Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Honours / Post Graduate Diploma
Research Proposal
NAME(S) OF THE CANDIDATE:
Nomthandazo Mzobe
STUDENT NUMBER: 202046953
PROPOSED DEGREE:
FACULTY:
Humanities and Social Sciences
DEPARTMENT:
Sociology
SUPERVISOR:
Dr Bhoola
CO-SUPERVISOR:
DATE:
The proposal is approved by the following:
Name and Signature
Supervisor
Head of Department
Faculty
of
HSS
Ethics
Committee
Faculty of HSS Research
Committee Representative
Date
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1
3
PROBLEM STATEMENT .................................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена.
4
LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................. 2
5
Conceptual framework ....................................................................................................... 6
6
AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................. 7
7
Aims/Objectives ................................................................................................................. 7
8
Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 7
9
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY / PROCESS .................................................................. 7
10
Sampling method and sample size ..................................................................................... 7
11
Data collection method ...................................................................................................... 8
12
Data analysis method ......................................................................................................... 8
13
ETHICAL AND SAFETY ISSUES .................................................................................. 8
14
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 8
15
RESOURCES .................................................................................................................... 9
16
CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION ................................................................................... 9
17
SUPERVISOR DECLARATION ...................................................................................... 9
18
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 10
2 INTRODUCTION
This study has the understanding of how people have been affected economically by the July
riot of 2021. The July riot of 2021 have posed many economic challenges in KwaZulu-Natal.
In which some of these challenges include unemployment and increase in inflation, which led
to changes in food purchases. The increase of unemployment after the riot became the vigorous
issue which led to socio-economic imbalances in the families and also the society. Changes in
food purchases after the riot have created or increased food insecurities in the country. All this
have started with the general increase of prices according to the huge loses businesses have
faced, they have decided on increasing prices. Looting have caused the issue of a rand
depreciation, which have made food store to increase prices. Not only the rand depreciation
have caused the increase or change in food prices but also the reason they at food stock kept
piling up during looting. Which created a huge loss to many businesses. The other negative
economic impact that was raised up is socio-economic development. Socio-economic
development started lacking even more after looting. The investors started to step back on
trying to invest on building up again those places that were practically damaged by virtue of
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the riot. Looting is perceived differently by different people with various ideological beliefs.
Looting is a crucial tool to bring the much needed permanent change in the established and
acceptable inequality that characterize most once suppressed communities (Osterweil 2005). It
is the mass appropriation of distribution of wealth and property (Osterweil 2005). According
to those that frame it as functional, looting is conducted by the urban poor who target businesses
and all available commercial spaces. Looting is a means to an end, which is to improve the
survival of economically disadvantaged groups (Osterweil 2005). On the contrary, Quarantelli
and Dynes (1970) viewed looting as deviant behavior by community members that naturally
express some form of resentment.
3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Political and social tension erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Gauteng. “South Africa
has experienced hostile protests not seen since the end of apartheid in 1994 (Winning and
Wendell 2021). Initially, the civil protests were seen as expressing discontent with former
President Jacob Zuma over the allegations of state capture and corruption Discontent in judicial
custody. The politician defied a court order to appear before the Zondo state prisoners’ inquiry,
and the ex-politician was sentenced to fifteen months in prison for contempt of court. This legal
development has angered President Zuma’s supporters, sparking a growing divide. Protests in
support of Zuma erupted spontaneously, with protesters gathering at the former politician’s
residence in Nkandela. Protests erupted in the streets, culminating in an orgy of massive looting
(Hunter, Kaveel, and Wicks 2021). Initial protests turned into massive looting, massive
property damage and casualties in the crossfire (Melaba 2021). Large-scale looting has social
and economic impacts, with losses estimated at over R20 billion, urban insecurity, food
insecurity and social protection at risk for all. This had a significant impact on small businesses,
especially micro, rural, and township businesses that lack the resources to fully recover to
normalcy. Rising inflation, higher gasoline and electricity prices, and escalating prices of basic
commodities, among other things, are anticipated to stymie the recovery and weaken the
resilience and sustainability of many businesses in the future years. South Africa’s economic
performance has deteriorated in recent years as a result of recession, government
mismanagement, and a lack of accountability, which have exacerbated rising unemployment,
poverty, and inequality. Collective efforts from the business community, combined with
government financial help, would go a long way toward restoring small business resilience.
4 LITERATURE REVIEW
The impacts of looting in food security in South Africa
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In an opinion piece, Sihlobo (2021) acknowledges that South Africa is food secure at the
national level. However, there is a high level of food insecurity experienced at the household
level as people, particularly the poor are unable to have access to adequate food. Bowden
(2019) is of the view that there is existence of inequality regarding access of food in South
Africa and relates that the country is able to produce enough food to feed the entire population
but the poorer of the poor are unable to afford to buy it. This is confirmed in a report by
Statistics South Africa (2021), which maintains that there is sufficient food available for
everyone through domestic means of food production and food impacts. The accessibility of
such food, nonetheless, stands as the main problem at the household level because the
stubbornness of high income inequality.
The unrest and looting that surfaced in the country in July 2021 came at a time when the country
was still faced with challenges of hunger and food inadequacy. The majority of households
were lacking money and power to buy food due to their inability to generate income. The
looting caused further suffering, especially in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, from a
shortage of food due to the interruption of the food supply chain. This is continued by the
findings of Vander Merwe (2021) who state that the unrest and looting have caused significant
troubles in the prices and transportation of food and agricultural activities, which saw the prices
and tacked to food items drastically increase and the majority of citizens were left hungry. This
is because the food supply chains were disrupted not only in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng
provinces but in the country overall for the foreseeable future. According to Cokayne (2021),
the looting has caused huge demand for logistic networks and storage, which causes drastic
delays and challenges in food security.
The industries on the other hand have reported their concerns over the issues of unrest and
looting in relation to food security. The report by Heiberg (2021) on News 24 reveals that
farmers in South Africa were also the victims of the unrest and looting. This is due to the sad
reality that trucks were prevented from carrying products from farms and the manufacturing
sector, threatening the food supply. Consequences were felt immediately. Farmers from the
South African Agricultural Industry Association have reported the loss of about R3 million
worth of fresh produce that they did not transport because of the riot and people hijacking
trucks that were carrying food.
What are the financial impacts of looting?
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According to Rude (1964), there are many factors that contribute to riots, including deprivation,
inequality, exclusion, a lack of access to education or employment, rivalry for jobs, and a
general mistrust of the government (Miller, 2001; Abelmann and Lie, 1995; Olzak and
Shanahan, 1996). The most prevalent argument is that of deprivation, but it is not always
backed by data. (Muller, 1972; Bloombaum 1968). Furthermore, it has been asserted that the
length, ferocity, and dispersal of riots have more to do with how they are handled (such as the
police’s reaction) than with their underlying causes (see Miller’s 2001 work on the Watts riots
in the middle to late 1960s and the Rodney King riots in 19925). Economic factors play a much
more prominent role when it comes to the consequences of unrest. First and foremost, IMF
economist Metodij Hadzi- Vaskov and colleagues find a tight link between unrest and
subsequent economic performance (Hadzi- Vaskov, Pienknagura and Ricci 2021). On average,
major unrest events are followed by a percentage point reduction in GDP six quarters after the
events. Unrest motivated by socioeconomic factors is associated with sharper GDP
contractions than unrest associated with political motives. One of possible is that an epidemic
can reveal or aggregate preexisting fault lines in society such as inadequate social safety nets
or a perception of government incompetent. Consistent with this notion of the social scarring
effect of epidemics, we find that countries with more frequent severe epidemics also
experienced more unrest on average (Barrett and Chen 2021a)
Looting in Public Transport
There has been the complexity of looting which revealed inequality, poverty, and violence. The
taxi associations seem to be fighting for profitable routes. Whereas the supermarkets have burnt
down into ashes. The outbreak of looting became the intense problem for the taxi associations
since the communities were not going to malls or town to buy groceries. For example, in
Esikhawini they have burnt the mall and the ATM which made them close the whole mall
operation and people started buying food on the mobile stores. For taxi owners or taxi
associations rather, this became a huge loss because now most people were not going to
Esikhawini for groceries. All public transport in KwaZulu-Natal province, buses, taxis, and
trains stopped operating since the looting was spreading. What the other viewers have not
focused on is that did any of the people who got injured to death received any compensation
people.
Looting in Unemployment
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In Johannesburg they blame high unemployment and economic woes. An unemployed young
man living in Johannesburg South Africa’s largest city, said he joined in the widespread looting
because he cannot find a job. According to Nxesi from South African Government News
Agency, about 75 000 employees have been affected by the destruction in the two provinces
Employers in the organizations have been keened to understand their right to act against
employees who have been identified as looters or Vandals on social media. Footages has
surfaced of diverse of luxury vehicles merrily taking part in the looting of retail stores. In a
number of cases, the participants are identifiable through clear footage of their faces or vehicle
registration numbers. Employers were entitled to terminate the employment of such employees
where their after hours conduct has a negative impact on the employment relationship.
Looting in Small Entrepreneurial Businesses
There is little research on how crisis affect entrepreneurship or crisis management activities in
small businesses in either the broader crisis/ disaster literature, or the entrepreneurship/ small
business literature (for some exceptions see Galbraith and Stiles, 2016; Herbane, 2010, 2013).
This is surprising not only because small businesses are more likely to be affected but also
because they have an important role to play in post-crisis community recovery by providing
access to goods and services jobs and income (Cochrane 1992).
Looting on Investment in SA
South Africa burnt down the authorities dithered, striking fear in the hearts not only of shocked
South Africans but foreign investors too. Why, they will be wondering, would they invest in a
country where the safety of their property and stock cannot be guaranteed? Why would they
invest in a country where the rule of law cannot be enforced? Why would they invest in a
country where the government is obviously not in a country? Unfortunately for South Africans,
investors have not received satisfactory answers to those questions, even as the violence abated.
Looting in South African EducatioS
According to KwaZulu-Natal Education Department, nine more high schools, five more
primary schools, a teacher’s developmental centre and other educational centre were looted
during the unrest. 36 schools in the Umlazi District had been affected by the unrest of looting.
National Teachers Organization South Africa (Naptosa) Executive director Basile Manuel said
the Union was disgusted and shocked by the number of schools affected by looting.
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Conceptual framework
Rioting and looting
In general, “rioting” refers to any instance of widespread discontent or disruption. Riots are an
environment where a large number of individuals have created a situation where the rules of
society as a whole no longer apply and people are free to behave however they choose on the
street and in public. Looting appears as a tactic during riots, which is, in my opinion, a more
general term. Looting frequently occurs more frequently in movements that are coming from
below. It usually involves an assault against a company, a commercial property, or even a
government building, stealing things that would otherwise be controlled and commodified and
giving them freely.
Unemployment
Unemployment is referred to as a condition where one is able to do work but unable to find
any work. In South Africa, the unemployment crisis got deeper in the aftermath of looting. The
South African Textile Worker’s Union said that in Isithobe, KwaZulu-Natal a new clothing
factory was completely destroyed during the outbreak of looting. The unemployment rate
increases or decreases in each and every year according to the current population survey.
Unemployment rises in 2020 as the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic. Not all
unemployment is the same. Unemployment can be long term or short-term. This means that it
can happen that someone is having not one job or not having a job at all. Unemployment is
caused by so many impacts. One of the impacts of employment (ILO 2011) is that young people
are Increasingly having trouble when looking for their first-time job. For the first time job
searching it becomes difficult because some are lacking knowledge.
Inflation
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The term "inflation" originally referred to an increase in the general level of prices brought on
by an imbalance between the money supply and trade demands. The phrase is now used by
economists to describe an increase in the price level. It speaks of the gradual rise in the cost of
goods and services. Inflation, which is typically stated as a percentage, is a loss in the
purchasing power of each unit of a country's currency. As a result, as prices increase, you may
buy less with your money. The general public's overall cost of living is significantly impacted
by the decline in purchasing power, which slows down economic growth. In order to address
this issue and maintain a thriving economy, a nation's appropriateare
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AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
7 Aims/Objectives
1.To analyze the challenges of unemployment that were faced by people after the July riot of
2021.
2.To evaluate the financial impacts of looting.
3.Assessing the fundamental triggers the July, 2021 riot.
4.Scrutinizing the socio-economic development effects of the July, 2021 riot in Esikhawini.
8 Research Questions
1.What challenges of unemployment were faced by people after the July riot of 2021?
2.What are the financial impacts of looting?
3.Are there any existing triggers of the July, 2021 riot?
4.How does the July, 2021 riot affect the socio-economic developments of Esikhawini?
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY / PROCESS
10 Sampling method and sample size
This research report will be using a purposive sampling, the researcher is going to conduct
interviews to people who are living as couples in a household in order to collect a collective
information from them. According to this research study people who are going to be asked
questions will be at the age of 21 to 65 required for the research questions. The questions will
be focusing on the people who have witnessed the outbreak of looting and those who were
affected by the negative economic impacts of the July riot of 2021. This research study
recommended Esikhawini as the place for researching about the July riot of 2021 because this
is the place where the whole mall was damaged and taking the whole time to be fixed again.
There is a large number of people around Esikhawini who have lost their jobs through the
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outbreak of looting. Others have lost their family members through the outbreak of looting.
There are a lot of negative economic impacts caused by the July riot of 2021 at Esikhawini
11 Data collection method
This research report is going to be using a tape recorder for interview to make it easier for the
researcher to conduct the research and report and finding the reliable information from almost
the whole community in Esikhawini. Archival documents and government source will also be
the reliable data collection instrument since the outbreak of looting was regarded as the
politically related situation.
12 Data analysis method
SAS has established reputation for delivering superior and reliable results. SAS is one of the
first statically software packages. It was developed (starting in 1966) by John Goodnight.
Statistical package for Social Sciences is also a good data analysis tool to gather a grouped
information in Esikhawini.
13 ETHICAL AND SAFETY ISSUES
The ethical consideration considers the participation and concerns where in research no one
should feel forced to participate. Every individual should participate voluntarily not because
anyone is attempting to gain an individuals trust. Confidentiality is also important in research,
the Economy and Social Research Council states that research subjects and the anonymity of
respondents must be respected. The personal information of the respondents for this research
will be anonymous for the sake of confidentiality. The research must not have harmful
questions to the respondents in order to keep the relationship in a mutual respect.
Budget if applicable.
14 CONCLUSION
To summarize the material provided above on this research proposal, it has been shown in the
aforementioned sections what the study is about. It has been abundantly clear that the
investigation is about the damaging effects on the economy brought on by the start of the riots
in July 2021. As was noted above, looting is another term for the unrest that will take place in
July 2021. Additionally, there are a number of the previously mentioned negative economic
effects, such as increased food consumption, inflation, and unemployment. Additionally noted
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above is the fact that this study will successfully use qualitative technique. SAS has shown to
be a useful instrument for carrying out this research investigation.
15 RESOURCES
This research will require literature from the previous studies and will use accepted tool for
sample selection and data analysis. The study will also use participants for data collection.
16 CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION
I acknowledge that I have read and understood the University's policies and rules applicable to
postgraduate research, and I certify that I have, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
complied with their requirements.
I declare that this proposal, save for the supervisory guidance received, is the product of my
own work and effort. I have, to the best of my knowledge and belief, acknowledged all sources
of information in line with normal academic conventions.
I further certify that the proposed research will be original and that the material to be submitted
for examination has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any
other university.
I have subjected this document to the University’s text-matching and/or similarity-checking
procedures and I consider it to be free of any form of plagiarism.
Signature
:…………………….…………
Print Name
:………….…………….………
Date
:………………………………..
17 SUPERVISOR DECLARATION
I am satisfied that I have given the candidate the necessary supervision in respect of this
proposal and that it meets the University’s requirements in respect of postgraduate research
proposals.
I have read and approved the final version of this proposal and it is submitted with my consent.
Signature
:…………………….…………
Print Name
:………….…………….………
Date
:………………………………..
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18 REFERENCES
1.Cokayne(2021). The looting has caused huge demand for logistic networks and storage
which caused drastic delays and challenge in food security.
Cotterill J (2021) We can’t sit back: South Africas Reel from riots. Financial time.
https://www.ft.com/content/5d1b6904-8639-41f0-8d7c-fee2948d6fcf, Accessed. 19
August 2021
.De Juan A. Wagner E (2017) Social inequality, state-centered grievances, and protest:
Evidence from South Africa. J Conflict Resobut 63(1): 31-56:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002717723136
.Leach Write(2021) Looters Struggle to Fit 68 000 San Pablo Leather Sofas in Their
Shack. Open News,
https://za.opera.news/za/en/society/8e95e92c9ca08157370F53acc194665
Initial protests turned into massive looting, massive property damage and casualties in
the crossfire (Maleba 2021).
Looting is aeans to an end, which is to improve the survival of economically
disadvantaged groups (Osterweil 2005).
Reuters. 2021. South Africa’s unemployment rate hits new record high in second
quarter. 24 August 2021. Available at: Cotterill J (2021) We can’t sit back: South
Africas Reel from riots. Financial time. https://www.ft.com/content/5d1b6904-863941f0-8d7c-fee2948d6fcf, Accessed, 19 August 2021.
Quarantelli and Dunes (1970) viewd looting as deviant behavior by community
members that naturally express some form of resentment.
Eight Days in July: Inside the Zuma Unrest That set South Africa Alight (Q Hunter, J
wicks , K Sign-2021 Tatelberg).
“South Africa has experienced hostilic protests not seen since the end of apartheid in
1994 (Winning and Wendell 2021).
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