This thesis explores how diverse ways of knowing and being with the Kuils River, located in Cape Town, South Africa, are shaped and in turn shape the river. The management of water (in pipes and rivers) and the development of water infrastructure are deeply rooted in societal development agendas that, over time, have been embedded in discourses of empire, economic growth, state formation, sustainability and technological efficiency.

In South Africa, the provision of social grants, such as the Child Support Grant (CSG), has the aim of addressing high poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. The CSG in particular has had positive impacts on the educational, nutritional and health outcomes of children.

This thesis and cartography form part of an artistic research project that seeks to disrupt representationalism in South African contemporary dance praxis. The study argues that discursive methodologies risk recrafting colonial scripts and tether contemporary dance practices within a framework that perceives such practices as responses to the aesthetics and practices of Western theatre dance.

As a cultural practitioner, my work has often entailed choral practices within ensembles and beyond. My interest in the migration of ideas, especially those of a musical nature, has presented the use of Euro-American hymns in South Africa as a viable site for investigation.

The study reported in this thesis examined the vulnerability and agency of a group of adolescent orphans in the context of sexual violence in and around a township secondary school. This qualitative study was located within a transformative paradigm and employed a participatory visual methodology in its objective to pursue the notion of research as an intervention.

The high dropout rate of undergraduate students in institutions of higher learning continues to be a concern for the higher education sector globally. Although university dropout has been studied over the years, little attention has been paid to the psychosocial factors that predict university dropout.

The central thesis pursued in this study is that xenophobia and its violent manifestation thrive in post-apartheid South Africa owing to contextual dynamics chiefly characterized by normlessness and weak law enforcement. The scourge of xenophobia and its attendant violent reaction to the presence of foreign citizens in immigrant receiving countries, such as post-apartheid South Africa, is not only a threat to global peace and security, but also an impediment to achieving our full humanity and a common future.

Teaching in the foundation phase (Grade R to 3), particularly of children who are at the ages of 5 to 9 years, is still dominated by female teachers. Male teachers both globally and in South Africa are still under-represented in the early years of teaching.

n the global art market, art fairs have become very popular art events. This thesis examines whether and how major art fairs in South Africa empower visual artists at the grassroots level. The study used practice-based and practice-led strategies as additional units of analysis to argue that by expanding partnerships and participation networks at South African major art fairs, (namely: the FNB Joburg Art Fair, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Turbine Art Fair, and Art Africa Fair), socioeconomic inclusion of grassroots artists can be achieved.

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) are at an increased risk of developing additional chronic conditions, globally. In South Africa, the prevalence of HIV Chronic Co-Morbidities (HIV CCMs) ranges from 20% to 60%. Both PLWH and HIV negative people with a family history of chronic conditions and who engage in chronic risk factors - such as smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, and poor diet – have an increased risk of developing hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Older age, females and low levels of income are other known predictors of HIV CCMs.