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Fundamental investigations into the factors affecting the response of laccase-based electrochemical biosensors

  • Authors: Fogel, Ronen
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Laccase Phenols Biosensors
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:4073 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007166
  • Description: Given their widespread effects and distribution in both natural and industrial environments, the monitoring of phenolic compounds is of considerable analytical interest. Electrochemical biosensor technologies, in particular those comprising laccase enzymes, afford many potential benefits to address this analytical need. However, several key factors affecting sensor response currently limit their applicability. This Thesis reports on the fabrication and optimisation of an electrochemical laccase-based biosensor towards the application of the monitoring of phenolic compounds. Selected factors considered to affect sensor response were investigated using the optimised biosensor. These included: electrochemical, biochemical and substrate-dependent factors, which were found to intersect in modulating biosensor response signals. Through the application of transducer-dependent and substrate-dependent parameters, the selective and simultaneous detection of a mixture of different phenolic analytes is successfully demonstrated. This Thesis also investigates the use of Quartz-Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) technology, an analytical technique that measures physical parameters of thin-film structures, towards the successful monitoring of enzyme immobilisation strategies. These strategies are fundamental to the successful fabrication of biosensors, and the real-time monitoring of immobilised film formations is of considerable research interest. In the studies reported on in this Thesis, QCM-D technology was demonstrated to be an effective complementary technology in the prediction of film immobilisation techniques on the resultant biochemical kinetics of immobilised enzymes.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Gender oppression and possibilities of empowerment: images of women in African literature with specific reference to Mariama Ba's So long a letter, Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of motherhood and Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous conditions

  • Authors: Nyanhongo, Mazvita Mollin
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa Women and literature -- Africa African literature -- Women authors Women -- Africa -- Literary collections
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6411 , vital:29659
  • Description: This study consists of a comparative analysis of three novels by three prominent African women writers which cast light on the ways in which women are oppressed by traditional and cultural norms in three different African countries. These three primary texts also explore the ways in which African women‟s lives are affected by other issues, such as colonialism and economic factors, and this study discusses this. An analysis of these novels reveals that the interconnectedness of racial, class and gender issues exacerbates the oppression of many African women, thereby lessening the opportunities for them to attain self-realization. This study goes on to investigate whether there are possibilities of empowerment for the women in the primary texts, and examining the reasons why some women fail to transcend their situations of oppression. The primary novels will be discussed in different chapters, which explore the problems with which various women are beset, and discuss the extent to which the various women in the novels manage to attain empowerment. In conclusion, this study compares and contrasts the ways in which the women in the primary texts are oppressed and highlights the reasons why some women are able to attain empowerment, whilst others are unable to do so. It also shows that many women are beset with comparable forms of oppression, but they may choose to react to these situations differently. Over and above these issues, the study seeks to draw attention to the fact that women need to come together and contribute to the ways in which they can attain various forms ofempowerment.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Gender oppression and possibilities of empowerment: images of women in African literature with specific reference to Mariama Ba's So long a letter, Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of motherhood and Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous conditions

  • Authors: Nyanhongo, Mazvita Mollin
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: African literature -- Women authors , Women -- Africa Literary collections , Women and literature -- Africa , Sex discrimination -- Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA (English)
  • Identifier: vital:11503 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/522 , African literature -- Women authors , Women -- Africa Literary collections , Women and literature -- Africa , Sex discrimination -- Africa
  • Description: This study consists of a comparative analysis of three novels by three prominent African women writers which cast light on the ways in which women are oppressed by traditional and cultural norms in three different African countries. These three primary texts also explore the ways in which African women's lives are affected by other issues, such as colonialism and economic factors, and this study discusses this. An analysis of these novels reveals that the inter-connectedness of racial, class and gender issues exacerbates the oppression of many African women, thereby lessening the opportunities for them to attain self-realization. This study goes on to investigate whether there are possibilities of empowerment for the women in the primary texts, and examining the reasons why some women fail to transcend their situations of oppression. The primary novels will be discussed in different chapters, which explore the problems with which various women are beset, and discuss the extent to which the various women in the novels manage to attain empowerment. In conclusion, this study compares and contrasts the ways in which the women in the primary texts are oppressed and highlights the reasons why some women are able to attain empowerment, whilst others are unable to do so. It also shows that many women are beset with comparable forms of oppression, but they may choose to react to these situations differently. Over and above these issues, the study seeks to draw attention to the fact that women need to come together and contribute to the ways in which they can attain various forms of empowerment.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

GIS implementation as a decision support tool for planning and managing development interventions

  • Authors: Jong, Yungong Theophilus
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Geographic information systems , Decision support systems , Enterprise resource planning , Spatial systems
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:9257 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021227
  • Description: The aim of this study is to examine key implementation and managerial issues surrounding the use of a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a Decisions Support Tool (DST) for planning and managing development interventions. Ever since the emergence of GIS as a powerful analytical tool in almost all spheres of human endeavour, many organisations involved in development work have adopted its use. But the challenges of conceiving and implementing a GIS in ways that are more responsive to the problems that trigger its purchase remains a daunting task to many development organisations; even those with a wealth of experience in GIS. This is one of the motivating factors for this study. In this research, some relevant themes in GIS implementation and GIS management as a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) were examined in the literature review. A case study research strategy was used focusing on the experience of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Enterprise GIS (EGIS). The study examined how the system is been ran and what other development organisations can learn from this experience. Data was collected and analysed using a mixed research methods approach. The findings show a good level of GIS acceptance among municipality staff. However, running the system is not hitch free. A couple of problems and challenges were identified on the field. It is recommended that the municipality like most development organisations seeking GIS solutions should put the user at the centre of every technical innovation in GIS as a DST.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Going against the tide: seeking regulations for private military/security companies in a globalized world

  • Authors: Juma, Laurence
  • Date: 2011
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/128822 , vital:36163 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC85398
  • Description: This article discusses the role of privatization of security in Africa, but its focus is on private military and security companies (PMSCs). The article proceeds on the basis that there is need for effective regulatory frameworks for PMSCs that operate in conflict zones of Africa. Thus, it begins by appraising the existing normative standards at the international, regional and domestic level that apply to these companies, and thereafter, identifies their shortcomings in light of the prevailing security conditions within the continent. The article then posits broad theoretical imperatives for designing a more effective regulatory framework for PMSCs and concludes by proposing the establishment an overarching continental regime constructed on the basis of the suggested imperatives.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Good Chemistry

  • Authors: Grange, Helen
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Nyokong, Tebello , Africa-Arab State 2009 Unesco-L'Oreal Award for Women in Science
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article , text
  • Identifier: vital:7185 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006276 , Nyokong, Tebello , Africa-Arab State 2009 Unesco-L'Oreal Award for Women in Science
  • Description: Helen Grange profiles four women who've fearlessly taken on the complex predominantly male-dominated field of science.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Group-based guilt and shame in the desegregated context: the role of the perception of social change and ingroup identification

  • Authors: Clarke, Rochelle
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Guilt , Shame , Race awareness -- Psychological aspects , Intergroup relations , Group identity , Social perception
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Psych)
  • Identifier: vital:11934 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/513 , Guilt , Shame , Race awareness -- Psychological aspects , Intergroup relations , Group identity , Social perception
  • Description: A correlational study on group-based guilt and shame of white South Africans in post-Apartheid South Africa investigates the role of the perception of social change and how it impacts on the group-based emotions guilt and shame as well as reparation intentions when controlled for ingroup identification. The study also aimed to control for the antecedents of group-based guilt and collective shame. Results revealed that guilt is predicted by perceived responsibility and is influenced by shame, while shame is predicted by image threat and guilt. The results further propose that the perceptions of status change for the ingroup and the outgroup predict the feelings of shame for high ingroup identifiers while status change (or lack thereof) for the ingroup predicts the willingness for symbolic reparation for low ingroup identifiers. The results are presented and discussed.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Guidelines for the successful integration of ICT in schools in Cameroon

  • Authors: Nangue, Calvain Raoul
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Education -- Data processing , Computers and children -- Cameroon
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
  • Identifier: vital:9756 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1311 , Education -- Data processing , Computers and children -- Cameroon
  • Description: ICT integration in secondary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa is still at an early stage and already faces several setbacks that may undermine the various initiatives undertaken by governments and the private sector to promote the use of computers in schools. Based on literature and other research, this may be attributed to the fact that no guidelines for proper ICT adoption in secondary schools exist; and furthermore, most integration cases were done haphazardly with no systematic approach based on the existing frameworks or tailored towards the real context in the schools concerned. The present study aimed to provide guidelines for the successful integration of ICT into schools in Cameroon. A review of some existing frameworks for ICT integrations in schools, as well as the innovative pathways that some developing countries have taken to ensure the successful integration of ICT into schools were explored through a literature review, revealing the trends and challenges of ICT integration in schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. The current status of ICT in schools in Cameroon being at an introductory stage was established from the available literature. This led to the use of a single case study from the Western Region of Cameroon, where four secondary schools were selected from the most advanced schools in terms of ICT integration. Participants consisting of principals, ICT co-ordinators, teachers, and students were interviewed, in order to establish the current status of ICT in each school, as well as those factors affecting or promoting the adoption of ICT. Teachers’ and students’ surveys, as well as existing documentation were used to triangulate the data gathered from interviews with school principals and ICT co-ordinators. Data were descriptively analysed – and the findings revealed that ICT is at the introductory stage of integration in the Fluck’s Model of ICT development in schools. At school level, the lack of infrastructure and an ICT adoption plan were found to be the key opposing factors to ICT integration, whereas several enablers were identified, such as the positive attitude of teachers towards ICT, the existence of a minimum recurring budget for ICT adoption through parents’ funding, as well as the continually decreasing cost of ICT infrastructure in the market. Based on the findings and experiences from successfully proven projects, a set of guidelines were derived for schools’ decision-makers. It is critical to put in place a well-structured policy for ICT in the school and to recognise all the ICT-related costs.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Has deregulation of non-timber forest product controls and marketing in Orissa state (India) affected local patterns of use and marketing

  • Authors: Mahapatra, A K , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2011
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6643 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006872
  • Description: State control of marketing agricultural or forestry products may lead to a trade monopoly and restricted competition, resulting in inequitable returns to producers. Consequently, market deregulation for agriculture and other natural products has been advocated to improve market efficiencies, participation and returns for the producers and local traders. The study examines the impact of deregulation of state marketing controls on collection, sale and returns to extractors and traders from non-timber forest products. It assessed whether deregulation policy resulted in greater benefits to primary extractors and a win–win situation for both producers and traders? Mixed effects were found, with no significant changes in terms of trade, demand, or quantum of consumption; but there was an overall increase in the procurement price for several products following deregulation. The collection and farm gate price of tree based oilseeds and honey increased due to lower transaction costs, and ease of trading with a continued demand for these products. The impact on less valuable products was insignificant. Abolition of monopolistic trading increased competition and had a pull effect on the local market prices of several NTFPs. Although traders paid a higher price to procure products, overall they also benefited being able to sell the purchased products to merchants and manufacturers at a better margin than previously.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Health information technologies for improved continuity of care: a South African perspective

  • Authors: Mostert-Phipps, Nicolette
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Medical records -- Data processing , Medical technology -- South Africa , Medical innovations -- South Africa , Health -- Information services
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
  • Identifier: vital:9730 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1619 , Medical records -- Data processing , Medical technology -- South Africa , Medical innovations -- South Africa , Health -- Information services
  • Description: The fragmented nature of modern health care provision makes it increasingly difficult to achieve continuity of care. This is equally true in the context of the South African healthcare landscape. This results in a strong emphasis on the informational dimension of continuity of care which highlights the importance of the continuity of medical records. Paper-based methods of record keeping are inadequate to support informational continuity of care which leads to an increased interest in electronic methods of record keeping through the adoption of various Health Information Technologies (HITs). This research project investigates the role that various HITs such as Personal Health Records (PHRs), Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), and Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) can play in improving informational continuity of care resulting in the development of a standards-based technological model for the South African healthcare sector. This technological model employs appropriate HITs to address the problem of informational continuity of care in the South African healthcare landscape The benefits that are possible through the adoption of the proposed technological model can only be realized if the proposed HITs are used in a meaningful manner once adopted and implemented. The Delphi method is employed to identify factors that need to be addressed to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of such HITs in the South African healthcare landscape. Lastly, guidelines are formulated to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of HITs in the South African healthcare landscape to improve the continuity of care. The guidelines address both the technological requirements on a high level, as well as the factors that need to be addressed to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of the technological components suggested. These guidelines will play a significant role in raising awareness of the factors that need to be addressed to create an environment conducive to the adoption and meaningful use of appropriate HITs in order to improve the continuity of care in the South African healthcare landscape.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Heritage–A conceptually evolving and dissonant phenomenon: Implications for heritage management and education practices in post-colonial Southern Africa

  • Authors: Zazu, Clayton
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/387208 , vital:68215 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122250"
  • Description: This conceptual paper is based on experiences and insights which have emerged from my quest to develop a conceptual framework for working with the term ‘heritage’ within an education for sustainable development study that I am currently conducting. Of specific interest to me, and having potential to improve the relevance and quality of heritage education in southern Africa, given the region’s inherent cultural diversity and colonial history, is the need for ‘heritage construct inclusivity’ within the processes constituting heritage education practices. Working around this broad research goal, I therefore needed to be clear about what I mean or refer to as heritage. I realised, however, how elusive and conceptually problematic the term ‘heritage’ is. I therefore, drawing from literature and experiences gained during field observations and focus group interviews, came up with the idea of working with three viewpoints of heritage. Drawing on real life cases I argue that current heritage management and education practices’ failure to recognise and respect the evolving, interconnectedness and multi layered nature of heritage, partly explain the same practices’ lack of relevance and agency to enhance the sustainable management of local heritage resources. I also suggest a few ideas which heritage educators in the context of post-colonial southern Africa may need to consider in their everyday heritage education practices. I also introduce the notion of conceptualising heritage as ‘cultural landscapes’, within which the evolving, dissonant and interconnected nature of heritage, and associated heritage constructs, may be reconciled.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Heroes at the gates appeal and value in the Homeric epics from the archaic through the classical period

  • Authors: Fox, Peta Ann
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Homer. Iliad Homer. Odyssey Homer Criticism and interpretation Homer Influence Epic poetry, Greek -- History and criticism
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3593 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002168
  • Description: This thesis raises and explores questions concerning the popularity of the Homeric poems in ancient Greece. It asks why the Iliad and Odyssey held such continuing appeal among the Greeks of the Archaic and Classical age. Cultural products such as poetry cannot be separated from the sociopolitical conditions in which and for which they were originally composed and received. Working on the basis that the extent of Homer’s appeal was inspired and sustained by the peculiar and determining historical circumstances, I set out to explore the relation of the social, political and ethical conditions and values of Archaic and Classical Greece to those portrayed in the Homeric poems. The Greeks, at the time during which Homer was composing his poems, had begun to establish a new form of social organisation: the polis. By examining historical, literary and philosophical texts from the Archaic and Classical age, I explore the manner in which Greek society attempted to reorganise and reconstitute itself in a different way, developing original modes of social and political activity which the new needs and goals of their new social reality demanded. I then turn to examine Homer’s treatment of and response to this social context, and explore the various ways in which Homer was able to reinterpret and reinvent the inherited stories of adventure and warfare in order to compose poetry that not only looks back to the highly centralised and bureaucratic society of the Mycenaean world, but also looks forward, insistently so, to the urban reality of the present. I argue that Homer’s conflation of a remembered mythical age with the contemporary conditions and values of Archaic and Classical Greece aroused in his audiences a new perception and understanding of human existence in the altered sociopolitical conditions of the polis and, in so doing, ultimately contributed to the development of new ideas on the manner in which the Greeks could best live together in their new social world.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Heterothermy and seasonal patterns of metabolic rate in the southern African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis)

  • Authors: Hallam, Stacey Leigh
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Atelerix , Metabolism -- Measurement
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:10683 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1497 , Atelerix , Metabolism -- Measurement
  • Description: Animals that inhabit unfavourable habitats and experience seasons where the cost of maintenance exceeds the available energy resources have over time developed behavioural and physiological mechanisms to survive. These adaptations include changes in activity, improvement of cold tolerance by using nonshivering thermogenesis (NST), improvement of thermal conductance, reduction of body mass, or acclimation to colder temperatures (reduction of metabolic requirement). In addition some species exhibit heterothermy, in the form of either daily torpor or longer-term hibernation. The southern African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis) is an excellent candidate to investigate the phenomenon of heterothermy because it is a small insectivore (summer body mass ca. 300 to 400g), burrows, inhabits harsh habitats and is not easy to find during the winter months. In this study I aimed to investigate whether A. frontalis exhibits seasonal differences in metabolic rate and furthermore if this species exhibits heterothermy. The study was carried out in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Hedgehogs were hand captured and their metabolic rates were measured using indirect calorimetry. Individuals were implanted with temperature dataloggers for a summer period (November 2009-January 2010) and a winter period (May-August 2009). The summer BMR of adult A. frontalis (0.448 ±0.035 mlO2/g/h, n=4) was significantly lower than their winter BMR (0.811 ±0.073 mlO2/g/h, n=4) and statistical analyses revealed that this was an affect caused by seasonal changes in the ambient environment. Individuals spent up to 84 percent of time during the measurement period torpid (-8°C
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  • Date Issued: 2011

Hierarchical spatial organization and prioritization of wetlands: a conceptual model for wetland rehabilitation in South Africa

  • Authors: Sieben, E J J , Ellery, William F N , Kotze, Donovan C , Rountree, M
  • Date: 2011
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144399 , vital:38342 , DOI: 10.1007/s11273-011-9212-8
  • Description: Wetland rehabilitation planning needs to take into account many different aspects of the wetland and its context. In South Africa, much emphasis is placed on the delivery of ecosystem services, poverty relief and skills development for those involved in labour-intensive rehabilitation measures. A framework is presented that facilitates decision-making with regards to wetland rehabilitation planning. This starts with prioritizing which wetlands need attention within a catchment. This is followed by decisions regarding which rehabilitation measures would be effective in improving certain ecosystem services based upon the aims of rehabilitation and the social context of the surrounding catchment.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

High Speed Lexical Classification of Malicious URLs

  • Authors: Egan, Shaun P , Irwin, Barry V W
  • Date: 2011
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/428055 , vital:72483 , https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Barry-Ir-win/publication/326225046_High_Speed_Lexical_Classification_of_Malicious_URLs/links/5b3f20acaca27207851c60f9/High-Speed-Lexical-Classification-of-Malicious-URLs.pdf
  • Description: It has been shown in recent research that it is possible to identify malicious URLs through lexi-cal analysis of their URL structures alone. Lightweight algorithms are defined as methods by which URLs are analyzed that do not use external sources of information such as WHOIS lookups, blacklist lookups and content analysis. These parameters include URL length, number of delimiters as well as the number of traversals through the directory structure and are used throughout much of the research in the paradigm of lightweight classification. Methods which include external sources of information are often called fully featured classifications and have been shown to be only slightly more effective than a purely lexical analysis when considering both false-positives and falsenegatives. This distinction allows these algorithms to be run client side without the introduction of additional latency, but still providing a high level of accuracy through the use of modern techniques in training classifiers. Both AROW and CW classifier update methods will be used as prototype implementations and their effectiveness will be com-pared to fully featured analysis results. These methods are selected because they are able to train on any labeled data, including instances in which their prediction is correct, allowing them to build a confidence in specific lexical features.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

History of the amaJobe traditional community

HIV-related stigma amongst service staff in Grahamstown: a comparison of Hi-Tec security guards and Rhodes catering in the Eastern Cape

  • Authors: Mazorodze, Tasara
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: AIDS phobia -- Research -- South Africa -- Grahamstown HIV infections -- Employees -- Research -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Employees -- Research -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3016 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002525
  • Description: Despite the acknowledged reality that HIV-related stigma is a major barrier to effective HIV prevention and treatment, and perhaps because it is complex in nature, few local empirical scales have been developed to measure stigma and to be able evaluate the impact of anti-stigma interventions. Whilst the development of two recent South African HIV-related stigma scales can be celebrated as a major breakthrough, the reliability and validity of these scales across contexts remains largely unknown. This research project employs these two local, and competing, HIV-related personal stigma scales - the first developed by Kalichman et al. (2005) and the second developed by Visser, Kershaw, Makin and Forsyth (2008)-to compare the psychometric properties of the scales and to obtain a measure of HIV-related stigma with a sample of 246 service staff employed at either Rhodes University Catering Division or the Hi-Tec Security company, both organisations located in Grahamstown, a small town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Both organisations are major employers of semi-skilled workers in this local context. The results suggest that the Visser et al. scale (2008) reports slightly better psychometric properties than the Kalichman et al. (2005) scale for this sample. Furthermore, the security guards appear to be more stigmatising than the caterers, and it is suggested that this might be a consequence of the combined influences of normative occupational roles and workplace context. Results also show that participants who practices safe sex, know someone with HIV and/or who have been tested for HIV show lower levels of HIV-related stigma. Finally, personal stigma scores are generally lower than attributed stigma scores, which might offer a useful point of intervention.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

How an eco-school sanitation community of practice fosters action competence for sanitation management in a rural school : the case of Ramashobohle High School Eco-Schools Community of Practice in Mankweng circuit Polokwane Municipality Capricorn district in Limpopo Province, South Africa

  • Authors: Manaka, Ngoanamoshala Maria
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Sanitation -- South Africa -- Management -- Citizen participation Public utilities -- South Africa -- Management -- Citizen participation Sanitation, Rural -- South Africa Sanitation -- Study and teaching -- South Africa School children -- Health and hygiene -- South Africa School hygiene -- South Africa Sanitation -- Health aspects -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1917 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007319
  • Description: Providing adequate sanitation facilities for the poor remains one of the major challenges in all developing countries. In South Africa, an estimated 11,7% of the schools are without sanitation. The South African government has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that all South Africans have access to adequate sanitation. When sanitation systems fail, or are inadequate, the impact of the health of the community, on the health of others and the negative impact on the environment can be extremely serious. In rural South African schools, many Enviro-Ioo toilets are available today. They are designed to suit a variety of water scarce areas and where there is a high risk of contamination of ground water resources. It is important to realize that any Enviro-Ioo system programme requires an education programme to ensure that the principles of use and maintenance are clearly understood by the user group. Their maintenance requires more responsibility and commitment by users. This study is an interpretive case study that indicates how sanitation in a rural Ramashobohle High School in Polokwane municipality was managed through an EcoSchools Sanitation Community of Practice, and how this developed action competence for sanitation management in the school. The study established that the earlier practice and knowledge of the Ramashobohle Eco-Schools community of practice exercised in maintaining Enviro-Ioo systems was inadequate; unhealthy and unsafe according to the data generated through focus group interviews, observations, interviews, action plan, workshops and reflection interviews. The data generated also indicates that the Eco-Schools community of practice was not committed to maintaining sanitation in their school because they were not sharing sanitation knowledge; they were not communicating and not updating one another concerning Enviro-Ioo systems maintenance as they had no adequate knowledge as to how to maintain the facilities; and the school management was also not supportive and was not taking responsibility. The study shows how this situation was turned around as an Eco-Schools Sanitation Community of Practice focussed on developing action competence in the school community. It provides a case based example of how knowledge and action competence, supported by an Eco-Schools Community of Practice, can find and implement solutions to inadequate sanitation management practices in rural schools, and shows how members of the school community can be engaged in learning how to manage and maintain school sanitation systems through a participatory process that develops action competence. The study points to important dimensions of developing action competence, such as providing knowledge and demonstrations, inviting experts to the school, involving learners in observations and monitoring and in ensuring that adequate facilities are available. In particular, a workshop conducted by Enviro-Ioo consultants, organised and supported by the Eco-Schools Sanitation COP, together with a follow up action plan, provided the main impetus for changes in practice in the school and served to support action competence development. Finally the study provides research findings and recommendations for further research.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

How has the South African government conceptualised gender?: an evaluation of the draft strategic framework on gender and women's empowerment

  • Authors: Ndlovu, Innocencia Sithandazile
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa , Women in development -- South Africa , Equality -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:9097 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011856 , Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa , Women in development -- South Africa , Equality -- South Africa
  • Description: The research seeks to evaluate how the South African government has conceptualised gender through the use of the concepts of WID and GAD. This research has been conducted through the analysis of the Draft Strategic Framework on Gender and Women's Empowerment a document of the Department of Trade and Industry that was formulated to address and redress the issues of gender equality. It has some sound suggestions that seek to identify strategies to improve women empowerment through financial independence. As a result they have used various approaches in order to provide strategies that are mindful of the „needs‟ of the women. Accordingly they have formulated a policy that understands who these women are and have made recommendations of strategies that different groups of women can identify with. They have included the marginalised rural and disabled women and even gone as far as catering for younger women still at school. However there has been concern at the impact that the exclusion of men has contributed, therefore it is important to find ways in which to make men more involved.
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  • Date Issued: 2011

How integrated are the African stock exchanges?: evidence from long term comovement, returns and volatility spillovers

  • Authors: Kambadza, Tinashe Harry Dumile
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Stock exchanges -- Africa Money market -- Africa Globalization -- Economic aspects -- Africa International economic relations
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:1017 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002752
  • Description: Stock market linkages have implications for portfolio diversification, asset pricing, monetary and regulatory policy as well as financial stability. This study examines the extent to which African stock markets are linked using daily data for the period 2000-2010. The study is divided into three main parts each focussing on the ways in which integration of the stock markets can be viewed. Firstly, we analyse the long run co-movement of the stock markets using both bivariate and multivariate Johansen (1988) and Johansen and Juselius (1990) cointegration approaches. Secondly, we analyse returns linkages using Factor analysis and the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models. In the Factor Analysis model, we used two extraction methods, namely Principal Component Analysis and the Maximurn Likelihood technique. The VAR model was extended with impulse response, variance decomposition and block exogeniety. Thirdly, we analyse the behaviour of volatility and the volatility linkages among the stock markets. We initially analysed and modelled volatility in each stock market using the GARCH, EGARCH and GJR GARCH and then examined the long-term trend of the volatility. Conditional volatility series for each country were then estimated using the most appropriate model and were analysed using VAR, block exogeniety, impulse response and variance decomposition to determine the extent of their linkages. The findings of the study are as follows: Both the bivariate and multivariate models found slim evidence of cointegration amongst the stock markets, suggesting that there were opportunities for portfolio diversification for investors. In general, the financial crisis had very little impact on the long-run relationships of the stock markets. Results for the returns linkages showed that there were limited retums linkages with the exceptions of South African-Namibia and Egypt-Morocco to a lesser extent. South Africa was found to be the most endogenous, whilst Ghana and Nigeria were the most exogenous on the continent. We regards to volatility, we found that it was asymmetric and persistent across all the stock markets with long term trend of volatility showing that it significantly increased for most of the markets. Finally, there were limited volatility linkages, only between South Africa, Egypt and Namibia, implying that African stock markets are still largely segmented from each other. However, the linkages between South Africa and Egypt could have negative effects as they could lead to the spread of contagion effects during times of crises. Therefore, policymakers should consider revising and improving policies to enhance economic integration on the continent.
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  • Date Issued: 2011
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