Influence of the macro-economic environment on the construction sector's contribution to the South African economy, 1984 to 2011
- Authors: Babalola, Adewumi Joseph
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Construction industry -- Economic aspects Economic development Environmental economics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5618 , vital:20916
- Description: The construction sector serves as the engine of growth to the South Africa economy because of its catalytic role in the growth and development of the country. This study focuses mainly on the influence of the macro-economic environment on the contribution of the private sector to construction in the South Africa economy from 1984 to 2011. Government construction work is considered to be an injection into the economy; in this regard, state construction is regarded as public investment in the economy; and therefore, it is anti-cyclic (Keynes, 1936). The aim of this study has been to develop an econometric model for predicting the influence of the macroeconomic environment on the contribution of the private sector to the construction sector in the South Africa economy. The research design adopted in this study was an “ex-post facto” type, otherwise known as a causal-comparative design. The data were extracted from the published sources of the South African National Statistics, namely SARB, Stats SA and Quantec SA. The estimation technique used in this study was the ARDL model using quarterly data from 1984 to 2011. This is because in the construction sector, the influence of the independent variables is always felt over time – rather than all at once. The results of this study show that there is a long run causal relationship between inflation rate, interest rate, real exchange rate, GDP and gdp in the construction sector. The descriptive statistical analysis shows that there is a negative relationship between variables inflation rate and interest rate and the private sector spending in construction. However, economic growth as well as growth in the construction sector has a positive relationship with the private sector spending in construction. Likewise, the real exchange rate and labour productivity in construction have a negative relationship with the private sector’s spending in construction and they are statistically insignificant. The variance decomposition analysis show that the private sector spending in construction explains about 75 per cent of it variations, followed by inflation rate that explains 21 per cent on the average; while the remaining variations, comprising about 4 per cent, were shared among the other independent variables, such as GDP, GDP in construction, the interest rate and the real exchange rate. It was discovered that only the inflation rate does Granger-cause the private sector spending in construction. From the finding it can be concluded that inflation rate is a significant explanatory variable in explaining the variation in the dependent variable during period under review. Policy recommendations are as follows: firstly, the monetary authorities in South Africa should embark on sound policies that would bring about low prices of the construction materials. This would ensure growth and development in the construction sector; secondly, a stimulating development plan that would encourage private sector investment in properties and infrastructural development must be instituted; thirdly, an alternative policy to the present inflation targeting is recommended that would bring about low inflation, high growth, low unemployment and stable exchange rate; fourthly, the present policy on interest rate must be reviewed to allow for more participation in construction projects by the private sectors of the economy; fifthly, due to the fact that fluctuation in the crude oil prices in the international market is one of the major factors causing high inflation rate in South Africa, government must source local alternative products that would bring down prices of construction materials.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Babalola, Adewumi Joseph
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Construction industry -- Economic aspects Economic development Environmental economics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5618 , vital:20916
- Description: The construction sector serves as the engine of growth to the South Africa economy because of its catalytic role in the growth and development of the country. This study focuses mainly on the influence of the macro-economic environment on the contribution of the private sector to construction in the South Africa economy from 1984 to 2011. Government construction work is considered to be an injection into the economy; in this regard, state construction is regarded as public investment in the economy; and therefore, it is anti-cyclic (Keynes, 1936). The aim of this study has been to develop an econometric model for predicting the influence of the macroeconomic environment on the contribution of the private sector to the construction sector in the South Africa economy. The research design adopted in this study was an “ex-post facto” type, otherwise known as a causal-comparative design. The data were extracted from the published sources of the South African National Statistics, namely SARB, Stats SA and Quantec SA. The estimation technique used in this study was the ARDL model using quarterly data from 1984 to 2011. This is because in the construction sector, the influence of the independent variables is always felt over time – rather than all at once. The results of this study show that there is a long run causal relationship between inflation rate, interest rate, real exchange rate, GDP and gdp in the construction sector. The descriptive statistical analysis shows that there is a negative relationship between variables inflation rate and interest rate and the private sector spending in construction. However, economic growth as well as growth in the construction sector has a positive relationship with the private sector spending in construction. Likewise, the real exchange rate and labour productivity in construction have a negative relationship with the private sector’s spending in construction and they are statistically insignificant. The variance decomposition analysis show that the private sector spending in construction explains about 75 per cent of it variations, followed by inflation rate that explains 21 per cent on the average; while the remaining variations, comprising about 4 per cent, were shared among the other independent variables, such as GDP, GDP in construction, the interest rate and the real exchange rate. It was discovered that only the inflation rate does Granger-cause the private sector spending in construction. From the finding it can be concluded that inflation rate is a significant explanatory variable in explaining the variation in the dependent variable during period under review. Policy recommendations are as follows: firstly, the monetary authorities in South Africa should embark on sound policies that would bring about low prices of the construction materials. This would ensure growth and development in the construction sector; secondly, a stimulating development plan that would encourage private sector investment in properties and infrastructural development must be instituted; thirdly, an alternative policy to the present inflation targeting is recommended that would bring about low inflation, high growth, low unemployment and stable exchange rate; fourthly, the present policy on interest rate must be reviewed to allow for more participation in construction projects by the private sectors of the economy; fifthly, due to the fact that fluctuation in the crude oil prices in the international market is one of the major factors causing high inflation rate in South Africa, government must source local alternative products that would bring down prices of construction materials.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Information security assurance model for an examination paper preparation process in a higher education institution
- Authors: Mogale, Miemie
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Computer security -- Management -- Examinations , Computers -- Access control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8509 , vital:26377
- Description: In today’s business world, information has become the driving force of organizations. With organizations transmitting large amounts of information to various geographical locations, it is imperative that organizations ensure the protection of their valuable commodity. Organizations should ensure that only authorized individuals receive, view and alter the information. This is also true to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which need to protect its examination papers, amongst other valuable information. With various threats waiting to take advantage of the examination papers, HEIs need to be prepared by equipping themselves with an information security management system (ISMS), in order to ensure that the process of setting examination papers is secure, and protects the examination papers within the process. An ISMS will ensure that all information security aspects are considered and addressed in order to provide appropriate and adequate protection for the examination papers. With the assistance of information security concepts and information security principles, the ISMS can be developed, in order to secure the process of preparing examination papers; in order to protect the examination papers from potential risks. Risk assessment form part of the ISMS, and is at the centre of any security effort; reason being that to secure an information environment, knowing and understanding the risks is imperative. Risks pertaining to that particular environment need to be assessed in order to deal with those appropriately. In addition, very important to any security effort is ensuring that employees working with the valuable information are made aware of these risks, and can be able to protect the information. Therefore, the role players (within the examination paper preparation process (EPPP)) who handle the examination papers on a daily basis have to be equipped with means of handling valuable information in a secure manner. Some of the role players’ behaviour and practices while handling the information could be seen as vulnerabilities that could be exploited by threats, resulting in the compromise in the CIA of the information. Therefore, it is imperative that role players are made aware of their practices and iv behaviour that could result in a negative impact for the institution. This awareness forms part and is addressed in the ISMS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Mogale, Miemie
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Computer security -- Management -- Examinations , Computers -- Access control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8509 , vital:26377
- Description: In today’s business world, information has become the driving force of organizations. With organizations transmitting large amounts of information to various geographical locations, it is imperative that organizations ensure the protection of their valuable commodity. Organizations should ensure that only authorized individuals receive, view and alter the information. This is also true to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which need to protect its examination papers, amongst other valuable information. With various threats waiting to take advantage of the examination papers, HEIs need to be prepared by equipping themselves with an information security management system (ISMS), in order to ensure that the process of setting examination papers is secure, and protects the examination papers within the process. An ISMS will ensure that all information security aspects are considered and addressed in order to provide appropriate and adequate protection for the examination papers. With the assistance of information security concepts and information security principles, the ISMS can be developed, in order to secure the process of preparing examination papers; in order to protect the examination papers from potential risks. Risk assessment form part of the ISMS, and is at the centre of any security effort; reason being that to secure an information environment, knowing and understanding the risks is imperative. Risks pertaining to that particular environment need to be assessed in order to deal with those appropriately. In addition, very important to any security effort is ensuring that employees working with the valuable information are made aware of these risks, and can be able to protect the information. Therefore, the role players (within the examination paper preparation process (EPPP)) who handle the examination papers on a daily basis have to be equipped with means of handling valuable information in a secure manner. Some of the role players’ behaviour and practices while handling the information could be seen as vulnerabilities that could be exploited by threats, resulting in the compromise in the CIA of the information. Therefore, it is imperative that role players are made aware of their practices and iv behaviour that could result in a negative impact for the institution. This awareness forms part and is addressed in the ISMS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Introducing and intervention programme for grade 2 Afrikaans home language learners with reading, comprehension and phonics barriers
- De Jager, Marina, Geldenhuys, Johanna
- Authors: De Jager, Marina , Geldenhuys, Johanna
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Holistic education -- South Africa , Inclusive education -- South Africa , Remedial teaching -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6801 , vital:21143
- Description: This research study was aimed at the Grade 2 Afrikaans Home Language learners who encounter reading, comprehension and phonics barriers in an inclusive classroom. The Grade 2 Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) Home Language curriculum and pass requirements that the learners have to master in the mainstream, was a major concern. Consequently, seventy per cent of the Grade 2 Afrikaans learners have already failed Grade 1 or 2; and some seemed to be borderline cases; as their pace of development was so slow. The intervention programme was implemented intensively outside normal school hours, through qualitative and quantitative data collection, known as the multi-method. The research approaches were conducted through action research and case-study research. Bronfenbrenner’s model indicated that intrinsic and extrinsic factors cannot be disregarded in the learner’s holistic development; therefore, parent involvement was vital during the research study. As the Individual Learner Support Team (ILST) coordinator at the research school, I have experienced the despair and perplexity of the teachers, when dealing with teaching challenges; but also, that of the learners, who face barriers to learning. A sample of six learners was identified; and one parent in each household was active during the study. The parent’s responses varied from limited to worthy feedback throughout the intervention programme. The learners’ responses were observed during the intervention programme, the classroom situation; and their perceptions during the semi-structured interviews were recorded. The intervention programme links with the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support of SIAS process; and it involved the assistance of a remedial expert by applying remedial education, without psychometric tests. The findings revealed that the learner must be intrinsically motivated to co-operate fully. And this relates to both intrinsic and extrinsic influences. Recommendations are offered to the various stakeholders, who are directly or indirectly engaged in the learner’s scholastic development, to ensure corrective and supportive measures, which are conducive to learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: De Jager, Marina , Geldenhuys, Johanna
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Holistic education -- South Africa , Inclusive education -- South Africa , Remedial teaching -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6801 , vital:21143
- Description: This research study was aimed at the Grade 2 Afrikaans Home Language learners who encounter reading, comprehension and phonics barriers in an inclusive classroom. The Grade 2 Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) Home Language curriculum and pass requirements that the learners have to master in the mainstream, was a major concern. Consequently, seventy per cent of the Grade 2 Afrikaans learners have already failed Grade 1 or 2; and some seemed to be borderline cases; as their pace of development was so slow. The intervention programme was implemented intensively outside normal school hours, through qualitative and quantitative data collection, known as the multi-method. The research approaches were conducted through action research and case-study research. Bronfenbrenner’s model indicated that intrinsic and extrinsic factors cannot be disregarded in the learner’s holistic development; therefore, parent involvement was vital during the research study. As the Individual Learner Support Team (ILST) coordinator at the research school, I have experienced the despair and perplexity of the teachers, when dealing with teaching challenges; but also, that of the learners, who face barriers to learning. A sample of six learners was identified; and one parent in each household was active during the study. The parent’s responses varied from limited to worthy feedback throughout the intervention programme. The learners’ responses were observed during the intervention programme, the classroom situation; and their perceptions during the semi-structured interviews were recorded. The intervention programme links with the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support of SIAS process; and it involved the assistance of a remedial expert by applying remedial education, without psychometric tests. The findings revealed that the learner must be intrinsically motivated to co-operate fully. And this relates to both intrinsic and extrinsic influences. Recommendations are offered to the various stakeholders, who are directly or indirectly engaged in the learner’s scholastic development, to ensure corrective and supportive measures, which are conducive to learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating emerging deleuzoguattarian connections to the environment via information technology
- Authors: Siwak, Jakub
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mass media and the environment , Neoliberalism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8329 , vital:26343
- Description: This thesis explores whether or not it is possible to positively inflect – via digital means – people’s orientations toward nature through connecting their duration to the time of animals. The thesis opens with an overview of the contemporary environmental crisis, mapping related significant discourses, events and responses from the early 1960s onward. In this regard, after thematizing the relatively ineffective global institutional response to the environmental crisis to date – in spite of both consistent criticisms proffered by a range of stakeholders and widely available information on the scope of current environmental degradation – the lack of any concerted effort to deal with this issue is accounted for in terms of the dimensions of what Kilbourne, Beckmann and Thelen refer to as the ‘Dominant Social Paradigm’ (DSP). However, it is argued that of these dimensions, the technological dimension is most amenable to pro-environmental inflection, particularly through recent developments within information technology. That is, despite the latter being the privileged technology of neoliberalism, and despite the environmental cost of its current material infrastructure, it is also highly unlikely that societies will abandon their dependence on information technology in the near future. Given this, the importance of considering how such technology can be harnessed to positively re-orientate users’ perceptions of the natural world, in a way that also avoids the pitfall of technophilia, is advanced. In terms of this, both positive and negative appraisals of information technology by prominent new media theorists are discussed, and information technology is put forward as a tool that remains indeterminate in terms of its use. After this, and with a view to exploring how the technological dimension of the DSP might possibly be inflected in a pro-environmental manner, the thesis draws on the works of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari who promote desire and difference outside the ambit of capitalism, particularly through desubjectivation in relation to their concept of ‘becoming-animal.’ Finally, after dealing in addition with some potential theoretical challenges to the application of Deleuze’s ideas within the digital realm, focus shifts to three contemporary digital artefacts which have the capacity, albeit to varying degrees, to facilitate a becoming-animal. In this regard, a distinction is made between those artefacts that precipitate first-, second- and third-order hybrid durationality, and it is argued that the latter category presents the greatest promise of interfacing the time of humans with the time of animals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Siwak, Jakub
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mass media and the environment , Neoliberalism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8329 , vital:26343
- Description: This thesis explores whether or not it is possible to positively inflect – via digital means – people’s orientations toward nature through connecting their duration to the time of animals. The thesis opens with an overview of the contemporary environmental crisis, mapping related significant discourses, events and responses from the early 1960s onward. In this regard, after thematizing the relatively ineffective global institutional response to the environmental crisis to date – in spite of both consistent criticisms proffered by a range of stakeholders and widely available information on the scope of current environmental degradation – the lack of any concerted effort to deal with this issue is accounted for in terms of the dimensions of what Kilbourne, Beckmann and Thelen refer to as the ‘Dominant Social Paradigm’ (DSP). However, it is argued that of these dimensions, the technological dimension is most amenable to pro-environmental inflection, particularly through recent developments within information technology. That is, despite the latter being the privileged technology of neoliberalism, and despite the environmental cost of its current material infrastructure, it is also highly unlikely that societies will abandon their dependence on information technology in the near future. Given this, the importance of considering how such technology can be harnessed to positively re-orientate users’ perceptions of the natural world, in a way that also avoids the pitfall of technophilia, is advanced. In terms of this, both positive and negative appraisals of information technology by prominent new media theorists are discussed, and information technology is put forward as a tool that remains indeterminate in terms of its use. After this, and with a view to exploring how the technological dimension of the DSP might possibly be inflected in a pro-environmental manner, the thesis draws on the works of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari who promote desire and difference outside the ambit of capitalism, particularly through desubjectivation in relation to their concept of ‘becoming-animal.’ Finally, after dealing in addition with some potential theoretical challenges to the application of Deleuze’s ideas within the digital realm, focus shifts to three contemporary digital artefacts which have the capacity, albeit to varying degrees, to facilitate a becoming-animal. In this regard, a distinction is made between those artefacts that precipitate first-, second- and third-order hybrid durationality, and it is argued that the latter category presents the greatest promise of interfacing the time of humans with the time of animals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating the effectiveness of microcatchments at enhancing transplant performance in Nama-Karoo riparian ecosystem restoration
- Jackson, Andrew St. John, Wigley, Benjamin, Schumann, Bonnie, Currie, Bianca
- Authors: Jackson, Andrew St. John , Wigley, Benjamin , Schumann, Bonnie , Currie, Bianca
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Arid regions agriculture , Environmental degradation , Range ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7469 , vital:21782
- Description: Globally agricultural rangelands have been subjected to degradation through over-utilization. The loss of productivity of agricultural rangelands around the world has led to the development of methods to restore the productivity of these areas. In South Africa, extensive areas of the Nama-Karoo have been degraded or transformed due in part to unsustainable agricultural activities. The development of restoration methods which are easily implementable and financially viable could increase the probability of stakeholders implementing restoration activities on privately owned land. The removal of the degrading factor is not sufficient to reverse the degradative trend in dryland environments. Active measures must be implemented to arrest the degradation cascade. The climatic conditions of the rangelands of South Africa are limiting to plant performance and the favourable conditions are sporadic. The translocation of plants should be combined with the amelioration of the local conditions. This study tested the restoration technique of microcatchments in association with plant translocation. The effects of microcatchments and planting combinations which were best suited to the survival and performance of the transplants were determined through a field trail. The results showed that microcatchments created microsites which were conducive to transplant survival and growth, including nutrient accumulation and increased soil moisture. The success of the method was dependent on the planting combination used. Plants which are adapted to inundation and the saline conditions of the site performed better. Plants which were older at the time of translocation had higher survival rates than younger transplants. In the conditions of this site, planting adjacent to the microcatchments was necessary to avoid inundation induced mortalities. The environmental conditions of the Nama-Karoo necessitate the coordination of restoration activities with the predicted favourable conditions in order to improve the success of restoration activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Jackson, Andrew St. John , Wigley, Benjamin , Schumann, Bonnie , Currie, Bianca
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Arid regions agriculture , Environmental degradation , Range ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7469 , vital:21782
- Description: Globally agricultural rangelands have been subjected to degradation through over-utilization. The loss of productivity of agricultural rangelands around the world has led to the development of methods to restore the productivity of these areas. In South Africa, extensive areas of the Nama-Karoo have been degraded or transformed due in part to unsustainable agricultural activities. The development of restoration methods which are easily implementable and financially viable could increase the probability of stakeholders implementing restoration activities on privately owned land. The removal of the degrading factor is not sufficient to reverse the degradative trend in dryland environments. Active measures must be implemented to arrest the degradation cascade. The climatic conditions of the rangelands of South Africa are limiting to plant performance and the favourable conditions are sporadic. The translocation of plants should be combined with the amelioration of the local conditions. This study tested the restoration technique of microcatchments in association with plant translocation. The effects of microcatchments and planting combinations which were best suited to the survival and performance of the transplants were determined through a field trail. The results showed that microcatchments created microsites which were conducive to transplant survival and growth, including nutrient accumulation and increased soil moisture. The success of the method was dependent on the planting combination used. Plants which are adapted to inundation and the saline conditions of the site performed better. Plants which were older at the time of translocation had higher survival rates than younger transplants. In the conditions of this site, planting adjacent to the microcatchments was necessary to avoid inundation induced mortalities. The environmental conditions of the Nama-Karoo necessitate the coordination of restoration activities with the predicted favourable conditions in order to improve the success of restoration activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating the effects of mopane worms (Imbrasia belina) on nutrients, Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve, South Africa
- De Swardt, Donovan Barry, O’Connor, Tim
- Authors: De Swardt, Donovan Barry , O’Connor, Tim
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Herbivores -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Limpopo , Phytophagous insects -- South Africa -- Limpopo , Mopane worm -- South Africa -- Limpopo , Soil fertility -- South Africa -- Limpopo
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/9273 , vital:26558
- Description: Ecologists have long been aware that large mammalian herbivores can alter ecosystem functioning in various ways, for example through changing where they defecate and urinate, which consequently affects nutrient cycling. The effects of herbivorous insects on ecosystems, however, have received limited attention until recently. Insects are capable of mass outbreaks, they can consume large volumes of vegetative material and can deposit large quantities of dung (frass), one example being the mopane worm, Imbrasia belina. This study looked at the effect of mopane worm frass on soil fertility in the mopane veld of the Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve and neighbouring Haakdoring farm. It found that mopane worms are capable of altering soil nutrient dynamics beneath the trees where they are browsing in three ways. Firstly, they increase the potential amount of nutrients deposited when compared with that deposited through conventional leaf litter. Secondly, they alter the rate of nutrient recycling by depositing nutrients in frass which decomposes more rapidly than conventional leaf litter. Lastly, they increase the amounts of potassium and phosphorus in the soil. While there is no conclusive data from this study that the mopane veld would become extinct if mopane worms were harvested to extinction, it has shown that there is relatively little evidence on how herbivorous insects could affect ecosystem functioning in the landscapes in which they occur. Further research is recommended that investigates how mopane worms influence soil fertility in more detail and over multiple geographical locations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: De Swardt, Donovan Barry , O’Connor, Tim
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Herbivores -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Limpopo , Phytophagous insects -- South Africa -- Limpopo , Mopane worm -- South Africa -- Limpopo , Soil fertility -- South Africa -- Limpopo
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/9273 , vital:26558
- Description: Ecologists have long been aware that large mammalian herbivores can alter ecosystem functioning in various ways, for example through changing where they defecate and urinate, which consequently affects nutrient cycling. The effects of herbivorous insects on ecosystems, however, have received limited attention until recently. Insects are capable of mass outbreaks, they can consume large volumes of vegetative material and can deposit large quantities of dung (frass), one example being the mopane worm, Imbrasia belina. This study looked at the effect of mopane worm frass on soil fertility in the mopane veld of the Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve and neighbouring Haakdoring farm. It found that mopane worms are capable of altering soil nutrient dynamics beneath the trees where they are browsing in three ways. Firstly, they increase the potential amount of nutrients deposited when compared with that deposited through conventional leaf litter. Secondly, they alter the rate of nutrient recycling by depositing nutrients in frass which decomposes more rapidly than conventional leaf litter. Lastly, they increase the amounts of potassium and phosphorus in the soil. While there is no conclusive data from this study that the mopane veld would become extinct if mopane worms were harvested to extinction, it has shown that there is relatively little evidence on how herbivorous insects could affect ecosystem functioning in the landscapes in which they occur. Further research is recommended that investigates how mopane worms influence soil fertility in more detail and over multiple geographical locations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating the high level of consumer indebtedness in the South African retail market
- Authors: Kgomo, Stephen Phuti
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Consumer credit -- South Africa , Debt -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8450 , vital:26360
- Description: This study was aimed at investigating the high level of consumer indebtedness in the South African retail market more specifically factors that contribute to consumer indebtedness. Recommendations on how to control the level of consumer indebtedness are also presented. Consumer indebtedness is a problem in many countries around the world and as witnessed during the 2008 global financial crisis, its impact can be disastrous. Not only does it create problems for the families but also for a country and even to the extent of the whole world. The literature conducted did not reveal a study undertaken to investigate factors that impact consumer indebtedness. Eight factors were identified and explored further in this study. Results were analysed in chapter three and outcomes presented in chapter four. The method used in conducting this study is the quantitative method. A questionnaire was developed based on the literature review conducted. The questionnaire was a five point Likert scale and was distributed to the respondents in the southern area of Tshwane Municipal district. In view of a manageable number of responses, results were analysed using an excel spreadsheet. Results were verified by an independent expert. From the eight factors that are identified, one (easy access to credit) was found to impact the high level of consumer indebtedness. Although there are other weaknesses, easy access to credit is found to be the main contributor. Recommendations on the findings are presented in chapter five of this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Kgomo, Stephen Phuti
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Consumer credit -- South Africa , Debt -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8450 , vital:26360
- Description: This study was aimed at investigating the high level of consumer indebtedness in the South African retail market more specifically factors that contribute to consumer indebtedness. Recommendations on how to control the level of consumer indebtedness are also presented. Consumer indebtedness is a problem in many countries around the world and as witnessed during the 2008 global financial crisis, its impact can be disastrous. Not only does it create problems for the families but also for a country and even to the extent of the whole world. The literature conducted did not reveal a study undertaken to investigate factors that impact consumer indebtedness. Eight factors were identified and explored further in this study. Results were analysed in chapter three and outcomes presented in chapter four. The method used in conducting this study is the quantitative method. A questionnaire was developed based on the literature review conducted. The questionnaire was a five point Likert scale and was distributed to the respondents in the southern area of Tshwane Municipal district. In view of a manageable number of responses, results were analysed using an excel spreadsheet. Results were verified by an independent expert. From the eight factors that are identified, one (easy access to credit) was found to impact the high level of consumer indebtedness. Although there are other weaknesses, easy access to credit is found to be the main contributor. Recommendations on the findings are presented in chapter five of this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating the manufacturing of consent and democratic resistance through legacy and new media, in relation to fracking
- Authors: Roodt, Jean-Pierre
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Press and propaganda , Press and politics , Mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3665 , vital:20451
- Description: This dissertation concerns the extent to which the propaganda model advanced by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman in their Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is still applicable to the current media ecosystem, where both legacy and new media converge, especially given the emergence of global democratic resistance both to the excesses of neoliberalism in general, and to the problems associated with shale gas mining through hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) in particular. In this regard, firstly, the tensions between the views of seminal propaganda theorists and of critical theorists opposed to propaganda will be thematized in relation to Chomsky and Herman’s propaganda model, through which they sought to account for the negative impact of neoliberalism on journalistic freedom. Secondly, the primary features of neoliberalism will be considered in relation to the advent of the Internet, which has helped spread laissez-faire capitalism globally, both through integrating financial markets and augmenting consumerism, and through facilitating new practises of consent engineering via digital forms of censorship and surveillance. Thirdly, the correlative emergence around the world of digital democratic resistance on the part of new social movements and through both new and legacy media means, to the excesses of neoliberalism in general, will be investigated. Fourthly, the corporate underpinning of fracking in the United States will be explored, along with the media strategy by which anti-fracking groups – following Vera Scroggins’s activism – have contested government endorsement of such resource extraction. Fifthly, the resonances/dissonances between the media strategies of the American anti-fracking movement and the South African anti-fracking movement – most notably the Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) – along with the different contexts out of which they emerged and their respective efficacy, will be examined. Finally, some potential deficits in the TKAG media strategy will be identified, and appropriate recommendations will be made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Roodt, Jean-Pierre
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Press and propaganda , Press and politics , Mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3665 , vital:20451
- Description: This dissertation concerns the extent to which the propaganda model advanced by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman in their Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is still applicable to the current media ecosystem, where both legacy and new media converge, especially given the emergence of global democratic resistance both to the excesses of neoliberalism in general, and to the problems associated with shale gas mining through hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) in particular. In this regard, firstly, the tensions between the views of seminal propaganda theorists and of critical theorists opposed to propaganda will be thematized in relation to Chomsky and Herman’s propaganda model, through which they sought to account for the negative impact of neoliberalism on journalistic freedom. Secondly, the primary features of neoliberalism will be considered in relation to the advent of the Internet, which has helped spread laissez-faire capitalism globally, both through integrating financial markets and augmenting consumerism, and through facilitating new practises of consent engineering via digital forms of censorship and surveillance. Thirdly, the correlative emergence around the world of digital democratic resistance on the part of new social movements and through both new and legacy media means, to the excesses of neoliberalism in general, will be investigated. Fourthly, the corporate underpinning of fracking in the United States will be explored, along with the media strategy by which anti-fracking groups – following Vera Scroggins’s activism – have contested government endorsement of such resource extraction. Fifthly, the resonances/dissonances between the media strategies of the American anti-fracking movement and the South African anti-fracking movement – most notably the Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) – along with the different contexts out of which they emerged and their respective efficacy, will be examined. Finally, some potential deficits in the TKAG media strategy will be identified, and appropriate recommendations will be made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating the relationship between mathematical knowledge for teaching and self-efficacy of pre-service mathematical literacy teachers
- Van Zyl, Nicola Stephanie, Van Zyl, Marinda
- Authors: Van Zyl, Nicola Stephanie , Van Zyl, Marinda
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mathematics teachers -- South Africa Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/10849 , vital:26829
- Description: Although a good understanding of mathematical content knowledge is essential for effective mathematics teaching, this might not be enough. Mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) requires a kind of depth and detail special to teaching, and involves mathematical reasoning as well as thinking from a learners’ perspective. Educational outcomes are also influenced by teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their ability to teach effectively. This study was an investigation into the relationship between pre-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) and their mathematical self-efficacy with regard to MKT. Participants in the study were 137 BEd (FET) students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, specializing in Mathematical Literacy as teaching subject. The quantitative data used for the study were gathered using a questionnaire on MKT for the topics number concepts and operations. This questionnaire was designed by Deborah Ball’s Michigan research team, to which I added a question on self-efficacy for every item. An analysis of the data gathered from the questionnaire reveals interesting and disturbing trends. The results suggest that, in more than 80% of the cases, respondents were either completely sure their answer was correct, or tended to think their answer was correct, indicating high levels of self-efficacy. Since only about 40% of answers were in reality correct, this indicates that participants believed their answer to be correct, although their interpretation of the mathematical knowledge for teaching involved was incorrect. Hence: they don’t know that they don’t know! The results of this study suggest that there is a need for educators of teachers to help improve prospective mathematical literacy teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. Pre-service teachers should be taught to use cognitive skills that will raise the likelihood of improved learner understanding. For this, robust understanding of the fundamental mathematics involved is needed, as well as high levels of self-efficacy with regard to the teaching of mathematics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Van Zyl, Nicola Stephanie , Van Zyl, Marinda
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mathematics teachers -- South Africa Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/10849 , vital:26829
- Description: Although a good understanding of mathematical content knowledge is essential for effective mathematics teaching, this might not be enough. Mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) requires a kind of depth and detail special to teaching, and involves mathematical reasoning as well as thinking from a learners’ perspective. Educational outcomes are also influenced by teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their ability to teach effectively. This study was an investigation into the relationship between pre-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) and their mathematical self-efficacy with regard to MKT. Participants in the study were 137 BEd (FET) students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, specializing in Mathematical Literacy as teaching subject. The quantitative data used for the study were gathered using a questionnaire on MKT for the topics number concepts and operations. This questionnaire was designed by Deborah Ball’s Michigan research team, to which I added a question on self-efficacy for every item. An analysis of the data gathered from the questionnaire reveals interesting and disturbing trends. The results suggest that, in more than 80% of the cases, respondents were either completely sure their answer was correct, or tended to think their answer was correct, indicating high levels of self-efficacy. Since only about 40% of answers were in reality correct, this indicates that participants believed their answer to be correct, although their interpretation of the mathematical knowledge for teaching involved was incorrect. Hence: they don’t know that they don’t know! The results of this study suggest that there is a need for educators of teachers to help improve prospective mathematical literacy teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. Pre-service teachers should be taught to use cognitive skills that will raise the likelihood of improved learner understanding. For this, robust understanding of the fundamental mathematics involved is needed, as well as high levels of self-efficacy with regard to the teaching of mathematics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Isithako sohlahlubo-bunzululwazi-sakhono kwiimbalo zikaSaule: iinoveli ezintathu = decontsructive stylistic critique of Saule' s writings: the case of three novels
- Jaxa, Nontembiso Patricia, Kwatsha, Linda Loretta
- Authors: Jaxa, Nontembiso Patricia , Kwatsha, Linda Loretta
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Xhosa literature -- Criticism, Textual , Literature -- Black authors -- History and criticism , South African literature -- History and criticism , Saule, N -- Criticism and interpretation , Saule, N -- Literary style
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7762 , vital:23830
- Description: Kule ngxoxo kuqwalaselwa ukugqwesa kwesiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono kuhlalutyo loncwadi. Olu phando lugxile ekuduliseni ukuba akukho luzalwano luthe ngqo, kwaye lusisigxina phakathi kwegama nentsingiselo, ngenxa yobumbaxa beentsingiselo zegama. Esi siThako siludondolo ekusinyelelwa ngalo kolu phando, ukuqaqambisa ukuba iitekisi azinantsingiselo izinzileyo. Ke ngoko ibe ayinabunyani mpela ingcamango yokuba igama linokunanyatheliswa intsingiselo ethile, ze loo ntsingiselo ibange ubuntsusa. Ingxoxo yophando, iphendula imibuzo ebuza ubuni besiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono, nokuchana kwaso ekuhlalutyeni iitekisi zoncwadi. Imibuzo ikwabuza izizathu zokungazinzi kwentsingiselo yetekisi, nokungabi nakwalatheka ncam kwentsingiselo ajolise kuyo umbhali, ngotolo lwakhe oluluchongo-sigama. Le mibuzo iyaphenduleka kubuthumbu bengxoxo. Ingxoxo idandalazisa ukunzotshoba kwesi siThako kuhlahlubo, kuqanyelwa ngeengcingane zaso eziphambili. Ukuphendulwa kwemibuzo yophando, kufezekisa iinjongo zophando. Iinoveli ezichongelwe uphando, ziinoveli ezintathu zikaSaule, ezizezi: Ukhozi Olumaphiko, Umlimandlela kunye no-Vuleka Mhlaba, azikhethelwanga kuthelekiswa koko kukudandalazisa elubala ukunyanisa kwesiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono, malunga nomba weentsingiselo. Ngazo, kudula ubunyani bophindaphindeko lwegama elinye kwimixholo ngemixholo, lizale iintsingiselo ezahlukileyo. Kanti, kukwadandalaza ukuba intsingiselo yegama ayixhomekekanga kumxholo, iyakwazi ukutyekeza ngaphaya kwawo, liveze nezinye iintsingiselo. Olu phando lungaluncedo kakhulu kubafundi nootitshala kuba kanye luphethe umba wokuhlalutywa kweetekisi, ngendlela ekhuthazwa yiNkcazelo yePolisi yeKharityhulam nokuHlola (2011). Ebethelela ukuba kufundo loncwadi kufuneka abafundi bayiqhaqhe ukuyihlalutya itekisi ukuze kuvele indlela eyakhiwe neyakheke ngayo, oko ke kukuHlahluba. Kanti ke nakubahlohli lungaluncedo kuba lutyhila okuninzi ngesiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono. Ekuxoxeni, isiThako sobuNzululwazi Mlando-mbali, kurhatyulwe kuso, ukuxhasa imiba ethile kuphando. Ingxoxo Yahlulwe yazizahluko ngolu hlobo: Isahluko sokuqala, sidandalazisa ingxubakaxaka ethunuke yandulula uphando olu. Kwabekwa iinjongo, iziphumo-njongo zophando nemibuzo ekuza kucangcathwa kuyo kuphando. Kwaphengululwa iincwadi zeengcali kwisi-Thako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono, kwarhewulwa nesiThako sobuNzululwazi beeNkumbulo noMlando-mbali. Isahluko sesibini, luphendululo lweencwadi olunzulileyo nolunabileyo, kupendlwa izimvo ezimalunga nobuni besiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono. Kubekelelwa, kucutyungulwa iingcingane zaso, ezibe ludondolo lophando. Isahluko sesithathu, yingxoxo. Kuphicothwa iinoveli ezichongelwe uphando, zihlahlutywa, kusetyenziswa iingcamango neengcingane zesiThako Sohla-hlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono. Ikakhulu kuqwalaselwa indlela izibini ezichasana ngokulinganayo ezivela ngayo. Kuduliswa ukuminxiselwa kwezo zikwinqanaba elingezantsi. Isahluko sesine, ingxoxo iyaqhuba, kuqwalselwa ukusetyenziswa kwamaze-nge nemiqondiso, neentsingiselo ezivelayo, nokwahluka kwazo, okukhokelela ukuba utekisi ibe nobuvumephika. Isahluko sesihlanu, uphando luqhubeka kudandalaziswa ukusetyenziswa kwezandi, isigama sokuchaza nezafobe, nemifanekiso-ngqondweni eyakhiwa zezi zixhobo zoncwadi, ze kuphendlwe iintsingiselo nefuthe lazo kwitekisi. Isahluko sesithandathu sigxile ekusetyenzisweni kwembali kuncwadi, ngendlela evuselela iinkumbulo. Kuso nakuba kuhlahlutywa kodwa kunce-diswa ngokurhabula kwisiThako sobuNzululwazi beeNkumbulo noMlando-mbali.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Jaxa, Nontembiso Patricia , Kwatsha, Linda Loretta
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Xhosa literature -- Criticism, Textual , Literature -- Black authors -- History and criticism , South African literature -- History and criticism , Saule, N -- Criticism and interpretation , Saule, N -- Literary style
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7762 , vital:23830
- Description: Kule ngxoxo kuqwalaselwa ukugqwesa kwesiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono kuhlalutyo loncwadi. Olu phando lugxile ekuduliseni ukuba akukho luzalwano luthe ngqo, kwaye lusisigxina phakathi kwegama nentsingiselo, ngenxa yobumbaxa beentsingiselo zegama. Esi siThako siludondolo ekusinyelelwa ngalo kolu phando, ukuqaqambisa ukuba iitekisi azinantsingiselo izinzileyo. Ke ngoko ibe ayinabunyani mpela ingcamango yokuba igama linokunanyatheliswa intsingiselo ethile, ze loo ntsingiselo ibange ubuntsusa. Ingxoxo yophando, iphendula imibuzo ebuza ubuni besiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono, nokuchana kwaso ekuhlalutyeni iitekisi zoncwadi. Imibuzo ikwabuza izizathu zokungazinzi kwentsingiselo yetekisi, nokungabi nakwalatheka ncam kwentsingiselo ajolise kuyo umbhali, ngotolo lwakhe oluluchongo-sigama. Le mibuzo iyaphenduleka kubuthumbu bengxoxo. Ingxoxo idandalazisa ukunzotshoba kwesi siThako kuhlahlubo, kuqanyelwa ngeengcingane zaso eziphambili. Ukuphendulwa kwemibuzo yophando, kufezekisa iinjongo zophando. Iinoveli ezichongelwe uphando, ziinoveli ezintathu zikaSaule, ezizezi: Ukhozi Olumaphiko, Umlimandlela kunye no-Vuleka Mhlaba, azikhethelwanga kuthelekiswa koko kukudandalazisa elubala ukunyanisa kwesiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono, malunga nomba weentsingiselo. Ngazo, kudula ubunyani bophindaphindeko lwegama elinye kwimixholo ngemixholo, lizale iintsingiselo ezahlukileyo. Kanti, kukwadandalaza ukuba intsingiselo yegama ayixhomekekanga kumxholo, iyakwazi ukutyekeza ngaphaya kwawo, liveze nezinye iintsingiselo. Olu phando lungaluncedo kakhulu kubafundi nootitshala kuba kanye luphethe umba wokuhlalutywa kweetekisi, ngendlela ekhuthazwa yiNkcazelo yePolisi yeKharityhulam nokuHlola (2011). Ebethelela ukuba kufundo loncwadi kufuneka abafundi bayiqhaqhe ukuyihlalutya itekisi ukuze kuvele indlela eyakhiwe neyakheke ngayo, oko ke kukuHlahluba. Kanti ke nakubahlohli lungaluncedo kuba lutyhila okuninzi ngesiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono. Ekuxoxeni, isiThako sobuNzululwazi Mlando-mbali, kurhatyulwe kuso, ukuxhasa imiba ethile kuphando. Ingxoxo Yahlulwe yazizahluko ngolu hlobo: Isahluko sokuqala, sidandalazisa ingxubakaxaka ethunuke yandulula uphando olu. Kwabekwa iinjongo, iziphumo-njongo zophando nemibuzo ekuza kucangcathwa kuyo kuphando. Kwaphengululwa iincwadi zeengcali kwisi-Thako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono, kwarhewulwa nesiThako sobuNzululwazi beeNkumbulo noMlando-mbali. Isahluko sesibini, luphendululo lweencwadi olunzulileyo nolunabileyo, kupendlwa izimvo ezimalunga nobuni besiThako Sohlahlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono. Kubekelelwa, kucutyungulwa iingcingane zaso, ezibe ludondolo lophando. Isahluko sesithathu, yingxoxo. Kuphicothwa iinoveli ezichongelwe uphando, zihlahlutywa, kusetyenziswa iingcamango neengcingane zesiThako Sohla-hlubo-buNzululwazi-sakhono. Ikakhulu kuqwalaselwa indlela izibini ezichasana ngokulinganayo ezivela ngayo. Kuduliswa ukuminxiselwa kwezo zikwinqanaba elingezantsi. Isahluko sesine, ingxoxo iyaqhuba, kuqwalselwa ukusetyenziswa kwamaze-nge nemiqondiso, neentsingiselo ezivelayo, nokwahluka kwazo, okukhokelela ukuba utekisi ibe nobuvumephika. Isahluko sesihlanu, uphando luqhubeka kudandalaziswa ukusetyenziswa kwezandi, isigama sokuchaza nezafobe, nemifanekiso-ngqondweni eyakhiwa zezi zixhobo zoncwadi, ze kuphendlwe iintsingiselo nefuthe lazo kwitekisi. Isahluko sesithandathu sigxile ekusetyenzisweni kwembali kuncwadi, ngendlela evuselela iinkumbulo. Kuso nakuba kuhlahlutywa kodwa kunce-diswa ngokurhabula kwisiThako sobuNzululwazi beeNkumbulo noMlando-mbali.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Knowledge, attitudes and experiences of dieticians in relation to tuberculosis at the workplace
- Authors: Oxland, Ingrid Oxley
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Tuberculosis -- South Africa -- Etiology Disease management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12972 , vital:27140
- Description: Tuberculosis (TB) is acknowledged as an epidemic in South Africa. Health care professionals (HCPs), including dieticians, are at an increased risk for TB-infection compared to the general population. Implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) TB infection control measures can protect HCPs from contracting TB; however, many studies have shown poor adherence to guidelines by HCPs. The aim of the study was to determine dieticians’ knowledge, attitudes and experiences in relation to TB at the workplace. A descriptive quantitative, cross-sectional research design was employed. Convenience sampling was applied. The online survey was conducted between August 2014 and March 2015. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics. Ethical principles were adhered to. The sample consisted of 102 registered dieticians in South Africa. Good knowledge was displayed as two-thirds of dieticians correctly identified the National TB Management Guidelines and the main signs and symptoms of TB. However, a critical knowledge gap regarding TB transmission was identified, as only 42% of dieticians knew that TB could spread by talking. Favourable attitudes towards TB and infection control measures were present, except towards inadequate staffing levels and being worried about TB. The respondents reported that the fear of contracting TB affected patient interaction. Poor adherence to infection control measures was found. Only 45% of dieticians reported having a written TB infection control plan at their workplace, and only 23% were trained on TB infection control measures. Coughing patients were not always triaged and education material was not always available for TB patients. The availability of N-95 respirators was reported by 76% of dieticians. Training on TB infection control measures could influence dieticians’ adherence to infection control measures, ultimately protecting them from contracting TB at the workplace.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Oxland, Ingrid Oxley
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Tuberculosis -- South Africa -- Etiology Disease management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12972 , vital:27140
- Description: Tuberculosis (TB) is acknowledged as an epidemic in South Africa. Health care professionals (HCPs), including dieticians, are at an increased risk for TB-infection compared to the general population. Implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) TB infection control measures can protect HCPs from contracting TB; however, many studies have shown poor adherence to guidelines by HCPs. The aim of the study was to determine dieticians’ knowledge, attitudes and experiences in relation to TB at the workplace. A descriptive quantitative, cross-sectional research design was employed. Convenience sampling was applied. The online survey was conducted between August 2014 and March 2015. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics. Ethical principles were adhered to. The sample consisted of 102 registered dieticians in South Africa. Good knowledge was displayed as two-thirds of dieticians correctly identified the National TB Management Guidelines and the main signs and symptoms of TB. However, a critical knowledge gap regarding TB transmission was identified, as only 42% of dieticians knew that TB could spread by talking. Favourable attitudes towards TB and infection control measures were present, except towards inadequate staffing levels and being worried about TB. The respondents reported that the fear of contracting TB affected patient interaction. Poor adherence to infection control measures was found. Only 45% of dieticians reported having a written TB infection control plan at their workplace, and only 23% were trained on TB infection control measures. Coughing patients were not always triaged and education material was not always available for TB patients. The availability of N-95 respirators was reported by 76% of dieticians. Training on TB infection control measures could influence dieticians’ adherence to infection control measures, ultimately protecting them from contracting TB at the workplace.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Legal privilege in tax matters
- Authors: Delport, Jacqueline Hayley
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Tax administration and procedure Tax consultants
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12637 , vital:27101
- Description: In South Africa the boundaries of the common law principle of legal professional privilege in tax matters is unclear. Common law legal professional privilege in South Africa and in other jurisdictions has been a right available only to clients of attorneys. In 2015, amendments were enacted in section 42A of the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act. These amendments set out further requirements that need to be satisfied for a taxpayer to claim his right to legal professional privilege over particular communications. The amendment does not feature any recognition of the extension of legal professional privilege for which all non-attorney tax practitioners have been lobbying for since the enactment of the Tax Administration Act. The stance taken by SARS in its non-response to the pleas for extension of legal professional privilege have both Constitutional and administrative consequences: constitutional consequences in the form of the infringement of the non-attorney tax practitioner’s right to equality and the taxpayer’s right to privacy: administrative consequences arise in the form of an infringement of an individual’s right to fair administrative justice under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. Foreign jurisdictions have been considered to determine whether South African is operating in line with international standards relating to legal professional privilege. Although, not every foreign jurisdiction examined for the purpose of this study, has implemented an extension of legal professional privilege, they have still ruled on the matter, or implemented an alternative solution, for example, a accountant concession for accountants. On this basis it is submitted that South Africa must implement a new provision within the Tax Administration Act defining the extension of legal professional privilege by law.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Delport, Jacqueline Hayley
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Tax administration and procedure Tax consultants
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12637 , vital:27101
- Description: In South Africa the boundaries of the common law principle of legal professional privilege in tax matters is unclear. Common law legal professional privilege in South Africa and in other jurisdictions has been a right available only to clients of attorneys. In 2015, amendments were enacted in section 42A of the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act. These amendments set out further requirements that need to be satisfied for a taxpayer to claim his right to legal professional privilege over particular communications. The amendment does not feature any recognition of the extension of legal professional privilege for which all non-attorney tax practitioners have been lobbying for since the enactment of the Tax Administration Act. The stance taken by SARS in its non-response to the pleas for extension of legal professional privilege have both Constitutional and administrative consequences: constitutional consequences in the form of the infringement of the non-attorney tax practitioner’s right to equality and the taxpayer’s right to privacy: administrative consequences arise in the form of an infringement of an individual’s right to fair administrative justice under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. Foreign jurisdictions have been considered to determine whether South African is operating in line with international standards relating to legal professional privilege. Although, not every foreign jurisdiction examined for the purpose of this study, has implemented an extension of legal professional privilege, they have still ruled on the matter, or implemented an alternative solution, for example, a accountant concession for accountants. On this basis it is submitted that South Africa must implement a new provision within the Tax Administration Act defining the extension of legal professional privilege by law.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Leonotis leonurus: understanding the mechanism of anti-diabetic action and investigating a nano drug delivery system
- Odei-Addo, Frank, Levendal, Ruby-Ann
- Authors: Odei-Addo, Frank , Levendal, Ruby-Ann
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Diabetes Plant extracts
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13116 , vital:27153
- Description: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterised by hyperglycaemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The leaf extract of Leonotis leonurus and its active compound marrubiin, have been shown to possess anti-diabetic, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulation activity. In the present study, the mechanism by which L. leonurus and marrubiin exert their anti-diabetic properties, the cross-talk between the peripheral tissues and a nano drug delivery system were investigated. Marrubiin in the plant extract was effectively quantified by an optimised reversed phase highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) protocol using a pentafluorophenyl (PFP) column with water and acetonitrile (50:50) as mobile phase, and a flow rate of 1ml/min. The chemical structure was determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy LC-MS/MS. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) gene expression of selected adipokines and proteins implicated in Type-2 diabetes (T2D) were investigated in specific peripheral tissues isolated from an in vivo obese rat model. An in vitro cell culture model was used to determine the crosstalk between the peripheral tissues and pancreatic (INS-1E) β-cells. Various nanoformulations of L. leonurus extract were prepared and their effect on cytotoxicity (in Chang liver and INS-1 cells), insulin-mediated glucose uptake (Change liver cells) and insulin secretion (INS-1) were investigated. The average yield of marrubiin from the plant extract was 10% (n=3), with a molecular mass of 333.20Da and a molecular formula of C20H29O4 +. Results from the in vivo study showed that the L. leonurus extract significantly (p<0.05) enhanced the gene expression of adiponectin, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), glucokinase (GK), uncoupling protein-2 (UCP-2) and reduced leptin in adipose tissue, but resistin, glucose transporters (GLUT), fatty acid synthase (FAS), insulin receptor substrate -1 (IRS-1) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene expression were not affected. Marrubiin decreased gene expression of leptin and resistin, and increased IRS-1 and glucokinase in adipose tissue. In liver and muscle tissues, marrubiin and the L. leonurus extract reduced gene expression of PPAR-γ, IRS-1, glucokinase and PEPCK. In the in vitro crosstalk study (under normoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic conditions), conditioned medium from 3T3-L1 cells significantly (p<0.01) enhanced insulin secretion. This was not observed in INS-1E cells exposed to muscle- and liver-conditioned medium, respectively. The in vitro studies using a nanostructured lipid formulation (NLC) of the plant extract was not cytotoxic to either INS-1 and Chang liver cells. The NLC formulation significantly (p<0.05) enhanced glucose uptake in Chang liver cells and improved chronic insulin release in INS-1 cells (p<0.05). Based on the above findings from the in vivo and in vitro studies, both L. leonurus and marrubiin exerted an insulinotropic effect via adipose tissue on pancreatic β-cells. The findings in the in vivo study showed that marrubiin and the L. leonurus extract were employing their major anti-diabetic action via the adipose tissue.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Odei-Addo, Frank , Levendal, Ruby-Ann
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Diabetes Plant extracts
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13116 , vital:27153
- Description: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterised by hyperglycaemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The leaf extract of Leonotis leonurus and its active compound marrubiin, have been shown to possess anti-diabetic, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulation activity. In the present study, the mechanism by which L. leonurus and marrubiin exert their anti-diabetic properties, the cross-talk between the peripheral tissues and a nano drug delivery system were investigated. Marrubiin in the plant extract was effectively quantified by an optimised reversed phase highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) protocol using a pentafluorophenyl (PFP) column with water and acetonitrile (50:50) as mobile phase, and a flow rate of 1ml/min. The chemical structure was determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy LC-MS/MS. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) gene expression of selected adipokines and proteins implicated in Type-2 diabetes (T2D) were investigated in specific peripheral tissues isolated from an in vivo obese rat model. An in vitro cell culture model was used to determine the crosstalk between the peripheral tissues and pancreatic (INS-1E) β-cells. Various nanoformulations of L. leonurus extract were prepared and their effect on cytotoxicity (in Chang liver and INS-1 cells), insulin-mediated glucose uptake (Change liver cells) and insulin secretion (INS-1) were investigated. The average yield of marrubiin from the plant extract was 10% (n=3), with a molecular mass of 333.20Da and a molecular formula of C20H29O4 +. Results from the in vivo study showed that the L. leonurus extract significantly (p<0.05) enhanced the gene expression of adiponectin, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), glucokinase (GK), uncoupling protein-2 (UCP-2) and reduced leptin in adipose tissue, but resistin, glucose transporters (GLUT), fatty acid synthase (FAS), insulin receptor substrate -1 (IRS-1) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene expression were not affected. Marrubiin decreased gene expression of leptin and resistin, and increased IRS-1 and glucokinase in adipose tissue. In liver and muscle tissues, marrubiin and the L. leonurus extract reduced gene expression of PPAR-γ, IRS-1, glucokinase and PEPCK. In the in vitro crosstalk study (under normoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic conditions), conditioned medium from 3T3-L1 cells significantly (p<0.01) enhanced insulin secretion. This was not observed in INS-1E cells exposed to muscle- and liver-conditioned medium, respectively. The in vitro studies using a nanostructured lipid formulation (NLC) of the plant extract was not cytotoxic to either INS-1 and Chang liver cells. The NLC formulation significantly (p<0.05) enhanced glucose uptake in Chang liver cells and improved chronic insulin release in INS-1 cells (p<0.05). Based on the above findings from the in vivo and in vitro studies, both L. leonurus and marrubiin exerted an insulinotropic effect via adipose tissue on pancreatic β-cells. The findings in the in vivo study showed that marrubiin and the L. leonurus extract were employing their major anti-diabetic action via the adipose tissue.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Living in the Shadow of death: purging the unconscious for the creation of a personal visual language
- Wedderburn, Michael Roderick
- Authors: Wedderburn, Michael Roderick
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Death in art Art, Modern -- 21st century Art -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13250 , vital:27168
- Description: This visual arts based research explores the autonomous process of mark-making from the unconscious for the sake of expressing inner turmoil that comes with ‘Living in the Shadow of Death series’ (2014). The manner by which emotions are, in a sense, naturally released in automatic drawing and painting underpin the basis of this research as part of the development of an expressive visual language. ‘Living in the Shadow of Death’ is definitively concerned with how an emotional predisposition, a severe case of unconscious aggression due to struggles with the illness of Marfan Syndrome comes to the surface naturally and is expressed visually. Essentially, this research aims to answer the main research question: How might the act of drawing convey the power and complexity of emotion through the exploration of autonomous mark-making with unconventional tools, mediums and methodologies? This research inquiry rests upon three important benefactors and influences: Illness, anatomy and unconventional tools. What is discussed is an interdisciplinary regime of theoretical and practical research into Surrealist Automatism and a progressive development of this methodology formed from the perspective and approach of a Marfan Syndrome sufferer. The research includes an analysis of Automatism in the works and practice of artists Roberto Matta, Joan Miro and Andre Masson and their influence on the working methods of Jackson Pollock. To this end, the contribution made by Jungian therapy to Pollock’s Action Painting technique and experimentation with unconventional methodologies is explored. Furthermore, the practice-led analysis and documentation of information gained on Surrealist Automatism aided development of working procedures and how this guided the creation of a body of works entitled ‘Living in the Shadow of Death’ is discussed. Ultimately, the content of this research expands the discourse on what constitutes drawing tools, media and format, and how suffering from Marfan Syndrome extended and amplified the expressive potential of Surrealist Automatism and Action Painting exemplified in the development of an innovative methodology known as ‘Anatomical Automatism’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wedderburn, Michael Roderick
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Death in art Art, Modern -- 21st century Art -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13250 , vital:27168
- Description: This visual arts based research explores the autonomous process of mark-making from the unconscious for the sake of expressing inner turmoil that comes with ‘Living in the Shadow of Death series’ (2014). The manner by which emotions are, in a sense, naturally released in automatic drawing and painting underpin the basis of this research as part of the development of an expressive visual language. ‘Living in the Shadow of Death’ is definitively concerned with how an emotional predisposition, a severe case of unconscious aggression due to struggles with the illness of Marfan Syndrome comes to the surface naturally and is expressed visually. Essentially, this research aims to answer the main research question: How might the act of drawing convey the power and complexity of emotion through the exploration of autonomous mark-making with unconventional tools, mediums and methodologies? This research inquiry rests upon three important benefactors and influences: Illness, anatomy and unconventional tools. What is discussed is an interdisciplinary regime of theoretical and practical research into Surrealist Automatism and a progressive development of this methodology formed from the perspective and approach of a Marfan Syndrome sufferer. The research includes an analysis of Automatism in the works and practice of artists Roberto Matta, Joan Miro and Andre Masson and their influence on the working methods of Jackson Pollock. To this end, the contribution made by Jungian therapy to Pollock’s Action Painting technique and experimentation with unconventional methodologies is explored. Furthermore, the practice-led analysis and documentation of information gained on Surrealist Automatism aided development of working procedures and how this guided the creation of a body of works entitled ‘Living in the Shadow of Death’ is discussed. Ultimately, the content of this research expands the discourse on what constitutes drawing tools, media and format, and how suffering from Marfan Syndrome extended and amplified the expressive potential of Surrealist Automatism and Action Painting exemplified in the development of an innovative methodology known as ‘Anatomical Automatism’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Local content requirements and the impact on the South African renewable energy sector
- Authors: Ettmayr, Christopher
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Renewable energy sources -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6149 , vital:21043
- Description: Economies aim to expand over time, which always implies the need for increased energy availability in support of this growth. Governments can use their procurement of energy generation to further enhance the benefit to their economies via certain policy tools. One such tool is Local Content Requirements (LCR) where procurement of a good dictates that a certain value has to be sourced locally. The argument for this tool is that spend is localised and manufacturing, as well as job creation, can be stimulated due to industry establishing in the host economy. However, this practice is distortionary in effect and it does not create a fair playing field for global trade. Furthermore, if the local content definition is weak, or open to manipulation, the goals of such a policy may not be achieved at all. This study looked into the local content requirements of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and measured the impact of this policy on the renewable energy sector in general. It was found that, in order to implement a policy such as local content, the host economy had to have certain pre-existing conditions in order to avoid any negative welfare effects. Due to SA not holding all supportive pre-conditions for supporting local content policy, the impact and effect of LCRs has not been optimal and it has not been found to be a sustainable mechanism to continue using into the future indefinitely. The pricing of renewable energy was also found to be higher due to local content and such pricing is passed on to the energy consumer. Therefore, the net welfare impact created for South Africa is diminished in exchange for the creation of jobs and manufacturing, but due to the unsustainability and potential manipulation of the system the country is not maximising the welfare potential from the REIPPPP as it should. It was found that SA renewable energy resources do exist and the logistics infrastructure is strong, providing good potential for investment into renewable energy projects. The demand created by the REIPPPP provided a good market, but there was uncertainty in the long term planning and stability. So, from a market perspective this could be further enhanced. Government had created a sufficient platform for investment, but areas of development such as clusters, R&D and skills training would create a better support environment for LCR policy and strict monitoring of this would also be required to prevent any manipulation. The use of LCRs increases project costs and risk, which is passed onto the energy consumers, but this could be reduced if local goods were more readily available at the right price and at the right quality and quantity. Focus on clusters would once again assist in this regard as independent power producers (IPPs) and engineering procurement and construction (EPC) entities would be able to source components and goods locally in a more cost-effective manner. As the LCRs currently stand in the REIPPPP, it would seem that South Africa is making renewable energy more expensive and although it is argued that this is done for the benefit of creating a new industry and jobs, these are not sustainable and so the current LCR policy will only create short term benefits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Ettmayr, Christopher
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Renewable energy sources -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6149 , vital:21043
- Description: Economies aim to expand over time, which always implies the need for increased energy availability in support of this growth. Governments can use their procurement of energy generation to further enhance the benefit to their economies via certain policy tools. One such tool is Local Content Requirements (LCR) where procurement of a good dictates that a certain value has to be sourced locally. The argument for this tool is that spend is localised and manufacturing, as well as job creation, can be stimulated due to industry establishing in the host economy. However, this practice is distortionary in effect and it does not create a fair playing field for global trade. Furthermore, if the local content definition is weak, or open to manipulation, the goals of such a policy may not be achieved at all. This study looked into the local content requirements of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and measured the impact of this policy on the renewable energy sector in general. It was found that, in order to implement a policy such as local content, the host economy had to have certain pre-existing conditions in order to avoid any negative welfare effects. Due to SA not holding all supportive pre-conditions for supporting local content policy, the impact and effect of LCRs has not been optimal and it has not been found to be a sustainable mechanism to continue using into the future indefinitely. The pricing of renewable energy was also found to be higher due to local content and such pricing is passed on to the energy consumer. Therefore, the net welfare impact created for South Africa is diminished in exchange for the creation of jobs and manufacturing, but due to the unsustainability and potential manipulation of the system the country is not maximising the welfare potential from the REIPPPP as it should. It was found that SA renewable energy resources do exist and the logistics infrastructure is strong, providing good potential for investment into renewable energy projects. The demand created by the REIPPPP provided a good market, but there was uncertainty in the long term planning and stability. So, from a market perspective this could be further enhanced. Government had created a sufficient platform for investment, but areas of development such as clusters, R&D and skills training would create a better support environment for LCR policy and strict monitoring of this would also be required to prevent any manipulation. The use of LCRs increases project costs and risk, which is passed onto the energy consumers, but this could be reduced if local goods were more readily available at the right price and at the right quality and quantity. Focus on clusters would once again assist in this regard as independent power producers (IPPs) and engineering procurement and construction (EPC) entities would be able to source components and goods locally in a more cost-effective manner. As the LCRs currently stand in the REIPPPP, it would seem that South Africa is making renewable energy more expensive and although it is argued that this is done for the benefit of creating a new industry and jobs, these are not sustainable and so the current LCR policy will only create short term benefits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Local economic development and poverty alleviation in Nkonkobe Local Municipality
- Authors: Tsomo, Zixolele
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18343 , vital:28625
- Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Local Economic Development (LED) in alleviating poverty in Nkonkobe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, a municipality that is predominantly rural in nature and also stricken by poverty. The research objectives were; to explore the implementation of LED strategies, to assess the degree to which various spheres of government work collaboratively to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in development planning; and to evaluate the extent to which job opportunities have been created as a result of LED practices in the municipality. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative research approach was utilised. The sample was selected using a purposive sampling technique whereby individuals who are directly involved in integrated development planning and LED planning were targeted. Those who met this criterion were considered suitable for providing relevant information regarding the implementation of LED in Nkonkobe Local Municipality. Based on the literature review presented in chapter 2, LED can be perceived as an integrated, multidisciplinary approach that seeks to alleviate poverty through pro-poor economic growth by promoting economic development initiatives in municipalities. Moreover, the legislative framework presented in the same chapter reveals that the South African government has employed various strategies in the implementation of LED in local communities. The study showed that the Nkonkobe Local Municipality LED strategy has limited impact on poverty alleviation due to a myriad of factors which reinforce and interact with each other, thereby limiting development and thus trapping residents in poverty. The findings suggest that there is significant room for a paradigm shift from predominantly pro-growth LED to pro-poor LED, and the need to adopt a comprehensive LED strategy that seeks to include both pro-growth and pro-poor strategies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Tsomo, Zixolele
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18343 , vital:28625
- Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Local Economic Development (LED) in alleviating poverty in Nkonkobe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, a municipality that is predominantly rural in nature and also stricken by poverty. The research objectives were; to explore the implementation of LED strategies, to assess the degree to which various spheres of government work collaboratively to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in development planning; and to evaluate the extent to which job opportunities have been created as a result of LED practices in the municipality. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative research approach was utilised. The sample was selected using a purposive sampling technique whereby individuals who are directly involved in integrated development planning and LED planning were targeted. Those who met this criterion were considered suitable for providing relevant information regarding the implementation of LED in Nkonkobe Local Municipality. Based on the literature review presented in chapter 2, LED can be perceived as an integrated, multidisciplinary approach that seeks to alleviate poverty through pro-poor economic growth by promoting economic development initiatives in municipalities. Moreover, the legislative framework presented in the same chapter reveals that the South African government has employed various strategies in the implementation of LED in local communities. The study showed that the Nkonkobe Local Municipality LED strategy has limited impact on poverty alleviation due to a myriad of factors which reinforce and interact with each other, thereby limiting development and thus trapping residents in poverty. The findings suggest that there is significant room for a paradigm shift from predominantly pro-growth LED to pro-poor LED, and the need to adopt a comprehensive LED strategy that seeks to include both pro-growth and pro-poor strategies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Local media reporting on nuclear energy in South Africa: an analysis of articles from selected state and news publications, 2011-2015
- Authors: Swart, Debbie-Lynn
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Nuclear industry -- Press coverage , Reporters and reporting , Journalistic ethics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/9218 , vital:26480
- Description: South Africa saw a rapid growth in energy needs after 1996 which was driven by the states newly established socio-economic development agenda. At the same time, there was insufficient investment in new energy infrastructure and maintenance of existing infrastructure. This opposing combination led to an energy crisis which nuclear power has been proposed to alleviate. The following paper critically examines the articles published between 2011 and 2015 pertaining to nuclear energy from five media publications. The articles were sourced online and include those from respected state, public, science and economic publications: Government websites, The Mail & Guardian, The Sowetan, The Mining & Engineering Weekly and The Business Day. This examination was done to assess the representation of nuclear energy and the new build programme in South Africa. In order to accurately analyze the state and news media coverage, both a quantitative and qualitative content analysis was done. The trends evident from this analysis are triangulated against four media theories in order to identify specific trends related to the reporting of nuclear energy. The theories of Agenda Setting and Framing are used to interpret Models of Good Governance and themes of Social Responsibility. The evident trends indicate a change in representation of the nuclear new build programme over the sample period. The media coverage reflected environmental, economic and political interest as well as associated fears.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Swart, Debbie-Lynn
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Nuclear industry -- Press coverage , Reporters and reporting , Journalistic ethics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/9218 , vital:26480
- Description: South Africa saw a rapid growth in energy needs after 1996 which was driven by the states newly established socio-economic development agenda. At the same time, there was insufficient investment in new energy infrastructure and maintenance of existing infrastructure. This opposing combination led to an energy crisis which nuclear power has been proposed to alleviate. The following paper critically examines the articles published between 2011 and 2015 pertaining to nuclear energy from five media publications. The articles were sourced online and include those from respected state, public, science and economic publications: Government websites, The Mail & Guardian, The Sowetan, The Mining & Engineering Weekly and The Business Day. This examination was done to assess the representation of nuclear energy and the new build programme in South Africa. In order to accurately analyze the state and news media coverage, both a quantitative and qualitative content analysis was done. The trends evident from this analysis are triangulated against four media theories in order to identify specific trends related to the reporting of nuclear energy. The theories of Agenda Setting and Framing are used to interpret Models of Good Governance and themes of Social Responsibility. The evident trends indicate a change in representation of the nuclear new build programme over the sample period. The media coverage reflected environmental, economic and political interest as well as associated fears.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Management of material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry
- Authors: Saidu, Ibrahim
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Construction industry -- Materials management -- Nigeria , Construction industry -- Nigeria -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3792 , vital:20463
- Description: While wastage of materials has become a serious problem requiring urgent attention in the Nigerian Construction Industry, cost overrun is a problem, which affects 90 percent of the completed projects in the world; the argument on how to reduce/eliminate cost overrun has been on-going for the past 70 years; as the on-site wastage of materials leads to increases in the final project cost. Studies from different parts of the world have shown that construction-material waste represents a relatively large percentage of the production costs. Consequently, as a result of low levels of awareness, the Nigerian construction industry pays little attention to the effects of generated material waste on cost overruns. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the relationship between material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry. A comprehensive review of the related literature revealed that all material waste causes are related to cost overrun causes at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project; but not vice versa. The mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach that is rooted in the positivist paradigm was adopted for this study. Abuja, the federal capital territory of Nigeria was the selected geographical scope of this research, out of which thirty-one (31) construction projects were purposeful selected (projects to the value of 100 million Rand/1.6 billion Naira and above).The research instrument was an interview guide used in conjunction with a tick box. Other sources of data included field investigation (measurement of onsite material waste) and the collection of archival records from bills of quantities, project records, and specifications. Analyses of the findings lead to the conclusion that a relationship exists between material waste and cost overrun; at the pre-contract and at the post-contract stages of a project. The implication is that an increase in material wastage on-site leads to a corresponding increase in the amount of cost overrun, regardless of the percentage allowance for material waste in the process of bill preparation. The study also concluded that the average percentage contribution of material waste to project-cost overruns is four (4) percent. Material-waste sources, causes, and control measures were found to have significant effects (very high, high, medium, low, and very low), in causing or minimising cost overruns at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of projects. The research has developed a conceptual model for the management of material waste and cost overruns in the construction industry based on the results and informed by the theoretical framework. The research has also developed a mathematical model for quantifying the amount of material waste to be generated by a project; as well as a mathematical equation for the effective management of material waste and cost overrun for projects. The study has achieved its aim of establishing an understanding of the issues leading to the relationship between material waste and cost overruns, as well as their management in the Nigerian construction industry. The study recommends that the management of material waste and cost overrun should be revised, based on the findings of this research and included as part of the procurement process. The mathematical models for quantification of onsite material waste, and the mathematical equation for managing material waste and cost overruns developed in the study, could be usefully adopted to improve management of material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Saidu, Ibrahim
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Construction industry -- Materials management -- Nigeria , Construction industry -- Nigeria -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3792 , vital:20463
- Description: While wastage of materials has become a serious problem requiring urgent attention in the Nigerian Construction Industry, cost overrun is a problem, which affects 90 percent of the completed projects in the world; the argument on how to reduce/eliminate cost overrun has been on-going for the past 70 years; as the on-site wastage of materials leads to increases in the final project cost. Studies from different parts of the world have shown that construction-material waste represents a relatively large percentage of the production costs. Consequently, as a result of low levels of awareness, the Nigerian construction industry pays little attention to the effects of generated material waste on cost overruns. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the relationship between material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry. A comprehensive review of the related literature revealed that all material waste causes are related to cost overrun causes at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project; but not vice versa. The mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach that is rooted in the positivist paradigm was adopted for this study. Abuja, the federal capital territory of Nigeria was the selected geographical scope of this research, out of which thirty-one (31) construction projects were purposeful selected (projects to the value of 100 million Rand/1.6 billion Naira and above).The research instrument was an interview guide used in conjunction with a tick box. Other sources of data included field investigation (measurement of onsite material waste) and the collection of archival records from bills of quantities, project records, and specifications. Analyses of the findings lead to the conclusion that a relationship exists between material waste and cost overrun; at the pre-contract and at the post-contract stages of a project. The implication is that an increase in material wastage on-site leads to a corresponding increase in the amount of cost overrun, regardless of the percentage allowance for material waste in the process of bill preparation. The study also concluded that the average percentage contribution of material waste to project-cost overruns is four (4) percent. Material-waste sources, causes, and control measures were found to have significant effects (very high, high, medium, low, and very low), in causing or minimising cost overruns at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of projects. The research has developed a conceptual model for the management of material waste and cost overruns in the construction industry based on the results and informed by the theoretical framework. The research has also developed a mathematical model for quantifying the amount of material waste to be generated by a project; as well as a mathematical equation for the effective management of material waste and cost overrun for projects. The study has achieved its aim of establishing an understanding of the issues leading to the relationship between material waste and cost overruns, as well as their management in the Nigerian construction industry. The study recommends that the management of material waste and cost overrun should be revised, based on the findings of this research and included as part of the procurement process. The mathematical models for quantification of onsite material waste, and the mathematical equation for managing material waste and cost overruns developed in the study, could be usefully adopted to improve management of material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Management of material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry
- Authors: Saidu, Ibrahim
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Construction industry -- Materials management -- Nigeria , Construction industry -- Nigeria -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48937 , vital:41507
- Description: While wastage of materials has become a serious problem requiring urgent attention in the Nigerian Construction Industry, cost overrun is a problem, which affects 90 percent of the completed projects in the world; the argument on how to reduce/eliminate cost overrun has been on-going for the past 70 years; as the on-site wastage of materials leads to increases in the final project cost. Studies from different parts of the world have shown that construction-material waste represents a relatively large percentage of the production costs. Consequently, as a result of low levels of awareness, the Nigerian construction industry pays little attention to the effects of generated material waste on cost overruns. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the relationship between material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry. A comprehensive review of the related literature revealed that all material waste causes are related to cost overrun causes at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project; but not vice versa. The mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach that is rooted in the positivist paradigm was adopted for this study. Abuja, the federal capital territory of Nigeria was the selected geographical scope of this research, out of which thirty-one (31) construction projects were purposeful selected (projects to the value of 100 million Rand/1.6 billion Naira and above).The research instrument was an interview guide used in conjunction with a tick box. Other sources of data included field investigation (measurement of onsite material waste) and the collection of archival records from bills of quantities, project records, and specifications. Analyses of the findings lead to the conclusion that a relationship exists between material waste and cost overrun; at the pre-contract and at the post-contract stages of a project. The implication is that an increase in material wastage on-site leads to a corresponding increase in the amount of cost overrun, regardless of the percentage allowance for material waste in the process of bill preparation. The study also concluded that the average percentage contribution of material waste to project-cost overruns is four (4) percent. Material-waste sources, causes, and control measures were found to have significant effects (very high, high, medium, low, and very low), in causing or minimising cost overruns at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of projects. The research has developed a conceptual model for the management of material waste and cost overruns in the construction industry based on the results and informed by the theoretical framework. The research has also developed a mathematical model for quantifying the amount of material waste to be generated by a project; as well as a mathematical equation for the effective management of material waste and cost overrun for projects. The study has achieved its aim of establishing an understanding of the issues leading to the relationship between material waste and cost overruns, as well as their management in the Nigerian construction industry. The study recommends that the management of material waste and cost overrun should be revised, based on the findings of this research and included as part of the procurement process. The mathematical models for quantification of onsite material waste, and the mathematical equation for managing material waste and cost overruns developed in the study, could be usefully adopted to improve management of material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Saidu, Ibrahim
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Construction industry -- Materials management -- Nigeria , Construction industry -- Nigeria -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48937 , vital:41507
- Description: While wastage of materials has become a serious problem requiring urgent attention in the Nigerian Construction Industry, cost overrun is a problem, which affects 90 percent of the completed projects in the world; the argument on how to reduce/eliminate cost overrun has been on-going for the past 70 years; as the on-site wastage of materials leads to increases in the final project cost. Studies from different parts of the world have shown that construction-material waste represents a relatively large percentage of the production costs. Consequently, as a result of low levels of awareness, the Nigerian construction industry pays little attention to the effects of generated material waste on cost overruns. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the relationship between material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry. A comprehensive review of the related literature revealed that all material waste causes are related to cost overrun causes at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project; but not vice versa. The mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach that is rooted in the positivist paradigm was adopted for this study. Abuja, the federal capital territory of Nigeria was the selected geographical scope of this research, out of which thirty-one (31) construction projects were purposeful selected (projects to the value of 100 million Rand/1.6 billion Naira and above).The research instrument was an interview guide used in conjunction with a tick box. Other sources of data included field investigation (measurement of onsite material waste) and the collection of archival records from bills of quantities, project records, and specifications. Analyses of the findings lead to the conclusion that a relationship exists between material waste and cost overrun; at the pre-contract and at the post-contract stages of a project. The implication is that an increase in material wastage on-site leads to a corresponding increase in the amount of cost overrun, regardless of the percentage allowance for material waste in the process of bill preparation. The study also concluded that the average percentage contribution of material waste to project-cost overruns is four (4) percent. Material-waste sources, causes, and control measures were found to have significant effects (very high, high, medium, low, and very low), in causing or minimising cost overruns at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of projects. The research has developed a conceptual model for the management of material waste and cost overruns in the construction industry based on the results and informed by the theoretical framework. The research has also developed a mathematical model for quantifying the amount of material waste to be generated by a project; as well as a mathematical equation for the effective management of material waste and cost overrun for projects. The study has achieved its aim of establishing an understanding of the issues leading to the relationship between material waste and cost overruns, as well as their management in the Nigerian construction industry. The study recommends that the management of material waste and cost overrun should be revised, based on the findings of this research and included as part of the procurement process. The mathematical models for quantification of onsite material waste, and the mathematical equation for managing material waste and cost overruns developed in the study, could be usefully adopted to improve management of material waste and cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Management of street traders to boost the local economy in King William's Town (Buffalo City Municipality)
- Authors: Hlope, Sithabiso Patrick
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Economic policy King William's Town (South Africa) -- Economic policy , Street vendors -- South Africa -- King William's Town
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13049 , vital:27147
- Description: This study deals with the management of street traders to boost the local economy of King William‟s Town. The purpose of the study is to conduct the research on how street traders can be managed to boost the local economy of King William‟s Town. The intention is to research the challenges they have and how to improve them. To be able to conduct the study, the researcher deemed it necessary to study existing literature on Local Economic Development. The way street traders are managed presently has been investigated and analysed in order to develop recommendations for solving the challenges facing street trading in King William‟s Town. The researcher conducted interviews in the form of face-to-face discussions and scheduled interviews with street traders, municipal authorities, and the iQonce Small Business Association. The literature review and interviews enabled the researcher to develop recommendations to solve the challenges. These recommendations will be helpful to the King William‟s Town municipality. The findings of this study reveal that there are challenges in the manner in which street trading is managed in King William‟s Town. Some of the challenges are a lack of a LED policy, poor infrastructure, failure to implement decisions, lack of financial support for street traders, and underutilisation of the budget. The researcher has made some recommendations in terms of support and assistance for street traders, the formulation of a LED policy, and plans and systems needed to be put in place for the management of street trading in King William‟s Town. The researcher summarises the study by claiming that if the proposed recommendations can be thoroughly implemented, there will be some improvement in the manner in which the street traders are managed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Hlope, Sithabiso Patrick
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Economic policy King William's Town (South Africa) -- Economic policy , Street vendors -- South Africa -- King William's Town
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13049 , vital:27147
- Description: This study deals with the management of street traders to boost the local economy of King William‟s Town. The purpose of the study is to conduct the research on how street traders can be managed to boost the local economy of King William‟s Town. The intention is to research the challenges they have and how to improve them. To be able to conduct the study, the researcher deemed it necessary to study existing literature on Local Economic Development. The way street traders are managed presently has been investigated and analysed in order to develop recommendations for solving the challenges facing street trading in King William‟s Town. The researcher conducted interviews in the form of face-to-face discussions and scheduled interviews with street traders, municipal authorities, and the iQonce Small Business Association. The literature review and interviews enabled the researcher to develop recommendations to solve the challenges. These recommendations will be helpful to the King William‟s Town municipality. The findings of this study reveal that there are challenges in the manner in which street trading is managed in King William‟s Town. Some of the challenges are a lack of a LED policy, poor infrastructure, failure to implement decisions, lack of financial support for street traders, and underutilisation of the budget. The researcher has made some recommendations in terms of support and assistance for street traders, the formulation of a LED policy, and plans and systems needed to be put in place for the management of street trading in King William‟s Town. The researcher summarises the study by claiming that if the proposed recommendations can be thoroughly implemented, there will be some improvement in the manner in which the street traders are managed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016