Masters Degrees (History)
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- ItemA man for all reasons : an economic and political biography of Sir Abe Bailey, 1864-1940(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Steinke, Katherine; Chetty, Suryakanthie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sir Abe Bailey, 1864-1940, was a South African business magnate and statesman, who left a lasting legacy on the economic and political scenes of his homeland. Born into a middle-class, immigrant family in the Cape Colony, Bailey navigated the complex landscape of colonial-era South Africa, emerging as one of the period's most salient and idiosyncratic figures. Drawing on various historical documents and primary sources, this study details the development of Bailey's rise in the economic sphere, exploring the strategies, technologies, and historical events that enabled him to amass a vast fortune, during the rise of Johannesburg and the gold mining industry. Delving into Bailey's multi-faceted life, this thesis seeks to understand his political legacy. It examines both his successes and setbacks in South Africa's political arena, as well as his motivations, aspirations, and ultimate impact on the nation's political past. The interplay of these two themes of economics and politics provides insight into the dynamics of wealth and power in the late 19th, and early to mid-20th centuries. This biography analyses both the positive and adverse features of Bailey’s character and actions and draws a more comprehensive picture than has been available from previous studies. “A Man For All Reasons: A Biographical Analysis of Abe Bailey,” offers a detailed analysis of Bailey’s life and impact, and his relationship with South Africa’s tumultuous past.
- Item`n Geskiedenis van die Rooms-Katolieke Kerk van Stellenbosch, 1948-1994(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Osborne, Nienke Joy; Visser, Wessel (Wessel Pretorius), 1957-; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Roman Catholic Church in South Africa during the years of apartheid has been discussed extensively in academic literature. Although many sources are available on the Catholic Church, limited information is available on the Roman Catholic Church of Stellenbosch. This study is therefore an attempt to address this gap and contribute to South Africa’s church and town history as well as Afrikaans literature. This dissertation is a historical analysis of the socio-economic and political impact of the Roman Catholic Church on a South African community, more specifically on the “Coloured” community of Stellenbosch in the period 1948-1994. The influence of three apartheid laws namely, the Group Areas Act of 1950, the Bantu Education Act of 1953 and the Black Laws Amendment Act of 1957 will be examined to determine to what extent the laws influenced the development of the Catholic Church in Stellenbosch. The laws will also be discussed with relation to the three Stellenbosch churches, namely Saint Nicholas, Saint Marks and All Saints to ascertain the establishment and development of these churches in the “Coloured” community. This study essentially examines how and to what extent the image of the church has transformed throughout the years. Although the Catholic Church’s initial reaction to apartheid was delayed and non-responsive, the church has transformed through the course of the apartheid years, to advocate for freedom. This dissertation therefore argues that the involvement and development of the Catholic Church in Stellenbosch was beneficial to the “Coloured” community.
- ItemMaking useful men and women of our children : investigating the medical inspection of schools in the Cape Province, 1918-1938.(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Lemon, Kelsey; Fourie, Johan, 1982-; Sapire, Hilary; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The history of school medical services is an underrepresented area in the South African historiography, either of education, childhood, or medicine. Little is known about the ideological or legislative origins of inspections, nor how these programmes operated, and what effect they had on social meanings of childhood and the state of child health. The thesis addresses this gap by examining the pioneering years of the Cape school medical service, (1918-1938). The Cape Province in the interwar, segregation era offers a unique case given its size and history of liberalism. In the twentieth century, the state claimed greater responsibility for the welfare of some of its citizens; ameliorating white poverty while entrenching systems to segregate those who were black, coloured, or Indian. Beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing through the twentieth, childhood was progressively regulated through state intervention, compulsory education, and child welfare work. Nevertheless, one’s class, gender, and especially race mediated the extent to which this idealised (western, middle-class) vision of childhood was a possibility for all children. The thesis applies traditional qualitative techniques and quantitative analysis to a range of sources, chief among them being the annual reports of the school medical inspectors. It is found that those promoting school medical inspections touted the service as a best means for alleviating white poverty and securing a healthy, productive white population. The thesis thus uncovers the political origins of school medical inspections and contributes to understanding how child health was leveraged in discussions of the “poor white problem”. When inspections began in 1918, inspectors were restricted to visiting school board schools which were predominantly (but not exclusively) white. In examining the operation of school medical inspections, it is found that, while the service’s value was widely perceived, financial insufficiency limited what the inspectors were ultimately able to achieve. A failure to provide medical treatment for indigent children also restricted the service’s impact. The thesis argues that demands for state involvement in the provision of free treatment offer a window on this early period in South Africa’s social welfare history and societal notions about the state's responsibility to its youngest citizens. By applying a mixed-methods approach to the annual school medical inspection reports, the thesis explores the impact of the Cape school medical service. To do this, the statistical returns of the inspection reports were transcribed which (recognising bias and subjectivity inherent in the data) constitutes a new dataset for examining historical child health outcomes in the Cape. The thesis finds, through their annual reports, the inspectors constructed an image of child health. This image comprised subjective meanings of healthiness and the contemporaneous state of child health. By measuring public and parental compliance with inspections, the thesis finds that school medical inspections contributed to the medicalisation of childhood, education, and parenting. Through their everyday interaction with children, lectures to teachers, meetings with parents and publication of official reports, the Cape school medical service altered societal perceptions of the ideal childhood.
- ItemReflections in a broken mirror : a cinematic exploration of Afrikaans theatre post-apartheid, c. 1984–2022(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Fox-Martin, Amber Dawn; Bickford-Smith, Vivian; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.ENGLISH SUMMARY : The documentary-thesis, Reflections in a broken mirror, uses the medium of film to explore Afrikaans theatre history from 1984 to 2022. More specifically, this research defines and investigates a sub-genre of Afrikaans theatre that bears the following traits: engaging, cathartic, self-reflective, existential and boundary-pushing. Exploring theatre history through documentary film methodology is underutilised, moreover, this research proposes that the visual storytelling medium of theatre is best represented through film. The central question driving the film asks how this genre of Afrikaans theatre survived and adapted to a post-Apartheid South Africa. Reflections in a broken mirror explores theatre’s role in capturing the zeitgeist of different periods. While existing research has investigated broader trends in Afrikaans theatre post-1994 and the Afrikaans theatre festivals, these dissertations end their analyses between 2003 and 2006, leaving the subsequent period unchartered. Film sequences present case studies by combining archival sources with interviews to capture the historical moment of each case study. The key theatre productions explored in the film are TRITS (Mis, Mirakel, Drif) (1992–1994), Donkerland (1996), Drie Susters, Twee (1997), Boklied (1998), Ek, Anna van Wyk (1999), Aars! (2001), Saad (2007), Ons vir Jou (2008), Sakrament (2009), Die kortsondige raklewe van Anastasia W. (2010), and Balbesit (2013). Three generations of theatre makers emerged in this study. The first generation operated within the apartheid state-funded infrastructure between the 1970s and 1990s and were referenced in the preceding study, A Feast in Time of Plague. The second generation emerged as creators during the period of transition between the 1980s and 1990s. The third generation emerged at the turn of the century, creating work in the 2000s. The film notes that this sub-genre of theatre has experienced existential struggles throughout each period, with a recent decline in industry infrastructure after 2013. This study concludes that the methodological practice of documentary filmmaking is effective when exploring theatre history, due to the correlations between both storytelling mediums.
- ItemBeing public : musicians and the Market Theatre Cafe, 1976 - 1980(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Ncume, Pakama Sbongile; Matshoba, Pakama Sbongile; Lambrechts, Lizabe; Fransch, Chet; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.ENGLISH SUMMARY : In 1976 the Market Theatre Complex was opened in Newton, Johannesburg by Barney Simon and Mannie Manim. Their vision was to establish a non-discriminatory and inclusive theatre that operated outside the legislated segregation policies of the apartheid system. One of the venues in the complex was a small music entertainment space called the Market Theatre Café. The Café which operated from 1976 to 1978 was run and managed by David Marks and his wife Frances Marks. Throughout its short existence, the venue offered a platform for local and international musicians, English, Afrikaans, Zulu, and Sepedi singers-songwriters, folk musicians, township jazz groups, rock and punk groups, and jazz musicians to perform. While the performances in the Market Theatre Complex are well documented, very little has been written about the Café and the music and musicians who performed there. Using primary sources, specifically live sound recordings made of the performances at the Café, preserved in the Hidden Years Music Archive at Stellenbosch University, this study will offer an analysis of the concerts staged in the Market Theatre Café. Through investigating the musicians, the music performed and lyrics of songs, as well as the conversations on stage between musicians and/or with the audience - as well as the music productions staged at the venue - this study will explore how such music performances enabled the coming together and the “being public” of a community that sanctioned a space for freedom of expression and political action during times when “publics” and “being public” were highly regulated.