THE UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

First and foremost, my appreciation goes to the most high, God the creator and the source of wisdom for giving me the opportunity to complete this study. May His name be praised. I would like to express my sincere and gratitude to my supervisor Professor G.M. Spies, for her guidance, support advice, suggestions and friendliness through the duration of my research study. Special appreciation goes to the Good Shepherd Mission for giving me the opportunity to conduct the empirical study at their organisation. I also feel deeply indebted to each and every respondent whose invaluable support, willingness and their impeccable patience to share their experiences enabled me to collect information I more than needed on the needs of male adolescents who have lost both parents. Thanks to Liesl Stieger from the Academic Information Centre of the University of Pretoria, for her friendly and professional assistance in finding numerous literature sources, and Shirley Malesela from City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality for helping me with technical support. Heartfelt thanks go to my two families, Makhura and the Edwards, my two sons, Thabang and Kabelo for their encouragement and emotional support. The trust they had in me and the prayers they uttered were a motivation for me to forge forward and accomplish my goal. My sincere gratitude goes to a friend and a brother, George Senosha for his tremendous and unselfishness support to achieve my goal. Last but not least, my appreciation go to friends and colleagues too many to mention for their encouragement, support and prayers