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This paper explores the 'spirit of the gift' as a framework for the analysis of the moral and political economy of public housing delivery in South Africa since democracy. The paper compares the gifts of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses delivered by the state to 'beneficiaries', selected from long waiting lists in cities, towns and some rural places, with the homes built by families as gifts for their ancestors in their former homelands and rural areas. One of the central features of gifts, according to anthropologists, is that they are meant to be inalienable possessions, things that should not be sold or commodified. They are also assumed to carry a spirit, an aura or identity that binds them to the givers and communicates a relationship with those who receive the gifts. In post-colonial societies scholars tend to discuss the delivery of public goods and infrastructures within a framework of rights and entitlements. What they overlook is the extent to which public goods are also sometimes conceptualised and received as gifts that carry a sense of expectation, obligation, and the spirit of social exchange. The paper focuses on what happens when the 'spirit of the gift' of public housing is not honoured or reciprocated by beneficiaries as the gifts develop new social lives outside the parameters of those intended in the original policy. The ethnographic and historical evidence presented in the paper is drawn from numerous research projects undertaken by the author in Cape Town and the Eastern Cape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass urbanisation in cities of the global South, is causing cities to evolve, with informal settlements being central to this evolution. While local government is the official point of interaction for urban informal settlement dwellers, those interactions are often characterised by a lack of meaningful participation. Engaging with the co-production literature and two case studies of informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, this paper examines how they shed light on the shifting and constantly evolving roles and practices of local government and community actors within a co-production engagement. Based on the findings from these cases, the paper argues that co-production as a practice of collaboration between the local state and citizens can allow for the forging of new relationships, built on trust, sharing of resources and a more equal distribution of power where communities can shape the outcomes of service delivery projects to respond to their needs and demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture offers numerous environmental, economic, and social benefits. However, it is often hampered by limited engagement in cities of the global South. This article offers bottom-up perspectives on how to increase the uptake of urban agriculture activities. It draws on urban gardeners' perspectives in the low-income neighbourhood of Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. The mixed-methods approach combined a questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews with urban gardeners, and interviews with civil society actors and a state official. The results indicate that climate and soil conditions are major deterrents to urban agriculture. However, community dialogues about urban agriculture's social and environmental benefits could play a crucial role in increasing uptake and in facilitating conversations about urban agriculture and food more generally. The paper offers recommendations for future interventions seeking to promote urban agriculture and support actors in low-income neighbourhoods in Cape Town and other African cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to select appropriate waste-to-energy (WtE) technology considering both subjective perspective of decision-maker and objective evaluation of the actual performance metrics of each alternative. Based on this premise, a novel hybrid multi-criteria decision making method based on Fuzzy-analytic hierarchy process (Fuzzy-AHP), Fuzzy-Entropy and Fuzzy-Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis plus full multiplicative form (Fuzzy-MULTIMOORA) is applied as a decision tool. In this study, four (4) alternative WtE technologies (i.e., anaerobic digestion, incineration, pyrolysis and gasification) with fourteen (14) sub-factors that cut across four sustainability aspects (i.e., technical, economic, environmental and social factors) are considered. The applicability of the model is tested for a WtE technology selection in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. The result obtained reveals that for all the alternatives considered, the most sustainable WtE technology for investment in the City of Cape Town follows the order: anaerobic digestion > gasification > pyrolysis > incineration. Sensitivity analysis shows a high degree of consistency, robustness, and stability in the obtained results. The current work recommends that the integration of anaerobic digestion and gasification should be promoted as it has the potential to offer a well-balanced WtE technology compared to the stand-alone systems. Although, the case study is a city in South Africa, the methodology could be applied for selecting WtE technology in any developing countries' city with similar waste characteristic and economic nature like that of South Africa. • An objective-subjective hybrid MCDM model is put forward. • The criteria weights are determined using Fuzzy-AHP and Fuzzy-Entropy methods. • The waste-to-energy technologies are ranked using Fuzzy-MULTIMOORA approach. • Managerial implications of the most sustainable waste-to-energy technology is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]