L A ESTRUCTURA GENERAL DEL TEXTO

Chapter 1 of this study presented the orientation to the study, which also provided the problem statement, research questions and the objectives of the study. Chapter 2 provided the literature review of the study, which outlined the South African Apartheid environmental effects to the local economic development, especially in cities previously falling under the homelands and the impact of the Apartheid laws in black townships and locations. In chapter 1, an overview of the methodology for the analysis and interpretation of data for this study was outlined briefly. This chapter highlights the methods used in this study, including the research design, sampling, instruments, procedure, data analysis and ethical issues.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

The researcher conducted a qualitative investigation in order to determine the extent to which LED has contributed towards the socio-economic development of former homeland areas since 1994. Qualitative researchers are interested in understanding the meaning people have constructed, that is, how people make sense of their world and the experiences they have in the world. (Merriam, 2009: p.13).

The researcher wanted to collect information from key informants, and to understand how they view LED in their respective areas. According to Hussey et al. (1997), the research methodology is the reflection of the whole approach of the research process. The methodology in this research is particularly concerned with the collection of data, sampling and the data analysis methods.

The researcher selected this research design due to the nature of the required information and the sample size used in the research study. Furthermore, in the value of qualitative research in finding solutions to social problems is defined by McBride and Schostak (2014) who opiate that qualitative research seeks to articulate the views of people studied and often analyse the data in ways that are likely to be

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alien to those studied. Furthermore, McBride and Schostak (2014) asserts that the qualitative research is interested in answering questions such as “why” and it is not prepared to simply accept the quantitative answers. Quantitative research has a tendency to 'clarify' where clarification is not appropriate (McBride and Schostak, 2014). Rabinowitz (2014) also explains the qualitative methods of assessment as ways of gathering information that yield results that can’t easily be measured by or translated into numbers. In other words, in obtaining information from the people, qualitative methods are not concerned with numbers per se, but with information related to the people studied. Oka and Shaw (2000) perceive the qualitative research methods as attempting to understand meanings that people give to their deeds or to social phenomena. In other words, researchers see people from the inside rather than from the outside of their daily existence.

3.3. STUDY DESIGN

The study design to be deployed is a case study. It will primarily focus on MMM, with a specific focus on its ability to deploy its LED program towards addressing the socio-economic inequalities between the former homeland areas and the established urban Centre (i. e the former Bloemfontein city council) since the integration of these areas into the new Mangaung metro. Rowley (2002) explains the rationale for using case studies in research by indicating that the case study research is good for contemporary events when the relevant behaviour cannot be manipulated. Rowley (2002) also reiterates that the case study research uses a variety of evidence from different sources, such as documents, artefacts, interviews and observation, and this goes beyond the range of sources of evidence that might be available in historical study.

Neale and Thapa (2006) opiate that a case study is a story about something unique, special, or interesting stories that can be about individuals, organizations, processes, programs, neighbourhoods, institutions, and even events. According to Neale and Thapa (2006) the case study gives the story behind the result by capturing what happened to bring it about, and can be a good opportunity to highlight a project’s success, or to bring attention to a particular challenge or difficulty in a project.

Furthermore, Neale and Thapa (2006) assert that case studies might be selected because they are highly effective, representative, typical, or of special interest.

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The case study approach is adopted here in the context of continued under development within most of the former homeland (TBVC states) areas around the country which have since 1994 been integrated into the 9 provinces, and subsequently into the 245 local authorities since the adoption of the Municipal structures and systems acts.

An assessment over time as published in the 15 year review of government as well as the community survey of 1997 and the census of 2011 have all indicated that the poorest municipalities in the country have been identified within these homelands.

Furthermore the same data show that the provinces reported to have the highest level of underdevelopment, poverty, challenges in governance and overall performance continues to reflect this spatial trend. This study seeks to gain a better understanding on this national phenomenon within the context of Mangaung.

3.4 DATA COLLECTION AND METHOD OF ANALYSIS 3.4.1 Sampling

 Sampled municipality. The Mangaung Metro Municipality was purposively sampled as a unit of study, because of the accessibility of data to the researcher, as the researcher resides within the area. Furthermore, the municipality provided more answers to the local economic development analysis as it is perceived as the capital of the Free State province.

 Sampled participants. The participants sampled for this study were also purposively selected such that they would be able to provide answers to the data collecting instruments. The study sample consisted of 10 community members and government officials from the Mangaung Metro Municipality.

These included 5 males and 5 females from the Mangaung Metro Municipality workers, especially officials who occupied strategic economic positions such as Chief Financial Officer (CFOs) and, Integrated Development Plans officials (IDPs) and chattered accountants. The study sample includes people with different religious beliefs, of various ages and places of origin. Of the 10 participants, 4 are from Bloemfontein, 3 from Botshabelo, and 3 from Thaba

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Nchu. Furthermore, the following aspects as illustrated in chapter 1 were also considered during the data collecting procedures:

 Ethical considerations: the researchers considered ethical aspects in relation to the community members, especially in dealing with a diversity which incorporates religion, culture and age.

 Time: the researcher considered time limitations, which are detrimental to data collection in relation to the concentration span of the respondents. The researchers considered that the respondents would be tired of responding to questions after a certain time-frame which required the shortening of questions to that effect.

 Funding: the researcher’s assistance in data gathering required to be funded.

Therefore, the researcher considered the time spent with the assistance in relation to remunerating of services of the assistance.

 Distance: the researcher considered the distance which should be travelled by the respondents, which would have an adverse impact on the time spent to gather data in responding to questions.

The following figure illustrates the map of the areas where respondents were selected for data collection within the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (fig.3).

Figure: 3 Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality Map Source: Google Maps

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In figure 3 above, the area demarcated with a pink ink in the map indicates the boundaries of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality area where respondents to this study were obtained. The demarcated area above includes cities such as Bloemfontein, Thabanchu and Botshabelo.

3.5 INSTRUMENTS

The researcher used a semi-structured interview as an instrument for data collection.

The researcher based the conclusions provided on chapter 5 on the data collected during the interviews. The researcher had questions, which assisted in structuring how the interview should go. The researcher set up interview dates with government officials. Non-probability sampling specifically purposive sampling was used in this case to select government officials, because of their understanding of LED.

The interview was conducted in English for government officials, and either seSotho or Setswana for community members as the languages are predominant languages spoken in the area. The researcher did not request the names of the respondents.

The interview was preceded by a letter of introduction explaining the purpose of the study. The semi-structured questionnaire used is included as Appendix 1.

3.6 DATA COLLECTION PROCESS AND ANALYSIS 3.6.1 The framework for analysis

The respondents’ responses have been clustered into the following themes:

Theme 1: Impact of the implementation of LED on spatial and social equity for the former Botshabelo, Thaba Nchu, and Bloemfontein.

Theme 2: An extent to which greater economic integration was part of conscious