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Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business"
Given persistently high levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa and the government's apparent inability to meaningfully address these, the role of the private sector to provide additional interventions to assist in achieving social support through sustainable community development initiativ...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Civil Engineering
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613221258526720 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Damon, Linley Cara |
| author2 | Brown, Mercy |
| author_browse | Brown, Mercy Damon, Linley Cara |
| author_facet | Brown, Mercy Damon, Linley Cara |
| author_sort | Damon, Linley Cara |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Given persistently high levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa and the government's apparent inability to meaningfully address these, the role of the private sector to provide additional interventions to assist in achieving social support through sustainable community development initiatives is imperative. The case study unpacks Martin & East (Pty) Ltd's (M&E's) approach to Responsible Business (RB). Winfield's (2015) argument for what RB is, lies within the unique contractual relationships that exist between the business enterprise and its stakeholders. It is within the identification of the business' relationships with various stakeholders and in particular, for the purpose of this research, the community as a stakeholder, that we realise the sphere of influence that the business has to possibly affect social change. In order to understand M&E's RB approach in a particular community the case study is further focused on the City of Cape Town project: 216Q/2014/15 Construction of Link Road (City of Cape Town, 2014) to establish the status quo and any opportunities for improvement which may exist. The dissertation draws on semi-structured interviews to understand the interaction of M&E with project stakeholders, identified as the Project Management Team (PMT) and the affected Community. The findings are interpreted through the goals of RB and Community Development (CD) established to evaluate the quality of the relationships created through the project. I argue that there is evidence of achieving these goals. However, the responsibility of CD still lies wholly with local government and the strategies that it puts in place by the setting of Community Participation Goals (CPGs) on its infrastructure projects. It is with regard to their strategy in achieving these CPGs where M&E's RB approach plays a significant role in truly achieving CD in the way that the PMT had intended. M&E's intrinsic values prompted its Project Team (PT) to engage in informal training, treat labour well and abide by contractual obligations as stipulated in the Contract Document governing their roles and responsibilities. Recommendations for M&E business practice include ensuring that the well thought through strategy for their internal community, through the implementation of the Isidima Trust and involvement in education programmes, is translated to the temporary community in which it often finds itself. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25166 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:41.376Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Department of Civil Engineering |
| publisherStr | Department of Civil Engineering |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25166 Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business" Damon, Linley Cara Brown, Mercy Urban Design and Management Given persistently high levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa and the government's apparent inability to meaningfully address these, the role of the private sector to provide additional interventions to assist in achieving social support through sustainable community development initiatives is imperative. The case study unpacks Martin & East (Pty) Ltd's (M&E's) approach to Responsible Business (RB). Winfield's (2015) argument for what RB is, lies within the unique contractual relationships that exist between the business enterprise and its stakeholders. It is within the identification of the business' relationships with various stakeholders and in particular, for the purpose of this research, the community as a stakeholder, that we realise the sphere of influence that the business has to possibly affect social change. In order to understand M&E's RB approach in a particular community the case study is further focused on the City of Cape Town project: 216Q/2014/15 Construction of Link Road (City of Cape Town, 2014) to establish the status quo and any opportunities for improvement which may exist. The dissertation draws on semi-structured interviews to understand the interaction of M&E with project stakeholders, identified as the Project Management Team (PMT) and the affected Community. The findings are interpreted through the goals of RB and Community Development (CD) established to evaluate the quality of the relationships created through the project. I argue that there is evidence of achieving these goals. However, the responsibility of CD still lies wholly with local government and the strategies that it puts in place by the setting of Community Participation Goals (CPGs) on its infrastructure projects. It is with regard to their strategy in achieving these CPGs where M&E's RB approach plays a significant role in truly achieving CD in the way that the PMT had intended. M&E's intrinsic values prompted its Project Team (PT) to engage in informal training, treat labour well and abide by contractual obligations as stipulated in the Contract Document governing their roles and responsibilities. Recommendations for M&E business practice include ensuring that the well thought through strategy for their internal community, through the implementation of the Isidima Trust and involvement in education programmes, is translated to the temporary community in which it often finds itself. 2017-09-14T12:13:52Z 2017-09-14T12:13:52Z 2017 Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25166 eng application/pdf Department of Civil Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Urban Design and Management Damon, Linley Cara Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business" |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business" |
| title_full | Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business" |
| title_fullStr | Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business" |
| title_full_unstemmed | Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business" |
| title_short | Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business" |
| title_sort | private sector role in community development a case study on martin east pty ltd approach to responsible business |
| topic | Urban Design and Management |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25166 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT damonlinleycara privatesectorroleincommunitydevelopmentacasestudyonmartineastptyltdapproachtoresponsiblebusiness |