| Abstrakt: |
Since the inception of apartheid South Africa, the rural livelihoods of female headed households have been multiple in order to maintain household economic well-being. The paper examines the contemporary livelihood trajectories of female headed households in Cala communal areas of post-apartheid South Africa. In order to get to the core, the paper examines how female heads earn a survival amidst under developed rural economy. Three life histories in form of 'vignettes' are explored, this imply the qualitative nature of the study. The major findings of the paper are firstly; female headed households are largely agrarian-land based, natural capital continues to give life to female heads amidst deagrarianisation. Secondly, remittances still play a crucial role in households where there is rural-urban nexus (this does not apply to all the female heads). Thirdly, female heads rely largely on state transfers described as predictable and constant. Furthermore, the study unfolds that female heads in Cala are not homogeneous but rather varied. The social differentiation of female heads in Cala is largely configured by productive assets among the thriving households, surviving households and struggling households. It is this social differentiation that divide the 'have and have not's' of the rural areas. The paper concludes that, despite the 'little' derived from livelihood activities, female heads continue to manoeuvre their way out and at times rise above their circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
