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The aim of this article is exploratory: to illustrate the main trends in communication and amongst data users in the Nkonkobe Municipal Area, a municipal zone in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, now known as Chris Hani. Based on information collected in 2016 and 2017, the research project locates the use of both cellular phones and smartphones within a broader menu of communication devices and information retrieval in rural areas, including televisions, radios, newspapers and conventional interaction. It focuses particularly on the conditions and circumstances under which cellular phones and smartphones were used and the type of residents who were most likely to use them. Many analysts are of the opinion that cellular devices can increase communication in economically disadvantaged zones through the creation of a shared ‘virtual social network’ that ‘levels’ society, creating equal access to information. The results of this study reveal that although smartphones are widespread, these types of devices have not replaced communication via cellular phones or physical interaction. Realistically, smartphone usage is limited by cost and network coverage. For the majority of smartphone owners, connectivity is not always easy and compels movement towards regional urban centres, where data is cheaper and can be accessed.

This paper investigates the effect the proclamation of conserved areas in southern Africa may have on the ability of inhabitants in these areas to retain control of ancestral territory and to access long-standing livelihood options in the future. In particular, it examines how two national parks (in South Africa and Mozambique) effect a change in ownership and land use, and the resulting impact of such a change on local socio-cultural patterns of identity, or 'place'. This is achieved by examining the dilemma confronting social and ecological scientists in planning these parks - where interventionist policies often deny customary tenure of land and thus prevent a thorough understanding of any historical claims to land prior to actual proclamation of the area. Accordingly, this paper argues for greater cooperation between social and ecological researchers in order to prevent the politicisation of national reserves and the intense opposition that has accompanied most instances of population displacement in the subcontinent.