Evidence for a biological control-induced regime shift between floating and submerged invasive plant dominance in South Africa
- Authors: Strange, Emily Frances
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/32448 , vital:24044
- Description: South Africa has a long history battling the establishment and spread of invasive floating macrophytes. The negative consequences of these are costly both economically and ecologically. They form dense mats on the water's surface that deplete resources such as light and oxygen to the submerged community, which creates anoxic conditions, reduces biodiversity and limits access to freshwater. The past thirty years of South African invasive plant research and the implementation of nationwide biological control programmes has led to widespread control of these species in many degraded systems. Such initiatives are aimed at restoring access to potable freshwater and increasing native biodiversity. However, in recent years, where there has been a decline in floating invasive plant populations, an increase in the establishment and spread of submerged invasive plant species has been observed. Species such as Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa (Planch.) (Hydrocharitaceae)) and Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum (L.) (Haloragaceae)) have been recorded in South African freshwater systems, posing significant threats to aquatic ecosystems. This thesis proposes that the biological control of floating invasive plants, which occurs in numerous dams and rivers nationwide, is the catalyst of a regime shift from floating invasive to submerged invasive plant dominance. Regime shifts are large and often sudden changes in the key structure and functioning of ecosystems, and studies into their occurrence and driving mechanisms broadens understanding of community structures and can guide effective resource management. In order to explore the existence of this new regime shift, a multi-platform approach using controlled experiments and ecological modelling techniques was employed. A model system was created consisting of a floating invasive (Pistia stratiotes L. (Araceae)), a submerged invasive (E. densa) and an ecologically analogous submerged native plant species (Lagarosiphon major (Ridl.) Moss (Hydrocharitaceae)). A suite of experiments was conducted to explore the interactions between the floating and submerged plants under varying regimes of floating plant biological control and levels of nutrient loading. These experiments revealed a competitive advantage of the invasive E. densa over the native L. major that increased by 86% under heavy nutrient loading. The relative growth rate and accumulated biomass of E. densa was significantly higher for plants grown in the presence of biologically controlled P. stratiotes (compared to insect free plants). This demonstrates a high capacity for the invasive E. densa to capitalise on resources made newly available through the biological control of the floating plants. In contrast, the native L. major fared poorly when grown in the presence of the floating P. stratiotes, regardless of applied biological control measures. The experimental observations were then used to parameterise a mathematical model, built to provide a holistic understanding of the individually assessed interactions which work together as the driving mechanisms underpinning the newly identified regime shift. This thesis utilised a multi-platform approach to build the first body of evidence in support of a newly recognised regime shift between floating invasive and submerged invasive plant dominance, as driven by biological control. The results indicate that a reduction in the nutrient loading of South Africa's freshwater systems will reduce negative impacts of submerged invasive macrophytes, whilst increasing system resilience against future invasion. The evidence presented has the potential to better inform management of South Africa's freshwater systems and highlights the importance of integrating multi-trophic interactions when considering future invasive plant management. This research also opens up a multitude of possibilities for studies into submerged plant invasion mechanisms and resilience of native macrophyte communities in South Africa, and further afield.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Strange, Emily Frances
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/32448 , vital:24044
- Description: South Africa has a long history battling the establishment and spread of invasive floating macrophytes. The negative consequences of these are costly both economically and ecologically. They form dense mats on the water's surface that deplete resources such as light and oxygen to the submerged community, which creates anoxic conditions, reduces biodiversity and limits access to freshwater. The past thirty years of South African invasive plant research and the implementation of nationwide biological control programmes has led to widespread control of these species in many degraded systems. Such initiatives are aimed at restoring access to potable freshwater and increasing native biodiversity. However, in recent years, where there has been a decline in floating invasive plant populations, an increase in the establishment and spread of submerged invasive plant species has been observed. Species such as Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa (Planch.) (Hydrocharitaceae)) and Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum (L.) (Haloragaceae)) have been recorded in South African freshwater systems, posing significant threats to aquatic ecosystems. This thesis proposes that the biological control of floating invasive plants, which occurs in numerous dams and rivers nationwide, is the catalyst of a regime shift from floating invasive to submerged invasive plant dominance. Regime shifts are large and often sudden changes in the key structure and functioning of ecosystems, and studies into their occurrence and driving mechanisms broadens understanding of community structures and can guide effective resource management. In order to explore the existence of this new regime shift, a multi-platform approach using controlled experiments and ecological modelling techniques was employed. A model system was created consisting of a floating invasive (Pistia stratiotes L. (Araceae)), a submerged invasive (E. densa) and an ecologically analogous submerged native plant species (Lagarosiphon major (Ridl.) Moss (Hydrocharitaceae)). A suite of experiments was conducted to explore the interactions between the floating and submerged plants under varying regimes of floating plant biological control and levels of nutrient loading. These experiments revealed a competitive advantage of the invasive E. densa over the native L. major that increased by 86% under heavy nutrient loading. The relative growth rate and accumulated biomass of E. densa was significantly higher for plants grown in the presence of biologically controlled P. stratiotes (compared to insect free plants). This demonstrates a high capacity for the invasive E. densa to capitalise on resources made newly available through the biological control of the floating plants. In contrast, the native L. major fared poorly when grown in the presence of the floating P. stratiotes, regardless of applied biological control measures. The experimental observations were then used to parameterise a mathematical model, built to provide a holistic understanding of the individually assessed interactions which work together as the driving mechanisms underpinning the newly identified regime shift. This thesis utilised a multi-platform approach to build the first body of evidence in support of a newly recognised regime shift between floating invasive and submerged invasive plant dominance, as driven by biological control. The results indicate that a reduction in the nutrient loading of South Africa's freshwater systems will reduce negative impacts of submerged invasive macrophytes, whilst increasing system resilience against future invasion. The evidence presented has the potential to better inform management of South Africa's freshwater systems and highlights the importance of integrating multi-trophic interactions when considering future invasive plant management. This research also opens up a multitude of possibilities for studies into submerged plant invasion mechanisms and resilience of native macrophyte communities in South Africa, and further afield.
- Full Text:
Evolving an efficient and effective off-the-shelf computing infrastructure for schools in rural areas of South Africa
- Authors: Siebörger, Ingrid Gisélle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/14557 , vital:21938
- Description: Upliftment of rural areas and poverty alleviation are priorities for development in South Africa. Information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development and ICTs act as tools to support them, enabling innovative and more cost effective approaches. In order for ICT interventions to be possible, infrastructure has to be deployed. For the deployment to be effective and sustainable, the local community needs to be involved in shaping and supporting it. This study describes the technical work done in the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), a long-term ICT4D experiment in the Mbashe Municipality, with a focus on the deployment of ICT infrastructure in schools, for teaching and learning but also for use by the communities surrounding the schools. As a result of this work, computing infrastructure was deployed, in various phases, in 17 schools in the area and a “broadband island” connecting them was created. The dissertation reports on the initial deployment phases, discussing theoretical underpinnings and policies for using technology in education as well various computing and networking technologies and associated policies available and appropriate for use in rural South African schools. This information forms the backdrop of a survey conducted with teachers from six schools in the SLL, together with experimental work towards the provision of an evolved, efficient and effective off-the-shelf computing infrastructure in selected schools, in order to attempt to address the shortcomings of the computing infrastructure deployed initially in the SLL. The result of the study is the proposal of an evolved computing infrastructure model for use in rural South African schools.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Siebörger, Ingrid Gisélle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/14557 , vital:21938
- Description: Upliftment of rural areas and poverty alleviation are priorities for development in South Africa. Information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development and ICTs act as tools to support them, enabling innovative and more cost effective approaches. In order for ICT interventions to be possible, infrastructure has to be deployed. For the deployment to be effective and sustainable, the local community needs to be involved in shaping and supporting it. This study describes the technical work done in the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), a long-term ICT4D experiment in the Mbashe Municipality, with a focus on the deployment of ICT infrastructure in schools, for teaching and learning but also for use by the communities surrounding the schools. As a result of this work, computing infrastructure was deployed, in various phases, in 17 schools in the area and a “broadband island” connecting them was created. The dissertation reports on the initial deployment phases, discussing theoretical underpinnings and policies for using technology in education as well various computing and networking technologies and associated policies available and appropriate for use in rural South African schools. This information forms the backdrop of a survey conducted with teachers from six schools in the SLL, together with experimental work towards the provision of an evolved, efficient and effective off-the-shelf computing infrastructure in selected schools, in order to attempt to address the shortcomings of the computing infrastructure deployed initially in the SLL. The result of the study is the proposal of an evolved computing infrastructure model for use in rural South African schools.
- Full Text:
Exploring and expanding situated cognition in teaching science concepts: the nexus of indigenous knowledge and Western modern science
- Authors: Mukwambo, Muzwangowenyu
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8382 , vital:21389
- Description: Certain teaching and learning strategies are appropriate in the context of exposing learners to modern science in situated cognition (SC) - the theory that posits that knowing is inseparable from doing - during, for example, visits to industrial operations. The distance and cost of travel, however, excludes most rural teachers and their learners from such SC exposure to Science and technology in industrial settings. To fill this gap between knowledge and practice in the curriculum experience for rural schools, this research investigated the extent to which a SC approach could be used in relation to indigenous knowledge practices (IKP) that have relevance to science teaching for rural science teachers. The study was conducted in three schools in the Zambezi Region of Namibia whereby six science teachers participated in the study. Also, to generate data from the community, the study included Indigenous community members as participants. Only three selected members from the community participated as representatives of the whole community. Essentially, the study explored and expanded possibilities for rural school teachers to use IKP as sites of SC in relation to concepts of pressure in particular and other science concepts. The research thus studied teaching practices as activity systems related to concepts in the school curriculum and the activity system of Indigenous community members. The patterns, regularities and irregularities provided the framing which was used to view SC through the lens of IKP. This framing of SC within the school curriculum was explored using cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and Engestrom’s expansive learning cycle (ELC). The study was organized into two phases; exploration and the expansive phase. In the exploration phase, interviews, community analysis, document analysis, brainstorming, reflections and audiovisual evidence were used to generate data. The expansive stage used brainstorming, reflections, and interviews, an experimental test, audio-visual evidence, and interviews. Inductive and abductive modes of inference were used to come up with explanations of the research questions. Explanations proceeded using the frameworks of socio-cultural theory and social realism. Some findings from the data generated from the exploration phase revealed that science teachers in the schools studied do not always engage in a SC approach on account of a lack of Western modern science (WMS) resources and factors related to economic marginalization of the learners. Data generated in the same phase revealed that science teachers can engage the SC approach through embracing indigenous knowledge practices (IKP) reflecting Science whereby they can apprentice learners. Some of the other findings from the expansive learning phase show that science teachers in under-resourced schools can engage the SC approach if IK practices are used as mediational tools which can be used as models, icons/symbols, vocabulary, patterns, case studies and practical activities anchored in IKP. From the findings obtained the contribution which the study made was to come up with some methods of infusing indigenous knowledge systems in science teaching. The trend in research related to IK is more aligned to policies rather than how IK can be usefully used for the benefit of science teaching. As the study only looked into the IKP reflecting Science which the participating teachers brainstormed, it provides an insight into how and which other IK practices can be woven into WMS to encourage social transformation accommodative of Afrocentric world views which allows scientific literacy to be achieved.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mukwambo, Muzwangowenyu
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8382 , vital:21389
- Description: Certain teaching and learning strategies are appropriate in the context of exposing learners to modern science in situated cognition (SC) - the theory that posits that knowing is inseparable from doing - during, for example, visits to industrial operations. The distance and cost of travel, however, excludes most rural teachers and their learners from such SC exposure to Science and technology in industrial settings. To fill this gap between knowledge and practice in the curriculum experience for rural schools, this research investigated the extent to which a SC approach could be used in relation to indigenous knowledge practices (IKP) that have relevance to science teaching for rural science teachers. The study was conducted in three schools in the Zambezi Region of Namibia whereby six science teachers participated in the study. Also, to generate data from the community, the study included Indigenous community members as participants. Only three selected members from the community participated as representatives of the whole community. Essentially, the study explored and expanded possibilities for rural school teachers to use IKP as sites of SC in relation to concepts of pressure in particular and other science concepts. The research thus studied teaching practices as activity systems related to concepts in the school curriculum and the activity system of Indigenous community members. The patterns, regularities and irregularities provided the framing which was used to view SC through the lens of IKP. This framing of SC within the school curriculum was explored using cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and Engestrom’s expansive learning cycle (ELC). The study was organized into two phases; exploration and the expansive phase. In the exploration phase, interviews, community analysis, document analysis, brainstorming, reflections and audiovisual evidence were used to generate data. The expansive stage used brainstorming, reflections, and interviews, an experimental test, audio-visual evidence, and interviews. Inductive and abductive modes of inference were used to come up with explanations of the research questions. Explanations proceeded using the frameworks of socio-cultural theory and social realism. Some findings from the data generated from the exploration phase revealed that science teachers in the schools studied do not always engage in a SC approach on account of a lack of Western modern science (WMS) resources and factors related to economic marginalization of the learners. Data generated in the same phase revealed that science teachers can engage the SC approach through embracing indigenous knowledge practices (IKP) reflecting Science whereby they can apprentice learners. Some of the other findings from the expansive learning phase show that science teachers in under-resourced schools can engage the SC approach if IK practices are used as mediational tools which can be used as models, icons/symbols, vocabulary, patterns, case studies and practical activities anchored in IKP. From the findings obtained the contribution which the study made was to come up with some methods of infusing indigenous knowledge systems in science teaching. The trend in research related to IK is more aligned to policies rather than how IK can be usefully used for the benefit of science teaching. As the study only looked into the IKP reflecting Science which the participating teachers brainstormed, it provides an insight into how and which other IK practices can be woven into WMS to encourage social transformation accommodative of Afrocentric world views which allows scientific literacy to be achieved.
- Full Text:
Exploring change-oriented learning, competencies and agency in a regional teacher professional development programme's change projects
- Authors: Mandikonza, Caleb
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: SADC Regional Environmental Education Programme Environmental education -- Africa, Southern Education -- Africa, Southern , International Certificate in Environmental Education , Environmental education -- Africa, Southern , Teachers, Training of -- Africa, Southern , Education -- Philosophy , Mediated learning experience , Vygotskiĭ, L. S. (Lev Semenovich), 1896-1934
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4410 , vital:20660
- Description: This aim of this study was to explore the mediatory role of the Rhodes University (RU) / Southern African Development Community (SADC) International Certificate in Environmental Education course in developing capacity for reflexive mainstreaming of environment and sustainability education in teacher education in southern Africa. This course was a change-oriented intervention to support capacity and agency for mainstreaming environmental education across many sectors of education. The discourse of the course included environmental education and education for sustainable development and for this study this was referred to as environment and sustainability education (ESE). Environment and sustainability education is a developing notion in southern Africa and the SADC Regional Environmental Education Programme (REEP) was set up to support capacity for mainstreaming ESE. ESE was one of the responses taken by the SADC region to respond to prevalent environment and sustainability issues across the region. This study focused, in general, on establishing the mediatory roles of the reflexive mediatory tool, the change project in the course. More specifically, the research explores the mediatory role of course interventions and activities that were used to develop understanding of and to frame the change project in fostering agentially motivated changed practice in the teacher education sector. Drawing on realist social theory, which is a form of critical realism, especially the work of Margaret Archer, the study used the principle of emergence to interpret changes in the course participants' practices. The study was framed using the research question: How do mediated actions in a regional professional development programme and the workplace influence Environment and Sustainability (ESE) competencies, practice, learning and agency in Teacher Education for Sustainable Development (TESD) change projects? The following sub-questions refined the study: • What mediated actions on the course influence ESE competences, practice, learning and agency on the professional development programme? • How do these identified mediated actions influence ESE competences, practice and learning on the professional development programme? • What mediated actions in workplaces influence ESE competences, practice, learning and agency in the change projects in teacher education institutions? • How do these identified mediated actions in workplaces influence ESE competences, practices and mediated actions in the workplace? Notions of practice, agency, reflexivity, competences and capabilities were used to sensitise explanations of features emergent from course interactions; the process of analysis was under-laboured by the theoretical lens of critical realism and realist social theory. Mediation theory was used to explain the role of interventions across the course. The study used a case study approach with three cases of teacher educators from two institutions in two southern African countries. Data were generated through document analysis of course portfolios, semi-structured interviews with research participants, observations of participants during their teaching and through group discussions in a change management workshop to establish features that emerged from the course and change project interactions. The principle of emergence recognises that any interactions result in new features of characteristics that are different from the original. In this case, the study investigated those features shown by participants after being exposed to the course's mediatory tools. In order to describe the cases, a narrative approach was used. The study was conducted at the interface of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) and the Global Action Plan for Education for Sustainable Development, therefore the outcomes have implications for capacity development for ESE during and beyond the Global Action Plan for Education for Sustainable Development. The key finding is that capacity development for ESE needs to foreground reflexive engagement with one's own practice for it to be meaningful and relevant. The change project provided course participants with the opportunity to engage with their own practice and particularly their competences and capabilities through its mediatory tools. Course participants showed emergent properties that were evidence of expanded zones of proximal development (ZPD) in competences, capabilities and agency. The study illustrates that meaningful learning happens when immersed in context and when learners are able to make connections between concepts, practices and experiences (their praxis). The study also illustrates that capacity building creates opportunities for practitioners to expand their repertoire through the course activities. Some of the course activities stimulated, enhanced and gave impetus to their agency or double morphogenesis for them to continue to expand that repertoire by trying and retrying changes in practice that they value on their own and in communities of practice. Capacity development courses need to be structured to involve a variety of mediatory activities as some of these are relevant and are valued for different teacher education contexts. The study also shows how knowledge and understanding of classical Vygotskian mediation can be used to frame and structure courses for developing the ZPD retrospectively and how the repertoire which forms the ZPD has potential to be expanded and to keep expanding, whether at individual level or in community with others, as an object in the post-Vygotskian mediation process. The change project provides the starting point, the vehicle and momentum to teacher educators to critique and to reflexively transform competences or aspects of their practice that they value. The study showed that capacity development through the change project generated momentum for potentially morphogenetic changes in teacher education practice. The course initiated interactions at the phase T2-T3 that disrupted teacher educators' habitus. On-course phase activities such as assignments, lectures, discussions, practical tasks, excursions and regional knowledge exchange groups contributed smaller morphogenetic cycles to the main cycle. Reflexive engagement with one's own practice becomes a useful tool for building capacity for scaling capacity for mainstreaming ESE during and after the Global Action programme for ESD. Contributions of the study therefore go beyond the SADC region to contribute insights into capacity development for ESD in similar conditions of teacher education across the world.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mandikonza, Caleb
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: SADC Regional Environmental Education Programme Environmental education -- Africa, Southern Education -- Africa, Southern , International Certificate in Environmental Education , Environmental education -- Africa, Southern , Teachers, Training of -- Africa, Southern , Education -- Philosophy , Mediated learning experience , Vygotskiĭ, L. S. (Lev Semenovich), 1896-1934
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4410 , vital:20660
- Description: This aim of this study was to explore the mediatory role of the Rhodes University (RU) / Southern African Development Community (SADC) International Certificate in Environmental Education course in developing capacity for reflexive mainstreaming of environment and sustainability education in teacher education in southern Africa. This course was a change-oriented intervention to support capacity and agency for mainstreaming environmental education across many sectors of education. The discourse of the course included environmental education and education for sustainable development and for this study this was referred to as environment and sustainability education (ESE). Environment and sustainability education is a developing notion in southern Africa and the SADC Regional Environmental Education Programme (REEP) was set up to support capacity for mainstreaming ESE. ESE was one of the responses taken by the SADC region to respond to prevalent environment and sustainability issues across the region. This study focused, in general, on establishing the mediatory roles of the reflexive mediatory tool, the change project in the course. More specifically, the research explores the mediatory role of course interventions and activities that were used to develop understanding of and to frame the change project in fostering agentially motivated changed practice in the teacher education sector. Drawing on realist social theory, which is a form of critical realism, especially the work of Margaret Archer, the study used the principle of emergence to interpret changes in the course participants' practices. The study was framed using the research question: How do mediated actions in a regional professional development programme and the workplace influence Environment and Sustainability (ESE) competencies, practice, learning and agency in Teacher Education for Sustainable Development (TESD) change projects? The following sub-questions refined the study: • What mediated actions on the course influence ESE competences, practice, learning and agency on the professional development programme? • How do these identified mediated actions influence ESE competences, practice and learning on the professional development programme? • What mediated actions in workplaces influence ESE competences, practice, learning and agency in the change projects in teacher education institutions? • How do these identified mediated actions in workplaces influence ESE competences, practices and mediated actions in the workplace? Notions of practice, agency, reflexivity, competences and capabilities were used to sensitise explanations of features emergent from course interactions; the process of analysis was under-laboured by the theoretical lens of critical realism and realist social theory. Mediation theory was used to explain the role of interventions across the course. The study used a case study approach with three cases of teacher educators from two institutions in two southern African countries. Data were generated through document analysis of course portfolios, semi-structured interviews with research participants, observations of participants during their teaching and through group discussions in a change management workshop to establish features that emerged from the course and change project interactions. The principle of emergence recognises that any interactions result in new features of characteristics that are different from the original. In this case, the study investigated those features shown by participants after being exposed to the course's mediatory tools. In order to describe the cases, a narrative approach was used. The study was conducted at the interface of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) and the Global Action Plan for Education for Sustainable Development, therefore the outcomes have implications for capacity development for ESE during and beyond the Global Action Plan for Education for Sustainable Development. The key finding is that capacity development for ESE needs to foreground reflexive engagement with one's own practice for it to be meaningful and relevant. The change project provided course participants with the opportunity to engage with their own practice and particularly their competences and capabilities through its mediatory tools. Course participants showed emergent properties that were evidence of expanded zones of proximal development (ZPD) in competences, capabilities and agency. The study illustrates that meaningful learning happens when immersed in context and when learners are able to make connections between concepts, practices and experiences (their praxis). The study also illustrates that capacity building creates opportunities for practitioners to expand their repertoire through the course activities. Some of the course activities stimulated, enhanced and gave impetus to their agency or double morphogenesis for them to continue to expand that repertoire by trying and retrying changes in practice that they value on their own and in communities of practice. Capacity development courses need to be structured to involve a variety of mediatory activities as some of these are relevant and are valued for different teacher education contexts. The study also shows how knowledge and understanding of classical Vygotskian mediation can be used to frame and structure courses for developing the ZPD retrospectively and how the repertoire which forms the ZPD has potential to be expanded and to keep expanding, whether at individual level or in community with others, as an object in the post-Vygotskian mediation process. The change project provides the starting point, the vehicle and momentum to teacher educators to critique and to reflexively transform competences or aspects of their practice that they value. The study showed that capacity development through the change project generated momentum for potentially morphogenetic changes in teacher education practice. The course initiated interactions at the phase T2-T3 that disrupted teacher educators' habitus. On-course phase activities such as assignments, lectures, discussions, practical tasks, excursions and regional knowledge exchange groups contributed smaller morphogenetic cycles to the main cycle. Reflexive engagement with one's own practice becomes a useful tool for building capacity for scaling capacity for mainstreaming ESE during and after the Global Action programme for ESD. Contributions of the study therefore go beyond the SADC region to contribute insights into capacity development for ESD in similar conditions of teacher education across the world.
- Full Text:
Exploring transformative social learning and sustainability in community based irrigation scheme contexts in Mozambique
- Authors: Baloi, Aristides
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Social learning -- Mozambique , Irrigation -- Social aspects -- Mozambique , Water resources development -- Mozambique , Sustainable agriculture -- Mozambique , Community development -- Mozambique
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50154 , vital:25963
- Description: This study set out to examine transformative social learning and sustainability in the context of community-based irrigation systems in Mozambique. These irrigation systems are socio-ecological in nature. The history of irrigation systems in Mozambique can be described in two periods: pre-Independence period (mainly the colonial period) and the post-Independence period from 1975 onwards. Most recently, the Mozambique Government has introduced a policy which supports community-based irrigation system implementation and management via irrigation associations in a move to support a shift from rain-fed farming practices to irrigation-supported farming practices amongst smallholder farmers. It is this shift in the object of activity that this study focusses on. It does this by studying learning process in the constituted irrigation associations, examining whether such learning is transformative and sustainability oriented or not, and how such learning can be further expanded and supported. Learning may occur in socio-ecological systems, but whether that learning enables transformation and sustainability of irrigation systems and the constituted associations is as yet under-explored in the Mozambique context and in the context of Education for Sustainable Development in southern Africa. The aim of this research was therefore to understand transformative social learning within the development of sustainable irrigation practices in the context of irrigation associations and new agrarian policy development in Mozambique. To examine transformative social learning in sustainable irrigation system practices (including management practices), the study worked with three research goals, which also formed phases of the study’s design: GOAL 1: Examine how and what transformative social learning has (or has not) emerged in existing activity systems to date (Phase 1: Activity System Analysis). GOAL 2: Examine how transformative social learning could emerge through expansive learning processes (Phase 2: Identification of contradictions and new solution modelling through Developmental Work Research and Change Laboratories). GOAL 3: Identify what opportunities exist for ongoing transformative social learning (Phase 3: Identification of absences and ongoing dialectical transformation possibilities). The study draws on theories of Social Learning, Transformative Learning and Cultural Historical Activity Theory’s (CHAT) expansive learning and formative interventionist research framework to develop insights into the learning processes. It works especially with third generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory which provides a theory of expansive social learning and collective transformative agency formation, which I deemed most appropriate for the need to understand the transformation of farmers’ activities in a collective formation such as an irrigation association. The study involved identification and examination of interacting activity systems, contradictions or dissonances in two case studies of community-based irrigation system development via the respective associations. It involved identifying existing learning, as well as engaging in formative intervention research to expand learning in two case study sites: namely the Macubulane and Massaca Irrigation Associations, located near Maputo, Mozambique in the Inkomati and Umbeluzi river basins. The Macubulane community practices a monocropping system of sugar cane plantations using sprinkler irrigation methods and the Massaca community practices a mixed cropping system growing vegetables using mainly gravity or furrow irrigation methods. The study uses a qualitative research approach and is underlaboured by Dialectical Critical Realism which allowed for a deeper probing of ontology and transformative praxis, and transformative learning. The study used methods which included in-depth interviews, change laboratory workshops, document analysis and focus group interviews with farmers and subjects in associated activity systems. Analysis involved activity system analysis, identification of contradictions, modeling of solutions, transformative agency analysis, as well as analysis of real and nominal absences and generative mechanisms as recommended in dialectical critical realism. I used inductive, abductive and retroductive modes of inference, relying on the latter to identify further potential for transformative learning. The study demonstrates that within the associations, transformative social learning is taking place as farmers seek to address problems and contradictions. This learning leads to the creation of new agency and capabilities by ensuring good yields and continuous improvement of management practices and social status. Learning operates through formal mediation in the irrigation system of workplace-based operation, maintenance and crop management practices (i.e. through workplace learning). Social learning occurs through collective engagement with the constraints that the association faces while applying new knowledge, introducing new technology, in the process of administration and planning of irrigation activities. Expansive learning is possible when mediated actively through formative interventions in change laboratory workshops. All three types of learning were found to be present and possible in the context of the two irrigation scheme contexts. The main study findings are that transformative social learning is a collective object-driven process in the context of a transforming object (from rain-fed to sustainable community-based irrigation scheme farming in this study), that can be explained from the level of generative mechanisms and associated real absences that shape nominal absences and contradictions within and between activity systems. These induce, and have potential to induce, transformative learning in irrigation systems, including the emergence of transformative agency via learning through workplace-based, wider social learning, and expansive learning interaction processes amongst subjects in interacting activity systems. Absenting absences is also crucial for extending the potential of transformative learning in irrigation associations. The study further shows how critical realism helps to interpret learning processes and how it strengthens the empirical findings obtained from qualitative analysis. A key outcome of the study is a model that frames conceptualisation of transformative social learning in irrigation systems. The model and the insights gained into farmers learning around the transformation of the object of activity explored in this study have implications for wider curriculum and policy development interventions. The study therefore also makes recommendations for curriculum development and policy implementation intervention. The curriculum development recommendations are not at the level of making recommendations for new courses only, but frame how the design of new courses should take into account the wider processes of learning and change associated with the transformation of an object of activity as articulated in the study. It recommends an approach that allows for in-field engagement with contradictions and the absenting of absences (a problem-based type of curriculum) that will also allow for conceptual development and understanding of the changing object of activity (i.e. community-based irrigation scheme practice and management). The main policy recommendation made from the study is to invest more in farmer support and farmers’ learning so that they can transition from rain-fed agriculture to sustainable irrigation scheme development and management via their associations. The research contributes to knowledge production on irrigation practices; considering that substantial understandings were generated through analysis of communal irrigation scheme practice and management and its implications, especially from a transformative learning perspective. As shown in this study, transformative social learning theories are still not well understood in the context of irrigation system development, and this study has contributed knowledge to this field. The study contributes towards understanding of sustainability learning in irrigation associations in terms of concepts and practices. The study offers a model for transformative social learning in irrigation scheme development and suggests an expanded curriculum for community-based irrigation association practice and management. Overall, the study contributes to an understanding of transformative, sustainability oriented learning processes as support for the emergence of community-based irrigation associations. Additionally, the study has added perspectives on how to frame transformative social learning from a CHAT and critical realist perspective in Education for Sustainable Development. The study also contributes to a growing body of scholarship in southern Africa which seeks to develop expansive, transformative social learning approaches in response to concerns experienced by communities who are reliant on natural resources and the environment for their livelihoods and well-being, and who are also seeking to emerge out of poverty.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Baloi, Aristides
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Social learning -- Mozambique , Irrigation -- Social aspects -- Mozambique , Water resources development -- Mozambique , Sustainable agriculture -- Mozambique , Community development -- Mozambique
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50154 , vital:25963
- Description: This study set out to examine transformative social learning and sustainability in the context of community-based irrigation systems in Mozambique. These irrigation systems are socio-ecological in nature. The history of irrigation systems in Mozambique can be described in two periods: pre-Independence period (mainly the colonial period) and the post-Independence period from 1975 onwards. Most recently, the Mozambique Government has introduced a policy which supports community-based irrigation system implementation and management via irrigation associations in a move to support a shift from rain-fed farming practices to irrigation-supported farming practices amongst smallholder farmers. It is this shift in the object of activity that this study focusses on. It does this by studying learning process in the constituted irrigation associations, examining whether such learning is transformative and sustainability oriented or not, and how such learning can be further expanded and supported. Learning may occur in socio-ecological systems, but whether that learning enables transformation and sustainability of irrigation systems and the constituted associations is as yet under-explored in the Mozambique context and in the context of Education for Sustainable Development in southern Africa. The aim of this research was therefore to understand transformative social learning within the development of sustainable irrigation practices in the context of irrigation associations and new agrarian policy development in Mozambique. To examine transformative social learning in sustainable irrigation system practices (including management practices), the study worked with three research goals, which also formed phases of the study’s design: GOAL 1: Examine how and what transformative social learning has (or has not) emerged in existing activity systems to date (Phase 1: Activity System Analysis). GOAL 2: Examine how transformative social learning could emerge through expansive learning processes (Phase 2: Identification of contradictions and new solution modelling through Developmental Work Research and Change Laboratories). GOAL 3: Identify what opportunities exist for ongoing transformative social learning (Phase 3: Identification of absences and ongoing dialectical transformation possibilities). The study draws on theories of Social Learning, Transformative Learning and Cultural Historical Activity Theory’s (CHAT) expansive learning and formative interventionist research framework to develop insights into the learning processes. It works especially with third generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory which provides a theory of expansive social learning and collective transformative agency formation, which I deemed most appropriate for the need to understand the transformation of farmers’ activities in a collective formation such as an irrigation association. The study involved identification and examination of interacting activity systems, contradictions or dissonances in two case studies of community-based irrigation system development via the respective associations. It involved identifying existing learning, as well as engaging in formative intervention research to expand learning in two case study sites: namely the Macubulane and Massaca Irrigation Associations, located near Maputo, Mozambique in the Inkomati and Umbeluzi river basins. The Macubulane community practices a monocropping system of sugar cane plantations using sprinkler irrigation methods and the Massaca community practices a mixed cropping system growing vegetables using mainly gravity or furrow irrigation methods. The study uses a qualitative research approach and is underlaboured by Dialectical Critical Realism which allowed for a deeper probing of ontology and transformative praxis, and transformative learning. The study used methods which included in-depth interviews, change laboratory workshops, document analysis and focus group interviews with farmers and subjects in associated activity systems. Analysis involved activity system analysis, identification of contradictions, modeling of solutions, transformative agency analysis, as well as analysis of real and nominal absences and generative mechanisms as recommended in dialectical critical realism. I used inductive, abductive and retroductive modes of inference, relying on the latter to identify further potential for transformative learning. The study demonstrates that within the associations, transformative social learning is taking place as farmers seek to address problems and contradictions. This learning leads to the creation of new agency and capabilities by ensuring good yields and continuous improvement of management practices and social status. Learning operates through formal mediation in the irrigation system of workplace-based operation, maintenance and crop management practices (i.e. through workplace learning). Social learning occurs through collective engagement with the constraints that the association faces while applying new knowledge, introducing new technology, in the process of administration and planning of irrigation activities. Expansive learning is possible when mediated actively through formative interventions in change laboratory workshops. All three types of learning were found to be present and possible in the context of the two irrigation scheme contexts. The main study findings are that transformative social learning is a collective object-driven process in the context of a transforming object (from rain-fed to sustainable community-based irrigation scheme farming in this study), that can be explained from the level of generative mechanisms and associated real absences that shape nominal absences and contradictions within and between activity systems. These induce, and have potential to induce, transformative learning in irrigation systems, including the emergence of transformative agency via learning through workplace-based, wider social learning, and expansive learning interaction processes amongst subjects in interacting activity systems. Absenting absences is also crucial for extending the potential of transformative learning in irrigation associations. The study further shows how critical realism helps to interpret learning processes and how it strengthens the empirical findings obtained from qualitative analysis. A key outcome of the study is a model that frames conceptualisation of transformative social learning in irrigation systems. The model and the insights gained into farmers learning around the transformation of the object of activity explored in this study have implications for wider curriculum and policy development interventions. The study therefore also makes recommendations for curriculum development and policy implementation intervention. The curriculum development recommendations are not at the level of making recommendations for new courses only, but frame how the design of new courses should take into account the wider processes of learning and change associated with the transformation of an object of activity as articulated in the study. It recommends an approach that allows for in-field engagement with contradictions and the absenting of absences (a problem-based type of curriculum) that will also allow for conceptual development and understanding of the changing object of activity (i.e. community-based irrigation scheme practice and management). The main policy recommendation made from the study is to invest more in farmer support and farmers’ learning so that they can transition from rain-fed agriculture to sustainable irrigation scheme development and management via their associations. The research contributes to knowledge production on irrigation practices; considering that substantial understandings were generated through analysis of communal irrigation scheme practice and management and its implications, especially from a transformative learning perspective. As shown in this study, transformative social learning theories are still not well understood in the context of irrigation system development, and this study has contributed knowledge to this field. The study contributes towards understanding of sustainability learning in irrigation associations in terms of concepts and practices. The study offers a model for transformative social learning in irrigation scheme development and suggests an expanded curriculum for community-based irrigation association practice and management. Overall, the study contributes to an understanding of transformative, sustainability oriented learning processes as support for the emergence of community-based irrigation associations. Additionally, the study has added perspectives on how to frame transformative social learning from a CHAT and critical realist perspective in Education for Sustainable Development. The study also contributes to a growing body of scholarship in southern Africa which seeks to develop expansive, transformative social learning approaches in response to concerns experienced by communities who are reliant on natural resources and the environment for their livelihoods and well-being, and who are also seeking to emerge out of poverty.
- Full Text:
Forest governance, conservation and livelihoods: the case of forest protected areas and local communities in north-western Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mutekwa, Vurayai
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7396 , vital:21254
- Description: Forest protected areas (FPAs) constitute one of the main strategies for achieving the triple benefits of biodiversity conservation, livelihoods sustenance and climate regulation. The quality of FPA governance plays a major role in the achievement of these conservation objectives. Governance encompasses policies, institutions, actors, processes and power and how they interplay to determine conservation outcomes. Currently, no research has systematically explored the historical and contemporary governance of Zimbabwe’s protected indigenous forests and its implications on forest condition and local communities’ livelihoods. This is despite the fact that improving forest governance depends on learning from those that prevailed in the past as well as those currently obtaining on the ground in terms of how they have performed in relation to conservation and livelihood sustenance. This study assessed Zimbabwe’s historical and contemporary FPA governance and its implications on social and ecological outcomes. The overall rationale of the study was to provide evidence of the impact of past governance arrangements on forest condition and local communities’ livelihoods, improve understanding of the current governance arrangements and propose future FPA governance strategies and mechanisms to enhance conservation and local communities’ livelihood outcomes. Accordingly, the specific objectives of the study were to: 1) characterize and collate historical governance of FPAs in western Zimbabwe, 2) evaluate the impact of governance on forest condition and local communities’ livelihoods, 3) explore the nature of contemporary governance at the forest level, and 4) propose the governance model for Zimbabwe’s FPAs into the future. The study employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods including the systematic literature review methodology. Using specific case studies of indigenous FPAs in western Zimbabwe as examples, the study initially evaluated through literature review (Chapter 2) the history of forest governance in Zimbabwe showing how four main powers (force, regulation, market and legitimation) led to different types of local community exclusion and how community agency countered exclusion especially from the year 2000 to date. Chapter 3 uses six case study forests to assess the quality of historical FPA governance by analyzing the application of seven governance principles. The results showed that the quality of governance was high during precolonial times, deteriorated with the inception of colonialism and remained poor after independence in 1980. Forest condition also varied in tandem with the quality of governance variations showing a positive relationship between the two variables. Participation in decision making, fairness in sharing benefits and effective rule enforcement emerged as key principles for FPA authorities to earn local community support and improve forest condition. Chapter 4 employed remote sensing techniques to determine the impact of governance on FPA land cover change by comparing FPAs with in situ and ex situ inhabitants. Results revealed that there was a significant relationship between governance quality and land cover change. FPAs with in situ inhabitants experienced higher forest loss than those with ex situ inhabitants. Poor governance accelerated forest conversion to other land uses particularly agriculture and settlement. Chapter 5 explored contemporary FPA governance at the forest level. Results showed that human agency that led to the invasion of FPAs from the year 2000 onwards disrupted the governance arrangements that were previously in place subjecting Zimbabwe’s FPAs to near open access by local communities and other actors. The FPAs’ contemporary governance is characterized by involvement of multiple actors with diverse interests, lack of Forestry Commission legitimacy, very low levels of local people’s participation in decision making and rule enforcement, lack of compliance with FPA rules and actual benefits that do not match local communities’ expectations. Overall, the study has revealed the ineffectiveness of the conventional centralized FPA governance in achieving positive conservation and local communities’ livelihoods outcomes. The study recommended a shift from conventional centralized governance to pro-people adaptive collaborative management (ACM). This has the potential to address most of the governance ills affecting Zimbabwe’s FPAs if it is designed and implemented with the full commitment of all relevant actors. This governance approach should, however, avoid some of the pitfalls such as elite capture, corruption in benefit sharing, gender inequality and technocratic professional management approaches that have characterized some collaborative governance systems in developing countries further perpetuating marginalization and poverty amongst local communities. Forestry Commission must also exercise visionary leadership and motivation. ACM becomes possible through leadership, vision, establishment and maintenance of links through culture and management and high levels of motivation. Designing and implementing ACM avoiding the highlighted pitfalls improves the capacity of the FPAs to continue providing social and ecological benefits such as improvement of local communities’ livelihoods, biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mutekwa, Vurayai
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7396 , vital:21254
- Description: Forest protected areas (FPAs) constitute one of the main strategies for achieving the triple benefits of biodiversity conservation, livelihoods sustenance and climate regulation. The quality of FPA governance plays a major role in the achievement of these conservation objectives. Governance encompasses policies, institutions, actors, processes and power and how they interplay to determine conservation outcomes. Currently, no research has systematically explored the historical and contemporary governance of Zimbabwe’s protected indigenous forests and its implications on forest condition and local communities’ livelihoods. This is despite the fact that improving forest governance depends on learning from those that prevailed in the past as well as those currently obtaining on the ground in terms of how they have performed in relation to conservation and livelihood sustenance. This study assessed Zimbabwe’s historical and contemporary FPA governance and its implications on social and ecological outcomes. The overall rationale of the study was to provide evidence of the impact of past governance arrangements on forest condition and local communities’ livelihoods, improve understanding of the current governance arrangements and propose future FPA governance strategies and mechanisms to enhance conservation and local communities’ livelihood outcomes. Accordingly, the specific objectives of the study were to: 1) characterize and collate historical governance of FPAs in western Zimbabwe, 2) evaluate the impact of governance on forest condition and local communities’ livelihoods, 3) explore the nature of contemporary governance at the forest level, and 4) propose the governance model for Zimbabwe’s FPAs into the future. The study employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods including the systematic literature review methodology. Using specific case studies of indigenous FPAs in western Zimbabwe as examples, the study initially evaluated through literature review (Chapter 2) the history of forest governance in Zimbabwe showing how four main powers (force, regulation, market and legitimation) led to different types of local community exclusion and how community agency countered exclusion especially from the year 2000 to date. Chapter 3 uses six case study forests to assess the quality of historical FPA governance by analyzing the application of seven governance principles. The results showed that the quality of governance was high during precolonial times, deteriorated with the inception of colonialism and remained poor after independence in 1980. Forest condition also varied in tandem with the quality of governance variations showing a positive relationship between the two variables. Participation in decision making, fairness in sharing benefits and effective rule enforcement emerged as key principles for FPA authorities to earn local community support and improve forest condition. Chapter 4 employed remote sensing techniques to determine the impact of governance on FPA land cover change by comparing FPAs with in situ and ex situ inhabitants. Results revealed that there was a significant relationship between governance quality and land cover change. FPAs with in situ inhabitants experienced higher forest loss than those with ex situ inhabitants. Poor governance accelerated forest conversion to other land uses particularly agriculture and settlement. Chapter 5 explored contemporary FPA governance at the forest level. Results showed that human agency that led to the invasion of FPAs from the year 2000 onwards disrupted the governance arrangements that were previously in place subjecting Zimbabwe’s FPAs to near open access by local communities and other actors. The FPAs’ contemporary governance is characterized by involvement of multiple actors with diverse interests, lack of Forestry Commission legitimacy, very low levels of local people’s participation in decision making and rule enforcement, lack of compliance with FPA rules and actual benefits that do not match local communities’ expectations. Overall, the study has revealed the ineffectiveness of the conventional centralized FPA governance in achieving positive conservation and local communities’ livelihoods outcomes. The study recommended a shift from conventional centralized governance to pro-people adaptive collaborative management (ACM). This has the potential to address most of the governance ills affecting Zimbabwe’s FPAs if it is designed and implemented with the full commitment of all relevant actors. This governance approach should, however, avoid some of the pitfalls such as elite capture, corruption in benefit sharing, gender inequality and technocratic professional management approaches that have characterized some collaborative governance systems in developing countries further perpetuating marginalization and poverty amongst local communities. Forestry Commission must also exercise visionary leadership and motivation. ACM becomes possible through leadership, vision, establishment and maintenance of links through culture and management and high levels of motivation. Designing and implementing ACM avoiding the highlighted pitfalls improves the capacity of the FPAs to continue providing social and ecological benefits such as improvement of local communities’ livelihoods, biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation.
- Full Text:
Fraction-specific geochemistry across the Asbestos Hills BIF of the Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa: implications for the origin of BIF and the history of atmospheric oxygen
- Oonk, Paul Bernardus Hendrikus
- Authors: Oonk, Paul Bernardus Hendrikus
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50721 , vital:26021
- Description: Banded iron formations (BIF), deposited prior to and concurrent with the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at ca. 2.4 Ga, record changes in oceanic and atmospheric chemistry during this critical time interval. Four previously unstudied drill-cores from the Griqualand West Basin, South Africa, capturing the rhythmically mesobanded, deep-water Kuruman BIF and the overlying granular, shallower Griquatown BIF, were sampled every ca. 10 m along core depth. Mineralogically, these BIFs consist of three iron-bearing fractions: (1) Fe-Ca-Mg-Mn carbonates, (2) magnetite with/without minor hematite and (3) Fe-silicates. These fractions are typically fine-grained on a sub-μm scale and their co-occurrence in varying amounts means that bulk-rock or microanalytical geochemical and stable isotope data are influenced by mineralogy.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Oonk, Paul Bernardus Hendrikus
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50721 , vital:26021
- Description: Banded iron formations (BIF), deposited prior to and concurrent with the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at ca. 2.4 Ga, record changes in oceanic and atmospheric chemistry during this critical time interval. Four previously unstudied drill-cores from the Griqualand West Basin, South Africa, capturing the rhythmically mesobanded, deep-water Kuruman BIF and the overlying granular, shallower Griquatown BIF, were sampled every ca. 10 m along core depth. Mineralogically, these BIFs consist of three iron-bearing fractions: (1) Fe-Ca-Mg-Mn carbonates, (2) magnetite with/without minor hematite and (3) Fe-silicates. These fractions are typically fine-grained on a sub-μm scale and their co-occurrence in varying amounts means that bulk-rock or microanalytical geochemical and stable isotope data are influenced by mineralogy.
- Full Text:
From dialect to ‘official’ language: towards the intellectualisation of Ndau in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Sithole, Emmanuel
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6086 , vital:21030
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sithole, Emmanuel
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6086 , vital:21030
- Full Text:
Genetic diversity, evolutionary relationships and conservation of southern African Labeo fishes in relation to water management
- Authors: Ramoejane, Mpho
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5209 , vital:20786
- Description: Labeo spp. are large, herbivorous fishes that are important components of aquatic ecosystems and are a high conservation priority in South Africa. This thesis contributes to determination of conservation priorities for Labeo umbratus (Smith 1841) by resolving the taxonomic status of this species in the evolutionary context of southern African Labeo spp., assessing the presence of unique lineages in historically isolated river basins, and assessing the threat of intra- and interspecific hybridisation associated with introductions. Phylogenetic analyses of five DNA sequence data sets (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene [COI], cytochrome b gene [Cyt b], Recombination activating gene 1 [Rag1], COI+Rag1 and COI+Cyt b+Rag1) showed that the Labeo umbratus group (sensu Reid, 1985), which comprises the species Labeo umbratus, Labeo capensis (Smith 1841), Labeo seeberi Gilchrist and Thompson 1911 and Labeo rubromaculatus Gilchrist and Thompson 1913, is monophyletic, morphologically distinct and geographically disjunct from other African Labeo spp. groups except in the Tugela River system were L. rubromaculatus co-occurs with Labeo molybdinus Du Plessis 1963. Phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (Cyt b) sequence data demonstrated that the populations of the L. umbratus from the Orange and the southward-flowing river systems are reciprocally monophyletic and were identified as evolutionary significant units. The populations in the southward-flowing river systems were further divided into southwestern (Gourits and Gamtoos) and southeastern (Sundays, Bushmans, Great Fish, Keiskamma, Buffalo and Nahoon) polyp hyletic sublineages. Four management units (Gourits Basin; Gamtoos Basin; Sundays+Bushmans+Great Fish River Basins; and Keiskamma+Buffalo+Nahoon River Basin) were not reciprocally monophyletic but were proposed on the basis of containing unique haplotype frequencies for conservation purposes. To evaluate the threat of hybridisation to the genetic integrity of L. umbratus, the occurrence of Labeo umbratus x L. capensis hybrids was investigated using mtDNA Cyt b and nDNA S7 intron sequence data and morphological data. Genetic evidence for interspecific hybridisation was detected for populations in two impoundments, Hardap Dam (Orange River Basin) and Darlington Dam (Sundays River Basin, Eastern Cape, South Africa). Some putative hybrids were identifiable morphologically on account of intermediacy between the parental species in meristic and morphometric characters. Translocation via direct stocking (Hardap Dam) or via an inter-basin water transfer scheme (Darlington Dam) was identified as a driver for hybridisation. Introductions associated with an inter-basin water transfer scheme has resulted in introgression between the previously isolated Orange River and southern lineages of L. umbratus. Further translocation of fish from these affected areas to non-contaminated river systems and impoundments such as Kat River (Great Fish River) and Slagboom (Sundays River) should be avoided.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ramoejane, Mpho
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5209 , vital:20786
- Description: Labeo spp. are large, herbivorous fishes that are important components of aquatic ecosystems and are a high conservation priority in South Africa. This thesis contributes to determination of conservation priorities for Labeo umbratus (Smith 1841) by resolving the taxonomic status of this species in the evolutionary context of southern African Labeo spp., assessing the presence of unique lineages in historically isolated river basins, and assessing the threat of intra- and interspecific hybridisation associated with introductions. Phylogenetic analyses of five DNA sequence data sets (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene [COI], cytochrome b gene [Cyt b], Recombination activating gene 1 [Rag1], COI+Rag1 and COI+Cyt b+Rag1) showed that the Labeo umbratus group (sensu Reid, 1985), which comprises the species Labeo umbratus, Labeo capensis (Smith 1841), Labeo seeberi Gilchrist and Thompson 1911 and Labeo rubromaculatus Gilchrist and Thompson 1913, is monophyletic, morphologically distinct and geographically disjunct from other African Labeo spp. groups except in the Tugela River system were L. rubromaculatus co-occurs with Labeo molybdinus Du Plessis 1963. Phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (Cyt b) sequence data demonstrated that the populations of the L. umbratus from the Orange and the southward-flowing river systems are reciprocally monophyletic and were identified as evolutionary significant units. The populations in the southward-flowing river systems were further divided into southwestern (Gourits and Gamtoos) and southeastern (Sundays, Bushmans, Great Fish, Keiskamma, Buffalo and Nahoon) polyp hyletic sublineages. Four management units (Gourits Basin; Gamtoos Basin; Sundays+Bushmans+Great Fish River Basins; and Keiskamma+Buffalo+Nahoon River Basin) were not reciprocally monophyletic but were proposed on the basis of containing unique haplotype frequencies for conservation purposes. To evaluate the threat of hybridisation to the genetic integrity of L. umbratus, the occurrence of Labeo umbratus x L. capensis hybrids was investigated using mtDNA Cyt b and nDNA S7 intron sequence data and morphological data. Genetic evidence for interspecific hybridisation was detected for populations in two impoundments, Hardap Dam (Orange River Basin) and Darlington Dam (Sundays River Basin, Eastern Cape, South Africa). Some putative hybrids were identifiable morphologically on account of intermediacy between the parental species in meristic and morphometric characters. Translocation via direct stocking (Hardap Dam) or via an inter-basin water transfer scheme (Darlington Dam) was identified as a driver for hybridisation. Introductions associated with an inter-basin water transfer scheme has resulted in introgression between the previously isolated Orange River and southern lineages of L. umbratus. Further translocation of fish from these affected areas to non-contaminated river systems and impoundments such as Kat River (Great Fish River) and Slagboom (Sundays River) should be avoided.
- Full Text:
Geomorphological connectivity and sensitivity examined in a recently degraded gravel-bed stream: implications for river-floodplain rehabilitation
- Authors: Powell, Rebecca
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53722 , vital:26313
- Description: The study of river complexity and sensitivity to future human land-use activities and climate change is a fast growing field within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology. Associated with this is a need to improve river rehabilitation and catchment management approach, design and effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate drivers of the recent geomorphological sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, an upland system in South Africa, by integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy. The understanding generated was used to evaluate the approach of the State agency, Working for Wetlands (WfWet), to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the catchment.The concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy provide useful frameworks for understanding interactions between geomorphological processes and structure across scales of space and time. Geomorphological connectivity explains the degree to which water and sediment is linked in a river landscape, determined by the distribution of erosional and depositional landforms (Brierley et al. 2006; Fryirs et al. 2007a; Fryirs et al. 2007b). Panarchy attempts to explain lagged response to disturbances, non-linear interactions, and sudden shifts in system state, and has been applied largely to ecological systems. Panarchy theory, when combined with the concept of geomorphological connectivity, provides a guiding framework for understanding river complexity in greater depth. The first results chapter of this study investigated river long-term and recent geomorphological history, towards understanding the nature and timing of river geomorphological cycling between erosion and deposition. Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating of alluvial fan and floodplain sedimentary units was conducted, for analysis of river-floodplain long-term history (100s to 1 000s of years). Interviews with 11 local landowners, combined with analysis of historic aerial imagery and river-floodplain topographic surveys, provided a means of describing recent (last few decades) geomorphological dynamics. The results indicated that the Baviaanskloof is naturally a cut- and-fill landscape over scales of several hundred to thousands of years, characterized by the alternation between phases of high fluvial energy and alluvial fan expansion, and low energy conditions associated with floodplain accretion. Recent and widespread river-floodplain degradation was compressed into a short period of approximately 30 years, suggesting that one or more drivers have pushed the system beyond a threshold, resulting in increased water and sediment connectivity. The second results chapter investigated the role of human land-use activities and flooding frequency and magnitude, as drivers of recent river-floodplain degradation. Human impacts were investigated by describing land-use activities for the preceding 80 years, and relating these activities to changes in river-floodplain form and behavior. Temporal trends in flood events of different frequency and magnitude were investigated by analyzing rainfall data, integrated with landowner reports of flood-inducing rainfall magnitudes. The findings indicated that human land-use activities have been an important driver of recent river- floodplain degradation, through the enhancement of water and sediment connectivity across spatial scales of the catchment. Episodic and high magnitude floods synergized with human driven increased connectivity, precipitating stream power and geomorphological threshold breaches, resulting in a shift in river behaviour. The third results chapter investigated the influence of tributary-junction streams and fans on the geomorphological form, behavior and sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River. Local- scale topographic impacts of tributary fans and streams were described using topographic surveys and geomorphological mapping techniques. Tributary streams form a major control on the behaviour of the river, by influencing the degree of coarse sediment connectivity with the main channel. Although tributary fans buffer the river from disturbances occurring in the wider catchment, they initiate topographic variations along the floodplain, influencing local-scale patterns of deposition and erosion along the river. The main river responds to water and sediment inputs from tributary junction streams by locally adjusting longitudinal slope, maintaining an overall constant slope of 0.0066 m/m. The response of the Baviaanskloof River to tributary junction fans and streams is however variable, and is fashioned by complex interactions between geomorphological and anthropogenic factors. The final two chapters of the thesis evaluate the findings of the study within the context of river-floodplain rehabilitation approaches in South Africa, and within the theoretical, philosophical and methodological context of the research. The first of these two chapters evaluates the approach of the WfWet programme to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the Baviaanskloof. The chapter indicates that the present practice of WfWet is to reinstate a pre-degradation state, which is not suited to the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, since the river-floodplain has passed a geomorphological threshold, resulting in a new set of interacting processes and landforms. The author presents a conceptual model illustrating the existence of geomorphological adaptive cycles interacting across spatial and temporal scales, thereby attempting to explain a river Panarchy specific to the Baviaanskloof. From this conceptual model, a hierarchical rehabilitation framework, targeting geomorphological processes and structure situated at different spatial and temporal scales of the landscape is suggested. The final chapter discusses the implications of integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and river Panarchy theory in studies of river complexity and sensitivity to geomorphological change. The author suggests that there is scope for further investigation of the application of the two concepts within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology, particularly with regard to developing quantitative approaches to measuring and describing connectivity and Panarchy.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Powell, Rebecca
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53722 , vital:26313
- Description: The study of river complexity and sensitivity to future human land-use activities and climate change is a fast growing field within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology. Associated with this is a need to improve river rehabilitation and catchment management approach, design and effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate drivers of the recent geomorphological sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, an upland system in South Africa, by integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy. The understanding generated was used to evaluate the approach of the State agency, Working for Wetlands (WfWet), to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the catchment.The concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy provide useful frameworks for understanding interactions between geomorphological processes and structure across scales of space and time. Geomorphological connectivity explains the degree to which water and sediment is linked in a river landscape, determined by the distribution of erosional and depositional landforms (Brierley et al. 2006; Fryirs et al. 2007a; Fryirs et al. 2007b). Panarchy attempts to explain lagged response to disturbances, non-linear interactions, and sudden shifts in system state, and has been applied largely to ecological systems. Panarchy theory, when combined with the concept of geomorphological connectivity, provides a guiding framework for understanding river complexity in greater depth. The first results chapter of this study investigated river long-term and recent geomorphological history, towards understanding the nature and timing of river geomorphological cycling between erosion and deposition. Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating of alluvial fan and floodplain sedimentary units was conducted, for analysis of river-floodplain long-term history (100s to 1 000s of years). Interviews with 11 local landowners, combined with analysis of historic aerial imagery and river-floodplain topographic surveys, provided a means of describing recent (last few decades) geomorphological dynamics. The results indicated that the Baviaanskloof is naturally a cut- and-fill landscape over scales of several hundred to thousands of years, characterized by the alternation between phases of high fluvial energy and alluvial fan expansion, and low energy conditions associated with floodplain accretion. Recent and widespread river-floodplain degradation was compressed into a short period of approximately 30 years, suggesting that one or more drivers have pushed the system beyond a threshold, resulting in increased water and sediment connectivity. The second results chapter investigated the role of human land-use activities and flooding frequency and magnitude, as drivers of recent river-floodplain degradation. Human impacts were investigated by describing land-use activities for the preceding 80 years, and relating these activities to changes in river-floodplain form and behavior. Temporal trends in flood events of different frequency and magnitude were investigated by analyzing rainfall data, integrated with landowner reports of flood-inducing rainfall magnitudes. The findings indicated that human land-use activities have been an important driver of recent river- floodplain degradation, through the enhancement of water and sediment connectivity across spatial scales of the catchment. Episodic and high magnitude floods synergized with human driven increased connectivity, precipitating stream power and geomorphological threshold breaches, resulting in a shift in river behaviour. The third results chapter investigated the influence of tributary-junction streams and fans on the geomorphological form, behavior and sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River. Local- scale topographic impacts of tributary fans and streams were described using topographic surveys and geomorphological mapping techniques. Tributary streams form a major control on the behaviour of the river, by influencing the degree of coarse sediment connectivity with the main channel. Although tributary fans buffer the river from disturbances occurring in the wider catchment, they initiate topographic variations along the floodplain, influencing local-scale patterns of deposition and erosion along the river. The main river responds to water and sediment inputs from tributary junction streams by locally adjusting longitudinal slope, maintaining an overall constant slope of 0.0066 m/m. The response of the Baviaanskloof River to tributary junction fans and streams is however variable, and is fashioned by complex interactions between geomorphological and anthropogenic factors. The final two chapters of the thesis evaluate the findings of the study within the context of river-floodplain rehabilitation approaches in South Africa, and within the theoretical, philosophical and methodological context of the research. The first of these two chapters evaluates the approach of the WfWet programme to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the Baviaanskloof. The chapter indicates that the present practice of WfWet is to reinstate a pre-degradation state, which is not suited to the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, since the river-floodplain has passed a geomorphological threshold, resulting in a new set of interacting processes and landforms. The author presents a conceptual model illustrating the existence of geomorphological adaptive cycles interacting across spatial and temporal scales, thereby attempting to explain a river Panarchy specific to the Baviaanskloof. From this conceptual model, a hierarchical rehabilitation framework, targeting geomorphological processes and structure situated at different spatial and temporal scales of the landscape is suggested. The final chapter discusses the implications of integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and river Panarchy theory in studies of river complexity and sensitivity to geomorphological change. The author suggests that there is scope for further investigation of the application of the two concepts within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology, particularly with regard to developing quantitative approaches to measuring and describing connectivity and Panarchy.
- Full Text:
Hearing the citizens: inequality, access to journalists and the prospects for inclusively mediated spaces of political deliberation in South Africa
- Authors: Oelofsen, Marietjie
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35030 , vital:24309
- Description: This study examines the extent to which material and social inequality in post-apartheid South Africa affect possibilities for poor citizens to gain access to mainstream spaces of mediated political deliberation. Access is problematized in terms of the possibilities that exist for poor citizens to ‘appear’ in these spaces as emancipated citizens with political agency. The study is motivated by a perception that South Africa’s middle-class and privileged citizens have more access to political deliberation because mainstream journalists pay more attention to their political concerns. Because mediated political deliberation provides a space for articulating the political will of citizens it is important that it reflects the multiple, and diverse range of voices that make up South Africa’s polity. If the experience of socioeconomically marginalised citizens is not registered in the same way as the experience of citizens with economic and political power, the balance of political decision-making continues to be skewed against the interests of the poor. Rather than a media-centric approach, the study centres on perceptions and views of poor citizens about their relationship with mainstream journalists. The study combines information from group interviews with citizens from Hangberg, Cape Town with 410 news reports in 18 mainstream newspapers about Hangberg citizens over a 20-year period. The interviews show that poor citizens feel largely excluded from mediated political deliberation; not because they do not appear in the news but because of how they appear in the news. The news reports confirm that mainstream journalists pay more attention to voices with political and economic power than to the voices of poor citizens. Even in news reports about Hangberg citizens, political leaders and non-governmental experts often talk about the problems in Hangberg more than the citizens of Hangberg themselves talk about these problems. Building on a relatively new scholarly interest in ‘active’ and ‘political’ listening in media studies and democratic theory (Bickford 1996, Dreher 2009, Couldry 2009, Dobson 2014, Wasserman 2013, Garman and Malila 2014), I consider listening as a constitutive element of the way in which journalists engage with poor citizens in mediated deliberative spaces. I ask whether different practices of listening can enable journalists to construct narratives that provide marginalised groups with different possibilities for equal access to, and participation in these spaces?
- Full Text:
- Authors: Oelofsen, Marietjie
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35030 , vital:24309
- Description: This study examines the extent to which material and social inequality in post-apartheid South Africa affect possibilities for poor citizens to gain access to mainstream spaces of mediated political deliberation. Access is problematized in terms of the possibilities that exist for poor citizens to ‘appear’ in these spaces as emancipated citizens with political agency. The study is motivated by a perception that South Africa’s middle-class and privileged citizens have more access to political deliberation because mainstream journalists pay more attention to their political concerns. Because mediated political deliberation provides a space for articulating the political will of citizens it is important that it reflects the multiple, and diverse range of voices that make up South Africa’s polity. If the experience of socioeconomically marginalised citizens is not registered in the same way as the experience of citizens with economic and political power, the balance of political decision-making continues to be skewed against the interests of the poor. Rather than a media-centric approach, the study centres on perceptions and views of poor citizens about their relationship with mainstream journalists. The study combines information from group interviews with citizens from Hangberg, Cape Town with 410 news reports in 18 mainstream newspapers about Hangberg citizens over a 20-year period. The interviews show that poor citizens feel largely excluded from mediated political deliberation; not because they do not appear in the news but because of how they appear in the news. The news reports confirm that mainstream journalists pay more attention to voices with political and economic power than to the voices of poor citizens. Even in news reports about Hangberg citizens, political leaders and non-governmental experts often talk about the problems in Hangberg more than the citizens of Hangberg themselves talk about these problems. Building on a relatively new scholarly interest in ‘active’ and ‘political’ listening in media studies and democratic theory (Bickford 1996, Dreher 2009, Couldry 2009, Dobson 2014, Wasserman 2013, Garman and Malila 2014), I consider listening as a constitutive element of the way in which journalists engage with poor citizens in mediated deliberative spaces. I ask whether different practices of listening can enable journalists to construct narratives that provide marginalised groups with different possibilities for equal access to, and participation in these spaces?
- Full Text:
Identifying growth criteria and sediment movement mechanisms of needle ice using high-frequency environmental and visual monitoring
- Authors: Borg, Carl-Johan
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Frazil ice , Sediment transport , Ice mechanics , Photography -- Digital techniques , Environmental monitoring
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17656 , vital:22268
- Description: Environmental growth conditions and mechanisms involved in sediment transport by needle ice have historically been difficult to assess and are poorly documented. The spatial and temporal dynamics that relate to the environment, growth and decay of needle ice are not fully understood. This study monitored needle ice growth, melt and visually identified sediment displacement mechanisms by needle ice, with the aim of revealing environmental growth criteria, timing of growth/melt, ground-surface-air energy balance and sediment displacement mechanisms. Furthermore, the impact of needle ice displacement on vegetation and patterned ground formation was analysed. High-frequency visual monitoring, using three cameras, supplemented by high-frequency measurements of air temperature, soil moisture and wind speed was used to investigate needle ice growth and decay dynamics. Results from visual and environmental monitoring of needle ice growth, showed that the needle ice growing environment was more dynamic, especially in terms of surface temperature, than previously argued. Needle ice growth was observed to occur during surface temperatures from -2.0°C to 2.2°C, soil moisture levels from 0.4% to 37.4% and in winds speeds of 0 m/s to 12.6 m/s. Needle ice initiation was documented a few minutes to hours before or after the onset of surface temperature dropping to below 0°C. Imagery displayed that the depth of ice nucleation was variable within the soil column, possibly relating to the energy balance of radiative cooling, convective heat loss, ground conductivity and latent heat release at the air-surface-ground boundary. Heaving and resettling, toppling and rolling were identified as slope displacement mechanisms when needle ice decayed. Animal trampling and hail were additionally documented as substantial surface altering processes. Furthermore, no impact of needle ice reducing vegetation stability was identified, although a tendency to hinder vegetation expansion was noted. Also, no creation of patterned ground was observed as a result of needle ice decay.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Borg, Carl-Johan
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Frazil ice , Sediment transport , Ice mechanics , Photography -- Digital techniques , Environmental monitoring
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17656 , vital:22268
- Description: Environmental growth conditions and mechanisms involved in sediment transport by needle ice have historically been difficult to assess and are poorly documented. The spatial and temporal dynamics that relate to the environment, growth and decay of needle ice are not fully understood. This study monitored needle ice growth, melt and visually identified sediment displacement mechanisms by needle ice, with the aim of revealing environmental growth criteria, timing of growth/melt, ground-surface-air energy balance and sediment displacement mechanisms. Furthermore, the impact of needle ice displacement on vegetation and patterned ground formation was analysed. High-frequency visual monitoring, using three cameras, supplemented by high-frequency measurements of air temperature, soil moisture and wind speed was used to investigate needle ice growth and decay dynamics. Results from visual and environmental monitoring of needle ice growth, showed that the needle ice growing environment was more dynamic, especially in terms of surface temperature, than previously argued. Needle ice growth was observed to occur during surface temperatures from -2.0°C to 2.2°C, soil moisture levels from 0.4% to 37.4% and in winds speeds of 0 m/s to 12.6 m/s. Needle ice initiation was documented a few minutes to hours before or after the onset of surface temperature dropping to below 0°C. Imagery displayed that the depth of ice nucleation was variable within the soil column, possibly relating to the energy balance of radiative cooling, convective heat loss, ground conductivity and latent heat release at the air-surface-ground boundary. Heaving and resettling, toppling and rolling were identified as slope displacement mechanisms when needle ice decayed. Animal trampling and hail were additionally documented as substantial surface altering processes. Furthermore, no impact of needle ice reducing vegetation stability was identified, although a tendency to hinder vegetation expansion was noted. Also, no creation of patterned ground was observed as a result of needle ice decay.
- Full Text:
Indigenous and traditional musics in the school classroom : a re-evaluation of the South African Indigenous African Music (IAM) curriculum
- Authors: McConnachie, Boudina
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Ethnomusicology , Indigenous people -- Music , Music -- Instruction and study -- Africa , Music -- Instruction and study -- Curricula -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:21182 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6806
- Description: Musical ideals set by European standards and values, entrenched through colonial oppression and promoted by the continued veneration of Western culture need to be re-evaluated. Despite the intention of the ANC government, through the Department of Basic Education's Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement music curricula, to integrate Indigenous Knowledge and musics into the South African classroom, evidence shows that opportunities to do so are not seized. With reference to the proclaimed values of an African sensibility in the model of the South African music education curriculum, the history of its development and the current pedagogical movement towards transformation in the production of knowledge and the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK), this thesis questions why teachers in government schools in South Africa are not executing the Indigenous African Music (IAM) syllabus in the CAPS FET music curriculum. Taking the history of music education and the development of curriculum models and frameworks into account, it interrogates what strategies could improve the application of the current music curriculum in government schools in South Africa. These questions are addressed in the thesis by way of a discussion of the music curriculum and what its praxis in the classroom reveals about its efficacy, through observations and personal experiences, the observations of teachers and student teachers, a comparison with the experience in Zimbabwe, and an analysis of the music curriculum as it is currently devised and implemented. Straddling three methodological approaches, namely the ethnographic, the autoethnographic and the action research approach this study finds that the CAPS FET music curriculum does provide realistic opportunities to engage with African Indigenous and traditional music. This, however, is dependent upon the training of the teacher, facilities available in the classroom and the prior knowledge of the learner. A fundamental flaw of this curriculum is the approach to practical assessment of Indigenous and traditional African musics and the lack of assessment criteria and practical guidelines. In addition, the findings suggest that the fault regarding implementation of the curriculum lies in the training of students (who become teachers) at tertiary level, where an integrated approach to skills development regarding Indigenous African music is suggested.
- Full Text:
- Authors: McConnachie, Boudina
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Ethnomusicology , Indigenous people -- Music , Music -- Instruction and study -- Africa , Music -- Instruction and study -- Curricula -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:21182 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6806
- Description: Musical ideals set by European standards and values, entrenched through colonial oppression and promoted by the continued veneration of Western culture need to be re-evaluated. Despite the intention of the ANC government, through the Department of Basic Education's Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement music curricula, to integrate Indigenous Knowledge and musics into the South African classroom, evidence shows that opportunities to do so are not seized. With reference to the proclaimed values of an African sensibility in the model of the South African music education curriculum, the history of its development and the current pedagogical movement towards transformation in the production of knowledge and the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK), this thesis questions why teachers in government schools in South Africa are not executing the Indigenous African Music (IAM) syllabus in the CAPS FET music curriculum. Taking the history of music education and the development of curriculum models and frameworks into account, it interrogates what strategies could improve the application of the current music curriculum in government schools in South Africa. These questions are addressed in the thesis by way of a discussion of the music curriculum and what its praxis in the classroom reveals about its efficacy, through observations and personal experiences, the observations of teachers and student teachers, a comparison with the experience in Zimbabwe, and an analysis of the music curriculum as it is currently devised and implemented. Straddling three methodological approaches, namely the ethnographic, the autoethnographic and the action research approach this study finds that the CAPS FET music curriculum does provide realistic opportunities to engage with African Indigenous and traditional music. This, however, is dependent upon the training of the teacher, facilities available in the classroom and the prior knowledge of the learner. A fundamental flaw of this curriculum is the approach to practical assessment of Indigenous and traditional African musics and the lack of assessment criteria and practical guidelines. In addition, the findings suggest that the fault regarding implementation of the curriculum lies in the training of students (who become teachers) at tertiary level, where an integrated approach to skills development regarding Indigenous African music is suggested.
- Full Text:
Information and propaganda in the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland with special reference to print and radio propaganda for Africans, 1953-1963
- Authors: Zimudzi, Tapiwa Brown
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6957 , vital:21204
- Description: This thesis contributes to the history of the information and propaganda policy and practice of the government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by examining this government's pro-Federation print and radio propaganda for Africans in the Federation. Using a multi-theoretical approach, it analyses the character of this propaganda, highlighting its main methods and themes as well as the policy considerations, plus political and economic circumstances that gave rise to it. It also discusses how Africans in the Federation reacted to this propaganda and assesses its effectiveness in gaining the support of these Africans for Federation and the policies of the Federal government. The thesis argues that Federal government propaganda aimed at gaining the support of Africans for Federation was predominantly panic-driven propaganda and was the product of an information panic that lay at the heart of the very idea of Federation itself. This information panic arose out of the Federal government's belated recognition of the strength of African opposition to Federation and of how this opposition seriously threatened the continued survival of the Federation. It is also argued that this panic-driven pro-Federation propaganda elicited largely hostile reactions from the majority of Africans in the Federation and failed to persuade them to support Federation.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Zimudzi, Tapiwa Brown
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6957 , vital:21204
- Description: This thesis contributes to the history of the information and propaganda policy and practice of the government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by examining this government's pro-Federation print and radio propaganda for Africans in the Federation. Using a multi-theoretical approach, it analyses the character of this propaganda, highlighting its main methods and themes as well as the policy considerations, plus political and economic circumstances that gave rise to it. It also discusses how Africans in the Federation reacted to this propaganda and assesses its effectiveness in gaining the support of these Africans for Federation and the policies of the Federal government. The thesis argues that Federal government propaganda aimed at gaining the support of Africans for Federation was predominantly panic-driven propaganda and was the product of an information panic that lay at the heart of the very idea of Federation itself. This information panic arose out of the Federal government's belated recognition of the strength of African opposition to Federation and of how this opposition seriously threatened the continued survival of the Federation. It is also argued that this panic-driven pro-Federation propaganda elicited largely hostile reactions from the majority of Africans in the Federation and failed to persuade them to support Federation.
- Full Text:
Invasive alien plants and rural livelihoods: a case of Gwanda District, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Dube, Nqobizitha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Cylindropuntia fulgida , Invasive plants -- Economic aspects , Invasive plants -- Control , Invasive plants -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe , Ecosystem services -- Zimbabwe , Environmental policy -- Zimbabwe , Ecosystem management -- Zimbabwe , Cactus -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4368 , vital:20653
- Description: Biodiversity is the cornerstone of ecosystem functioning and the realisation that most rural African community livelihoods are directly dependent on ecosystem goods and services warrants its conservation. Invasive alien plants threaten biodiversity and compromise the ecosystem's ability to provide goods and services for rural communities, thereby negatively affecting livelihood strategies. Information on IAPs is lacking in most African countries, thus, the livelihood effects of Invasive Alien Plants (IAPs) are not clearly understood. In Zimbabwe, Cylindropuntia fulgida var. fulgida (Cff) has invaded Gwanda district in the Matabeleland south province compromising local household capital assets that contribute to livelihood strategies and altering the ecosystem. This study exposed the rural worldview of the environment, the effect that Cff has on local livelihood strategies and the effectiveness environmental management institutions in rural Gwanda district. The study followed a post positivist paradigm. The impacts of IAPs on rural communities in Zimbabwe were analysed by looking at the livelihood stresses that arise because of Cff. The research used multi-stage sampling to select a representative sample of respondents. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires, group discussion and key informant guides. Furthermore, document analysis was conducted to collect secondary data. The data analysis process used Computer packages Microsoft Excel, SPSS and NVIVO. Results showed that livelihood benefits that species in the natural environment provide strongly influence environmental perceptions of rural African communities. Additionally, the study showed that Cff compromises the local ecosystem and reduces its ability to support the dominant livelihoods in the study area. The long-term result of such a situation in the absence of control is increased poverty and the failure to realise sustainable development. However, results indicated that IAPs could also improve the poverty situation of a community before they have reached the threshold points. It is therefore imperative to know the threshold points of an invasive plant in order to ascertain the efficient point to intervene. The study also showed that benefits of invasive plants accrue to different members of a society at different times (private/public). This knowledge allows the adoption of efficient and effective control strategies.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Dube, Nqobizitha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Cylindropuntia fulgida , Invasive plants -- Economic aspects , Invasive plants -- Control , Invasive plants -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe , Ecosystem services -- Zimbabwe , Environmental policy -- Zimbabwe , Ecosystem management -- Zimbabwe , Cactus -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4368 , vital:20653
- Description: Biodiversity is the cornerstone of ecosystem functioning and the realisation that most rural African community livelihoods are directly dependent on ecosystem goods and services warrants its conservation. Invasive alien plants threaten biodiversity and compromise the ecosystem's ability to provide goods and services for rural communities, thereby negatively affecting livelihood strategies. Information on IAPs is lacking in most African countries, thus, the livelihood effects of Invasive Alien Plants (IAPs) are not clearly understood. In Zimbabwe, Cylindropuntia fulgida var. fulgida (Cff) has invaded Gwanda district in the Matabeleland south province compromising local household capital assets that contribute to livelihood strategies and altering the ecosystem. This study exposed the rural worldview of the environment, the effect that Cff has on local livelihood strategies and the effectiveness environmental management institutions in rural Gwanda district. The study followed a post positivist paradigm. The impacts of IAPs on rural communities in Zimbabwe were analysed by looking at the livelihood stresses that arise because of Cff. The research used multi-stage sampling to select a representative sample of respondents. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires, group discussion and key informant guides. Furthermore, document analysis was conducted to collect secondary data. The data analysis process used Computer packages Microsoft Excel, SPSS and NVIVO. Results showed that livelihood benefits that species in the natural environment provide strongly influence environmental perceptions of rural African communities. Additionally, the study showed that Cff compromises the local ecosystem and reduces its ability to support the dominant livelihoods in the study area. The long-term result of such a situation in the absence of control is increased poverty and the failure to realise sustainable development. However, results indicated that IAPs could also improve the poverty situation of a community before they have reached the threshold points. It is therefore imperative to know the threshold points of an invasive plant in order to ascertain the efficient point to intervene. The study also showed that benefits of invasive plants accrue to different members of a society at different times (private/public). This knowledge allows the adoption of efficient and effective control strategies.
- Full Text:
Investigating herbivory and plant origin on tall-statured grasses in South Africa
- Authors: Canavan, Kim
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Insects as biological pest control agents -- South Africa , Arundo donax , Giant reed -- South Africa , Giant reed -- Biological control -- South Africa , Phragmites australis , Phragmites mauritianus , Phragmites , Tetramesa romana , Biological invasions -- South Africa , Wasps -- Host plants , Wasps -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6147 , vital:21051
- Description: South African riparian zones have been heavily degraded through anthropogenic activities such as dam construction and extraction of water for irrigation, which has resulted in a loss of ecosystem services and functioning. A consequence of such disturbances to riparian areas is in their susceptibility to invasive alien species (IAS). One such IAS is the giant reed, Arundo donax L. (Poaceae), introduced to South Africa in the 1700s largely for erosion control. Arundo donax has since greatly expanded in the country and is now one of the most abundant IAS. Arundo donax has been found to displace native vegetation and in South Africa this will most likely lead to the displacement of the native tall-statured grasses, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. and Phragmites mauritianus Kunth. This study aimed to enhance our understanding of the tall-statured grasses A. donax, P. australis and P. mauritianus to better manage them in riparian areas. For A. donax, biological control is seen as the most viable option to control stands in the long-term. However, before such a programme is put in place, it is important to first collect baseline data that can be used to guide the direction of the biological control project in South Africa. For the Phragmites spp., despite being a dominant vegetative type in riparian areas, very little is known about their status in South Africa. Furthermore, there have been increasing reports of both Phragmites species having an expansion of their range and abundance. In North America, there has been a similar trend of reed expansion and through molecular work it was determined that a cryptic invasion has occurred with the introduction of an invasive non-native haplotype from Europe. It is therefore unknown if Phragmites spp. populations are expanding due to anthropogenic activities or due to a cryptic invasion. To address these shortfalls in knowledge the study investigated the tall-statured grasses in two parts; firstly, molecular techniques are used to explore the plant origin and genetic diversity of A. donax, P. australis and P. mauritianus and secondly using the Enemy Release Hypothesis as a framework, herbivore assemblages for each reed was determined across their distribution in South Africa. Molecular-techniques determined that both P. australis and P. mauritianus had only one haplotype - known as haplotype K and haplotype V respectively, across their distribution. For P. australis, haplotype K shares a close connection with populations from a Mediterranean lineage and this was further confirmed with a shared grass-waxy band. The direction and timing of genetic exchange between the two regions could not be ascertained and thus still remains unknown. Microsatellite analysis determined that both Phragmites spp. had a high genetic diversity compared to worldwide lineages. With no evidence of any cryptic invasions of haplotypes from other regions, both Phragmites spp. populations are likely to be native to South Africa. For A. donax all populations across South Africa were determined to be haplotype M1; a cosmopolitan haplotype that has an ancient native range in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Indus Valley). Populations were found to have no genetic diversity and thus can be considered one clone. A pre-introductory survey determined a list of herbivores associated with each tall- statured grass. For A. donax, a total of seven herbivores were found. Of these, one herbivore, a galling wasp, Tetramesa romana Walker (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) was found to be highly abundant and widely distributed in South Africa. Tetramesa romana is already a biological control agent in North America and thus is likely exerting some pressure on A. donax populations in South Africa. For both Phragmites spp. a total of ten herbivores were found, although having higher species richness compared to A. donax, when compared to other regions, these native species have a relatively low species richness. Providing baseline data on plant origin, genetic diversity and herbivory on A. donax, P. australis and P. mauritianus has provided important information on managing these species in riparian ecosystems in South Africa. For the Phragmites spp. with no evidence of any cryptic invasions, it is recommended that reed stands continue to be managed as native species. Phragmites spp. are important dominant vegetative species and thus should be protected; however, if reed stands become expansive, control methods can be put in place to focus on managing spread and abundance. For A. donax, this study was able to provide pivotal information in guiding the biological control programme. By determining the ancient lineage of South African populations, research can be focused in this area to find potential biological control agents. Lastly, the pre-introductory survey determined that a biological control agent, T. romana was already established with an unknown introduction and also highlighted potential plant parts that should be targeted. In particular, no rhizome feeding herbivores were found in South Africa and therefore this highlights an important niche that should be explored in biological control agents.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Canavan, Kim
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Insects as biological pest control agents -- South Africa , Arundo donax , Giant reed -- South Africa , Giant reed -- Biological control -- South Africa , Phragmites australis , Phragmites mauritianus , Phragmites , Tetramesa romana , Biological invasions -- South Africa , Wasps -- Host plants , Wasps -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6147 , vital:21051
- Description: South African riparian zones have been heavily degraded through anthropogenic activities such as dam construction and extraction of water for irrigation, which has resulted in a loss of ecosystem services and functioning. A consequence of such disturbances to riparian areas is in their susceptibility to invasive alien species (IAS). One such IAS is the giant reed, Arundo donax L. (Poaceae), introduced to South Africa in the 1700s largely for erosion control. Arundo donax has since greatly expanded in the country and is now one of the most abundant IAS. Arundo donax has been found to displace native vegetation and in South Africa this will most likely lead to the displacement of the native tall-statured grasses, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. and Phragmites mauritianus Kunth. This study aimed to enhance our understanding of the tall-statured grasses A. donax, P. australis and P. mauritianus to better manage them in riparian areas. For A. donax, biological control is seen as the most viable option to control stands in the long-term. However, before such a programme is put in place, it is important to first collect baseline data that can be used to guide the direction of the biological control project in South Africa. For the Phragmites spp., despite being a dominant vegetative type in riparian areas, very little is known about their status in South Africa. Furthermore, there have been increasing reports of both Phragmites species having an expansion of their range and abundance. In North America, there has been a similar trend of reed expansion and through molecular work it was determined that a cryptic invasion has occurred with the introduction of an invasive non-native haplotype from Europe. It is therefore unknown if Phragmites spp. populations are expanding due to anthropogenic activities or due to a cryptic invasion. To address these shortfalls in knowledge the study investigated the tall-statured grasses in two parts; firstly, molecular techniques are used to explore the plant origin and genetic diversity of A. donax, P. australis and P. mauritianus and secondly using the Enemy Release Hypothesis as a framework, herbivore assemblages for each reed was determined across their distribution in South Africa. Molecular-techniques determined that both P. australis and P. mauritianus had only one haplotype - known as haplotype K and haplotype V respectively, across their distribution. For P. australis, haplotype K shares a close connection with populations from a Mediterranean lineage and this was further confirmed with a shared grass-waxy band. The direction and timing of genetic exchange between the two regions could not be ascertained and thus still remains unknown. Microsatellite analysis determined that both Phragmites spp. had a high genetic diversity compared to worldwide lineages. With no evidence of any cryptic invasions of haplotypes from other regions, both Phragmites spp. populations are likely to be native to South Africa. For A. donax all populations across South Africa were determined to be haplotype M1; a cosmopolitan haplotype that has an ancient native range in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Indus Valley). Populations were found to have no genetic diversity and thus can be considered one clone. A pre-introductory survey determined a list of herbivores associated with each tall- statured grass. For A. donax, a total of seven herbivores were found. Of these, one herbivore, a galling wasp, Tetramesa romana Walker (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) was found to be highly abundant and widely distributed in South Africa. Tetramesa romana is already a biological control agent in North America and thus is likely exerting some pressure on A. donax populations in South Africa. For both Phragmites spp. a total of ten herbivores were found, although having higher species richness compared to A. donax, when compared to other regions, these native species have a relatively low species richness. Providing baseline data on plant origin, genetic diversity and herbivory on A. donax, P. australis and P. mauritianus has provided important information on managing these species in riparian ecosystems in South Africa. For the Phragmites spp. with no evidence of any cryptic invasions, it is recommended that reed stands continue to be managed as native species. Phragmites spp. are important dominant vegetative species and thus should be protected; however, if reed stands become expansive, control methods can be put in place to focus on managing spread and abundance. For A. donax, this study was able to provide pivotal information in guiding the biological control programme. By determining the ancient lineage of South African populations, research can be focused in this area to find potential biological control agents. Lastly, the pre-introductory survey determined that a biological control agent, T. romana was already established with an unknown introduction and also highlighted potential plant parts that should be targeted. In particular, no rhizome feeding herbivores were found in South Africa and therefore this highlights an important niche that should be explored in biological control agents.
- Full Text:
IsiXhosa ulwimi lwabantu abangesosininzi eZimbabwe: ukuphila nokulondolozwa kwaso
- Authors: Kunju, Hleze Welsh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Language policy Zimbabwe , Xhosa (African people) Zimbabwe , Xhosa (African people) Social life and customs Zimbabwe , Xhosa language Zimbabwe , Language spread , Culture diffusion
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7370 , vital:21250
- Description: Kuqikelelwa ukuba kukho amaXhosa (amaMfengu) angcambu zawo ziseMzantsi Afrika amalunga namakhulu amabini amawaka azinze eZimbabwe ukususela kwiminyaka yoo-18001900. Uninzi lwawo lufumaneka eMbembesi, eFort Rixon, eFilabusi, eKenilworth naseMotapa eBubi. Imbali ithi, inxalenye yala maXhosa ngawaseMpuma Kapa, afudukela eZimbabwe noCecil John Rhodes eqhuba iinqwelo kananjalo esebenzela uRhodes ngeminyaka yoo-1800. Le thisisi yongeza kulwazi olutsha malunga nala maXhosa aseZimbabwe, iphonononga ubume bolwimi, imbali nemvelaphi yala maXhosa azinze eZimbabwe lo gama ibonisa ukuba naphantsi kwayiphi na imeko, ulwimi luyakwazi ukuphila ngaphaya kwemida. Ulwimi nenkcubeko zingumtya nethunga, ngenxa yoko le thisisi yayame kakhulu kwinkcubeko. Iethinografi nembali yomlomo zisetyenziswe njengendlela okanye imethodi yokuqhuba olu phando. Iziphumo zolu phando zibonisa ukuba umhlaba, inkcubeko, iingoma, inkolo yobuKrestu, iincwadi ezingaphelelwa xesha zoncwadi lwesiXhosa, iteknoloji namakhasi onxibelelwano nomgaqo-siseko waseZimbabwe (2013) zibe zizixhobo ezidlale indima ebonakalayo ekulondolozeni nasekuphuhliseni isiXhosa eZimbabwe. Imiba ephathelele kumgaqo-nkqubo wesiXhosa eZimbabwe nayo iyaphononongwa, njengokuba isiXhosa ilulwimi oluthathwa njengolusesikweni eZimbabwe.Kusetyenziswa iithiyori ngeethiyori ezingobuni, kuquka nethiyori kaCollier (1997) apho abona ubuni njengolunamacala amabini; avowal kunye ne-ascription. Ubuni bamaXhosa aseZimbabwe buxoxwe ngokwayama kwi-avowal njengokuba uCollier (Ibid.) eyicacisa. Kwizindululo eziqulathwe kolu phando, kuboniswa ukuba ikho imfuneko yokuba iintsapho zaseZimbabwe zidityaniswe nezizalwane zazo eziseMzantsi Afrika. Ukufundiswa kwesiXhosa kwaneenzame zokusebenzisa isiXhosa njengolwimi lokufunda nokufundisa kwizikolo zamaXhosa ezikumabanga aphantsi kuyafuneka nako ukuba kuphandwe nzulu. , There are an estimated two hundred thousand South African amaXhosa who are mostly amaMfengu descendants living in Zimbabwe since the late 1800s-1900s. The majority are found in the areas of Mbembesi, Fort Rixon in Filabusi, Kenilworth and the Motapa area in Bubi. It is stated that some of the amaXhosa living in Zimbabwe came from the Eastern Cape with Cecil John Rhodes as domestic workers and on wagons during the 1800s. Therefore, this thesis provides new knowledge about amaXhosa living in Zimbabwe and gives an analysis of the sociolinguistic and historical background of the amaXhosa living in Zimbabwe while showing how a cross-border language can survive against all odds. The subject of culture has been dealt with as there is a reciprocal relationship between language and culture. Ethnography and Oral History have been used as methods for this research. The findings reveal that land, culture, songs, religion, South African Xhosa literature classic books, technology and social media, as well as the 2013 Zimbabwean constitution, are tools that have played a role in the survival and maintenance of isiXhosa in Zimbabwe. It also assesses Language Policy issues as isiXhosa is now an officially recognized language in Zimbabwe. Drawing on various theories on identity, including Collier’s (1997) understanding that identity is divided into avowal and ascription, the identity of the amaXhosa of Zimbabwe has been discussed in this thesis with an emphasis on avowal as discussed by Collier (Ibid.). Among other recommendations, this study further recommends that a research that looks at the reunion of the Zimbabwean amaXhosa with their South African relatives needs to be undertaken. It also recommends that the teaching of isiXhosa as well as attempts to make isiXhosa the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in the amaXhosa primary schools and pre-schools also needs to be researched further.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kunju, Hleze Welsh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Language policy Zimbabwe , Xhosa (African people) Zimbabwe , Xhosa (African people) Social life and customs Zimbabwe , Xhosa language Zimbabwe , Language spread , Culture diffusion
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7370 , vital:21250
- Description: Kuqikelelwa ukuba kukho amaXhosa (amaMfengu) angcambu zawo ziseMzantsi Afrika amalunga namakhulu amabini amawaka azinze eZimbabwe ukususela kwiminyaka yoo-18001900. Uninzi lwawo lufumaneka eMbembesi, eFort Rixon, eFilabusi, eKenilworth naseMotapa eBubi. Imbali ithi, inxalenye yala maXhosa ngawaseMpuma Kapa, afudukela eZimbabwe noCecil John Rhodes eqhuba iinqwelo kananjalo esebenzela uRhodes ngeminyaka yoo-1800. Le thisisi yongeza kulwazi olutsha malunga nala maXhosa aseZimbabwe, iphonononga ubume bolwimi, imbali nemvelaphi yala maXhosa azinze eZimbabwe lo gama ibonisa ukuba naphantsi kwayiphi na imeko, ulwimi luyakwazi ukuphila ngaphaya kwemida. Ulwimi nenkcubeko zingumtya nethunga, ngenxa yoko le thisisi yayame kakhulu kwinkcubeko. Iethinografi nembali yomlomo zisetyenziswe njengendlela okanye imethodi yokuqhuba olu phando. Iziphumo zolu phando zibonisa ukuba umhlaba, inkcubeko, iingoma, inkolo yobuKrestu, iincwadi ezingaphelelwa xesha zoncwadi lwesiXhosa, iteknoloji namakhasi onxibelelwano nomgaqo-siseko waseZimbabwe (2013) zibe zizixhobo ezidlale indima ebonakalayo ekulondolozeni nasekuphuhliseni isiXhosa eZimbabwe. Imiba ephathelele kumgaqo-nkqubo wesiXhosa eZimbabwe nayo iyaphononongwa, njengokuba isiXhosa ilulwimi oluthathwa njengolusesikweni eZimbabwe.Kusetyenziswa iithiyori ngeethiyori ezingobuni, kuquka nethiyori kaCollier (1997) apho abona ubuni njengolunamacala amabini; avowal kunye ne-ascription. Ubuni bamaXhosa aseZimbabwe buxoxwe ngokwayama kwi-avowal njengokuba uCollier (Ibid.) eyicacisa. Kwizindululo eziqulathwe kolu phando, kuboniswa ukuba ikho imfuneko yokuba iintsapho zaseZimbabwe zidityaniswe nezizalwane zazo eziseMzantsi Afrika. Ukufundiswa kwesiXhosa kwaneenzame zokusebenzisa isiXhosa njengolwimi lokufunda nokufundisa kwizikolo zamaXhosa ezikumabanga aphantsi kuyafuneka nako ukuba kuphandwe nzulu. , There are an estimated two hundred thousand South African amaXhosa who are mostly amaMfengu descendants living in Zimbabwe since the late 1800s-1900s. The majority are found in the areas of Mbembesi, Fort Rixon in Filabusi, Kenilworth and the Motapa area in Bubi. It is stated that some of the amaXhosa living in Zimbabwe came from the Eastern Cape with Cecil John Rhodes as domestic workers and on wagons during the 1800s. Therefore, this thesis provides new knowledge about amaXhosa living in Zimbabwe and gives an analysis of the sociolinguistic and historical background of the amaXhosa living in Zimbabwe while showing how a cross-border language can survive against all odds. The subject of culture has been dealt with as there is a reciprocal relationship between language and culture. Ethnography and Oral History have been used as methods for this research. The findings reveal that land, culture, songs, religion, South African Xhosa literature classic books, technology and social media, as well as the 2013 Zimbabwean constitution, are tools that have played a role in the survival and maintenance of isiXhosa in Zimbabwe. It also assesses Language Policy issues as isiXhosa is now an officially recognized language in Zimbabwe. Drawing on various theories on identity, including Collier’s (1997) understanding that identity is divided into avowal and ascription, the identity of the amaXhosa of Zimbabwe has been discussed in this thesis with an emphasis on avowal as discussed by Collier (Ibid.). Among other recommendations, this study further recommends that a research that looks at the reunion of the Zimbabwean amaXhosa with their South African relatives needs to be undertaken. It also recommends that the teaching of isiXhosa as well as attempts to make isiXhosa the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in the amaXhosa primary schools and pre-schools also needs to be researched further.
- Full Text:
L’etude comparative des elements merveilleux dans trois epopees africaines: Soundjata ou I’epopee mandingue, Emperor Shaka The Great: a Zulu Epic et Nsongo’a Lianja: I’epopee nationale des Nkundo
- Authors: Nkaongami, Josue Bosange
- Date: 2017
- Language: French , English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5590 , vital:20944
- Description: This thesis is a comparative study in Francophone literature which analyses the supernatural factors in three African epics, namely the Sundiata or Mandingo Epic from West Africa by Djibril Tasmir Niane (1960), Emperor Shaka The Great : A Zulu Epic from Southern Africa by Mazisi Kunene (1979), and Nsongo’a Lianja : the National Epic of Nkundo People from Central Africa by Edmond Boelaert (1949). The study analyses similarities and differences between the supernatural figures in these epics and their respective societies using contextual and socio-critical theories. In this thesis it is demonstrated that the presence of supernatural forces is a sine qua non condition for the existence of the epic in the sense that : “the essential mark of the heroic personality in many African folk epics is its reliance on supernatural resources” (Okpewho 1979 : 119). This study shows that in Africa, supernatural forces play vital roles in the society and therefore dominate the African oral epic traditions. Furthermore, the study is significant in the sense that it tries to describe the worldview, especially the religious and cultural beliefs of the particular society or group that produces the epic. The thesis is made up of six chapters. In the first chapter, I outline the study’s subject matter, its aims and objectives, its significance, its assumptions and methodology. In the second chapter, I examine the impact of supernatural devices on the lives of the epic heroes Sundiata, Shaka, and Lianja, the predictions and divinations about their births, childhoods, exiles or epic journeys, their ascension to the throne as well as their genealogies and deaths. Such analysis allows one to identify the supernatural factors surrounding each stage of the life of the heroes, and to understand further the importance of supernatural forces in the communities and institutions where the heroes exercise their powers. In the third chapter, I discuss the typology of the supernatural forces in the heroic epics Sundiata, Shaka and Lianja, using Greimas’s theory of actants. I divide the characters into protagonists, accessories and opponents. In the fourth chapter, I examine the sources of the supernatural forces prevailing on Sundiata, Shaka, and Lianja. The chapter shows how supernatural agents act on the epic heroes and how these supernatural beings make or mar them in the course of the narratives. In the fifth chapter, I investigate the supernatural factors acting on the heroes’ opponents, and in chapter six, I examine the supernatural forces and heroism of the women in the three epics. In the conclusion, I demonstrate that this analysis of supernatural factors enables us not only to appreciate their place and function in the three African epics under study, but also opens a window onto the culture of the Mandingo, Zulu, and Mongo People’s : their activities, beliefs, taboos and the rules which organise their respective societies. , This thesis is presented in two parts: French and English.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nkaongami, Josue Bosange
- Date: 2017
- Language: French , English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5590 , vital:20944
- Description: This thesis is a comparative study in Francophone literature which analyses the supernatural factors in three African epics, namely the Sundiata or Mandingo Epic from West Africa by Djibril Tasmir Niane (1960), Emperor Shaka The Great : A Zulu Epic from Southern Africa by Mazisi Kunene (1979), and Nsongo’a Lianja : the National Epic of Nkundo People from Central Africa by Edmond Boelaert (1949). The study analyses similarities and differences between the supernatural figures in these epics and their respective societies using contextual and socio-critical theories. In this thesis it is demonstrated that the presence of supernatural forces is a sine qua non condition for the existence of the epic in the sense that : “the essential mark of the heroic personality in many African folk epics is its reliance on supernatural resources” (Okpewho 1979 : 119). This study shows that in Africa, supernatural forces play vital roles in the society and therefore dominate the African oral epic traditions. Furthermore, the study is significant in the sense that it tries to describe the worldview, especially the religious and cultural beliefs of the particular society or group that produces the epic. The thesis is made up of six chapters. In the first chapter, I outline the study’s subject matter, its aims and objectives, its significance, its assumptions and methodology. In the second chapter, I examine the impact of supernatural devices on the lives of the epic heroes Sundiata, Shaka, and Lianja, the predictions and divinations about their births, childhoods, exiles or epic journeys, their ascension to the throne as well as their genealogies and deaths. Such analysis allows one to identify the supernatural factors surrounding each stage of the life of the heroes, and to understand further the importance of supernatural forces in the communities and institutions where the heroes exercise their powers. In the third chapter, I discuss the typology of the supernatural forces in the heroic epics Sundiata, Shaka and Lianja, using Greimas’s theory of actants. I divide the characters into protagonists, accessories and opponents. In the fourth chapter, I examine the sources of the supernatural forces prevailing on Sundiata, Shaka, and Lianja. The chapter shows how supernatural agents act on the epic heroes and how these supernatural beings make or mar them in the course of the narratives. In the fifth chapter, I investigate the supernatural factors acting on the heroes’ opponents, and in chapter six, I examine the supernatural forces and heroism of the women in the three epics. In the conclusion, I demonstrate that this analysis of supernatural factors enables us not only to appreciate their place and function in the three African epics under study, but also opens a window onto the culture of the Mandingo, Zulu, and Mongo People’s : their activities, beliefs, taboos and the rules which organise their respective societies. , This thesis is presented in two parts: French and English.
- Full Text:
Ngomso 'special school': contestations of morality and education in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Pattenden, Oliver
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65200 , vital:28704
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
- Authors: Pattenden, Oliver
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65200 , vital:28704
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
Nonlinear optical behavior of lanthanide phthalocyanines and their conjugates with a selection of nanomaterials
- Authors: Sekhosana, Kutloano Edward
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4580 , vital:20695
- Description: This thesis presents novel asymmetrical and symmetrical lanthanide phthalocyanines (Pcs) characterized using a number techniques including proton nuclear magnetic resonance, electron spin resonance, time correlated single photon counting, FTIR spectrometry, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, UV-Vis spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy and CHNS elemental analysis. The design of theses lanthanide Pcs takes the form of mononuclear, binuclear, trinuclear, bis- and tris(phthalocyanines). Nanomaterials such as zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene oxide nanosheets (GONS) (oxidized and reduced) were employed for covalent linkage to mono- and binuclear phthalocyanines as conjugates. Transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize ZnO NPs, MWCNTs and GONS alone and when linked to lanthanide Pcs. Lanthanide Pcs alone and when linked to ZnO NPs, MWCNTs and GONS where embedded in polymers such as poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly (bisphenol A carbonate) (PBC) and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) for thin film preparation. The thickness of the thin films was determined by utilization of the knife edge attachment of the A Bruker D8 Discover X-ray diffraction (XRD). Optical limiting properties of lanthanide Pcs alone and as conjugates in solution and when incorporated into polymers were determined by employing a Z-scan technique. It emerged that low symmetry lanthanide Pcs (19, 20 and 21), the blue forms of bis(phthalocyanines) (only in solution; 24 and 28) as well as tris(phthalocyanines) (30 and 31) exhibit low limiting threshold (Ilim) values in solution and thin films (particularly PBC and PAA). The low limiting threshold values make these lanthanide Pcs reliable optical limiters.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sekhosana, Kutloano Edward
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4580 , vital:20695
- Description: This thesis presents novel asymmetrical and symmetrical lanthanide phthalocyanines (Pcs) characterized using a number techniques including proton nuclear magnetic resonance, electron spin resonance, time correlated single photon counting, FTIR spectrometry, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, UV-Vis spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy and CHNS elemental analysis. The design of theses lanthanide Pcs takes the form of mononuclear, binuclear, trinuclear, bis- and tris(phthalocyanines). Nanomaterials such as zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene oxide nanosheets (GONS) (oxidized and reduced) were employed for covalent linkage to mono- and binuclear phthalocyanines as conjugates. Transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize ZnO NPs, MWCNTs and GONS alone and when linked to lanthanide Pcs. Lanthanide Pcs alone and when linked to ZnO NPs, MWCNTs and GONS where embedded in polymers such as poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly (bisphenol A carbonate) (PBC) and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) for thin film preparation. The thickness of the thin films was determined by utilization of the knife edge attachment of the A Bruker D8 Discover X-ray diffraction (XRD). Optical limiting properties of lanthanide Pcs alone and as conjugates in solution and when incorporated into polymers were determined by employing a Z-scan technique. It emerged that low symmetry lanthanide Pcs (19, 20 and 21), the blue forms of bis(phthalocyanines) (only in solution; 24 and 28) as well as tris(phthalocyanines) (30 and 31) exhibit low limiting threshold (Ilim) values in solution and thin films (particularly PBC and PAA). The low limiting threshold values make these lanthanide Pcs reliable optical limiters.
- Full Text: