raised. The lack of referral options for affected learners and their own lack of appropriate skills generated frustration.

Planning for economic development in a secondary city? Trends, pitfalls and alternatives for Mangaung, South Africa

Abstract This paper examines Mangaung’s economic development initiatives against the background of the latest literature on secondary cities, with a specific emphasis on the 20-year period that has elapsed since the dawn of the postapartheid era. Although some of the plans aim to reverse apartheid planning it is argued that these plans are being hampered by the fact that they tend to focus on a local “buzz” option, and run counter to historical pathways for the city. Moreover, they do not take the value of an increasing knowledge economy into account, and they fail to contextualise the city’s development and future prospects in terms of its regional role. The paper identifies a number of pathways that build on history and include options for ensuring active participation in an increasing knowledge economy. Our contention is that the regional role of the city remains one of the key assets with a view to building future economic development pathways. Finally, a number of research themes are identified.

Informal settlement upgrading, assets and poverty alleviation: Evidence from longitudinal research in South Africa

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between housing as an asset and the accumulation of other assets. Using data from a longitudinal research project stretching over nearly 25 years, we have found that besides actual income, there have also been improvements in self-perceived wealth ranking, asset holding, housing size, infrastructure access and human capital. Not all households have however benefited or been found to be better off. We have found that those households who had settled in Freedom Square after 1994 were indeed better off than the earlier settlers. Asset building is a slow process, one driven by stability (accessing urban land and secure tenure), finding an address, accessing education and finding work or remaining employed (though not necessarily in this particular sequence). Contrary to what the Department of Human Settlements suggests, we have found little evidence that informal settlement dwellers build assets by means of the secondary housing market.

Informal settlement upgrading in South Africa: beneficiaries’ perceptions over nearly twenty-five years

ABSTRACT Research on informal settlement upgrading tends to focus on one-off case studies. This article investigates the changing experiences, over nearly 25 years, of people living in an upgraded informal settlement. We sought to determine how the perceptions of the residents of Freedom Square changed. Our latest survey (2014) included responses from 199 household representatives and followed earlier surveys. Firstly, we find that the upgrading of Freedom Square represents a first step towards ensuring the housing rights of black people in urban South Africa. Secondly, spatial infilling and locational advantage continue to play valuable roles. Thirdly, dweller control, in terms of which residents themselves are able to design extensions to their houses, remains important. Fourthly, social cohesion among community members is proving to be more important than access to a stand. Fifthly, urban management remains an important long-term requirement. Lastly, elements of informality persist in the area.