An examination of activism and ‘political listening’ during the year of student protest at the University of Cape Town from 9 March 2015 to 9 March 2016
- Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Authors: Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Date: 2022-10-04
- Subjects: Student movements South Africa Cape Town , Democracy South Africa , Listening Political aspects , Journalistic ethics , Journalism Political aspects , Communication in social action South Africa Cape Town , University of Cape Town , Cape Times Ltd.
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327144 , vital:61085 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327144
- Description: This study sets out to examine democratic participation in South Africa and the role that ‘political listening’ could play in making participation more equitable. It considers protest action on a South African university campus, which at times not only resulted in significant and swift concessions from the university leadership but also sparked national political action which got an equally swift response from the South African government. It considers the social movement, the RhodesMustFall movement (RMF), as one way in which students can organise themselves to get a better hearing from the University of Cape Town (UCT) management in their attempt to make a meaningful contribution to the university’s micro democracy. This study examines whether the interaction between the UCT management and RMF could be considered ‘political listening’, and the possible role of the Cape Times newspaper within this context of participation. Using data gathered through interviews, written communications, observation and newspaper articles, the study shows that in all of the interactions between RMF and the UCT management, both groups were seldom willing to forego their power to engage in genuine listening. Instead, the two parties guessed at what power the other party might have and acted to reduce that power. It is in this context of guessing at and figuring what power the other party has that listening occurs. Furthermore, the study shows that during the RMF protest, the UCT management viewed their responsibility for the institution mainly through the lens of Private Property Law which framed protest as something to be dealt with by restoring law and order. The study also details the role of the Cape Times newspaper in the interactions between RMF and the UCT management and considers if this role could be political listening. The study is exploratory and demonstrates how political listening could work more optimally in real-life instances. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-04
- Authors: Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Date: 2022-10-04
- Subjects: Student movements South Africa Cape Town , Democracy South Africa , Listening Political aspects , Journalistic ethics , Journalism Political aspects , Communication in social action South Africa Cape Town , University of Cape Town , Cape Times Ltd.
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327144 , vital:61085 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327144
- Description: This study sets out to examine democratic participation in South Africa and the role that ‘political listening’ could play in making participation more equitable. It considers protest action on a South African university campus, which at times not only resulted in significant and swift concessions from the university leadership but also sparked national political action which got an equally swift response from the South African government. It considers the social movement, the RhodesMustFall movement (RMF), as one way in which students can organise themselves to get a better hearing from the University of Cape Town (UCT) management in their attempt to make a meaningful contribution to the university’s micro democracy. This study examines whether the interaction between the UCT management and RMF could be considered ‘political listening’, and the possible role of the Cape Times newspaper within this context of participation. Using data gathered through interviews, written communications, observation and newspaper articles, the study shows that in all of the interactions between RMF and the UCT management, both groups were seldom willing to forego their power to engage in genuine listening. Instead, the two parties guessed at what power the other party might have and acted to reduce that power. It is in this context of guessing at and figuring what power the other party has that listening occurs. Furthermore, the study shows that during the RMF protest, the UCT management viewed their responsibility for the institution mainly through the lens of Private Property Law which framed protest as something to be dealt with by restoring law and order. The study also details the role of the Cape Times newspaper in the interactions between RMF and the UCT management and considers if this role could be political listening. The study is exploratory and demonstrates how political listening could work more optimally in real-life instances. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-04
Computational analysis of known drug resistant mutants of Plasmodium falciparum Dihydrofolate Reductase (PfDHFR) and screening for novel antifolates against the enzyme
- Authors: Tata, Rolland Bantar
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/234184 , vital:50170
- Description: Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: Tata, Rolland Bantar
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/234184 , vital:50170
- Description: Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
Singlet oxygen and optical limiting applications of BODIPYs and other molecular dyes
- Authors: May, Aviwe Khanya
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Dyes and dyeing Chemistry , Phthalocyanines , Photochemotherapy , Active oxygen , Nonlinear optics , Time-dependent density functional theory , Photochemistry
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294618 , vital:57238 , DOI 10.21504/10962/294620
- Description: A series of structurally diverse novel and previously synthesized BODIPY core dyes are synthesized and characterized in this thesis. These BODIPYs were synthesized using 2-methylpyrrole, 2-ethylpyrrole, 2,4-dimethylpyrrole and 3-ethyl-2,4-dimethylpyrrole as the starting pyrroles. The combination of different pyrroles with the same aldehyde results in BODIPY core dyes that are structural analogues. These core dyes were used as precursors to synthesise halogenated BODIPYs and novel styrylBODIPY dyes, which were successfully characterized using FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The halogenated BODIPY core dyes and the styrylBODIPY dyes were also characterized using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The introduction of heavy atoms on the BODIPY core leads to a red shift of the main spectral. In the presence of styryl groups, the main spectral band red shifts to the far red end of the visible region. As expected, the halogenated BODIPY core dyes also had moderate singlet oxygen quantum yields. These halogenated core dyes were found to be suitable as photosensitizers as all the dyes reduced bacterial viability to below 50% during photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) studies against Staphylococcus aureus. The structure-property relationships studied demonstrate that the presence of protons rather than methyls at the 1,7-positions or iodines at the 2,6-positions results in more favorable PACT activity. This is likely to be related to the greater ability of the meso-aryl to rotate into the plane of the dipyrromethene ligand and suggests that there should be a stronger focus on dyes of this type in future studies in this field. During nonlinear optical (NLO) studies, all the styrylBODIPYs exhibited favorable reverse saturable absorption (RSA) responses. In the absence of methyl groups at the 1,7-positions, the meso-aryl ring lies closer to the π-system of the BODIPY core, enhancing donor (D)–π–acceptor (A) properties and resulting in slightly enhanced optical limiting (OL) parameters. Additionally, there is no evidence that the introduction of heavy atoms at the 2,6-positions significantly enhances OL properties. In a similar manner, alkyl substituents at these positions also do not significantly enhance OL properties; this was studied for the first time using 15 with ethyl groups at the 2,6-positions. The combination of z-scan data and transient spectroscopy for 16 demonstrated that the main mechanism responsible for the NLO properties of nonhalogenated BODIPY dyes is one-photon absorption from the ground state followed by ESA in the singlet manifold. From the NLO studies of 25, OL parameters of 1,3,5-tristyrylBODIPY dyes were found to be similar in magnitude to properties of distyrylBODIPY dyes, but to have less favorable optical properties for OL applications. The OL properties of scandium phthalocyanines were assessed for the first time, since the Sc(III) ion, unusually for a first row transition metal ion, is known to readily form sandwich complexes. The presence of a Sc(III) ion does not significantly enhance the OL properties of phthalocyanines relative to those of rare earth metal ions that also form complexes of this type. Because BODIPYs and phthalocyanines typically absorb significantly in the visible region, transparent PBC polymer thin films of disilane-bridged compounds with minimal absorption in this region were studied and exhibited an excellent RSA response. These compounds may be useful in the design of OL materials that can protect the human eye. The optimized geometries and spectroscopic properties of selected BODIPYs were studied. As expected, the presence of bromine, iodine, ethyl and styryl groups at different positions of the BODIPY core leads to a narrowing of the HOMO–LUMO band gap, which results in a red-shift of the main spectral band. Partial atomic charges have also been calculated for some of the styrylBODIPY dyes studied for application in OL, and electrostatic potential energy maps were also visualized to better assess how the dipole moment of BODIPY dyes can be modulated since this can affect the OL properties. For all the BODIPYs studied, the electronegativity of the atoms present influences charge distribution on the BODIPY structure. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: May, Aviwe Khanya
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Dyes and dyeing Chemistry , Phthalocyanines , Photochemotherapy , Active oxygen , Nonlinear optics , Time-dependent density functional theory , Photochemistry
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294618 , vital:57238 , DOI 10.21504/10962/294620
- Description: A series of structurally diverse novel and previously synthesized BODIPY core dyes are synthesized and characterized in this thesis. These BODIPYs were synthesized using 2-methylpyrrole, 2-ethylpyrrole, 2,4-dimethylpyrrole and 3-ethyl-2,4-dimethylpyrrole as the starting pyrroles. The combination of different pyrroles with the same aldehyde results in BODIPY core dyes that are structural analogues. These core dyes were used as precursors to synthesise halogenated BODIPYs and novel styrylBODIPY dyes, which were successfully characterized using FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The halogenated BODIPY core dyes and the styrylBODIPY dyes were also characterized using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The introduction of heavy atoms on the BODIPY core leads to a red shift of the main spectral. In the presence of styryl groups, the main spectral band red shifts to the far red end of the visible region. As expected, the halogenated BODIPY core dyes also had moderate singlet oxygen quantum yields. These halogenated core dyes were found to be suitable as photosensitizers as all the dyes reduced bacterial viability to below 50% during photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) studies against Staphylococcus aureus. The structure-property relationships studied demonstrate that the presence of protons rather than methyls at the 1,7-positions or iodines at the 2,6-positions results in more favorable PACT activity. This is likely to be related to the greater ability of the meso-aryl to rotate into the plane of the dipyrromethene ligand and suggests that there should be a stronger focus on dyes of this type in future studies in this field. During nonlinear optical (NLO) studies, all the styrylBODIPYs exhibited favorable reverse saturable absorption (RSA) responses. In the absence of methyl groups at the 1,7-positions, the meso-aryl ring lies closer to the π-system of the BODIPY core, enhancing donor (D)–π–acceptor (A) properties and resulting in slightly enhanced optical limiting (OL) parameters. Additionally, there is no evidence that the introduction of heavy atoms at the 2,6-positions significantly enhances OL properties. In a similar manner, alkyl substituents at these positions also do not significantly enhance OL properties; this was studied for the first time using 15 with ethyl groups at the 2,6-positions. The combination of z-scan data and transient spectroscopy for 16 demonstrated that the main mechanism responsible for the NLO properties of nonhalogenated BODIPY dyes is one-photon absorption from the ground state followed by ESA in the singlet manifold. From the NLO studies of 25, OL parameters of 1,3,5-tristyrylBODIPY dyes were found to be similar in magnitude to properties of distyrylBODIPY dyes, but to have less favorable optical properties for OL applications. The OL properties of scandium phthalocyanines were assessed for the first time, since the Sc(III) ion, unusually for a first row transition metal ion, is known to readily form sandwich complexes. The presence of a Sc(III) ion does not significantly enhance the OL properties of phthalocyanines relative to those of rare earth metal ions that also form complexes of this type. Because BODIPYs and phthalocyanines typically absorb significantly in the visible region, transparent PBC polymer thin films of disilane-bridged compounds with minimal absorption in this region were studied and exhibited an excellent RSA response. These compounds may be useful in the design of OL materials that can protect the human eye. The optimized geometries and spectroscopic properties of selected BODIPYs were studied. As expected, the presence of bromine, iodine, ethyl and styryl groups at different positions of the BODIPY core leads to a narrowing of the HOMO–LUMO band gap, which results in a red-shift of the main spectral band. Partial atomic charges have also been calculated for some of the styrylBODIPY dyes studied for application in OL, and electrostatic potential energy maps were also visualized to better assess how the dipole moment of BODIPY dyes can be modulated since this can affect the OL properties. For all the BODIPYs studied, the electronegativity of the atoms present influences charge distribution on the BODIPY structure. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
A comparative appraisal of access and quality of sexual and reproductive health services for gays and lesbians in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) and Pretoria (South Africa)
- Authors: Jasi, Phineas
- Date: 2021-11
- Subjects: Reproductive health , Sexual health
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21959 , vital:51854
- Description: This study investigated the extent to which gays and lesbians access quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Pretoria and Bulawayo. The study also examines the facilitators and barriers for accessing the same services. Theoretically, the study was grounded in the Health Belief Model (Hochbaum, 1958, modified by Rosenstock, 1974 and Siddiqui, 2016). To answer the research questions, a mixed methods approach was applied involving both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. A total of 30 key informant interviews, eight focus group discussions and 387 questionnaires were administered using purposive, time location and snowball sampling approaches in the two cities. The study found that the most commonly available sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services were contraceptive services, sexually transmitted infections (STI) services and Human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) services. The services were provided at public health facilities, drop-in centres and through outreach activities operated by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The least available services that gays and lesbians required as part of a comprehensive package were access to information, education and communications (IEC) materials and mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS). Several service providers were not adhering to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for provision of comprehensive services for key populations including gays and lesbians. Critical gaps noted included the absence of key populations-only service hours, lack of options for clinicians to attend to them, presence of a stigma and discrimination free environment and provision of comprehensive package of services under one roof. Most of the referral facilities had limited drugs, equipment and supplies for cancer screening and they had no HIV prevention, sex change, in-vitro fertilization, and sterilization services and procedures. The quality of physical facilities and SRH services in both cities did not meet the expectations of gays and lesbians, acting as a barrier to their health seeking behaviour. Stigma and discrimination from healthcare workers was a huge barrier affecting access across all public health facilities. The acts of stigmatisation and discrimination affected the perceptions that gays and lesbians had regarding the quality of the services and compromised access of the same. In view of these health system challenges, the study recommends that there is need for public authorities in both cities to address the bottlenecks and barriers affecting access to SRH services and products such as lubricants, affordable quality condoms, dental dams and latex gloves while reinforcing the facilitating factors promoting access. Healthcare workers need further training on how to provide comprehensive services for gays and lesbians according to the WHO guidelines. Public health authorities in Bulawayo and Pretoria should build upon the identified factors which facilitated the access to SRH services and use of products such as condoms and lubricants. These factors require strengthening of community-based organizations and networks that work directly with gays and lesbians in both Bulawayo and Pretoria. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-11
- Authors: Jasi, Phineas
- Date: 2021-11
- Subjects: Reproductive health , Sexual health
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21959 , vital:51854
- Description: This study investigated the extent to which gays and lesbians access quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Pretoria and Bulawayo. The study also examines the facilitators and barriers for accessing the same services. Theoretically, the study was grounded in the Health Belief Model (Hochbaum, 1958, modified by Rosenstock, 1974 and Siddiqui, 2016). To answer the research questions, a mixed methods approach was applied involving both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. A total of 30 key informant interviews, eight focus group discussions and 387 questionnaires were administered using purposive, time location and snowball sampling approaches in the two cities. The study found that the most commonly available sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services were contraceptive services, sexually transmitted infections (STI) services and Human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) services. The services were provided at public health facilities, drop-in centres and through outreach activities operated by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The least available services that gays and lesbians required as part of a comprehensive package were access to information, education and communications (IEC) materials and mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS). Several service providers were not adhering to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for provision of comprehensive services for key populations including gays and lesbians. Critical gaps noted included the absence of key populations-only service hours, lack of options for clinicians to attend to them, presence of a stigma and discrimination free environment and provision of comprehensive package of services under one roof. Most of the referral facilities had limited drugs, equipment and supplies for cancer screening and they had no HIV prevention, sex change, in-vitro fertilization, and sterilization services and procedures. The quality of physical facilities and SRH services in both cities did not meet the expectations of gays and lesbians, acting as a barrier to their health seeking behaviour. Stigma and discrimination from healthcare workers was a huge barrier affecting access across all public health facilities. The acts of stigmatisation and discrimination affected the perceptions that gays and lesbians had regarding the quality of the services and compromised access of the same. In view of these health system challenges, the study recommends that there is need for public authorities in both cities to address the bottlenecks and barriers affecting access to SRH services and products such as lubricants, affordable quality condoms, dental dams and latex gloves while reinforcing the facilitating factors promoting access. Healthcare workers need further training on how to provide comprehensive services for gays and lesbians according to the WHO guidelines. Public health authorities in Bulawayo and Pretoria should build upon the identified factors which facilitated the access to SRH services and use of products such as condoms and lubricants. These factors require strengthening of community-based organizations and networks that work directly with gays and lesbians in both Bulawayo and Pretoria. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-11
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