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The value of economic capital as an indicator to protect prospective and existing ordinary shareholders

  • Authors: Chonzi, Tendai Day
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Banks and banking -- Risk management -- South Africa , Financial services industry -- Risk management -- South Africa , ABSA Bank , FirstRand Limited , Nedbank , Standard Bank Limited , Capitec Bank (South Africa)
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145807 , vital:38468
  • Description: South Africans banking sector is one of the most dominating banking sectors in Africa. The banking sector is privately owned and involves a lot of different stakeholders, who risk losing their investments. One of the stakeholders who are the bottom of the repayment chain are existing ordinary shareholders because they risk losing all their investment in the result of bankruptcy, liquidity crises or the inability of the bank to repay their shareholders. Regulators in the banking sector only protect the depositor and the stability of the banking sector but not ordinary shareholders. An internal supervisory measure called economic capital has recently received more attention because of its aim to protect ordinary shareholders and thus, existing and prospective shareholders can use its value as a protective indicator. Economic theory assumes that the higher the value of economic capital (the lower the economic capital shortfall), the lower the return on investment for existing ordinary shareholders. The aforementioned shows a trade-off between protection (economic capital) and returns. Literature by Larsson (2009) further suggests that banks are always reluctant with implementing internal measures to protect themselves because of the good regulatory regime in the sector, some banks think that they are “too big to fail” and the fact that the reserve banks are always on the standby as a bailout. The purpose of this research is to examine which of the top five commercial banks in South African actively protect their existing ordinary shareholders using the value of economic capital and possibly attract prospective ordinary shareholders, locally and internationally. The banks under study are Absa, Capitec, FirstRand, Nedbank and Standard Bank over ten years, starting from June 2009 to May 2019 and in monthly frequency. The observations totalled 120 and two models that are under the Return Series Method were in used, namely; Historical Simulation Model and Variance Covariance Model. Both models, although they were small deviations in the value of economic capital, concluded that Standard Bank protects its existing ordinary shareholders the most, followed by FirstRand, then Absa and last is Nedbank. Capitec was the only bank, after one financial shock that could not protect its existing ordinary shareholders. Moreover, evidence in the study shows a trade-off between economic capital and return on investment in the case of Capitec and Standard Bank. Standard Bank had the highest value of economic capital and second-lowest return on investment, while Capitec had the highest return on investment and lowest value of economic capital. The significant policy implication of the research is that financial institution needs to strike a balance between protection and profits; thus, a way of protecting various stakeholders. Financial shocks have proven that regulatory measures are weak and they are is need for internal measures (economic capital) which indicate how financial institution can sustain in such cases.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

The weak to strong state involvement and political accountability levels schema

  • Authors: Mbatha, Cyril N , Mkize, N N
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: South Africa -- Socio-economic development South Africa -- Politics
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165364 , vital:41237
  • Description: The propositionis that socio-economic development from local to national levels often straddles at least four pathways that are driven by two main variables:the relative strength or weakness of (1) state (and government) involvementin the management of public affairs and resources and (2) the mechanisms for ensuring political accountability. The four pathways, with associated attributes, have presented opportunities or challenges that have promoted or collapsed the sustainable economic development of many post-colonial countries. Using the two main variables we can locate different countries in distinct categories (quadrants) across a two-dimensional Cartesianplane, with state involvement on the Y-axis and state and government accountability to citizens on the X-axis.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

The weight of a tooth

  • Authors: Perros, Robyn Helen
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144192 , vital:38319
  • Description: My thesis is a fragmented, non-linear novella, comprised predominantly of experimental prose- poetry and fiction short-stories. I have chosen this approach in form to further explore my interest in ancestry and trauma, death and image-making, “reality” and fantasy, and the tension these invisible barriers create between the inner and outer worlds in which we simultaneously navigate, remember and forget. This thesis has been influenced both in form and content by the works of Eduardo Galeano, Osama Alomar, Lidia Yuknavitch, Susan Steinberg, Claudia Rankine, Lance Olsen, and Yasunari Kawabata, among others.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

The workload of flight attendants during short-haul flight operations: a system analysis

  • Authors: Bennett, Chloe Kayla
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Flight attendants -- Health and hygiene , Employees -- South Africa -- Workload
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123431 , vital:35437
  • Description: Background and aim: Flight attendants forms a significant part in 24-hour aviation industry. Flight attendant fatigue is a significant problem in the aviation industry as it continues to jeopardize the ability to fulfil important safety and security roles which is critical in performance duty of a flight attendant. However, little attention has been accomplished to the workload, working conditions and fatigue of flight attendants crew in transport aircraft. In addition, there is currently less research that have also embraced the problematic of smaller regional/commercial operation (short-haul flight operations) inducing fatigue among short-haul flight attendants as the nature of this operation are often characterised with high productivity expectations in a demanding environment with high time pressures resulting in high workloads and fatigue. Thus, flight attendant fatigue and workload is a worldwide challenge in this operational environment and less attention has been given to the determining factors. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the workload factors contributing to flight attendant fatigue during short-haul flight operations. Methods (System analysis): To achieve the research aim, the work system analysis, based on the Smith and Carayon-Sainfort model was chosen as the main research approach which was conducted in two ways; based on existing literature and secondly based on expert interviews. This method provided a systemic aspect to understand the whole work system of flight attendants work during short-haul operations in order to identify all the contributing factors to flight attendant fatigue and workload. Results: The literature analysis and the data from the expert interviews highlighted significant findings to flight attendant fatigue and workload. The reasons for flight attendant fatigue operating short-haul flights can be found at organizational, task, individual, environmental levels and tools and technologies and due to the interaction of the factors. The main factors of flight attendants’ fatigue are thought primarily as a function of scheduling due to irregular, mixed schedules with early starts and late finishes, extended duty days (long working hours), as well as high workload, due to the short turnaround flights, the number of sectors flown in a single duty period and duty length and high jobs demands. In addition, flight duty and rest regulations, confined work space in the cabin, vibrations, noise and lighting, sleeping in an unfamiliar environment, family responsibilities all add to additional stress placed on the body which can influence workload and sleep and consequently influencing fatigue. Conclusion: Overall the study determined that flight attendant fatigue is a significant problem in modern industry of short-haul operations. Using this systematic approach (work system analysis based on the framework of the work system model developed by Smith and Carayon-Sainfort (1989) allowed for an accurate representation of the complexity of flight attendant work environment in short-haul aviation industries, thus contributed to an increased understanding of fatigue and risk factors that span the entire work system and aid in identifying the patterns in combination of work system variables that are associated with increased risk to flight attendant fatigue. Overall flight attendant fatigue is a product of interactions with the short-haul environment. It can have a negative impact on safety, performance and well-being. Therefore, it needs to be managed and dealt with in the near future.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Theoretical and photodynamic therapy characteristics of heteroatom doped detonation nanodiamonds linked to asymmetrical phthalocyanine for eradication of breast cancer cells

  • Authors: Matshitse, Refilwe , Tshiwawa, Tendamudzimu , Managa, Muthumuni , Nwaji, Njemuwa , Lobb, Kevin A , Nyokong, Tebello
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186089 , vital:44462 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2020.117465"
  • Description: An amide mono substituted benzothiozole phthalocyanine: zinc(II) 3-(4-((3,17,23-tris(4-(benzo [d]thiazol-2-yl)phenoxy)-9-yl)oxy) phenyl)amide phthalocyanine (NH2BzPc) was covalently linked to undoped and heteroatom doped detonation nanodiamonds (DNDs): B@DNDs, P@DNDs, S@DNDs, N@DNDs, and SandN@DNDs There is a drastic decrease in highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) – lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy gaps for nanoconjugates compared to DNDs alone. B@DNDs-NH2BzPc, SandN@DNDs-NH2BzPc, and P@DNDs-NH2BzPc showed superior photodynamic therapy (PDT) effects. DNDs-NH2BzPc also had a small HOMO-LUMO gap, but did not show improved PDT activity compared to the Pc alone, suggesting doping of DNDs is important. This study shows improved PDT effect on Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 breast cancer lines at 7.63%, 7.62% and 6.5% cell viability for P@DNDs-NH2BzPc, SandN@DNDs-NH2BzPc and B@DNDs-NH2BzPc, respectively.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Thermal tolerance and the potential effects of climate change on coastal intertidal and estuarine organisms in the Kariega Estuary and adjacent intertitdal coastline, Eastern Cape, South Africa

  • Authors: Van der Walt, Kerry-Ann
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Ectotherms -- Climatic factors , Ectotherms -- Effect of temperature on , Fishes -- Climatic factors , Fishes -- Effect of temperature on , Climatic changes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148459 , vital:38741
  • Description: Temperature changes due to the effects of climate change are evident on all continents and oceans. As a result, there is a growing concern over how marine ectotherms will respond to extreme or fluctuating environmental temperatures. Temperature changes have strong direct and indirect effects on individual, population, and ecosystem functioning traits. A multi-scale approach determining the thermal tolerance and performance of several marine ectotherms belonging to different coastal habitats is rarely considered in thermal physiology studies but is effective for an integrated ecosystem assessment. As such, for this thesis, I aimed to quantify and compare the thermal tolerance and performance of a range of coastal marine ectotherms (fish and macro-invertebrates) with different biogeographical distributions from estuarine, subtidal and rocky intertidal habitats to available and projected in situ temperature data. This was also undertaken to gauge the local vulnerability of each species across summer and winter in a warm-temperate region of South Africa. This was done using a multi-method physiological approach, which included the dynamic method (CTmax and CTmin), static respirometry and maximum heart rate fHmax). Results of the dynamic method on several fish and macro-invertebrate species indicated that there are differences in thermal tolerance according to taxonomy, biogeography and habitat for both summer and winter. Macro-invertebrate species generally had higher CTmax endpoints, lower CTmin endpoints, higher upper and lower breadths in tolerance, higher upper and lower thermal safety margins and higher thermal scopes than the fish species. This could be a result of the macro-invertebrate species studied being less mobile compared with fish species (which are able to move to more favourable conditions) as well as having broader geographical distributions. In addition, macro-invertebrates from the intertidal rock pool habitat (Palaemon peringueyi; Pernaperna) were more tolerant of high and low temperatures compared with the macro-invertebrates from the estuarine habitat (Clibanarius virescens; Parasesarma catenatum; Upogebia africana). Overall, macro-invertebrates, with the exception of Parechinus angulosus, investigated in this study indicated that current temperatures and projected climate change scenarios across seasons would not have a significant impact on them and that they are highly adaptable to changing temperature regimes. This sign of high tolerance was further supported by the heart rates of P. perna and P. catenatum under an acute increase in temperature (1.0 °C.h-1) which showed individuals of each species physiologically depressing their metabolism until a final Arrhenius breakpoint temperature was reached (TAB). Among the fish species investigated in this study, tropical species (Chaetodon marleyi; Kuhlia mugil) had the highest CTmax and CTmin endpoints when compared with the temperate (Diplodus capensis; Sarpa salpa), warm-water endemic (Chelon dumerili; Rhabdosargus holubi) and cool-water endemic (Chelon richardsonii) fishes. This suggests that due to their lower breadths in tolerance and thermal safety margins being small, tropical species may be less tolerant of cold temperatures and thermal variability, especially in the form of summer upwelling events which are expected to increase in intensity and frequency in this region as a result of anthropogenic climate change effects. On the other hand, however, if a temperature increase of 2.0 - 4.0 °C takes place at the end of the century as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is likely that tropical species such as C. marleyi will become more common. Temperate species such as D. capensis and S. salpa were able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures (wide thermal scope) compared with the other fish species. These findings may suggest that D. capensis and S. salpa are thermally resilient and may be the least vulnerable to climate change effects and temperature variability. When evaluating the different life stages of D. capensis, however, using the dynamic method (juveniles and adults), static respirometry (juveniles) and maximum heart rate (adults), results suggested that juveniles of this temperate species will be more resilient to increases in ocean temperatures compared with the adults because they have a higher thermal tolerance (CTmax/TCRIT) and a greater metabolic scope (TOPT) at higher temperatures. For both juveniles and adults, temperatures beyond 28.0 °C (upper Tpej; Tarr) will have a significant impact on their physiology. Using a multi-scale and multi-method approach thus helped to identify which species or community may be vulnerable to the effects of climate change within shallow coastal environments in this warm-temperate climate change hotspot. Adopting this type of approach will assist policy makers in developing comprehensive climate change management frameworks for coastal ecosystems globally and around South Africa.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Thermoluminescence and phototransferred phermoluminescence of synthetic quartz

  • Authors: Dawam, Robert Rangmou
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Thermoluminescence , Quartz
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145849 , vital:38472
  • Description: The main aim of this investigation is on thermoluminescence and phototransferred thermoluminescence of synthetic quartz. Thermoluminescence was one of the tools used in characterising the electron traps parameters. The samples of quartz annealed at various temperatures up to 900̊C and the unannealed were used. The thermoluminescence glow curve was measured at 1̊C s~ 1 following beta irradiation to 40 Gy from the samples annealed at 500̊C and the unannealed consist of main peak at 70̊C and secondary peaks at 110, 180 and 310̊C. In comparison, the thermoluminescence glow curve for the sample annealed at 900̊C have main peak at 86̊C and the secondary ones at 170 and 310̊C. The kinetic analysis was carried out only on the main peak in each case. The activation energy was found to be decreasing with increase in annealing temperatures. The samples annealed at 500̊C and the unannealed were found to be affected by thermal quenching while sample annealed at 900̊C shows an inverse quenching for irradiation dose of 40 Gy. However, when the dose was reduce to 3 Gy the effects of thermal quenching was manifested. The activation energy of thermal quenching was also found to decrease with increase in annealing temperature. Thermally assisted optically stimulated luminescence measurement was carried out using continuous wave optical stimulated luminescence (CW-OSL). The samples studied were those annealed at 500̊C for 10 minutes, 900̊C for 10, 30, 60 minutes and 1000̊C for 10 minutes prior to use. The CW-OSL is stimulated using 470 nm blue LEDs at sample temperatures between 30 and 200̊C. It is measured after preheating to either 300 and 500̊C. When the integrated OSL intensity is plotted as a function of measurement temperature, the intensity goes through a peak. The increase in OSL intensity as a function of temperature is associated to thermal assistance and the decrease to thermal quenching. The kinetic parameters were evaluated by fitting the experimental data. The values of activation energies of thermal quenching are the same within experimental uncertainties for all the experimental conditions. This shows that annealing temperature, duration of annealing and irradiation dose have a negligible influence on the recombination site of luminescence using OSL. Phototransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL) induced from annealed samples using 470 nm blue light was also investigated. The quartz were annealed at 500 _C for 10 minutes, 900̊C for 10, 30, 60 minutes and 1000̊C for 10 minutes prior to use. The glow curves of conventional TL measured at 1 _C s􀀀1 following irradiation to 200 Gy shows six peaks in each case labelled I-VI for ease of reference whereas peaks observed under PTTL are referred to as A1 onwards. Only the first three peaks were reproduced under phototransfer for the sample annealed at 900̊C for 60 minutes and 1000̊C C for 10 minutes. Interestingly, for the intermediate duration of annealing of 30 minutes, the only peak that appears under phototransfer is the A1. For quartz annealed at 900̊C for 10 minutes, the PTTL appears as long as the preheating temperature does not exceed 560̊C. All other annealing temperatures, PTTL only appears for preheating to 450 and below. This shows that the occupancy of deep electron traps at temperatures beyond 450̊C or 560̊C is low. The activation energy for peaks A1, A2 and A3 were calculated. The PTTL peaks were studied for thermal quenching and peaks A1 and A3 were found to be affected. The activation energies for thermal quenching were determined as 0.62 ± 0.04 eV and 0.65 ± 0.02 eV for peaks A1 and A3 respectively. The experimental dependence of PTTL intensity on illumination time is modelled using sets of coupled linear differential equations based on systems of donors and acceptors whose number is determined by preheating temperature.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Thermoluminescence properties of potassium fluoride:

  • Authors: Ogundare, F O , Folley, Damilola E , Chithambo, Makaiko L , Arise, T O
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160500 , vital:40451 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2020.09.009
  • Description: This study is designed to examine the thermoluminescence characteristics of potassium fluoride for possible use as a thermoluminescence dosemeter. Thermoluminescence measurements were carried out at doses up to 20 Gy and heating rates between 0.2 and 4°C/s. The glow curve of the fluoride, readout at 1°Cs−1, exhibited two peaks at 130 and 250 °C. In addition, two shoulder peaks appeared at 70 and 200°C.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Think Piece. Working for Living: Popular Education as/at Work for Social-ecological Justice

  • Authors: Burt, Jane C , James, Anna , Walters, Shirley , Von Kotze, Astrid
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/388150 , vital:68310 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/165826"
  • Description: Drawing on the working lives of popular educators who are striving for socioeconomic and socio-ecological justice, we demonstrate how popular education is a form of care work which is feminised, often undervalued and unrecognised as highly skilled work. It is relational work that aims to forge solidarity with communities and the environment. Given the state of the planet, the radical transformations that are needed, and the future projection of ‘work’ as including the care economy in large measure, we argue that popular education is a generative site for further exploration of research into work and learning. However, to move popular education as work from the margins means to rethink the current economic system of value. Addressing the contradiction that undervalues work for life/living, popular education engages transformative action motivated by a deep sense of solidarity and a focus on imagining alternatives as an act of hope.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Think Piece: Learning, Living and Leading into Transgression–A reflection on decolonial praxis in a neoliberal world

  • Authors: Kulundu-Bolus, Injairu M , McGarry, Dylan K , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182406 , vital:43827 , xlink:href="10.4314/sajee.v36i1.14"
  • Description: Three scholar activists from South Africa reflect on what it means to transgress the limits of a neoliberal world and its crisis times, particularly considering transgressions in the service of a decolonial future. The authors explore three questions: i) What kind of learning can help us transgress the status quo? ii) How do we extend this learning into a commitment to actively living in transgressive ways? iii) What does it mean to lead in ways that re-generate a transgressive ethic in a neoliberal world? In a dialogical conversation format, the authors outline nine different but interconnected perspectives on learning, living and leading into transgression, with the aim of concurrently revealing the multiple layers of work that a decolonial future depends on, while demonstrating the ambitions of a pluriversal decolonial future through their writing. The intertwined narrative is not conclusive, as the processes marked out in brief are experiences that still need to be fully practised in new relations in times to come within academia-in-society-and-the-world with human and more-than-human actors. However, they do offer a generative set of questions, concepts and metaphors to give courage to boundary-dwelling scholar activists attempting transgressive research. These reflections seek to regenerate the transgressive ‘decolonial gestures’ (decolonialfutures.net) that we can undertake in a neo-liberal world, as an important part of environment and sustainability education practices. It draws out what an embodied practice of transgressive learning can entail when we become discerning of hegemonic discourses that reproduce the status quo. We pay homage to those decolonial scholars in the field of environment and sustainability education as we traverse this terrain, recognising their imagination and the transgressive movement that has come before us, but importantly we seek to also open pathways for those yet to come.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Thintitha, Celiwe

Tokyo Sexwale residents’ perceptions of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism in Jeffrey’s Bay

  • Authors: Madlwabinga, Zolani Maxwell
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Tourism -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Jeffrey's Bay
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48786 , vital:41072
  • Description: In the context of tourism, the community is seen as one of many stakeholders, with the other stakeholders being the tourism product owners, the government and tourism marketers. An understanding of a particular community’s perceptions and attitudes and how these perceptions are shaped concerning tourism development is important for decision-makers. The knowledge and involvement of the community in tourism related matters often determine the success of tourism development. The key element of effective planning for tourism is involving the local community and paying attention to their ideas, needs and aspirations, regarding tourism development in their community. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine Tokyo Sexwale residents’ perceptions of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism in Jeffrey’s Bay. In order to address this aim, the following research objectives were formulated:  To conduct a comprehensive literature review on residents’ perceptions of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism;  To ascertain the levels of knowledge of Tokyo Sexwale residents about tourism; and  To investigate the Tokyo Sexwale residents’ perceptions of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism in Jeffrey’s Bay. In an attempt to address the objectives of this study, a quantitative research approach was adopted. Using the non-probability sampling method, specifically, convenience sampling, the data was collected by conducting the fieldwork in Tokyo Sexwale community in Jeffrey’s Bay from the beginning of June 2019 until the end of August 2019. As a result, completed questionnaires were collected from a sample size of 400 respondents. The findings revealed that 34.7 percent of the respondents were young and aged between 26-35 years. Twenty-seven (27.0) percent of the respondents have been residing in the community for six to ten (6-10) years. A substantial number of respondents had completed a secondary qualification (75.3 percent). The findings further revealed that the majority of respondents were knowledgeable about the statement “Tourism includes holiday trips, travelling away from home for recreational and business purposes” (91.5 percent). Half of the respondents indicated that they interact with tourists more frequently when they visit their area, purchasing goods and services (50.0 percent). With respect to positive and negative socio-cultural impacts of tourism, the findings revealed that 63.5 percent of respondents indicated that tourism has improved the image of Jeffrey’s Bay, while 49.5 percent of respondents indicated that traditional culture is being commercialised as a result of tourism. This study recommends that the local government and tourism businesses in Jeffrey’s Bay should implement community tourism awareness programmes to educate local residents about the potential positive and negative socio-cultural impacts of tourism. This will ensure that local residents of Tokyo Sexwale community are aware of such impacts and reject tourism developments that will be harmful to their community and support those that will benefit them.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Topsoil transfer from natural renosterveld to degraded old fields facilitates native vegetation recovery:

  • Authors: Ruwanza, Sheunesu
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148639 , vital:38758 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093833
  • Description: The transfer of soils from intact vegetation communities to degraded ecosystems is seen as a promising restoration tool aimed at facilitating vegetation recovery. This study examined how topsoil transfer from intact renosterveld to degraded old fields improves vegetation diversity, cover, and composition. Transferred topsoil were overlaid on 30 quadrats, each measuring 1 m2, in May 2009. Eight years following the initial soil transfer, vegetation diversity in the soil transfer site showed an increase towards the natural site compared to the old field site where no soil transfer was administered. Both species richness and cover for trees and shrubs in the soil transfer site increased towards the natural site, though this was not the case for herbs and grasses. One-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) showed significant (R = 0.55) separation in community composition between sites. The study concludes that soil transfer from intact renosterveld to degraded old fields is a promising restoration technique because it increases species diversity and cover and facilitates vegetation recovery. A significant restoration implication of this study is that soil transfer introduces key renosterveld native tree and shrub species that can facilitate successful restoration and act as restoration foci or nurse plants.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Touching matters: affective entanglements in Coronatime

  • Authors: Bozalek, Vivienne , Newfield, Denise , Romano, Nike , Carette, Lieve , Naidu, Katharine , Mitchell, Veronica , Noble, Alex
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160357 , vital:40438 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1177/1077800420960167
  • Description: This article troubles touch as requiring embodied proximity, through an affective account of virtual touch during coronatime. Interested in doing academia differently, we started an online Barad readingwriting group from different locations. The coronatime void was not a vacuum, but a plenitude of possibilities for intimacy, pedagogy, learning, creativity, and adventure. Although physically apart, we met daily through Zoom, and we touched and were touched by each other and the texts we read. A montage of writing fragments and a collective artwork, based on the Massive_Micro project, highlight virtual touching. Undone, redone, and reconfigured, we became a diffractive human/nonhuman multiplicity.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Towards a capability maturity model for a cyber range

  • Authors: Aschmann, Michael Joseph
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Computer software -- Development , Computer security
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163142 , vital:41013
  • Description: This work describes research undertaken towards the development of a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for Cyber Ranges (CRs) focused on cyber security. Global cyber security needs are on the rise, and the need for attribution within the cyber domain is of particular concern. This has prompted major efforts to enhance cyber capabilities within organisations to increase their total cyber resilience posture. These efforts include, but are not limited to, the testing of computational devices, networks, and applications, and cyber skills training focused on prevention, detection and cyber attack response. A cyber range allows for the testing of the computational environment. By developing cyber events within a confined virtual or sand-boxed cyber environment, a cyber range can prepare the next generation of cyber security specialists to handle a variety of potential cyber attacks. Cyber ranges have different purposes, each designed to fulfil a different computational testing and cyber training goal; consequently, cyber ranges can vary greatly in the level of variety, capability, maturity and complexity. As cyber ranges proliferate and become more and more valued as tools for cyber security, a method to classify or rate them becomes essential. Yet while a universal criteria for measuring cyber ranges in terms of their capability maturity levels becomes more critical, there are currently very limited resources for researchers aiming to perform this kind of work. For this reason, this work proposes and describes a CMM, designed to give organisations the ability to benchmark the capability maturity of a given cyber range. This research adopted a synthesised approach to the development of a CMM, grounded in prior research and focused on the production of a conceptual model that provides a useful level of abstraction. In order to achieve this goal, the core capability elements of a cyber range are defined with their relative importance, allowing for the development of a proposed classification cyber range levels. An analysis of data gathered during the course of an expert review, together with other research, further supported the development of the conceptual model. In the context of cyber range capability, classification will include the ability of the cyber range to perform its functions optimally with different core capability elements, focusing on the Measurement of Capability (MoC) with its elements, namely effect, performance and threat ability. Cyber range maturity can evolve over time and can be defined through the Measurement of Maturity (MoM) with its elements, namely people, processes, technology. The combination of these measurements utilising the CMM for a CR determines the capability maturity level of a CR. The primary outcome of this research is the proposed level-based CMM framework for a cyber range, developed using adopted and synthesised CMMs, the analysis of an expert review, and the mapping of the results.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Towards a community-based model for Agricultural development in Uganda : a case study of Kumi and Gomba districts

  • Authors: Kiggundu, Joseph
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Agricultural development projects -- Uganda
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48654 , vital:41056
  • Description: This study intended to design a community-based model for agricultural development in Uganda, using Kumi and Gomba districts as case studies. The surge in attention towards community-based development is attributed to the growing challenges posed by the traditional approaches to community development, dominated by top-down mechanisms during the planning, implementation, management, monitoring, and evaluation phases of community development programmes. Driven by Robert Chambers and Conway’s theoretical perspectives, this study discusses that a community-based model is capable of filling knowledge gaps, not only in scientific research, but also in the community development process of many developing nations, such as Uganda. In this study particularly, a community-based approach has been identified as the better option in aiding and facilitating the current government efforts to transform the agricultural sector from its predominantly subsistence nature to commercial orientation. It has been acknowledged that the Ugandan government and its development partners do realise the significant role agriculture plays in directly or indirectly impacting the social welfare of Ugandans. The agricultural sector has been identified as a major source of livelihood for most rural Ugandans (over 95% depend on it for food, employment and income). Unfortunately, even with such recognition, coupled with many reforms initiated by government and supported by various development partners who have invested huge sums of money into the sector, agricultural productivity and profitability has remained extremely low. Most rural Ugandans still languish in abject poverty, hunger, malnutrition, vulnerability and powerlessness. This study has established that, while the agricultural sector in Uganda suffers from enormous institutional, technological, market, research and land-oriented challenges, if all these factors are kept constant, an effective community-based approach is capable of facilitating effective planning, implementation, management, monitoring, and evaluation of agricultural reforms, for increased agricultural productivity and profitability hence the improved quality of life of Ugandans. A qualitative elicitation interviewing technique involving in-depth discussions with agricultural extension workers, community development officers, representatives from NGOs, local farmers, farmers’ associations, local and religious leaders as well as key persons from the Ministry of Agriculture and other line ministries was conducted. The participants were selected through chain referrals until the level of theoretical saturation. In addition, directed field observations, document analysis and key informant interviews with other respondents selected through theoretical sampling enhanced the robustness of data acquisition methods. Group-based participatory data analysis and reflexive pragmatism also enhanced the rigour and quality of research findings intended to balance the knowledge generated from the recognised scientific audience and the views of the important but unknown “knowledge generators” (the local experts).The key findings indicate that, historically and currently, agriculture has been and is the predominant community development activity at household, community and national levels in Uganda. It is also anticipated that agriculture will remain a major contributor to the national economic development of Uganda even over the next hundred years. The efforts by government and its development partners to transform the sector are therefore justified by the sector’s strategic importance. It has been found out that although the sector faces huge challenges, there are numerous opportunities for the sector to become a driver of Uganda’s socio-economic development. A community-based model has been proposed as a viable option for facilitating faster agricultural development in Uganda, where technocratic developers tend to impose development reforms on local people. With the traditional approaches to planning and implementation, it was thought that local people do not know what they want, they are illiterate and ignorant and therefore incapable of driving government crafted programmes for effective change. From the proposed model, government technocratic development agents should engage local farmers who practically experience poverty, powerlessness, hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability, to jointly craft effective agricultural reforms that are not only life-changing, but also relevant and sustainable within the confines of community needs. Under this approach, the designers, planners, implementers, monitors, and evaluators, whether of government-initiated reforms, or initiatives from other development agencies, should learn to treat local people as subjects of the community development processes, as opposed to the traditional top-down mechanisms which view them as objects to be used and abused. The involvement of local experts during the planning, implementation, and management of development reforms, should cease to be applied as merely routine fulfilment of donor conditionality and requirements. Rather, the participation of local farmers during all phases of community programming should become intentional and consciously aimed at empowering local people to actively participate in the making of decisions critical to their own development.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Towards a reconstruction of Marion Island’s glacial history

  • Authors: Rudolph, Elizabeth
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Glacial landforms Geomorphological mapping
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Geography)
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18531 , vital:42581
  • Description: Southern Hemisphere glacial chronologies can provide valuable insights into interactions between glaciation and past climate changes. The sub-Antarctic Islands provide a valuable terrestrial record of glacial chronologies for the Southern Hemisphere, since they are unique, not only in size and topography, but also in oceanic situation when compared to other continental landmasses (e.g. Antarctica or Patagonia). On sub-Antarctic Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean, the exact timing and extent of the local Last Glacial Maximum is not yet known as glacial reconstructions have mostly been based on palynological proxies and relative-age dating techniques. This study presents 29 cosmogenic 36Cl exposure ages of deglaciated bedrock surfaces and moraine deposits from Marion Island. In addition, a comprehensive glacial-geomorphological map, which in conjunction with exposure ages provide improved temporal and spatial constraints for the island’s glacial history. Results show that the ice reached a local Last Glacial Maximum before 56 ka ago and retreated, with minor stillstands, until ~17 ka. This early deglaciation left island surfaces below 850 m a.s.l. ice-free after ~19 ka, and any subsequent advances during the Late Glacial or Holocene cooling periods would have been restricted to the interior. This glacial chronology is similar to that of some other sub-Antarctic Islands (e.g. the Kerguelen archipelago, Auckland and Campbell islands, and possibly South Georgia) and a number of other Southern Hemisphere glaciers (e.g. in Patagonia and New Zealand) and adds to evidence that suggest the Southern Hemisphere was in a glacial maximum earlier than the global LGM. A combination of climatic drivers such as declining temperatures, a northward migration of oceanic fronts and the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds (causing precipitation changes), as well as the physiography of Marion Island, created optimal conditions for glacier growth during Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4; ~65 ka ago) instead of the global LGM in MIS 2 (~18 ka). These findings redefine the glacial history of Marion Island, and have implications for future investigations on post-glacial landscape development and ecological succession.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2020

Towards decolonizing a local university’s business school’s masters in business administration

  • Authors: Du Preez, Daniella
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Decolonization -- Education (Higher) -- Curricula
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/47735 , vital:40330
  • Description: 2015 marked the year students went to great lengths to call on Higher Education institutions and their educators for a decolonised curriculum. This behaviour is attributable to the conditions that they had do study in. Buildings and campuses have colonial names, lectures mostly include White people’s intellectual contributions. Colonialism included colonial knowledge and denied African practices and existence. For centuries African philosophy was excluded and marginalised, which caused much pain and inhumanity. Higher education institutions remain detached from the developmental changes of African communities. Silence in academic disciplines was overwhelming Eurocentric / Westernised. Transformation of Higher Education curriculum in South Africa requires inclusion of African philosophy, and acknowledgement and respect for other cultures’ values, languages and knowledge. Educators play a pivotal role in transferring knowledge to students and producing the leaders for the future. Colonisation has ruled for decades and the effects thereof are still felt in various aspects of life. The education platform can break colonialism and if allowed, bring restoration to indigenous people. South African universities can contribute to society in transforming and decolonising curriculum and giving indigenous people and knowledge their rightful place. An education system free from colonialism positions students to add value to society as their worldviews are taken into consideration. This paper investigates the factors that could lead to a decolonised curriculum. Higher Education institutions have a role to play in ensuring a University free form colonial power and inequality. Decolonisation of the intellectual landscape will result in the decolonisation of the mind.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Towards development of a malaria diagnostic: Generation, screening and validation of novel aptamers recognising Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase

  • Authors: Frith, Kelly-Anne
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Plasmodium falciparum , Malaria -- Chemotherapy , Oligonucleotides , Lactate dehydrogenase , Biochemical markers , Systematic evolution of ligands through exponential enrichment (SELEX)
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142247 , vital:38062
  • Description: Malaria, caused by infection with the Plasmodium parasite, is one of the leading causes of death in under-developed countries. Early detection is crucial for the effective treatment of malaria, particularly in cases where infection is due to Plasmodium falciparum. There is, therefore, an enduring need for portable, sensitive, reliable, accurate, durable, self-validating and cost-effective techniques for the rapid detection of malaria. Moreover, there is a demand to distinguish between various infectious species causing malaria. Research in the area of malarial biomarkers has identified a unique, species-specific, epitope of P. falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH), enhancing prospects for the development of diagnostics capable of identifying the species causing malarial infection. In recent years, improvements have been made towards the development of rapid diagnostic tests for detecting malarial biomarkers. Owing to their low cost, ease of labeling, and high thermal stability (relative to antibodies), the development and synthesis of aptamers that target the malarial lactate dehydrogenase represents one of the key innovations in the field of rapid diagnostics for malaria. This study explored the generation of aptamers that specifically target P. falciparum. Two sets of aptamers with diagnostically-supportive functions were generated independently, through parallel SELEX of recombinantly-expressed, full-length Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (rPfLDH), and an oligopeptide comprising the P. falciparum-specific epitope on lactate dehydrogenase (LDHp). The latter offers a promising solution for generating aptamers capable of binding with high specificity to P. falciparum. In this work, an rLDH class of aptamers was generated when SELEX was performed using the full-length rPfLDH protein as the target and the LDHp class of aptamers was generated when SELEX was performed using the oligopeptide LDHp as a target. Aptamers were successfully generated through the process of SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands through exponential enrichment) following the study and application of several optimisation steps, particularly during the amplification stage of SELEX. Optimisation steps included the study of improvements in PCR conditions; role of surfactants (Triton-X), modifying the PCR clean-up protocol; and agarose gel excision. Structurally-relevant moieties with particular consensus sequences (GGTAG and GGCG) were found in aptamers both reported here and previously published, confirming their importance in recognition of the target. Novel moieties particular to this work (ATTAT and poly-A stretches) were identified. Clades of consensus sequences were identified in both the rLDH and LDHp groups of aptamers, where sequences in the rLDH clade did not show preferential binding to rPfLDH while those in the LDHp clade (particularly LDHp 3 and 18) were able to recognise and bind only LDHp. Of the 19 sequences returned from the parallel SELEX procedures for rPfLDH (11 sequences) and LDHp (8 sequences), six rPfLDH and all eight LDHp sequences underwent preliminary screening and those with low responses eliminated. Of the eight LDHp-targeting aptamer sequences, five were preliminarily shown to bind to LDHp, whereas only two rPfLDH-targeting sequences were shown to bind to the target (rLDH 4 and 7). To this small selection of rPfLDH oligonucleotide sequences, two more (rLDH 1 and 15) were chosen for further study based on their sequences, secondary and predicted tertiary conformations. Sequences chosen for further study were therefore: rLDH 1, 4, 7 and 15 in the rLDH class, and LDHp 1, 3, 11, 14 and 18 in the LDHp class. Binding properties of the aptamers towards their targets were investigated using enzyme-linked oligonucleotide assays (ELONA), fluorophore-linked oligonucleotide assays (FLONA), electromobility shift assays (EMSA), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and GelRed dissociation assays, while applications towards aptasensors were explored using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and fluorescent microscopy. Some inconsistencies were seen for specific aptamer to target binding interactions using specific techniques; however, generally, binding to the targets was observed across the techniques assessed. These varied responses demonstrate the need to screen and validate aptamers using a variety of techniques and platforms not necessarily specific for the proposed application. From the aptamer binding screening studies using ELONA, the most promising aptamers generated were identified as LDHp 11, rLDH 4, rLDH 7 and rLDH 15. Aptamer rLDH 4, which was generated against rPfLDH, exhibited preferential and specific binding to the lactate dehydrogenase from P. falciparum, over the recombinantly-expressed lactate dehydrogenase from Plasmodium vivax (rPvLDH), albeit with lowered responses compared to LDHp 11 in ELONA and EMSA studies. However, in kinetic ELONA studies rLDH 4 showed binding to both rPfLDH and rPvLDH. Aptamer rLDH 7 showed high affinity for rPfLDH and rPvLDH in kinetic studies using ELONA. However, screening studies with ELONA indicates that aptamer rLDH 7 may not be suitable for diagnostic tests in serum samples given its non-specific binding to human serum albumin (HSA). Aptamer rLDH 15 exhibited species specificity for rPfLDH in screening studies using ELONA but showed affinity towards rPvLDH (albeit lower relative to its affinity for rPfLDH) in kinetic studies using ELONA. LDHp 11, generated against the PfLDH peptide, showed a clear preference for rPfLDH when compared to rPvLDH and other control proteins, in both sets of ELONA studies conducted, as well as EMSA, thus possessing a strong ability to identify the presence of Plasmodium falciparum owing to its generation against the species-specific epitope. While LDHp 1 demonstrated binding to plasmodial LDH in a flow-through system (SPR), so reiterating ELONA responses, it did not perform well in the remaining methodologies. Aptamers rLDH 1 and 15 and LDHp 3, 14 and 18 exhibited a mixed set of results throughout the target protein screening analyses and were, thus, not considered for selective binding in P. falciparum parasite bodies. In studies aimed at exploring biosensor assemblies utilising the developed aptamers, both rLDH 4 and LDHp 11, along with rLDH 7, LDHp 1 and pL1, demonstrated in situ binding to the native PfLDH in fluorescent microscopy. LDHp 11 exhibited FITC-based fluorescence equivalent to the anti-rPfLDHp IgY antibody in confocal fluorescent microscopy indicating superior binding to the native PfLDH compared to the remaining aptamers. An examination of electrochemical impedance as a platform for a biosensor assembly did not, in these studies, exhibit the required sensitivity using physiologically relevant concentrations of analyte expected for pLDH following infection with Plasmodium spp. Malstat/LDH activity was explored for application in a colorimetric aptasensor. A decrease in both rPfLDH and rPvLDH activity was observed following incubation with the tested aptamers, but rLDH 1, rLDH 7 and LDHp 14 did not exhibit similar decreases in rPvLDH activity. Aptamers rLDH 1, 4 and 7 and LDHp 11 and 14 were, therefore, not selected as candidates for LDH capture in LDH activity-based diagnostic devices for P. falciparum. The decreases in pLDH activity in the presence of aptamers could hold promise as direct or antagonistic malaria therapeutic agents. Preliminary studies on the application of aptamers as malaria therapeutic agents, while of interest, should be viewed with due caution given the challenges of aptamers reaching the intracellular native plasmodial LDH hosted within the red blood cells. In conclusion, this work has shown the ability of the LDHp 11 aptamer, generated in these studies, to selectively bind rPfLDH over rPvLDH, and to bind to the native PfLDH in fluorescent microscopy, indicating that this aptamer holds promise as a biorecognition element in malaria biosensors and other diagnostic devices for the detection, and differentiation, of P. falciparum and P. vivax. The use of a species-specific epitope of P. falciparum as a target in aptamer generation paves the way for similar such studies aimed at generating aptamers with species selectivity for other Plasmodium species.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Towards realising the benefits of citizen participation in environmental monitoring: a case study in an Eastern Cape natural resource management programme

  • Authors: Mtati, Nosiseko
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Tsitsa Project , Rural development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Environmental monitoring -- South Africa -- Tsitsa River , Environmental monitoring -- Citizen participation -- South Africa -- Tsitsa River , Water supply, Agricultural -- South Africa -- Tsitsa River , Environmental education -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167562 , vital:41492
  • Description: The Tsitsa Project focusses on land use management and rural livelihoods in the Tsitsa River catchment in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is funded by the Department of Environmental Affairs and the environmental monitoring initiative is implemented by Rhodes University, where I am employed as the catchment coordinator. This study explores the environmental monitoring initiative within the bigger Tsitsa Project. Community members in the catchment monitor sediment transportation in the Tsitsa River and its tributaries, which originally became of interest because it is proposed that a dam (Ntabelanga Dam) be established here. This study aims to understand citizen environmental monitoring in the Tsitsa Project; what the project managers regarded as benefits; and how the monitors themselves perceived benefits of participating as monitors. A realist approach was followed, in order to understand the connections between the context and the mechanisms in the project, and how these combined to result in the outcomes observed. Realist research emphasises the importance of context in shaping outcomes such as the achieved benefits of citizen monitoring. Data was collected using a case study method, where each individual monitor and their particular context, was regarded as a case. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 monitors and five Tsitsa Project staff; this was supported by field notes and the reviewing of project documents including field reports. The realist analysis looked at the context of the monitors in general and the mechanisms applied by the project in recruiting, training and managing the monitors. A second layer of mechanisms was identified as those responses from the monitors to what the project was introducing to them. Outcomes were both positive and negative, including how long monitors remained in the initiative, what benefits they derived from the process, and what potential benefits they did not achieve. This included lost opportunities to provide recognition for skills and experience gained. Recommendations are made regarding the recruitment, training and management of monitors, to optimise benefits for the monitors, the host institution and the initiative’s staff. The study is significant because of its particular yet representative characteristics and it will assist both the Tsitsa Project, which aims to expand its citizen environmental monitoring initiative, as well as wider Natural Resource Management Programmes in South Africa. It is also hoped that it will contribute to the literature on environmental monitoring as a little researched form of citizen science globally.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2020
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