The relationship between interest rates and inflation in South Africa : revisiting Fisher's hypothesis
- Authors: Mitchell-Innes, Henry Alexander
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Fisher effect (Economics) , Interest rates -- South Africa , Interest rates -- Effect of inflation -- South Africa , Inflation (Finance) -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Banks and banking, Central -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:991 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002726 , Fisher effect (Economics) , Interest rates -- South Africa , Interest rates -- Effect of inflation -- South Africa , Inflation (Finance) -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Banks and banking, Central -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Description: This thesis investigates the relationship between expected inflation and nominal interest rates in South Africa and the extent to which the Fisher effect hypothesis holds. The hypothesis, proposed by Fisher (1930), that the nominal rate of interest should reflect movements in the expected rate of inflation has been the subject of much empirical research in many industrialised countries. This wealth of literature can be attributed to various factors including the pivotal role that the nominal rate of interest and, perhaps more importantly, the real rate of interest plays in the economy. The validity of the Fisher effect also has important implications for monetary policy and needs to be considered by central banks. Few studies have been conducted in South Africa to validate this important hypothesis. The analysis uses the 3-month bankers’ acceptance rate and the 10-year government bond rate to proxy both short- and long-term interest rates. The existence of a long-run unit proportional relationship between nominal interest rates and expected inflation is tested using Johansen’s cointegration test. The data is analysed for the period April 2000 to July 2005 as the research aims to establish whether the Fisher relationship holds within an inflation targeting monetary policy framework. The short-run Fisher effect is not empirically verified. This is due to the effects of the monetary policy transmission mechanism and implies that short-term nominal interest rates are a good indication of the stance of monetary policy. A long-run cointegrating relationship is established between long-term interest rates and expected inflation. The long-run adjustment is less than unity, which can be attributed to the credibility of the inflation-targeting framework.
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- Date Issued: 2006
The relationship between the development and use of teaching and learning support materials: the case of "A year of special days" booklet
- Authors: Urenje, Shepherd
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Southern African Development Community Teaching -- Aids and devices -- South Africa Environmental education -- South Africa -- Case studies Environmental education -- Curricula -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1724 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003607
- Description: This research is an interpretive case study, which investigated the relationship between the development and use of the teaching and learning support material, “A Year of Special Days”. An in depth investigation was conducted in South Africa and Zimbabwe where developers and users of the booklet were asked to contribute their experiences with the booklet through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and workshops. Developers contributed on the purpose for which the booklet was produced while the users explained how the booklet was being used in different contexts. The research also tracked the development and use of booklet in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region through a workshop held at the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, in May 2005. Some personal interviews and informal encounters with people who have used it in the past and those using it now were also conducted at EEASA. This case study explored the axes of tension between the development and use of the resource material, “A Year of Special Days”, with the view to informing development and use of materials at the SADC Centre. A long-term intention is to use the framework developed, for similar work in the wider SADC region. The research recommended on how the SADC Centre can track the relationship between the materials developed at the Centre and their use in different contexts. The study established that the booklet “A Year of Special Days” was initially developed for informal education by faith communities mainly in the Anglican Church but turned out to be a resource more applicable for formal education mainly in the national school system of South Africa for environmental learning. That the resource material lacked effective monitoring support from the developers for the initial intended users where there was no formal education structure was an important link in materials development. It is important for resource materials developers to facilitate the participatory monitoring and evaluation of resource materials when they are in use. The study also established that SADC resources materials are easily adaptable and that the process of resource materials development offers important networking opportunities, which allow the adaptation and adoption of similar resource materials for local contexts. The booklet was adapted and adopted by at least eight countries in the form of a booklet, a calendar or a poster. This study provides some recommendations that may be used to guide the Southern African Development Community Regional Environmental Education Programme (REEP) to enhance processes in the development and adaptation of teaching and learning support materials by environmental educators in southern Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2006
The response of an original equipment manufacturer to the Motor Industry Development Programme: a case study
- Authors: Franse, Ricardo
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Motor Industry Development Programme Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Case studies Automobile industry and trade -- Government policy -- South Africa Foreign trade regulation -- South Africa -- Case studies South Africa -- Commercial policy -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:761 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003882
- Description: On the 21st September 1995, the government introduced the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), in compliance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Deliberate efforts by the South African government were required to promote structural changes to the domestic motor industry by opening up the economy to international competition through a programme of tariff reduction and export promotion. The integration of the South African automotive industry into global markets would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, without the MIDP and it would thus be safe to conclude that the economic performance of the researched would have been close to impossible if it was not for the MIDP. The MIDP, as an economic policy, has been embraced by the researched company as a "vehicle" to drive corporate goals in terms of value creation for all stakeholders. The research proposition that the MIDP as an economic policy has contributed to the economic performance of the researched company is examined. In this respect, Annual and Management Accounting reports were analyzed to determine the effect the MIDP has had on the researched company over the last ten years. In addition, two semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the Strategic Finance Planning executive and the Financial Controller of the company. The results show that the MIDP has had positive spin-offs for the researched company. The same results should be valid for the other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the local automotive industry that have embraced the MIDP as a vehicle to create economic value added.
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- Date Issued: 2006
The role of nutrients in the biological control of water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes lamarck (Araceae) by the leaf-feeding weevil, Neohydronomus affinis Hustache (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) with particular reference to eutrophic conditions
- Authors: Moore, Gareth Ryan
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Water lettuce -- Biological control , Araceae , Beetles , Curculionidae , Weeds -- Biological control , Pests -- Biological control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5759 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005447 , Water lettuce -- Biological control , Araceae , Beetles , Curculionidae , Weeds -- Biological control , Pests -- Biological control
- Description: Water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes Lamarck (Araceae) is a South American plant that has the potential to be a very damaging and important aquatic weed in many tropical countries, including South Africa. It has the potential to rapidly multiply vegetatively and completely cover watercourses in a very short space of time outside of its natural range under ideal conditions and without its natural enemies. In such instances, the weed may cause hindrances to water transport and fishing, increasing chances of malaria, as well as affecting the natural ecology of the system. Water lettuce can also set seed, which may lay dormant for long periods, germinating when conditions are favourable. It is therefore very necessary to adopt control methods against the weed where it is a problem. However, water lettuce has also been effectively and completely controlled in many countries by the leaf-feeding weevil, Neohydronomus affinis Hustache. High nutrient levels in the form of nitrates and phosphates have been shown to have largely negative effects on biological control in several studies, with control being incomplete or taking longer than in similar areas with lower nutrient levels. The effectiveness of N. affinis on the biological control of water lettuce was investigated in a laboratory study, growing P. stratiotes plants with and without insects at different nutrient concentrations. In these studies biological control of water lettuce with N. affinis was found to be complete under eutrophic nutrient conditions, although control took longer when higher nutrient levels were tested. A field site study was conducted at a sewage settlement pond in Cape Recife Nature Reserve near Port Elizabeth, South Africa. This highly eutrophic system was used as a field example for the effectiveness of biocontrol of P. stratiotes by N. affinis under eutrophic conditions. The weevils at Cape Recife caused a massive and rapid crash in the percentage coverage of the weed, from 100% in May 2003, to approximately 0.5 % in September 2003. Plant growth parameters were also found to decrease considerably in size correspondingly with this crash from May 2003 until spring 2003. Plant size only again started to increase gradually but steadily through spring 2003 and into summer. In the laboratory studies, the fecundity of weevils was shown to be much higher on plants grown under higher nutrient concentrations than on plants grown in lower nutrient concentrations. The results from the wing-muscle analysis under different nutrient concentrations were not easy to interpret, and there were few differences in wing muscle state between most of the concentrations. From these findings it is suggested that nutrient concentration, particularly high levels of nitrates and phosphates is not a limiting factor in terms of effective biological control of P. stratiotes with N. affinis, but that under high nutrient conditions biological control might take longer.
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- Date Issued: 2006
The role of salinity as an abiotic driver of ecological condition in a rural agricultural catchment
- Authors: Lerotholi, Sekhonyana
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Soils, Salts in -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water salinization -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water quality -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinization -- Control -- South Africa -- Kat River , Agricultural pollution -- South Africa -- Kat River , Aquatic ecology -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinity -- South Africa -- Kat River
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4852 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005528 , Soils, Salts in -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water salinization -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water quality -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinization -- Control -- South Africa -- Kat River , Agricultural pollution -- South Africa -- Kat River , Aquatic ecology -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinity -- South Africa -- Kat River
- Description: The Kat River is an agricultural catchment that drains salt rich geology. Potential salinity impacts on ecological condition of the river were investigated. Monthly salt concentrations and flow discharges were monitored at ten sites along the Kat River below the Kat Dam. Monthly salt loads were computed to relate salinity to land use and ionic data used to assess the toxicity of major salts using the TIMS model. Concentration duration curves for sodium chloride were derived from flow concentration relationships, representing sodium chloride concentrations to which the aquatic ecosystem had been exposed. The ecological condition was assessed at nineteen sites using SASS5 biotic index over four seasons. Finally, the modelled instream salt concentrations and bioasessments were evaluated in terms of the modelled level of species protection afforded at different salt concentrations. Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSDs) were used for this exercise. There was a general downstream increase in salinity with the minimum concentrations recorded at the Fairbain tributary (84 mg/L) and maximum levels at the sewage outfall in Fort Beaufort (1222 mg/L). There was evidence that citrus irrigation upstream of Fort Beaufort increased salinisation. Sodium chloride, and to a lesser extent magnesium sulphate, were the dominant salts in the Kat River catchment, with the latter being more toxic. However these had little or no impact on the aquatic ecosystem. Flow-derived sodium chloride concentrations showed that both the Balfour and Blinkwater tributaries were in a fair/ poor condition. However with regard to ecological condition, it was demonstrated that the river is generally in a good state except for the Blinkwater River and the lower catchment. Degraded habitat condition at the Blinkwater was responsible for poor ecological condition. Integrating SSD derived classes, sodium chloride classes and ecological condition indicated that sodium chloride is a driver of ecological condition at the sewage treatment works and the subsequent site (only two of nineteen biomonitoring sites).
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- Date Issued: 2006
The significance of the local trade in natural resource products for livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa
- Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Poverty -- South Africa Rural poor -- South Africa Natural resources -- South Africa Selling -- Handicraft South Africa -- Commerce
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4776 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011731
- Description: What role can the commercialisation of natural resource products play in the efforts to reduce poverty and vulnerability and how can this be enhanced? With poverty alleviation at the top of the global development agenda, this is a question posed by many scholars, practitioners, donor agencies and government departments operating at the environment-development interface. However, recent commentary on this issue is mixed and ambiguous, with some observers being quite optimistic regarding the potential of these products, while others hold a counter view. This thesis explores the livelihood contributions and poverty alleviation potential of four products traded locally in the Bushbuckridge municipality, South Africa; namely traditional brooms, reed mats, woodcraft and a beer made from the fruits of Sclerocarya birrea. A common approach, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, was used to investigate the harvesting, processing and marketing arrangements, sustainability and livelihood contributions of each product. The results illustrate that any inference regarding the potential of the trade to alleviate poverty depends on how poverty is defined and interpreted, and on whether the role of these products is assessed from a holistic livelihood perspective that includes notions of vulnerability, alternatives and choice, diversification and the needs of rural producers themselves. Overall, the products studied were key in enhancing the livelihood security of the poorest members of society, forming an important safety net and assisting in raising household incomes to levels equivalent to the wider population, but generally were unlikely, on their own, to provide a route out of poverty. However, there were notable exceptions, with marked variation evident both within and across products. Incomes often surpassed local wage rates, and a minority of producers were obtaining returns equivalent to or greater than the official minimum wage. Other benefits, such as the opportunity to work from home or to diversify the livelihood portfolio, were also crucial, with the trade representing different livelihood strategies for different households. When viewed within the context of rising unemployment and HIV/AIDS these findings assume greater significance. While the trades were complex and growth limited, livelihood benefits could be improved on a sustainable basis if the sector was given the attention and support it deserves.
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- Date Issued: 2006
The taxation of black economic empowerment transactions, with specific reference to the financial sector
- Authors: Kamlana, Unathi
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Black people -- South Africa -- Economic conditions , Business enterprises, Black -- Taxation -- South Africa , Employee empowerment -- South Africa , Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:896 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004544 , Black people -- South Africa -- Economic conditions , Business enterprises, Black -- Taxation -- South Africa , Employee empowerment -- South Africa , Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: There has been some concern that the pace of expectations being built up regarding the transfer of ownership of the economy into the hands of the previously disadvantaged was not allowing for the due diligence and analysis of the implications of such transactions. Tax legislation relating to the transfer of assets is also not seen to be consistently conducive to this process. The focus of this thesis is taxation and a critical analysis of how the current tax legislation affects most of the transactions which usually form the basis of black economic empowerment. It is argued that tax policy is one of the fundamental instruments available to government to encourage the process of black economic empowerment. It is therefore important to assess whether or not current tax legislation is supportive of the process of black economic empowerment and to suggest ways in which it can be amended to serve this purpose. By means of a literature review and a case study of a Black Economic Empowerment deal in the financial sector, the thesis examines various sections of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962, which may have a bearing on black economic empowerment transactions and structures, including corporate restructuring rules, the taxation of trusts, inter-company loans, the use of hybrid financial instruments, the taxation of small business corporations, employee share incentive schemes, connected persons rules and value-shifting arrangements, the general deduction formula and the deductibility of interest incurred on amounts raised to acquire shares. It appears that although some aspects of the current tax legislation lend themselves to assisting black economic empowerment transactions, there are still areas where much improvement is required. , KMBT_363
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- Date Issued: 2006
The utility of Weingarten's witness positions in the understanding of compassion fatigue in people who care for their own family members with AIDS
- Authors: Bambani, Nomfezeko
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Patients AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects Home-based family services Community health services HIV-positive persons -- Social aspects Caregivers -- Attitudes Burn out (Psychology) Weingarten, Kathy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3103 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004465
- Description: This paper explores the utility of Weingarten's (2003) witness positions in the understanding of compassion fatigue in people who care for their own family members with AIDS. The research is embedded in Weingarten's theory of witnessing and narrative theory and practice. The literature review explores the shift from hospital-based care to community/home-based care which has led to family members assuming the role of caring for their family members with AIDS, an overview of the effects of caring for AIDS patients on caregivers and an overview of Weingarten's (2003) theory of witnessing with special emphasis on the witnessing positions and their consequences. Interviews, based on narrative theory and practice in which Weingarten's theory is rooted, gave access to the participants' experiences, which were then analysed and interpreted through a framework developed from the witnessing theory. This article demonstrates the utility of Weingarten's (2003) theory of witnessing to people who are caregivers to their own family members with AIDS. I argue that witness positions occupied by caregivers during witnessing determine whether the caregivers will experience compassion fatigue. The negative consequences related to compassion fatigue that will be reviewed could probably be prevented through active, intentional, compassionate witnessing.
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- Date Issued: 2006
The yield curve as a forecasting tool : does the yield spread predict recessions in South Africa?
- Authors: Khomo, Melvin Muzi
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Recessions -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Economic development -- South Africa , Economic indicators -- South Africa , Business cycles -- History -- 20th century , Business cycles -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1040 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004722 , Recessions -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Economic development -- South Africa , Economic indicators -- South Africa , Business cycles -- History -- 20th century , Business cycles -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Description: This paper examines the ability of the yield curve to predict recessions in South Africa, and compares its predictive power with other commonly used variables that include the growth rate in real money supply, changes in stock prices and the index of leading economic indicators. The study also makes an attempt to find out if monetary policy explains the yield spread's predictive power with regards to future economic activity. Regarding methodology, the standard probit model proposed by Estrella and Mishkin (1996) that directly estimates the probability of the economy going into recession is used. Results from this model are compared with a modified probit model suggested by Dueker (1997) that includes a lagged dependent variable. Results presented in the paper provide further evidence that the yield curve, as represented by the yield spread between 3-month and IO-year government paper, can be used to estimate the likelihood of recessions in South Africa. The yield spread can produce recession forecasts up to 18 months, although it's best predictive power is seen at two quarters. Results from the standard probit model and the modified pro bit model with a lagged dependent variable are somewhat similar, although the latter model improves forecasts at shorter horizons up to 3 months. Compared with other indicators, real M3 growth is a noisy indicator and does not provide much information about future recessions, whilst movements in the All-Share index can provide information for up to 12 months but does not do better than the yield curve. The index of leading economic indicators outperforms the yield spread in the short run up to 4 months but the spread performs better at longer horizons. Based on the results from the study, it appears that changes in monetary policy explain the yield spread's predictive power. This is because the yield spread loses its explanatory power when combined with a variable representing the monetary policy stance of the central bank.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Towards a new approach for coastal governance with an assessment of the Plettenberg Bay nearshore linefisheries
- Authors: Smith, Martin Kyle Stratford
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Fishery management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Fisheries -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Reef fishes -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5327 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005173 , Fishery management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Fisheries -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Reef fishes -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay
- Description: Under the guidance of the new coastal management policies within South Africa this thesis advocates a more integrated, co-operative approach to local coastal management. The project aimed to acquire baseline information on the local nearshore fishery and resource state and to propose a set of indicators that could be incorporated into the new management strategy. To gather the required information the project was split into two parts: 1) An assessment of the local linefisheries and 2) A comparative study of the reef fish community structure between exploited and unexploited reefs. The local linefisheries were assessed through the use of launch records, commercial catch records, access point and boat based surveys. A questionnaire was used to gather data on catch and effort, fisher demographics, fisher attitudes towards and knowledge of the current management regulations, assess the efficacy of the fisheries inspectorate and highlight spatial areas of fishing pressure. A total of 252 interviews and catch inspections were conducted. Total effort for the ski-boat fishery estimated from the access point survey was 890 boat days.year⁻¹ or 3560 fisher days. year⁻¹ compared to 736 boat days.year⁻¹ or 2944 fisher days. year⁻¹ recorded in the launch records. Effort was seasonal with greater pressure occurring over the summer holiday period. Analysis of the catch showed that Merluccius capensis, Argyrozona argyrozona, Argyrosomus inodorus, Chrysoblephus laticeps and Atractoscion aequidens were the most frequently caught species. The overall CPUE was 3.00±5.54kg.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹ or 4.71±4.117 fish.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹. Estimated targeted CPUE was 0.91±0.67kg.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹ or 0.97±0.77 fish.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹ for C. laticeps, 8.47±8.57kg.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹ or 1.24±1.16 fish.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹ for A. aequidens and 2.05±3.78kg.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹ or 1.10±1.80 fish.fisher⁻¹.day⁻¹ for A. inodorus. Issues identified included poor fisher knowledge regarding linefish regulations, the low occurrence of fishery inspections and a limited degree of noncompliance. Although most fishers supported the current linefish management regulations, when tested on the size limits, bag limits and closed seasons of their target species a high proportion of fishers did not know the regulations (recreational 64%, charter 53%, commercial 42%). Furthermore only 27% of fishers had had their catch inspected whilst fishing in Plettenberg Bay and the majority of these had only been inspected once. Just over half the interviewees (60%) indicated that fishing had deteriorated within Plettenberg Bay with fewer and smaller fish being caught. The most common causes cited for this decline were commercial and recreational overfishing respectively. Underwater point counts and experimental angling were used to rapidly assess the state of the reef fish resource in Plettenberg Bay through a comparative study of the community structure between two exploited sites in Plettenberg Bay and two protected sites within the Tsitsikamma National Park. Generalized linear modeling showed that relative density of certain species was significantly different between the protected reefs inside the TNP and those exploited reefs within Plettenberg Bay. Both P. rupestris and C. laticeps had greater densities within the protected area whilst Chisquared tests showed that the size frequency distributions were significantly different with larger size-classes and the maximum size of fish greater within the reserve. These trends were noted with both the underwater visual surveys and the experimental angling. Multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis showed that there was an overall difference in the community structure between the study sites. It is hypothesised that through removal of key reef species and larger individuals that fishing has directly and indirectly affected the overall community structure. Within a simple framework based on ecological, institutional and social sustainability domains along with the results of the study area, a set of indicators is proposed and the sustainability of the local fishery scored within a rapid assessment matrix. The socio-economic domain scored the highest (83%) whilst the institutional domain scored the lowest (8.3%) and the ecological domain scored 25%, giving a total sustainability score of 38.8%. The results of this matrix show that at present the local fishery is non-sustainable and in need of greater management. By synthesizing papers dealing with and based on the concepts involved in Integrated Coastal Management, a structured approach is proposed to developing and implementing more holistic local coastal governance. It is envisaged that the framework to implement such an approach should be through the development of a local Coastal Management Plan and a subsidiary Bay Management Plan. Although stakeholder participation and representation is an essential component in the development of these plans, it is recommended that the local municipality should be the lead agent and incorporate the plans into the local Integrated Development and Spatial Plans thereby gaining long term local government support.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Towards a new approach for coastal governance with an assessment of the Plettenberg Bay shore-based linefishery
- Authors: King, Claire Margaret
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Fishery management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Fisheries -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5326 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005172 , Fishery management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Fisheries -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Plettenberg Bay
- Description: The overall aim of this thesis, as required by the funders, was to provide research that would contribute towards the development of a bay management plan, specifically information on the local fisheries. The thesis therefore includes an assessment of the local shore-based linefishery in terms of catch and effort and socio-economics, and the development of indicators from this information with which to assess the sustainability of the fishery. Finally an implementation strategy for an integrated coastal management approach for local resource governance is proposed The shore-based linefishery of Plettenberg Bay was assessed through a combination of roving creel and access point surveys which included questions aimed at the quantification of total effort, total catch and cpue, as well as the spatial trends in catch and effort. Angler demographics as well as opinions and knowledge of current fisheries regulations were obtained and the efficiency of the fishery inspectorate was assessed. The survey period extended from August 2003 to September 2004 during which 1189 angler interviews were conducted. Catch data obtained during this study was compared to catch data gathered during a research tagging program conducted in an area closed to fishing (Tsitsikamma National Park) and a semi-open area (Rebelsrus – Cape St. Francis), thereby highlighting differences in species composition, abundance and size distribution of certain species between areas of differing fishing pressures. The fishery surveys revealed that the shore-based fishery is primarily recreational (99%) and dominated by white males. Most anglers agreed with the current fisheries regulations (60%) and admitted to abiding by them, however when tested on the regulations of their target species, their knowledge was poor. Effort in the fishery was highly seasonal with peaks coinciding with major school holidays. Total annual effort was estimated at 102 566 angler-hours, with distinct spatial patterns in effort. Total annual catch for the Plettenberg Bay shore-based linefishery was estimated at 31 217 fish.year⁻¹ with a total mass of 13.6 tons. Thirty-six fish species (26 teleost species and 10 elasmobranchs species) were identified during the survey period with Blacktail Diplodus capensis, Strepie Sarpa salpa, Red tjor-tjor Pagellus natalensis, Shad Pomatomus saltatrix and Sand steenbras Lithognathus mormyrus being the five most commonly caught species. Only 32% of interviewed anglers were successful in catching a fish with just 22% catching their primary target species. In addition, a large proportion of the anglers (69%) reported a decline in catch rate, with most blaming the commercial sector as a reason for the decline. The overall catch rate was (cpue) 0.374 fish.angler.hour⁻¹ or 170 grams.angler.hour⁻¹, considerably lower than that obtained from the fishery exempt area (TNP = 1. 02 fish.angler.hour⁻¹) and the partially exploited area (Rebelsrus = 0.91 fish.angler.hour⁻¹). In terms of species composition the most obvious difference between the three areas was the low proportion of non-migratory reef-associated species like red roman, poenskop, John brown, santer and bronze bream in Plettenberg Bay. Size comparisons revealed that the majority of species (particularly reef-associated species) were larger in the TNP than both the semi-exploited (Rebelsrus) and exploited area (Plettenberg Bay). Collectively theses findings suggest that certain species have been locally depleted, that recreational fishing has impacted heavily on the fish stocks and that even partial closure or limited access to an area can offer protection. From the results key issues were identified and sustainability indicators proposed according to the three sustainability domains (ecological, institutional and social) proposed by Pajak (2000). Within the ecological domain the most pertinent issue was the low catch rate, particularly for reef-associated species. Indicators to track these issues included: percentage of successful trips (where fish were caught), percentage of anglers that reached their daily bag limits and the proportion of the overall catch that comprised larger, more desirable species. Institutionally the most pertinent issue was the apparent inability of management institutions to manage effectively marine resources within Plettenberg Bay. Indicators within this domain included the proportion of anglers who were inspected, the existence of a localised management plan and an associated monitoring programme. Socially the fishery proved to be fairly sustainable. Indicators included in this domain were the proportion of subsistence anglers in the local fishing community, the percentage of correct answers pertaining to current fishery regulations, the level of noncompliance and the percentage of undersize fish retained. Aggregation of all the indicators within a sustainability matrix revealed that the Plettenberg Bay shore-based linefishery was unsustainable and thus requires increased local management effort. Since there is no local management strategy in place, an integrated coastal management approach for the governance of the coastal resources in Plettenberg Bay has been proposed. The development of a Coastal Management Plan and a subsidiary Bay Management Plan provide the frameworks within which management strategies can be put into operation.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Towards a post-sacrificial theory of identity formation
- Authors: Menezes, Natalie
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Sacrifice -- Philosophy , Violence -- Philosophy , Forgiveness -- Philosophy , Philosophy -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2862 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007626 , Sacrifice -- Philosophy , Violence -- Philosophy , Forgiveness -- Philosophy , Philosophy -- Africa
- Description: In this thesis I shall outline various modernist authors' arguments that collectivities (such as ethnic groups, nations, states and cultures) and subjectivities employ sacrificial violence to establish and assert their identity where identity is inescapably (?) understood in terms of the sovereignty of the collective or the post-Oedipal autonomy of the individual. To this end, violence has been posited as a historical and conceptual inevitability and is set as the default-state of human nature and politics. In recent times, protesting voices (from post-feminist, post-colonial, post-modern and the emerging human rights discourses) have begun to rigorously contest the notion of violence as the default-state. As a result, the legitimacy of sacrifice as the primary modus to an autonomous selfhood has been radically problematised. I believe that a comprehensive understanding of the nature of this crisis of identity formation , and the possibility of transcending it, is to be found in the paradigmatic shift away from Newtonian thought toward a post-Newtonian worldview. In seeking to challenge the assumption of violence-as-default, I shall translate the comprehensive sacrificial nature of collective identity and subjectivity into a complexity-based model that allowed me to make three crucial conceptual moves toward a comprehensive understanding of post-sacrificial identities that occupy an important place in a post-Newtonian world. First, it will allow me to challenge the assumptions that supported the Hobbesian myth of autonomy/sovereignty sacrificially achieved by charting the ontological shift that compels us to understand "entities" (be it a cell, an individual or a state) not in terms of autonomy but interdependence. Secondly, it provides the conceptual tools needed to understand the systemic nature of sacrificial violence by reading subjectivity violence and collectivity violence in terms of their organic self-similarity. This will equip me to comprehensively explore a postsacrificial epistemology valid for both collective identities and subjectivity. Thirdly, I propose a model of post-sacrificial identities that are created and sustained at the edge of chaos through the dynamic interplay of order and disorder that reconciles creative and destructive forces in a generative unity. I believe that this post-Newtonian reading will clear the conceptual space needed to suggest there might yet be hope for a future that does not embrace violence as default-state.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Understanding educator-mediated conflict resolution in a preschool environment: the experiences and feelings of preschool educators
- Authors: Cakwe, Mandisa
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Education, Preschool , Early childhood education , Preschool children , Conflict management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2943 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002452 , Education, Preschool , Early childhood education , Preschool children , Conflict management
- Description: This thesis discusses the experiences and feelings of preschool educators when resolving situations of conflict between preschool children. Data was collected by means of semistructured individual interviews with preschool educators and a video recorder recording conflict situations among preschool children focusing on educator resolution strategies. Grounded theory was used as a data analysis technique to analyse the data collected. The analysis revealed that the preschool educators under study do not use mediation as a conflict resolution strategy but use various strategies that include, prevention, directive approach, arbitration, myths and threats and rules. Data analysis also revealed that these preschool educators encounter experiences and feelings before, while and after intervening in the conflict situations of children. These findings imply that preschool educators lack the professional skill of conflict resolution. This suggests an urgent need of restructuring of the preschool educator’s training to include conflict resolution training as one of their important component. Educators and parents also need to be consulted or involved in the process of restructuring the training.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Understanding workplace-based learning contexts to inform curriculum development: the case of a Level 5 Environmental Education, Training and Development Practice Qualification
- Authors: Wigley, Jonathan James
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: South African Qualifications Authority National Qualifications Framework (South Africa) Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Curriculum planning -- South Africa Competency-based education -- South Africa Vocational qualifications -- South Africa Education and state -- South Africa Education -- Standards -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa -- Standards
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1808 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003694
- Description: This is an interpretive case study that explores the workplace epistemologies and institutional structures of two nested cases within the broader context of the Environmental Education, Training and Development Practices - Level 5 qualification (EETDP qualification) that is registered on the South African National Qualifications Framework. The study provides insights to inform EETDP curriculum development that is enabling of reflexive environmental education and training processes. The study develops an understanding of workplace epistemologies related to environment and education, the structural factors that enable and constrain agency of environmental educators and the role of reflexivity in practice and in education in two nested cases: the agricultural and local government sectors. It draws on findings from workshops, semistructured interviews and document analysis of education materials in these two nested cases. The study notes that there are diverse and seemingly ambiguous understandings of both environment/sustainability and education processes in the two nested cases. This ambiguity seems to relate to environmental education practitioners drawing on different forms of knowledge, including differentiated or theoretical knowledge, and 'common-sense' ways of knowing, in their education practice. The understandings related to theoretical knowledge are, in both nested cases, dominated by scientific or technical understandings where environment is understood in the terms of the natural sciences and education is seen in instrumentalist terms as the transfer of mainly technical environmental knowledge to learners in order to effect behaviour change. The study opens up deeper understandings of the epistemological, socio-cultural and structural features of context, in the two nested cases, that have a bearing on environmental educators. It provides insights into workplace structures that can be both enabling and constraining of agency and notes that the causal power of structures to enable or constrain does not lie only in the structures but also in relation to the intentionality of the environmental education practitioners/agents. The study then examines reflexivity as one of the means through which environmental educators in the nested cases are able to consider appropriate actions or responses to structural constraints or enablements. Based on the insights offered by the research findings, the study makes recommendations for the EETDP curriculum development. It frames these recommendations within an understanding of curriculum as a contextualised social process that involves structural aspects of curriculum such as materials, as well as socio-cultural processes such as learning on the course and in the workplace.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Unstable ironies: narrative instability in Herman Charles Bosman's "Oom Schalk Lourens" series
- Authors: Davis, Rebecca
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Bosman, Herman Charles, 1905-1951 -- Criticism and interpretation , Irony in literature , Narration (Rhetoric)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2215 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002258 , Bosman, Herman Charles, 1905-1951 -- Criticism and interpretation , Irony in literature , Narration (Rhetoric)
- Description: This thesis examines the narrative situation within Herman Charles Bosman’s “Oom Schalk Lourens” series of stories, focussing on the nature of the relationship between author and narrator. In particular, it seeks to trace the source of the multiple ironies at work in the texts. It has been customary for critics in the past to claim that the irony within the stories stems from Bosman, operating authorially ‘above’ Oom Schalk. In terms of this theory, Oom Schalk is read as being largely unaware of the inconsistencies and contradictions within his narrative. It is the claim of this thesis, however, that Oom Schalk is the self-aware creator of the texts’ ironies much of the time. Chapter 1 commences with an attempt at defining irony, and provides a brief overview of the history of its deployment within South African literature before discussing the literary genre which Bosman was to exploit as his ironic vehicle: the “oral-style” short story. Chapter 2 examines Wayne C. Booth’s notions of “stable” and “unstable” irony: the irony of the Oom Schalk stories has, in the past, been classified as belonging to the former category, but this thesis attempts to show that its inconsistent deployment within the stories consigns it more accurately to the latter. Chapter 3 offers an assessment of the extrinsic contexts relevant to the analysis: the context of the stories’ publication, and the likely composition of Bosman’s reading public. Chapter 4 begins to examine the distance between implied author and implied narrator in the stories. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 subject stories dealing with the themes of art, race and land to detailed analysis in order to examine the shifting – and progressively, though unevenly, diminishing – distance between Bosman and Oom Schalk. The thesis concludes that the degree to which the ironic distance between author and narrator fluctuates within, and between, the stories, results in a narrative situation which must be classified as fundamentally unstable.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Using experiential learning to facilitate pharmacy students' understanding of patients' medication practice in chronic illness
- Authors: Williams, Kevin F
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Chronic diseases -- Chemotherapy Chronically ill -- Care Pharmacy -- Study and teaching Pharmacy -- Practice Social medicine Health -- Sociological aspects Diseases -- Sociological aspects Health -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1322 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003955
- Description: This study originates from experiences which led me to question the way pharmacists are equipped to advise and support the medicine-taking practice of patients using chronic medication. The study offers a critical theoretical consideration of underlying perspectives informing pharmacy education. I propose following a critical realist ontological perspective, a social realist understanding of social structure and human agency, and a sociocultural epistemology. Based on these perspectives, I consider a sociological critique of ‘health’, ‘disease’, ‘illness’ and ‘sickness’ perspectives on medicine-taking, and of pharmacy as a profession. I then propose an experiential learning approach, with an emphasis on developing reflexivity through affective learning. I follow this with an illustrative case study. Following a critical discourse analysis of student texts from the case study, I conclude that there is evidence that experiential learning may prove useful in developing pharmacy students’ reflexive competency to support the provision of pharmaceutical care to patients using chronic medications.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Vice Chancellor New staff welcome address, 2006
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Rhodes University
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: vital:7645 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015773
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- Date Issued: 2006
Voltammetric analysis of pesticides and their degradation: A case study of Amitraz and its degradants
- Authors: Brimecombe, Rory Dennis
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Hydrolysis , Biodegradation , Voltammetry , Pesticides -- Biodegradation , Pesticides -- Environmental aspects , Acaricides , Acaricides -- Physiological effect
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4131 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015724
- Description: Amitraz is a formamide acaricide used predominantly in the control of ectoparasites in livestock and honeybees. Amitraz hydrolysis is rapid and occurs under acidic conditions, exposure to sunlight and biodegradation by microorganisms. The main hydrolysis product of amitraz, 2,4-dimethylaniline, is recalcitrant in the environment and toxic to humans. An electrochemical method for the determination of total amitraz residues and its final breakdown product, 2,4-dimethylaniline, in spent cattle dip, is presented. Cyclic voltammetry at a glassy carbon electrode showed the irreversible oxidation of amitraz and 2,4-dimethylaniline. A limit of detection in the range of 8.5 x 10⁻⁸ M for amitraz and 2 x 10⁻⁸ M for 2,4-dimethylaniline was determined using differential pulse voltammetry. Feasibility studies in which the effect of supporting electrolyte type and pH had on electroanalysis of amitraz and its degradants, showed that pH affects current response as well as the potential at which amitraz and its degradants are oxidised. Britton-Robinson buffer was found to be the most suitable supporting electrolyte for detection of amitraz and its degradants in terms of sensitivity and reproducibility. Studies performed using environmental samples showed that the sensitivity and reproducibility of amitraz and 2,4-dimethylaniline analyses in spent cattle dip were comparable to analyses of amitraz and 2,4-dimethylaniline performed in Britton-Robinson buffer. In addition, the feasibility qf measuring amitraz and 2,4-dimethylaniline in environmental samples was assessed and compared to amitraz and 2,4-dimethylaniline analyses in Britton-Robinson buffer. Amitraz and 2,4-dimethylaniline were readily detectable in milk and honey. Furthermore, it was elucidated that 2,4-dimethylaniline can be metabolised to 3-methylcatechol by Pseudomonas species and the proposed breakdown pathway is presented. The biological degradation of amitraz and subsequent formation of 2,4-dimethylaniline was readily monitored in spent cattle dip. The breakdown of amitraz to 2,4-dimethylaniline and then to 3-MC was monitored using cyclic voltammetry.
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- Date Issued: 2006