'Don't "paraffin" me!': deception, power and agency in a South African sport for development organisation.

The staff of Sport FUNdamentals Southern Africa (SFSA), a sport for development organisation, have labelled a range of deceitful behaviours `paraffining'. These behaviours range from improvising life skills lessons to lying in reports. It references paraffin, a common, yet potentially dangerous fuel used in South African townships. In this paper the striking similarities between `paraffin', the innovative verb, and paraffin, the familiar noun, are examined, highlighting their uses, reasons for usage, impacts and methods of control. As individuals encounter role conflicts between their job expectations and personal capabilities or available resources, between personal and professional roles or conflicting expectations from different managers, they often respond by `paraffining'. In these situations, `paraffining' can be seen as a creative coping mechanism used to maintain the appearance of professional proficiency. `Paraffining' also demonstrates individual power and agency within organisational structures since it provides a platform for individuals to confront deceitful situations with people at all levels of authority and pressures the organisation to implement measures to reduce their prevalence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]