2011-NMMU-Research-Report - Research Management - Nelson ...

Doctorates
The citations represent a concise, yet crisp capturing of some of the
research sampled. Covered in these citations are research findings
encompassing a broad spectrum of research endeavours across the
faculties.
The contextually relevant, current and solution-oriented findings
speak - inter alia - to issues such as the contribution of Xhosa initiation
practices to moral regeneration, performance management models,
poverty reduction strategies, dehydration of cyclohexane, optimising
polymer solutions, and looking at the success factors of professional
and business women in South Africa.
NMMU has consistently made strides towards increasing the
number of doctoral graduates thereby making a meaningful
contribution towards the knowledge economy. This is the
result of a strategic drive to recruit doctoral students nationally
and internationally across a wide spectrum of disciplines and
professions. Profiled in this section are doctoral graduates who
participated in the Doctoral Dissemination Series. The Doctoral
Dissemination Series is intended to provide new doctoral graduates
an opportunity to share their research findings with the scholarly
community as well as refine their papers for potential publication in
accredited journals under the guidance of an editor of a Department
of Higher Education and Training (DHET) accredited journal.
Luvuyo Ntombana
Anthropology
An investigation into the role of Xhosa male initiation in moral
regeneration.
119
This research study, conducted in Mdantsane (East London),
Whittlesea (Hewu), Njiveni (Libode) and Cala, sought to investigate
the role of the amaXhosa male initiation in moral regeneration
focusing on socio-cultural, educational and religious aspects
related to moral values. The role of the amaXhosa male initiation
as a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood, how it was viewed
in the past, its impact upon the initiates and its contribution to
the moral upholding of values were investigated. It was further
intended to establish whether Westernisation and urbanisation had
brought a shift of meaning and emphasis to the current initiation
practice and, if so, to what extent has the ceremony departed from
traditional norms and what challenges has the ceremony to face
at present.
Research findings suggested that in the past the amaXhosa male
initiation played a role in the instruction of moral values. However,
this study identified a shift of meaning in the practice, which has
been more evident in urban than in rural areas. The shift suggested
that the instruction role has changed in prominence and there
is less emphasis on teaching and appropriate adult behaviour.
Instead, there are numerous negative influences such as abuse of
alcohol and drugs, promiscuity among the youth and disobedience
towards elders. It is argued that revisiting the teachings surrounding
male initiation may contribute to productive debates on how young
males are taught morality in today’s society. Furthermore, if the
Xhosa male initiation could be contextualised, it could play a role
in the instruction of boys as they graduate to manhood and could
contribute to moral regeneration in South Africa.