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Teachers as recontextualisers: a case study analysis of outcomes-based assessment policy implementation in two South African schools

  • Authors: Wilmot, Pamela Dianne
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Competency-based education -- South Africa Competency-based education -- South Africa -- Case studies Educational change -- South Africa Teacher participation in curriculum planning -- South Africa Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:1792 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003677
  • Description: The research presented in this thesis is a case study analysis of outcomes-based assessment in Grade 9 Human and Social Sciences of Curriculum 2005 in two South African schools. The research consists of two parts: Phase One, 2002 to 2003, was a qualitative case study, interpretive in orientation and using ethnographic techniques, aimed at understanding teachers’ responses to curriculum policy and the role of a school-based intervention, located within critically reflexive practice, in supporting change. During this phase, I was a co-participant operating from an insider position. During Phase Two, 2004-2005, I withdrew from the schools and took up an outsider position in order to analyse and theorise the case study. The findings of the interpretive review revealed a fascinating process of change, with some unexpected results that I lacked the theoretical and methodological tools to process. With support from critical friends, I realised that a dynamic and social process of knowledge recontextualisation had taken place, and that the research had moved beyond its initial goals. Not wishing to compromise my integrity as a qualitative researcher, I changed direction and made use of Basil Bernstein’s theorising (1990, 1996) to arrive at a suitable vantage point for the analysis. The main contention of this thesis is that the new OBE curriculum framework offers exciting opportunities for teacher participation in curriculum processes. However, if teachers are to maximise these and become agents of change, they need to acquire the rules of recontextualisation and reposition themselves in the recontextualising field. This implies epistemological empowerment, which takes time and mediation but which can be achieved through an approach to teacher professional development located in critically reflexive practice.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

Teachers' talk regarding inclusion: a comparative discursive study

  • Authors: Bomela, Yolisa Faith
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3123 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006135
  • Description: Much research on the educators' perceptions of and attitudes towards inclusive education has been conducted both in South Africa and abroad. What is absent in this literature is an acknowledgement of the socially constructed nature of teachers' responses to inclusive education and its recipients. In this study, the talk of educators involved in piloting inclusive education is compared to that of educators who are not involved, in order to determine the discourses from which educators draw in their construction of inclusive education. It is a comparative study premised on the social constructionist perspective in which discourse analysis was employed. The sample was drawn from schools piloting inclusive education in the East London District of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa and was compared with schools not involved in the pilot, but in the same area. Semi- structured interviews were conducted with eight educators spread across two piloting and two non piloting schools. The analysis revealed significant similarities and quite minimal differences in the manner in which educators across the two settings construct their experiences of inclusive education. Even though the educators draw on the rights driven anti-discriminatory discourse, they still embrace the special needs/medical/expertise and charity discourses. These discourses construct disability around notions of disputed degrees of impairment, feared status and perceptions of disability as a personal issue rather than a public responsibility, and they undermine the status of people with a disability while supporting notions of dependency. In this article, I will argue that the historical legacy within which these discourses were originally constructed, will essentially continue unless there is a change in how diversity is viewed.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

Temporal scales of variation in settlement and recruitment of the mussel Perna perna (Linnaeus, 1758)

  • Authors: Porri, Francesca , McQuaid, Christopher D , Radloff, Sarah E
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6963 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012026 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2005.11.008
  • Description: Population dynamics of many intertidal organisms are strongly affected by the abundance and distribution of larvae arriving on the shore. In particular, not only absolute numbers of settlers but also the degree of synchronisation of settlement can have a strong influence on whether density-dependent or density-independent processes shape adult shape populations. Temporal variation in rates of settlement and recruitment of the mussel Perna perna on the south coast of South Africa was investigated using a nested spatial design at different temporal scales. Variability in settlement at spring tides was examined at two temporal scales: lunar (to investigate the effect of state of the moon on settlement) and tidal (to investigate the influence of state of the tide on mussel settlement). Recruitment over neap tides was examined at one temporal scale, fortnight (to investigate the effect of date on mussel recruitment). Strong temporal variation was evident for both settlement and recruitment, but not at all time scales. Distinct peaks of settler/recruit abundance were observed during the lunar and neap tide studies. Recruitment intensity differed over the course of the year, and pulsing of recruitment was generally synchronised among locations. However, the strength of pulsing differed dramatically among locations, giving a significant interaction between fortnight and location. The finest temporal scale, investigated in the tidal study, did not reveal a significant effect of the state of the tide on settlement. The state of the moon (new or full) was not significant as a main factor (p = 0.052), although generally more settlers arrived on the shore during new moon. Phase of the moon appeared to have an effect on settler abundances, but only when and where densities were high.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

Tetracarboxylic acid cobalt phthalocyanine SAM on gold: Potential applications as amperometric sensor for H2O2 and fabrication of glucose biosensor

  • Authors: Mashazi, Philani N , Ozoemena, Kenneth I , Nyokong, Tebello
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6578 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004141
  • Description: This report describes the applications of cobalt tetracarboxylic acid phthalocyanine (CoTCAPc) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) immobilized onto a preformed 2-mercaptoethanol (Au-ME) SAM on gold surface (Au-ME-CoTCAPc SAM) as a potential amperometric sensor for the detection of hydrogen peroxide (H[subscript 2]O[subscript 2]) at neutral pH conditions. The Au-ME-CoTCAPc SAM sensor showed a very fast amperometric response time of approximately 1 s, good linearity at the studied concentration range of up to 5 μM with a coefficient R² = 0.993 and a detection limit of 0.4 μM oxidatively. Also reductively, the sensor exhibited a very fast amperometric response time (~1 s), linearity up to 5 μM with a coefficient R² = 0.986 and a detection limit of 0.2 μM. The cobalt tetracarboxylic acid phthalocyanine self-assembled monolayer was then evaluated as a mediator for glucose oxidase (GOx)-based biosensor. The GOx (enzyme) was immobilized covalently onto Au-ME-CoTCAPc SAM using coupling agents: N-ethyl-N(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxy succinimide (NHS), and the results demonstrated a good catalytic behavior. Kinetic parameters associated with the enzymatic and mediator reactions were estimated using electrochemical versions of Lineweaver–Burk and Hanes equation, and the stability of the sensor was tested. The biosensor (Au-ME-CoTCAPc-GOx SAM) electrode showed good sensitivity (7.5 nA/mM) with a good detection limit of 8.4 μM at 3σ, smaller Michaelis–Menten constant (4.8 mM from Hanes plot) and very fast response time of approximately 5 s.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The application of integrated environmental management to improve storm water quality and reduce marine pollution at Jeffreys Bay (South Africa)

  • Authors: Seebach, Rudi Dieter
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Marine pollution -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Storm sewers -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Marine ecology -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Environmental management -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Environmental risk assessment -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Community development -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Sewage disposal -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4738 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005287 , Marine pollution -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Storm sewers -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Marine ecology -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Environmental management -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Environmental risk assessment -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Community development -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay , Sewage disposal -- South Africa -- Jeffreys Bay
  • Description: It is projected that by 2025 three-quarters of the world’s population will live in the coastal zone. This is an alarming statistic, with a consequently significant impact on small coastal towns and the adjacent marine environments. Developing communities within the coastal zone of South Africa have proved to be a significant pollution source of storm water. Studies have shown that storm water that is deposited in the ocean will be trapped in the near shore marine environment causing poor seawater quality over a large distance. Furthermore, this can pose a significant threat to the health of recreational users and important marine ecosystems. In Jeffreys Bay storm water quality is thought to pose a threat to the maintenance of the international Blue Flag status for its beach. The aim of the current project was to investigate the main sources of storm water and subsequent marine pollution at Jeffreys Bay and to develop an appropriate management strategy using the integrated environmental management framework. In order to achieve this objective, it was also necessary to determine the current quality of water at various points within the catchment and near shore marine environment. Even though the storm water was found to be severely contaminated no evidence existed for a negative impact on the marine environment. None the less, a precautionary approach was adopted and a risk assessment employed in order to consider potential impacts on the marine and aquatic environment, human health and socio-economic welfare within the town. Significant sources of storm water contamination included grey water, domestic solid waste disposal and informal ablution. These significant aspects were investigated further and it was found that solid waste management in the catchment was poor with significant quantities of waste, primarily (76%) from domestic sources, being disposed of illegally. A study of sanitation management showed inadequacies where up to 58% of the residents from the informal settlements disposed of their grey water into open spaces. The ratio of residents to toilets in these areas was 28:1, therefore supporting the outcome of the risk assessment. Due to the fact that all the significant aspects were related to anthropogenic waste, an integrated waste management plan (IWMP) was developed that would not only facilitate the reduction of pollution of storm water, but would also allow for sustainable community-based development.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The appropriateness of Holland's interest code typology for South African field guides

  • Authors: Allen, Lynda Jean
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Personality and occupation -- South Africa , Vocational interests -- South Africa , Personality
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:9846 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/432 , Personality and occupation -- South Africa , Vocational interests -- South Africa , Personality
  • Description: The foundational principles of Holland’s (1985b, 1992, 1997) vocational theory state that career choice is an expression of personality, in that individuals with specific personality types seek out work or learning environments that match their personality types. Furthermore, interest inventories such as the Self-Directed Search (Holland, Powell, & Fritzsche, 1994) can be regarded as personality inventories and used to ensure that individuals find themselves in a working environment that is best suited to their interests and personality type. In addition to instruments that measure interests, Holland also developed dictionaries of occupations coded according to the characteristics and interests of different occupations and working environments, such as the Dictionary of Holland occupational codes (Gottfredson & Holland, 1996). The level of congruence between personality types and occupational types is linked to career satisfaction, stability and achievement. This premise only holds true, however, if the codes for the occupational environment suggested by Holland (1985c) are, in fact, valid. In other words, do the codes suggested by Holland match the personality types of individuals entering or who are already employed in a particular work or learning environment? There have been many studies conducted with regard to the validity of Holland’s prescribed interest typology codes. Spokane, Meier and Catalano (2000) located a large number of empirical studies published since 1985 that relate directly to the validity of Holland’s codes, many of which have suggested that the existing codes may not be valid. There is a scarcity of such research in South Africa, especially with regard to vital and growing occupational fields, such as the ecotourism industry, that are so important to the economic well-being of the country. Consequently, the overall aim of the present study was to explore and describe the interest codes of male and female South African student and working field guides in order to discuss the appropriateness of the occupational codes prescribed by Holland for the field guiding profession. The quantitative design of the study was exploratory-descriptive in nature and made use of the Self-Directed Search Questionnaire (Holland, Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). The total sample consisted of 100 participants (68 male and 32 female), constituting 40 working field guides and 60 field guide students. Descriptive analyses were conducted with the use of frequency tables, charts, means and standard ix deviations. In addition, Independent sample t-tests were computed in order to describe and compare the mean scores of the interests for males and females, and to compare the mean scores of the interests for student and working field guides. The results of this study suggest that the prescribed occupational code (SRI; Social, Realistic, Investigative) for South African field guides may not be appropriate and that an interest profile such as SREI AC may be more appropriate. These results, in combination with the findings of the research review, suggest the need for a more extensive, cross-cultural study to determine the appropriateness of Holland’s occupational codes for South African occupations, which may lead to a revision of the South African Dictionary of Occupations (Taljaard & von Mollendorf, 1987).
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The behaviour and fundamental determinants of the real exchange rate in South Africa

  • Authors: Takaendesa, Peter
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Foreign exchange rates -- South Africa , Terms of trade -- South Africa , Finance -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:960 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002694 , Foreign exchange rates -- South Africa , Terms of trade -- South Africa , Finance -- South Africa
  • Description: Real exchange rates have important effects on production, employment and trade, so it is crucial to understand the factors responsible for their variations. This study analyses the main determinants of the real exchange rate and the dynamic adjustment of the real exchange rate following shocks to those determinants, using quarterly South African data covering the period 1975 to 2005. It begins with a review of literature on the determinants of the real exchange rate and provides an updated background on the exchange rate system in South Africa. An empirical model linking the real exchange rate to its theoretical determinants is then specified. In contrast to previous analyses, this study augments the cointegration and vector autoregression (VAR) analysis with impulse response and variance decomposition analyses to provide robust long run effects and short run dynamic effects on the real exchange rate. The variables that have been found to have a long run relationship with the real exchange rate include the terms of trade, real interest rate differential, domestic credit, openness and technological progress. The estimate of the speed of adjustment coefficient found in this study indicates that about a third of the variation in the real exchange rate from its equilibrium level is corrected within a quarter. The impulse response functions broadly corroborate the theoretical predictions, but only the terms of trade, domestic credit and openness have a significant impact on the real exchange rate in the short run. However, only shocks to the terms of trade and domestic credit have persistent effects on the real exchange rate. Results from the variance decompositions are largely similar to those from the impulse response analysis. The terms of trade, domestic credit and openness are the only variables found to significantly explain the variation in the real exchange rate. The most interesting result that emerged from this analysis and is supported by previous research is that among other determinants, the terms of trade explain the largest proportion of the variation in the real exchange. On balance, the evidence therefore suggests that real exchange rate fluctuations are predominantly equilibrium responses to real and monetary shocks rather than fiscal policy shocks.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The Bellman's tale - Part 1

  • Authors: Berning, J M
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6989 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012412
  • Description: Michael Berning was a member of the Rhodes University Library staff from 1965 until his retirement in 1997. He was Tower Captain of the Grahamstown Cathedral during the 1980s.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The Bellman's tale - Part 2

  • Authors: Berning, J M
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012413
  • Description: Michael Berning was a member of the Rhodes University Library staff from 1965 until his retirement in 1997. He was Tower Captain of the Grahamstown Cathedral during the 1980s.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The career development of South African Grade 11 adolescents a career systems and discursive perspective

  • Authors: Kuit, Wim
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Career development -- South Africa , Teenagers -- Vocational guidance -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:9937 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/462 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011929 , Career development -- South Africa , Teenagers -- Vocational guidance -- South Africa
  • Description: Career psychology in South Africa has traditionally been constituted by the vocabularies, assessment methods, counselling practices and research objectives of the modernist-positivist paradigm. This paradigm has produced a rich but disparate and fragmented range of career theories, research perspectives and career education practices that have been limited in their consideration and integration of the broad range of contextual factors that influence the career development of South African adolescents in unique ways. This limitation has had, and still has, the potential of promoting prescriptive and disqualifying constructions of career development for South African youth. A search for alternatives to traditional modernist-positivist understandings of career has led, however, to a further fragmentation of the career field into what can broadly be termed qualitative and quantitative approaches. This twofold fragmentation, as well as the dynamic complexity of the world of work in the twenty-first century, has inspired this study’s investigation of an integrating framework that employs a wide range of career theoretical perspectives in the service of constructing experience-near accounts of the complex and fluid interrelationship between individual career makers and their specific social, environmental and societal contexts. The present study has therefore employed the Systems Theory Framework (STF) in investigating and co-constructing representations of the career development of a group of South African adolescents in a way that acknowledges their unique systems of career influence and discursive contexts. The research adopted an exploratory-descriptive design in collaborating with the participants in this investigation. In the first phase of the study a sample of 70 grade 11 male and female adolescents from middle socioeconomic status environments were invited to complete the My Systems of Career Influences (MSCI) workbook in re-presenting systemic constructions of their career development. Tesch’s model of qualitative content analysis and frequency counts has been used to re-present that process to you in this text. In the second phase of the study the researcher collaborated with one participant in a systemic narrative career counselling process. During this process an account of the participant’s career narrative was co-constructed in conversations guided by a poststructural narrative approach to career counselling and the MSCI’s structuring of the participant’s complex systems of influence. The co-constructed account was critically examined according to Parker’s approach to discourse analysis. The second phase investigated how the counselling and research processes had positioned the participant in relation to her influential systems and their privileged discourses of career development. The study is particularly pertinent to a growing need for the development of respectful, critical and non-discriminatory career assessment, career research and career counselling collaborations between professionals and career makers navigating the unique and diverse South African context.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The Condictio Indebiti and Unjust Factors (1)

  • Authors: Glover, Graham B
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186869 , vital:44541 , xlink:href="file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/69THRHR419%20(2).pdf"
  • Description: Since the Supreme Court of Appeal has continued to avoid taking the step of recognising a general enrichment action,' the traditional enrichment actions of the common law remain fundamentally important to the operation of the law of unjustified enrichment in South Africa. Most significant of these is the condictio indebiti, which is probably the most well-known and liberally utilised enrichment action in South African law.2 In this article, the nature and scope of this condictio will be examined, and it will be shown that it has grown beyond its notionally traditional role of reversing payments or transfers made unjustifiably by mistake, to include causes of action in duress and protest. The implications of this for the condictio, as well as for the foundations of our enrichment law will then be examined, with reference to the two leading schools of enrichment law: the civilian school, typified by German law, and the common-law school, typified by English law.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The Condictio Indebiti and Unjust Factors (2)

  • Authors: Glover, Graham B
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186880 , vital:44544 , xlink:href="///C:/Users/User/Downloads/69THRHR561%20(1).pdf"
  • Description: Since the Supreme Court of Appeal has continued to avoid taking the step of recognising a general enrichment action,' the traditional enrichment actions of the common law remain fundamentally important to the operation of the law of unjustified enrichment in South Africa. Most significant of these is the condictio indebiti, which is probably the most well-known and liberally utilised enrichment action in South African law.2 In this article, the nature and scope of this condictio will be examined, and it will be shown that it has grown beyond its notionally traditional role of reversing payments or transfers made unjustifiably by mistake, to include causes of action in duress and protest. The implications of this for the condictio, as well as for the foundations of our enrichment law will then be examined, with reference to the two leading schools of enrichment law: the civilian school, typified by German law, and the common-law school, typified by English law.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The coping orientation and resources of teachers educating learners with intellectual disabilities

  • Authors: Jacobs, Tracey Senora
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Special education teachers -- Job stress -- South Africa , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa -- Testing , Teachers of children with mental disabilities -- Psychological testing -- South Africa , Coping Responses Inventory -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:9938 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/460 , Special education teachers -- Job stress -- South Africa , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa -- Testing , Teachers of children with mental disabilities -- Psychological testing -- South Africa , Coping Responses Inventory -- South Africa
  • Description: An overview of recent literature and research indicates that stress in teaching is now a wellrecognised phenomenon. More specifically, research has found special education to be more demanding than mainstream education. However, in comparison with the literature on mainstream education, both South African and international research relating to special education do not occupy prominent status in the literature. This study thus aims to explore and describe the coping orientation and resources of teachers educating learners with intellectual disabilities. The sample consisted of 59 special education teachers (49 females and 10 males) in the Nelson Mandela Metropole who educate learners with intellectual disabilities. The special education teachers who agreed to participate in the study were requested to complete a biographical questionnaire, Antonovsky’s Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-29) and Hammer and Marting’s Coping Resources Inventory (CRI). An exploratory, descriptive design was utilised in this study. The data for this study was analysed by using descriptive and correlation statistics. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was utilized in order to explore and describe the relationship between the sense of coherence and the coping resources of the sample. Key findings include the following: Results from the SOC-29 revealed fairly high mean scores for the current sample. Results from the CRI indicated average mean scores on both the total coping resources scale and all five subscales. Significant positive relationships were found to exist between the SOC-29 and the CRI for the current sample. Significant positive relationships were also found between the SOC-29 score and some of the subscale scores of the CRI for the current sample. In general, the findings of the present study reveal a need for further research on special education teachers. The focus should not only be limited to the pathogenic orientation, but should include more salutogenic approaches to better assist special education teachers to more effectively cope with their challenging work environment.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The cost of free instant messaging: an attack modelling perspective

  • Authors: Du Preez, Riekert
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Computer security , Instant messaging , Data protection
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
  • Identifier: vital:9797 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/499 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011921 , Computer security , Instant messaging , Data protection
  • Description: Instant Messaging (IM) has grown tremendously over the last few years. Even though IM was originally developed as a social chat system, it has found a place in many companies, where it is being used as an essential business tool. However, many businesses rely on free IM and have not implemented a secure corporate IM solution. Most free IM clients were never intended for use in the workplace and, therefore, lack strong security features and administrative control. Consequently, free IM clients can provide attackers with an entry point for malicious code in an organization’s network that can ultimately lead to a company’s information assets being compromised. Therefore, even though free IM allows for better collaboration in the workplace, it comes at a cost, as the title of this dissertation suggests. This dissertation sets out to answer the question of how free IM can facilitate an attack on a company’s information assets. To answer the research question, the dissertation defines an IM attack model that models the ways in which an information system can be attacked when free IM is used within an organization. The IM attack model was created by categorising IM threats using the STRIDE threat classification scheme. The attacks that realize the categorised threats were then modelled using attack trees as the chosen attack modelling tool. Attack trees were chosen because of their ability to model the sequence of attacker actions during an attack. The author defined an enhanced graphical notation that was adopted for the attack trees used to create the IM attack model. The enhanced attack tree notation extends traditional attack trees to allow nodes in the trees to be of different classes and, therefore, allows attack trees to convey more information. During the process of defining the IM attack model, a number of experiments were conducted where IM vulnerabilities were exploited. Thereafter, a case study was constructed to document a simulated attack on an information system that involves the exploitation of IM vulnerabilities. The case study demonstrates how an attacker’s attack path relates to the IM attack model in a practical scenario. The IM attack model provides insight into how IM can facilitate an attack on a company’s information assets. The creation of the attack model for free IM lead to several realizations. The IM attack model revealed that even though the use of free IM clients may seem harmless, such IM clients can facilitate an attack on a company’s information assets. Furthermore, certain IM vulnerabilities may not pose a great risk by themselves, but when combined with the exploitation of other vulnerabilities, a much greater threat can be realized. These realizations hold true to what French playwright Jean Anouilh once said: “What you get free costs too much”.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The deductibility of interest

  • Authors: Gunn, Richard , Stack, Elizabeth M
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: Conference paper
  • Identifier: vital:6063 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004603
  • Description: The deduction of interest expenditure, for the purpose of calculating the South African taxable income on which normal tax is levied, must satisfy the requirements of the preamble to section 11 and section 11(a) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, read with section 23(g), unless a particular section makes specific provision for its deduction. There appears to be a presumption that if interest expenditure is incurred in the production of income derived from carrying on a trade, it is deductible and we need look no further. This presumption may underlie the 2005 amendment of sub-section (2) of section 24J, which provides that interest is deductible provided it has been incurred “in the production of income” and “for the purposes of trade” (sections 11(a) and 23(g)). This paper discusses the deductibility of interest and, in particular, whether there are circumstances in which interest paid on a loan used to acquire a capital asset could be of a capital nature. The provisions of the Income Tax Act and court decisions relating to the deductibility of interest, as well as opinions expressed by authoritative writers on tax, are subjected to critical analysis. The paper first distinguishes the tests for determining whether an expense has been incurred “in the production of income” and whether the expense is “of a capital nature”. Specific court decisions relating to the deductibility of interest are then analysed. The research considers section 24J of the Act, to determine whether its provisions have settled the debate, and refers briefly to the provisions of section 11(bB), in the context of the research question. The conclusion reached in the research is that there are occasions where the courts appear to have confused the tests for determining whether interest expenditure was incurred “in the production of income” and whether it is “of a capital nature”, in certain instances have also failed to address the question of the capital or revenue nature of the interest expenditure under scrutiny, and that the matter does not appear to be settled that interest incurred on funds used to acquire a capital asset used to produce trade income is automatically deductible.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The defence of inherent requirements of the job in unfair discrimination cases

  • Authors: Kasika, Richard
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Unfair labor practices -- South Africa , Defense (Civil procedure) -- South Africa , Job analysis
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
  • Identifier: vital:10236 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/450 , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Unfair labor practices -- South Africa , Defense (Civil procedure) -- South Africa , Job analysis
  • Description: The discrimination jurisprudence in South Africa has developed over the previous decade since the promulgation of the interim and final Constitutions. The Employment Equity Act of 1998 also gave impetus to the development of equality jurisprudence with reference to the workplace. In terms of both the Constitution and the Employment Equity Act, unfair discrimination is forbidden. Both the Constitution and Employment Equity Act list specific grounds on which discrimination would be regarded as unfair. Although discrimination on any of the listed grounds would be regarded as automatically unfair, there is realisation that this cannot be an absolute position. The Employment Equity Act makes provision that employers be able to justify discrimination even on the listed grounds where there are justifiable reasons. In terms of the EEA, it is not unfair discrimination to differentiate between employees on the basis of an inherent requirement of the particular job. It is this defence that is considered in the present treatise. The inherent requirements of the job as a defence in unfair discrimination cases is one, which needs to be carefully considered it in fact requires a clear understanding of what constitutes an inherent requirement. It is equally important to understand that although in one instance it may be justifiable to exclude certain employees on the basis of an inherent requirement of the job, a generalisation may give an employer difficulties under certain circumstances. An employer who is faced with a prospective employee who suffers from a particular illness that would make it impossible to do the job, could raise the defence of an inherent requirement of the job. However, the fact that a particular employee has the same illness as the previous one not employed does not give an employer an automatic right to exclude all prospective employees who suffer from the same illness without having had consideration of their circumstances as well as those of their illnesses. The defence of inherent requirements of the job is therefore valid only where the essence of the business would be undermined by employing or not employing people with certain attributes required or not required to do the job.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The development and application of ecological risk assessment in South African water resource management

  • Authors: Claassen, Marius
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Ecological risk assessment -- South Africa Water resources development -- South Africa Water quality management -- South Africa Water-supply -- Management -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:6036 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006177
  • Description: The provision of goods and services by aquatic ecosystems plays an important role in socio-economic development and livelihoods in the southern African region. Water resource management in South Africa developed from an agrarian and pastoral focus up to 1956 to also supporting mining and industrial activities. This led to the introduction of the resource water quality objectives and pollution prevention approaches, which balanced the needs for development and protection. Prior to 1994, access to water resources was limited to riparian property owners and a minority of the population who controlled industrial and mining activities. The establishment of a democratic government amplified the need for accelerated socio-economic development, with equity, efficiency and sustainability being the principles of such development. New approaches were needed, which could achieve these development objectives and secure the resource base for future generations. An overview of the scientific process highlighted a risk based approach as potentially supporting the much needed balance between development and protection. The aims of this thesis is to develop a framework and process for the application of ecological risk assessment to water resource management in South Africa, to use case studies to draft guidelines for ecological risk assessment and to assess the degree to which ecological risk assessment can contribute to effective water resource management in South Africa. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for ecological risk assessment were identified amongst international best practice as meeting the requirements for local application. A framework was drafted for ecological risk assessment in South Africa, with the main phases being to agree on objectives, formulate the analysis plan, analyse information, characterise risk and manage risk. Modifications from the Environmental Protection Agency’s process include the order of activities in the first phase, the explicit testing of hypotheses and clarification of the evaluation of existing data or collection of new data. An industrial effluent case study was used to assess the applicability of the proposed framework. The case study dealt specifically with the assessment of risks posed by current conditions and long term licence conditions. The framework was found to be useful to identify weaknesses in the established monitoring programme and to evaluate lines of evidence to assess the degree to which the stated conditions would have unacceptable consequences. The study highlighted several weaknesses in the suggested framework, of which the most critical is the interpretation of the risk hypothesis as a testable null hypothesis. It became clear that cause-effect relationships should be stated as the risk hypothesis, whereas the assessment should evaluate expressed or expected conditions against a risk profile for a given stressor to benefit fully from the risk assessment approach. Changes to the framework terminology were suggested as well as nested feedback loops to allow for iterative processes where new information becomes available. The proposed guidelines incorporate the learning from the case study application as well as feedback from a peer review process. The guidelines incorporate the suggested actions under each phase as well as notes providing the rationale for each step. Three case study outlines were provided to assist users with the interpretation of the guidelines in different applications. The proposed guidelines are applied in an ecological Reserve determination case study, which specified the ecological water quality requirements. The study found that a risk-based approach was followed in the development of the water resource management policy, but the Reserve determination method is generally hazard based, with site specific modifications of the target values being allowed on a conservative basis. The case study highlighted a lack of readiness of water resource managers to accommodate scientific results expressed as probability distributions in support of management decisions. The thesis is concluded with a discussion of the key learning points of the ecological risk assessment development process. The evaluation highlights the move from stating and testing a null hypothesis to stating the risk hypothesis and evaluating the stated conditions against a risk profile. Several implementation challenges are highlighted, with specific recommendations made for adopting the proposed guidelines.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The development and assessment of a generic carbamazepine sustained release dosage form

  • Authors: Patel, Fathima
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Carbamazepine Pharmacokinetics Drugs -- Controlled release Drugs -- Dosage forms Tablets (Medicine) Drugs -- Administration
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:3784 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003262
  • Description: Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a first-line drug used for the treatment of partial and tonic-clonic seizures. It is also the drug of choice for use during pregnancy and recommended for the treatment of seizure disorders in children. CBZ possesses the ability to induce metabolism of drugs that are transformed in the liver and has the unique ability to induce its own metabolism by a phenomenon known as ‘auto- induction’, where its biological half-life is significantly reduced during chronic administration. Large doses of CBZ are often prescribed as daily divided doses and this often adversely affects patient compliance, with the result that therapy is ineffective. A sustained-release dosage form containing CBZ is currently marketed as Tegretol® CR and the development of a generic product would provide patients with an equivalent product with a similar dosing frequency, at a reduced cost. Therefore, the development of a polymer-based matrix tablet was undertaken to produce a sustained-release dosage form of CBZ, since these dosage forms are relatively simple and cheap to produce when compared to other, more sophisticated forms of sustained-release technology. Preformulation studies were conducted to assess moisture content of excipients and dosage forms and to identify possible incompatibilities between CBZ and potential formulation excipients. Furthermore, studies were conducted to assess the potential for polymorphic transitions to occur during manufacture. Stability testing was conducted to assess the behaviour of the dosage forms under storage conditions that the product may be exposed to. Dissolution testing was undertaken using USP Apparatus 3, which allowed for a more realistic assessment and prediction of in vivo drug release rates. Samples were analysed using a high performance liquid chromatographic method that was developed and validated for the determination of CBZ. Tablets were manufactured by wet granulation and direct compression techniques, and the resultant drug release profiles were evaluated statistically by means of the f1 and f2 difference and similarity factors. The f2 factor was incorporated as an assessment criterion in the design of an artificial neural network that was used to predict drug release profiles and formulation composition. A direct compression tablet formulation was successfully adapted from a prototype wet granulation matrix formulation and a number of formulation variables were assessed to establish their effect(s) on the dissolution rate profile of CBZ that resulted from testing of the dosage forms. The particle size grade of CBZ was also investigated and it was ascertained that fine particle size grade CBZ showed improved drug release profiles when compared to the coarse grade CBZ which was desirable, since CBZ is a highly water insoluble compound. Furthermore, the impact of the viscosity grade and proportion of rate-controlling polymer, viz., hydroxypropyl methylcellulose was also investigated for its effect on drug release rates. The lower viscosity grade was found to be more appropriate for use with CBZ. The type of anti-frictional agent used in the formulations did not appear to affect drug release from the polymeric matrix tablets, however specific compounds may have an effect on the physical characteristics of the polymeric tablets. The resultant formulations did not display zero-order drug release kinetics and a first-order mathematical model was developed to provide an additional resource for athematical analysis of dissolution profiles. An artificial neural network was designed, developed and applied to predict dissolution rate profiles for formulation. Furthermore, the network was used to predict formulation compositions that would produce drug release profiles comparable to the reference product, Tegretol® CR. The formulation composition predicted by the network to match the dissolution profile of the innovator product was manufactured and tested in vitro. The formulation was further manipulated, empirically, so as to match the in vitro dissolution rate profile of Tegretol® CR, more completely. The test tablets that were produced were tested in two health male volunteers using Tegretol® CR 400mg as the reference product. The batch used for this “proof of concept” biostudy was produced in accordance with cGMP guidelines and the protocol in accordance with ICH guidelines. The test matrix tablets revealed in vivo bioavailability profiles for CBZ, however, bioequivalence between the test and reference product could not be established. It can be concluded that the polymeric matrix CBZ tablets have the potential to be used as a twice-daily dosage form for the treatment of relevant seizure disorders.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The development of a leadership brand to enhance the competitiveness of organisations

  • Authors: Baatjes, Jerome Clinton
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Leadership , Competition
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: vital:8565 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/189 , Leadership , Competition
  • Description: Effective leadership is and will remain the cornerstone of business success. It is leadership that differentiates world class from mediocre performance. The objective of this study is to investigate how positive leadership brand can be developed in order to leverage human capital and enhance the competitive position of organisations. To achieve this objective a comprehensive literature study was performed to determine the extent of existing knowledge on branding, leadership and leadership branding. The study included an investigation into the attributes of effective leaders, leadership development activities, leadership styles and a formula for effective leadership was presented. Managers from selected organisations were requested to complete questionnaires in order to determine the views of South African managers on leadership branding. The questionnaire was developed in accordance with the findings from the literature research. The answers of the respondents were analysed and compared to the literature study. The information obtained from the literature study and from the respondents resulted in various recommendations and conclusions. In general, support was found for investing resources into developing leadership brand as respondents indicated that positive leadership brand could result in a source of competitive advantage. The major obstacles in developing positive leadership brands are: absence of a clear message of what makes an effective leader, lack of feedback that leaders receive on the behaviours they display and no (or an unknown) link between leadership behaviours and rewards.
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  • Date Issued: 2006

The development of an entrepreneurial management model to promote the survival and growth of family estate wine businesses in the South African wine industry

  • Authors: Cullen, Margaret Diane Munro
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Family-owned business enterprises -- South Africa , Wine industry -- South Africa -- Management , Entrepreneurship
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DBA
  • Identifier: vital:8766 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/491 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011909 , Family-owned business enterprises -- South Africa , Wine industry -- South Africa -- Management , Entrepreneurship
  • Description: The South African wine industry is polarised into the quantity-producing majority and the quality-conscious minority [Hughes, 2003]. The qualityproducing sector of the South African wine industry is dominated by family businesses. Research shows that there are approximately ninety familyowned wineries in South Africa. By international standards, South Africa is viewed as a quantity, not quality producing wine country, which will make it difficult to survive in an industry where quality is paramount for recognition. The ‘trailblazers’ of the international wine industry are family owned wineries [Robinson, 2000]. Twenty five percent of the 2003 five star South African wines were made by individuals or family wineries [Hughes, 2003], emphasising the growing importance of family wineries in the production of quality wines. It is important now, more than ever, with the industry opening up internationally, that survival of the family-owned wineries and their production of icon wines are promoted so that they can become flagship producers of the industry. The achievement of international status as a quality producing country, as well as building an industry based on the longevity of wine producing families, as well as a nation of wine lovers in South Africa should result.
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  • Date Issued: 2006
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