Theatre voice as metaphor : the advocacy of a praxis based on the centrality of voice to performance
- Authors: Mills, Elizabeth
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Voice , Voice culture , Acting
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2141 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002373 , Voice , Voice culture , Acting
- Description: This study proposes a view of theatre voice as central to performance. It proposes a shift in paradigm through the foregrounding of the function of theatre voice as one of the creative strands of the theatre matrix. The function of theatre voice becomes a theatrical function. Theatre is created in the voice and, therefore, any act of theatre should include conscious questions about the meanings that are, or can be evoked through the voice in theatre. A second thrust to this study is that theatre voice practice should be included in, and theatre voice practitioners should actively engage in, broader debates about theatre. Introduction: The idea that the voice in performance is the enactment of conscious theatrical choices is set up through the notion of the theatrical use of the voice. The introduction outlines the kinds of performance contexts in which a theatrical use of the voice takes shape. This includes an assessment of the degree to which the specific South African context of the writer is useful to questions about a theatrical use of the voice. The concepts which are central to such a view of theatre voice are expanded. These are: the theatrical agency of the actor, theatre voice, the theatrical use of the voice and praxis. Selected examples from local and other productions are offered to illustrate a range of interpretive possibilities open to the voice when considered, in the first instance, as performance. Chapter one: The actor’s relationship with voice is explored through the notion of actor agency. Historically, actors were theatrically empowered by a closer involvement with playwriting, staging, apprenticeship forms of actor training and theatre management. It is argued that the emergence of the director as a new theatrical agent has diminished this actor agency. On the other hand, the introduction of a realist acting methodology has given the actor autonomy of craft, empowering the actor in unprecedented ways. The theatrical agency of actors, directors and theatre voice practitioners is explored as influencing the status and the perception of theatre voice within theatre. The proposal of the centrality of voice to performance is dependent on the agency of actors, directors and theatre voice practitioners. Chapter two: It is argued that an Aristotelian Poetics of Voice has, under the influence of realism, developed into a “Poetics of the Self”. The paradigmatic shift proposed through a view of the voice as central to theatre, is explored through a post realist, intertextuality of voice. This includes a re-consideration of the contemporary theatre voice notion of the “natural” voice. Chapter three: Cicely Berry’s work, with particular reference to The Actor and his Text (1987), is analysed in terms of realism and the theatrical use of the voice. A second focus in the analysis of Berry’s work supports the argument that voice practitioners theorise positions for theatre voice even though their texts are practical and technically orientated. Berry’s work is singled out here because the contemporary practice of the Central School tradition is the generic tradition of South African English theatre voice practice. Chapter four: Strategies and constructs are proposed in support of the centrality of voice to the theatre. Ways of realising a theatrical use of the voice are also suggested. This is based on a shift in the way in which practitioners think about theatre voice. In the first instance, it is suggested that practitioners move beyond positions of polarity and actively embrace that which is contradictory in theatre and theatre voice practice. Secondly, a traditional hermeneutic understanding of the interpretation of voice is challenged. Thirdly, the use of metaphor which is pertinent to actors, directors and voice practitioners is explored as a means to vocal action. Concrete examples of the creative use of the voice, are provided through the sonic texts of Performance Writing. By way of conclusion, some ideas are offered about the issue of empowering the actor in a theatrical use of the voice. This study is intended to contribute to a theoretical and practical debate which will promote the argument for the centrality of voice to performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Theatre voice as metaphor : the advocacy of a praxis based on the centrality of voice to performance
- Authors: Mills, Elizabeth
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Voice , Voice culture , Acting
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2141 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002373 , Voice , Voice culture , Acting
- Description: This study proposes a view of theatre voice as central to performance. It proposes a shift in paradigm through the foregrounding of the function of theatre voice as one of the creative strands of the theatre matrix. The function of theatre voice becomes a theatrical function. Theatre is created in the voice and, therefore, any act of theatre should include conscious questions about the meanings that are, or can be evoked through the voice in theatre. A second thrust to this study is that theatre voice practice should be included in, and theatre voice practitioners should actively engage in, broader debates about theatre. Introduction: The idea that the voice in performance is the enactment of conscious theatrical choices is set up through the notion of the theatrical use of the voice. The introduction outlines the kinds of performance contexts in which a theatrical use of the voice takes shape. This includes an assessment of the degree to which the specific South African context of the writer is useful to questions about a theatrical use of the voice. The concepts which are central to such a view of theatre voice are expanded. These are: the theatrical agency of the actor, theatre voice, the theatrical use of the voice and praxis. Selected examples from local and other productions are offered to illustrate a range of interpretive possibilities open to the voice when considered, in the first instance, as performance. Chapter one: The actor’s relationship with voice is explored through the notion of actor agency. Historically, actors were theatrically empowered by a closer involvement with playwriting, staging, apprenticeship forms of actor training and theatre management. It is argued that the emergence of the director as a new theatrical agent has diminished this actor agency. On the other hand, the introduction of a realist acting methodology has given the actor autonomy of craft, empowering the actor in unprecedented ways. The theatrical agency of actors, directors and theatre voice practitioners is explored as influencing the status and the perception of theatre voice within theatre. The proposal of the centrality of voice to performance is dependent on the agency of actors, directors and theatre voice practitioners. Chapter two: It is argued that an Aristotelian Poetics of Voice has, under the influence of realism, developed into a “Poetics of the Self”. The paradigmatic shift proposed through a view of the voice as central to theatre, is explored through a post realist, intertextuality of voice. This includes a re-consideration of the contemporary theatre voice notion of the “natural” voice. Chapter three: Cicely Berry’s work, with particular reference to The Actor and his Text (1987), is analysed in terms of realism and the theatrical use of the voice. A second focus in the analysis of Berry’s work supports the argument that voice practitioners theorise positions for theatre voice even though their texts are practical and technically orientated. Berry’s work is singled out here because the contemporary practice of the Central School tradition is the generic tradition of South African English theatre voice practice. Chapter four: Strategies and constructs are proposed in support of the centrality of voice to the theatre. Ways of realising a theatrical use of the voice are also suggested. This is based on a shift in the way in which practitioners think about theatre voice. In the first instance, it is suggested that practitioners move beyond positions of polarity and actively embrace that which is contradictory in theatre and theatre voice practice. Secondly, a traditional hermeneutic understanding of the interpretation of voice is challenged. Thirdly, the use of metaphor which is pertinent to actors, directors and voice practitioners is explored as a means to vocal action. Concrete examples of the creative use of the voice, are provided through the sonic texts of Performance Writing. By way of conclusion, some ideas are offered about the issue of empowering the actor in a theatrical use of the voice. This study is intended to contribute to a theoretical and practical debate which will promote the argument for the centrality of voice to performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
The role of black consciousness in the experience of being black in South Africa: the shaping of the identity of two members of AZAPO
- Authors: Mnguni, Mphikeleli Matthew
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Black consciousness , Azanian People's Organization , Identity (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3022 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002531 , Black consciousness , Azanian People's Organization , Identity (Psychology)
- Description: The research attempts to understand the role Black Consciousness (BC) plays in the identity of blacks in South Africa by exploring and describing the experience of self-identity in the life-history context of two members of AZAPO, a BC organisation. The literature review explores the work of Biko, Manganyi, and Fanon with a view to understanding whether and how it might be claimed that BC galvanises the black person to discard the crippling fear of colonialism which inflicts feelings of inferiority, and to rise up to claim his/her rightful place in community life. To explore the philosophical assumptions made in the literature review, a qualitative study was conducted. Interviews were conducted with two black adults who have adopted BC philosophy. Three separate in-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted which yielded a description of the experiences of each respondent. A tape recorder was used to record the interviews and they were transcribed for analysis. A thematic analysis was conducted using the reading guide method. The material was thematised using the following questions: What biographical factors are seen as being important prior to the respondent becoming black conscious? How did the participant come to realise his/her self-identity as problematic? How did the process of adopting BC change the participant’s selfidentity? The results indicate that participants became aware very early in their lives and prior to adopting BC, that their own supportive and cohesive family cultures were at odds with the surrounding social context. Early experiences of this were initially unintelligible but impressionable. BC in this sense provided a framework for understanding and engaging with these experiences. The study shows that the adoption of BC helped to make sense of experiences of community isolation, discrimination, oppression and provided them with a mode of engaging practically with these issues. It was not adopted from a perspective of poor self-esteem or other such purely personal characteristics which may have been expected on the basis of literature in the area. BC was adopted as a way of understanding the relationship between their communities or backgrounds and the broader social environment and if there was a ‘healing’ project it was at this level.However, the study did show the close relationship between individual and social well-being that emerged as intrinsic both to the philosophy of BC and the lives of these individuals. This was shown to play out in the commitment of these individuals to the development of black communities and in their tying of their own destinies to the destiny of the oppressed black people in general. These and other issues which emerged in the two case studies are discussed in relation to the literature in the area.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Mnguni, Mphikeleli Matthew
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Black consciousness , Azanian People's Organization , Identity (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3022 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002531 , Black consciousness , Azanian People's Organization , Identity (Psychology)
- Description: The research attempts to understand the role Black Consciousness (BC) plays in the identity of blacks in South Africa by exploring and describing the experience of self-identity in the life-history context of two members of AZAPO, a BC organisation. The literature review explores the work of Biko, Manganyi, and Fanon with a view to understanding whether and how it might be claimed that BC galvanises the black person to discard the crippling fear of colonialism which inflicts feelings of inferiority, and to rise up to claim his/her rightful place in community life. To explore the philosophical assumptions made in the literature review, a qualitative study was conducted. Interviews were conducted with two black adults who have adopted BC philosophy. Three separate in-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted which yielded a description of the experiences of each respondent. A tape recorder was used to record the interviews and they were transcribed for analysis. A thematic analysis was conducted using the reading guide method. The material was thematised using the following questions: What biographical factors are seen as being important prior to the respondent becoming black conscious? How did the participant come to realise his/her self-identity as problematic? How did the process of adopting BC change the participant’s selfidentity? The results indicate that participants became aware very early in their lives and prior to adopting BC, that their own supportive and cohesive family cultures were at odds with the surrounding social context. Early experiences of this were initially unintelligible but impressionable. BC in this sense provided a framework for understanding and engaging with these experiences. The study shows that the adoption of BC helped to make sense of experiences of community isolation, discrimination, oppression and provided them with a mode of engaging practically with these issues. It was not adopted from a perspective of poor self-esteem or other such purely personal characteristics which may have been expected on the basis of literature in the area. BC was adopted as a way of understanding the relationship between their communities or backgrounds and the broader social environment and if there was a ‘healing’ project it was at this level.However, the study did show the close relationship between individual and social well-being that emerged as intrinsic both to the philosophy of BC and the lives of these individuals. This was shown to play out in the commitment of these individuals to the development of black communities and in their tying of their own destinies to the destiny of the oppressed black people in general. These and other issues which emerged in the two case studies are discussed in relation to the literature in the area.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
A critical analysis of the in-service education courses offered at Trinset, with particular reference to Geography
- Mniki, Felicia Nobesuthu Vuyiswa
- Authors: Mniki, Felicia Nobesuthu Vuyiswa
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Teachers -- In-service training -- South Africa Geography teachers -- In-service training -- South Africa Transkei Teachers' In-service College
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1475 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003356
- Description: The aim of establishing the Transkei Teachers’ In- Service College (Trinset) in 1986 by the former Transkei Department of Education, was to alleviate the problem of inappropriately qualified teachers. This problem was seen as impacting negatively on the performance of matriculation candidates in the final examinations. In the twelve years since the college’s inception there has been no formal evaluation, this despite the perception of the importance of evaluation as an integral part of planning and implementation for any educational endeavour (Mc Naught, Taylor & O’Donoghue, 1990). This study analyses the courses offered at Trinset with particular reference to the subject of Geography. The aim is to explore how best these courses can support educators in the light of the current changes in South African education. The analysis of the in-service courses used a multifaceted approach guided by the participatory principle underlying Fourth Generation Evaluation. The analysis of the in-service courses offered by Trinset, in particular by the Geography Department, has served to raise questions and to highlight issues that are seen as particularly valuable in the reconfiguration of Trinset that is part of the current educational transformation process in South Africa in terms of the provision of in-service education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Mniki, Felicia Nobesuthu Vuyiswa
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Teachers -- In-service training -- South Africa Geography teachers -- In-service training -- South Africa Transkei Teachers' In-service College
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1475 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003356
- Description: The aim of establishing the Transkei Teachers’ In- Service College (Trinset) in 1986 by the former Transkei Department of Education, was to alleviate the problem of inappropriately qualified teachers. This problem was seen as impacting negatively on the performance of matriculation candidates in the final examinations. In the twelve years since the college’s inception there has been no formal evaluation, this despite the perception of the importance of evaluation as an integral part of planning and implementation for any educational endeavour (Mc Naught, Taylor & O’Donoghue, 1990). This study analyses the courses offered at Trinset with particular reference to the subject of Geography. The aim is to explore how best these courses can support educators in the light of the current changes in South African education. The analysis of the in-service courses used a multifaceted approach guided by the participatory principle underlying Fourth Generation Evaluation. The analysis of the in-service courses offered by Trinset, in particular by the Geography Department, has served to raise questions and to highlight issues that are seen as particularly valuable in the reconfiguration of Trinset that is part of the current educational transformation process in South Africa in terms of the provision of in-service education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Grassroots diplomacy between Lesotho and South Africa: the district liaison committees
- Moeletsi, Motheba Gwendoline
- Authors: Moeletsi, Motheba Gwendoline
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Lesotho -- Foreign relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Lesotho , Africa -- Foreign relations -- 1960- , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2805 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003015 , Lesotho -- Foreign relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Lesotho , Africa -- Foreign relations -- 1960- , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Description: Cross-border conflicts on the African continent have increased tremendously in the post-colonial years. The widespread border conflicts on the African continent have been attributed to the arbitrariness with which Africa’s national boundaries were drawn during the colonial period. The colonial boundaries have left the doors open for perpetual conflicts among African states. This thesis proposes to investigate the prospects of grassroots diplomacy as an option of dealing with border conflicts with specific reference to the case of Lesotho/South Africa border relations. This is done by critically evaluating the role the District Liaison Committees (DLCs) have played in border relations between Lesotho and South Africa. The Lesotho and South African governments have institutionalised the resolution of border conflicts at grassroots level through the establishment of the DLCs. The DLCs consists of representatives of border communities in Lesotho and South Africa. The paper introduces a not so familiar concept of involving people at grassroots levels in the conducting of diplomacy between the two neighbouring countries. The central issue implicit in this paper is that grassroots diplomacy is succeeding in the case of Lesotho and South Africa. The DLCs have managed to reduce tension between the two countries along the borders which had existed over a long period of time, thereby, relieving the central governments of some of their duties. The thesis contents that high level conventional diplomacy is not always the answer to cross-border conflicts. The example of Lesotho and South Africa could be followed by other African countries in similar situations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Moeletsi, Motheba Gwendoline
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Lesotho -- Foreign relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Lesotho , Africa -- Foreign relations -- 1960- , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2805 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003015 , Lesotho -- Foreign relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Lesotho , Africa -- Foreign relations -- 1960- , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Description: Cross-border conflicts on the African continent have increased tremendously in the post-colonial years. The widespread border conflicts on the African continent have been attributed to the arbitrariness with which Africa’s national boundaries were drawn during the colonial period. The colonial boundaries have left the doors open for perpetual conflicts among African states. This thesis proposes to investigate the prospects of grassroots diplomacy as an option of dealing with border conflicts with specific reference to the case of Lesotho/South Africa border relations. This is done by critically evaluating the role the District Liaison Committees (DLCs) have played in border relations between Lesotho and South Africa. The Lesotho and South African governments have institutionalised the resolution of border conflicts at grassroots level through the establishment of the DLCs. The DLCs consists of representatives of border communities in Lesotho and South Africa. The paper introduces a not so familiar concept of involving people at grassroots levels in the conducting of diplomacy between the two neighbouring countries. The central issue implicit in this paper is that grassroots diplomacy is succeeding in the case of Lesotho and South Africa. The DLCs have managed to reduce tension between the two countries along the borders which had existed over a long period of time, thereby, relieving the central governments of some of their duties. The thesis contents that high level conventional diplomacy is not always the answer to cross-border conflicts. The example of Lesotho and South Africa could be followed by other African countries in similar situations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Materials in flexible learning teacher education courses in environmental education : an evaluative case study
- Authors: Molose, Vivian Innotantia
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Environmental education -- Study and teaching Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- Evaluation Environmental education -- South Africa -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1672 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003555
- Description: The study aimed at researching the role of materials in flexible learning teacher education courses, specifically looking at the Eastern Cape Teacher Course as a case study. The research aimed at exploring how courses and materials were developed, selected, used and adapted or redeveloped so as to support the course orientation and the intended outcomes. I did this with the hope that my research might inform the process of improving the role of course materials in flexible learning teacher education courses. I did a naturalistic enquiry within which I interviewed 39 participants (teachers and teacher educators) and two course co-ordinators. I also analysed documents such as the course materials, nine participants' journals and seven of their assignments. The observation notes compiled during the early days of the course were not used as a main source of data but as support to data sources mentioned above. Questionnaires were handed out to all the course participants, i.e. course co-ordinators, tutors and student participants. The questionnaires were intended as a means for pre interview and post interview reflection for interviewees. Through this research, I have learnt a lot about the role of materials in professional development courses, including the importance of mediation of materials and their overt use during course sessions, the importance of providing and encouraging a culture of reading through time allocation during contact sessions, through discussions on materials, and also through providing orientating comm~nts on materials rather than just handing them out to participants. Readings that are more focussed do better to motivate participants to interact with them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Molose, Vivian Innotantia
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Environmental education -- Study and teaching Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- Evaluation Environmental education -- South Africa -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1672 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003555
- Description: The study aimed at researching the role of materials in flexible learning teacher education courses, specifically looking at the Eastern Cape Teacher Course as a case study. The research aimed at exploring how courses and materials were developed, selected, used and adapted or redeveloped so as to support the course orientation and the intended outcomes. I did this with the hope that my research might inform the process of improving the role of course materials in flexible learning teacher education courses. I did a naturalistic enquiry within which I interviewed 39 participants (teachers and teacher educators) and two course co-ordinators. I also analysed documents such as the course materials, nine participants' journals and seven of their assignments. The observation notes compiled during the early days of the course were not used as a main source of data but as support to data sources mentioned above. Questionnaires were handed out to all the course participants, i.e. course co-ordinators, tutors and student participants. The questionnaires were intended as a means for pre interview and post interview reflection for interviewees. Through this research, I have learnt a lot about the role of materials in professional development courses, including the importance of mediation of materials and their overt use during course sessions, the importance of providing and encouraging a culture of reading through time allocation during contact sessions, through discussions on materials, and also through providing orientating comm~nts on materials rather than just handing them out to participants. Readings that are more focussed do better to motivate participants to interact with them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Comparative study on the biological performance of progenies of Western Sanga x Afrikaner and Bonsmara cattle in the sourish mixed bushveld of the North West Province
- Authors: Moraka, Joseph Ntlhoki
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Beef cattle breeds , Bonsmara cattle , Afrikaner cattle
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:10947 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21 , Beef cattle breeds , Bonsmara cattle , Afrikaner cattle
- Description: The study compares the biological performance of progenies of the Afrikaner x Western Sanga crossbred (small frame) and the Bonsmara (medium frame) cattle on the following traits: calving and growth rates as well as mortalities. The study was conducted in the Sourish Mixed Bushveld of the North West province. The objective was to identify a lowcare cattle breed, which can withstand unfavourable conditions under which most farmers in the North West Province operate. The results of this study indicated that, under good management, the Bonsmara cattle have higher growth rates compared to the Sanga cattle. There were statistical differences with regards to birth, pre-wean and wean masses, (P< 0.0001). Sanga cattle however were able to maintain higher calving rates under all varying conditions (Bonsmara 77% average and Sanga 84% average). The Sanga, due to its lower nutritional requirements, on average requires 15% less of the surface area required by the Bonsmara. Sanga cattle also returned better yields in terms of kilogram weaned calf per LSU and per hectare. With regard to herd mortalities, there was no significant difference (P = 0.03329).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Moraka, Joseph Ntlhoki
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Beef cattle breeds , Bonsmara cattle , Afrikaner cattle
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:10947 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21 , Beef cattle breeds , Bonsmara cattle , Afrikaner cattle
- Description: The study compares the biological performance of progenies of the Afrikaner x Western Sanga crossbred (small frame) and the Bonsmara (medium frame) cattle on the following traits: calving and growth rates as well as mortalities. The study was conducted in the Sourish Mixed Bushveld of the North West province. The objective was to identify a lowcare cattle breed, which can withstand unfavourable conditions under which most farmers in the North West Province operate. The results of this study indicated that, under good management, the Bonsmara cattle have higher growth rates compared to the Sanga cattle. There were statistical differences with regards to birth, pre-wean and wean masses, (P< 0.0001). Sanga cattle however were able to maintain higher calving rates under all varying conditions (Bonsmara 77% average and Sanga 84% average). The Sanga, due to its lower nutritional requirements, on average requires 15% less of the surface area required by the Bonsmara. Sanga cattle also returned better yields in terms of kilogram weaned calf per LSU and per hectare. With regard to herd mortalities, there was no significant difference (P = 0.03329).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Master of Education portfolio
- Authors: Morrison, Paula
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa -- Kwazulu Natal
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1671 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003554
- Description: This report is the culmination of a six year process during which emerged the need to establish a meeting or indaba place for the collaborative 'People and Parks' partnership of the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service (NCS) in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park (HUP) and stake-holder communities adjacent to the Park. Comprising two parts which compliment each other, the report has been developed to inform, guide and advise the NCS in the planning and development of an education centre in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park. Part I documents the processes of engagement and interaction between the NCS in HUP and neighbouring communities during this period, which led to the need for an education centre, whilst placing and contextualizing the process within historical, socio-political and organisational processes. This is taken further with a description of the research process and an analytical narrative of four key programmes. Part I concludes with a summary of the outcomes of the planning process which shows how through local community input and partiCipation, and through networking with other EE practitioners, a conceptual development plan for the Mambeni Education Centre emerged. The second part of this report (Part 2) is the conceptual development plan which has emerged out of the processes described in Part 1. This plan constitutes practical guidelines for the NCS on how to develop and manage the Mambeni Education Centre. More specifically the plan provides ideas about: what type of centre it should be and where it should be located; who the stake-holders are, their educational neees and ideas for possible programmes; the physical and logistical requirements; managemynt and staffing structures and a detailed business plan. The report intends to draw the reader into understanding the complex social and environmental issues that the collaborative partnership of 'People and Parks' are engaging with, so that the Mambeni Environmental Education Centre can playa [more] meaningful and responsive role in contributing to processes of social transformation. In sharing this environmental education re(search) story which represents a unique approach to centre development, it is hoped that the notion of environmental education centres might be viewed by environmental educators through a different set of lenses. Through having the participants' views represented, I wish the report to reflect the richness of the research process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Morrison, Paula
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa -- Kwazulu Natal
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1671 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003554
- Description: This report is the culmination of a six year process during which emerged the need to establish a meeting or indaba place for the collaborative 'People and Parks' partnership of the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service (NCS) in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park (HUP) and stake-holder communities adjacent to the Park. Comprising two parts which compliment each other, the report has been developed to inform, guide and advise the NCS in the planning and development of an education centre in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park. Part I documents the processes of engagement and interaction between the NCS in HUP and neighbouring communities during this period, which led to the need for an education centre, whilst placing and contextualizing the process within historical, socio-political and organisational processes. This is taken further with a description of the research process and an analytical narrative of four key programmes. Part I concludes with a summary of the outcomes of the planning process which shows how through local community input and partiCipation, and through networking with other EE practitioners, a conceptual development plan for the Mambeni Education Centre emerged. The second part of this report (Part 2) is the conceptual development plan which has emerged out of the processes described in Part 1. This plan constitutes practical guidelines for the NCS on how to develop and manage the Mambeni Education Centre. More specifically the plan provides ideas about: what type of centre it should be and where it should be located; who the stake-holders are, their educational neees and ideas for possible programmes; the physical and logistical requirements; managemynt and staffing structures and a detailed business plan. The report intends to draw the reader into understanding the complex social and environmental issues that the collaborative partnership of 'People and Parks' are engaging with, so that the Mambeni Environmental Education Centre can playa [more] meaningful and responsive role in contributing to processes of social transformation. In sharing this environmental education re(search) story which represents a unique approach to centre development, it is hoped that the notion of environmental education centres might be viewed by environmental educators through a different set of lenses. Through having the participants' views represented, I wish the report to reflect the richness of the research process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
The political significance of Winnie-Madikazela Mandela's position in the African National Congress
- Authors: Motseta, Sello
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: African National Congress , Mandela, Winnie , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2810 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003020 , African National Congress , Mandela, Winnie , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Winnie Mandela has endured so many scandals over the last ten years that she has acquired a reputation for being untouchable. It is therefore ironic that there are those who feel that "the ANC want to act against Winnie not because of her human rights record, but for her outspoken criticism of the government's inability to deliver houses, thwart crime and testing our feelings on the death penalty." This assessment is instructive because in the "... turbulent years of the 1980s, she was a hero, a living martyr to the black liberation cause and despite the discomforts inflicted on her by her perpetrators, she revelled in the role" (Sparks, 1994:15). But Winnie Madikazela-Mandela, who was a Deputy Minister before being dismissed and who has had to appear before the TRC because of allegations that she was responsible for the death of teenage activist Stompie Seipei, has nevertheless been able to make a political comeback. The thesis therefore sets out to examine the rationale behind the State President's (he did not hold this title then) decision to take a considerable risk in standing by Winnie Madikazela-Mandela (they were at the time married) during her trial on charges of kidnapping in 1991. Even after her conviction, Mandela wrote that "as far as I was concerned, verdict or no verdict, her innocence was not in doubt." This unstinting loyalty was replicated elsewhere. Commenting on her acquittal on the assault charges, ANC Youth League President, Peter Mokaba, said: "What was taken away from her as a result of these false allegations must now be given back". He described the Appellate Division decision as "a political sentence" saying: "It has nothing to do with whether she was guilty or not."3 The ANC has established a practice of accommodating dissidents within its structures and has survived complex challenges during its years in exile by doing so. But political commentators are now asking whether the political cost will prove to be too great.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Motseta, Sello
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: African National Congress , Mandela, Winnie , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2810 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003020 , African National Congress , Mandela, Winnie , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Winnie Mandela has endured so many scandals over the last ten years that she has acquired a reputation for being untouchable. It is therefore ironic that there are those who feel that "the ANC want to act against Winnie not because of her human rights record, but for her outspoken criticism of the government's inability to deliver houses, thwart crime and testing our feelings on the death penalty." This assessment is instructive because in the "... turbulent years of the 1980s, she was a hero, a living martyr to the black liberation cause and despite the discomforts inflicted on her by her perpetrators, she revelled in the role" (Sparks, 1994:15). But Winnie Madikazela-Mandela, who was a Deputy Minister before being dismissed and who has had to appear before the TRC because of allegations that she was responsible for the death of teenage activist Stompie Seipei, has nevertheless been able to make a political comeback. The thesis therefore sets out to examine the rationale behind the State President's (he did not hold this title then) decision to take a considerable risk in standing by Winnie Madikazela-Mandela (they were at the time married) during her trial on charges of kidnapping in 1991. Even after her conviction, Mandela wrote that "as far as I was concerned, verdict or no verdict, her innocence was not in doubt." This unstinting loyalty was replicated elsewhere. Commenting on her acquittal on the assault charges, ANC Youth League President, Peter Mokaba, said: "What was taken away from her as a result of these false allegations must now be given back". He described the Appellate Division decision as "a political sentence" saying: "It has nothing to do with whether she was guilty or not."3 The ANC has established a practice of accommodating dissidents within its structures and has survived complex challenges during its years in exile by doing so. But political commentators are now asking whether the political cost will prove to be too great.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Hidden presences in the spirituality of the amaXhosa of the Eastern Cape and the impact of Christianity on them
- Authors: Mtuze, P T
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Spirituality -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Xhosa (African people) -- Religion , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Missionaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Christianity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- History , Christianity and culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTh
- Identifier: vital:1296 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015612
- Description: This thesis is an attempt to reopen the debate on the whole question of inculturation in Southern Africa especially in light of the fact that we are now in a multi-lingual and multi-religious state. It is an attempt to rehighlight the plight of the spirituality of the amaXhosa people over the last century when missionary and imperial onslaught relegated it to the doldrums. This plunged the amaXhosa in a crisis that has left them directionless, to put it mildly. This is said because the total onslaught destroyed their self-respect and their identity and begs the question as to whether their acceptability to God was contingent on renouncing their culture especially the hidden presences - Qamata, the living-dead and the notion of evil spirits. It is precisely because of these misconceptions regarding African culture and spirituality that the thesis has a strong expository and apologetic bias primarily aimed to address, and put into proper perspective, the significance of the Supreme Being, the living-dead and the evil spirits in African culture. The issues are discussed within the broader socio-historical context. The thesis is basically comparative in that it uses Celtic spirituality and the approach of the early Celtic church to the question of inculturation as its point of departure and as a foil against which the preposterous actions of the church in Africa should be seen. This comparative element is also reflected in the unmistakable `dichotomy’ of Western religion and African spirituality, or better still, lack of spirituality, that was so fervently maintained by the missionaries and the colonialists alike. It is for this reason that I concur with Chidester (1996:xiv) that `the study of religion must find itself, once again, on the frontier’. The study is informed by this approach right through. It should be stressed, from the outset, that the idea is not comparison in order to satisfy our curiosity, nor is it comparison in order to try to authenticate and vindicate the beleaguered African culture. The central idea of the study is to expose the absurdity of the policies of the past century in this regard. The myth of the pure blooded Christianity is confronted, if not exploded. Several examples of both inculturation and continuities between Christianity and other faiths such as the Jewish founding faith are given. The subtheme of cultural domination subtly spans the whole study culminating in Chapter Four where the blacks begin to appropriate some of the Christian symbols and the whites also begin to assimilate African concepts such as ubuntu.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Mtuze, P T
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Spirituality -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Xhosa (African people) -- Religion , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Missionaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Christianity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- History , Christianity and culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTh
- Identifier: vital:1296 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015612
- Description: This thesis is an attempt to reopen the debate on the whole question of inculturation in Southern Africa especially in light of the fact that we are now in a multi-lingual and multi-religious state. It is an attempt to rehighlight the plight of the spirituality of the amaXhosa people over the last century when missionary and imperial onslaught relegated it to the doldrums. This plunged the amaXhosa in a crisis that has left them directionless, to put it mildly. This is said because the total onslaught destroyed their self-respect and their identity and begs the question as to whether their acceptability to God was contingent on renouncing their culture especially the hidden presences - Qamata, the living-dead and the notion of evil spirits. It is precisely because of these misconceptions regarding African culture and spirituality that the thesis has a strong expository and apologetic bias primarily aimed to address, and put into proper perspective, the significance of the Supreme Being, the living-dead and the evil spirits in African culture. The issues are discussed within the broader socio-historical context. The thesis is basically comparative in that it uses Celtic spirituality and the approach of the early Celtic church to the question of inculturation as its point of departure and as a foil against which the preposterous actions of the church in Africa should be seen. This comparative element is also reflected in the unmistakable `dichotomy’ of Western religion and African spirituality, or better still, lack of spirituality, that was so fervently maintained by the missionaries and the colonialists alike. It is for this reason that I concur with Chidester (1996:xiv) that `the study of religion must find itself, once again, on the frontier’. The study is informed by this approach right through. It should be stressed, from the outset, that the idea is not comparison in order to satisfy our curiosity, nor is it comparison in order to try to authenticate and vindicate the beleaguered African culture. The central idea of the study is to expose the absurdity of the policies of the past century in this regard. The myth of the pure blooded Christianity is confronted, if not exploded. Several examples of both inculturation and continuities between Christianity and other faiths such as the Jewish founding faith are given. The subtheme of cultural domination subtly spans the whole study culminating in Chapter Four where the blacks begin to appropriate some of the Christian symbols and the whites also begin to assimilate African concepts such as ubuntu.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
An investigation of male and female cognitive ability on the WAIS-III
- Authors: Muirhead, Joanne
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale , Sex differences (Psychology) , Intelligence tests -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3028 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002537 , Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale , Sex differences (Psychology) , Intelligence tests -- South Africa
- Description: This study, which formed part of a larger research project, investigated the effect of gender on test performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Third Edition (WAIS-III). The WAIS-III was administered to a sample of 68 participants in the Eastern Cape following the initiative of the Human Sciences Research Council to standardise the WAIS-III for a South African population. The participants, aged 19 to 30, were stratified according to language of origin (African or English First Language), educational attainment (matriculant or graduate), quality of education (Department of Education and Training or private/"Model C" school) and gender. Analyses of variance and two sample t tests were used to compare male and female test performance. For the total sample, no significant difference between males and females on Verbal, Performance and Full Scale IQ were found. On the factor indices, females scored marginally higher than males on Processing Speed at a level which was approaching significance (p = 0.105), but no significant differences were found. On subtest performance, females significantly outperformed males on Digit Symbol (p = 0.020). Differences which were approaching significance were found on Information (p = 0.133) in favour of males, and on Matrix Reasoning (p = 0.092) in favour of females. For subgroups of the total sample, the most significant differences in test performance were found for the African First Language private/"Model C" school cohort in favour of females. Thus the overriding implication that emerged from this research was that on this relatively highly educated sample, no significant gender differences in cognitive ability were apparent.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Muirhead, Joanne
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale , Sex differences (Psychology) , Intelligence tests -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3028 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002537 , Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale , Sex differences (Psychology) , Intelligence tests -- South Africa
- Description: This study, which formed part of a larger research project, investigated the effect of gender on test performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Third Edition (WAIS-III). The WAIS-III was administered to a sample of 68 participants in the Eastern Cape following the initiative of the Human Sciences Research Council to standardise the WAIS-III for a South African population. The participants, aged 19 to 30, were stratified according to language of origin (African or English First Language), educational attainment (matriculant or graduate), quality of education (Department of Education and Training or private/"Model C" school) and gender. Analyses of variance and two sample t tests were used to compare male and female test performance. For the total sample, no significant difference between males and females on Verbal, Performance and Full Scale IQ were found. On the factor indices, females scored marginally higher than males on Processing Speed at a level which was approaching significance (p = 0.105), but no significant differences were found. On subtest performance, females significantly outperformed males on Digit Symbol (p = 0.020). Differences which were approaching significance were found on Information (p = 0.133) in favour of males, and on Matrix Reasoning (p = 0.092) in favour of females. For subgroups of the total sample, the most significant differences in test performance were found for the African First Language private/"Model C" school cohort in favour of females. Thus the overriding implication that emerged from this research was that on this relatively highly educated sample, no significant gender differences in cognitive ability were apparent.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Donor conditionalities and democratisation in Kenya, 1991-1997
- Authors: Muriuki, Irene
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Economic assistance -- Political aspects -- Kenya , Democracy -- Kenya , Elections -- Kenya , Kenya -- Politics and government -- 1978-2002
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2812 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003022 , Economic assistance -- Political aspects -- Kenya , Democracy -- Kenya , Elections -- Kenya , Kenya -- Politics and government -- 1978-2002
- Description: The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union has encouraged democratisation in most parts of Africa. At the same time, Western donors' attitudes towards r~cipients of foreign aid have changed. This has resulted in a new practice, which attempts to force Third World states to move toward liberal democracy by conditioning lending on the holding of mUlti-party elections. In Africa this has resulted to the holding of multi-party elections. This study attempts to examine donor conditionalities and democratisation in Kenya by examining the results of 1992 and 1997 multi-party elections. Kenya attained independence from the British and ushered in a multi-party democracy in 1963. Since then, the country has undergone a full circle of political development, starting with a multi-party democracy at independence, through a one party dictatorship between 1982 and 1992 and back to a multi-party democracy in 1993. The need to satisfy foreign donors forced the leadership to amend Section 2(A) of Kenya' s constitution that had legalised single-party rule in 1982 thus allowing plural politics. The externally pressured transition to multi-party democracy though has resulted in increased corruption, state-sponsored ethnic violence, continued political authoritarianism and disastrous economic mismanagement of what was once considered a model for the continent. This study urges that Western donors should focus less on elections and more on the fostering of democratic institutions through breaking patterns of neo-patrimonial rule that have inforn1ed and continue to inform politics in Kenya. Political reforms have been resisted by the incumbency in the fear tha! they may curtail the power of the political leadership whose main objective has been to cling to power.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Muriuki, Irene
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Economic assistance -- Political aspects -- Kenya , Democracy -- Kenya , Elections -- Kenya , Kenya -- Politics and government -- 1978-2002
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2812 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003022 , Economic assistance -- Political aspects -- Kenya , Democracy -- Kenya , Elections -- Kenya , Kenya -- Politics and government -- 1978-2002
- Description: The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union has encouraged democratisation in most parts of Africa. At the same time, Western donors' attitudes towards r~cipients of foreign aid have changed. This has resulted in a new practice, which attempts to force Third World states to move toward liberal democracy by conditioning lending on the holding of mUlti-party elections. In Africa this has resulted to the holding of multi-party elections. This study attempts to examine donor conditionalities and democratisation in Kenya by examining the results of 1992 and 1997 multi-party elections. Kenya attained independence from the British and ushered in a multi-party democracy in 1963. Since then, the country has undergone a full circle of political development, starting with a multi-party democracy at independence, through a one party dictatorship between 1982 and 1992 and back to a multi-party democracy in 1993. The need to satisfy foreign donors forced the leadership to amend Section 2(A) of Kenya' s constitution that had legalised single-party rule in 1982 thus allowing plural politics. The externally pressured transition to multi-party democracy though has resulted in increased corruption, state-sponsored ethnic violence, continued political authoritarianism and disastrous economic mismanagement of what was once considered a model for the continent. This study urges that Western donors should focus less on elections and more on the fostering of democratic institutions through breaking patterns of neo-patrimonial rule that have inforn1ed and continue to inform politics in Kenya. Political reforms have been resisted by the incumbency in the fear tha! they may curtail the power of the political leadership whose main objective has been to cling to power.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
A case study of multigrade teaching in Canada: implications for South Africa
- Authors: Muthayan, Saloshini
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Combination of grades -- South Africa Combination of grades -- Canada Education, Elementary -- South Africa Education, Elementary -- Canada Combination of grades
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1438 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003319
- Description: This study examines multigrade teaching in selected schools in Canada and its implications for improving multigrade teaching in South Africa, where over 50 % of primary schools are multigrade and the teachers have not received preparation in multigrade teaching. The case study method was adopted because it allowed for 'an intensive, holistic description and analysis' of the multigrade classroom. The approach is interpretivist, based on the assumption that social phenomena are 'socially constituted' and 'valuationally based'. Research techniques included a literature review, interviews and observations. Four classrooms with grade combinations ranging from two grades to eight grades (Kindergarten to grade 7) were studied. Despite problems such as the lack of official recognition, inadequate teacher education and support - problems common to both Canada and South Africa - the Canadian teachers managed their classrooms effectively. This was indicated by their understanding of the children's needs, their integration of the curriculum for teaching across the grades and the learning areas, their use of effective instructional strategies and their involyement of parents in the classroom. A reason for their success may be that their teacher education includes child-centred, activity based approaches, integration of the curriculum, critical thinking, flexibility and effective instructional strategies, which they may adapt for effective multigrade teaching. The study found that successful multigrade teaching depended on the teacher. For South Africa, this may imply that intervention programmes should focus on relevant preparation and support for multigrade teachers. The emphasis on material resources in the implementation of Curriculum 2005 has not been balanced with adequate training on policy, curriculum and instructional strategies. Teacher education should include methodologies that are experiential, reflective and participatory. A variety of instructional strategies should be employed in the multigrade classroom. The respondents in the study believed further that multigrade teaching is more beneficial than single-grade teaching because it caters for the diversity of needs amongst children and allows for peer tutoring, thereby exploiting Vygotsky's theory of the 'zone of proximal development'. Thus, instead of viewing multigrade teaching as a temporary phenomenon, it should be viewed as an opportunity for improving school effectiveness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Muthayan, Saloshini
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Combination of grades -- South Africa Combination of grades -- Canada Education, Elementary -- South Africa Education, Elementary -- Canada Combination of grades
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1438 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003319
- Description: This study examines multigrade teaching in selected schools in Canada and its implications for improving multigrade teaching in South Africa, where over 50 % of primary schools are multigrade and the teachers have not received preparation in multigrade teaching. The case study method was adopted because it allowed for 'an intensive, holistic description and analysis' of the multigrade classroom. The approach is interpretivist, based on the assumption that social phenomena are 'socially constituted' and 'valuationally based'. Research techniques included a literature review, interviews and observations. Four classrooms with grade combinations ranging from two grades to eight grades (Kindergarten to grade 7) were studied. Despite problems such as the lack of official recognition, inadequate teacher education and support - problems common to both Canada and South Africa - the Canadian teachers managed their classrooms effectively. This was indicated by their understanding of the children's needs, their integration of the curriculum for teaching across the grades and the learning areas, their use of effective instructional strategies and their involyement of parents in the classroom. A reason for their success may be that their teacher education includes child-centred, activity based approaches, integration of the curriculum, critical thinking, flexibility and effective instructional strategies, which they may adapt for effective multigrade teaching. The study found that successful multigrade teaching depended on the teacher. For South Africa, this may imply that intervention programmes should focus on relevant preparation and support for multigrade teachers. The emphasis on material resources in the implementation of Curriculum 2005 has not been balanced with adequate training on policy, curriculum and instructional strategies. Teacher education should include methodologies that are experiential, reflective and participatory. A variety of instructional strategies should be employed in the multigrade classroom. The respondents in the study believed further that multigrade teaching is more beneficial than single-grade teaching because it caters for the diversity of needs amongst children and allows for peer tutoring, thereby exploiting Vygotsky's theory of the 'zone of proximal development'. Thus, instead of viewing multigrade teaching as a temporary phenomenon, it should be viewed as an opportunity for improving school effectiveness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Ammonia removal from water by ion exchange using South African and Zambian zeolite samples
- Authors: Mwale, Monica
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Ammonia -- Toxicology , Water -- Purification , Zeolites , Ion exchange
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5215 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005058 , Ammonia -- Toxicology , Water -- Purification , Zeolites , Ion exchange
- Description: One problem of intensive fish culture systems is the progressive build-up of toxic wastes such as ammonia. The possibility of improving aquaculture water quality using two kinds of zeolite is discussed. Zeolites are alumino-silicates whose framework allows them to exchange cations. Ion exchange has been demonstrated to be competitive with other methods of ammonia removal due to the high selectivity for ammonia exhibited by zeolite materials. In this study an unknown Zambian zeolite (identified as laumontite by X-ray diffraction techniques) and Pratley clinoptilolite (a South African zeolite) were tested under laboratory conditions and in a fresh water recirculating system. Ammonia cation exchange capacities (CEC) and suitable application rates for efficient water treatment were determined using the batch and column ion exchange procedures. Estimated ammonia uptake, the most important criterion used to assess performance of zeolite filters was strongly influenced by zeolite type, particle size, pre-treatment, regeneration and ion exchange method used. Statistical analysis showed significant differences in average ammonia CEC values between clinoptilolite (14.94 mg g⁻¹) and laumontite (2.77 mg g⁻¹), with the former displaying a higher Na⁺ ® NH₄⁺ exchange rate especially in the early reaction stages. This difference accords with the higher purity of clinoptilolite, 47% as opposed to 4.7% for laumontite, which makes it a better zeolite for ammonium removal. CEC increased linearly as particle size of the clinoptilolite was reduced resulting in a linear regression model (y = 18.29 – 3.704 x; r² = 74%). Pre-treatment of clinoptilolite using 1N NaCl significantly improved the ammonia CEC of clinoptilolite. Overall performance of both the batch and column methods achieved after regeneration (18.3 mg g⁻¹) was 25% higher than the estimated CEC values (13.0 mg g⁻¹) for the unregenerated samples of clinoptilolite. Comparison of CEC estimates using Pratley clinoptilolite, showed that average batch CEC estimates were significantly lower than the column method estimates. The average ammonia CEC values estimated in a fresh water recirculating system (5.80 mg g⁻¹ and 4.12 mg g⁻¹ for the 0.7-1.0 and 1.0-1.4 mm particle sizes, respectively) were significantly lower than the column and batch estimates for the same particle sizes (P < 0.05). Some nitrite (NO₂) and nitrate (NO3) build up was experienced probably due to the growth of autotrophs in the filters. Mass balance of nitrogen (N) for the three treatments of the fish trial (0.7-1.0 mm, 1.0-1.4 mm and the control treatment that had no zeolite in the filter) indicated that less that 10% of the N was retained for growth. It was found that 60% of the NH₄-N present associated with the soluble N was available for absorption by the zeolite filter or biological nitrification and that a total of approximately 22% of NH₄-N available was absorbed by clinoptilolite. The results indicate that the rate of nitrification can be deductively estimated by allowing a zeolite filter to become a biological filter. It is concluded that water treatment by ion exchange using natural zeolites, provides a reliable and efficient method for ammonia removal and appears to be a viable supplementary water treatment method for fresh water systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Mwale, Monica
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Ammonia -- Toxicology , Water -- Purification , Zeolites , Ion exchange
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5215 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005058 , Ammonia -- Toxicology , Water -- Purification , Zeolites , Ion exchange
- Description: One problem of intensive fish culture systems is the progressive build-up of toxic wastes such as ammonia. The possibility of improving aquaculture water quality using two kinds of zeolite is discussed. Zeolites are alumino-silicates whose framework allows them to exchange cations. Ion exchange has been demonstrated to be competitive with other methods of ammonia removal due to the high selectivity for ammonia exhibited by zeolite materials. In this study an unknown Zambian zeolite (identified as laumontite by X-ray diffraction techniques) and Pratley clinoptilolite (a South African zeolite) were tested under laboratory conditions and in a fresh water recirculating system. Ammonia cation exchange capacities (CEC) and suitable application rates for efficient water treatment were determined using the batch and column ion exchange procedures. Estimated ammonia uptake, the most important criterion used to assess performance of zeolite filters was strongly influenced by zeolite type, particle size, pre-treatment, regeneration and ion exchange method used. Statistical analysis showed significant differences in average ammonia CEC values between clinoptilolite (14.94 mg g⁻¹) and laumontite (2.77 mg g⁻¹), with the former displaying a higher Na⁺ ® NH₄⁺ exchange rate especially in the early reaction stages. This difference accords with the higher purity of clinoptilolite, 47% as opposed to 4.7% for laumontite, which makes it a better zeolite for ammonium removal. CEC increased linearly as particle size of the clinoptilolite was reduced resulting in a linear regression model (y = 18.29 – 3.704 x; r² = 74%). Pre-treatment of clinoptilolite using 1N NaCl significantly improved the ammonia CEC of clinoptilolite. Overall performance of both the batch and column methods achieved after regeneration (18.3 mg g⁻¹) was 25% higher than the estimated CEC values (13.0 mg g⁻¹) for the unregenerated samples of clinoptilolite. Comparison of CEC estimates using Pratley clinoptilolite, showed that average batch CEC estimates were significantly lower than the column method estimates. The average ammonia CEC values estimated in a fresh water recirculating system (5.80 mg g⁻¹ and 4.12 mg g⁻¹ for the 0.7-1.0 and 1.0-1.4 mm particle sizes, respectively) were significantly lower than the column and batch estimates for the same particle sizes (P < 0.05). Some nitrite (NO₂) and nitrate (NO3) build up was experienced probably due to the growth of autotrophs in the filters. Mass balance of nitrogen (N) for the three treatments of the fish trial (0.7-1.0 mm, 1.0-1.4 mm and the control treatment that had no zeolite in the filter) indicated that less that 10% of the N was retained for growth. It was found that 60% of the NH₄-N present associated with the soluble N was available for absorption by the zeolite filter or biological nitrification and that a total of approximately 22% of NH₄-N available was absorbed by clinoptilolite. The results indicate that the rate of nitrification can be deductively estimated by allowing a zeolite filter to become a biological filter. It is concluded that water treatment by ion exchange using natural zeolites, provides a reliable and efficient method for ammonia removal and appears to be a viable supplementary water treatment method for fresh water systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Female school principals=perceptions of leadership in a male dominated education environment
- Authors: Mwingi, Mweru P
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/326 , vital:19948
- Description: Many well-known studies on leadership have ignored the perspective of women yet bear an emphasis on the importance of portraying leadership in its entirety. This would mean that all leadership perspectives are included and that leaders are allowed to speak for themselves and about themselves. It is this connection I have sought to establish how women perceive leadership by relating the experiences of four women in school principalship. I have used a factual questionnaire to establish the background of each one but, it is the in-depth interviews that yield the leadership perceptions. Borrowing from phenomenological procedures, the leadership experiences are related as Natural Meaning Units (NMUS) whereby all prior knowledge and possible bias are bracketed out. Reinforced by their journal entries, it is only the voice of the women that is heard. My study reinforces the observation of researchers and feminist scholars that women leaders are not only marginalised but also viewed from a perspective that is not their own. From the study, however, the one element about leadership that emerges as unique is the functioning of transformational leadership elements among women leaders in educational set-ups that are inherently traditional, bureaucratic and hierarchical. This is significant because there is an indication that women leaders are inclined to transformational leadership because it favours their feminine qualities. There is also evidence that school principals can embrace leadership diversity and finally, that leadership and the structures of leadership operation are not developed from without but from within the person of the leader and this is an incorporation of their vision and beliefs. In the context of South Africa, this study should be of potential significance because of the change that is taking place in the development and training of school principals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Mwingi, Mweru P
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/326 , vital:19948
- Description: Many well-known studies on leadership have ignored the perspective of women yet bear an emphasis on the importance of portraying leadership in its entirety. This would mean that all leadership perspectives are included and that leaders are allowed to speak for themselves and about themselves. It is this connection I have sought to establish how women perceive leadership by relating the experiences of four women in school principalship. I have used a factual questionnaire to establish the background of each one but, it is the in-depth interviews that yield the leadership perceptions. Borrowing from phenomenological procedures, the leadership experiences are related as Natural Meaning Units (NMUS) whereby all prior knowledge and possible bias are bracketed out. Reinforced by their journal entries, it is only the voice of the women that is heard. My study reinforces the observation of researchers and feminist scholars that women leaders are not only marginalised but also viewed from a perspective that is not their own. From the study, however, the one element about leadership that emerges as unique is the functioning of transformational leadership elements among women leaders in educational set-ups that are inherently traditional, bureaucratic and hierarchical. This is significant because there is an indication that women leaders are inclined to transformational leadership because it favours their feminine qualities. There is also evidence that school principals can embrace leadership diversity and finally, that leadership and the structures of leadership operation are not developed from without but from within the person of the leader and this is an incorporation of their vision and beliefs. In the context of South Africa, this study should be of potential significance because of the change that is taking place in the development and training of school principals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Computers in science teaching: a reality or dream; The role of computers in effective science education: a case of using a computer to teach colour mixing; Career oriented science education for the next millennium
- Authors: Nadarajah, Kumaravel
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching Computer-assisted instruction Education -- Data processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1460 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003341
- Description: Science education in South Africa is not improving much. Many science educators do not have appropriate science qualifications. Majority of the learners have limited facilities to learn science. In this dilemma the move to OBE may result in further substantial deterioration of science education. A possible way out is to use computers in science education to facilitate the learning process. This study was designed to investigate how computers contribute to learners’ skills development in a physics course. A series of interactive computer simulations of colour mixing and a number of closely related traditional practical activities are aimed to promote learners’ understanding of colour. It was concluded that while computer environments have greater potentialas learning tools, they also limit interactions in significant ways.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Nadarajah, Kumaravel
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching Computer-assisted instruction Education -- Data processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1460 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003341
- Description: Science education in South Africa is not improving much. Many science educators do not have appropriate science qualifications. Majority of the learners have limited facilities to learn science. In this dilemma the move to OBE may result in further substantial deterioration of science education. A possible way out is to use computers in science education to facilitate the learning process. This study was designed to investigate how computers contribute to learners’ skills development in a physics course. A series of interactive computer simulations of colour mixing and a number of closely related traditional practical activities are aimed to promote learners’ understanding of colour. It was concluded that while computer environments have greater potentialas learning tools, they also limit interactions in significant ways.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Ethnic nationalism and democratisation in South Africa : political implications for the rainbow nation
- Authors: Naidoo, Vinothan
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Nationalism -- South Africa , Ethnicity -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2815 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003025 , Nationalism -- South Africa , Ethnicity -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Ethnic identities in South Africa have had a particularly contrived history, set within the constraints and motivations of population classification by race. A more democratic political environment emerged with the dismantling of apartheid, bringing with it a multitude of issues including the design and character of the country’s political institutions and framework. This thesis will address two principal questions. The first and primary one investigates what lies behind the initiation and development of ethnic bonds. The second concerns the political implications and management of ethnic expressions in a democratic South Africa. An analysis of Zulu ethnic nationalism will be undertaken, because it constituted the most prominent case of assertive communal interests during democratic transitional negotiations. This thesis argues that circumstantial and instrumental factors (based on conditions, and the actions of individuals and organizations respectively), have been predominately responsible for the initiation and formation of ethnic bonds, especially amongst those who identify with a Zulu identity. The “conditions” describe the increasingly segregationist direction in which successive South African government authorities were moving, especially after the 1948 election victory of the National Party and the subsequent introduction of apartheid. Secondly, the “actions” denote the motivations of both Zulu actors and governments in generating and elaborating an ethnic discourse where their desired interests could be more effectively supported and assured. It will also be argued that because of the instrumental and selective use of ethnicity, as well as the narrow interests being served by its popular and community-centred expressions, a developing South African democratic culture should seek to protect ethnic diversity rather than promote ethnic interests. To do so would be to deny the perpetuation of ethnic cleavages and the violence and instability perpetrated in its name in recent years. The “protection” of cultural diversity is consistent with a constitution that seeks non-discrimination among all South African identities. Finally, it is believed that an emphasis on the individual as individual, as well as member of a cultural group, will break from subordinating the individual to an ascribed racial and ethnic identity as in the past, and assist in reconstituting the state as equally reflective of all South Africans.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Naidoo, Vinothan
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Nationalism -- South Africa , Ethnicity -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2815 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003025 , Nationalism -- South Africa , Ethnicity -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Ethnic identities in South Africa have had a particularly contrived history, set within the constraints and motivations of population classification by race. A more democratic political environment emerged with the dismantling of apartheid, bringing with it a multitude of issues including the design and character of the country’s political institutions and framework. This thesis will address two principal questions. The first and primary one investigates what lies behind the initiation and development of ethnic bonds. The second concerns the political implications and management of ethnic expressions in a democratic South Africa. An analysis of Zulu ethnic nationalism will be undertaken, because it constituted the most prominent case of assertive communal interests during democratic transitional negotiations. This thesis argues that circumstantial and instrumental factors (based on conditions, and the actions of individuals and organizations respectively), have been predominately responsible for the initiation and formation of ethnic bonds, especially amongst those who identify with a Zulu identity. The “conditions” describe the increasingly segregationist direction in which successive South African government authorities were moving, especially after the 1948 election victory of the National Party and the subsequent introduction of apartheid. Secondly, the “actions” denote the motivations of both Zulu actors and governments in generating and elaborating an ethnic discourse where their desired interests could be more effectively supported and assured. It will also be argued that because of the instrumental and selective use of ethnicity, as well as the narrow interests being served by its popular and community-centred expressions, a developing South African democratic culture should seek to protect ethnic diversity rather than promote ethnic interests. To do so would be to deny the perpetuation of ethnic cleavages and the violence and instability perpetrated in its name in recent years. The “protection” of cultural diversity is consistent with a constitution that seeks non-discrimination among all South African identities. Finally, it is believed that an emphasis on the individual as individual, as well as member of a cultural group, will break from subordinating the individual to an ascribed racial and ethnic identity as in the past, and assist in reconstituting the state as equally reflective of all South Africans.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Transcribing tales, creating cultural identities an analysis of selected written english texts of Xhosa folktales
- Authors: Naidu, Sam
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Tales -- South Africa , Folklore -- South Africa , Xhosa literature -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2187 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002229 , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9456-8657 , Tales -- South Africa , Folklore -- South Africa , Xhosa literature -- History and criticism
- Description: This thesis maps a marriage of postcolonial theory and folklore studies. The progeny of this marriage is an analytic tool which can suitably and effectively tackle the subject of written folktale texts, whether they be part of a nineteenth century colonialist discourse, or a twenty-first century nationalist discourse. First, GM Theal's collection of folktale texts, Kaffir Folklore (1882), is analysed as part of his specific colonialist discourse. Theal formulated for himself, and for the Xhosa peoples, identities which consolidated the colonialisms he supported. I argue that these folktale texts, although a part of Theal's colonialist discourse, are hybrid, containing the voices of both coloniser and colonised. Second, the position of contemporary written folktales in a neo-colonialist and >new nationalist discourse=, is examined. The optimistic belief of scholars and authors, that folktales are a means of bridging cultural gaps, is questioned. Finally, it is shown that authors of folktale texts can synthesise diverse literary traditions in a hybrid artform. This synthesis, to some extent, embodies the >new nationalist= aim of a unified national cultural identity in South Africa. The central value of recognising the role of folktale texts in colonialist and nationalist discourses lies in the awareness that this type of literary activity in South Africa is a cross-cultural practice. The confluence of voices which constitutes these folktale texts, reveals that our stories are intertwined. In the past, the discourses of colonialism and apartheid controlled the formation of the diverse and hierarchised cultural identities of South Africa. But this is not to say that alternative stories of self-fashioning and cultural self-determination did not exist. In the folktale texts of writers such as Mhlope, Jordan, and even in Theal's colonial collection, different mediums, literary heritages and styles converge to create narratives which speak of cross-cultural interaction and the empowerment of the black voice. In post-apartheid South Africa, there is even greater opportunity to reshape stories, to recreate selves, and to redefine intercultural relations. This thesis has outlined how some of those stories, which use folktale texts as their central trope, are constructed and commodified. Not only do these reinvented folktale texts embody the heterogeneous cultural influences of South Africa, they also have the potential to promote, first, the understanding of cultural differences, and second, the acceptance of the notion of cultural hybridity in our society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Naidu, Sam
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Tales -- South Africa , Folklore -- South Africa , Xhosa literature -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2187 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002229 , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9456-8657 , Tales -- South Africa , Folklore -- South Africa , Xhosa literature -- History and criticism
- Description: This thesis maps a marriage of postcolonial theory and folklore studies. The progeny of this marriage is an analytic tool which can suitably and effectively tackle the subject of written folktale texts, whether they be part of a nineteenth century colonialist discourse, or a twenty-first century nationalist discourse. First, GM Theal's collection of folktale texts, Kaffir Folklore (1882), is analysed as part of his specific colonialist discourse. Theal formulated for himself, and for the Xhosa peoples, identities which consolidated the colonialisms he supported. I argue that these folktale texts, although a part of Theal's colonialist discourse, are hybrid, containing the voices of both coloniser and colonised. Second, the position of contemporary written folktales in a neo-colonialist and >new nationalist discourse=, is examined. The optimistic belief of scholars and authors, that folktales are a means of bridging cultural gaps, is questioned. Finally, it is shown that authors of folktale texts can synthesise diverse literary traditions in a hybrid artform. This synthesis, to some extent, embodies the >new nationalist= aim of a unified national cultural identity in South Africa. The central value of recognising the role of folktale texts in colonialist and nationalist discourses lies in the awareness that this type of literary activity in South Africa is a cross-cultural practice. The confluence of voices which constitutes these folktale texts, reveals that our stories are intertwined. In the past, the discourses of colonialism and apartheid controlled the formation of the diverse and hierarchised cultural identities of South Africa. But this is not to say that alternative stories of self-fashioning and cultural self-determination did not exist. In the folktale texts of writers such as Mhlope, Jordan, and even in Theal's colonial collection, different mediums, literary heritages and styles converge to create narratives which speak of cross-cultural interaction and the empowerment of the black voice. In post-apartheid South Africa, there is even greater opportunity to reshape stories, to recreate selves, and to redefine intercultural relations. This thesis has outlined how some of those stories, which use folktale texts as their central trope, are constructed and commodified. Not only do these reinvented folktale texts embody the heterogeneous cultural influences of South Africa, they also have the potential to promote, first, the understanding of cultural differences, and second, the acceptance of the notion of cultural hybridity in our society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
An investigation into tools and protocols for commercial audio web-site creation
- Authors: Ndinga, S'busiso Simon
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Web sites -- Design , Digital libraries , Internet -- Security measures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4621 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006488 , Web sites -- Design , Digital libraries , Internet -- Security measures
- Description: This thesis presents a feasibility study of a Web-based digital music library and purchasing system. It investigates the current status of the enabling technologies for developing such a system. An analysis of various Internet audio codecs, streaming audio protocols, Internet credit card payment security methods, and ways for accessing remote Web databases is presented. The objective of the analysis is to determine the viability and the economic benefits of using these technologies when developing systems that facilitate music distribution over the Internet. A prototype of a distributed digital music library and purchasing system named WAPS (for Web-based Audio Purchasing System) was developed and implemented in the Java programming language. In this thesis both the physical and the logical component elements of WAPS are explored in depth so as to provide an insight into the inherent problems of creating such a system, as well as the overriding benefits derived from the creation of such a system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Ndinga, S'busiso Simon
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Web sites -- Design , Digital libraries , Internet -- Security measures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4621 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006488 , Web sites -- Design , Digital libraries , Internet -- Security measures
- Description: This thesis presents a feasibility study of a Web-based digital music library and purchasing system. It investigates the current status of the enabling technologies for developing such a system. An analysis of various Internet audio codecs, streaming audio protocols, Internet credit card payment security methods, and ways for accessing remote Web databases is presented. The objective of the analysis is to determine the viability and the economic benefits of using these technologies when developing systems that facilitate music distribution over the Internet. A prototype of a distributed digital music library and purchasing system named WAPS (for Web-based Audio Purchasing System) was developed and implemented in the Java programming language. In this thesis both the physical and the logical component elements of WAPS are explored in depth so as to provide an insight into the inherent problems of creating such a system, as well as the overriding benefits derived from the creation of such a system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
An investigation of parental non-involvement in the governance of a Duncan Village school and its implications for the management of the school : a case study
- Authors: Ndlazi, Sibongile Mandisa
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: School management and organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education -- Parent participation -- South Africa Education -- Parent participation -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1639 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003521
- Description: This study explores the perceptions that parents have about their non-involvement in the governance of a Duncan Village High School, and considers the implications of such perceptions for the management of the school. Recent discussions on Radio Talk Shows and articles written in local newspapers indicate that Black parents have generally not been involved in the education of their children at the traditionally Black schools. Parental non-involvement also emerges as a strong theme in recent research. However, most of the research and media coverage focuses on school management's perceptions of the reasons and consequences of such non-involvement. The parents' voices have rarely been heard. Against this background, as well as the fact that the South African Schools Act presents a strong case for the involvement of parents in school governance and management, a phenomenological investigation was conducted at a traditionally Black Duncan Village High School. I chose phenomenology because I believed this approach has the potential for revealing my respondents' attitudes and perceptions. The sample consisted of four parent members of the school governing body who were key informants. The respondents were subjected to unstructured interviews which were held at their homes. The interviews probed the background and reasons for their lack of involvement, and the possible implications ofthis non-involvement for school management. The most significant of the wealth of findings is that parental non-involvement is linked to the historical background of the culture of non-participation of Black people which was created and encouraged by the successive White Governments in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Ndlazi, Sibongile Mandisa
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: School management and organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education -- Parent participation -- South Africa Education -- Parent participation -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1639 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003521
- Description: This study explores the perceptions that parents have about their non-involvement in the governance of a Duncan Village High School, and considers the implications of such perceptions for the management of the school. Recent discussions on Radio Talk Shows and articles written in local newspapers indicate that Black parents have generally not been involved in the education of their children at the traditionally Black schools. Parental non-involvement also emerges as a strong theme in recent research. However, most of the research and media coverage focuses on school management's perceptions of the reasons and consequences of such non-involvement. The parents' voices have rarely been heard. Against this background, as well as the fact that the South African Schools Act presents a strong case for the involvement of parents in school governance and management, a phenomenological investigation was conducted at a traditionally Black Duncan Village High School. I chose phenomenology because I believed this approach has the potential for revealing my respondents' attitudes and perceptions. The sample consisted of four parent members of the school governing body who were key informants. The respondents were subjected to unstructured interviews which were held at their homes. The interviews probed the background and reasons for their lack of involvement, and the possible implications ofthis non-involvement for school management. The most significant of the wealth of findings is that parental non-involvement is linked to the historical background of the culture of non-participation of Black people which was created and encouraged by the successive White Governments in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Constitutional frameworks and democratization in Africa since independence
- Authors: Neirynck, Karim
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Democracy -- Africa , Constitutions -- Africa , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2816 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003026 , Democracy -- Africa , Constitutions -- Africa , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Description: The subject of this thesis is international studies, specifically a study of constitutional frameworks in Africa in the second half of the 20th century, focussing on a statistical correlation between constitutional frameworks, party systems, electoral systems and the Index of Democracy. The struggle to consolidate new democracies - especially those in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia - has given rise to a wide-ranging debate about the hard choices concerning democratic political institutions and political markets. According to Stepan and Skach " this literature has produced provocative hypotheses about the effects of institutions on democracy" (Stepan and Skach, 1993 : 1). It forms part of the' new institutionalism I literature in comparative politics that'holds as a premise that political democracy depends not only on economic and social conditions but also on the design of political institutions (Koelble, 1995 : 231-243). " One fundamental political-institutional question that has only received serious scholarly attention concerns the impact of different constitutional frameworks on democratic consolidation. Although the topic has been increasingly debated and discussed, little systematic cross-regional evidence [especially for our field of research: Africa] has been brought to bear on it " (Stepan and Skach, 1993 : 1-2). So far, only the book"on regime transitions in Africa written by Bratton and Van De Walle seeks to fill this empirical gap (Bratton and Van De Walle, 1997, preface xiii). In this thesis, we paid particular attention to the dichotomy between (pure) parliamentarism and (pure) presidentialism. Each type has fundamental characteristics, and for the purposes of classification these characteristics are necessary and sufficient. It was not our purpose to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of parliamentarism and presidentialism. Our intention was to report and analyse different sources of data, and we based our case exclusively on statistic correlatiohs between regime type and the record of democratic success and failure. We collected a data set about constitutional frameworks (matrix1), democracy indices (matrix2), party systems (matrix3) and election systems (matrix4). The basis for matrix 1 was the constitutions of the African countries (over time) and relevant literature. The basis for matrix 2 was the annual Freedom House ratings made by Raymond D. Gastil and others. The basis for matrix 3 and 4 was relevant literature. Once these matrices had been composed, we compared them and calculated statistic correlations. This long-dyration model allowed us to estimate whether African constitutional frameworks, party systems and electoral systems exhibit positive or negative correlation with the index of democracy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Neirynck, Karim
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Democracy -- Africa , Constitutions -- Africa , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2816 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003026 , Democracy -- Africa , Constitutions -- Africa , Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
- Description: The subject of this thesis is international studies, specifically a study of constitutional frameworks in Africa in the second half of the 20th century, focussing on a statistical correlation between constitutional frameworks, party systems, electoral systems and the Index of Democracy. The struggle to consolidate new democracies - especially those in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia - has given rise to a wide-ranging debate about the hard choices concerning democratic political institutions and political markets. According to Stepan and Skach " this literature has produced provocative hypotheses about the effects of institutions on democracy" (Stepan and Skach, 1993 : 1). It forms part of the' new institutionalism I literature in comparative politics that'holds as a premise that political democracy depends not only on economic and social conditions but also on the design of political institutions (Koelble, 1995 : 231-243). " One fundamental political-institutional question that has only received serious scholarly attention concerns the impact of different constitutional frameworks on democratic consolidation. Although the topic has been increasingly debated and discussed, little systematic cross-regional evidence [especially for our field of research: Africa] has been brought to bear on it " (Stepan and Skach, 1993 : 1-2). So far, only the book"on regime transitions in Africa written by Bratton and Van De Walle seeks to fill this empirical gap (Bratton and Van De Walle, 1997, preface xiii). In this thesis, we paid particular attention to the dichotomy between (pure) parliamentarism and (pure) presidentialism. Each type has fundamental characteristics, and for the purposes of classification these characteristics are necessary and sufficient. It was not our purpose to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of parliamentarism and presidentialism. Our intention was to report and analyse different sources of data, and we based our case exclusively on statistic correlatiohs between regime type and the record of democratic success and failure. We collected a data set about constitutional frameworks (matrix1), democracy indices (matrix2), party systems (matrix3) and election systems (matrix4). The basis for matrix 1 was the constitutions of the African countries (over time) and relevant literature. The basis for matrix 2 was the annual Freedom House ratings made by Raymond D. Gastil and others. The basis for matrix 3 and 4 was relevant literature. Once these matrices had been composed, we compared them and calculated statistic correlations. This long-dyration model allowed us to estimate whether African constitutional frameworks, party systems and electoral systems exhibit positive or negative correlation with the index of democracy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000