Listeners’ Participation in Community Radio: A Case Study of Forte FM Radio
- Authors: Bamigboye, Foluke Bosede
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Community radio Radio in community development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc (Communications)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16254 , vital:40703
- Description: This dissertation investigates listeners’ participation in community radio, drawing on Forte FM radio in Nkonkobe Municipality in Alice, Eastern Cape. The aim of the study was therefore to explore how listeners are been involved in the activities of Forte FM radio station. This study adopts qualitative research approach. Convenience, and purposive non-probability samplings techniques were subsequently used to select samples for this study. In-depth interviews was conducted with the radio station manager while one focus group discussion each was held with residents of Golf Course and Ntselamanzi areas with eight participants in each focus group, making a total number of sixteen participants for the focus group discussions. The collected data were interpreted and analyzed thematically. The findings of this research showed a remarkable disparity between the listeners of the radio station and perceptions of participation on one hand, and the listeners’ opinion and perceptions of them vice versa. Also, programming is often conceptualized with little or no community involvement and interaction. Listeners interviewed in the course of carrying out the focus group discussion in the two sampled areas were of the views that they only get connected to Forte FM radio station on social grounds of greetings and “shout outs”, through public spheres and for self-representation in the variety of public spaces of Forte FM radio. Another critical finding of this study indicated that, Forte FM is doing its best towards involving listeners in its programming.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bamigboye, Foluke Bosede
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Community radio Radio in community development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc (Communications)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16254 , vital:40703
- Description: This dissertation investigates listeners’ participation in community radio, drawing on Forte FM radio in Nkonkobe Municipality in Alice, Eastern Cape. The aim of the study was therefore to explore how listeners are been involved in the activities of Forte FM radio station. This study adopts qualitative research approach. Convenience, and purposive non-probability samplings techniques were subsequently used to select samples for this study. In-depth interviews was conducted with the radio station manager while one focus group discussion each was held with residents of Golf Course and Ntselamanzi areas with eight participants in each focus group, making a total number of sixteen participants for the focus group discussions. The collected data were interpreted and analyzed thematically. The findings of this research showed a remarkable disparity between the listeners of the radio station and perceptions of participation on one hand, and the listeners’ opinion and perceptions of them vice versa. Also, programming is often conceptualized with little or no community involvement and interaction. Listeners interviewed in the course of carrying out the focus group discussion in the two sampled areas were of the views that they only get connected to Forte FM radio station on social grounds of greetings and “shout outs”, through public spheres and for self-representation in the variety of public spaces of Forte FM radio. Another critical finding of this study indicated that, Forte FM is doing its best towards involving listeners in its programming.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
A crowdsensing method for water resource monitoring in smart communities
- Authors: Banda, Clara Mloza
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Data collection platforms
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42449 , vital:36658
- Description: Crowdsensing aims to empower a large group of individuals to collect large amounts of data using their mobile devices, with the goal of sharing the collected data. Existing crowdsensing studies do not consider all the activities and methods of the crowdsensing process and the key success factors related to the process. Nor do they investigate the profile and behaviour of potential participants. The aim of this study was to design a crowdsensing method for water resource monitoring in smart communities. This study opted for an exploratory study using the Engaged Scholarship approach, which allows the study of complex real-world problems based on the different perspectives of key stakeholders. The proposed Crowdsensing Method considers the social, technical and programme design components. The study proposes a programme design for the Crowdsensing Methodwhich is crowdsensing ReferenceFrameworkthat includes Crowdsensing Processwith key success factors and guidelines that should be considered in each phase of the process. The method also uses the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to investigate citizens’intention to participate in crowdsensing for water resource monitoring and explores their attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural control on these intentions. Understanding the profiles of potential participants can assist with designing crowdsensing systems with appropriate incentive mechanisms to achieve adequate user participation and good service quality. A survey was conducted to validate the theoretical TB model in a real-world context. Regression and correlation analyses demonstrated that the attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural control can be used to predict participants’ intention to participate in crowdsensing for water resource monitoring. The survey results assisted with the development of an Incentive Mechanism as part of the Crowdsensing Method. This mechanism incorporates recruitment and incentive policies, as well as guidelines derived from the literature review and extant system analysis. The policies, called the OverSensepolicies, provide guidance for recruitment and rewarding of participants using the popular Stackelberg technique. The policies were evaluated using simulation experiments with a data set provided by the case study, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The results of the simulation experiments illustrated that the OverSenserecruitmentpolicycan reduce the computing resources required for the recruitment of participants and that the recruitment policy performs better than random or naïve recruitment policies. The proposed Crowdsensing Method was evaluated using an ecosystem of success factors for mobile-based interventions identified in the literature and the Crowdsensing Method adhered to a majority (90%) of the success factors. This study also contributes information systems design theory by proposing several sets of guidelines for crowdsensing projects and the development of crowdsensing systems. This study fulfils an identified need to study the applicability of crowdsensing for water resource monitoring and explores how a crowdsensing method can create a smart community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Banda, Clara Mloza
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Data collection platforms
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42449 , vital:36658
- Description: Crowdsensing aims to empower a large group of individuals to collect large amounts of data using their mobile devices, with the goal of sharing the collected data. Existing crowdsensing studies do not consider all the activities and methods of the crowdsensing process and the key success factors related to the process. Nor do they investigate the profile and behaviour of potential participants. The aim of this study was to design a crowdsensing method for water resource monitoring in smart communities. This study opted for an exploratory study using the Engaged Scholarship approach, which allows the study of complex real-world problems based on the different perspectives of key stakeholders. The proposed Crowdsensing Method considers the social, technical and programme design components. The study proposes a programme design for the Crowdsensing Methodwhich is crowdsensing ReferenceFrameworkthat includes Crowdsensing Processwith key success factors and guidelines that should be considered in each phase of the process. The method also uses the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to investigate citizens’intention to participate in crowdsensing for water resource monitoring and explores their attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural control on these intentions. Understanding the profiles of potential participants can assist with designing crowdsensing systems with appropriate incentive mechanisms to achieve adequate user participation and good service quality. A survey was conducted to validate the theoretical TB model in a real-world context. Regression and correlation analyses demonstrated that the attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural control can be used to predict participants’ intention to participate in crowdsensing for water resource monitoring. The survey results assisted with the development of an Incentive Mechanism as part of the Crowdsensing Method. This mechanism incorporates recruitment and incentive policies, as well as guidelines derived from the literature review and extant system analysis. The policies, called the OverSensepolicies, provide guidance for recruitment and rewarding of participants using the popular Stackelberg technique. The policies were evaluated using simulation experiments with a data set provided by the case study, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The results of the simulation experiments illustrated that the OverSenserecruitmentpolicycan reduce the computing resources required for the recruitment of participants and that the recruitment policy performs better than random or naïve recruitment policies. The proposed Crowdsensing Method was evaluated using an ecosystem of success factors for mobile-based interventions identified in the literature and the Crowdsensing Method adhered to a majority (90%) of the success factors. This study also contributes information systems design theory by proposing several sets of guidelines for crowdsensing projects and the development of crowdsensing systems. This study fulfils an identified need to study the applicability of crowdsensing for water resource monitoring and explores how a crowdsensing method can create a smart community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The use of image processing to determine cell defects in polycrystalline solar modules
- Authors: Banda, Peter
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Polycrystals
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36573 , vital:33996
- Description: This research aims to use image processingtodetermine cell defects in polycrystalline solar modules. Image processing is a process of enhancing images for differentapplications. One domain that seems to not yet utilise the use of image processing, is photovoltaics. An increased use of fossil fuels is damaging the earth and a call to protect the earth has resulted in the emergence of pollutant-free technologies such as polycrystalline photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are connected to make up solar modules. However, defects often affect the performance of PV cells and consequently solar modules. Electroluminescence (EL) images are used to examine polycrystalline solar (PV) modules to determine if the modules are defective. The main research question that this research addressed is“How can an image processing technique be used to effectively identify defective polycrystalline PV cells from EL images of such cells?“. The experimental research methodology was used to address the main research question. The initial investigation into the problem revealed that certain sectors within industry, as well as the Physics Department at Nelson Mandela University(NMU), do not currently utiliseimage processing when examining EL images of solar modules. The current process is a tedious, manual process whereby solar modules are manually inspected. An analysis of the current processes enabled the identification of ways in which to automatically examine EL images of solar modules. An analysis of literatureprovided a better understanding of the different techniques that are used to examine solar modules, and it was identified how image processing can be applied to EL images. Further analysis of literatureprovided a better understanding of image processing and how image classification experiments using Deep Learning (DL) as an image processing technique can be used to address the main research question. The outcome of the experiments conducted in this research weredifferentadaptive models(LeNet, MobileNet, Xception)that can classify EL images of PV cellsaccording to known standardsused by the Physics Department at NMU. The known standards yielded four classes; normal, uncritical, critical and very critical, which were used for the classification of EL images of PV cells. The adaptive models were evaluated to obtain the precision, recall and F1–scoreof the models.The precession, recall, and F1–score were required to determine how effective the models were in identifying defective PV cells from EL images.The results indicated that an image processing technique canbe used to identify defective polycrystalline PV cells from EL images of such cells. However, further research needs to be conducted to improve the effectiveness of the adaptive models.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Banda, Peter
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Polycrystals
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36573 , vital:33996
- Description: This research aims to use image processingtodetermine cell defects in polycrystalline solar modules. Image processing is a process of enhancing images for differentapplications. One domain that seems to not yet utilise the use of image processing, is photovoltaics. An increased use of fossil fuels is damaging the earth and a call to protect the earth has resulted in the emergence of pollutant-free technologies such as polycrystalline photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are connected to make up solar modules. However, defects often affect the performance of PV cells and consequently solar modules. Electroluminescence (EL) images are used to examine polycrystalline solar (PV) modules to determine if the modules are defective. The main research question that this research addressed is“How can an image processing technique be used to effectively identify defective polycrystalline PV cells from EL images of such cells?“. The experimental research methodology was used to address the main research question. The initial investigation into the problem revealed that certain sectors within industry, as well as the Physics Department at Nelson Mandela University(NMU), do not currently utiliseimage processing when examining EL images of solar modules. The current process is a tedious, manual process whereby solar modules are manually inspected. An analysis of the current processes enabled the identification of ways in which to automatically examine EL images of solar modules. An analysis of literatureprovided a better understanding of the different techniques that are used to examine solar modules, and it was identified how image processing can be applied to EL images. Further analysis of literatureprovided a better understanding of image processing and how image classification experiments using Deep Learning (DL) as an image processing technique can be used to address the main research question. The outcome of the experiments conducted in this research weredifferentadaptive models(LeNet, MobileNet, Xception)that can classify EL images of PV cellsaccording to known standardsused by the Physics Department at NMU. The known standards yielded four classes; normal, uncritical, critical and very critical, which were used for the classification of EL images of PV cells. The adaptive models were evaluated to obtain the precision, recall and F1–scoreof the models.The precession, recall, and F1–score were required to determine how effective the models were in identifying defective PV cells from EL images.The results indicated that an image processing technique canbe used to identify defective polycrystalline PV cells from EL images of such cells. However, further research needs to be conducted to improve the effectiveness of the adaptive models.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Student perceptions of online infidelity
- Authors: Bands, Luke
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Adultery , Online dating Sex -- Social aspects Sex -- Psychological aspects , College students -- Sexual behavior -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42096 , vital:36625
- Description: There has been a large amount of research on infidelity and its effects on relationships. However, a new phenomenon, that of online infidelity, has emerged and with it comes some confusion as to what exactly constitutes an act of infidelity while exploring the limits of cyberspace. While some research has been done internationally on the perceptions of online infidelity, studies conducted in South Africa are lacking. The aim of the present study was to explore and describe student perceptions of online infidelity. Social Constructionism was used as the theoretical framework for the study. A qualitative approach was used and the study was exploratory and descriptive in design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the sample size of the study being twelve. Thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke, was used in order to analyse the obtained data. Two main themes emerged, namely Defining Online Infidelity, and Reasons Surrounding Perceptions of Online Infidelity. The findings of the present study will provide a better understanding of perceptions of online infidelity within the South African context, and can be used for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bands, Luke
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Adultery , Online dating Sex -- Social aspects Sex -- Psychological aspects , College students -- Sexual behavior -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42096 , vital:36625
- Description: There has been a large amount of research on infidelity and its effects on relationships. However, a new phenomenon, that of online infidelity, has emerged and with it comes some confusion as to what exactly constitutes an act of infidelity while exploring the limits of cyberspace. While some research has been done internationally on the perceptions of online infidelity, studies conducted in South Africa are lacking. The aim of the present study was to explore and describe student perceptions of online infidelity. Social Constructionism was used as the theoretical framework for the study. A qualitative approach was used and the study was exploratory and descriptive in design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the sample size of the study being twelve. Thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke, was used in order to analyse the obtained data. Two main themes emerged, namely Defining Online Infidelity, and Reasons Surrounding Perceptions of Online Infidelity. The findings of the present study will provide a better understanding of perceptions of online infidelity within the South African context, and can be used for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Development of a manual to train food handlers of the national school nutrition programme
- Authors: Barkhuizen, Kirsten Lyn
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Food -- Safety measures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36559 , vital:33974
- Description: The study was conducted in order to develop a hygiene and food safety manual that can be used to train the food handlers of the National School Nutrition Programme. The co-operation of the Institute for International Medicine, Partnerships with Children, as part of the Health in Action Programme in this study, is appreciated. Food handlers of the National School Nutrition Programme in low socio-economic schools, in the Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape, were the population of the study. With many South Africans experiencing poverty and food insecurity, the National School Nutrition Programme aims to provide a social safety net and address short term hunger in children. However, challenges are faced regarding the implementation thereof, such as a lack of training of food handlers. This results in poor hygiene and food safety knowledge and behaviour. Subsequently, the risk of transmission of foodborne pathogens and the contamination of food rises. Foodborne illnesses are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, specifically in children, due to weak immune systems. Therefore, the study was conducted in order to develop and test a hygiene and food safety manual so that it can be made available to the South African Department of Education to be used by teachers in order to train the food handlers of the National School Nutrition Programme. The manual can then be used to train all newly recruited food handlers, and therefore ensure that school meals are safe to consume by learners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Barkhuizen, Kirsten Lyn
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Food -- Safety measures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36559 , vital:33974
- Description: The study was conducted in order to develop a hygiene and food safety manual that can be used to train the food handlers of the National School Nutrition Programme. The co-operation of the Institute for International Medicine, Partnerships with Children, as part of the Health in Action Programme in this study, is appreciated. Food handlers of the National School Nutrition Programme in low socio-economic schools, in the Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape, were the population of the study. With many South Africans experiencing poverty and food insecurity, the National School Nutrition Programme aims to provide a social safety net and address short term hunger in children. However, challenges are faced regarding the implementation thereof, such as a lack of training of food handlers. This results in poor hygiene and food safety knowledge and behaviour. Subsequently, the risk of transmission of foodborne pathogens and the contamination of food rises. Foodborne illnesses are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, specifically in children, due to weak immune systems. Therefore, the study was conducted in order to develop and test a hygiene and food safety manual so that it can be made available to the South African Department of Education to be used by teachers in order to train the food handlers of the National School Nutrition Programme. The manual can then be used to train all newly recruited food handlers, and therefore ensure that school meals are safe to consume by learners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Response of black wildebeest, a specialised grazer, to grass availability
- Authors: Barnardo, Toshka
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Grasslands -- Research -- South Africa , Grassland ecology -- Research -- South Africa Food habits -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/30876 , vital:31192
- Description: The black wildebeest Connochaetes gnou, a southern African endemic largely confined to the Grassland biome, was used as a model species to assess the response of a specialised grazer to grass availability, as an indicator of habitat quality. The occurrence of animals in low-quality habitats may have detrimental effects on population performance and persistence. Robust techniques are therefore required to assess the response of animals to varying habitat quality, to ensure sustainability of populations and species. Black wildebeest habitat use was assessed in relation to grass availability and visibility, and faecal analysis was used to estimate variation in diet composition and quality, parasite loads, and faecal pellet dimensions, across a grass gradient. Grass consumption, diet quality, and faecal pellet size and weight of black wildebeest increased with increasing grass availability. While black wildebeest consumed up to 55% browse at grass-poor sites, they consistently preferred grasses, potentially resulting in an increased intake of low-quality grasses at grass-poor sites. This, combined with the increased intake of indigestible fibres in browse, may explain the observed trends in diet quality, which in turn may explain variation in faecal pellet size and weight (indicators of body size and weight). Furthermore, black wildebeest population trends within the study area suggest that populations in grass-poor habitats, outside their natural distribution range, may exhibit reduced population performance. These findings suggest that grass availability may be a useful indicator of habitat quality for specialised grazers. The study also provided an opportunity to explore the utility of various diet assessment techniques for estimating herbivore diet composition and quality. Caution should be applied when interpreting and comparing estimates of diet composition and quality that were estimated using different techniques, because different techniques may yield different diet estimates. The study also suggests that black wildebeest may switch to C3 grasses in the winter (as indicated by isotope analysis).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Barnardo, Toshka
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Grasslands -- Research -- South Africa , Grassland ecology -- Research -- South Africa Food habits -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/30876 , vital:31192
- Description: The black wildebeest Connochaetes gnou, a southern African endemic largely confined to the Grassland biome, was used as a model species to assess the response of a specialised grazer to grass availability, as an indicator of habitat quality. The occurrence of animals in low-quality habitats may have detrimental effects on population performance and persistence. Robust techniques are therefore required to assess the response of animals to varying habitat quality, to ensure sustainability of populations and species. Black wildebeest habitat use was assessed in relation to grass availability and visibility, and faecal analysis was used to estimate variation in diet composition and quality, parasite loads, and faecal pellet dimensions, across a grass gradient. Grass consumption, diet quality, and faecal pellet size and weight of black wildebeest increased with increasing grass availability. While black wildebeest consumed up to 55% browse at grass-poor sites, they consistently preferred grasses, potentially resulting in an increased intake of low-quality grasses at grass-poor sites. This, combined with the increased intake of indigestible fibres in browse, may explain the observed trends in diet quality, which in turn may explain variation in faecal pellet size and weight (indicators of body size and weight). Furthermore, black wildebeest population trends within the study area suggest that populations in grass-poor habitats, outside their natural distribution range, may exhibit reduced population performance. These findings suggest that grass availability may be a useful indicator of habitat quality for specialised grazers. The study also provided an opportunity to explore the utility of various diet assessment techniques for estimating herbivore diet composition and quality. Caution should be applied when interpreting and comparing estimates of diet composition and quality that were estimated using different techniques, because different techniques may yield different diet estimates. The study also suggests that black wildebeest may switch to C3 grasses in the winter (as indicated by isotope analysis).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Understanding the learning that occurs through up-skilling opportunities and practices in the marine sector of South Africa
- Authors: Bell, Caroline Margaret
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Biodiversity conservation -- South Africa , Human capital -- South Africa , Marine sciences -- Employees -- South Africa -- Training of , Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/93966 , vital:30977
- Description: South Africa is characterised by cultural and biological diversity which constitute a unique context in which to conduct educational research, such as this doctoral study looking at human capital development in the marine biodiversity context. The drive for transformation in the country is also a major factor to consider when researching any sector of the economy, in this case, the biodiversity sector. The biodiversity sector includes organisations involved in biodiversity conservation, research and management. Previous research in the sector has found a clear need for well-thought out workplace skills plans within conservation and research organisations. The national Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy that was produced in 2010 by the South African National Biodiversity Institute outlines how all the organisations involved in the biodiversity sector of South Africa need to participate in strengthening the sector through a range of human capital development strategies. This includes extending the existing human capacity of managers and scientists who are already in the workplace, i.e. up-skilling. In particular, ‘scarce’ skills, as identified by the national Environmental Sector Skills Plan need further attention and development. The scarce skills relevant to this study are: protected area managers; ecosystem managers and post-graduate researchers, hence the focus on managers and scientists in this research. The marine sector falls within the biodiversity sector and it faces multiple conservation challenges which are complex and it is therefore essential to have skilled and capable managers and scientists in place. By investigating the up-skilling opportunities and practices available to these marine professionals, the goal is to understand if and how learning takes place in the marine sector of South Africa. The main research question of this study is: How do up-skilling opportunities and practices enable learning in, through and for the workplace, by marine professionals? In addition, three sub-questions provide finer details and introduce the central concepts of the research: I. What up-skilling opportunities and professional practices exist in or for, marine research and conservation organisations and how are they constituted and enacted via practice-based sayings, doings and relatings? II. How do the individuals learn and exercise their agency within the socio-material realities of the marine scientific and management context, through making use of up-skilling opportunities that are both formal (e.g. course based) and informal? III. How do generative mechanisms shape the constitution and enactment of up-skilling opportunities and practices, and the learning and agency of marine professionals (scientists and managers)? The theoretical work of this study consisted of, first, considering sensitising concepts which included: defining skill and knowledge; considering what an up-skilling opportunity might look like; workplace learning (both formal and informal learning); professional practices, lifelong learning or adult education, and agency in the workplace. Critical realism was then employed as the meta-theory that underlabours this research, while the substantive theories used for analysis purposes were socio-materialism and practice theory. Of course, critical realism is a socio-material theory itself, and Bhaskar’s four-planar social being or Social Cube was used to interpret and synthesise the findings in the data chapters. The methodological framework of this study explores the implications of critical realism for research design and analysis and includes a contextual profiling phase, semi-structured interviews, analysis of documents and peer-reviewed papers, as well as observations. There are nine case studies that form the focus of this research and in total 18 research participants were involved. Data analysis included abduction and retroduction as the primary modes of inference and the main analytical tool was the framework of practice architectures where I took the ‘sayings’, ‘doings’ and ‘relatings’ as themes. Further themes were developed from the other relevant theories used in this study; hence socio-materialism, learning, agency, and formal and informal opportunities, were also used as themes when coding the data. Issues around validity, ethics and reflexivity are key elements of the research design and were carefully considered throughout the research process. The principal data chapters are structured in such a way that each sub-question is considered and ultimately the findings are presented in the form of generative mechanisms which included: the politics of social transformation and knowledge as a driving force of up-skilling; the influence of individual disposition and passion or will; the importance of the socio-material realities and realistic expectations; and how relationality is critical for the marine sector. Agency was a cross-cutting theme in all the discussions around learning, practices and the role of the material, and was highly influential on the mechanisms that have been described in this study. The experiences, events and mechanisms that were uncovered in this research provide insight into the forms of learning as these relate to up-skilling that occur in the marine sector, as well as the complex relationships between formal and informal learning. The professional practices that occur in the everyday working lives of the marine professionals were shown to be an integral part of the learning process, while formal, certified opportunities are important for strengthening the field and building conservation competence in the country. By uncovering the deeper structures and mechanisms that have power and causal efficacy when it comes to up-skilling opportunities, learning and professional practices, this study has contributed to the field of environmental education as it shows how up-skilling processes operate in complex formations that involve formal and informal learning processes in workplaces. The study also offers a more nuanced view of the relational objects in this field, such as up-skilling and workplace learning, via the inclusion of a socio-material analysis. Through a theoretical and methodological framework that focused on the material using the tools of practice theory and Bhaskar’s depth ontology and four-planar social being (to synthesise and interpret the findings from a critical realist perspective), this research highlights the unique context of up-skilling opportunities and practices in the marine sector and reveals the crucial role of agency in workplace practices. This leads to a better understanding of the up-skilling opportunities and practices of marine professionals in South Africa, which ultimately contributes towards improved human capital development in the biodiversity and environmental sectors. Through offering more complex insights into the forms of learning and up-skilling, as well as a distinct methodological contribution, this research has broader relevance for workplace learning research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bell, Caroline Margaret
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Biodiversity conservation -- South Africa , Human capital -- South Africa , Marine sciences -- Employees -- South Africa -- Training of , Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/93966 , vital:30977
- Description: South Africa is characterised by cultural and biological diversity which constitute a unique context in which to conduct educational research, such as this doctoral study looking at human capital development in the marine biodiversity context. The drive for transformation in the country is also a major factor to consider when researching any sector of the economy, in this case, the biodiversity sector. The biodiversity sector includes organisations involved in biodiversity conservation, research and management. Previous research in the sector has found a clear need for well-thought out workplace skills plans within conservation and research organisations. The national Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy that was produced in 2010 by the South African National Biodiversity Institute outlines how all the organisations involved in the biodiversity sector of South Africa need to participate in strengthening the sector through a range of human capital development strategies. This includes extending the existing human capacity of managers and scientists who are already in the workplace, i.e. up-skilling. In particular, ‘scarce’ skills, as identified by the national Environmental Sector Skills Plan need further attention and development. The scarce skills relevant to this study are: protected area managers; ecosystem managers and post-graduate researchers, hence the focus on managers and scientists in this research. The marine sector falls within the biodiversity sector and it faces multiple conservation challenges which are complex and it is therefore essential to have skilled and capable managers and scientists in place. By investigating the up-skilling opportunities and practices available to these marine professionals, the goal is to understand if and how learning takes place in the marine sector of South Africa. The main research question of this study is: How do up-skilling opportunities and practices enable learning in, through and for the workplace, by marine professionals? In addition, three sub-questions provide finer details and introduce the central concepts of the research: I. What up-skilling opportunities and professional practices exist in or for, marine research and conservation organisations and how are they constituted and enacted via practice-based sayings, doings and relatings? II. How do the individuals learn and exercise their agency within the socio-material realities of the marine scientific and management context, through making use of up-skilling opportunities that are both formal (e.g. course based) and informal? III. How do generative mechanisms shape the constitution and enactment of up-skilling opportunities and practices, and the learning and agency of marine professionals (scientists and managers)? The theoretical work of this study consisted of, first, considering sensitising concepts which included: defining skill and knowledge; considering what an up-skilling opportunity might look like; workplace learning (both formal and informal learning); professional practices, lifelong learning or adult education, and agency in the workplace. Critical realism was then employed as the meta-theory that underlabours this research, while the substantive theories used for analysis purposes were socio-materialism and practice theory. Of course, critical realism is a socio-material theory itself, and Bhaskar’s four-planar social being or Social Cube was used to interpret and synthesise the findings in the data chapters. The methodological framework of this study explores the implications of critical realism for research design and analysis and includes a contextual profiling phase, semi-structured interviews, analysis of documents and peer-reviewed papers, as well as observations. There are nine case studies that form the focus of this research and in total 18 research participants were involved. Data analysis included abduction and retroduction as the primary modes of inference and the main analytical tool was the framework of practice architectures where I took the ‘sayings’, ‘doings’ and ‘relatings’ as themes. Further themes were developed from the other relevant theories used in this study; hence socio-materialism, learning, agency, and formal and informal opportunities, were also used as themes when coding the data. Issues around validity, ethics and reflexivity are key elements of the research design and were carefully considered throughout the research process. The principal data chapters are structured in such a way that each sub-question is considered and ultimately the findings are presented in the form of generative mechanisms which included: the politics of social transformation and knowledge as a driving force of up-skilling; the influence of individual disposition and passion or will; the importance of the socio-material realities and realistic expectations; and how relationality is critical for the marine sector. Agency was a cross-cutting theme in all the discussions around learning, practices and the role of the material, and was highly influential on the mechanisms that have been described in this study. The experiences, events and mechanisms that were uncovered in this research provide insight into the forms of learning as these relate to up-skilling that occur in the marine sector, as well as the complex relationships between formal and informal learning. The professional practices that occur in the everyday working lives of the marine professionals were shown to be an integral part of the learning process, while formal, certified opportunities are important for strengthening the field and building conservation competence in the country. By uncovering the deeper structures and mechanisms that have power and causal efficacy when it comes to up-skilling opportunities, learning and professional practices, this study has contributed to the field of environmental education as it shows how up-skilling processes operate in complex formations that involve formal and informal learning processes in workplaces. The study also offers a more nuanced view of the relational objects in this field, such as up-skilling and workplace learning, via the inclusion of a socio-material analysis. Through a theoretical and methodological framework that focused on the material using the tools of practice theory and Bhaskar’s depth ontology and four-planar social being (to synthesise and interpret the findings from a critical realist perspective), this research highlights the unique context of up-skilling opportunities and practices in the marine sector and reveals the crucial role of agency in workplace practices. This leads to a better understanding of the up-skilling opportunities and practices of marine professionals in South Africa, which ultimately contributes towards improved human capital development in the biodiversity and environmental sectors. Through offering more complex insights into the forms of learning and up-skilling, as well as a distinct methodological contribution, this research has broader relevance for workplace learning research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
An exploration of social media as a key site for the expression of post-racial politics
- Authors: Bell, Joshua
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- In mass media
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94049 , vital:30995
- Description: This research sets out to examine colourblind racism in contemporary South Africa, specifically, as expressed on social media networks. In South Africa, a nation lauded for its transition from Apartheid to liberal democracy, racism still continues to exist. In the new democracy, racism continues in old, familiar forms but it has been suggested that racism also assumes new and emergent forms such as ‘colourblind’ racism. This is evident in recent controversies involving local public figures and their expressions of ‘soft’, ‘colourblind’ racism on Facebook. It is the new platforms and modes of racism unique to democratic South Africa which this thesis attempts to explore. Specifically, this study is framed by ‘post-racialism’, a concept developed by scholars globally to capture the suggestion that in liberal democratic societies across the world, racism continues with racial inequality now underpinned by an ideology of colourblindness as opposed to overt policies of segregation. Colourblindness denies the relevance of race as a collective issue, proposing instead that other social factors such as class are more pertinent in considerations of social inequality. The purpose of colourblind narratives may be identified as the reduction of racism to mere individual action, denying systemic white privilege and historical responsibility for reparation as well as preventing racially subjugated groups from critically interrogating racial power and privilege (Goldberg, 2015: 28-30). Post-racial theorists agree that the projection of colourblind politics which claims to no longer ‘see race’ has instead served to secure the normalisation of white privilege and black subjugation (Bonilla-Silva et al, 2004: 559-560). The purported existence of colourblind /post-racial racism and its impact requires exploration in the context of South Africa today. In expanding on the definition of racism, we are able to see that racism is an adaptive system of power that is able to reproduce and reconceptualise itself to changes within society. As modalities of racism have evolved, so have the platforms for its propagation. This research offers social media as a site of exploration for post-racial narratives. The case studies of Penny Sparrow, Helen Zille and Mabel Jansen are presented in this study as exemplars of post-racial liberalism, denial and exclusion. This research calls for the expansion of racial understanding so as to contest racial power structures as a continuing systemic issue in contemporary South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bell, Joshua
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- In mass media
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94049 , vital:30995
- Description: This research sets out to examine colourblind racism in contemporary South Africa, specifically, as expressed on social media networks. In South Africa, a nation lauded for its transition from Apartheid to liberal democracy, racism still continues to exist. In the new democracy, racism continues in old, familiar forms but it has been suggested that racism also assumes new and emergent forms such as ‘colourblind’ racism. This is evident in recent controversies involving local public figures and their expressions of ‘soft’, ‘colourblind’ racism on Facebook. It is the new platforms and modes of racism unique to democratic South Africa which this thesis attempts to explore. Specifically, this study is framed by ‘post-racialism’, a concept developed by scholars globally to capture the suggestion that in liberal democratic societies across the world, racism continues with racial inequality now underpinned by an ideology of colourblindness as opposed to overt policies of segregation. Colourblindness denies the relevance of race as a collective issue, proposing instead that other social factors such as class are more pertinent in considerations of social inequality. The purpose of colourblind narratives may be identified as the reduction of racism to mere individual action, denying systemic white privilege and historical responsibility for reparation as well as preventing racially subjugated groups from critically interrogating racial power and privilege (Goldberg, 2015: 28-30). Post-racial theorists agree that the projection of colourblind politics which claims to no longer ‘see race’ has instead served to secure the normalisation of white privilege and black subjugation (Bonilla-Silva et al, 2004: 559-560). The purported existence of colourblind /post-racial racism and its impact requires exploration in the context of South Africa today. In expanding on the definition of racism, we are able to see that racism is an adaptive system of power that is able to reproduce and reconceptualise itself to changes within society. As modalities of racism have evolved, so have the platforms for its propagation. This research offers social media as a site of exploration for post-racial narratives. The case studies of Penny Sparrow, Helen Zille and Mabel Jansen are presented in this study as exemplars of post-racial liberalism, denial and exclusion. This research calls for the expansion of racial understanding so as to contest racial power structures as a continuing systemic issue in contemporary South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Rapid recovery of macroinvertebrates in a South African stream treated with rotenone:
- Bellingan, Terence A, Hugo, Sanet, Woodford, Darragh J, Gouws, Jeanne, Villet, Martin H, Weyl, Olaf L F
- Authors: Bellingan, Terence A , Hugo, Sanet , Woodford, Darragh J , Gouws, Jeanne , Villet, Martin H , Weyl, Olaf L F
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140751 , vital:37915 , DOI: 10.1007/s10750-019-3885-z
- Description: South Africa’s Cape Fold Ecoregion supports a unique freshwater fish assemblage with many endemics. To mitigate impacts of alien invasive fishes on this unique assemblage, nature conservation authority CapeNature used rotenone to remove smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) from the Rondegat River. We investigated whether the rotenone treatments had an adverse impact on the aquatic macroinvertebrate community over the long-term, the first study of its kind in Africa. We monitored macroinvertebrates within treated and untreated (control) sites on multiple sampling events for 2 years before and 2 years after two rotenone treatments. We analysed the difference in invertebrate abundance between treatment and control sites before and after treatment, using generalised linear mixed models with sampling event as a random factor to partition out natural fluctuations in abundances over time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bellingan, Terence A , Hugo, Sanet , Woodford, Darragh J , Gouws, Jeanne , Villet, Martin H , Weyl, Olaf L F
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140751 , vital:37915 , DOI: 10.1007/s10750-019-3885-z
- Description: South Africa’s Cape Fold Ecoregion supports a unique freshwater fish assemblage with many endemics. To mitigate impacts of alien invasive fishes on this unique assemblage, nature conservation authority CapeNature used rotenone to remove smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) from the Rondegat River. We investigated whether the rotenone treatments had an adverse impact on the aquatic macroinvertebrate community over the long-term, the first study of its kind in Africa. We monitored macroinvertebrates within treated and untreated (control) sites on multiple sampling events for 2 years before and 2 years after two rotenone treatments. We analysed the difference in invertebrate abundance between treatment and control sites before and after treatment, using generalised linear mixed models with sampling event as a random factor to partition out natural fluctuations in abundances over time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
An explanatory study on perceptions of factors influencing muthi killings in Butterworth, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Belu, Sinovuyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Murder
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc (Criminology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16386 , vital:40715
- Description: This study is premised on explaining perceptions of Nkcunkcuzo and Tholenicommunity members towards factors influencing muthi killings in Butterworth, Eastern Cape (E.C.). The villagers of the two selected areas have recently experienced number of incidents. It is against this background that this study sought to establish the explanations by soliciting direct experiences of community members on incidences of muthi killings.A plethora of research projects have been previously conducted to understand this phenomenon with the Criminal Justice System (CJS) having its own perspective regarding the muthi killings. However, the researcher deemed it imperative to have explanations of community members’ perceptions of the related factors thereof. The objectives that guided this study mainly included: (1) to establish the explanations of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo community members on the factors that influence muthi murders, (2) to determine why people in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo commit muthi murders and (3) to illustrate the medus operandi of muthi murderers in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo. The qualitative research methodology was employed in the study. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of selected participants and respondents of this study and data was collected through self-administered questionnaires and conducted interviews by the researcher. This study established that it is rich people and politicians who are most probably reasons for incidents of muthi murders in Etholeni and in Nkcunkcuzo. Business people want to accumulate their wealth and get rich using muthi. The belief behind this is that when muthi is mixed with human body parts it is bound to be strong eventually attracting more people (customers) to the businesses owned by these people. Ultimately this leads to profit accumulation. On the other hand, the involvement of politicians in the incidents of muthi killings is mainly associated with maintaining political power by remaining as centres of preference to the community members. The participants have echoed the same sentiments on the factors that influence muthi murders in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo villages, Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. vi Finally, this study recommended as follows: The Etholeni and Nkcunkcuzo community leaders must work hand in hand with the government to establish centres where children, older persons and people with disabilities, particularly those who are without people to protect them, can be institutionalised in order to guarantee their safety; The chiefs of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzomust collaborate with the social service professionals in order to address the issues of mistrust among community members through community development programs; The community policing forums of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo must be capacitated and their knowledge strengthened by the criminal justice agencies on muthi murders to avoid confusion about muthi murders with other different types of murders; The government of South Africa must formulate an elementary social curriculum on muthi killings in order to educate the villagers on the muthi killings from a criminal justice point of view; The legislative framework must be reviewed in order to impose harsher sentences to the muthi murderers and the accomplices thereof; There must be social welfare organizations in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo villages in order to take care of those children that have lost their care-givers due to muthi killings; The traditional leaders of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo must formulate a charter for community norms and standards to circumvent the use and selling of drugs in the concerned communities/villages. More research projects must be funded in order to get a full understanding of the causes of muthi killings and to provide a word of scientific reason to the criminal justice system, particularly as it relates to muthi killings in South Africa. Key words: Muthi, Muthi murders/killings, rituals, Modus Operandi (MO), Victims
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Belu, Sinovuyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Murder
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc (Criminology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16386 , vital:40715
- Description: This study is premised on explaining perceptions of Nkcunkcuzo and Tholenicommunity members towards factors influencing muthi killings in Butterworth, Eastern Cape (E.C.). The villagers of the two selected areas have recently experienced number of incidents. It is against this background that this study sought to establish the explanations by soliciting direct experiences of community members on incidences of muthi killings.A plethora of research projects have been previously conducted to understand this phenomenon with the Criminal Justice System (CJS) having its own perspective regarding the muthi killings. However, the researcher deemed it imperative to have explanations of community members’ perceptions of the related factors thereof. The objectives that guided this study mainly included: (1) to establish the explanations of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo community members on the factors that influence muthi murders, (2) to determine why people in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo commit muthi murders and (3) to illustrate the medus operandi of muthi murderers in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo. The qualitative research methodology was employed in the study. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of selected participants and respondents of this study and data was collected through self-administered questionnaires and conducted interviews by the researcher. This study established that it is rich people and politicians who are most probably reasons for incidents of muthi murders in Etholeni and in Nkcunkcuzo. Business people want to accumulate their wealth and get rich using muthi. The belief behind this is that when muthi is mixed with human body parts it is bound to be strong eventually attracting more people (customers) to the businesses owned by these people. Ultimately this leads to profit accumulation. On the other hand, the involvement of politicians in the incidents of muthi killings is mainly associated with maintaining political power by remaining as centres of preference to the community members. The participants have echoed the same sentiments on the factors that influence muthi murders in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo villages, Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. vi Finally, this study recommended as follows: The Etholeni and Nkcunkcuzo community leaders must work hand in hand with the government to establish centres where children, older persons and people with disabilities, particularly those who are without people to protect them, can be institutionalised in order to guarantee their safety; The chiefs of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzomust collaborate with the social service professionals in order to address the issues of mistrust among community members through community development programs; The community policing forums of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo must be capacitated and their knowledge strengthened by the criminal justice agencies on muthi murders to avoid confusion about muthi murders with other different types of murders; The government of South Africa must formulate an elementary social curriculum on muthi killings in order to educate the villagers on the muthi killings from a criminal justice point of view; The legislative framework must be reviewed in order to impose harsher sentences to the muthi murderers and the accomplices thereof; There must be social welfare organizations in Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo villages in order to take care of those children that have lost their care-givers due to muthi killings; The traditional leaders of Tholeni and Nkcunkcuzo must formulate a charter for community norms and standards to circumvent the use and selling of drugs in the concerned communities/villages. More research projects must be funded in order to get a full understanding of the causes of muthi killings and to provide a word of scientific reason to the criminal justice system, particularly as it relates to muthi killings in South Africa. Key words: Muthi, Muthi murders/killings, rituals, Modus Operandi (MO), Victims
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Targeted attack detection by means of free and open source solutions
- Authors: Bernardo, Louis F
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Computer networks -- Security measures , Information technology -- Security measures , Computer security -- Management , Data protection
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92269 , vital:30703
- Description: Compliance requirements are part of everyday business requirements for various areas, such as retail and medical services. As part of compliance it may be required to have infrastructure in place to monitor the activities in the environment to ensure that the relevant data and environment is sufficiently protected. At the core of such monitoring solutions one would find some type of data repository, or database, to store and ultimately correlate the captured events. Such solutions are commonly called Security Information and Event Management, or SIEM for short. Larger companies have been known to use commercial solutions such as IBM's Qradar, Logrythm, or Splunk. However, these come at significant cost and arent suitable for smaller businesses with limited budgets. These solutions require manual configuration of event correlation for detection of activities that place the environment in danger. This usually requires vendor implementation assistance that also would come at a cost. Alternatively, there are open source solutions that provide the required functionality. This research will demonstrate building an open source solution, with minimal to no cost for hardware or software, while still maintaining the capability of detecting targeted attacks. The solution presented in this research includes Wazuh, which is a combination of OSSEC and the ELK stack, integrated with an Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS). The success of the integration, is determined by measuring postive attack detection based on each different configuration options. To perform the testing, a deliberately vulnerable platform named Metasploitable will be used as a victim host. The victim host vulnerabilities were created specifically to serve as target for Metasploit. The attacks were generated by utilising Metasploit Framework on a prebuilt Kali Linux host.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bernardo, Louis F
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Computer networks -- Security measures , Information technology -- Security measures , Computer security -- Management , Data protection
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92269 , vital:30703
- Description: Compliance requirements are part of everyday business requirements for various areas, such as retail and medical services. As part of compliance it may be required to have infrastructure in place to monitor the activities in the environment to ensure that the relevant data and environment is sufficiently protected. At the core of such monitoring solutions one would find some type of data repository, or database, to store and ultimately correlate the captured events. Such solutions are commonly called Security Information and Event Management, or SIEM for short. Larger companies have been known to use commercial solutions such as IBM's Qradar, Logrythm, or Splunk. However, these come at significant cost and arent suitable for smaller businesses with limited budgets. These solutions require manual configuration of event correlation for detection of activities that place the environment in danger. This usually requires vendor implementation assistance that also would come at a cost. Alternatively, there are open source solutions that provide the required functionality. This research will demonstrate building an open source solution, with minimal to no cost for hardware or software, while still maintaining the capability of detecting targeted attacks. The solution presented in this research includes Wazuh, which is a combination of OSSEC and the ELK stack, integrated with an Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS). The success of the integration, is determined by measuring postive attack detection based on each different configuration options. To perform the testing, a deliberately vulnerable platform named Metasploitable will be used as a victim host. The victim host vulnerabilities were created specifically to serve as target for Metasploit. The attacks were generated by utilising Metasploit Framework on a prebuilt Kali Linux host.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Personal development preferences across generations and implications for organisations
- Authors: Berry, Simone Michelle
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Career development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36544 , vital:33964
- Description: Due to generational differences in organisations, it is sensible to determine the learning preferences of professional employees across generations so that organisations can provide learning opportunities that these employees will embrace. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the personal development preferences of professional employees from different generations within corporate organisations in Cape Town. The research intends to aid organisations that upskill their employees and to ensure they are utilising the most effective and efficient methods. To this effect, a survey with a self-administered questionnaire was provided to 59 professional employees across several generations utilising a Likert scale where the participants were able to rate the different developmental strategies based on their preferences. The results revealed that similarities existed between the generations in relation to their preferences; however, younger generations were more likely to be open to several personal development strategies, whereas older generations had a refined preference they have developed over the years. It is consequently recommended to organisations to customise their training methods to the different generational groups, based on their preferences and thereby to use this method to aid professional employees in understanding each other.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Berry, Simone Michelle
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Career development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36544 , vital:33964
- Description: Due to generational differences in organisations, it is sensible to determine the learning preferences of professional employees across generations so that organisations can provide learning opportunities that these employees will embrace. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the personal development preferences of professional employees from different generations within corporate organisations in Cape Town. The research intends to aid organisations that upskill their employees and to ensure they are utilising the most effective and efficient methods. To this effect, a survey with a self-administered questionnaire was provided to 59 professional employees across several generations utilising a Likert scale where the participants were able to rate the different developmental strategies based on their preferences. The results revealed that similarities existed between the generations in relation to their preferences; however, younger generations were more likely to be open to several personal development strategies, whereas older generations had a refined preference they have developed over the years. It is consequently recommended to organisations to customise their training methods to the different generational groups, based on their preferences and thereby to use this method to aid professional employees in understanding each other.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Exploring emotional intelligence perceptions of school leaders in relation to social justice: a case study
- Authors: Bese, Samuel
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Educational leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36529 , vital:33963
- Description: The aim of this study was to explore school leaders’ perceptions of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional intelligence (EI) in relation to social justice aspects, such as equity, access and inclusive participation in the Libode Educational District of Eastern Cape Province. This district, like many other rural districts in South Africa, has to face critical leadership issues, which have an influence on how school leaders could enact social justice practices in schools (DoE, 2012). This qualitative study employed twelve in-depth interview research participants, which included 6 purposively selected principals and 6 deputy principals. Data collection and content analysis also included the following: 6 focus group interviews with head of departments (HODs) and school governing bodies (SGBs); document analysis of the minutes of school meetings; and Department of Education (DoE) memorandums. The key findings that emerged through the descriptive, exploratory, social interpretive perspectives used in this study revealed the relevance of: • school leaders’ perceptions of intrapersonal EI in enhancing social justice practices with regard to equity, access, and inclusive participation; and • school leaders’ perceptions of interpersonal EI in enhancing social justice practices with regard to equity, access, and inclusive participation. The research participants’ perceptions of EI promoted deeper understanding of how school leaders could engage in social justice in relation to school leadership, teamwork, building bonds, developing others, becoming change agents, and managing conflicts in their schools. The study also captured that EI leaders can greatly manage their emotions to enhance their abilities to identify and control their destructive impulses as well as understanding and handling others’ emotions. It would be commendable for school leaders to have a deeper understanding of how their emotions could enhance social justice in their schools.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bese, Samuel
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Educational leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36529 , vital:33963
- Description: The aim of this study was to explore school leaders’ perceptions of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional intelligence (EI) in relation to social justice aspects, such as equity, access and inclusive participation in the Libode Educational District of Eastern Cape Province. This district, like many other rural districts in South Africa, has to face critical leadership issues, which have an influence on how school leaders could enact social justice practices in schools (DoE, 2012). This qualitative study employed twelve in-depth interview research participants, which included 6 purposively selected principals and 6 deputy principals. Data collection and content analysis also included the following: 6 focus group interviews with head of departments (HODs) and school governing bodies (SGBs); document analysis of the minutes of school meetings; and Department of Education (DoE) memorandums. The key findings that emerged through the descriptive, exploratory, social interpretive perspectives used in this study revealed the relevance of: • school leaders’ perceptions of intrapersonal EI in enhancing social justice practices with regard to equity, access, and inclusive participation; and • school leaders’ perceptions of interpersonal EI in enhancing social justice practices with regard to equity, access, and inclusive participation. The research participants’ perceptions of EI promoted deeper understanding of how school leaders could engage in social justice in relation to school leadership, teamwork, building bonds, developing others, becoming change agents, and managing conflicts in their schools. The study also captured that EI leaders can greatly manage their emotions to enhance their abilities to identify and control their destructive impulses as well as understanding and handling others’ emotions. It would be commendable for school leaders to have a deeper understanding of how their emotions could enhance social justice in their schools.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
In vitro Anti-trypanosomal activities of indanone-based chalcones:
- Beteck, Richard M, Legoabe, Lesetje J, Isaacs, Michelle, Hoppe, Heinrich C
- Authors: Beteck, Richard M , Legoabe, Lesetje J , Isaacs, Michelle , Hoppe, Heinrich C
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158280 , vital:40169 , https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12953
- Description: Human African trypanosomiasis is a neglected infectious disease that affects mostly people living in the rural areas of Africa. Current treatment options are limited to just four drugs that have been in use of four to nine decades. The life-threatening toxic side-effects associated with the use of these drugs are disconcerting. Poor efficacy, low oral bioavailability, and high cost are other shortcomings of current HAT treatments. Evaluating the potentials of known hits for other therapeutic areas may be a fast and convenient method to discover new hit compounds against alternative targets. A library of 34 known indanone based chalcones was screened against T.b. brucei and nine potent hits, having IC50 values between 0.5–8.9 µM, were found. The SAR studies of this series could provide useful information in guiding future exploration of this class of compounds in search of more potent, safe, and low cost anti-trypanosomal agents.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Beteck, Richard M , Legoabe, Lesetje J , Isaacs, Michelle , Hoppe, Heinrich C
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158280 , vital:40169 , https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12953
- Description: Human African trypanosomiasis is a neglected infectious disease that affects mostly people living in the rural areas of Africa. Current treatment options are limited to just four drugs that have been in use of four to nine decades. The life-threatening toxic side-effects associated with the use of these drugs are disconcerting. Poor efficacy, low oral bioavailability, and high cost are other shortcomings of current HAT treatments. Evaluating the potentials of known hits for other therapeutic areas may be a fast and convenient method to discover new hit compounds against alternative targets. A library of 34 known indanone based chalcones was screened against T.b. brucei and nine potent hits, having IC50 values between 0.5–8.9 µM, were found. The SAR studies of this series could provide useful information in guiding future exploration of this class of compounds in search of more potent, safe, and low cost anti-trypanosomal agents.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Quinolone-isoniazid hybrids: Synthesis and preliminary in vitro cytotoxicity and anti-tuberculosis evaluation
- Beteck, Richard M, Seldon, Ronnett, Khanye, Setshaba D, Legoabe, Lesetja J, Hoppe, Heinrich C, Laming, Dustin, Jordaan, Audrey, Warner, Digby F
- Authors: Beteck, Richard M , Seldon, Ronnett , Khanye, Setshaba D , Legoabe, Lesetja J , Hoppe, Heinrich C , Laming, Dustin , Jordaan, Audrey , Warner, Digby F
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123151 , vital:35410 , https://doi.org/10.1039/C8MD00480C
- Description: Herein, we propose novel quinolones incorporating an INH moiety as potential drug templates against TB. The quinolone-based compounds bearing an INH moiety attached via a hydrazide–hydrazone bond were synthesised and evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (MTB). The compounds were also evaluated for cytotoxicity against HeLa cell lines. These compounds showed significant activity (MIC90) against MTB in the range of 0.2–8 μM without any cytotoxic effects. Compounds 10 (MIC90; 0.9 μM), 11 (MIC90; 0.2 μM), 12 (MIC90; 0.8 μM) and compound 15 (MIC90; 0.8 μM), the most active compounds in this series, demonstrate activities on par with INH and superior to those reported for the fluoroquinolones. The SAR analysis suggests that the nature of substituents at positions −1 and −3 of the quinolone nucleus influences anti-MTB activity. Aqueous solubility evaluation and in vitro metabolic stability of compound 12 highlights favourable drug-like properties for this compound class.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Beteck, Richard M , Seldon, Ronnett , Khanye, Setshaba D , Legoabe, Lesetja J , Hoppe, Heinrich C , Laming, Dustin , Jordaan, Audrey , Warner, Digby F
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123151 , vital:35410 , https://doi.org/10.1039/C8MD00480C
- Description: Herein, we propose novel quinolones incorporating an INH moiety as potential drug templates against TB. The quinolone-based compounds bearing an INH moiety attached via a hydrazide–hydrazone bond were synthesised and evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (MTB). The compounds were also evaluated for cytotoxicity against HeLa cell lines. These compounds showed significant activity (MIC90) against MTB in the range of 0.2–8 μM without any cytotoxic effects. Compounds 10 (MIC90; 0.9 μM), 11 (MIC90; 0.2 μM), 12 (MIC90; 0.8 μM) and compound 15 (MIC90; 0.8 μM), the most active compounds in this series, demonstrate activities on par with INH and superior to those reported for the fluoroquinolones. The SAR analysis suggests that the nature of substituents at positions −1 and −3 of the quinolone nucleus influences anti-MTB activity. Aqueous solubility evaluation and in vitro metabolic stability of compound 12 highlights favourable drug-like properties for this compound class.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Narratives and home: remembering an almost forgotten walk
- Bezuidenhout, Natasha Belinda
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, Natasha Belinda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Home in literature , Home in art , Artists -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115039 , vital:34072
- Description: The title of my exhibition Bittersoet alludes to the self-exploratory nature of my practice, as I interrogate the personal memories associated with objects that characterise the relationship between myself and my mother (mamma). This supporting document, Narratives and Home: Remembering an almost forgotten walk, considers the key conceptual concerns informing my practice. In this mini-thesis, I address the question: ‘What is a home?’. Drawing from my own Fine Art Practice, I explore how home can be examined as a product of the imagination, rather than only as a physical place. I consider how ‘home’ is constructed as the primary objective within an ideological framework defined by history, memory and narrative. Engaging beyond the idea of ‘home’ as a fixed structure or place, I examine the idea of ‘home’ as something fluid that is negotiated and defined by the interaction between objects and language. It is concerned with dialectics of memory and narrative as they pertain directly to an experience of both searching for and reimagining home through metaphorical representations. In particular, I explore how home can be seen as equally familiar and unfamiliar, existing in-between, always changing, never fixed, rather in a constant state of flux. The concept of home is addressed in a dialogical process by using Afrikaans as my mother tongue, I narrate informal conversations between myself and my mother. These conversations transform and expand into hybrid words, memories and narratives to form a layered continuous dialogue between my practice and research. This notion relates to exploring oneself and the ‘fictions’ of the past. The self being fundamental to the individual comprehension of both ‘place’ and ‘space’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, Natasha Belinda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Home in literature , Home in art , Artists -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115039 , vital:34072
- Description: The title of my exhibition Bittersoet alludes to the self-exploratory nature of my practice, as I interrogate the personal memories associated with objects that characterise the relationship between myself and my mother (mamma). This supporting document, Narratives and Home: Remembering an almost forgotten walk, considers the key conceptual concerns informing my practice. In this mini-thesis, I address the question: ‘What is a home?’. Drawing from my own Fine Art Practice, I explore how home can be examined as a product of the imagination, rather than only as a physical place. I consider how ‘home’ is constructed as the primary objective within an ideological framework defined by history, memory and narrative. Engaging beyond the idea of ‘home’ as a fixed structure or place, I examine the idea of ‘home’ as something fluid that is negotiated and defined by the interaction between objects and language. It is concerned with dialectics of memory and narrative as they pertain directly to an experience of both searching for and reimagining home through metaphorical representations. In particular, I explore how home can be seen as equally familiar and unfamiliar, existing in-between, always changing, never fixed, rather in a constant state of flux. The concept of home is addressed in a dialogical process by using Afrikaans as my mother tongue, I narrate informal conversations between myself and my mother. These conversations transform and expand into hybrid words, memories and narratives to form a layered continuous dialogue between my practice and research. This notion relates to exploring oneself and the ‘fictions’ of the past. The self being fundamental to the individual comprehension of both ‘place’ and ‘space’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The influence of briefing on Eastern Cape government project outcomes
- Authors: Binqela, Lukhanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Government projects -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44562 , vital:38128
- Description: South African Government projects are frequently completed with large cost overruns, extended schedules, quality concerns and an increase in emerging contractors making a significant loss in projects they undertake. The construction phase has been the focus of many studies on the causes of unfavourable project outcomes. However, the crucial stages in the construction process that influence the success of a project are the early ones. This is where major decisions that influence the features and form of a project occur. This study, which adopts a case study approach, aims to establish the influence of the brief development process on the outcome of Government projects in the Eastern Cape. Through the reviewed literature and primary data collection, the study aimed at establishing the influence of the brief that is utilised for a need analysis, to define a detailed scope of works, stakeholder engagement and the time management on Eastern Cape Government project outcomes. The Sarah Baartman district was the selected geographical scope of research. Five projects were selected; these included three schools, one emergency medical service facility and one office facility. The study revealed that Eastern Cape Government projects brief development is based on the client department 2013 Published Norms and Standards for state buildings and a need analysis for other stakeholders is not considered. The study further revealed that there is no stakeholder management in government projects; therefore, there is no stakeholder engagement plan during the brief development. The study further revealed that government time management is suboptimal because stakeholder needs are not realised. The research also found that Eastern Cape Government projects do not achieve stakeholder satisfaction and are delivered late. However, some Government projects are able to meet the desired quality and are within budget. The study thus proposes that the Eastern Cape Government projects need to adopt the dynamic brief development process and implement stakeholder management. The brief development process should be an ongoing process extending throughout the project life cycle responding in an innovative manner to emerging stakeholder requirements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Binqela, Lukhanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Government projects -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44562 , vital:38128
- Description: South African Government projects are frequently completed with large cost overruns, extended schedules, quality concerns and an increase in emerging contractors making a significant loss in projects they undertake. The construction phase has been the focus of many studies on the causes of unfavourable project outcomes. However, the crucial stages in the construction process that influence the success of a project are the early ones. This is where major decisions that influence the features and form of a project occur. This study, which adopts a case study approach, aims to establish the influence of the brief development process on the outcome of Government projects in the Eastern Cape. Through the reviewed literature and primary data collection, the study aimed at establishing the influence of the brief that is utilised for a need analysis, to define a detailed scope of works, stakeholder engagement and the time management on Eastern Cape Government project outcomes. The Sarah Baartman district was the selected geographical scope of research. Five projects were selected; these included three schools, one emergency medical service facility and one office facility. The study revealed that Eastern Cape Government projects brief development is based on the client department 2013 Published Norms and Standards for state buildings and a need analysis for other stakeholders is not considered. The study further revealed that there is no stakeholder management in government projects; therefore, there is no stakeholder engagement plan during the brief development. The study further revealed that government time management is suboptimal because stakeholder needs are not realised. The research also found that Eastern Cape Government projects do not achieve stakeholder satisfaction and are delivered late. However, some Government projects are able to meet the desired quality and are within budget. The study thus proposes that the Eastern Cape Government projects need to adopt the dynamic brief development process and implement stakeholder management. The brief development process should be an ongoing process extending throughout the project life cycle responding in an innovative manner to emerging stakeholder requirements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The influence of briefing on Eastern Cape government project outcomes
- Authors: Binqela, Lukhanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Project management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Construction industry -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Construction industry -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44895 , vital:38186
- Description: South African Government projects are frequently completed with large cost overruns, extended schedules, quality concerns and an increase in emerging contractors making a significant loss in projects they undertake. The construction phase has been the focus of many studies on the causes of unfavourable project outcomes. However, the crucial stages in the construction process that influence the success of a project are the early ones. This is where major decisions that influence the features and form of a project occur. This study, which adopts a case study approach, aims to establish the influence of the brief development process on the outcome of Government projects in the Eastern Cape. Through the reviewed literature and primary data collection, the study aimed at establishing the influence of the brief that is utilised for a need analysis, to define a detailed scope of works, stakeholder engagement and the time management on Eastern Cape Government project outcomes. The Sarah Baartman district was the selected geographical scope of research. Five projects were selected; these included three schools, one emergency medical service facility and one office facility. The study revealed that Eastern Cape Government projects brief development is based on the client department 2013 Published Norms and Standards for state buildings and a need analysis for other stakeholders is not considered. The study further revealed that there is no stakeholder management in government projects; therefore, there is no stakeholder engagement plan during the brief development. The study further revealed that government time management is suboptimal because stakeholder needs are not realised. The research also found that Eastern Cape Government projects do not achieve stakeholder satisfaction and are delivered late. However, some Government projects are able to meet the desired quality and are within budget. The study thus proposes that the Eastern Cape Government projects need to adopt the dynamic brief development process and implement stakeholder management. The brief development process should be an ongoing process extending throughout the project life cycle responding in an innovative manner to emerging stakeholder requirements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Binqela, Lukhanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Project management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Construction industry -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Construction industry -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44895 , vital:38186
- Description: South African Government projects are frequently completed with large cost overruns, extended schedules, quality concerns and an increase in emerging contractors making a significant loss in projects they undertake. The construction phase has been the focus of many studies on the causes of unfavourable project outcomes. However, the crucial stages in the construction process that influence the success of a project are the early ones. This is where major decisions that influence the features and form of a project occur. This study, which adopts a case study approach, aims to establish the influence of the brief development process on the outcome of Government projects in the Eastern Cape. Through the reviewed literature and primary data collection, the study aimed at establishing the influence of the brief that is utilised for a need analysis, to define a detailed scope of works, stakeholder engagement and the time management on Eastern Cape Government project outcomes. The Sarah Baartman district was the selected geographical scope of research. Five projects were selected; these included three schools, one emergency medical service facility and one office facility. The study revealed that Eastern Cape Government projects brief development is based on the client department 2013 Published Norms and Standards for state buildings and a need analysis for other stakeholders is not considered. The study further revealed that there is no stakeholder management in government projects; therefore, there is no stakeholder engagement plan during the brief development. The study further revealed that government time management is suboptimal because stakeholder needs are not realised. The research also found that Eastern Cape Government projects do not achieve stakeholder satisfaction and are delivered late. However, some Government projects are able to meet the desired quality and are within budget. The study thus proposes that the Eastern Cape Government projects need to adopt the dynamic brief development process and implement stakeholder management. The brief development process should be an ongoing process extending throughout the project life cycle responding in an innovative manner to emerging stakeholder requirements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Deeper knowledge of shallow waters: reviewing the invertebrate fauna of southern African temporary wetlands
- Bird, Matthew S, Mlambo, Musa C, Wasserman, Ryan J, Dalu, Tatenda, Holland, Alexandra J, Day, Jenny A, Villet, Martin H, Bilton, David T, Barber-James, Helen M, Brendonck, Luc
- Authors: Bird, Matthew S , Mlambo, Musa C , Wasserman, Ryan J , Dalu, Tatenda , Holland, Alexandra J , Day, Jenny A , Villet, Martin H , Bilton, David T , Barber-James, Helen M , Brendonck, Luc
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140784 , vital:37918 , DOI: 10.1007/s10750-018-3772-z
- Description: Temporary lentic wetlands are becoming increasingly recognised for their collective role in contributing to biodiversity at the landscape scale. In southern Africa, a region with a high density of such wetlands, information characterising the fauna of these systems is disparate and often obscurely published. Here we provide a collation and synthesis of published research on the aquatic invertebrate fauna inhabiting temporary lentic wetlands of the region. We expose the poor taxonomic knowledge of most groups, which makes it difficult to comment on patterns of richness and endemism.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bird, Matthew S , Mlambo, Musa C , Wasserman, Ryan J , Dalu, Tatenda , Holland, Alexandra J , Day, Jenny A , Villet, Martin H , Bilton, David T , Barber-James, Helen M , Brendonck, Luc
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140784 , vital:37918 , DOI: 10.1007/s10750-018-3772-z
- Description: Temporary lentic wetlands are becoming increasingly recognised for their collective role in contributing to biodiversity at the landscape scale. In southern Africa, a region with a high density of such wetlands, information characterising the fauna of these systems is disparate and often obscurely published. Here we provide a collation and synthesis of published research on the aquatic invertebrate fauna inhabiting temporary lentic wetlands of the region. We expose the poor taxonomic knowledge of most groups, which makes it difficult to comment on patterns of richness and endemism.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The cultivation of Gracilaria gracilis in the Swartkops estuary, South Africa
- Authors: Blewett, Alec
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Gracilaria -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Marine algae Algae -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/31446 , vital:31391
- Description: Gracilaria gracilis (Stackhouse) M. Steentoft, L. M. Irvine & W. F. Farnham is a species of red macroalgae which occurs naturally within the Swartkops Estuary in South Africa. Bunches of the species were inserted into the lay of ropes, which were then either suspended in the water column at the Tiger Bay Marina, or staked at the surface of the sediment in the mudflats where the initial material was harvested from. The first site was used for the suspended growth trial, while the second site was for the bottom grown trial. Both of the growth trials ran for the same time period, which was approximately three weeks per season. This study examined three facets of the G. gracilis material that was grown. The growth rate and biomass were recorded in order to examine the potential for the growth of the species on longlines within the estuary. Secondly, the crude nutritional content of the species was determined in order to assess its potential for use as an abalone feed, specifically the dry and ashed weights, and the protein, carbohydrate and lipid contents. Lastly, the cultivated biomass was examined in terms of its agar gel yield and properties, which included the gel strength and the gel –melting and –forming temperatures. The growth rates for the cultivated G. gracilis were poor, and the largest positive growth rate of 1.17 ± 3.2% was found in spring, for the bottom grown trial. This season also saw the only increase in biomass above that which was seeded onto the line, and the final average weight after 22 days was 354.28 ± 68.04 g. All other growth rates were negative, and biomass declined in both growth trials across all the seasons. The suspended growth trials showed more extreme declines, and were heavily contaminated with epiphytic material, while the bottom grown trial had more gradual decrease, and it is likely that conditions associated with the culture systems were not ideal. The largest percentage of protein was found in autumn, where the bottom grown trial had a value of 88 ± 2.32%. For all the seasons, the lipid content had an average percentage of 1.80 ± 0.75% for the bottom grown trial, while the suspended trial was very similar, and had a value of 1.74 ± 0.58%. The nutritional composition of the cultivated biomass was not found to be a good abalone feed in comparison to other studies in land-based aquaculture facilities. Agar characteristics extracted in the present study showed the greatest potential for use as a valuable economic resource. The native agar extracted from the cultivated material was very close to the standards set by United States Pharmacopeia for all the characteristics, and has the potential to possibly be improved further by using an alkali treatment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Blewett, Alec
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Gracilaria -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Marine algae Algae -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/31446 , vital:31391
- Description: Gracilaria gracilis (Stackhouse) M. Steentoft, L. M. Irvine & W. F. Farnham is a species of red macroalgae which occurs naturally within the Swartkops Estuary in South Africa. Bunches of the species were inserted into the lay of ropes, which were then either suspended in the water column at the Tiger Bay Marina, or staked at the surface of the sediment in the mudflats where the initial material was harvested from. The first site was used for the suspended growth trial, while the second site was for the bottom grown trial. Both of the growth trials ran for the same time period, which was approximately three weeks per season. This study examined three facets of the G. gracilis material that was grown. The growth rate and biomass were recorded in order to examine the potential for the growth of the species on longlines within the estuary. Secondly, the crude nutritional content of the species was determined in order to assess its potential for use as an abalone feed, specifically the dry and ashed weights, and the protein, carbohydrate and lipid contents. Lastly, the cultivated biomass was examined in terms of its agar gel yield and properties, which included the gel strength and the gel –melting and –forming temperatures. The growth rates for the cultivated G. gracilis were poor, and the largest positive growth rate of 1.17 ± 3.2% was found in spring, for the bottom grown trial. This season also saw the only increase in biomass above that which was seeded onto the line, and the final average weight after 22 days was 354.28 ± 68.04 g. All other growth rates were negative, and biomass declined in both growth trials across all the seasons. The suspended growth trials showed more extreme declines, and were heavily contaminated with epiphytic material, while the bottom grown trial had more gradual decrease, and it is likely that conditions associated with the culture systems were not ideal. The largest percentage of protein was found in autumn, where the bottom grown trial had a value of 88 ± 2.32%. For all the seasons, the lipid content had an average percentage of 1.80 ± 0.75% for the bottom grown trial, while the suspended trial was very similar, and had a value of 1.74 ± 0.58%. The nutritional composition of the cultivated biomass was not found to be a good abalone feed in comparison to other studies in land-based aquaculture facilities. Agar characteristics extracted in the present study showed the greatest potential for use as a valuable economic resource. The native agar extracted from the cultivated material was very close to the standards set by United States Pharmacopeia for all the characteristics, and has the potential to possibly be improved further by using an alkali treatment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019