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

not only drink traditional sorghum beer, they also consume South African
Brewery brands which are available in almost all shops and spazas 656 .
Another identity marker found in the Makgabeng area is about class and the
economic conditions of the communities there. Makgabeng comprises
mostly rural villages of bought farms. The small sizes of farms could not
sustain the growing population of people and livestock. As a result, in
almost all the villages, the subsistence economies were destroyed by
overcrowding and overgrazing which all resulted in serious problems such
as soil erosion. With the elimination of subsistence farming in which the
rural communities such as those in Makgabeng were forced to survive on,
many people became poor. As a result, most people resorted to migrant
labour – as already indicated – in order to supplement their incomes for their
livelihoods. Few people received good education which gave them better
jobs such as teaching, nursing and police service.
However, the new democratic government brought relief to the poor people
in the Makgabeng area to a certain extent. Most young men and women
found employment in the newly expanded civil service. Some of them are
municipal councillors and government officials from municipal, district, up to
provincial levels. The new government also expanded the pension grants to
most of the elderly, and this meagre money is a lifeline of most families in
the Makgabeng area as it is the only source of income in most of the
656 Spaza is a small business normally run from a home.
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