Microsoft Word - PhD Thesis Final.pdf - University of Limpopo ...

each and every approach, depending on various circumstances. For this
study, after considering all practical circumstances, I decided to carry out
interviews at all stages of my interview – beginning, middle and end – but
putting much emphasis on the first stage, in which I familiarised myself with
the territory, in order to absorb and assess what I would be hearing. Another
reason why I put emphasis on early interview was because I needed to form
an overall view of the territory, and also to be able to interview the very
elderly, frail and those who were seriously ill – who are all key witnesses at
the earliest possible time.
Selecting potential interviewees.
On deciding on whom to interview, the most relevant questions are: how
long were the potential informants acquainted with the subject under study,
and was this first hand information or not? Fellow academics or authors
could also help to identify helpful interviewees which they themselves relied
upon in their works. Ed Eastwood, a rock art specialist who was recording
and studying Khoisan and Sotho rock art paintings in Makgabeng, as well
as Tlou Makhura, who wrote his masters thesis on the 1894 Malebogo-Boer
War, were some of the professionals I relied upon in identifying helpful
informants. Other academics whose studies are based on the Makgabeng,
those whom I have consulted, were Benjamin Smith as well as Johny van
Schalkwyk. They all helped me to identify the most informative interviewees
about the Makgabeng area.
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